The Four Color Media Monitor

Here we have a predictably fluff-coated interview with Dan Slott on CBR about his upcoming run on Iron Man:

This June, a new era of high tech adventures begins for the Armored Avengers as writer Dan Slott and artist Valerio Schiti kick off the new Marvel Fresh Start series: Tony Stark: Iron Man. CBR spoke with Slott about moving to Iron Man after penning the adventure of another genius Marvel hero for a decade, Spider-Man; his love for the Marvel Universe’s “big brains”, and the unique and varied tone of Tony Stark: Iron Man.

Please, I don't see how a man who condemned Mary Jane Watson as "anti-Marvel", after all the hard work Stan Lee and John Romita Sr. put into her development, could possibly love Iron Man and Spider-Man any more. However, he does provide an eyebrow-raising revelation of what went on behind the scenes in selecting him as writer:

CBR: You’re moving from Amazing Spider-Man to Tony Stark: Iron Man and it doesn’t seem like it’s going to be that big of a transition for a number of reasons. One is that you clearly love both characters. Another is we’ve already seen some of the classic elements of Iron Man given a Peter Parker spin during your run on Amazing Spider-Man. Did you know you would eventually be writing Iron Man when you kicked off that era of Spider-Man?

Dan Slott: I didn’t have a clue in the world that I was going to go from Spider-Man to Iron Man. [Laughs] Once editorial told me that Brian was leaving for DC Comics, the first thing I said was, “That’s a shame were losing him. I wish him well at DC.” Then the next thing I said was, “I WANT IRON MAN!” I was the first vulture to pick at that carcass. [Laughs]

They asked, “What would your take be on Iron Man?” I was like, “Cutting edge technology, Robert Downey Jr. in the armor. Except we’re telling stories out of Black Mirror.” They went, “DONE! It’s yours.”

Axel Alonso approved that. I was said to see him go, but I was happy to see C.B. Cebulski come in. C.B. hadn’t heard about the Black Mirror-style pitch. So that gave me the freedom to go, “Okay, it’s Robert Downey Jr. starring sometimes in Black Mirror and sometimes in Rick and Morty.” So anything in the zone between Black Mirror and Rick and Morty is fair game. High concept sci-fi, but that pendulum can swing many ways: fun, broad, dark, disturbing — and sometimes all four.

Ah, so one of Alonso's last efforts before he left was to give his own stamp of approval for Slott to take up writing IM. Why, since we're on the subject, what if it turns out Alonso is still being employed in secret by Marvel, just so they can "protect their own"? I've seen how cunning these awful staffers are, promoting some of their staff to higher positions and finding all sorts of positions they can assign, for the sake of ensuring they'll continue to have a well-paying job they didn't deserve. It's one of the reasons Tom Brevoort's got a rather high position of his own too. And again, shameful how they elevate him with gushing assertions he "loves" the characters and concepts he's been assigned to write.

Peter and Tony Stark also share some similar personality traits in that they’re both geniuses. Given your work on Spider-Man, Mighty Avengers which featured Hank Pym, and your love of Reed Richards, it’s clear that you have an affinity for Marvel’s biggest brains. Why is that? What makes these characters so appealing to you?

When you think of the DC characters, they’re very iconic, and you think of the hero. And when you think of the Marvel characters, a lot of the time you think about the person behind the mask first — the person. And in any good superhero story it’s always the person who wins out despite the powers and all the trappings. It’s always the character and their strengths and weaknesses that guide the story, and having a character that’s clever and uses their head is always way more attractive to a storyteller.

There’s an added bonus with character like Iron Man who’s clever and comes with a whole lot of flaws. It’s always way more fun to write about flawed characters and smart characters. Tony has got so many more flaws than Peter. Oh, that ego! That swagger! This is going to be so much fun!

Only for himself, you can be sure of that. Besides, a man who went out of his way to put Doctor Octopus in Peter Parker's body wasn't exactly thinking of the man behind the mask. Nor did the real Spidey win out so easily, as Slott trolled the audience for about a year or so before finally putting Peter back in his own body, stretching a story that would've once been told in 3-4 issues to a tedious length for the sake of trade padding, an approach Bendis particularly influenced at the expense of creativity.

Another trait that both Tony Stark and Peter Parker share is that they’re both characters that can go anywhere.

They can go anywhere, but very much like Silver Surfer, the character sets the tone and story. More than where we’re going. So, yes, they can go anywhere. But where we’re going is so Tony Starkish, and these will be very Tony Stark-y stories.

When I was growing up, everyone knew that Clark Kent was Superman, Batman was Bruce Wayne, and Peter Parker was Spider-Man. That was kind of it as far as the man on the street. That’s drastically changed after ten years of Marvel Studios! Around the world, everyone knows that Iron Man is Tony Stark. He is such a fully fleshed out character to everyone. People like him just as much as they like the Iron Man/superhero elements.

So when they asked me what I wanted the book to be called, I said I wanted it to be called Tony Stark: Iron Man. That’s our title. It’s not Invincible, Irredeemable, or any other adjective. It’s Tony Stark: Iron Man.

And why's that? If everybody knows Tony is Shell-head, wouldn't they know he obviously isn't as invincible as the famous adjective stated? Many fans know he began as a guy who had to wear a high-tech pacemaker to keep some shrapnel embedded in his chest from destroying his health. Though at the same time, does everyone around the world truly know IM as a creation? The sad truth is that, despite at least 3 solo movies and a role in the Avengers films, not many filmgoers are interested in reading IM comics today - certainly not after a publicity stunt that saw Tony replaced with a black teen girl sporting a dreadful personality, and if they're not reading the comics now, then not only do they not know much about IM, chances are they still won't bother this coming summer either.

In fact, what if Slott takes either of the following paths - he uses a SJW approach to writing Tony's interactions with co-stars and guests, or, he takes a blatant approach not all that different from the terrible elements he used in Inferior Dr. Octopus? One thing is certain: most SJWs are unlikely to take issue with Slott because ideological differences can be applied selectively in their twisted mindsets. And either way, it's bound to be a whole junkyard.

Labels: bad editors, Iron Man, marvel comics, moonbat writers, msm propaganda, Spider-Man, women of marvel