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Jemas Fantastic Four: Worst Revamp Idea Ever?

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sleazenation

09:56 / 17.06.03

As this particular storm in a tea cup continues to whip itself into a fury Joe Quesada attempts to calm the rumors with this press release. I doubt he will have much luck though.

ONLY NICE THINGS

11:12 / 17.06.03

Anyway, why is everyone getting so bent out of shape over this? It's not like anyone actually reads the Fantastic Four...

That's a very good point. *Does* anyone read the Fantastic Four? What are the sales like? I tend to think of the FF as something I might pick up in a batch of "5 for 50p" comics, rather than an actual ongoing title...

Is it about the etiolation of the "first principles" of Marvel - the FF as an elite who have their own office building and represent the public face of superheroism? So, is it like the general pissed-offness surrounding a reworking of the Fouth World as an edgy, street-smart detective series? Or my own Epic submission, "Gay and not really French Batroc the Leaper"?

Or is this seen as just a symptom, and a locus for unhappiness with Jemas, and the perceived shoddy treatment of Mark Waid?

Solitaire Rose as Tom Servo

11:53 / 17.06.03

Sales on the FF have jumped from around 30,000 a year ago to around 52,000 with issue #58. Sales have been going up monthly, so 5they really can't say it's a sales problem.

And I have really liked Waid's FF, but then again, I thoughthis Captain America was better than the Big Splashy revamps that have fallen on the floor with a creative thud over at Marvel Knights.

Matthew Fluxington

12:54 / 17.06.03

I haven't been reading the regular FF series, but I do really like the Fantastic Four a lot, and my interest in the characters have been increasing lately. I really enjoyed the Morrison "1234" and James Sturm "Unstable Molecules" miniseries, and I've been slowly going through the Lee/Kirby Essential books. Like I said, it was just last week that I got around to buying a copy of an issue from Waid/Weiringo's run, and I thought it was pretty fun. I'm very disappointed that Marvel (and Hollywood) are choosing to present a version of the FF that seems to have nothing to do with any of the reasons why I like those characters to begin with.

FinderWolf

14:40 / 17.06.03

Let's just wait and see what Rich Johnston comes up with in next week's installment of Lying in the Gutters regarding this juicy story.....

CameronStewart

17:44 / 17.06.03

All I know is, whatever's true, whatever's half-true - if you were to press your ear to the ground above Jack Kirby's grave right now, you'd hear the faint sound of him spinning like a fucking drill.

moriarty

19:01 / 17.06.03

Right now? He was spinning before they buried him, and he hasn't stopped for a minute since.

El Gato Was Right: the t-shirt

03:21 / 19.06.03

Heard a theory today which I tend to believe:

FF's been so popular (due to Waid's revival of FF's family dynamic) that Jemas pitched some Hollywood studio. Hollywood in turn suggested REALLY playing up the family dynamic. Jemas bit, and suggested revamping the title to mirror the idea.

The hitch was the Waid bailed when they brought it to him. Perhaps it was going to happen without him, perhaps not. My guess is that the fanboy furor scuttled the title revamp. I wasn't reading the book, but seems too bad to lose a good writer over something stupid like that.

moriarty

03:31 / 19.06.03

None of that is theory. It's all public record. There will still be a revamp.

Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, playwright for Weird Comic Book Fantasy (formerly Archie's Weird Fantasy) will be the new writer on the FF. Fans of slash may be interested in the Archie/Jimmy Olsen romance that made up the crux of the play before the lawyers moved in. It isn't known whether Jemas will co-plot on this one like he did on Origin and Namor.

Matthew Fluxington

03:35 / 19.06.03

It seems that Marvel has hired a new writer for the Fantastic Four. He's a fairly unknown playwrite named Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, who is best known for an off-off-off-off-off Broadway about a gay version of Archie.

It could be interesting, but I'm very wary of anyone who may take the FF away from its sci-fi roots.

Matthew Fluxington

03:36 / 19.06.03

Damn it, Moriarty. Get. Out. Of. My. Head.

moriarty

03:41 / 19.06.03

Four minutes, sucka!

I'm listening to the same music as you, sharing your thoughts....

Bwahahaha!

houdini

04:17 / 19.06.03

FF's been so popular (due to Waid's revival of FF's family dynamic) that Jemas pitched some Hollywood studio. Hollywood in turn suggested REALLY playing up the family dynamic. Jemas bit, and suggested revamping the title to mirror the idea.

Is that really possible? It doesn't seem like all that long ago that the 9c adventure came out, which was, IIRC, the first Waid issue. Was there really enough time for the idea to've been picked up by Hollywood and scripted to the extent where they'd know what the "direction" they were taking was and get back to the publisher to demand changes in the content of the comic?

I'd be surprised if the big studios really moved that fast. And I'm pretty sure that at least the general concept of a Fantastic Four movie has been floating round Hollywood for years now.

Oh, and Jemas shouldn't be allowed near a typewriter, not if he intends to attempt to produce comics. But never mind. You can always not read it.

moriarty

05:30 / 19.06.03

Houdini, Fury aside, I doubt Hollywood gives much of a damn if the comic matches the movie or is willing to take pains to pressure Marvel.

Back in the day you could pick up the rights to superhero properties for a fiver and a six-pack. There was a Fantastic Four movie made by Roger Corman a few years back that was horrible and never officially released. He had the rights up to a certain point and tried to make the film under the deadline, but Marvel stalled him or bought him out since by that time the property had acquired some value. They've gone through quite a few scripts and directors since, including Chris Columbus.

They may not currently have a script, but I imagine they must have the concept squared up. If not, there's no way they'll make that November 2004 deadline.

I'm Rick Jones, bitch

10:22 / 19.06.03

Fantastic Four is plup fiction- who really gives a flying fuck if it goes a bit shit- it's hardly highbrow culture and it certainly won't break into your house and rape the kiddies, so why waste so much time worrying about it? Stand down your arms, fanboys.

FinderWolf

13:31 / 19.06.03

I'll give the new writer a look-over but I'm not feeling very shiny happy and excited about this. Oh well. Worse comes to worst, it's money I save by not buying FF anymore. Although some people do think what Stan & Jack created in FF is pretty special.

Jemas is a cunt.

Fantastic Four is plup fiction- who really gives a flying fuck if it goes a bit shit- it's hardly highbrow culture

Hrm, fwuh? Sputter!

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