JMS Interview

Part 1

Part 2

I gotta say JMS is already one of my favorite writers for Thor, Supreme Power (even though he never finished it), Silver Surfer: Requiem, and most of his Spidey run. I respect him even more for being bold enough to express contrary opinions. Here's the juicy bits:

When I’m left to my own devices, I can do what I feel is a competent job. When I start to get mandates and edicts written into my ear and am suddenly being pulled into events and crossovers and being yanked one way or the other, I don’t do my best work because I can feel the hand on my shoulder. Cases like those are the low point moments.

And then he goes on to praise Quesada but no one wants to hear that.

People tend to get really caught up in this whole thing, and I never saw a problem on either side. I was perfectly happy writing Peter and Mary Jane as a married couple. But in the end, it’s not my character. When you are handed someone like Superman, Spider-Man or Batman, you treat it like a sacred trust. Your obligation is not to break it. If the character is married, you have to respect that. When you are a writer on a television show, and two characters are married, you can’t write an episode as if they are single. You have to respect the characters. You can create cool stories to write in either venue.

There are ten thousand stories you can’t do with Peter Parker married. But there are ten thousand other stories you can’t do with Peter Parker single. Having said that, if you take those stories out, there are still an infinite number of stories. Infinity minus ten thousand is still infinity. It comes down to matters of personal taste.

Wholeheartedly agreed.

And there's other good stuff I suggest you read if you're a fan, but that's just the bits that'll get DanE and Pete arguing again.

True Believer wrote:

Part 1

Part 2

I gotta say JMS is already one of my favorite writers for Thor, Supreme Power (even though he never finished it), Silver Surfer: Requiem, and most of his Spidey run. I respect him even more for being bold enough to express contrary opinions. Here's the juicy bits:

When I’m left to my own devices, I can do what I feel is a competent job. When I start to get mandates and edicts written into my ear and am suddenly being pulled into events and crossovers and being yanked one way or the other, I don’t do my best work because I can feel the hand on my shoulder. Cases like those are the low point moments.

And then he goes on to praise Quesada but no one wants to hear that.

People tend to get really caught up in this whole thing, and I never saw a problem on either side. I was perfectly happy writing Peter and Mary Jane as a married couple. But in the end, it’s not my character. When you are handed someone like Superman, Spider-Man or Batman, you treat it like a sacred trust. Your obligation is not to break it. If the character is married, you have to respect that. When you are a writer on a television show, and two characters are married, you can’t write an episode as if they are single. You have to respect the characters. You can create cool stories to write in either venue.

There are ten thousand stories you can’t do with Peter Parker married. But there are ten thousand other stories you can’t do with Peter Parker single. Having said that, if you take those stories out, there are still an infinite number of stories. Infinity minus ten thousand is still infinity. It comes down to matters of personal taste.

Wholeheartedly agreed.

And there's other good stuff I suggest you read if you're a fan, but that's just the bits that'll get DanE and Pete arguing again.

Interesting inteview. Thanks, TB.

He's never really said anything too negative about Marvel or Spider-Man, even in this interview.

DanElectro wrote:

True Believer wrote:

Part 1

Part 2

I gotta say JMS is already one of my favorite writers for Thor, Supreme Power (even though he never finished it), Silver Surfer: Requiem, and most of his Spidey run. I respect him even more for being bold enough to express contrary opinions. Here's the juicy bits:

When I’m left to my own devices, I can do what I feel is a competent job. When I start to get mandates and edicts written into my ear and am suddenly being pulled into events and crossovers and being yanked one way or the other, I don’t do my best work because I can feel the hand on my shoulder. Cases like those are the low point moments.

And then he goes on to praise Quesada but no one wants to hear that.

People tend to get really caught up in this whole thing, and I never saw a problem on either side. I was perfectly happy writing Peter and Mary Jane as a married couple. But in the end, it’s not my character. When you are handed someone like Superman, Spider-Man or Batman, you treat it like a sacred trust. Your obligation is not to break it. If the character is married, you have to respect that. When you are a writer on a television show, and two characters are married, you can’t write an episode as if they are single. You have to respect the characters. You can create cool stories to write in either venue.

