Scrappy little bugger.
2010 was a big year for the boy wonder, and Marvel took notice. The publisher announced today at Emerald City Comic Con that Nick Spencer has signed an exclusive contract to write for the House of Ideas.
Spencer's current Marvel work includes Iron Man 2.0 and an upcoming stint on Secret Avengers starting with issue #13.
As for ongoing projects at other companies like DC and Image, he's not jumping ship. He's still very much involved with THUNDER Agents and his creator owned books like Infinite Vacation and Morning Glories. So no immediate changes there.
We've heard some rumblings about upcoming Marvel work, and it's good stuff. Stay tuned.
We're giving him twelve weeks before they name him EIC.
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I love Nick Spencer’s work and as long as this doesn’t affect THUNDER agents, im happy! can’t wait to see what other projects he has lined up!
Great news! I don’t care who he works for, as long as he keeps getting work (not that he seemed to be having trouble before, mind.)
Just a business question:
So Nick Spencer signed an EXCLUSIVE with Marvel. Why, then, is he allowed to continue work on books at the other 2 big publishers? Does an exclusive just mean he can’t write MORE for other publishers?
@deezer It means he’s not going to accept any other work during the period of his contract from anyone else other than Marvel. Instead of an exclusive, it’s really about a guaranteed amount of work for the freelancer from said publisher.
Man, I just dropped Secret Avengers and now I have to pick it back up?!? BAH!
Just as long as he is still doing THUNDER Agents.
I’m pleased to hear he’s sticking with THUNDER Agents for now. It’s a terrific series.
@josh ah, ok, that makes sense. Thanks
Oh thank god he’s still continuing with Morning Glories and Infinite Vacation. Working on your own creations PLUS having steady work with Marvel must be pretty ideal for a writer. Good job Nick. Well deserved.
aaaaaah bugger, I really wanted him on Jimmy Olsen and Supergirl =(
MARVEL can have him, screw it. No loss to me.
Sweet i was hoping for that hopefully he gets to do some x-men work
DC drops the ball yet again.
I like Spencer’s work on “THUNDER Agents.” I wish Marvel had bought “THUNDER,” because it’s a gritty universe, and the characters don’t appear to be anywhere near as powerful as Superman, Wonder Woman and Flash, but that may change.
@Invasionforce it was a DC property.
I think.
So I get that the “exclusive” contract allows him to continue currently ongoing books. But i wonder how it factors in to how long he actually continues said books.
i’m excited to see what he can do at marvel. Hoping he’s a Hickman 2.0 and can take a mundane legacy character/team and turn it into something really epic and more importantly make me care about it again.
Its too bad he won’t be on any DC stuff for a long while, but i get the business side of things. Hopefully he has more creator owned in the pipeline.
I think this bodes well for Marvel–I’ve been shocked for a while now how little Marvel I buy anymore compared to a couple of years ago, but Nick Spencer is so good and so exciting that I’ll buy anything with his name on it.
I’m guessing he’s allowed to do Infinite Vacation longer than he is Thunder Agents. But neither all too long. Good get for Marvel.
I got the chance to chat real quick with CB Cebulski at ECCC. It’s clear to me that Marvel is much more on the alert for up and coming writers than DC is.
@j206 I don’t think it works that way at all. Marvel can’t put a cap on how long an ongoing project will go. Jason Aaron is exclusive with Marvel and has been for years, and he can do Scalped as long as Vertigo will have him.
@josh T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents is a licensed property from what I’ve read. Much like the Red Circle and First Wave stuff.
Correct.
@josh – Good call on Scalped. But do you think the contract could be different if Marvel wanted it to be? I know that Vertigo is DC. But in a weird way, it’s not in the same competitive realm. I could see Marvel being a lot more cool with allowing a writer to continue an Image or Vertigo book to continue as opposed to something DC proper. Again, I get that Vertigo is DC. But it seems to me that it’s a lot easier for Marvel to allow Jason Arron to continue doing a Vertigo crime book about a Native American reservation than it would be for them to allow him to keep doing a Lobo book. Does that make sense?
@j206 I’ve never heard of a deal like that. Seems unfair to the creator, and I doubt it would happen.
Yeah, I don’t expect for a deal such as that to ever be made public. Or even in actual contractual terms. But doesn’t logic say that if I’m going to sign you to a big exclusive deal, that part of the underlying deal is that you continue to do big work for my main competitor. I’m not pointing to anything specific by any means. Strictly saying that if Marvel & Spencer were ready to go steady, that it would seem that there would be some sort of “wink, wink” about him not being that in on his DC work.
I’ve kind of thought this was in the works since they announced he wasn’t writing Supergirl after all. This should be a good thing for Marvel. It’s not unusual for creator owned to continue. I’d be willing to guess Thunder Agents is either a coming to a close preemptively or was agreed to for a set number of issues originally and Marvel is letting him finish out that agreement.
Why doesn’t DC sign more young writers as exclusives? Really wanted more Jimmy Olsen stories out of Spencer.
Still good news for him and Marvel. THUNDER agents is one of my favorite books on the stands right now.
I thought something like this was in the works when I saw Spencer listed as a part of the Marvel ‘Next Big Thing’ panel at ECCC.
As for why DC doesn’t sign more young writers as exclusives. That’s a good question. I wonder if it’s a philosophical thing. Like they want a writer to prove themselves more before going exclusive. Not sure. At this point I think it’s pretty clear that Marvel is well ahead in the game in terms of acquiring hot young talent.
Feels like this was sort of the ‘the writing on the wall’.
@TimmyWood –i kinda have this perception that DC plays it safer with that kinda stuff looking for seasoned pros, wheras Marvel pounces on the fresh talent coming from the creator owned world. I don’t seem to hear about DC exclusives as much with Marvel…do they have as many? The sportsfan in me wonders if Marvel has the same strategy as small smarket teams…. “lock the young talent into cheap contracts” and make a run kinda thing.
I’m disppointed by this because I’m just so uninterested in a lot of what Marvel is offering at the moment, which means I may not invest in any of his stories. Hopefully, he can come up with some engaging ideas.
I was looking foward to seeing more DC work out of him, as his take on the few characters has been interesting. I’m not reading any THUNDER Agents because I felt it played more to a trade than a monthly series (i.e. I kept forgetting details and the story felt very decompressed, especially since I didn’t connect with any members of the team).
Best of luck to him!
@Neb —i’m inclined to agree with you, but i’ve been changing my tune recently with Uncanny X Force and Big Time. I’m hoping he can turn a title/character around and make me interested again.
I haven’t been as enamored with Spencer’s work as many, but I’ve enjoyed some of it well enough. Either way, that’s not the point. What is the point is how impressive Nick has been in handling his craft as a profession. He plugged away, put out a TON of his own content to get himself noticed, and then never looked back. Talk about grabbing the brass ring. That’s good stuff, and should serve as an example of how great success is still possible if you apply yourself (and have chops).
Wait that Jimmy Olsen issue coming this month from DC is a one-shot or ongoing?
@muddi900 One-shot.
please make him revive runaways marvel spencer would be absolutely perfect for the book.