Show Notes
Joe Quesada, Editor-in-Chief at Marvel Comics has released his annual holiday song. It is available for downloading here. (Right click and “save as”).
Let’s go ahead and say right off that I admire him for putting himself out there in such a way. I believe Quesada was some form of professional musician for a time. I also admire his chutzpah in taking pot shots at both himself and his fans.
Finally, I admire him for the consistent ability to keep himself and Marvel in the headlines at all costs. He certainly knows what he’s doing, and is shameless in that endeavor. And I think it translates to more comic book sales.
But the rap is a whole other thing.
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I think it sucks
He should spend more time on making sure his books come out on time.
ring ring
Steve McNiven: “yeah?”
Joe Q: “You still drawing?”
Steve McNiven: “Yup.”
Joe Q: “Good. Keep it up. Go faster if you can. I’ll call you again shortly.”
Steve McNiven: “I’ve been very sick you know.”
Joe Q: “Are you dead? No? Shut the fuck up and draw. THERE ARE PEOPLE COMPLAINING ON THE INTERNET!!!”
ooohhh that was a bad song.
i’m glad they did it though, you can tell they had fun putting it together.
Hey Darrel, that song thinks YOU suck.
🙂
(hopefully you won’t stalk to the streets of Philly to get me.)
*ducks*
seriously though, hilarious voicemails!
I haven’t listened to it yet but when I saw it Friday night I was not happy that it was called two weeks late for christmas. Quesada is stupid and these little ‘jokes’ not only remind us why we’re pissed in the first place but it’s kind of abrasive too. Like I’m stupid or something because I’m not happy that their whole universe is pushed back by strep throat or chronic masturbators disease or whatever mcniven has this week.
favorites:
‘We’re going to help you save some money’
‘we added some issues of blade and moon knight to make up for it’
now i have listened to it
waaaaay more offended than i was before
what an asshole
You get road rage, don’t you Fred?
not often to be honest with you
the problem is that the announcement from them is never a simple we’re sorry. it’s hey things happen and you guys are crazy for caring anyway but you know we have this other great book coming out that nobody buys so buy that
If you’re really mad, you could stop buying their products.
dudes got balls
If you’re really mad, you could stop buying their products.
I’m not going to stop buying them it just pisses me off. I could deal with lateness. I don’t and won’t like it but I can deal with it. At the same time I expect them to respect me as a consumer of their products
Quesada must be punished.
If you’re really mad, you could stop buying their products.
Funny enough, I think I have been doing just that over the past year or so. I’ve gone from about 20-25 ongoing Marvel books a month to 6, and if it wasn’t for Brubaker (Daredevil, Criminal) and Bendis (New Avengers, Powers) I would only be getting 2 ongoing Marvel books now (Runaways and X-Factor).
Now I can’t say that is due entirely to lateness, because it’s not, but that is a part of it. I have just gotten really tired of the Marvel hype machine continually overpromising and underdelivering, and that includes failing to ship on time. I will still follow my favorite writers and artists if they are on Marvel books, but I’m done with buying Marvel event books and hyped-up crap that I know will suck.
I have been much more satisfied with DC (especially Vertigo), Image and indie books lately.
I got as far as the rap thinking, “Well, he’s certainly putting it all out there, nicely done” but when the editorial staff began to bus’ it old school I had a fight-or-flight reaction. “Ohhhh no. No sir.” When Black Bolt goes all duckies on your ass, I’ll bet the last thing your intact ears can make out sounds a lot like that Breevort rap. I turned off my player and put the headphones in a drawer for good measure.
I didn’t plan to listen to it at all when I read the lyrics last week (“now they mock my pain in song?”) but it auto-downloaded as a Marvel podcast, which apparently I still subscribe to. They just haven’t done one in a while, I guess, much to the delight of the iFanboys.
As for the subject of the song… I dunno. I used to be mad that this stuff would keep happening and the Powers That Be acted like I was stupid for even caring, but the more I think about it I suspect it’s just another symptom of the culture we live in now. They may actually feel like douchebags every time they have a shipping date slip– or maybe not– but you’ll never know either way because in 21st century America nobody can ever, ever say they screwed up and they’re sorry. Maybe it started because of over-litigiousness; maybe it’s because representatives of a publicly traded company can’t publicly say “our product is not coming out” without spinning it as unimportant or a positive; maybe everyone has learned too many of the wrong lessons from Washington. Whatever the reason, people don’t Mea Culpa anymore unless it’s some Mel Gibson-level s***.
