JJ Abrams and son cowriting Spider-Man mini-series; Sara Pichelli on art

[Hugo Strange]

So, one case of nepotism invalidates all of the hard work of other comic writers/artists of the past and future? That seems a bit dramatic.

That's the sad side of nepotism: it's the company saying to everyone that hard work is worth less than kinship.

[Hypestyle]

so is the series already "in the can"? No future announcements about a change in artist or a months/years long delay? (Daredevil: Target)

[WebSlingWonder]

That's the sad side of nepotism: it's the company saying to everyone that hard work is worth less than kinship.

No, no it's not. That's taking it a step too far.
If JJ and Henry were no names who were co-writing the book, no one would honestly react in the same way.

[WebSlingWonder]

so is the series already "in the can"? No future announcements about a change in artist or a months/years long delay? (Daredevil: Target)

I think Pichelli has been working on pages, per her Instagram post about it.

[Hugo Strange]

No, no it's not. That's taking it a step too far.
If JJ and Henry were no names who were co-writing the book, no one would honestly react in the same way.

You are there, working hard to the company, just waiting for the big chance to do the job of your dreams, and then you see the company is giving it to someone with no experience just because his father is a big shot in the company. This is depressing for everyone who works there.

[WebSlingWonder]

You are there, working hard to the company, just waiting for the big chance to do the job of your dreams, and then you see the company is giving it to someone with no experience just because his father is a big shot in the company. This is depressing for everyone who works there.

You're seeing it from the side of people. I'm seeing it from the business side. What we are each saying is not mutually exclusive. In my earlier posts, I'm saying I am not in favor of JJ bringing his son along (not much we can really do about it), but I understand the business reason.

As for whether it crushes someone's spirit of working in the industry, I think this is the difference between the greats and those who want to be great. There was a quote in the movie, Whiplash, where J. K. Simmons tells Miles Teller about Charlie Parker, and how his band director treated him like crap and ragged on him constantly. If Charlie Parker had gotten discouraged and found himself in dire straits, then we would never have gotten Charlie Parker. In the film, Miles Teller's character discovers that, with the unfair treatment from J. K. and how he wanted to quit and wallow. But instead, he converted that into a stellar performance that won out in the end. What I'm saying is that those who are working in the industry need to channel their frustrations into determination instead of depression and despair. That's the difference between a John Layman and a John Byrne, or a Paul Jenkins and a J. Michael Stracynski. These people made it happen because they wanted to instead of griping about the other guy. Yes, it sucks that this one instance of nepotism is so blatant: but that does not make it the end of the world for Spider-Man and comic creators.

[Hugo Strange]

In fact this is bad up to the business side too, because when you give too many responsabilities to someone who don't have any ideia how to handle it, this inexperienced person usually screw up.

[Vortex85]

I believe the main problem here is the nepotism. This guys worked hard to get where they are now, and Henry got that on a silver platter because he's his father son. Even Stan Lee had to work hard on Marvel, same goes for Romita Jr.

This is a very unfair situation for everyone who work with comics, because no matter how hard they work, people like Henry will have everything without doing anything to deserve it.

Well, good thing this is not taking any work away from anyone. This whole project would not exist had it not been for JJ and Henry Abrams agreeing to write for Marvel. So I don't see how this hurts anyone.

All I see is a bunch of butthurt around how life is not fair.

If you want to be happy in life, you should worry about yourself and how YOU do with what you are given. Stop comparing yourself to others or you'll never be happy.

I'm sure Henry is going to inherit a fortune from his dad one day too. For all the people out there working days and nights to make ends meat, there are a select few who barely have to try and get handed everything on a sliver platter. It's the way of the world. This is nothing new.

[boots]

i'll always side with people over business

"making it happen" is somewhat a myth. there are only so many cabs available but a lot of people trying to hail one, if you catch my meaning. i know plenty of talented people who don't have access to the same advantages as their more privileged competitors due to family issues, health issues, needing to hold down 2 jobs, etc. they need to work even harder for the same amount of recognition.

that being said, i know plenty of lazy creatives too with zero drive.

but, nepotism isn't anything new. it's common. maybe moreso in entertainment, but no industry is purely a meritocracy. not while humans make the decisions anyway.

relationships get people ahead, that's why networking is a thing. that's why you shouldn't stay home when you get that invite to the party. in entertainment, you can charm your way in the door, casting couch it, buy your way in, your significant other might get you a job or someone might just like your face (on the opposite side i've heard of one person who wasn't hired because they reminded a producer of an ex).

but just because it happens a lot doesn't make it any less shit. here's a thing: would any of us turn down a relatively similar opportunity if handed to us on a plate? i wouldn't.

