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All The Rage: Goodbyeeeeeee – Update

Co-Write My Arse

Mark Millar wrote to clarify Sunday's Mini-Millar story. And, hopefully, to stop the flood of submissions he's been getting. Millar tells me, "In the interests of helping out some promising young newcomer, I'm going to be an ear on the end of the telephone / fount of wisdom, etc, in the ways of the industry for them, definitely NOT a co-writer. Co-writing is like co-acting; virtually impossible except in the most exceptional circumstances. I mean tell them who to pitch to, who to avoid, give them a buzz when I hear about a gig coming up and so on and even coaching them a little in terms of the actual craftmanship of the job."

"The Hollywood studio system had something a little like this back in the thirties and forties; something more like a Big Brother scheme. It's something a couple of us had been talking about because there's hardly any good new talent coming into the system and I feel like a lot of the creators have pulled the ladder up behind them to a certain extent. There's a lot of good on-line talent out there and I think the current generation of creators should be passing on what they've learned to ensure that there even IS a new crop. I should stress, btw, that I've already selected who I'm Big Brothering so, please, direct proposals only to the editors."

This Has A Rumour Value Of 9 Out Of 10

That's right, folks, the last All The Rage at SilverBulletComicBooks by me. Next week, Ian Ungstad comes on board – and I hear he's got the first three columns complete already! He's got a host of good contacts and should be damn entertaining.

I'm off to ComicBookResources, to launch a new rumour/gossip column entitled Lying In The Gutters, starting next Monday. Come by and check out the new pad.

Until then, it's been a lot of fun. And be nice to Ian, and please don't sue him. Sue Jason Brice instead.

Thunder Clap

There's also been developments on last week's story about Thunderbolts editor Andrew Lis recruiting John Arcudi to replace Fabian Nicieza as part of a Thunderbolts revamp. Privately, Lis has been comparing his revamp to that of X-Force and wants it to have the same impact. This new direction andd John Arcudi's first issue will be #76.

This Has A Rumour Value Of 7 Out Of 10

Lab Closure?

John Byrne recently posted the news to the John Byrne Message Board that, he's been talking to DC editor and vice president, Mike Carlin about a Generations 3 series, following his previous Elseworlds real-time DC universe set across different generations. Stating that the project is a step closer to reality, there is discussion over schedule and format – with a possible change to the latter.

Byrne also reported that after talking to Carlin, it seems that Lab Rats may well be drawing to a close, however. To read John's post, click here.

This Has A Rumour Value Of 8 Out Of 10

Losing Cable

I hear that, yes, Nathan Summers will indeed be the star of Soldier X. I hear that the Newsarama interview with editor Andrew Lis (that name again) and Darko Macan was agreed to be intentionally vague – and that Darko has a comedy solution for the change from Cable to Soldier X in issue 2…

This Has A Rumour Value Of 8 Out Of 10

They're Baaaaaack

It was six years ago that country musicians Johnny and Edgar Winter sued DC Comics and comic creators Lansdale, Truman, and Glanzman over the Vertigo title Jonah Hex: Riders Of The Worm And Such, featuring the Autumn Brothers, characters that resembled them, appearing in a not-so-attractive light. They lost their case. But that was then.

This time Johnny and Edgar are suing DC's owners, AOL Time Warner, and have been given legal cause to proceed.

Click here for the story and here for a CBLDF summary of the last case six years ago.

his Has A Rumour Value Of 9 Out Of 10

Comic Book Colours

I understand that Tim Sale and Jeph Loeb have been commissioned to do more 'early Marvel' titles, after the success of Daredevil: Yellow and Spider-Man: Blue.

This Has A Rumour Value Of 9 Out Of 10

Mini-Millar

Mark Millar, who gained prominence at 2000AD, DC and Marvel as a co-writer with the more respected Grant Morrison, is now to pass that respect on. Currently writing Ultimate X-Men, The Ultimates and soon Youngblood, Millar is to take on an apprentice as a co-writer in the very near future.

This Has A Rumour Value Of 7 Out Of 10

Art Mechanics

The art team for Chris Claremont's upcoming MechaniX series starring Kitty Pryde are Juan Bobillo and Marcelo Sosav who drew a fill-in for Captain America #49 last year. The covers will be painted by a fashion designer.

