BRAD MELTZER ON PIMPIN' COMICS IN HIS NOVELS

[MattBrady]

Sharp-eyed readers of The New York Post, specifically Liz Smith’s column, caught a quick comic book reference dropped by the gossip queen.

From her Tuesday column:

I APPLAUDED when thriller writer Brad Meltzer landed his "The Book of Fate" on the best-seller lists last September. At the time, it appeared that, along with the Freemasons and an ex-president and a gossip writer, resembling you know who, we had all been part of Meltzer's research. Ads for the novel appeared in the back of Meltzer's "Justice League of America" comic book.Now, in the paperback version of this hot fiction, Superman and Batman have become the first superheroes to be advertised in the back of a mainstream book. "They asked for payback, and who am I to refuse Superman and Batman? I'm only mortal!" says Meltzer.

Guh – what?

We caught up with Meltzer to get the explanation from his side.

Newsarama: So – the best way to describe this is what – “turnabout is fair play”? After all, DC included the first chapter of The Book of Fate in Justice League of America #1…

Brad Meltzer: Yeah – that’s probably it. Every superhero on the stands knows what payback is, too. [laughs]

Was this something that was the in the plan all along, or was it something that kind of was shoehorned in after the JLA #1 inclusion?

It was in the plan al along. When we started this, it really was like that moment where you say, “You’re going to put chocolate in our peanut butter? We’re going to put our peanut butter in your chocolate!” I was sitting in the editorial meeting where we were trying to figure out different ways to reach the comic book audience with The Book of Fate, and the first idea that came up was seeing if we could put chapter one of the novel into the comic book, and it just so happened that the timing was going to work out perfectly with JLA #1.

I remember when I spoke with the people at DC about it all; I wanted to make sure that if DC were going to do this, Warner Books would pay them back in the best way possible.

NRAMA: But it seems that the “best way possible” would be to include the comic in the novel…

BM: Yeah – we in fact wanted to get JLA in the hardback of the comic, so the cross-promotion of the two would be virtually simultaneous. But it just so happened that the art for JLA #1 wasn’t ready when the novel was set to come out – novels and comics have different production schedules.

So my actual real goal was to put the comic book in the paperback, so you got to the end of The Book of Fate and you would get the first however many pages of JLA #1. That was the true geek fantasy.

NRAMA: Seems as though you’d be facing some reproduction problems…

BM: Exactly. When we tried running it…the paper in the paperback is so cheap, and the printing came out so muddy that you just couldn’t see the pictures, and the pages just got lost. By the time it would be down to an appropriate size, you’d have ruined the entire reading experience. So, we figured it was better that we could tell people it was out there, than to ignore it completely, which is how we got what we have.

NRAMA: So specifically then…what is in the novels?

BM: When you finish any of the novels…they really went to town with it. Warner did a great job – they didn’t just put this in The Book of Fate, they put this in all the new printings of the novels, everything from The Tenth Justice to The Zero Game and The Book of Fate - they all have it. When you get to eh last page of the novel, you’ve got a teaser chapter for one of the other books, and then, if you flip to the back cover, you’ll see my ridiculous picture, and then four or five pages of ads for Identity Crisis, DC Comics, Justice League, the Comic Book Locator Service, and more, so people realize that all of this is part of the same package.

I really believe that the one social experiment we were having with this is true. I’ve always said it, and I believe it 100% - we should never apologize for reading comics, we should never hide our reading of comics, we should never, ever pretend that it’s not cool. This was the experiment that we had to prove to the mainstream publishing community, that it wasn’t going to be the ugly stepsister, that comics were just as important a medium as anything else out there, and that a reader is always a reader.

I was just happy that DC and Warner got eh chance to prove that to everyone else. And the best part of the story is that because of a printing error in all the other books except Book of Fate, they forgot to put my photo in the back, so when you open up the last page of any of the current printings of my books, you get a nice ad for Identity Crisis and DC. It makes for a better experience than seeing my picture, I think.

NRAMA: How many copies of the books are we talking about here? Counting The Book of Fate and the new printings of your other books?

BM: Somewhere over a million. Comics get to play in that pond now. I’ve always felt that they should be on equal footing. It shouldn’t be literary fiction on the top, and everything else is somewhere below it.

NRAMA: And as you’ve said earlier, while marketing people will pull out their graphs and charts, you’ve got the evidence of significant crossover at every book signing you do?

BM: Yeah, exactly, the best reward of going on the book tour when Book of Fate came out was seeing how many people were coming in with both comics and novels in hand. Even people who never tried one of my novels before would tell me that they thought it was cool that I was signing all the comics, so they were going to buy a book to try one. And then I’d invariably get the e-mails through my website or MySpace saying that they dug the book and are going to pick up another.

That said, it’s not about a credit to me – it’s just been years of snobbery that have kept these two audiences from touching. No mainstream publisher would have ever advertised in a comic book, nor would any mainstream publisher in the past have said, “I’m going to let a comic book be advertised in my novel.” Now suddenly, in the past year, every publisher, including my own, has a comic book – or as they call it, “graphic novel” to sound prettier – division that they’re launching and are competing in this field. The mainstream publishers are realizing that there are great, quality readers out there who are reading really, really literate stuff, and it’s more than just people punching each other in the face. That, to me, is the best battle that we can all win.

