Doctor Strange and Warren Ellis
Jeremy Morris
Druid a lot. I was incredibly disappointed when it was transformed from
a continuing series into a 4 issue limited, but I can deal with it. I've
since began picking up Doom, Excalibur, and have been scouring the
back-issue and quarter bins for Hellstorm. I was a little disappointed
that David Quinn was dropped off of Dr. Strange so suddenly, but when I
heard that Ellis was going to replace him, I decided to keep the book. That
being said, I have a question for anyone who might know the answer:
Will Ellis be staying on Dr. Strange for the "long haul," or has he
already left the book. The last Marvel catalog I looked at had someone
else as the writer on Dr. Strange other than Ellis. Does anyone know if
this is a permanent thing, or what?
Thanks,
--
Jeremy Morris (jmo...@bgsuvax.bgsu.edu) aka Mortis
"Fear is a strange soil. Mainly it grows obedience like corn, which
grows in rows and makes weeding easy. But sometimes it grows the
potatoes of defiance, which flourish underground." - Pratchett "Small Gods"
Kevin Maroney
Jeremy Morris <jmo...@bgsuvax.bgsu.edu> wrote:
>Will Ellis be staying on Dr. Strange for the "long haul," or has he
>already left the book. The last Marvel catalog I looked at had someone
>else as the writer on Dr. Strange other than Ellis. Does anyone know if
>this is a permanent thing, or what?
He has already departed. He didn't even script #81 or 82, although they
are his plots. #83 is a fill-in, and then Marc DeMatteis takes over.
I'm disappointed about Ellis not staying-- he left when Marie Javins
did, more or less-- but I'm damn near ecstatic about deMatteis, since I
think that (when no one was looking) Marc went and became one of the best
writers in comics today. _Brooklyn Dreams_ was wonderful, and his run on
_Spectacular Spider-Man_ may have been the best run in Spidey since Lee
and Ditko.
--
Kevin J. Maroney|k...@panix.com|Proud to be a Maroney|Proud to be a Yonker
At night, the ice weasels come.
Phillip Carter
>Will Ellis be staying on Dr. Strange for the "long haul," or has he
>already left the book. The last Marvel catalog I looked at had someone
>else as the writer on Dr. Strange other than Ellis. Does anyone know if
>this is a permanent thing, or what?
Warren has already left the book, after doing (I think) three issues.
D.G. Chichester tells me that J.M. DeMatteis will be handling the writing
chores for Doc as well.
Cheers,
Phil
--
Phil Carter -- car...@phoenix.cs.uga.edu
"We have lingered in the chambers of the sea
By sea-girls wreathed with seaweed red and brown
Till human voices wake us, and we drown." -- T.S. Eliot
MJavins
William S. Kartalopoulos
Patrick Williams <mo...@aloha.com> writes:
> This is a cheap way to undo
> 'Fall from Grace' and I really expect more from someone like JMD.
As much as I liked JMD's Spidey work, his run on X-Factor wasn't
anything special. Of course, this could have been for the same reasons
that Peter David was so frustrated with the book, but as a result I'm
less willing to immediately assume that anything JMD does is going to
be good.
--Bill.
Abhay Khosla
> >Will Ellis be staying on Dr. Strange for the "long haul," or has he
> >already left the book. The last Marvel catalog I looked at had someone
> Warren has already left the book, after doing (I think) three issues.
> D.G. Chichester tells me that J.M. DeMatteis will be handling the writing
> chores for Doc as well.
Is it in JM DeMatteis's contract or something that he has to keep taking
over books when anyone leaves? Didn't he take over after Micheliene left
Spidey. And then Daredevil when Chichester's relations ended. And now
Doctor Strange?
Was it supposed to be like this? I remember Ellis saying he had some
long-term plans of some sort that would all build from Druid #4 and then
lead to Doctor Strange. Whats going on? Ellis looked pretty good.
Heck, Quinn looked pretty good...
-Abhay
akh...@umich.edu
God, why do I care anymore...
D.G. Chichester
Williams <mo...@aloha.com> wrote:
> This is a cheap way to undo
> 'Fall from Grace' and I really expect more from someone like JMD.
Hmm. Last I checked, it still looked okay on my bookshelf - yep, there it
is! <g>
DGC
Vorpal Bunny(TM)
: In article <Pine.BSD/.3.91.9507250000...@aloha.com>, Patrick
: Williams <mo...@aloha.com> wrote:
Take the staples out, that'll do it.
