JMS on Usenet

Message

Subject: Re: Rising Stars
Date: 13 Apr 2003 21:30:37 GMT
From: jmsatb5@aol.com (Jms at B5)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.comics.misc

It's amazing to me how much misinformation gets out, and how many people repeat
things that were never ever said as though they were true, and how it thus
enters the vernacular.

To wit:

>: JMS has said that his next book, Supreme Power, will be written Alan
>: Moore, 9 panels per page style, so that shouldn't be a problem.
>
>So why can't JMS come up with his own style?

Never said it.  Not doing it.  Sorry.

>JMS has bragged that his agreement with Marvel is that they don't
>change a word he's written, or else he walks. Unfortunately, he needs
>a good editor, and it's a shame that Axel Alonso, one of the best
>in the business, isn't allowed to do his job. 

This is a misnomer.  When I turn in any of my scripts, Axel (or Joe Quesada, in
the case of Supreme Power) are free to give whatever thoughts and suggestions
they want, we argue over them, and at the end of the day, the script is what we
all want it to be.  But I make my own changes, nobody else touches it.

That's the point of distinction.  It simply means that *nobody rewrites me*,
not that I don't take input (which I do, consistently).  If it goes through a
couple drafts to make sure everybody's happy, then them's the breaks.  

When a person buys a book, they want to know that whats written is in the
author's voice.  And that's what I strive for, a consistent voice.  So if Joe Q
suggests that in issue 3 or Supreme Power we hold off on a given aspect for a
bit, and he can convince me he's right (which he did), I make the changes. 
Nobody else.  

It's not a matter of not taking input; it's a matter of creative integrity and
consistency.  The deal is that nobody *rewrites* me.  Not that I don't take and
often implement notes and suggestions.

Further, I frequently consult with Axel about any elements of the Marvel
universe I want to use so that I get them as right as I can.

Just for the record.

 jms

(jmsatb5@aol.com)
(all message content (c) 2003 by synthetic worlds, ltd., 
permission to reprint specifically denied to SFX Magazine 
and don't send me story ideas)