This is the line I paid most attention to:
JQ said:
: No, while we dont anticipate any delays, the unquestionable benefits of Joss writing Runaways far outweighs any possible loss.
Two reasons:
1). When has Joe Q, at least within the past, oh, 4 years, ever ACTUALLY anticipated or outright admitted a delay before the fact, such as at the start of a launch or creative run, even when every layman who watches the parties involved can predict delays? Did Joe Q predict a delay when, say, ULTIMATES 2 launched? Of course not, he was all, "monthly this time!" and then had to backtrack and go, "oh, well, Hitch is pretty and all our suckers buy it, so shut up and be patient" when it started getting later and later...and now ships a mighty 3 issues a year (on a good year). Usually when Marvel initially releases a book, their original shipping schedule is, at best, overly optimistic, and at worst, clouded in goggles of denial and pixie dust, unable to look at reality until it smacks them in the face (and either the book is already a month late, or maybe 2 weeks from original release).
My point? Delays are not the exception, but the rule. NO artist, not ONE, at least one who was hired professionally by Marvel after about 1997, can produce more than 5 issues monthly, one time, anymore. That is stern, cold reality. Those artists who can are usually vets from the pre-1997 era like Bagley, or rare exceptions. And even those exceptions will usually need some rest and can't be expected to do 12 a year, one time (even guys I love like Alphona, who can pull off 9 on time these days, which is a bloody miracle). On the other end, if you have a writer who has a "day job" like writing for TV or movies, they will naturally see that job through first and the lower paying Marvel one as a side-gig, something that's fun to do sort of thing. As Marvel are complete suckers for anyone who has ever written for Hollywood (and perhaps understandably so as the majority of them seem to be competant if not good, Hudlin as an exception), this also has to come into play. But hiring these writers, from Whedon to Heinberg to the guy from LOST, means that inevitably stuff may drag on their end. Heinberg, for one, denies delays are his fault. Of course not. It's just MAGIC that every book you write is late. Unlucky, unlucky, unlucky. Look, I love the guy's work, but his books are late after maybe 1-2 issues, like clockwork, and that is all that matters. After all, a movie or a TV never starts on it's expected date with a message that says, "WE'RE SORRY, BUT THE MOVIE/EPISODE YOU WERE EXPECTING IS RUNNING LATE BECAUSE THE WRITERS ARE AWEFULLY BUSY. BE PATIENT, WE LOVE YOU, KEEP FEEDING US MORE MONEY THAN ANY OF YOU WILL EVER POSSIBLY EARN." But late comics get that all the time.
I'd take Joe Q more seriously here if he said,
"While we will publish the Joss/Ryan RUNAWAYS issues as timely and often as we can, the reality of the current medium is that a book will be late after about 6 issues or less, on average. That is something you and I have had to realize and deal with. Now, I could attempt to pre-empt this fact by attaching a second or even third artist to the launch team at the outset, but that would be a rational, logical, competent leadership choice. I have a rep to maintain as someone who never does anything innovative unless DC has done it first (and even if it didn't work for DC; after all, something that fails to work when DC does it will magically work when we do it, exactly the same way, because we're...um...Marvel), and to spin stuff on the web for hype." Now, THAT I would buy. It'd be honest.
2). The last bit of the line WAS actually honest. Basically, because Joss Whedon is on it, they expect RUNAWAYS to instantly jump into selling in the Top 50 or better, and therefore they know this run will probably print it's own money. Therefore, Joe is setting the stage for the inevitable "quality takes time" line when the book inevitably runs behind. Which it will. Most books are late after 3-5 issues and maybe 1% of them are on time every month of the year. I'm calling it now. I'd like to be wrong, but I won't be. Unlike Joe, I actually pay attention to market realities, instead of just wishing they didn't happen.
I still look foward to that run, though. I'll miss Vaughan & Alphona on RUNAWAYS but out of all the A-List writers to attach to the book, Whedon would be amung my top choices.
That said, glad Joe Q admitted a mistake somewhere, and that ANNIHILATION won't be attached to CW. While an attachment would boost sales, at least that book isn't as afraid of making "good" and "bad" guys act as such instead of blending the two. Nice dodge of the villian question, BTW. It's a topic I've mentioned in a few topics lately.