--
\\ \\ /\ "I'm Ronald McDonald, of the Clan McDonald.." /\
\\-\\ \/ Daily Orange Staff Writer "Quip _IS_ a \/
( X-X) /\ The Keeper of the Forbush Man Flame valid word in /\
{_^_} \/ [ho...@syr.edu] http://web.syr.edu/~holee/ newswriting!" \/
Phillip Carter
>> >Will Ellis be staying on Dr. Strange for the "long haul," or has he
>> >already left the book. The last Marvel catalog I looked at had someone
so I replied:
>> Warren has already left the book, after doing (I think) three issues.
>> D.G. Chichester tells me that J.M. DeMatteis will be handling the writing
>> chores for Doc as well.
Abhay inquired:
>Is it in JM DeMatteis's contract or something that he has to keep taking
>over books when anyone leaves? Didn't he take over after Micheliene left
>Spidey. And then Daredevil when Chichester's relations ended. And now
>Doctor Strange?
>Was it supposed to be like this? I remember Ellis saying he had some
>long-term plans of some sort that would all build from Druid #4 and then
>lead to Doctor Strange. Whats going on? Ellis looked pretty good.
>Heck, Quinn looked pretty good...
I liked Quinn's work too, but "a lot of people" (read: Bobbie Chase)
thought Quinn's work was "above and beyond" what most poor comics readers
could understand and appreciate.
Ellis was going to be the long-term writer, but when Marie Javins left
as editor, Ellis left soon afterward. I'm pretty sure there's a
connection there, as Marie and Warren have worked before in the past.
I don't know about the DeMatteis conspiracy theory, Abhay...but it gives me
food for thought.
Vorpal Bunny(TM)
: > : > This is a cheap way to undo
: > : > 'Fall from Grace' and I really expect more from someone like JMD.
: >
: > : Hmm. Last I checked, it still looked okay on my bookshelf - yep, there it
: > : is! <g>
: >
: > Take the staples out, that'll do it.
: *Yours* came with staples!?!
: Man, I get no benefits at all...
Marvel loves the dedicated fans, what can I say? B-)
(excuse me while I burst into helpless laughter)
D.G. Chichester
> : > This is a cheap way to undo
> : > 'Fall from Grace' and I really expect more from someone like JMD.
>
> : Hmm. Last I checked, it still looked okay on my bookshelf - yep, there it
> : is! <g>
>
> Take the staples out, that'll do it.
*Yours* came with staples!?!
Man, I get no benefits at all...
DGC
Kevin Maroney
Phillip Carter <car...@phoenix.cs.uga.edu> wrote:
>I liked Quinn's work too, but "a lot of people" (read: Bobbie Chase)
>thought Quinn's work was "above and beyond" what most poor comics readers
>could understand and appreciate.
A lot of us just thought it stank.
It was an improvement over Roy and Dann Thomas, but then, cancellation
would have been a big improvement over Roy and Dann.
Poet
: > Warren has already left the book, after doing (I think) three issues.
: > D.G. Chichester tells me that J.M. DeMatteis will be handling the writing
: > chores for Doc as well.
Abhay Khosla (akh...@umich.edu) wrote:
: Is it in JM DeMatteis's contract or something that he has to keep taking
: over books when anyone leaves? Didn't he take over after Micheliene left
: Spidey. And then Daredevil when Chichester's relations ended. And now
: Doctor Strange?
Umm, when you think about it every writer has to take over for someone
else unless the book is starting at #1 (or #0). :)
: Was it supposed to be like this? I remember Ellis saying he had some
: long-term plans of some sort that would all build from Druid #4 and then
: lead to Doctor Strange. Whats going on? Ellis looked pretty good.
: Heck, Quinn looked pretty good...
Editorial change. Warren was hired by Marie Javins. When Marie left
Marvel the book went to Bobbie Chase. Without knowing any details other
than JM now writes Strange and Warren does not; I'd say that Warren had
agreed to work for Marie under certain condtions.
Wayne
--
The user formerly known as Poet.
MJavins
removing Quinn from Dr. Strange was my move, not Bobbie's.
Warren quit when I left because he didn't know who would get the book or
what they had planned for it. We work really well together and it was a
team effort that suddenly wasn't the cruise he signed up for.
Marie Javins
Tackey Chan
>I liked Quinn's work too, but "a lot of people" (read: Bobbie Chase)
>thought Quinn's work was "above and beyond" what most poor comics readers
>could understand and appreciate.
Uh,.... I am not a poor comics reader.. And I my opinion Quinn
was not one of the better writters for Doc. His made Doc into a
manipulative person, which is out of character from decades of Doc
books, had other supporting members of Doc's book suffer, and made Doc
seemed so out of touch with the real world, while older Doc readers
cannot belive it. In other words, Quinn really eliminated a lot of
history when he took over Dr. Strange.