“I have just gotten really tired of the Marvel hype machine continually overpromising and underdelivering, and that includes failing to ship on time.”
The solution to this ailment is more straightforward than you think, although I struggle with it myself: don’t stop reading the books, stop reading the hype. Delete that Newsarama bookmark and a few of those blogosphere rss feeds, and in a month or two books actually start taking you by surprise again.
Has Marvel really said they were sorry or did they just lash out at everyone who didnt kiss there ass?
I must say I’m surprised at how seriously people are taking this. They are admitting their faults, albeit passive-aggressively, but at least it’s something.
It’s a business. Very rarely have people expected a corporation to apologize to them for disappointing them. The only exchange they will understand is that of money. If they blow a deadline, and the book gets to the store, and nobody buys it, they’ll get the message fucking quick. When was the last time Coca-Cola apologized? And they’re responsible for horrible things.
But comic readers are like dope fiends, and they might complain to the dealer, but they’re always buying. Not a single one of the people here is going to skip Civil War 7 because of the delay. So why should they bother?
We think because these characters are close to us, we have some ownership in them. But we don’t. HBO didn’t apologize when the Sopranos was 2 years between seasons, and no one asked them to. How is this different?
Final bit…does anyone really think Marvel isn’t trying to get their books out on time? Does anyone really think they’re not putting in the effort? Quesada and Brevoort have hard jobs, and they work a lot and long hours. They have a hell of a lot more stuff on their plates than Stan Lee or Jim Shooter ever did.
Damn, I sound like an apologist. I guess I’m just saying that the only way to punish them for this, is via the marketplace, and we won’t do that, by and large.
The point that’s missing Josh is that Coca Cola may do horrible shit but they don’t call me an asshole for not liking it.
Examples include but not limited to:
1. Maybe I should’a have listened to the internetters?
’cause let’s face it, who on earth could possibly know any better
2. Civil War’s runnin’ late, yeah, don’t gimme no lip
‘Cause you’re backed up in line when that bad boy done ships
I don’t wanna be hearin’ how your heroes been wrecked
Show Mark Miller and Mista McNiven RESPECT!
It’s not like I’m irrationally angry about this but I am annoyed. Maybe part of it is that I’m annoyed with myself for not being able to punish them by not buying the books. But even that is something I’d never have to wonder about if they just didn’t act like assholes.
and i’m not saying that they don’t work hard. quesada obviously has too much on his plate. example daredevil father
and one more thing:
if we’re comparing them to large publicly held companies like coca-cola then make this comparison
would coca-cola ever put together a communications strategy that involved things like this?
no they wouldn’t and if they did I’d be just as annoyed
I guess I don’t find myself annoyed at all. Those jokes about the internet fans aren’t wrong. They’re true, and that makes it kind of funny. I look at it this way, and perhaps I’m not a regular example, but do you have a friend that you joke with and make fun of, and he makes fun of you? I think Marvel’s acting like that. I’m giving them the benefit of the doubt, and thinking that it was offered as a “hey, let’s all just have a laugh for a second about this,” not, “Look at how fucking stupid the fanboys are.” I don’t think they’re that mean or dumb. They’re making fun of themselves just as much. I’m guessing they, like John Kerry before them, are realizing that humor makes a very difficult PR tool. Or, more likely, they realize that as long as people are talking about them, people are thinking about him. How often has Joe Q been at the middle of these conversations? He soooo does it on purpose. And we eat it up like delicious candy.
I mean, I have a website, and a podcast where we talk about their stuff. They’re talking about me as much as they’re talking about the whiny annoying people on Newsarama. Do I feel offended? Not in the least. They get so much shit thrown at them, I’m surprised they don’t all react like Daniel Way. Now THAT was mean spirited. This wasn’t. But I suppose that’s a matter of opinion, and it’s how it makes you feel. I’m of a mind to have a sense of humor about it.
If iFanboy were pissed at Marvel, we wouldn’t talk about their books, and we wouldn’t post stories about them. But really, we’re open for some jabs, and I’m OK with that.
It’s funny. People have noted that we don’t talk about Warren Ellis very much here, and that was true for a long time, because I wouldn’t buy a thing with his name on it, specifically because he was an outright jerk to us on his message board when we started iFanboy. I guess I’ve softened since then, because I was convinced to buy some of his stuff, and really liked it. Fell is a great example (I miss that book, yet no one is mad at him for doing Thunderbolts.) In fact, he’s said more horrible things, and been more disrespectful of comic internet fandom than anything Joe Quesada ever has, but fanboys can’t wait to massage his sack. I don’t get it.
