JMS NO LONGER EXCLUSIVE WITH MARVEL

**MattBrady** · 02-20-2008, 07:08 AM

In the last decade or so of Marvel history, it's tough to argue against the idea that the signing of writer and Babylon 5 creator J. Michael Straczynski to an exclusive contract wasn't a decisive move that helped the publisher push forward in many ways.

Straczynski, (better known in fan circles as "JMS") took the reigns on Amazing Spider-Man with issue #471 (or Volume 2 #30) and guided Marvel's flagship title to new (and admittedly, controversial) heights, wrote an acclaimed run on Fantastic Four, reinvigorated the Squadron Supreme franchise, and, through editorial summits, contributed ideas to the larger Marvel Universe through to its current post-Civil War status quo.

Now, as the writer explains below, that relationship with Marvel is changing. Newsarama received the following from JMS:

I've opted to no longer be exclusive at Marvel.

I came to Marvel almost eight years ago, and have been under exclusive contract for nearly all of that time. It was a remarkable and fertile period and a tremendous opportunity to play in the Marvel universe exclusively. At the same time, that's an awfully long time to be under any one roof, however much you may like the decor. There's also something to be said for cross-pollination, for embracing a variety of universes and creative opportunities. As the ultimate geek fanboy, over the last eight years, I would look out onto the comics landscape of cool characters at other companies and think, "Wouldn't it be fun to play with..."

There's a comfort factor in staying with one universe for eight years, and there's a lot to say for that. At the same time, I've always been wary of getting too comfortable. I think we need to challenge ourselves from time to time by stepping beyond the safe boundaries of one playground into another.

About eighteen months ago, I opted not to pursue another multi-year contract with Marvel, instead remaining exclusive on a month to month basis. During that time, I began the process of scaling back the number of monthly titles I was writing for Marvel to Amazing Spider-Man and Thor, alongside limited-run special projects such as The Twelve, Bullet Points and Silver Surfer: Requiem, projects outside continuity where I felt I could do my best work. I continued to pull back until I finally reached a point of having just one monthly title, Thor, and the maxi-series The Twelve, which felt about right, which is why I announced about six months ago that I would not be taking on any new monthly titles outside of Thor, only special projects. I felt that this way, should I decide to opt out of exclusivity; I would leave the smallest possible footprint on Marvel's publishing schedule. If I were doing three or four books per month for Marvel, and took on outside responsibilities, those titles would suffer from lack of full attention, and that would be a disservice to both Marvel and the readers.

So I'm now in a comfortable place to opt out of exclusivity. Consequently, a few weeks ago, I contacted Joe Quesada and Dan Buckley to let them know that I would no longer be exclusive after the first of February, 2008. They were gracious and understanding and I have nothing but praise for both individuals. That Joe and I have disagreed over stuff from time to time, as will happen in any working relationship, that has no impact on how I perceive him as an editor and a stand-up guy. Stuff is just stuff; it has nothing to do with the person. Ditto and then some for Dan Buckley, who has always been an absolute mensch. They understood the importance of being able to grow by working in different universes, and have been completely supportive in this decision.

So what's next? I will continue to write Thor, finish up The Twelve, and as time permits, take on occasional limited-series special projects for Marvel. I'm not leaving Marvel, only opting to widen the creative horizons a bit to include some of the other amazing comics universes out there.

To that end, I will have several substantial comics-related announcements to make at WonderCon in San Francisco this weekend. It is my hope that the cross-pollination of working for several major companies will help me continue to grow as a writer, and will create opportunities for fun stories with characters I've wanted to write for my whole life. It is also my hope that those readers who have enjoyed my work over the years (all three of you) will come along for the ride. We have much coolness ahead of us.

So stand by, for as we say in television...there is more to come.
jms

SoopDawg · 02-20-2008, 07:24 AM

Please keep him away from DC.

Weiser_Cain · 02-20-2008, 07:27 AM

On the other hand, Image...

Harmful · 02-20-2008, 07:28 AM

Thankyou Jeebus!

tesh_karde · 02-20-2008, 07:29 AM

jms...superman...gold.

Samy Merchi · 02-20-2008, 07:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MattBrady

opting to widen the creative horizons a bit to include some of the other amazing comics universes out there.

I think we all can read between the lines there.

Somehow I don't think it's the Invincible universe he's talking about there. I think we can make a pretty good guess what universe he's talking about.

SoopDawg · 02-20-2008, 07:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tesh_karde

jms...superman...gold.

Ummm....no,he might have Lois have Lex's kids and have them being grown adults.

Pack · 02-20-2008, 07:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SoopDawg

Ummm....no,he might have Lois have Lex's kids and have them being grown adults.

Oh and Superman doesn't have super powers. He's the avatar of Supers. The latest in a long line of Supers.
Or something equally incomprehensible....

Pack · 02-20-2008, 07:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MattBrady

reinvigorated the Squadron Supreme franchise

Or to rephrase that slightly, continued to plagiarize DC's Justice League...

batson1970 · 02-20-2008, 07:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SoopDawg

Ummm....no,he might have Lois have Lex's kids and have them being grown adults.

