EPIC ACTOR BENEFIT BOOK AXED

[MattBrady]

Marvel has notified retailers that the ACTOR charity benefit book, Actor Presents Spider-Man And Incredible Hulk #1 has been cancelled. The book was the final EPIC project that was currently slated to ship.

The solicitation for the issue read:

Written by BILL MESSNER-LOEBS & RON MARZ Penciled by DAVE SIMONS & DAN JURGENS Cover by JOSEPH MICHAEL LINSNER. Marvel's EPIC Comics and A.C.T.O.R. team up to bring you two stories about Marvel's most popular characters in this special one-shot benefit book for the holiday season. Proceeds from this book benefit A.C.T.O.R., the charitable organization dedicated to providing financial assistance to disadvantaged comic book creators. 32 PGS./MARVEL PSR

[J.C. Bakken]

Why is it cancelled?
And, with Marz and Jurgens on it, is it any reason to do so?

[Sean Walsh]

Well that's just a low blow, man. EPIC or not.....it's an ACTOR charity book; I'm sure every penny would have counted....

[Lex]

I understand that Epic didn't work for Marvel and they are trying to distance themselves from it, but cancelling a charity book is horrible.

It's just wrong.

[OM]

...Yep, another Marvel fuckup. What's next? The confession that the pre-Jemas regime has in fact taken the company back over, and that foil covers will be returning?

[KyleThoreau]

you miss the recent Fantastic Four?

they're returning.... be afraid.....

[J.C. Bakken]

Originally posted by KyleThoreau
you miss the recent Fantastic Four?

they're returning.... be afraid.....

I see didn't Bob Harras in FF? What do you mean?

[Hdefined]

*shrug*

ACTOR or not, it didn't belong in the Epic line.

[Velvet Glove]

For their next trick, Marvel will now stomp on some baby ducks and finish off by eating a few kittens.


....Seriously, cancelling a charity book? At least offer some kind of explanation than letting it sit out in the air like this. Bogus.

[chonk34]

To quote an old farmer I know, "That's no damn good."

[Dan20]

Yeah, this is a really dumb move. It seemed like it would be a neat one-shot, but more importantly, it was a charity book.
I have a feeling the Epic Anthology will be axed next.
In any case, I do think Marvel should release some sort of statement about these cancellations; I mean, it's obvious they've given up on the line, and that's their right, but to solicit all these books and then just quietly drop them seems unfair to fans who were interested in the projects.

[Barry]

Cancelling a charity book. Classy.

[Michael P]

What's the sound? Oh, it's Baby Jesus crying.

[Spidey4054]

Ok, let's get this out of the way. Please, good Lord, please STOP with the "Another Marvel fuck-up" or "I wouldn't expect anything less from Nu-Marvel" one-liners. They're trite and ridiculous and just make you sound like a total fanboy.

That aside, as a big Marvel fan I'm really disappointed at how Marvel is trying to pretend as if Epic either never happened or that it wasn't that big of an initiative and therefore not that big of a loss. What the hell is that about??

I've never seen a company so blatently want to get rid of all traces of one of it's former bigwigs (ie Bill Jemas) the way Marvel has. Bottom line, if you didn't think Epic was a good idea, someone could have said "NO" to Bill's proposal. I mean, he was not the end all be all, you wouldn't get speared if you opposed one of his ideas. That's a ridiculous idea. And it's a good thing the Ultimate Universe took off as well as it did, or that Jemas baby would have been thrown out the window also.

I just don't get it. I'm sure that Marvel has some other reason ready as to why they are canceling all these books and no longer supporting Epic, and frankly I'd love to hear it. But in the end, being a big Marvel fan is NOT going to help me believe it. The only thing they're doing is screwing a lot of great talent out of their shot in the business.

I just think it sucks. I really enjoyed "Trouble" (I do have the impression that I'm one of the few), and would love to see more of the same great non-superhero stories from a major publisher. Espcially some by fresh unknown talent (come on, Mark Miller is amazing, yes, but hardely unknown.)

