WAITING
FOR TOMMY: NEW YORK SPIN CITY: MARVEL & DC
By
Richard Johnston
"Mr.
Perlmutter was very kind and gracious when talking to me.
He apologized for the actions of Bill Jemas and Joe Quesada,
as mentioned in my letter. He told me that he appreciated
my alerting him to this problem. He told me that this kind
of behaviour is unacceptable and he would not tolerate it.
"
"In
baseball," Mr. Perlmutter explained of how he deals with such
matters, "there are three strikes. With me, there is ONE strike!"
"When
I started to explain to him that I wrote because I am not
only a retailer, but also a fan that cares about Marvel, Mr.
Perlmutter told me it was "Irrelevant." "Irrelevant, " he
continued, "whether you are a fan, or not a fan, it does not
matter. People to not treat other people in such a way as
you and others were treated by Bill Jemas."
"This
is not how professional people speak to others," Mr. Perlmutter
assured me. He told me that he reread my letter and he was
still angry at what he learned of the conduct of his employees."
It was
shortly after that, that I heard reports Bill got a little
talking to.
Matt
reports that Bill called him earlier this week. Matt wrote
in a newsletter:
"Well,
I just got off the phone -- OK, it's been an hour or so --
with Marvel's President and COO, Bill Jemas. I was able to
discuss many things with the man, including Marvel's policies,
story content, sales, and the creative side of the business
in an hour long call.
"Many
of you might already be aware of this, but last week I received
a phone call from Ike Perlmutter, the owner of Marvel Comics.
The reason for that call was concerning a letter than I had
written about issues I had regarding the public behaviour
of Bill Jemas and Joe Quesada.
"You'll
probably not find a bigger fan of Marvel Comics characters
than me. I love comics in general, and I am very fond of that
company's roster of heroes and villains. And, as a retailer,
I am concerned about the goings-on in the industry. It matters
to me, both as a fan and as a retailer when I see things occurring
in our industry that I feel needs improvement or outright
change.
"Many
of you have read about or heard about the "bad boy" image
of Bill Jemas and Joe Quesada. While there is no doubt that
Joe Quesada has brought in some reputable talent to Marvel,
and many books are more enjoyable than they have been in years,
there is just as much change that has not been so beneficial
to the company. And the public relations between Marvel's
management and both fans and retailers leaves something to
be desired.
"Anyway,
I had written this two-page letter to the owner and upper-management
at Marvel Comics a couple of weeks ago. If nothing else, I
figured it could be a cathartic exercise of sorts. Well, to
my own amazement, the letter reached the top of the company.
That is when Mr. Perlmutter called me last week to express
his concern over matters and offer an apology for the behaviour
of his employees.
"Mr.
Perlmutter seems to be a very sincere man who cares about
the perception of his company. He showed Bill Jemas my letter
and, I assume, discussed what I had written therein.
"That
brings us to today's phone conversation. Mr. Jemas tells me
that there will be changes coming from Marvel in the upcoming
six months. First, he assures me that he will not be making
the kind of comments he has made in the past. He tells me
that he couldn't understand how people in comics could take
things so seriously and that growing up in New Jersey he was
raised to make fun of people as a game, and that he laughs
such stuff off. He explained that he didn't understand why
others do not do the same. I explained to him that comics
fans have enough of others making fun of us, and that we should
at least count on the publishers not to denigrate us. If we
don't take ourselves seriously, I asked, how are others going
to do so?
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