[boots]

Well, good thing this is not taking any work away from anyone.

while i'm happy to support the idea of this book, the reality is that marvel will only produce so many books per year. that's just budgets. resources that go towards this title mean that another potential pitch will go unmade. maybe that rejected pitch will get produced further down the line, but the bottom line (if comics work like film and tv) is that it will most likely take the place of someone else's work.

unless abrams snr is self-financing this.

[Vortex85]

while i'm happy to support the idea of this book, the reality is that marvel will only produce so many books per year. that's just budgets. resources that go towards this title mean that another potential pitch will go unmade. maybe that rejected pitch will get produced further down the line, but the bottom line is that it will most likely take the place of someone else's work.

unless abrams snr is financing this.

This is a huge money making opportunity for Marvel. They are not publishing this mini in place of anything else. Say there were 1000 books published in 2019 for Marvel, because of this arangement, Marvel will publish 1005 instead. There is NO reason to belive this is replaceing any project / idea that anyone else would have done instead.

Also, I've seen people act like Henry got this gig in place of someone else. This gig was birthed out of talks of collaboration between Marvel and the Abrams family. There was no one applying for this job. This was not an opportunity for anyone else. There was no competing for this. No one lost anything.

[boots]

This is a huge money making opportunity for Marvel. They are not publishing this mini in place of anything else. Say there were 1000 books published in 2019 for Marvel, because of this arangement, Marvel will publish 1005 instead. There is NO reason to belive this is replaceing any project / idea / project that anyone else would have done instead.

i don't work for marvel, but as an ex producer, i can't wrap my head around this. marvel doesn't suddenly create more resources than they already possess. the finance for those extra 5 issues has to come from somewhere. they can't just whack 5 extra books on the production schedule on a whim.

it's possible that they have a special kitty on reserve for contingency/special projects not initially slated for 2019. but that's still contingency resources that could have been made available to another creator.

the only way this doesn't take the place of another potential book is if they sourced investment purely for this work.

but maybe someone who actually knows how this works for comics could expand on it all.

[Hugo Strange]

Who knows. Maybe Marvel were after proposals for a new Spider-Man's miniseries and they decided to give this opportunity to the inexperienced boy because his father is famous.

[WebSlingWonder]

i'll always side with people over business

"making it happen" is somewhat a myth. there are only so many cabs available but a lot of people trying to hail one, i f you catch my meaning. i know plenty of talented people who don't have access to the same advantages as their more privileged competitors due to family issues, health issues, needing to hold down 2 jobs, etc. they need to work even harder for the same amount of recognition.

that being said, i know plenty of lazy creatives too with zero drive.

but, nepotism isn't anything new. it's common. maybe moreso in entertainment, but no industry is purely a meritocracy. not while humans make the decisions anyway.

relationships get people ahead, that's why networking is a thing. that's why you shouldn't stay home when you get that invite to the party. in entertainment, you can charm your way in the door, casting couch it, buy your way in, your significant other might get you a job or someone might just like your face (on the opposite side i've heard of one person who wasn't hired because they reminded a producer of an ex).

but just because it happens a lot doesn't make it any less shit. here's a the thing to ponder...would any of us turn down a relatively similar opportunity if handed to us on a plate? i wouldn't.

So reading your post, I agree with most points. This is a far more nuanced issue that people are realizing than those on Twitter and earlier in this thread. It's kind of a double-edged sword, partly created by Marvel and partly created by off-the-wall fan expectations, and partly created by the standards in the entertainment industry. It's a perfect storm.

My only rebuttal would be that I still don't think "making it happen" is truly a myth. I don't know if everyone is going to make it in the comic industry (not everyone will and not everyone should, to be honest). We are all trying to find out what our calling is and what makes us happy. I say if making comics, writing comics, or drawing comics make you happy, you'll find a way by whatever means to make that work. No, you may not have a rich dad who can get you the job. But you have friends, contacts, connections that can do the same thing.

A bit of a personal story: my father, and my family, came from barely having anything. He jokes about it now, but he put in the hard work, the determination, and the effort against all odds to go to school, get his degree, work as a youth pastor, then as a full pastor, and currently an executive pastor. He instructed all of us to keep going and build up a resilience that helps us up when we, inevitably, have nothing. As minorities ourselves, my family knows firsthand how privilege gets the job first. The good news? We still didn't stop. And to see where we are now is so much greater.

So, I understand how frustrating it is, and it could discourage those who want to join the industry. But if you really wanted it, you can, not will, but can, make something happen.

[Vortex85]

Who knows. Maybe Marvel were after proposals for a new Spider-Man's miniseries and they decided to give this opportunity to the inexperienced boy because his father is famous.

According to sources, Nick Lowe had been talking about a collaboration project between Marvel and Abram's for years. This mini materialzied from those talks. So no, this was not an opportunity they decided to give to Henry. It's the exact opposite. The miniseries was the outcome AFTER Abrams agreed to do something for Marvel.