There are ten thousand stories you can’t do with Peter Parker married. But there are ten thousand other stories you can’t do with Peter Parker single. Having said that, if you take those stories out, there are still an infinite number of stories. Infinity minus ten thousand is still infinity. It comes down to matters of personal taste.

Wholeheartedly agreed.

And there's other good stuff I suggest you read if you're a fan, but that's just the bits that'll get DanE and Pete arguing again.

Interesting inteview. Thanks, TB.

He's never really said anything too negative about Marvel or Spider-Man, even in this interview.

Yeah, but it's still somewhat shocking he said as much as he did. I mean the second paragraph was a pretty thinly-veiled condemnation of the purpose for OMD and in the first one he insulted Quesada's practice of doing multiple requisite tie-ins for each event.

I think if I went in public and said such things about the place I worked I'd, at least, get a stern talking to. Probably fired, because I'm not that essential.

Also, throughout the entire interview he seemed to praise DC alot more than Marvel, commending authors and artists who had done the bulk of their work at DC and citing Superman, often.

It just gave me the impression that he may be on the outs with Marvel. Or I'm just needless speculating.

True Believer wrote:

DanElectro wrote:

True Believer wrote:

Part 1

Part 2

I gotta say JMS is already one of my favorite writers for Thor, Supreme Power (even though he never finished it), Silver Surfer: Requiem, and most of his Spidey run. I respect him even more for being bold enough to express contrary opinions. Here's the juicy bits:

When I’m left to my own devices, I can do what I feel is a competent job. When I start to get mandates and edicts written into my ear and am suddenly being pulled into events and crossovers and being yanked one way or the other, I don’t do my best work because I can feel the hand on my shoulder. Cases like those are the low point moments.

And then he goes on to praise Quesada but no one wants to hear that.

People tend to get really caught up in this whole thing, and I never saw a problem on either side. I was perfectly happy writing Peter and Mary Jane as a married couple. But in the end, it’s not my character. When you are handed someone like Superman, Spider-Man or Batman, you treat it like a sacred trust. Your obligation is not to break it. If the character is married, you have to respect that. When you are a writer on a television show, and two characters are married, you can’t write an episode as if they are single. You have to respect the characters. You can create cool stories to write in either venue.

There are ten thousand stories you can’t do with Peter Parker married. But there are ten thousand other stories you can’t do with Peter Parker single. Having said that, if you take those stories out, there are still an infinite number of stories. Infinity minus ten thousand is still infinity. It comes down to matters of personal taste.

Wholeheartedly agreed.

And there's other good stuff I suggest you read if you're a fan, but that's just the bits that'll get DanE and Pete arguing again.

Interesting inteview. Thanks, TB.

He's never really said anything too negative about Marvel or Spider-Man, even in this interview.

Yeah, but it's still somewhat shocking he said as much as he did. I mean the second paragraph was a pretty thinly-veiled condemnation of the purpose for OMD and in the first one he insulted Quesada's practice of doing multiple requisite tie-ins for each event.

I think if I went in public and said such things about the place I worked I'd, at least, get a stern talking to. Probably fired, because I'm not that essential.

Also, throughout the entire interview he seemed to praise DC alot more than Marvel, commending authors and artists who had done the bulk of their work at DC and citing Superman, often.

It just gave me the impression that he may be on the outs with Marvel. Or I'm just needless speculating.

NO!



DC can't have EVERYBODY!


Johns, Busiek, Morrison

Gary Frank, Jim Lee, Mark Bagley.



I mean the only thing we got in exchange was Jeph Loeb.


Brubaker and Ellis can't carry the Marvel U by themselves...

PeteWisdom wrote:

True Believer wrote:

DanElectro wrote:

True Believer wrote:

Part 1

Part 2

I gotta say JMS is already one of my favorite writers for Thor, Supreme Power (even though he never finished it), Silver Surfer: Requiem, and most of his Spidey run. I respect him even more for being bold enough to express contrary opinions. Here's the juicy bits:

When I’m left to my own devices, I can do what I feel is a competent job. When I start to get mandates and edicts written into my ear and am suddenly being pulled into events and crossovers and being yanked one way or the other, I don’t do my best work because I can feel the hand on my shoulder. Cases like those are the low point moments.

And then he goes on to praise Quesada but no one wants to hear that.

