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Lying In The Gutters – 19th August 2013

Published Mon, 19 Aug 2013 13:00:42 -0500

by Rich Johnston

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Last week, Brian Bendis wrote;

can you imagine if there were someone at your job who just decided it was their job to spoil everything that you do? and if they can't spoil it they just make something up?

that is what it's like to try to tell a decent story for this generation of mainstream comic book creators. see, if we deny the rumor, we give them hits, which is all they want, and if we don't deny it, we make it true and give them hits. which is all they want.

so no matter what I do, I lose. and no matter what I do they win.

i just want to tell a fucking story without this barnacle on my ass. and, yes, i know, just mentioning them causes them to start masturbating. I know I'm not helping myself but i just want to be clear where i stand with this.

what's funny to me is that no matter how many times these stupid websites are wrong, and they are wrong about half the time, people still believe what they read. and I'm not just talking about rich's website.

Well, he can't be talking about "my" site at all because what rumours (and they are rumours) we run about upcoming Marvel stories goes through Marvel in advance and any objections to things that might be spoilers gets picked up and they ask me not to run them.

I mean, I am in no doubt that Marvel aren't a fan of a lot of what I write, and treat me like some kind of terrorist. But when I ran rumours about Age Of Ultron, they asked me not to run the bit about Wolverine killing Ant Man and I didn't. When I heard the rumour about Matt Fraction's Inhumans comic, they asked me to leave out certain aspects, which I did. And when I heard the rumour about Angela joining the Marvel Universe, they asked me not to run it and I didn't. I would not have run that story, despite Bendis' repeated innuendo that I forced him and Marvel to spoil it. In fact I managed to stop two other people running it, before Marvel spoiled it themselves.

But Bendis doesn't seem to acknowledge any of that. It's not just Marvel of course, I have a number of stories lined up today regarding DC, and they contacted me to contradict the details in one, which will now be pulled completely or be changed. Other stories… they haven't. Publishers often like people to be talking about their upcoming projects, whether that's rumour, speculation, guesswork or more. And, with work-for-hire projects, they are the ones who get to make that decision.

But also if someone informed tells me a rumour is false before I run it, I don't run it. No hits for anyone. Bendis' employers would attest to that too, I'm sure. And rather than the two false options he gives for creators, many use the tried-and-tested "I don't comment on rumours concerning my work" as a blanket statement and they're golden.

It wasn't too long go that he was boasting online that I had no idea about a certain plot point. The thing is, I did know, but Marvel had asked me not to share it. The only conclusion I can come to us that he's just saying what he says to get hits. And it's worked.

So, what have you been reading this week? Oh look…