Joe Quesada's thoughts on efforts to save a book?

[cmdrkoenig67]

In the Topic: "Finally!!!, The Q+A answered"....on joequesada.com message board.

Here's a question a poster asked him...and his answer.

xdemon asks:

Realistically, how effective are online petitions (or even mail-in campaigns) to save a book? I personally don't see it as effective as encouraging people to go out and BUY the troubles book to increase sales. (And if they like it, keep buying it!) To me, online petitions draw sympathy, not sales. What are you thoughts and insights on how to help a struggling book?

Sometimes they can make us stay off execution, most times they are transparent and you realize it’s just a few people, NEVER have I seen one increase sales on a book.


Just wanted to share that.

Dana

[Northcott]

He makes a valid point. Of course, looking at the relative quality of a book might help its sales; that's far more likely to cause a number shift than an online petition.

It's kind of a one-sided answer, but in all fairness, so was the question. A better question would be why, when the numbers are dying so as to merit cancellation, an effort isn't made to save the book by changing the creative team before (or even after) a letter-writing campaign has been initiated.

[kozzi24]

It's kind of a one-sided answer, but in all fairness, so was the question. A better question would be why, when the numbers are dying so as to merit cancellation, an effort isn't made to save the book by changing the creative team before (or even after) a letter-writing campaign has been initiated.

More marketing sense these days to cancel and bring back after hiatus with a new #1. #1--first iddue collector's item issue will always bring more outside interest and attention in solicits than a "new direction! new creative team!" blurb.

As far as the petitions go...two words, hyphenated: Spider-Girl. That, however, is a quality book, and when people flip thru it in the stores, they are more likely to see something they like, something familiar yet different. How many people flipping thru AF V3 #9 would have been drawn to buy the issue based on Big Hero 6?

[Northcott]

Two very excellent points, Kozz.

[Cliff]

I kept byin gthe title because it was AF, period. However, I gotta say that the humor ticked me off. Every time there was some kind of side comment breaking the 4th wall (when characters are referencial of the fact that they are characters in a play/story) it infuriated me and felt like a mockery was being made of how much I actually liked AF. It made me feel like I was being told, "AF is worth no more than jokes, and at their own expense, no less."

I'd also say that a total team refit is a fine idea, but again with the mockery angle. The team is missing so Sasquatch has to form a new team to locate and save his missing friends to whom he's had a close, familial relationship spanning decades, lost comrades and great personal anguish throughout the team.

So the new guys joke about it?

Makes me grit my teeth thinking about it even now. It should have been a very dark, serious book.

[cmdrkoenig67]

I feel the same way, Cliff....There were too many jokes...most of them not funny. Uneven writing, with a terrible sense of the history of AF. I've been buying it too, because it was supposed to be Alpha...but I began to hate the book and that really bothered me. I wanted to like it, but my favorite Alphans weren't there and everything about them, superheroes(in general) and Canada was a joke. It was supposed to be a fun book, but I was not having fun. I found it to be a mockery of eveything I love about comics.

I'm just as angry, frustrated, sad and disappointed as you, Cliff(just as a lot of others here and elsewhere probably feel like we do).

Dana

[Mokole]

When it was first mentioned that it would be funny I think we all cringed. ANADAF would've been a lot better with action and a more serious effort, as I emailed Mr. Lobdell last spring. And Marvel in a letter in March.

But to go on, everyone's favorite characters are different. I can't stand the Hudsons and like Box, Windshear, Nemesis, Witchfire, Feedback, Zuzha, Puck. Others can't stand AF without the twins. Others need to retconn Marrina. Others want Persuasion and Talisman. More want a more mystic element to the team.

My desire for a new Guardian notwithstanding, I understand that the majority wants Byrne AF back pronto. I'd say over 50% of fans of AF want just that. Another 30% want some Byrne AF but really other characters to make it a superhero team. I can live with Byrne AF, even with Hudsons, but I too need to see characters I find more interesting. None of my most-watched for characters are in Byrne AF. Only Puck comes close.

