Eh probably not 3 years, but it's not unheard of for a show to go on a long hiatus, up to a year sometimes. I just wanted to get it through your thick skull that Lindelof is not some scrub writer on LOST and has more pull than you think.
Fine. I still think simple professionalism should count for something, and it is a shame that comics are such an introverted industry that the powers that be usually see it as a forgettable ethic.
Still, the delay on ULTIMATE WOLVERINE VS. HULK is beyond the pale. Even Joss Whedon's Marvel comics weren't that atrociously late. Sure, it took him 14 months for he and Ryan to wrap up that six issue RUNAWAYS arc, but at least they finished it. And we're at the point in modern comics where "a mere 8 months behind schedule" is no longer a shock, when we have titles going years behind schedule. THE TWELVE hasn't seen an issue since November, and hardly anyone seems to mind. It's not 12 months behind yet. A shame things have gotten to this point.
Barely 8 years ago, the idea of a comic being a month late was a failure. Now it's practically on time.
Darthphere said:
The part I bolded in your post is beyond ridiculous. No one is talking about New Warriors, no one is clamoring for New Warriors. The fact that we talk about Young Avengers every goddamn day book, mini, or nothing going on with them is a testament to the power of the franchise. If Young Avengers got an ongoing and sustained it without delays, YA would be consistently in the Top 40 if not higher depending on the creative team. I can guarantee you that. To claim that Young Avengers is basically dead is absurd to say the least.
It is worth noting that the NEW WARRIORS had an ongoing that ended a few months back that ran 20 issues. No, it wasn't the best, and you can pick holes at it all day long, but including the annual, YOUNG AVENGERS hasn't had more than 13 issues of an ongoing for 3-4 years. Hell, you need to include two mini's to get them to 20 issues of material, and two of those mini's also starred the RUNAWAYS, and could count at their material.
The New Warriors are having a key role in AVENGERS: THE INITIATIVE and have since the start. The YOUNG AVENGERS are barely showing up in MIGHTY AVENGERS, and that is only because Stature & Vision II made the leap (likely someone in editorial deciding not to wait on Heinberg's priorities when Dan Slott pitched his run).
And I believe I did say that the YOUNG AVENGERS are in better position than the NEW WARRIORS. Just barely.
A Top 40 book, by ICV2.com's Top 300 sales estimates for May 2009, would have to sell over 38k copies. Their last mini, YOUNG AVENGERS PRESENTS, which had a few issues written by A-List talent like Brubaker, barely averaged 32k and sometimes dipped below 27k for the last issues. And while the optimist says that's fine, that's more or less where MS. MARVEL has been selling for years now, it is a far cry from when it first launched and could pull over 50k an issue. The heat on YOUNG AVENGERS in the 3-4 years that Marvel has been sitting on it has allowed the franchise to cool substantially, reverting from a B-List to a C-List franchise in less than a Presidential term, purely from Marvel's editorial stubbornness towards a writer who clearly isn't interested in writing for them over his "day job", because if he was, he'd have written something. For God's Sakes, the man was on strike for a quarter of a year, and they couldn't get him to co-plot a bloody one shot. That speaks volumes about either Marvel or Heinberg regarding this property.
If DARK REIGN: YOUNG AVENGERS can sell above 38k all the way through, then I will concede this point. I doubt it. Maybe allowing a franchise to cool so much that sales on it have fallen maybe 50% through sheer editorial spinelessness is a no big deal to some, but to me it's a blunder.
Darthphere said:
By the way, don't misunderstand me here. I'm not happy about not having a YA title. I wish we had an ongoing and I wish Heinberg was more responsible about things he takes on. I just have to say, that I understand where Marvel is coming from with their what I'm going to call "unhealthy loyalty" to Heinberg and Cheung as well. I would prefer Heinberg writing YA because he's what made them click for all of us, but trust me Dread, Marvel is going to wise up and move on if Heinberg can't pull the trigger. They're sitting on a gold mine, they're not gonna sit and wait for cash4gold.com to give them they money.
Marvel hasn't wised up in over three bloody years. I won't believe they will suddenly on this property without Heinberg until I see it. Cheung is a slow artist but he's been available. He'd need at least 1-2 other artists to fill in for him every 2-3 issues, but he'd be aboard any relaunch. Lord knows he's done covers for endless YA mini's.
Frankly, the "only Heinberg can write these characters well" excuse won't fly. They're cool but they're not nearly as unique or quirky as the RUNAWAYS. Hell, Stature/Cassie Lang wasn't even an original character, she was a long standing one. Brubaker has written the team well. Chris Yost, Zeb Wells, and Matt Fraction have, too. McKeever has just returned to the fold and he could probably pull the team off. I imagine Christos Gage could handle the team, too, if he had to. There are more than enough options for the Young Avengers for a relaunched ongoing without Heinberg. I mean by all means if he can be included for even co-plots, by all means. But we've gotten not one word of text from him in over three years. Every comic he has written solo has been atrociously late. I tire of Marvel being dumber than a sack of hair on this franchise.
), but They attracted a large amount of gay readers by including these characters.. and avoiding the topic might push many away. I do however think sadly, if Heinberg returned, he'd push the envelope a little more with that. It's sad marvel is waiting on him though.