How was Ellis a jerk?
Does anyone have a transcript of the song?
I don’t think Quesada is a jerk, but I do think he retains a lot of water.
Wow you guys need to lighten up, this is ifanboy where sarcasm and silly jokes rule all! I liked the song it didn’t offend me at all, I thought it was funny, they obviously care about their consumers or else they wouldn’t bother to put a funny little song on the internet that makes them seem like idiots, do you honestly think that the Marvel staff ocasionally break out into raps and start spittin out lame lyrics? No they don’t, they made a fool out of themselves for us and we should just laugh and scream STOP RAPPING AND GO FINISH THAT FUCKING CIVIL WAR ALREADY!!!!!!!!!!
What did Ellis say?
No they don’t, they made a fool out of themselves for us and we should just laugh and scream STOP RAPPING AND GO FINISH THAT FUCKING CIVIL WAR ALREADY!!!!!!!!!!
Fuckin’ A.
the song is here
http://www.newsarama.com/NewJoeFridays/NewJoeFridays29.html
I get what you’re saying Josh but for me it’s like enough already. For one thing, jq and I don’t know each other. So I’m not really cool with him busting my balls. I have no problem with giving and taking but not with people that aren’t my friends and that I give money to. Another thing, the people on Newsarama are insane. My irritation never even approaches that level.
For a long time when I came back on the comics scene, I would confuse Garth Ennis and Warren Ellis, not only because they had similar last names but because both of them seemed to famously, vocally hate superheroes while continuing to accept assignments from Marvel and DC. Even as I read Nextwave, I’m pretty sure the book is about how stupid I am for buying it. Mind you, none of this stopped me from buying Warren Ellis’ Underwear Perverts #110 this afternoon.
Having said all of that, I can’t wait to hear more about the Ellis vs. iFanboy Webboard Donnybrook of yore.
I’ve repented losing my sense of humor about these Quesada issues in days gone by, letting myself get consumed by what I once heard Scott Hinze call “fanimosity.” Maybe I simply blew all the gaskets I had left, but now I do try to vote with my wallet instead of being That Guy online.
What did Ellis say?
First off, we’re totally over this, and it’s in the past, so it’s not a thing I’m trying to start. But basically, we’d just built this site, and we’re all proud, and this was in the hey-day of the Warren Ellis Forum, and we posted on there to announce our site, and invite folks to come hang out. And the basic gist of his response, and most of the people there was “Oh great, another stupid fucking superhero comic book website by fans who don’t know anything.” It went on like that for a while, and we very lamely tried to defend ourselves (I’ve since learned not to argue on the internet, unless we can keep it friendly, ie: here.) and that was about it.
But as a big big big fan of his work, it actually really bugged me, because, I was just a fan who wanted to talk about comics, and we were viciously and remorselessly skewered by “internet cool kids.” In retrospect, it was so lame, but that’s about the gist.
You know, at the same time, it feels pretty good to see this site and podcast doing well in the face of that auspicious start. But more to ourselves. If I read a good Warren Ellis book, I will damn well tell you about it today, no animosity at all. Perhaps a joke…
Having said all of that, I can’t wait to hear more about the Ellis vs. iFanboy Webboard Donnybrook of yore.
Eh, I’m reluctant to dredge all that back up. It’s ancient history. I hadn’t even thought of it for years before this afternoon. We’re still here, we won, there’s no point in getting all into it again.
Someone industrious enough could find it all, I’m sure.
EDIT: I see Josh sorta summed it up.
You should go go back and post, “Remember us? iFanboy: Number one rated comic podcast on Digg. Suck it.”
Oh, you know what you should not do, is what horatio said. The farther away I can stay from stuff like that Wizard Board dustup a few months ago, the happier my life will be.
Oh yeah, and don’t forget to bring up your Augie campaign while you’re there!
can i get a banner that says i’m with jimski
Oh, don’t worry – that discussion forum was closed in 2002. We couldn’t do it even if we wanted to, which we don’t. Seriously, we’ve moved on and made friends with some of the people who were there at the time.
I’d fly that Jimski flag. Jimski should call in to voicemail again sometime. What’s up with that?
And no, we’ll be doing no “suck its” on that score. As Conor said, those days are over and done.
However, I dropped Frontline, so suck it Jenkins!