So that's it. It lasted for about a year. It was a disaster, not helped along at all by Marvel, and in the end, they went so far as to cancel a benefit book. That's kinda sad.

[Hdefined]

Originally posted by Spidey4054

I've never seen a company so blatently want to get rid of all traces of one of it's former bigwigs (ie Bill Jemas) the way Marvel has. Bottom line, if you didn't think Epic was a good idea, someone could have said "NO" to Bill's proposal. I mean, he was not the end all be all, you wouldn't get speared if you opposed one of his ideas. That's a ridiculous idea. And it's a good thing the Ultimate Universe took off as well as it did, or that Jemas baby would have been thrown out the window also.

Um, Jemas was the prez. The next highest step were people who have no business in editorial. Well, Jemas wasn't even SUPPOSED to have any business in editorial, so the higher-ups removed him and put a few extra people in editorial so that kind of crap wouldn't happen again

[Zig Zag Wanderer]

Originally posted by Hdefined
*shrug*

ACTOR or not, it didn't belong in the Epic line.

Fair enough.

I don't know if the Epic handle relates to why it was pulled, but it's a poor move regardless.

[Scooby2099]

Will Marvel be providing an explanation? I think one is owed to retailers and consumers.

[Noam Choseed]

I don't know the whole story, but canceling a charity book just looks bad Marvel should find a way to get some money into ACTOR if they want to head off any more bad publicity. This just makes them look bad.

[Frightliner]

Well, I am pretty suprised Marvel hasn't stated at least some sort of reason for this. Just don't look very classy.

[J.D. Lombardi]

Originally posted by Spidey4054
Ok, let's get this out of the way. Please, good Lord, please STOP with the "Another Marvel fuck-up" or "I wouldn't expect anything less from Nu-Marvel" one-liners. They're trite and ridiculous and just make you sound like a total fanboy.

That aside, as a big Marvel fan I'm really disappointed at how Marvel is trying to pretend as if Epic either never happened or that it wasn't that big of an initiative and therefore not that big of a loss. What the hell is that about??

I've never seen a company so blatently want to get rid of all traces of one of it's former bigwigs (ie Bill Jemas) the way Marvel has. Bottom line, if you didn't think Epic was a good idea, someone could have said "NO" to Bill's proposal. I mean, he was not the end all be all, you wouldn't get speared if you opposed one of his ideas. That's a ridiculous idea. And it's a good thing the Ultimate Universe took off as well as it did, or that Jemas baby would have been thrown out the window also.

Spoken like a true "fanboy".

[Jeffbot]

Man...I had ten copies of this ordered. Cancelling a book that's solely designed for charitable purposes? Yikes.

[Alex Clarke Kent]

I agree. Canceling a charity book just looks bad. But I have a feeling that the negative press this gets might change Marvel's mind. I think we'll still see the book, but it just won't be under the Epic label

[J.D. Lombardi]

Onto the news snippet. It is a little difficult to NOT villify Marvel with them cancelling a charit book...but really, just like DC and other companies in the biz, they are private with their financial side. Who is to say that Marvel doesn't have some instability currently, or needs to be conservative because of an impending sale to a new conglomerate?

I'm only speculating, but sometimes, trimming the fat and only holding onto all your winners makes you look more attractive to prospective buyers. There could be more behind all these cancellations.

[Chris1]

I am surprised at those of you who are asking why this book fell under the Epic imprint? Have you forgotten? Epic was the next big thing! Well actually Tsunami was the next big thing...but still Marvel has to promote the heck out of an imprint before they run it to the ground and move on to the next one. Unfortunately, this one-shot was just too slow and missed out.

And no I'm not a Marvel basher, although my purchases certainly entitle me to be, but I do hate the concept of "flooding the market" with all of these new imprints. I know that doesn't relate to this book specifically since it was a charity book but if you're going to create yet another imprint you should at least stick to the reason it was created in the first place.

[Robot H Brian]

Originally posted by Michael P
What's the sound? Oh, it's Baby Jesus crying.

That and the sound of Dan Jolley stealing Bill Messner-Loebs' prescription meds.