Number one: I was asked toward the end of the previous thread about a conversation I had with Bill Jemas a couple years ago about writing about Marvel in public.
Now I don’t ordinarily discuss private phone calls without the permission of the other party, but Joe is choosing to make it public, so…uncomfortably…okay.
I wrote a column that was, as I recall, a response to Bill’s initial “retailer IQ” comments. Bill called and we had a conversation that I would characterize as polite and even friendly (although lord knows how it would be described now.) Bill said that if I ever had any questions about things he’d said, I should feel free to call him and ask him to clarify it or discuss it further.
I told him that it was a very generous offer, but here was the problem: “But I Digress” isn’t a news column (for the most part). It’s an observational column that expresses opinions about things that are out there in the public forums. Yes, I could pick up the phone and say, “Bill, what the hëll did you mean by that.” But if I did that, then I’d be morally obligated to contact, say, Todd McFarlane, next time he said something stupid, and ask what the hëll *he* was talking about before I commented on it. Or what if Paul Levitz said something that was so dumb it prompted comment. Should I call Paul before ragging on DC? Bill laughed and said, “No! Absolutely not! Feel free to go after Paul whenever you want!” (Again, I emphasize this was SAID IN JEST, so it doesn’t turn into “Bill Jemas told Peter David to trash Paul Levitz whenever possible.”)
By contrast, I told him that if someone contacted me and said, “I heard Bill Jemas said such and such,” and I felt it was newsworthy, I would absolutely, one hundred percent call him and ask him what was up with it. And if that conversation convinced me it wasn’t newsworthy or dubious, I’d kill the story, because investigative journalism isn’t really BID’s thing. But public statements were fair game for public replies.
And he said he understood and was cool with that.
And I’ve stuck with that agreement and understanding.
So…that’s the first thing
Second thing: I’m starting to like Joe Q’s thinking. He put forward a fairly logical progression: If my contention is that Marvel is hiring Second Age, Inc., which in turn loans out my services, then the credit page on “Captain Marvel” can be changed to read “by Second Age, Inc.”
By all means.
I don’t *think* Marvel’s under any obligation to put my name anywhere on the book. Heck, before Stan Lee started slapping credits on the splash pages, most stories were fairly anonymous. (Indeed, if I’m recalling correctly, DC thought the practice so gauche that they did a parody version of Stan called “Stan Brag”…before they eventually started running credits themselves, of course.)
One would think Marvel would *want* my name on the book, for the purpose of selling copies. But if Marvel wants to substitute the credit line “by Second Age, Inc.,” by all means, if it’ll make ’em happy, feel free. Listing corporations as authors isn’t unusual. Heck, how many times do you see legal material at the end of a movie that says, “For purpose of copyright, XYZ Corporation is the author of this film.” My novels such as “Sir Apropos of Nothing” and “Knight Life” are copyright Second Age, Inc.
In fact…somehow it would be appropriate. My very first published work for Marvel was a one page Fumetti that appeared on the inside back cover of the Marvel Fumetti Book. I submitted the idea to the editors, and somehow my name got separated from the text (how, I’ve no clue.) So when editorial went around trying to find out who wrote it, it never occurred to them to check in the sales office, which is where I was working at the time. The result? My first published Marvel work ran with a question mark next to the “written by” credit. So if CM winds up being my last published work for them, which it indeed might, this would bring it full circle.
Hmm. Considering the number of people asking why I’m still working for Marvel, perhaps a return to the question mark would be in order.
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