What happened to the Twelve?

[The Geek Vault]

Does anyone know the situation surronding the comic The Twelve? I was really enjoying it but it seemed to have just stopped. Is it over or is JMS going to finish it? I'm really hoping we finish it.

 

[gwynplaine]

Does anyone know the situation surronding the comic The Twelve? I was really enjoying it but it seemed to have just stopped. Is it over or is JMS going to finish it? I'm really hoping he finishes it.

So am I. Awesome comic book.

 

[The Geek Vault]

So am I. Awesome comic book.

Definitly, I was going to do a paper on it for history class but it never got finished. I wonder if they will integregate the characters into the mainstream after the mini is done!

 

[Dread]

The last issue of THE TWELVE was issue #8, which shipped in October 2008. That was also when Marvel released a HC of the first 6 issues of the series.

As for what has happened? Who knows. Artist Chris Weston hasn't updated his blog in a while. JMS has since signed an exclusive deal with DC and they originally tagged him to write the going-nowhere BRAVE AND THE BOLD, although as that book's sales are skidding, there is some rumbling that DC is rethinking that plan, as JMS is one of few A-list writers left (his perennially late THOR always sells a good 70-80k an issue). The book hasn't been solicted in March or April, and as noted, is running about two months behind, at least (and it had been a bit late by issue #8, since the first issue was in Jan. 2008).

It would not be the first mini that Marvel has commissioned that either saw a large delay of months or even years before being finished (ULTIMATE WOLVERINE VS. HULK, Kevin Smith's BLACK CAT mini, Joe "Who's the Boss?" Queseda's two mini's, NYX or DAREDEVIL: FATHER), or, if never finished, the first mini that never was finished (Kevin Smith's DAREDEVIL: TARGET only shipped one issue years ago).

Still, Weston's art is detailed, and it could be that he simply fell behind. Weston and JMS had a bit of lead in time before the first issue shipped, and the book started facing delays after several months anyway. A 2-3 month delay for a detailed artist is hardly uncommon; look at Hitch's delays for ULTIMATES 2 by the end, which seemed to take 4-6 months an issue.

Aside for a cover for THE TWELVE #9 featuring Blue Blade, it hasn't been solicted this year yet.

http://comicbookcatacombs.blogspot.com/2009/01/hey-marvel-where-heck-is-twelve-9.html

It is a shame, for I did enjoy the series. Usually JMS is a slow paced writer, but with the book's large cast, that wasn't a burden. It would be a shame for it to go unfinished.

 

[The Geek Vault]

I vote we start a petition!

 

[The Question]

I really hope this gets a proper finish. There's nothing worse than a fully planned JMS series that doesn't get a proper finish. Case in point, Supreme Power.

 

[Gilpesh]

I want my last four issues of the Twelve! And the eventual trade paperback of it! Or maybe a hardcover! It's too early to decide! Especially with this bleak news! I like exclamation marks when I am upset!

 

[Blader5489]

Wouldn't be the first time JMS quit in the middle of a project.

**** him.

 

[Tron Bonne]

So JMS signed an exclusive contract with DC? I knew we was working with them but I had no idea it was under exclusive rights.

Well, ****.

 

[ShadowBoxing]

I really hope this gets a proper finish. There's nothing worse than a fully planned JMS series that doesn't get a proper finish. Case in point, Supreme Power.

"Hey, lets switch it off the MAX imprint"

"Oh, wow, yeah, lets not."

 

[Mr. Green]

Yeah, that blew. Just as it really started to gain momentum and kick ass, they pulled the plug on it.

 

[Blader5489]

Yeah, that blew. Just as it really started to gain momentum and kick ass, they pulled the plug on it.

JMS pulled the plug on it. He got bored of it and asked Marvel to pull him off it.

Hence my earlier "**** him" remark.

 

[Mr. Green]

Then why did he write Squadron Supreme after Supreme Power got canceled?

