Waiting for CB to strike

[Nick Miller]

Hmmm

Johns
King
Bendis
KSD
Snyder
Possibly Hickman
Gerard Way


And now G Willow Wilson

DC is crushing Marvel

Here are some suggestions for CB whenever he gets around to his EIC DUTIES

AZZERELLO
JOSS WHEDON
BKV
WARREN ELLIS
GRANT MORRISON
GARTH ENNIS
Manapul and his studio mates
Fabian Nicieza HELLO

when will Marvel make a move to counter DC’s juggernaut writing team?

[Tiamatty]

You're assuming any of those people you're suggesting even want to do any major work for Marvel. Beyond that, Marvel's not hurting for talent the way you think they are. Kelly Thompson, Cates, Rosenberg, Ahmed, Zub, Spencer, Slott, Waid, Sims, Aaron, Coates. I may not like all these writers, but they're all pretty well-respected within the industry.

I know it's popular to think that the sky is falling and Marvel has no good writers. But it's not true. Marvel has plenty of great writers. And they'll get more. They always do.

Also, G. Willow Wilson is writing Wonder Woman but she's also still with Marvel. Gail Simone's still mostly DC, but she's writing Domino. And there are indications Hickman may have some Marvel work coming up (speculation is him writing a relaunched Uncanny X-Men, though I still think that should go to Kelly Thompson).

[Prof. Warren]

Hmmm

Johns
King
Bendis
KSD
Snyder
Possibly Hickman
Gerard Way


And now G Willow Wilson

DC is crushing Marvel

Wilson still owed DC a book. So they're not taking her away from Marvel. She's been obliged to write a book for DC for awhile now. She isn't leaving Marvel.

As for the rest...DC can happily keep them exclusively on their side of the aisle. Please, DC, keep them!

No one at Marvel, reader-wise, at least - is missing Bendis. DC taking Bendis was nothing but a boon to Marvel. Snyder has become a Morrison-lite hack, King's Batman is puerile, who knows who Hickman's going to write for (possibly neither of the big two) and Gerard Way and KSD? Please. They're fine but it's not as though they're powerhouse additions to DC's arsenal.

I'll take Aaron, Cates, Rosenberg, Soule, Thompson, Spencer, Brisson, Ewing and Slott over any of DC's writing stable.

[XPac]

Honestly I don't think there's much of an issue here.

Both Marvel and DC have a pretty good pool of writers. And we all know that writers teams shuffle around between the big 2 every few years to keep things fresh.

[gurkle]

Personally I think Marvel is hurting for talent, which is not to say they have no good talent available. Just that DC has taken a lot of writing and art talent from them, and that Marvel is heavily reliant on a small pool of writers who have been doing most of their major books for the last few years now, and mostly don't move the needle on sales.

To get writers and artists who do have a sales following, Marvel would probably either need to pay more than they're paying, or do a better job of developing people into "star" writers who weren't stars before. Cebulski is still mostly working with the talent and the assignments he inherited, so it may take a while to see if he has any plans of his own, but I'm not sure if he can fix what seems to be a structural problem at Marvel.

[MindofShadow]

Marvel:
Dollar Share 38.42%
Unit Share 40.98%

DC:
Dollar Share 30.54%
Unit Share 33.73%

[Moon Ronin]

Marvel:
Dollar Share 38.42%
Unit Share 40.98%

DC:
Dollar Share 30.54%
Unit Share 33.73%

That indicates that there profit per unit is roughly the same, and that Marvel putting out more books than DC is the only reason they have the appearance of doing better. Basically put nether one of them is doing poorly compared to each other when it comes to unit sells.

[NexusTenebrare]

Wilson still owed DC a book. So they're not taking her away from Marvel. She's been obliged to write a book for DC for awhile now. She isn't leaving Marvel.

As for the rest...DC can happily keep them exclusively on their side of the aisle. Please, DC, keep them!

