JMS Writing New Captain America Ongoing

[Galerion]

They are doing the shocking/high impact stories because they don't have the timeframe of decades that guys like Gruenwald had back in the old days. Brubaker had eight years under Quesada, but given that current day Marvel are more concerned about sales, they are not guaranteed decades of tenure. If you are on the book for 24 issues, you are going to go for the biggest memorable stories to either get the sales or to be the most memorable writer since a year or two you'll be gone.

Look at Hickman for X-Men, he left before finishing because apparently the sales weren't good enough which reveals how much Marvel is constantly chasing high sales and changing creative teams now.

It's the opposite, actually. He left because it was selling TOO well, and the other writers and editors wanted to stick with the current status quo that he set up, while he wanted to move on to the next stage. If Hickman had stayed on, Fall of X would've happened two years ago.

You are both kinda wrong about it or at least you are mixing different stuff together which muddles the truth.

There is a 3.5 hours long podcast with Hickman out there. I personally haven't listened to it but the X-Forum has a thread about it
https://community.cbr.com/showthread...he-Cerebro-pod

The notes clearly say that Hickman decided against the benchmarks and workloads that his work would have entailed. It does say that the initial sales of HoX were lower than expected but that had nothing to do with Hickman leaving. Again the workload was simply too much for him.

[Bruce Wayne]

It's the opposite, actually. He left because it was selling TOO well, and the other writers and editors wanted to stick with the current status quo that he set up, while he wanted to move on to the next stage. If Hickman had stayed on, Fall of X would've happened two years ago.

No the podcast he recently did (https://redcircle.com/shows/fcf903ec...c-92878e4941fe) said HoX/PoX underperformed in terms of sales and he said that was part of the reason that he was moved off since Marvel had wanted more big sellers from him instead of staying on X-Men, which imo lines up with this tweet by the EiC (https://twitter.com/CBCebulski/statu...58413226598400) that he wants to want to have more top selling issues by Marvel.

Y It does say that the initial sales of HoX were lower than expected but that had nothing to do with Hickman leaving. Again the workload was simply too much for him.

He actually did indicate in that podcast imo Marvel wanted bigger more successful projects from him (and that seemingly HoX/PoX underperformed) and that seems to have been part of the reason he left. At least that's my interpretation when I listened to the podcast.

[K7P5V]

I'd like to see the AmeriVan come back, or a recreational vehicle that he can travel cross-country in.

Me too! Hell, I'd even settle for the return of Cap's bike

[Vordan]

No the podcast he recently did (https://redcircle.com/shows/fcf903ec...c-92878e4941fe) said HoX/PoX underperformed in terms of sales and he said that was part of the reason that he was moved off since Marvel had wanted more big sellers from him instead of staying on X-Men, which imo lines up with this tweet by the EiC (https://twitter.com/CBCebulski/statu...58413226598400) that he wants to want to have more top selling issues by Marvel.


He actually did indicate in that podcast imo Marvel wanted bigger more successful projects from him (and that seemingly HoX/PoX underperformed) and that seems to have been part of the reason he left. At least that's my interpretation when I listened to the podcast.

HoX/PoX as a whole did not underperform. What happened was that the first issue of House sold great, but didn’t meet the numbers Marvel accounting expected. However the following issues of HoX/PoX were hugely successful and went back for reprints which is exactly what Hickman told accounting would happen when an editor passed along their concern to him. The entire X-Line sold gangbusters during his era, he didn’t leave because of lackluster sales or whatever.

Only fallout from the first issue of HoX initially underperforming is that Marvel decided to launch the entire X-Line at once, rather than letting Hickman set up each new series month to month in his X-Men proper book.

[Marvell2100]

Sam's book is being cancelled. I wonder if he'll appear in the new Cap run or just in Avengers.

Will Ian be apart of the new Cap book? It's a shame to lose him again after a few appearances.

[Chris0013]

Sam's book is being cancelled. I wonder if he'll appear in the new Cap run or just in Avengers.

Will Ian be apart of the new Cap book? It's a shame to lose him again after a few appearances.

Odds on Ian staying in Zolandia and ruling after they beat White Wolf?

[Bruce Wayne]

HoX/PoX as a whole did not underperform. What happened was that the first issue of House sold great, but didn’t meet the numbers Marvel accounting expectde. However the following issues of HoX/PoX were hugely successful and went back for reprints which is exactly what Hickman told accounting would happen when an editor passed along their concern to him.

1) imo that is the very definition of underperforming (in that they wanted to sell tons and it only sold a lot) and 2) the number didn't really get better per comicchron (https://pastebin.com/pwNJAXYp). If you look at the tweet from the EiC and how Hickman describes the situation (~23:00-25:00), the numbers side of publishing were probably expecting much much more from HoX/PoX. And selling in the 100K-200K range doesn't seem to be what they were aiming for and in turn it had consequences on how they launched the rest of the line (as Hickman tells it) as originally the main ongoing was to serve as a pilot/springboard for the spinoffs like Marauders/X-Force/Wolverine/Excalibur/etc and the books would have a staggered monthly release schedule instead they opted for saturating a bunch of number #1s immediately. And he mentions the reasons regarding his departure (~1:49:00-1:51:30) was more to pursue these projects that could get the sort of numbers that Marvel desired so yes that obviously reads to me like they were disappointed in the numbers and had wanted more from Hickman on X-Men and pulled the plug when they realized they weren't going to get better numbers.

