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

[Prof. Warren]

Well you're contradicting yourself here. Because he hasn't shown anything that prooves he is qualified. Yet he is there.

He hasn't shown anything publically but one would think that editors have seen examples of his writing and believe he will be able to deliver.

The amount of hand-wringing over this is absurd. It's not like Abrams and his son have been given the keys to the kingdom and Spencer has been booted from ASM. It's a five issue mini. How it will be, who knows?

If I read it and don't care for it, I'll critique it then. For now, it's an unknown quantity.

[Marvel/DC Fan]

I like Abrams but this is a pass for me, I'm more interested in the Erik Larsen/Gerry Conway one shot coming out that month.

[Ravin' Ray]

He hasn't shown anything publically but one would think that editors have seen examples of his writing and believe he will be able to deliver.

What he said. And yes, we're just guessing, but it's still a possibility.

Which begs the question, does Henry have heretofore hidden talents that the public is unaware of, that impressed Marvel?

[WebLurker]

Well you're contradicting yourself here. Because he hasn't shown anything that prooves he is qualified. Yet he is there.

No, I'm saying that we're assuming we know the whole story when we, in fact, do not know all the factors that lead to Marvel picking him, coupled with the fact that they're not going to give a job like this to someone who's not qualified on purpose.

[Vegeta]

It was really weird to start a countdown with the number 4 though. Usually people countdown from 10, 5, or 3. I can see why people felt mislead, even if I don't share in the online outrage.

[Spiderx3000]

This feels like a bit of a nontroversy. If the mini is good, then that’s great and if it’s not, who cares? There have been plenty of terrible Spider-Man comics published in the last 57 years and this will be just another one added to the pile.

[Revolutionary_Jack]

...

There's also the plain fact that as far as big two goes there's always a smaller number of ongoing comics compared to the larger pool of prospective and active writers. There must be say a million aspiring comics writers, professionals, and others. But can we say that there are say, a 1000 superhero ongoing titles? Even if there are 1000 it would not meet the demand and often it's less than that. Compare that to rock music, to literature, to video games these days, or cinema where even if it's more expensive (since you need instruments, equipments and permissions to rent spaces), there are vastly more movies made on average and in proportion than comics.

I do think that if you start in comics you should do creator-owned or independent work and make chops of that. The plus side is you actually get rights on those. And within that context, seeing some rich kid get to write friggin' Spider-Man, one of the most coveted titles in the industry seems uninspiring.

If JJ is talking through the outline with Henry, that means JJ is a co-writer, therefore he is writing the comic.

Talking through the outline is "based on an idea by" and so on. "'Talking through the outline" is way less than what Stan Lee did via Marvel Method.

If this is the comic that is supposed to sell a million units...

There's no way this series will sell a million units. The last time that happened was in the 90s when the comics market was bigger than it is now. Second of all, JJ Abrams' personal brand isn't that big. If this were James Cameron or George Lucas, you can expect a lot of interest and sales based on name alone. In the case of Abrams, the reason for his success has always been that he's worked with pre-established IP like Star Trek, Mission Impossible, Star Wars and so on. It's not a case that people went to see Star Trek because of him. People see Mission Impossible for Tom Cruise, and Star Wars is well Star Wars.

[boots]

you also have a point wsw, we don't know what went on behind the scenes. this is still gonna cost marvel $ to produce, they want to be at least somewhat assured of a return.

abrams jr may have had to pitch, or at least turn in a spec script of sorts.

i'm willing to give him a chance.

that being said though, i totally symathise with tweet from john layman:

Making comics since 1995. Deliver quality scripts on time & hassle free. Have two Eisners & seven (comic book) NYT’s best sellers. Pursued Marvel work since mid-2016 & was told this year, credible source, “Marvel won’t hire you.”

Congrats to JJ Abrams’ kid on new Spidey gig!

[Tofali]

Would Henry have landed this gig at his age and without any known writing credits in his resume if it wasn't for dear old dad?

[Vortex85]

Would Henry have landed this gig at his age and without any known writing credits in his resume if it wasn't for dear old dad?

But the only reason this is being made is just that, to bring in a big name director from movies to attract attention and potentially attract a new set of customers into the world of comics. If it doesn’t work, no prob it’s a side project...it doesn’t take anyone’s job or work away. If it works, it’s better for everyone in comics because they’ve grown the comic industry.

[Mister Mets]

Would Henry have landed this gig at his age and without any known writing credits in his resume if it wasn't for dear old dad?

Anyone who could get JJ Abrams' name on the cover would have landed this gig.

[WebSlingWonder]

To counter the earlier point of how comics pros are against this, even Larsen himself has defended Marvel's choice, as well as Gail Simone:
Screen Shot 2019-06-22 at 10.47.50 AM.jpg

Screen Shot 2019-06-22 at 10.47.04 AM.jpg

Fascinating stuff.

[Hugo Strange]

Maybe they don't have unlimited talents ate their door, but they have some of talents (or they used to have)...

https://scontent.faru2-1.fna.fbcdn.n...9e&oe=5D914D10

[WebSlingWonder]

Maybe they don't have unlimited talents ate their door, but they have some of talents (or they used to have)...

https://scontent.faru2-1.fna.fbcdn.n...9e&oe=5D914D10

That's true. The truth is this: whatever reason Marvel has for not using/hiring more talent, particularly ones who have applied to them, is their own reason. I don't know why Layman hasn't worked at Marvel. Maybe it's something we don't know about him? Maybe it's something about Marvel. Who knows, right?

[Tuck]

That's true. The truth is this: whatever reason Marvel has for not using/hiring more talent, particularly ones who have applied to them, is their own reason. I don't know why Layman hasn't worked at Marvel. Maybe it's something we don't know about him? Maybe it's something about Marvel. Who knows, right?

Layman's a major target of "Comicsgate". Marvel may not want the headache.