Posted in: Comics, Recent Updates | Tagged: axel alonso, Comics, dc, editors, entertainment, gendercrunching, jason aaron, kieron gillen, marvel, Marvel Comics, marvel retreat. brian bendis, matt fraction, rick remender

Gendercrunching The Marvel Retreat

Last week, Marvel held a creative retreat, where a bunch of comics folk working for Marvel get together and shape the next waves at Marvel.

From CBR,

To that point, is the focus at the retreats mainly the big line-wide events, or are arcs in individual titles also developed?

Alonso: At every retreat we discuss individual characters, families — like the X-titles or Spider-titles — and universe-wide stories that have been in development for some time. We definitely focus on stories where character's stories overlap. Take Hulk and Iron Man, for instance: They are going to collide — literally — in theupcoming "Hulk vs. Iron Man" series that ties into "Original Sin." While Mark [Waid] and Kieron [Gillen] know how that story ends, and know what they're teeing up for the future, we spent a bit of time going over the possibilities with the rest of the guys in the room.

Emphasis on guys?

Based on Twitter, it appears much of the names one would expect were there — people like Brian Michael Bendis, Jason Aaron, Matt Fraction, Kieron Gillen. Were there any new faces in the group this time around?

Alonso:Dan Slott, Jonathan Hickman, Rick Remender, Mark Waid, Sam Humphries and Skottie Young were back, and Charles Soule attended his first retreat and laid down his plans for "Inhuman." Oh, and our new X-Men Group Editor, Mike Marts, got his first taste of the room, too.

This has had some accusations of the Marvel Retreat being a bit of a sausage fest again. Brian Michael Bendis had taken photos…

Comic creators at the Marvel retreat? 100% male. Marvel reps have countered that there were a number of women Marvel editors present at the Summit (and can be seen in photos above).

But it does bring to mind Alex De Campi's criticism of Vertigo, as having a number of female editors who just like hiring men. And while Marvel have certainly been upping the number of female voices amongst comic creators of late, these summits are where the creative future of Marvel comics is set and decided, it's here where individual voices can have their say, be taken on and greenlit.

Whichever comic convention next has a Women Of Marvel panel, one question to be asked might be, where were the women comic creators last week?

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