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Message

Subject: Re: JMS: Marvel and you
Date: Thu, 1 Jun 2006 22:13:47 +0000 (UTC)
From: jmsatb5@aol.com
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.tv.babylon5.moderated

Jan wrote:
> JMS,
>
> In the past you've never seemed particularly enamored of storytelling by
> committee and yet I've gotten the impression that there's more than a touch of
> that at Marvel with their retreats and planning stories and crossovers and
> events a year and more into the future.  At the very least there must be a fair
> amount of cooperation among the writers to keep the universe in some sort of
> synch.
>
> Obviously I wouldn't expect you to knock your employer (too much) but can you
> say if your attitude has changed or if there's something in the Marvel approach
> that works for you or what?
>

It's a very difficult pony ride at times, simply from the amount of
coordination that has to take place to pull it off, and I'm not
terribly well coordinated under the best of circumstances.

The thing that sets the Marvel work apart from everything else is that
these are all pre-owned and established characters, who I am entrusted
with, knowing full well that at the end of the day, whenever that
comes, I can go but the characters will go on.  Marvel owns them, and
Marvel ultimately has the say in what these characters do and become.
Over the last few years, they've gotten more into these big events, as
a corporate decision, and as difficult as that sometimes can become, my
job is to be a team player and make these things work.

Mind you, they always give me the choice of whether or not to play in
these venues.  If I want to opt out, and I make the case strongly
enough, I can...but the writer in me wants to do right by Marvel and
there's something to be said for the challenge involved.  But having
said all that, it'd be great to have a run at the books without being
pulled into other stories, because it can have the long-term effect of
diffusing the direction of the title.

jms