The Four Color Media Monitor

Starlin's developed another rift with Marvel, who offered him a writing assignment but won't allow him to use Adam Warlock:

Starlin, who created both Thanos and Drax the Destroyer (who will be seen in August’s Guardians of the Galaxy) recently resumed work with the publisher on several Thanos-related projects tying into the character’s increased role at Marvel in films and the higher profile of Marvel’s cosmic titles. In a Facebook post over the weekend, the writer/artist wrote that he’d been told not to use Adam Warlock in any future work, implying dissatisfaction over the decision.

"Okay, this time, after I brought Adam Warlock back from the dead in The Infinity Revelation, someone at Marvel anonymously put a corporation-wide-no-use restriction on the character, effectively putting the brakes on the ongoing plans I had for him and [Thanos]," Starlin wrote. [...]

Approached Tuesday for comment, Starlin shared more insight into the situation from his perspective.

“When I started on The Infinity Revelation, I asked about Adam's status, was told no one had any plans for him and that he was dead,” Starlin told Newsarama. “So I brought him back to life in the graphic novel and made plans to use him further.”

Upon the conclusion of his work writing and drawing the graphic novel, Starlin said he began working on the next project he had planned for Adam Warlock and Thanos, titled The Infinity Duel.

“I turned in a plot to Tom Brevoort, which included Adam Warlock, and about two months later Tom informed me about the hold but said he couldn't explain it to me,” Starlin claimed. “That's when I took on the Savage Hulk story arc, to keep busy until the hold was lifted and built up some more advanced storyline for the proposed project (The Infinity Duel).”

According to Starlin, he finished penciling his four-issue arc of Savage Hulk last week but found the Adam Warlock situation had remained unchanged.

“The hold is still in place and, apparently, shows no signs of being lifted any time in the future,” Starlin told Newsarama Tuesday. “So I'm moving on.”

So long as Brevoort's around, along with several other very awful editors, he's doing the right thing not to stick around. I know that Spider-Man may not have been a title he had any serious involvement with years before, but still, any editors who're going to approve of the kind of atrocities they did in 2007 are not people he should be spending time around. He got a job offer from IDW, and I figure it's worth taking. I hope that Starlin will consider speaking out louder against Brevoort and Axel Alonso, because they're some of the worst things that could happen to Marvel, and sooner or later, the disillusioned will have to make a decision about speaking out.

Labels: bad editors, good writers, marvel comics