Sure, a lot of people will say it’s all crass marketing in the end, but it’s all crass marketing for the very right reasons. I hope it has a deeper impact. Mark my words – you’ll see it in action when San Diego hits this year – look at how many more mainstream publishers are there this year – including my own – I think they’re all going. I love that about San Diego now – after years of being kicked around, and made to feel secondary, we are being catered to. The comic book reader is being courted. I love that for once, all the pretty boys of Hollywood, and all the movie stars who are gorgeous, and all the people who have the money and the nice suits are coming to us and sucking up to us, because they value our opinion. I don’t know if it’s just the vindictive bastard in me, but I take victory in that.

[Bane122]

Awesome. Great exposure for the industry.

[Cyphon]

Cool. Looking forward to picking up the paperback of this book!

[James Asia]

Not everyone can agree on Meltzer's skills as a writer, but I think everyone can agree that he loves this industry and is always doing his best to improve it.

[outride]

I was wondering if someone would ask Meltzer about the little shoutouts to comic books he includes in his books. I've read all of them at this point and in Zero Game and Tenth Counsel he drops names like Oliver, Dinah and Roy for his secondary characters.

I know there are more moments like that and being able to point them out makes me feel like a geek.

[Armoured Gideon]

Originally Posted by MattBrady

I’ve always said it, and I believe it 100% - we should never apologize for reading comics, we should never hide our reading of comics, we should never, ever pretend that it’s not cool. This was the experiment that we had to prove to the mainstream publishing community, that it wasn’t going to be the ugly stepsister, that comics were just as important a medium as anything else out there, and that a reader is always a reader.

Quoted for truth.

[O.M.A.C.]

I love you Brad, have my babies!!!!!!

[ElijahSnowFan]

what a cool guy he sounds like.

two things:

1) he's right -- i've NEVER been ashamed of my collecting. you come into the den in my house, it's like a comic book store come to life. don't hide it -- it's simply fiction, another way of storytelling.

2) i will weep when Meltzer leaves Justice League -- i know some others don't feel the same, and that's fine. everyone's entitled to their opinion. but i wish he'd do another year or two -- i'll be devastated when he's done.

[Elf-Help]

Glad to hear the cross-promotion seems to be successful -- I assume we'll see the most evidence with regards to the JLA trade.

[nickmaynard]

Originally Posted by James Asia

Not everyone can agree on Meltzer's skills as a writer, but I think everyone can agree that he loves this industry and is always doing his best to improve it.

totally qft'd.

[LikeaPhoenix]

This is wonderful for the industry to be mentioned by Liz Smith ! Hurrah !

[Johnny Triangles]

Originally Posted by Armoured Gideon

Quoted for truth.

Someone should add a caveat to that:

"We should never try to hide our shame of loving superhero comics by putting unnecessary "adult" situations as a way to apologize for their inherent silliness. You know, things like on-panel rape and ham-fisted "literary" narration, etc. Give me a break, Meltzer's IS ashamed of comic reading, which is why he feels he has to "make up" for the goofiness of Silver Age superhero books by overcompensating on sex, gore and faux-Watchmen dialogue."

[MattBrady]

Originally Posted by Johnny Triangles

Someone should add a caveat to that:

And...it begins. Whoever took my bet for one full page without this, I owe ya $5.

MattB

[darthdad]

i've read most of the meltzer novels and all of his comics, and sex and gore really aren't a major part of any of his writing

[ziza9]

Originally Posted by Johnny Triangles

Someone should add a caveat to that:

"We should never try to hide our shame of loving superhero comics by putting unnecessary "adult" situations as a way to apologize for their inherent silliness. You know, things like on-panel rape and ham-fisted "literary" narration, etc. Give me a break, Meltzer's IS ashamed of comic reading, which is why he feels he has to "make up" for the goofiness of Silver Age superhero books by overcompensating on sex, gore and faux-Watchmen dialogue."

Dude, c'mon.....anyway, I really like the things Meltzer had to say there. It's this kind of positive attitude and dedication to respectable relevancy that the medium needs more of. Whether it's a goofy story about giant emerald eyes or a serious analogue to the real-world, comic tales are, in the end, just another form of literature deserving of the same respect afforded any other.

[chap22]

Originally Posted by MattBrady

And...it begins. Whoever took my bet for one full page without this, I owe ya $5.

MattB

i woulda put double or nothing that the first comment actually came from JT too. i'da made 10 quick bucks there...

[jza1218]

Awesome move.

Would it be possible to get some adverts moved to the front of the book.

Some people take a while to read novels and his run might be over by the time they finish the book.

[Darth Wahu]

Originally Posted by jza1218

Awesome move.

Would it be possible to get some adverts moved to the front of the book.

Some people take a while to read novels and his run might be over by the time they finish the book.

