I understand the points made above, and definitely agree that grudge-holders are a bad fit, but the portion I bolded above is exactly what I want the top guy at either DC or Marvel to do. It's what I wish the top guy at Marvel (Quesada) would do, rather than mostly paying lip service to the importance of the characters and history while letting market-anointed Bendis, etc. largely run riot based on sales figures.

IMHO it should always be primarily about the characters, not about building a cult of personality around the writers and artists.

I see what you're saying, and I agree in spirit if nothing else, but I'll get back to that.

As a long time comics-reader I follow creators or creative teams more than I do specific titles or characters. If someone does good work, they should be rewarded and lauded for that work. The character is important, it is iconic, but it's the work of creators that made those characters so.

Levitz knows this, and this is one of the reasons DC (yes, and Marvel) pursue exclusive contracts so aggressively. But rather than give credit where it is due, Levitz and others would rather remind creators "where their place is".

Now, don't get me wrong, occassionally someone needs to be put in their place (Miller, I'm looking at you), but this is a rare, or at least uncommon, occurence IMHO.

RE: Marvel and Bendis. Bendis is exactly the sort of writer/creator needed at Marvel right now. In the continuity free-for-all that Quesada's reign has been, it's creators like Bendis, Abnett, Lanning, Cornell, and Kirk that keep continuity and story-lines straighter than not at Marvel.

Yeah, not letting Millar do whatever he wants sounds much preferable, so good job Levitz.

As far as the exclusive contracts and wages go, I'm certainly not as informed about that as Munchoboy may be, so I got nothing there. Of course, mention of the term "industry standard" on the Realms is enough to send people into a frenzy, so maybe I'll rant about it anyhow.

Having only seen an admittedly small portion of the Millar pitch, I am still disappointed with the decision to cancel the project. Millar had some great ideas for Superman that, dare I say it, may have made the character relevant without truning him into something he isn't.

Levitz is also the reason there were 17 (17!!! ) re-writes of Final Crisis #7.

Emphasis mine. LOL, I almost spit out my coffee at that one. Very good point sir, I will endeavor to be more careful!

We'll have to agree to disagree, Munchoboy, especially on Bendis. The concept that Bendis is in some way a guardian of continuity baffles me. The man who violently shoe-horned The Illuminati into retro-active existence and steamrolled history with the inclusion of the execrable Sentry into Marvel's Silver Age? No, this is someone who is, conceptually, a rapist from my vantage*. I believe Bendis may give the appearance of being a shepherd of continuity because he selectively mines the past, but more often than not it's a trick. A misdirection.

Every time they let the writers and artist become bigger than the characters it's, IMHO, short-sighted thinking. The company's aim should always be to create Batman, Spider-man, etc. fans, not Miller, Millar, Bendis, etc. ones. This doesn't mean they should ignore the creators - Marvel's always (well, since the Silver Age) made a point of spotlighting the names of the people behind the scenes (not always to their full credit, granted, but it became better with time) - but the focus should always be on the characters, their history and stories. Putting effort into creating people who are Bendis fans, Miller fans, etc. creates a far more fickle fan, which is moronic for a company to do in the long term.

* Yeah, I know I'm taking it over the top, but such things either matter or they don't, and if they don't then I have little reason to bother following the characters.

Yeah, trying to reign in the bloated egos these writers have can only be a good thing.

Somebody mentioned Bendis as a guy who maintains continuity? I've gotta snicker at that one.

Wow, I didn't know Rob Liefeld posted to these boards.

--wyld

I'm not saying that Bendis is great at it, I only maintain that he at least keeps things straight among the titles he's involved in.

What, no one has anything to say about Abnet, Lanning, or the other writers at Marvel who have taken characters, disregarded bits of their histories, and turned out entertaining stories as well? Can't damn one without damning the others for the same work.

Whatever.

While I may have paraphrased what Rob has said, he's not the only creator that feels this way. I didn't want to throw anyone under the bus is all, since openly criticizing Levitz has never been a good career decision.

I f they're better at what they do I can. Everytime I read Bendis I feel like I'm reading the story from a smirking 12 year old.

And please don't mistake Liefeld for a creator.

I will definitely give you that Abnett, Lanning, and a host of others do what they do with a lot more deftness and craft. IMHO the "cosmic" stuff at Marvel is the better of the books hands down.

But we can't disregard that these creators also pick and choose what they want to use and casually disregard what they don't from a character's history as well. I'm not saying that they and Bendis are the same, only that we should see it all for what it is and apply the standard equitably.

I'm sorry, but Liefeld-hate? Really? Wow, talk about an easy target.

The man has made a lot of contributions to the industry over two decades, and he remains a nice fellow despite the constant (and undeserved) harranguing he receives from the fanboys.

I get that his art isn't for everyone, but the plain fact that folk refuse to see that he has improved dramitically since he debut just amazes me. Not to mention that several of his characters continue to enjoy popularity among creators and fans alike.

I guess I just don't understand how folk think it's cool to dis Rob is all, especially when there are no shortage of other artists out there with no strong grasp of anatomy who continue to toil away chuning out their work without the same level of notoriety.

Suffice to say, I disagree with "Rob-hate".

LOL. But I digress.

I am looking forward to reading what Levitz will bring to the Legion after issue 6.

I don't dislike Liefeld because because it's trendy, I dislike him because he's all around bad. His art's horrible? Check. But his writing's worse and between him and Loeb, it's neck and neck as to who deserves to be in the industry least.

Again, I amd content to disagree re: Rob and call it creative difference.

Re: Jeph...man. I wish I could disagree. Since his son died, it seems like he has completely thrown himself into his work and it just isn't...as good as it once was.

I just don't know. I love a lot of Loeb's earlier works and find it difficult to reconcile it with his more recent stuff. Either way, I can't condemn him as Marvel and DC continue to give the man work.

at least Loeb has produced good stuff. that's what i keep telling myself as i continue picking up Hulk. grumble grumble.... it'll pay off sometime