Jeff Harris
06-28-2002, 10:42 PM
You know, I think Marvel knew exactly what they were doing when they hired Joe Quesada a couple of years ago, but I'm getting ahead of myself.
A few weeks ago, I found a Marvel Knights Sketchbook, the first one that came with an issue of Wizard. On the first place, Joe was saying how excited he was to be a part of the Marvel family as well as continuing his day-to-day operations at his own comic company, Event Comics. Back then, Ash, the superhuman New York firefighter, was big, being featured in a crossover book with DC's Azrael character, finding itself in toy form, and recently signed to be in an animated movie from Dreamworks with some of the creators behind Akira behind it.
Of course, the Marvel Knights titles (save the first MK Punisher book) were kicking serious butt, and Joe was a savior of sorts. He was an idea man, which is kinda appropo for the House of Ideas, and basically, he helped oversee a resurgence of the Marvel era in the late 90s. They made him Editor in Chief in 2000, where he laid the ground for the Marvel of the 21st century, hiring Hollywood players to help mold the image of the next generation, expanding beyond comics, breaking bread with the Distinguished Competition on numerous occasions, and breaking from tradition (i.e. the archaic Comic Code).
So, where did this leave Event Comics? Where is anything featuring Ash, Painkiller Jane, or the 22 Brides? Where's the Dreamworks movie? By the looks of things, they're dust. They're gone. Quesada's a Marvel man for life now, and he's apparently not looking back. You know, I think Marvel knew exactly what they were doing when they hired Joe Quesada a couple of years ago. They got rid of a future major competitor by hiring the main player of the company. Dirty pool, Marvel, dirty pool.
A few weeks ago, I found a Marvel Knights Sketchbook, the first one that came with an issue of Wizard. On the first place, Joe was saying how excited he was to be a part of the Marvel family as well as continuing his day-to-day operations at his own comic company, Event Comics. Back then, Ash, the superhuman New York firefighter, was big, being featured in a crossover book with DC's Azrael character, finding itself in toy form, and recently signed to be in an animated movie from Dreamworks with some of the creators behind Akira behind it.
Of course, the Marvel Knights titles (save the first MK Punisher book) were kicking serious butt, and Joe was a savior of sorts. He was an idea man, which is kinda appropo for the House of Ideas, and basically, he helped oversee a resurgence of the Marvel era in the late 90s. They made him Editor in Chief in 2000, where he laid the ground for the Marvel of the 21st century, hiring Hollywood players to help mold the image of the next generation, expanding beyond comics, breaking bread with the Distinguished Competition on numerous occasions, and breaking from tradition (i.e. the archaic Comic Code).
So, where did this leave Event Comics? Where is anything featuring Ash, Painkiller Jane, or the 22 Brides? Where's the Dreamworks movie? By the looks of things, they're dust. They're gone. Quesada's a Marvel man for life now, and he's apparently not looking back. You know, I think Marvel knew exactly what they were doing when they hired Joe Quesada a couple of years ago. They got rid of a future major competitor by hiring the main player of the company. Dirty pool, Marvel, dirty pool.