Posted in: Comics | Tagged: Comics, dc, ron marz

Anatomy Of A Story

Published Wed, 30 Oct 2013 10:30:56 -0500

Last updated Wed, 30 Oct 2013 14:57:18 -0500

If I understand correctly, Bleeding Cool ran DC relocation story before employees had been informed. Incredibly shitty thing for BC to do.

— Ron Marz (@ronmarz) October 30, 2013

Over the weekend, Bleeding Cool became aware of a story regarding the planned wholesale move of DC Comics from Manhattan to Burbank. Important if true, it signalled a sea change in the way the comics industry, even now, still worked. We asked around, the story began to solidify, and I approached DC Comics. It was dismissed as rumour and speculation, although by that stage I had more that contradicted that. DC Comics reps did not ask that I hold the story so they could tell employees, if they had I most likely would have – and have done with other stories with DC in the past. Instead, a DC exec told me that if I was going to run the story, I should run it now. So I did. Forty minutes later, DC Comics sent out the letter of intent to employees and selected media. This morning I had e-mails from DC employees thanking me and telling me that this wouldn't have come out when it did without Bleeding Cool asking questions. Those that don;t feel this way, well, didn't email me, I guess.

In comparison, I also approached Marvel Comics the same weekend, about a story of far less importance, the reveal of a mystery character in Mighty Avengers, as a result of Marvel making the script for the first issue available online. Marvel reps asked if I could hold the story until they'd informed the creative team. So I did.

And that's how the sausage is made.

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