People tend to get really caught up in this whole thing, and I never saw a problem on either side. I was perfectly happy writing Peter and Mary Jane as a married couple. But in the end, it’s not my character. When you are handed someone like Superman, Spider-Man or Batman, you treat it like a sacred trust. Your obligation is not to break it. If the character is married, you have to respect that. When you are a writer on a television show, and two characters are married, you can’t write an episode as if they are single. You have to respect the characters. You can create cool stories to write in either venue.

There are ten thousand stories you can’t do with Peter Parker married. But there are ten thousand other stories you can’t do with Peter Parker single. Having said that, if you take those stories out, there are still an infinite number of stories. Infinity minus ten thousand is still infinity. It comes down to matters of personal taste.

Wholeheartedly agreed.

And there's other good stuff I suggest you read if you're a fan, but that's just the bits that'll get DanE and Pete arguing again.

Interesting inteview. Thanks, TB.

He's never really said anything too negative about Marvel or Spider-Man, even in this interview.

Yeah, but it's still somewhat shocking he said as much as he did. I mean the second paragraph was a pretty thinly-veiled condemnation of the purpose for OMD and in the first one he insulted Quesada's practice of doing multiple requisite tie-ins for each event.

I think if I went in public and said such things about the place I worked I'd, at least, get a stern talking to. Probably fired, because I'm not that essential.

Also, throughout the entire interview he seemed to praise DC alot more than Marvel, commending authors and artists who had done the bulk of their work at DC and citing Superman, often.

It just gave me the impression that he may be on the outs with Marvel. Or I'm just needless speculating.

NO!



DC can't have EVERYBODY!


Johns, Busiek, Morrison

Gary Frank, Jim Lee, Mark Bagley.



I mean the only thing we got in exchange was Jeph Loeb.


Brubaker and Ellis can't carry the Marvel U by themselves...

What about Fraction? Don't forget him.

JMS wasn't talking about DC because he was asked what his favorite book to write for would be. He's obviously a huge DC fan if he's got original Curt Swan art hanging on his walls or whatever. He doesn't sound bitter about Marvel and OMD and he continues to work on Thor. So, your interpretation of his comments as thinly-veiled condemnation is probably a bit presumptious...He's always been very up front about ASM. He's apparently even admitted to f'ing the book up himself with some of his arcs.

Here he's only praising Joe Q:

"To credit Marvel and [Editor-in-Chief] Joe [Quesada] and [Publisher] Dan [Buckley], every so often, everyone runs into a bump with those above in the creative food chain. As executive producer I would have to step in with writers working below me and tell them something had to be done a certain way, and we would argue, but in the end I had the pointy hat and I won. At Marvel, I have to respect that, at the end of the day, they have the pointy hat. When we disagree, it is because we care passionately about what we are working on. No one cares more about Spider-Man than Joe Quesada. He has strong ideas, I have strong ideas, and sometimes they run into each other. But anyone who says anything negative about Joe Quesada has to go through me first. I say that sincerely. I’m sure the writers under me said that when we argued and they were overridden were their low points. Ultimately, it comes down to the person at the top of the ladder making the tough decisions. Fans can yell about Joe and Dan, but he turned that company around from a company that was bankrupt to something of value. People tend to forget that."

The whole second half of the interview was pretty much all about DC including the work he's currently doing for them and about his love for Superman and Curt Swan. Citing authors like Moore, Morrison, and Gaiman is simply citing to some of the best writers in comic history and doesn't imply that he favors DC over Marvel in any way.

Yes he has admitted to writing crap stories.


ones that he WANTED to get rid of, but wasn't allowed.


Anyways yeah, I forgot about Fraction.


Apparently Jason Aaron isn't too bad either, though I don't know, haven't read his Wolverine or Ghost Rider.


Slott ain't half bad either, I just don't think he's as good as he's made out to be. Well, outside of the Initiative, that stuff is gold.

I'm never going to be able to dislike JMS, I'm too much of a Babylon 5 and Crusade fan. Not too mention Supreme Power and Thor. I liked Rising Stars too.

