I Can See Your House From Here - Archives
vol 2 number 27
Coming soon to a column near you: an examination of the stupidity of science fiction fans. Yes, that's right -- a look at how stupid you are. Betcha can't wait.
Now that you're all excited about reading about the inner workings of you, though, let me put that off for a week to focus on a subset of that idea. That's right: I'm giving you a full week to prepare your slings and arrows, or to convince me otherwise. You've got seven days.
For now, though, let's take a few moments out of our day and check out the rampant stupidity on display in the comics industry, shall we? Our shining example of the moment: Marvel Comics.
(Writer's aside: I really, really, really wanted to write about the stupidity of Erik Larsen's defense of Todd McFarlane, but then I decided that Larsen's comments speak for themselves. Sorry.)
The two biggest headlines in comics last week -- in quite some time, for that matter -- concerned Neil Gaiman suing Todd McFarlane, and Marvel making a rather questionable move. Marvel's is the biggest goof, at least with immediate results (after all, lawsuits take years and years to resolve): after a lot of effort on the part of Joe Quesada (editor of Marvel) to restore a working relationship with Alan Moore (writer of WATCHMEN and FROM HELL, among others), a very simple editorial mistake put things right back at square one. A little background: Moore has sworn off working for Marvel ever again because of his treatment by former regimes at the company, and copyright issues that are intertwined with some of his work for the company. These are issues compounded with twenty years of history and bad blood, and so it was moderately amazing to most people in the industry when there was mention of a healing process underway. There was no announcement that Moore would be taking the reins of Spider-Man or the X-Men, just that Moore and Quesada had opened a channel; still, the world seemed a little brighter for a while. There was no announcement, but now there was at least a chance that something might one day happen.
A few weeks ago, it happened, all right. Any of you who have ever heard the sound of rabbit poop hitting a paper fan might have recognized the moment, too -- and that's the saddest thing. What may have been the final nail in the coffin of the Moore / Marvel relationship (only time will truly tell) was not a billboard with taunting statements, or the release of a classified memo regarding future plans to screw Moore again, but a tiny little copyright notice on a trade paperback. Yep -- that little © that most people (outside of creators) never even notice. In an interview with Michael Doran at Newsarama, Moore says, "The small, non-humiliating copyright notice that I'd asked them to include, and which I had been assured would be included hadn't been included. As far as I'm concerned, there's no possibility of me working for Marvel in the future or having anything to do with Marvel, and I don't want anybody from Marvel calling me in the future."
Oops.
Now, before you start in on Alan's case for being some sort of ego-maniac, you have to know that a) the problems between him and the company run deep and long; and b) that creator's rights is a huge issue in comics, not to be taken lightly (especially with a writer like Alan Moore). This isn't a case of Moore acting like a spoiled child who didn't get the little things he wanted; this is a reconciliation between two parties, like getting back together after a break-up.
So Marvel made a mistake. It happens all the time, right? Big Corporate Entity overlooks little detail, people get mad, people get over it because they can't live without Big Corporate Entity; see Microsoft, Exxon, and the United States Government for further examples. The thing is, though, that this isn't that case. This isn't even like the first time that you break up with your girlfriend to date her best friend, and then screw up a second chance. This is more like getting a fourth shot with your girlfriend after sleeping with her entire family, or a another shot at parole after four triple slayings. This is something that meant a lot to Marvel Comics as a corporation, and (more importantly) to its fans. This was a last chance at getting it right, and at proving to Moore that the new company was better than the old one. And, once again, Marvel got caught in bed with Moore's long-lost sister, busted red-handed over yet another three bodies.
You might say that the little © is hardly related to homicide or adultery, but in this case, you'd be wrong. First of all, when reconciling with your girlfriend, you promise not to cheat on her any more; you tell the parole board that you should be free and promise not to kill again. Those promises are guarantees that you've changed, that you're better and that you won't make the same mistakes again. They signify that you recognize the problems of the past and that you're going to correct them. Ditto with the copyright notice.
The other thing is that, as little as the © notice is, it's not something that should have been a major obstacle for anyone to overcome, and it wasn't a ridiculous thing for Moore to request. If he had asked for Marvel to print DC's logo on the cover of the collection, it would be easier to see take Marvel's side. If the pages have gotten reversed at the printer, it would have at least been out of Marvel's hands. This, though, was one of the few things that Moore wanted. If Marvel had truly been intent on proving that things had changed internally, they would have taken the time to circulate a memo to anyone who might have become involved with the project at any point, a memo that stated the agreement between Quesada and Moore and the details that had to be right. They would have had Quesada and Moore himself sign off on the final product before it went to press.
Of all the things they could have done to prevent this, they did none, and so the ultimate blame lies with them.
Since the story broke, Quesada has called Moore and apologized, and announced that a new version of the book will be printed with not just a corrected indicia, but also a public apology from Marvel to Moore. Moore has accepted the apology, and the fans are once again clamoring for future projects from Moore. I think, though, that they may be a little too excited. The apology doesn't read as though the wedding is back on; instead, it seems as though Moore is on the cell phone, accepting Quesada's apology while on a date with his new beau, resuming his life. Sure, there won't be any hard feelings over this latest screw-up; in fact, it was probably expected. "Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me," as the old saying goes.
There's something in this about the devil being in the details, but that doesn't really sum it up quite well enough. I think it strikes more at the heart the matter to say that it's about honesty, and knowing what you're promising. Giving your word to someone should never be done lightly, on any count; keeping your word is, for me, one of the most important things in life. But to give your word when it counts, and then to not take every precaution to make sure that your promise is kept -- that goes beyond dishonesty.
That's just plain stupid.
Kenn McCracken routinely gets fooled three times. Where does the shame belong then?