Hey, everyone. "Moriarty" here with some Rumblings From The Lab.
Andrew from GrayHaven is back at work, and this week’s columns kick ass. Sounds like a pretty serious offer Marvel made. Be curious to see how this plays out...
Marvel to DC: If You Won’t Publish The Authority, We Will!
Say what you will about Marvel president, Bill Jemas, but the man knows how to make people talk. And well, readers of Authority want to read their Authority. More power to Jemas and Marvel is they can somehow make this happen. The ball’s in DC’s court now.
On September 26th, DC Comics announced that the issues 27 and 28 of The Authority had been pulled from the shipping schedule and have not been rescheduled. The two issues make up parts two and three of Mark Millar’s final story arc, ‘New World Order’, with art by Art Adams. To read the original news from last week, CLICK HERE!!
Earlier in the afternoon, Marvel Comics President, Bill Jemas had this to say:
“ I have been reading on-line that many loyal comic book fans and retailers are sadly disappointed and depressed by AOL/Time Warner's censorship of and refusal to print the last three issues of Mark Millar's Authority and the wide-screen issue by Brian Hitch.
Would you please get the word out that if AOL/Time Warner will not print those books, Marvel will be happy to do so and pay DC Comics a 10% licensing fee.”
Shortly after we received word of Marvel’s offer to DC, Michael Doran (yep, Newsarama again: http://www.comicon.com/newsarama/) followed up with Bill Jemas
Michael: Some people are going to regard this as a public relations move moreso than a genuine offer, as it's pretty much a foregone conclusion that DC would not agree to this offer, and that this is the latest salvo in a publicly waged PR war between Marvel and DC.
Bill: I don't lie; this is a genuine offer.
Michael: Do you honestly expect DC to take this offer seriously, or are you trying to make a point to the fan and professional communities regarding the differences in Marvel and DC's policies?
Jemas: Marvel is making this offer in the interest of creative freedom and for the fans who have been faithful to The Authority. As for making a point regarding the differences between Marvel and AOL/Time-Warner policies - the fans and the members of the professional communities already understand the differences. DC is about the death of Superman, while Marvel is about the life of Wolverine.
Michael: What would you say to those who might conclude you're simply trying to embarrass them?
Bill: AOL/Time Warner can recoup their creative costs.
Michael: What do you pragmatically expect to come from this statement?
Bill: The statement went out at around 3:15, so a lot of people who don't have jobs will post a lot of crap on your message boards.
Michael: What's the likely scenario in you mind?
Bill: After that, it's an IQ test for our distinguished competition.