That's why I hope for a return of Box, or Zuzha, or Windshear, or a new Guardian with the Hudsons given desk jobs.

I liked GG the most from v2, then Radius. From v3 it's Zuzha, MML, and Nemesis, though I like Sasquatch more now and Centenniel was good.

But as I say I know people want Byrne AF and I'll fight to get Byrne AF back, and then hope there's something in there for me.

[birdygirl]

I couldn't have expressed it better myself, Mokole. When people think of Alpha Flight, they tend to think of the John Byrne team. Not that some interesting characters haven't come along since then, but when I read the latest volume of AF, I felt like I was reading about a team other than Alpha Flight. (Walter is always great, but his presence there alone wasn't enough.)

And I also cringed at the deliberate silliness, only because for at least a decade now, Alpha has been considered, (unfairly, IMO), a joke by fans and the industry. Bringing back the originals --supplemented by some interesting new characters-- and giving the book a more serious tone, might have given the book a better chance to succeed, IMO.

[Legerd]

I found nothing about Vol's 2 or 3 to like. The writing on the second series was too dark and conspiritorial for too long, while playing fast and loose with the team's history not to mention the veteran characters. The third series was, I think we all agree, a joke (literally) and muddied the history even worse.

I hated the new characters in both and missed the established team as it was in Vol 1. Radius, Ghost Girl and Murmur were bad ripoffs of Skids, Shadowcat and Persuasion respectively, while Flex was simply embarrassing. Centennial was a ripoff of Superman, Yukon Jack was... stupid... I don't know how else to describe him (though the bones were kinda cool), Puck II was lame (all that power and what does she do? work in a bar) and Major Maple Leaf was just as embarrassing as Flex.

Neither of the series did the veteran characters (when shown) justice, having altered their personalities with no real rhyme or reason.

Birdygirl, you nailed it when you said:

Bringing back the originals --supplemented by some interesting new characters-- and giving the book a more serious tone, might have given the book a better chance to succeed, IMO.

Bring back the real AF, write serious story lines and treat the heroes with respect! Is that too much to ask of Marvel?

[Northcott]

Bring back the real AF, write serious story lines and treat the heroes with respect! Is that too much to ask of Marvel?

I would give a right arm* to be the man to draw that series.



*And by "a right arm" I mean somebody else's right arm. I need mine to draw.

[HappyCanuck]

Bring back the real AF, write serious story lines and treat the heroes with respect! Is that too much to ask of Marvel?

I would give a right arm* to be the man to draw that series.



*And by "a right arm" I mean somebody else's right arm. I need mine to draw.

Lol, then offer something a little less counterproductive - say, a lung and three kidneys.

[Northcott]

So long as we're talking about somebody else's lung and kidneys, I'm cool with that. I've always thought that the modern concept of being willing to make sacrifices for what you want in life is a little impractical.

[Legerd]

I've got some lungs and kidneys in the fridge I could give... if it would help.

I would love to see AF as done by you Ed, your artwork is freakin' amazing! =D>

[Northcott]

Thanks.

Things are slow at the moment with Tom and I producing pages, but I maintain my optimism on getting the pages out in the next two to three weeks. End of February at the latest. (Hopefully circumstance won't make a liar of me again)

But this is balanced by J and I working on a new proposal for Vertigo, plus I'm going to see if he can get some folks in DC editorial to look at my work. The "Teen Titans Go!" title has it's editorial staff in the same office branch as the Superman editorial staff... so it's prime plucking ground for me.

Plus there's my normal workload to tackle. Oi! I've got to pick it up a notch. When I slow down to wrangle with contracts, dig up more work, etc, I end up losing out on drawing time for up to a couple weeks a time. It really takes the edge off my work, and there's been a lot of paperwork and downtime lately.