Why does everybody hate Bill Jemas?

[al_capone]

Now, maybe I’m just being extremely ignorant here, but could somebody please explain to me what Bill Jemas has done that seems to be riding up so many people’s backs? From where I stand, the man seems to have done a wonderful job since taking over Marvel. Just look at how ‘The Amazing Spider-Man’ is now and then compare it to an issue from three years back and I think you’ll agree that Marvel comics have certainly improved since his arrival. Also, take a look at what Bill Jemas has done to Marvel’s graphic novel library. If not for this I never would have gotten into ‘Daredevil’, ‘The Incredible Hulk’ or ‘The Mighty Thor’ and I’m planning on trying out a few others too. And, most importantly, Marvel is at the top again.

Yeah, I know that Bill Jemas is an annoying man who often makes me feel like flying over to New York just to strangle him, but surely the positive aspects of his presidency of Marvel topple the negatives? Don’t get me wrong, I don’t agree with all of the man’s principles, like his complete disregard for his fans, the way he actually insults them, the fact that he brought ‘Marville’ into the world, and the way he’s flooding the market with so many new comics, but hey, if half of them are nearly as good as ‘Runaways’ then that’s no bad thing in my book. Also, rewind three years ago again and wasn’t the case back then the same as it is now in that department except for instead of releasing a ‘Kingpin’ ongoing series and all of this ‘Tsunami’ stuff we were given crap like ‘Spider-Man: The Mysterio Manifesto’ and ‘X-Men Icons’ all the time instead?

So please, could somebody explain to me the big picture, because I’m obviously missing out on something.

[Poops McGee]

I don't hate Bill Jemas. I'm sure you'd be mean to people too if everyone was constantly calling for your head because their favorite book isn't how they want it. I'm sure he's a really nice guy outside of his job.

[Ed Cunard]

People just like to whine... People will whine about anything...

[Paul Hamilton]

I think maybe you're giving him a little too much credit, I put the raised quality down mainly to Joe having a lot of talented mates.
I can forgive Jemas everything except his 'writing' sideline. I don't mean the books he is the sole writer on, but the ones where he shares credit. It appears to me that he is using his power to put his name on things that he hasn't had much involvement in, and the involvement he did have was probably not welcome but had to be taken.
There's always been a thing about editors writing books, but this is even worse. At least a lot of editors have a history of writing, and have a job where they need to understand comic writing, how the hell does the President of Marvel Comics have all the spare time to write all these books?

[xerossilence]

marvel didnt improve when jemas took over, marvel improved when quesada took over as editor and chief. as for why i hate him, listen to the man talk: he thinks comic retailers are idiots and treats them as such. he's decided we as consumers dont care about whats happening in a story and will read it based on the cover and is incredibly insulting to every interviewer. and i will be the first to admit, as a marvel zombie, marvel is the best its been in years. but thats joes fault, and jemas is an ass.

Xero

[al_capone]

So has Jemas done anything to help improve Marvel or was it all Joe Quesada's doing as is being suggested?

[Lestat de Lioncourt]

When Jemas became pres, his first action was to give Quesada the EIC position. Him an Joe worked hand in hand discussin what to do with marvel didnt they? Also as for Jemas giving himself co-credits on the comics. The Ultimate line and Origin are his nucleus creations. The first arc on Spidey and Origins story were born out of 60 page notes/ideas/synopsis which Jemas wrote. And he and Joe actively sought out writers to turn them into scripts and improve them, As Jenkins and Bendis came aboard, the writer, jemas and quesada discussed these in depth and the scripts grew and improved. I find it very careless to not recognise jemas' writing work on these title. Even if Marville wasn't fantastic. I think as with Origin, jemas approached Namor with the same tactic. He can be blunt and annoying but him and Joe suceeded in doing this with the goal of getting people talking about Marvel again, when they began their 'renaissance'. And it worked, didn't it?

[outlander]

Most people find it hard to swallow when someone has an opinion that is in direct opposition of theirs. Jemas is not a bad guy, just a shrewd businessmen. Remember, the comics industry is still a business.

[Taylor Porter]

I think Jemas is great. He's funny, controversial, entertaining, and clever, which are all the things that Marvel used to be, and should be again.

As a president, he brought in Joe Quesada, who I think will be remembered as one of Marvel's best EICs. As a writer, he was involved with Ultimate Spider-Man (which is great) and Marville (which was at least something different, and got people talking). As the public face of Marvel, he's gone with a "any publicity is good publicity" approach, which may seem sleezy, but it's been working. And I think it's damn funny and well deserved when he makes fun of the fanboys.

[Paul Hamilton]

</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Originally posted by Lestat de Lioncourt:
<strong>When Jemas became pres, his first action was to give Quesada the EIC position. Him an Joe worked hand in hand discussin what to do with marvel didnt they? Also as for Jemas giving himself co-credits on the comics. The Ultimate line and Origin are his nucleus creations. The first arc on Spidey and Origins story were born out of 60 page notes/ideas/synopsis which Jemas wrote. And he and Joe actively sought out writers to turn them into scripts and improve them, As Jenkins and Bendis came aboard, the writer, jemas and quesada discussed these in depth and the scripts grew and improved. I find it very careless to not recognise jemas' writing work on these title. Even if Marville wasn't fantastic. I think as with Origin, jemas approached Namor with the same tactic. He can be blunt and annoying but him and Joe suceeded in doing this with the goal of getting people talking about Marvel again, when they began their 'renaissance'. And it worked, didn't it?</strong></font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">I don't have a problem with the way he does his job as president of the company, he pisses off nearly everyone but pays the right people and sells comics.
Creatively, Marville has shown what a great writer Jemas is when he's not 'co-writing'. You think coming up with the ideas to reboot the Marvel Universe and to tell the origin of Wolverine make him creative? These are hardly original ideas, mate.
Basic plotting for the first issues of the Ultimate line wasn't Jemas, that was Stan Lee. For example, if BJ did 60 pages of notes and ideas for the first issues of USM, what the hell was there left for Bendis to write? 60 pages. How many issues did he supposedly contribute to again? That's 60 pages of text remember, unless he's an artist now too.
I like Bendis, I like Marvel, I don't want to see them part ways. When it happens though, I'm going to be very interested to hear Bendis' answers when he's questioned about this.
Do you think you could actually spread out the plot and notes of Origin over 60 pages? WIthout leaving great big gaps, that is.
Maybe I misunderstood, do the 60 pages cover the whole Ultimate line, Origin, Marville and whatever else he stamped his name on? I still don't believe a word of it. If the 60 pages exist, he probably hired some hack to write them retrospectively after giving the real writers nice fat cheques. That's the only thing BJ can write well.

[Roguestorm]

i hate jemas for taking larroca off a book he was very happy doing and replacing him with a mess known as igor who can't even compare to sal.