The Four Color Media Monitor

In a recent interview on CBR, Joe Quesada once again boasts and boasts, claiming the comics are what drive the movies, when it's long been the other way around. It's the second part of an interview they conducted, and says at the beginning that:

...the Marvel Chief Creative Officer discussed the influence of the company’s publishing on its future film and TV adaptations, the success of characters like Ms. Marvel since his departure as editor-in-chief, his initial pitch for “Guardians of the Galaxy,” and more.

And yes, they're talking about the Muslim Ms. Marvel, not Carol Danvers. On which note, we must wonder: what success are we talking about here? Sales-wise, the series doesn't sell very well at all, and some reviewers have long seemed predetermined to speak positively about it, not unlike some overrated movies.

On Marvel’s evolution since he left the publishing sphere, Quesada told CBR’s Albert Ching, “I think what sticks out to me is the audience’s willingness and desire to accept different versions of our characters, or characters that generally were never successful, now being successful. And Squirrel Girl is a perfect example of this, folks have embraced her.”

Umm, folks could embrace Squirrel Girl, but that doesn't mean they embrace the quality of the writing, or lack thereof. As for "different" versions of their casts, this surely hints at the social justice angle they've taken by changing the race/gender/orientation of several characters, particularly since he was undeservedly promoted to "chief creative officer", and it wouldn't surprise me if he played a role in getting that direction realized. Sales don't reflect his boasting, of course, and as a result, he's merely insulting the audience's intellect.

He continued, “And I think that’s a really interesting thing to see happening. During my tenure, and even before my tenure, it was a very difficult door to breakthrough. And as much as we pushed, certain offbeat ideas would have a lot of trouble sustaining. But now it seems like the readership, because it’s growing and there are more women reading comics, and we’re bringing in a lot of different people that are interested in comics through the movies and television…I think that audience growing in that sense, and the diversity of that audience is helping us to launch new ideas and new concepts, or revive new ideas and new concepts, or twist old concepts into something new that works.”

Here again, he's alluding to their new social justice direction. And yeah, that sure is working alright. So much that, even if a premiere issue sells above 100,000 copies or so, it sinks right down to tedious levels soon after.

And while there may be more women reading comics now, how many of them read Marvel/DC, really? The weak sales receipts suggest not many do, because what have they really done to ensure there's talented writing that'll satisfy anybody?

Since we're on the topic, how fascinating that Mary Jane Watson's not mentioned here. Why should most women care about their products if a creation whose past characterization could be inspiring to them was kicked to the curb?

Quesada explained that the comics division heavily impacts future film/TV plans, comparing the division to the “hub” of Marvel’s “wheel,” and the adaptations to the “spokes” of that wheel.

“I tell this to these people in particular — [not] those who live in this world of comics and understand it, those who understand that when Cap says “Hail Hydra” you should wait til the second issue before you lose your mind — for the uninitiated, I always say, if you come to Marvel, through either our animation, our television shows, our movies, our video games, however it may be, if you haven’t come through the comics and you want to know what’s happening in this world, comics are the hub of the wheel. If Marvel is a wheel, comics are the hub and everything else spokes out. Movies, TV…they’re all spokes of the wheel. If you want to know what the future is, in the movies, television, video games, animation — pick up the comics, because there’s a very good possibility that the stuff you’re reading today will eventually find itself — or a version of it — in one of our media outlets. Could be next year, four, five years from now, maybe ten years from now.”

Umm, it's not so much Steve Rogers saluting Hydra as it is the way the new series was promoted by the writers/editors that made people lose their minds. It was just plain disgusting, but predictably, Quesada can only think to whitewash all that. Despite what he says about the comics impacting the movies, it's the other way around - the movies have been influencing the comics, and not often for the better.

Driving the point home, Quesada used “Civil War” as a prime example. “If you look at the stuff we’re producing in studios right now — Civil War, right? Civil War was 10 year ago, and here we are, it’s this huge movie. [...]

I'm sure he must be quite happy such an ultra-leftist pastiche was considered prime movie material. But honestly, a story that bad, one that was used to serve as a catalyst for erasing the Spider-marriage and subsequent mistreatment of Mary Jane Watson, is not something I'd consider a good wellspring. Because when anybody sensible puts 2 and 2 together, it's possible they could think something absurd is going on. Now, here's where he gushes about their new Ms. Marvel, who's only "value" seems to be the Islamic background shoved onto her character:

Quesada went on to say fans are a major part of the litmus test. While Ms. Marvel might not have taken off 10 years ago, today, it can be a massively successful among readers — to the extent that Quesada says there are definite plans to use Kamala Khan in future film/TV adaptations.

“Our readers are the Johnny Appleseeds. They tell us something is resonating, something is hitting a core, and that’s something we should try to cultivate. Another great example of this: Ms. Marvel. If we had put this book out ten years ago, it probably would never have succeeded. Not only did we find the audience, but we had the right people on the book and we had the right editor on the book, the right creators on the book. And now we have a character that’s very recognizable — very, very quickly. That doesn’t happen a lot. Who knows where Ms. Marvel’s going to end up. You can be sure that, somewhere down the road, she will be a part of the future of Marvel in other media.”

As a matter of fact, it's not succeeding now, as the tiresome sales figures of little more than 30,000 copies should make clear. There's various other titles that sold so low, and truly speaking, no matter what the social structure or the writing talent in the finished product, they weren't what a realist would call successful either. It's far different from the blockbusters Spielberg/Lucas were once known for. And the writers/editors working on the series? Mostly the kind of ultra-leftists (not to mention taqqiya specialists) people like Quesada favor over all others. Oh, and did they find the audience? To date, it looks like they didn't even find many Islamophiles if it sells at low levels like 30,000.

If the Muslim Ms. Marvel turns up in other media, it'll be more because of the propaganda angles they've become obsessed with. For now, it's possible they won't be putting the character in any live action movies because they know the public opinion could be too negative on Islam to waste money on such an insult to the intellect. That was why DC basically dumped the JLA/99 crossover in stores with little fanfare 6 years ago. That doesn't mean Quesada and company don't want to keep foisting the character in her politicized incarnation upon an unsuspecting audience though.

When the Blastr site brought up Quesada's gushy gabbering, however, all they could do was follow up on his dishonesty:

...you have to admit it’s easy to see the difference in how the two studios have approached their properties. Marvel built the MCU by staying largely true to what fans love about the comics, and it works. And works. And keeps on working.

Yawn. For anyone who's paid attention to what Marvel's comics have become over the past 2 decades, the above is some of the most naive, ignorant garbage out there. However the movies are crafted, today's writers are not remaining true to the past renditions of the Golden/Silver/Bronze Ages, and atop that, they're bogging down the stories in crossovers. None of which matters to mainstream sites that are more concerned about social justice at the expense of the original products.

Labels: bad editors, crossoverloading, islam and jihad, marvel comics, misogyny and racism, msm propaganda, politics, women of marvel