Thats why this is the ONLY comic book website I visit and will continue to visit ifanboy rocks congrats guys you made the collest comic book website(podcast) out there.
I just read Wolverine Origins in 2 minutes, I’m officially dropping it, this book sucks, Daniel Way is an asshole and he writes this book in one afternoon, the original Origins (tongue twister) was awesome this one is a disgrace!
I don’t think I’ve ever read anything by Daniel Way and I only briefly looked at his forum, but I think the most important thing is has not been mentioned…
Is he not wearing a shirt in his avatar picture??
no wonder he’s so angry
poor guy can’t afford a shirt
Daniel Way is an asshole and he writes this book in one afternoon
on a napkin
in shit
I meant to mention his shirtlessness, which for a comic writer is a rare thing. Not a good thing necessarily, but remarkable in a way.
Speaking of shirtlessness, check out Matt Damon’s dead-on impersonation of Matthew McConaughey. Look it up on youtube.
holy cow that was the funniest video ive seen in a couple of weeks
I tried posting the link but for some reason I haven’t been able to cut-and-paste here today.
here it is
http://youtube.com/watch?v=CuYD2cwMbpw
this is also very funny
http://youtube.com/watch?v=NYipy5iErdE
as is this
http://youtube.com/watch?v=1aIyYKqRquI
and finally my personal favorite
http://youtube.com/watch?v=PRhN9j2f8dw
this is also very funny
http://youtube.com/watch?v=NYipy5iErdE
as is this
http://youtube.com/watch?v=1aIyYKqRquI
and finally my personal favorite
http://youtube.com/watch?v=PRhN9j2f8dw
“I’d fly that Jimski flag. Jimski should call in to voicemail again sometime. What’s up with that?”
I was thinking about doing that this very afternoon, with a tangent question spun out of this very thread. I laid off for a while because
1. Listening to the podcast, I got the impression that iFanboy was already being overwhelmed by a deluge of calls, not realizing that Ron had “accidentally” turned off the voicemail some time ago;
2. iFanboy implores its callers to keep it short, and in my case this is quite impossible;
3. In the two or three times I have called iFanboy, I have managed to incur the wrath of Darrell, insult Alan Moore, incur at least one Conorboo, and somehow inexplicably single-handedly restart the Crimean War. This history suggested that the phone should be forcibly taken from me for some time.
On the other hand, it did get me recognized in public, which only grows weirder upon reflection.
2. iFanboy implores its callers to keep it short, and in my case this is quite impossible;
We would always make an exception for you, Jimski.
i think if young kids heard darrells voicemails..they wouldnt sleep for days..
I thought the Fall Out Boy was funnier
and finally my personal favorite
That’s awesome. I love Billie Joe smashing the emo kid’s face in.
The “who the fuck is booster gold?” line made me laugh, other than that it sucked. I have a 45 of Stan Lee and the gang singing the Merry Marvel Marching song from back in the day, I should dig it out and upload it, however Im sure you could find it somewhere else.
I love Billie Joe smashing the emo kid’s face in
we have an emo problem outside
i’ll take care of it
yeah that guy is awesome
i think his name is andrew mathas
there are a few more out there too
there’s a really funny afi one that I didn’t link
I must say I’m surprised at how seriously people are taking this.
Even though you guys saw it before I sent it,
I’m just gonna stop sendin you guys stuff 🙂
I’m surprised at how this is being taken too. I thought it was all in good clean fun.
But comic readers are like dope fiends, and they might complain to the dealer, but they’re always buying.
For some reason this offends me, but I’m not sure why, cause the more I think about it the more I realize you are so very right 🙂
Dudes, that was funny. I’m with Josh on this one–laugh and move on–you’llbe a happier person.
no thanks I’d rather cry cry cry like Wolverine
this is also hilarious:
http://home.xnet.com/~raven/Humor/EvilOverlord.html
the evil overlord list….possibly one of the best documents to cause a mass geek-out of uncontrollable laughter in a group of 1 or more…
http://www.evilrulers.com/eviloverlord.htm
longer version of the evil overlord list
Quesadillas? I like Quesadillas.
The funniest thing is that this song came out the same day that Tom Breevort announced said they just the page count on issue 6. Yesterday they released cover #6 (they only thing that seems to be ready) saying that the issue it’s going to ship on February 20 something…that means they’re more than 4 weeks late.