Go back and read some of his recent interviews about "One More Day" and you'll find that he didn't intend for Gwen's kids to be Normans. That was Quesada's doing. and if you go back and look at those issues, I"m pretty sure they were actually credited to someone else writing them.

skaly · 02-20-2008, 07:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pack

Oh and Superman doesn't have super powers. He's the avatar of Supers. The latest in a long line of Supers.
Or something equally incomprehensible....

Wait, are you all complaining about his run on Spider-Man? Because last I checked, it never happened.

Everything everyone hated about Spider-Man over the past few years has been undone, and yet people are clinging to their bitterness like a nice, warm blanket. Sins Past was editorially mandated... How many times do we have to have this stupid conversation?

Screw it. I'm gonna go read Thor. Sayonara, suckers!

Savok · 02-20-2008, 07:59 AM

Most of the crappiness from JMS with Spider-manchild can be directly connected to editorial ________ he's had to put up with. From about The Other onwards, he has had no real control over the direction and stories of Spider-manchild.

I expect this is why he's no longer exclusive, he's sick of dealing with that ____. He'll find DC worse if he goes there, still, plenty of other companies around.

nietoperz · 02-20-2008, 08:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SoopDawg

Please keep him away from DC.

My thoughts exactly!

SoopDawg · 02-20-2008, 08:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by batson1970

Go back and read some of his recent interviews about "One More Day" and you'll find that he didn't intend for Gwen's kids to be Normans. That was Quesada's doing. and if you go back and look at those issues, I"m pretty sure they were actually credited to someone else writing them.

There shouldn't have been kids at all!!!

Vlad · 02-20-2008, 08:04 AM

Wow this thread is thick of hate and disappointment.

Heres to an excellent writer, I've enjoyed a lot of his work, specifically Supreme Power and his earlier work on the Fantastic Four.
Awaiting the rest of The Twelve!

SoopDawg · 02-20-2008, 08:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by skaly

Wait, are you all complaining about his run on Spider-Man? Because last I checked, it never happened.

Everything everyone hated about Spider-Man over the past few years has been undone, and yet people are clinging to their bitterness like a nice, warm blanket. Sins Past was editorially mandated... How many times do we have to have this stupid conversation?

Screw it. I'm gonna go read Thor. Sayonara, suckers!

LOL So you just erase bad writing by making a deal with the devil. Well isn't that special.

wordmongerer · 02-20-2008, 08:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SoopDawg

Ummm....no,he might have Lois have Lex's kids and have them being grown adults.

Not unless DC editorial MAKE him do it as was the case with the example you're citing. I'm just disappointed because I find the DC universe incredibly uninteresting and I don't think even JMS can drag me over...

SoopDawg · 02-20-2008, 08:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vlad

Wow this thread is thick of hate and disappointment.

Bad writing normally brings that out.

Grievous · 02-20-2008, 08:08 AM

I would like to see some DC projects from him,

Just not a current ongoing,

you have to earn your REP writing superman or batman minis before getting ongoings i think, or writing a mini on any character or special

SoopDawg · 02-20-2008, 08:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wordmongerer

Not unless DC editorial MAKE him do it as was the case with the example you're citing. I'm just disappointed because I find the DC universe incredibly uninteresting and I don't think even JMS can drag me over...

That's your choice stay away then...and keep JMS with you....

skaly · 02-20-2008, 08:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SoopDawg

LOL So you just erase bad writing by making a deal with the devil. Well isn't that special.

No. I move on with my f***ing life.

SoopDawg · 02-20-2008, 08:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Grievous

I would like to see some DC projects from him,

Just not a current ongoing,

you have to earn your REP writing superman or batman minis before getting ongoings i think, or writing a mini on any character or special

Maybe he can do a Elseworlds project.

SoopDawg · 02-20-2008, 08:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by skaly

No. I move on with my f***ing life.

LOL I can do that too and still be disappointed by his writing...I'm versatile like that.

wordmongerer · 02-20-2008, 08:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pack

Or to rephrase that slightly, continued to plagiarize DC's Justice League...

Yes, that's right, I forgot the justice league were the product of alien viruses and how some of them were there to take over the world... And everyone remembers the billionaire racist right? The murdering soldier of fortune taken over by an alien powersource? The insane warrior woman who things she sould be slaughtering humans? The alien that feels completely disconnected from the world he's not even sure he should bother to protect? The sexually deviant genious? I recall ALL of these characters verbatim in Justice League...

You're confusing the use of archetypes (and subverting them I might add) with plagiarism. Two completely different things. While the original Squadron Supreme was Marvels way of nicking their idea back in the day, even then the expression of it was quite different.

Cray_ws · 02-20-2008, 08:16 AM

I'm not at all surprise of Straczynski opting out of his exclusive. It was only a matter of time before the fallout over SPIDER-MAN fiasco. Even if he tries hard to say otherwise in this interview.

I would prefer to see him do creator-owned stuff and something away from superheroes. He's a decent writer when he's not tied down to any editorial mandate. I thought MIDNIGHT NATION and he BOOK OF LOST SOULS were great and would like to see more in that vein.