[Kaijudo]

Yeah...but he is dead dead...there is a body and everything. And yes...I know people have come back from worse...but how do we get him back?

I never liked sacrificing Jack to bring Bucky back (which nobody was clamoring for and which, frankly, has lost its charm since the initial shock back in the day), so I'd do the reverse. Bucky realizes he's gone too far down the dark path in the current Captain America book and, to course correct at least one element to absolve him of his actions, uses some time travel gadget that I'm sure the Outer Circle picked up someplace and goes back and takes Jack's place, so the Winter Soldier winds up inadvertently killing himself. And then Jack, who was at a low point anyway, spends a few more years wallowing in that state before cleaning himself up and reemerging as a heroic figure, albeit one with perhaps a different name than Nomad.

[skyvolt2000]

1) imo that is the very definition of underperforming (in that they wanted to sell tons and it only sold a lot) and 2) the number didn't really get better per comicchron (https://pastebin.com/pwNJAXYp). If you look at the tweet from the EiC and how Hickman describes the situation (~23:00-25:00), the numbers side of publishing were probably expecting much much more from HoX/PoX. And selling in the 100K-200K range doesn't seem to be what they were aiming for and in turn it had consequences on how they launched the rest of the line (as Hickman tells it) as originally the main ongoing was to serve as a pilot/springboard for the spinoffs like Marauders/X-Force/Wolverine/Excalibur/etc and the books would have a staggered monthly release schedule instead they opted for saturating a bunch of number #1s immediately. And he mentions the reasons regarding his departure (~1:49:00-1:51:30) was more to pursue these projects that could get the sort of numbers that Marvel desired so yes that obviously reads to me like they were disappointed in the numbers and had wanted more from Hickman on X-Men and pulled the plug when they realized they weren't going to get better numbers.

What numbers were they expecting?

Did they NOT think everyone else was going to stop publishing books?

How much damage from the previous era soured X-fans?

And if you KEEP focusing on the same set of folks while giving others crumbs-what did they expect?

300K-up isn't going to happen. Those days are OVER.

Just like with Batman, Superman, WW, Hal Jordan, Peter, Carol, Barry, Nightwing and others-not everyone cares for the X-Men. You can order all the copies you want but sooner or later stores will tire of the large piles of unsold books they leave and start lowering order numbers.

That is NOT on Hickman.

Pull the plug and got back to the Emma's midrift, Jean, Scott and Logan showcase? Yeah Storm fans would LOVE that. She finally got a writer who can build her up without trashing T'Challa. They would LOVE to go back to her background days. NOT.

[Chris0013]

I never liked sacrificing Jack to bring Bucky back (which nobody was clamoring for and which, frankly, has lost its charm since the initial shock back in the day), so I'd do the reverse. Bucky realizes he's gone too far down the dark path in the current Captain America book and, to course correct at least one element to absolve him of his actions, uses some time travel gadget that I'm sure the Outer Circle picked up someplace and goes back and takes Jack's place, so the Winter Soldier winds up inadvertently killing himself. And then Jack, who was at a low point anyway, spends a few more years wallowing in that state before cleaning himself up and reemerging as a heroic figure, albeit one with perhaps a different name than Nomad.

I didn't mind Bucky coming back. But I did hate they killed Jack while doing it.

[clonegeek]

What numbers were they expecting?

Did they NOT think everyone else was going to stop publishing books?

How much damage from the previous era soured X-fans?

And if you KEEP focusing on the same set of folks while giving others crumbs-what did they expect?

300K-up isn't going to happen. Those days are OVER.

Just like with Batman, Superman, WW, Hal Jordan, Peter, Carol, Barry, Nightwing and others-not everyone cares for the X-Men. You can order all the copies you want but sooner or later stores will tire of the large piles of unsold books they leave and start lowering order numbers.

That is NOT on Hickman.

Pull the plug and got back to the Emma's midrift, Jean, Scott and Logan showcase? Yeah Storm fans would LOVE that. She finally got a writer who can build her up without trashing T'Challa. They would LOVE to go back to her background days. NOT.

300 K + could only happen if the industry had better distribution

[tliscord]

As far as writers who feel qualified to write Captain America, JMS is definitely pretty high up there. And I like what I'm hearing, especially focusing on Steve (which he might need with how bad his writing in Cold War has been).

The Young Steve flashback storyline reminds me of Remender.

Also it's funny they're bringing Saiz back for another Cap run, except this time with the real Cap.

You say this but the current Outer Circle storyline isn't that far off from it.

That's what I assumed when they ended Steve's book but didn't announce Sam's was ending.

I thought the Hivemind did quite well writing Steve. Issue 4 was exceptional vibing an introspective Englehart take but more confident. Their handling of Sharon has been excellent as well. That one Coldwar issue of Steve perseverating about Ian felt odd but general I’ve loved their take. Sad it’s ending way too soon.

[The Cool Thatguy]

Odds on Ian staying in Zolandia and ruling after they beat White Wolf?

If he lives, pretty much 100%.

When was the last time a big name writer didn't jettison the work of past, lesser known writers?

[DigiCom]

If he lives, pretty much 100%.

When was the last time a big name writer didn't jettison the work of past, lesser known writers?

Jed Mackay, Moon Knight.

[The Cool Thatguy]

Jed Mackay, Moon Knight.

Jed is an excellent writer, but is he a big name? Serious question, I don't recall hearing about him doing much in other mediums