Still, I will have to admit that Quinn also inherited a bit of
a mess, considering the writer juggling before Quinn came on the book,
sub-plots left dangling and intresting but in full-filling stories
just to put a nifty cover on issue 50. (meaing the issues where
Strange looses his powers and fights an ever so more powerful Dormanu (sp?))
That is just my opinion.
------TAC
EvanSkol
was not one of the better writters for Doc. His made Doc into a
manipulative person, which is out of character from decades of Doc
books, had other supporting members of Doc's book suffer, and made Doc
seemed so out of touch with the real world, while older Doc readers
cannot belive it. In other words, Quinn really eliminated a lot of
history when he took over Dr. Strange.
Still, I will have to admit that Quinn also inherited a bit of
a mess, considering the writer juggling before Quinn came on the book,
sub-plots left dangling and intresting but in full-filling stories
just to put a nifty cover on issue 50. (meaing the issues where
Strange looses his powers and fights an ever so more powerful Dormanu
(sp?))
That is just my opinion. >>>
David and I "made" Doc manipulative because we took a look at what he'd
been up to for the past few years. He formed the Secret Defenders, random
super heroes gathered to deal with things he couldn't handle -- often
telling them much less than they needed to know. He formed the Midnight
Sons to deal with the threat of Lilith (!) -- as opposed to dealing with
it himself-- then promptly abandoned them.
Though the "behind-the-scenes" reasons for these actions were largely
Marvel editorial politics, we decided to react to them ... and to show the
character reacting to them. Our take was to show that Doc was being
manipulative ... and have him realize that and take steps to correct it.
Sorry to hear it wasn't to your liking.
-- Evan Skolnick
Tackey Chan
>David and I "made" Doc manipulative because we took a look at what he'd
>been up to for the past few years. He formed the Secret Defenders, random
>super heroes gathered to deal with things he couldn't handle -- often
>telling them much less than they needed to know. He formed the Midnight
>Sons to deal with the threat of Lilith (!) -- as opposed to dealing with
>it himself-- then promptly abandoned them.
I considered the entire Secred Defenders and Midnight Suns a
combination of two things. One is Marvel Marketing trying to get some
other books more sales and coverages and the second is the fallout
from de-powering Dr. Strange in the issues leading to 50. That is why
I am not going to fault Quinn for that. He inherited that situation
and then things like the Secret Defenders and such came up, not to
mention that Doc did not want the universe to fund out he has been
depowered as much as he has. This created another comic as opposed to
isolating it strickly in the Doc Strange comic. I am not faulting you
nor Quinn for that, I am not sure who or what group of people decided
on that. I just did not enjoy the material that came out of this
situation. A lot of mystique that attracted me to read Doc Strange
was gone, that is soemthing that is very rare in comics (the ony other
one I can think of now is the Shazam comic.) I suppose that isa a
major reason, why Quinn's work did not appeal to me. The villians and
the new supporting charactesr and the changes to the existing
chracter (of thoes you left us with) had too much angust to mak
neither belivable, relatable nor entertianing. It just did not perk my
imagination or fun in reading Quinn's work.
>Though the "behind-the-scenes" reasons for these actions were largely
>Marvel editorial politics, we decided to react to them ... and to show the
>character reacting to them. Our take was to show that Doc was being
>manipulative ... and have him realize that and take steps to correct it.
>Sorry to hear it wasn't to your liking.
>-- Evan Skolnick
Lots of things are not to mu liking. 8) That is why we vent on
news groups. 8)
But really, I am trying to be critical without ranting and
raving about things. (although, I have rant and raved in the past so
please ignore thopse posts.) I understand the difficulties in writing
comics since it is a vastly different medium of writting from novels,
or jounralism. Work is inherted and changed from writter to writer.
Some do well in transistion, carring old information and nostagia from
teh past writter but adding enough to make it his own owrk, while
others just go for the dramatic change, hoping to stir intrest or just
seperate himself/herself from teh past writers. Comics are the only
works (short of pulp books, and things like Star Trek Novels) that a
writer has to deal with a lot history before even starting the
writting on teh first page and dealing with the past history,
appreciating (or not appreciating) the writters before him/her and go
to the next level. Characters like Doc Strange carry some baggage with
them, unlike newer comics like DC's Damage and anything in Image. It
is very hard to be original, teh trick is being original doing
something that is already done. Not a lot of people can do that well.
Anyways, enough of me sitting here giving a dull and most
likely repetative lecture to you about it. I am sure there are other
people on teh net wating to chew you out. ;)
------TAC