This Has A Rumour Value Of 6 Out Of 10

Don't Go Changing

I understand that at the Heroes Con in Charlotte, NC, USA, last weekend, Mark Waid let it slip at an Fantastic Four panel that issues yet to be published before he takes over the book will remove Ben Grimm's ability to turn from human back to the Thing. "You won't be seeing that," he said.

This Has A Rumour Value Of 9 Out Of 10

Hell Fire

Can't believe I forgot this. Mike Carey is the new writer of DC's upcoming Firestorm series. A long standing 2000AD writer, he currently writes the award winning Lucifer for DC/Vertigo and is about to take over Hellblazer. And I'll start buying it again.

This Has A Rumour Value Of 9 Out Of 10

Arnie To Play The Russian, Please

The new Punisher movie going through the wheels of production at the moment, is based on the Garth Ennis/Steve Dillon twelve parter, Punisher: Welcome Back Frank, currently collected in the Punisher hardcover.

This Has A Rumour Value Of 6 Out Of 10

Silent Glenn

Glenn Fabry is working on a top secret project for Marvel. What it is, we don't know, all he can tell anyone is that it's top secret. In fact, he says he's encouraged to tell people that it's top secret – but that's all.

This Has A Rumour Value Of 9 Out Of 10

Hard Times For Marvel

More Marvel hardcovers to come, in order, are X-Force, New X-Men, Hulk and Daredevil. The first three will collect the first twelve issues of each title after their respective revamps, while the Daredevil hardcover will collect the Bendis run.

This Has A Rumour Value Of 7 Out Of 10

Allocation Nation

Joe Quesada decided to email me about the whole "allocation of Fantastic Four #60" situation.

Firstly, Joe clarified the playing field. "What's being announced is the obvious and a policy which we have for all our books. At any time, Marvel has the right to allocate any book it publishes. So why mention it in conjunction with FF #60. The reason is because we took a look at the Batman 10 Cent numbers and at Ultimate Spider-Man FCBD numbers and we put a number down on paper that we felt was approximately what retailers would order based upon what was ordered in the past. It was also a good gauge to figure out exactly how much we intended to lose on the promotion."

Joe confirmed the rumour that the decision that Marvel may allocate was down to advance reorders – but it was the fear that they were too high rather than too low which caused it. "We were then shocked to find out, before we even solicited it, that someone was looking to order 300,000+ copies of the book. Well, that many copies is way above and beyond what any single retailer ever order on Batman 10 Cent and Ultimate Spider-Man FCBD. Now, this doesn't mean that we will not fulfill the 300,000 copies but this account will have to work out a separate deal than a retailer ordering a number close to what they did in the past. The logic behind it is of course that if several retailers order that large a number, we will lose a fortune. So if a retailer really wants to order way above and beyond what they ordered for these types of initiatives in the past, we will be more than happy to work out a deal in which we don't lose our shirts quite as much."

Joe then clarified the situation for other retailers. "As for retailers that order close to past numbers, we will fill those orders completely. This has nothing to do with making the book collectable at all but it's a move to protect ourselves. The other part of the equation is that as of this moment, I don't even know what the orders are and I'm having my sales people look into it because they don't have it in front of them either. So to state that we did this because the orders were low is once again, unfair. Just the one 300,000 copy order will put us way over the top."

Thanks for clarifying this story, Joe.

This Has A Rumour Value Of 9 Out Of 10

Superman, Where Are Yu Now

Last week All The Rage wrote about an upcoming 12 issue Superman maxi-series written by Mark Waid. We've since learned that this series is to be drawn by the artist of the New X-Men Annual, Leinel Yu.

This Has A Rumour Value Of 9 Out Of 10

Right! That's all folks! I'd like to give thanks to Joe Quesada, Paul Levitz, Bill Jemas, Mike Carlin, Bill Rosemann, Patty Jeres, William Christiansen, Warren Ellis, Peter David, Erik Larsen, John Byrne, Jim Valentino, Mark Millar, Grant Morrison, Mark Waid, Kurt Busiek, Dan Jurgens, Mike Doran, Matt Brady and all the many, many other comic book creators, editors, publicists, interns, publishers, retailers and readers who have made All The Rage what it is today. A pissy little gossip column that you can safely ignore.

And special thanks go to Jason Brice and Mike Meyer for putting up with me for so long. Jonah, here I come!

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