No one at Marvel, reader-wise, at least - is missing Bendis. DC taking Bendis was nothing but a boon to Marvel. Snyder has become a Morrison-lite hack, King's Batman is puerile, who knows who Hickman's going to write for (possibly neither of the big two) and Gerard Way and KSD? Please. They're fine but it's not as though they're powerhouse additions to DC's arsenal.

Plenty of readers like Bendis. I know many hate him, but easily as many people enjoy his work. So maybe keep your generalisations to yourself.

[Anduinel]

I'll take Aaron, Cates, Rosenberg, Soule, Thompson, Spencer, Brisson, Ewing and Slott over any of DC's writing stable.

I'd trade Soule away for Tynion. Otherwise, largely agreed.

[Marvel/DC Fan]

Well, I guess it is personal preference. Save for a few I find most of Marvels writers pretty mediocre. I like Cates and I think Coates recent work has been great. Some titles like the X-men need a superstar writer/artist team. The X-titles have been woeful for years. I just have found recent DC books more fun to read and most of Marvel's titles a chore.

[King_Thor13]

I'd trade Soule away for Tynion. Otherwise, largely agreed.

I'd love to get Tynion on an X-Men ongoing since he loves them so

[Mike_Murdock]

Wilson still owed DC a book. So they're not taking her away from Marvel. She's been obliged to write a book for DC for awhile now. She isn't leaving Marvel.

Yeah, it's not a DC exclusive deal. If we're giving DC that, we have to give Marvel Gail Simone and Christopher Priest.

Fabian Nicieza is who they should get and give him the X-men. Also Scott Lobdell.

Given his history of sexual harassment, I'd rather leave Scott Lobdell as part of Marvel's past.

That indicates that there profit per unit is roughly the same, and that Marvel putting out more books than DC is the only reason they have the appearance of doing better. Basically put nether one of them is doing poorly compared to each other when it comes to unit sells.

I think it's a different strategy for each. DC wants higher sales per book, Marvel is happier with more books instead. Both are viable strategies and it certainly doesn't indicate Marvel is hurting economically when compared to the industry as a whole.

[Prof. Warren]

One writer I'd like to see Marvel give more work to is Jim Zub. Everything he touches, he does an impeccable job on.

I first noticed him on his Uncanny Avengers run and obviously he was a key part of No Surrender and his current run on The Champions is one of the best books out there.

He just has such a deft handle on pacing and characterization.

I mean, Mark Waid is no slouch - he's one of the greatest comic writers ever, in my opinion - but Zub's Champions has been head and shoulders above Waid's run (to be fair, it's with soio characters that Waid really shines). So the more they give Zub to do, the better. He seems to have a full slate with indie gigs but any chance Marvel has to offer him work, they should take it. I feel like he's on the cusp of a huge break out book.

[nnelg]

Hmmm

Johns
King
Bendis
KSD
Snyder
Possibly Hickman
Gerard Way


And now G Willow Wilson

DC is crushing Marvel

Here are some suggestions for CB whenever he gets around to his EIC DUTIES

AZZERELLO
JOSS WHEDON
BKV
WARREN ELLIS
GRANT MORRISON
GARTH ENNIS
Manapul and his studio mates
Fabian Nicieza HELLO

when will Marvel make a move to counter DC’s juggernaut writing team?

Fabian Nicieza is who they should get and give him the X-men. Also Scott Lobdell.

[Tiamatty]

Fabian Nicieza is who they should get and give him the X-men. Also Scott Lobdell.

On Lobdell, hey, let's not. For Nicieza, meh, nostalgia's overrated, let's get someone new in charge of the X-Men. I keep saying: Kelly Thompson. Put Kelly Thompson on Uncanny X-Men. She's earned it. Nicieza had his chance, a lot of people had their chances, let's put new blood on it. And ****, if the goal is to evoke the '90s, Kelly Thompson made me actually care about Rogue and Gambit as a couple, she can evoke the '90s better than any of the writers from the '90s actually could.