That's why we have back issues, trades and cons so they can enjoy the wonderment.

[Cormorant]

Originally Posted by MattBrady

And...it begins. Whoever took my bet for one full page without this, I owe ya $5.

MattB

Was it a $5 bet over when we'd get the first accurate appraisal of Meltzer? 'Cause that's what that post was.

[Johnny Triangles]

Meltzer had a quote when promoting ID Crisis:

We are reclaiming the Silver Age. All those stories people thought were stupid. We'll pull them all back."

Taking that quote under consideration, then looking at the stuff that happened in Identity Crisis, and it all makes a lot of sense. If he was really proud of the comics, he'd be willing to pay homage to them in the same tone. But he took the old stories, but put rape, incineration, death, more death and depressing funerals in them. He's basically embarassed by the Silver Age stories and feels that he has to fix them with things like Identity Crisis so that "people" (meaning non-comic readers) won't think the books (and the people that read them) are stupid. Based on the quote and the things he's written, I don't think he's following his own advice and acting proud of superhero comics. He's trying to write them as graphic and adult as possible in order to prove something to noncomic readers because he's embarassed of them.

[MadBandit]

Originally Posted by Johnny Triangles

Meltzer had a quote when promoting ID Crisis:



Taking that quote under consideration, then looking at the stuff that happened in Identity Crisis, and it all makes a lot of sense. If he was really proud of the comics, he'd be willing to pay homage to them in the same tone. But he took the old stories, but put rape, incineration, death, more death and depressing funerals in them. He's basically embarassed by the Silver Age stories and feels that he has to fix them with things like Identity Crisis so that "people" (meaning non-comic readers) won't think the books (and the people that read them) are stupid. Based on the quote and the things he's written, I don't think he's following his own advice and acting proud of superhero comics. He's trying to write them as graphic and adult as possible in order to prove something to noncomic readers because he's embarassed of them.

Who could blame him. I've read some of the DC SA stories and they read like bad soap operas.

[aeast317]

thats awesome

[Michael Heide]

Originally Posted by Cormorant

Was it a $5 bet over when we'd get the first accurate appraisal of Meltzer? 'Cause that's what that post was.

Yeah, except... not.

[ElijahSnowFan]

now, wait -- i admit, i wasn't thrilled by Sue Dibny getting raped -- as a matter of fact, it still pisses me off -- but again, it's a story element that could have been there.

years before that, Mike Grell showed some graphic stuff regarding Black Canary in Longbow Hunters. comics...they can be tough to swallow at times.

i didn't like it, but it was a usable element. i can't condemn Meltzer for using it.

now, if you ask me about Crazy Jean Loring carrying a freaking FLAMETHROWER in her trenchcoat pocket...

[Johnny Triangles]

Originally Posted by ElijahSnowFan

now, wait -- i admit, i wasn't thrilled by Sue Dibny getting raped -- as a matter of fact, it still pisses me off -- but again, it's a story element that could have been there.

years before that, Mike Grell showed some graphic stuff regarding Black Canary in Longbow Hunters. comics...they can be tough to swallow at times.

If he wants to put it in there, hey, that's his deal. But I find it so annoying when he keeps touting his "I'm so proud of the comics I grew up with, this is my love letter" stuff he keeps spouting afterwards. If he loved them so much, he wouldn't have done stories like that. He should just be honest about it, "Comics I grew up embarass me, here's how I try to fix them."

Here's an analogy. You find your wife attractive. Some guys keep ribbing you about how ugly your wife is. What do you do?

If you're truly secure with how your wife looks, you punch those guys in the face, or you ignore them, but you keep your wife the way she is and enjoy her. Screw what they say.

Now what if you keep defending your wife's beauty vehemently, then start pressuring her to wear makeup and dress sexier, then start giving her plastic surgery makeovers and bringing her around those same guys loudly proclaiming "See? I told you my wife was beautiful! See? See? I'm not ashamed of her at all!" At that point, were you really proud of how she looked? If people's criticisms get under your skin enough to change her so drastically to suit what you think would impress them, you were never that secure in how she looked in the first place. Their criticism of your wife's looks bugged you because deep down, you agreed with them. And it's the same thing with Meltzer, people's criticisms of superhero comics being stupid bugged him because deep down, he's obviously afraid that they might be right, and if they are right, what does that say about him for enjoying them so?

If you're truly secure about something, you don't need to change it so drastically to impress it's critics, the same way if you were proud of your wife's looks you wouldn't try to change them. A rule of thumb for life, when someone keeps telling you how much they aren't ashamed or bothered by something, you can pretty much guarantee they're ashamed of it. Look at Tyra Banks for example, after two dozen shows dedicated to how fat criticisms don't bother her, it becomes pretty apparent that they do.

You want to see someone who actually loves comic books, look at Kurt Busiek's work. He to my knowledge never talks about "vindicating" comics he grew up with. So basically, my problem isn't so much the rape, gore and depressing tone in Meltzer's work, but the fact that he actually tries to sell this line about "comic pride."