 

[Blader5489]

I was referring to Squadron Supreme. I guess I misread your post.

 

[Mr. Green]

In that case, who can blame him? Supreme Power was awesome and Squadron Supreme was a crappy knee-capped version of it. I wish MAX sold better but I guess Punisher is pretty much the only MAX title that stood any chance.

 

[The Geek Vault]

Who's everyones fav. character? Mines Rockman

 

[Aristotle]

Kevin Smith's DAREDEVIL: TARGET only shipped one issue years ago

Wait, did they finish publishing Ultimate Wolverine vs. Hulk when I wasn't looking?

 

[Blader5489]

Wait, did they finish publishing Ultimate Wolverine vs. Hulk when I wasn't looking?

Yes, it's done, and coming out over the next couple months.

 

[Max J Power]

As for what has happened? Who knows. Artist Chris Weston hasn't updated his blog in a while. JMS has since signed an exclusive deal with DC and they originally tagged him to write the going-nowhere BRAVE AND THE BOLD, although as that book's sales are skidding, there is some rumbling that DC is rethinking that plan, as JMS is one of few A-list writers left (his perennially late THOR always sells a good 70-80k an issue). The book hasn't been solicted in March or April, and as noted, is running about two months behind, at least (and it had been a bit late by issue #8, since the first issue was in Jan. 2008).

It does seem like there aren't that many writers these days who can sell a book just because their name is on it. Who else would you consider A-list?

 

[Mr. Green]

Bendis, Millar, Johns, Loeb (his **** sells no matter how crappy it may be), BKV, Ennis, Brubaker, Morrison, PAD, Slott...

Pak, Van Lente, Fraction, and a few others are making their way up in the world of comics as well.

 

[Dread]

Vaughan not so much. LOGAN was his highest selling series and even that wasn't in the Top 30. PAD's name has faded.

But, yeah, Bendis, Loeb, Johns, Ennis, Morrison and Millar would be A-Listers. JMS as well, and I probably would include Brubaker and to some rising degree, Slott and Pak.

 

[Aristotle]

In other words, just as many A-listers as we always had? I think the industry needs to quit thinking in those terms. This Gears of War thing seems like incontrovertible proof that the direct market is the reason comics are a failure. It's not that they got too violent or gory. It's not that there's more **** and ass and swearing. It's not that they're too continuity-heavy. Those are certainly problems, and should be fixed, but that isn't what's killing the superhero comic book. It's the direct market. You put a name that people recognize, you put it out there in a venue other than a comic book shop, you market it the way it deserves to be marketed, with the full backing of Warner Bros. or Marvel Entertainment, and it will sell.

Gears of War sold 450,000 copies of its first issue. Gears of War did better sales than any of the books we like. Gears of War is not a spectacular comic book. If that kind of promotion and name-recognition and marketing and sales could be applied to a Superman or a Secret Invasion or a Final Crisis or a Batman or a Spider-Man, the numbers could be like they used to.

 

[Mr. Green]

Vaughan not so much. LOGAN was his highest selling series and even that wasn't in the Top 30. PAD's name has faded.

But, yeah, Bendis, Loeb, Johns, Ennis, Morrison and Millar would be A-Listers. JMS as well, and I probably would include Brubaker and to some rising degree, Slott and Pak.

What about Y the Last Man though? That has to be one of Vertigo's most popular tpb collections, up there with Preacher, 100 Bullets, and Fables. He got one of those Spike Awards for it and was on tv at any rate. I don't know if that really means he's an A-Lister or not but I would figure that Y along with Runaways and Doctor Strange: Blood Oath would've made him one of the more popular writers.

 

[Dread]

Vaughan has recognition, and he writes for LOST now. But he hasn't sold any comic at a clip of 80-100k a month. I like his work, though.

 

[Darthphere]

JMS isn't exclusive to DC. His exclusive to Marvel ended, making him a freelancer.