I don’t take offense by quesada’s song, I think it’s a funny thing.. but I don’t really care for the attitude marvel (editorial) has taken towards the public…they went to the cinnical side a little to much, at least McNiven’s diary entry was a little more humble..and frankly it seems that at the end, marvel just didn’t care when the issues where shipping…It’s a shame for the project (even though it keeps making thousands).
the same day that Tom Breevort announced said they just the page count on issue 6
What I meant to say was: the same day that Tom Breevort announced that they just finished the page count on issue 6.
Oh my god! if I mess up in such a little project…what must that be for quesada & co…
This changes my whole outlook.
You know what I think the thing that seperates Ellis from Way. Ellis can write good books, even if he’s an asshole, that whole “seperate the man from the work” (Granted that’s harder to do when it’s a personal thing). Ellis can write, Way can…I don’t know what…
As someone too far away from a comics shop (outside the U.S.) to buy monthly titles, the whole flap about late shipping doesn’t affect me much, so neither does the song, but I can imagine it would be pretty frustrating for those of you (like Fred) that go to a store weekly.
I guess it compares to the weird hiatus of TV shows, where I almost prefer BBC or HBO shows with only 12-13 episodes that broadcast one right after the other every week like clockwork, as opposed to 23 episode US seasons that start > winter hiatus, maybe 1 show a month Nov./Dec., (rerun), start in Jan., rerun, start, hiatus… stop, start… drives me nuts. I’ve dropped a few shows because of this.
It really is a bit like a director making a movie that is supposed to play well if shown to an audience for 2 hours, but in the middle they call out a sudden intermission of indeterminate length. Breaks the flow of the story, forget the fanboy angle. For me, it’s not so much the consumer-company relationship, but the effect being late has on the quality of the product (just like rushing a issue does as well).
I suspect at this rate, the Quesada/Marvel can make a joke about being late one more time, then they really are going to have to rethink their publishing schedule — for example more pages but more time between issues, guaranteed release date — not so much as a TPB, but something in between a floppy with tons of adverts and a thick bound TPB with no adds–maybe a hybrid of the two, something like that.
Seen from this light, it kind of dovetails into the discussion Ron started about buying only trades instead of monthlies. Instead of either/or, the publishers should think about something in between.
But being cute in a song is cute for now, but one more year of the same and Marvel will feel enough pressure on the internet to fear possible impact on sales. Maybe 52 and Civil War sold well this year, but will something similar sell well again next year? I bet no.
As for internet squawk, its like a comment I saw on YouTube — “Fighting on the interenet is like the Special Olympics — even if you win you’re still a retard.”
That’s what makes THIS space (ifanboy.com) so great — no petty one liner insults posing as real discussion. Very civil, very intelligent.
And “Everybody Loves JIMSKI!” I say we nominate him for Fanboy-In-Chief in ’08, anybody with me?
BTW, no disrespect meant in my last post to the mentally challenged. I actually blubber like a baby when I watch the Special Olympics… challenging the odds despite the barriers and all that. Heck, Joe Quesada can’t sing, yet there he is, “emo-ing” away…
Jimski should you accept the title of Fanboy-In-Chief please remember the strict provisions against hard partying, dancing on tables, and lesbian kisses. No wait that’s Miss USA. Not really sure what Fanboy-In-Chief is.
Come on Fred gets my nomination for ifanboy-thread-in-chief.
ifanboy-in-chief are Josh,Connor, and Ron
Thanks very much. My modesty would not prevent me from serving
Fred, you’re modest?
It makes me more likeable if I pretend that I am
OOOOoooooh. Throw the sheets over their eyes. Nice.
When I do go ahead and read Newsarama’s Joe Fridays with Mr. Quesada, the thing I love the most is when he has to answer questions from message board posters and respectfully treat their handles like their real names.
The ‘Nam asks: Joe, this question is of the utmost importance to me. Why is it Marvel policy to hate gay people so much?
JQ: Well, I dispute your interpretation of Marvel policy, but I think I know why you see it that way, The ‘Nam.
Cracks me up every time. It’s like a music journalist calling Meat Loaf “Mr. Loaf.”
Well that spawned a thread bite.
You see what I mean? Jimski’s the man. Fred would best serve as official hatchet man to do the dirty work (plausible deniablity for Jimski) and Josh, Connor and Ron would be the cabal that really rules while Jimski serves as everybody’s beloved figure head. Simple.
“Mr. Loaf.” Hilarious.
They hint that their going to kill MJ in ASM, that would be bad…DAMN YOU QUESADA!