DanElectro wrote:

PeteWisdom wrote:

True Believer wrote:

DanElectro wrote:

True Believer wrote:

Part 1

Part 2

I gotta say JMS is already one of my favorite writers for Thor, Supreme Power (even though he never finished it), Silver Surfer: Requiem, and most of his Spidey run. I respect him even more for being bold enough to express contrary opinions. Here's the juicy bits:

When I’m left to my own devices, I can do what I feel is a competent job. When I start to get mandates and edicts written into my ear and am suddenly being pulled into events and crossovers and being yanked one way or the other, I don’t do my best work because I can feel the hand on my shoulder. Cases like those are the low point moments.

And then he goes on to praise Quesada but no one wants to hear that.

People tend to get really caught up in this whole thing, and I never saw a problem on either side. I was perfectly happy writing Peter and Mary Jane as a married couple. But in the end, it’s not my character. When you are handed someone like Superman, Spider-Man or Batman, you treat it like a sacred trust. Your obligation is not to break it. If the character is married, you have to respect that. When you are a writer on a television show, and two characters are married, you can’t write an episode as if they are single. You have to respect the characters. You can create cool stories to write in either venue.

There are ten thousand stories you can’t do with Peter Parker married. But there are ten thousand other stories you can’t do with Peter Parker single. Having said that, if you take those stories out, there are still an infinite number of stories. Infinity minus ten thousand is still infinity. It comes down to matters of personal taste.

Wholeheartedly agreed.

And there's other good stuff I suggest you read if you're a fan, but that's just the bits that'll get DanE and Pete arguing again.

Interesting inteview. Thanks, TB.

He's never really said anything too negative about Marvel or Spider-Man, even in this interview.

Yeah, but it's still somewhat shocking he said as much as he did. I mean the second paragraph was a pretty thinly-veiled condemnation of the purpose for OMD and in the first one he insulted Quesada's practice of doing multiple requisite tie-ins for each event.

I think if I went in public and said such things about the place I worked I'd, at least, get a stern talking to. Probably fired, because I'm not that essential.

Also, throughout the entire interview he seemed to praise DC alot more than Marvel, commending authors and artists who had done the bulk of their work at DC and citing Superman, often.

It just gave me the impression that he may be on the outs with Marvel. Or I'm just needless speculating.

NO!



DC can't have EVERYBODY!


Johns, Busiek, Morrison

Gary Frank, Jim Lee, Mark Bagley.



I mean the only thing we got in exchange was Jeph Loeb.


Brubaker and Ellis can't carry the Marvel U by themselves...

What about Fraction? Don't forget him.

JMS wasn't talking about DC because he was asked what his favorite book to write for would be. He's obviously a huge DC fan if he's got original Curt Swan art hanging on his walls or whatever. He doesn't sound bitter about Marvel and OMD and he continues to work on Thor. So, your interpretation of his comments as thinly-veiled condemnation is probably a bit presumptious...He's always been very up front about ASM. He's apparently even admitted to f'ing the book up himself with some of his arcs.

Here he's only praising Joe Q:

"To credit Marvel and [Editor-in-Chief] Joe [Quesada] and [Publisher] Dan [Buckley], every so often, everyone runs into a bump with those above in the creative food chain. As executive producer I would have to step in with writers working below me and tell them something had to be done a certain way, and we would argue, but in the end I had the pointy hat and I won. At Marvel, I have to respect that, at the end of the day, they have the pointy hat. When we disagree, it is because we care passionately about what we are working on. No one cares more about Spider-Man than Joe Quesada. He has strong ideas, I have strong ideas, and sometimes they run into each other. But anyone who says anything negative about Joe Quesada has to go through me first. I say that sincerely. I’m sure the writers under me said that when we argued and they were overridden were their low points. Ultimately, it comes down to the person at the top of the ladder making the tough decisions. Fans can yell about Joe and Dan, but he turned that company around from a company that was bankrupt to something of value. People tend to forget that."

The whole second half of the interview was pretty much all about DC including the work he's currently doing for them and about his love for Superman and Curt Swan. Citing authors like Moore, Morrison, and Gaiman is simply citing to some of the best writers in comic history and doesn't imply that he favors DC over Marvel in any way.

All I'm saying (yes, super-late) is he's definitely not "towing the company line," here. I mean, if Bendis were asked who he'd want to work with on a weekly series you know he'd say something like, "Brubaker, Vaughn, and Fraction." Or if asked his favorite character he'd say "Cap" or something.