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    Formerly known by names including "Atlas" and "Timely", Marvel Entertainment is the publisher of comic books featuring iconic characters and teams such as the Fantastic Four, Spider-Man, the Avengers, the X-Men, Iron Man, the Hulk, Thor, Captain America and Daredevil. Currently owned by the Walt Disney Company, Marvel is one of the "Big Two" comic publishers along with DC Comics.

    Marvel's writer burnout

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    jsphsmth

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    Edited By jsphsmth

    A few weeks back in his regular feature at CBR, Marvel Comics Editor-in-Chief Axel Alonso confirmed his commitment to move away from limited series and continue his push for multiple-ships of the core titles. I cannot say I blame him for limiting the number of limited series. In the old days they were a good tool to see if a character/team/concept could support an ongoing series. Now, primarily because of the wait-til-trade thinking that dominates limited series, they are no longer that viable a tool.

    On the other hand, I am concerned about him double shipping comics. I don't mind buying them as long as they are good quality comics, but when writers are forced to increase their page count per month, doesn't quality suffer?

    Ed Brubaker normally writes two mainstream Marvel comics a month, plus his independent work. He does the independent work to keep himself "sane," so I doubt he will stop. If he is forced to write more than two comics a month because of double-ships, won't his quality drop? If he is forced to continue this for a long period of time, will he burnout?

    Rick Remender is now writing three mainstream Marvel comics a month. He has ended his independent comic Fear Agent, so he does have more time to write the Marvel comics. Maybe his output will continue to be strong, but if double shipping continues, for how long? As evidence of possible burnout, his last issues of Venom and Uncanny X-Force were not as well reviewed as his previous work on these series. Maybe this is because UXF #19 was a prologue to the phenomenal Dark Angel saga and therefore could not be the same quality as it is a wrap-up issue. Similarly maybe Venom, which is at the beginning of a new direction for the series, is suffering because Remender is laying groundwork for this new direction. Or possibly both comics suffered because he was forced to write the UXF 19.1 and the Secret Avengers which double ships in February.

    I am not sure what to think yet, but I am a little concerned.

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    Rabbitearsblog

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    #1  Edited By Rabbitearsblog

    I definitely agree with this! It's one thing for a writer to write one series and stick with it, but it's another thing whenever they are writing two different series at the same time. I think that the writing in Marvel comics has staggered a bit lately because the writers would be working on one series, but then they are forced to work on another series that requires a lot of their attention. I think that Marvel needs to slow down a bit on the miniseries and issues and let the writers finish the stories that they have planned for the series they are working on so that way, we would have a clear ending to most of these titles and the writers would not be so stressed when writing these stories.

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    jsphsmth

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    #2  Edited By jsphsmth

    Brubaker and Remender's comics continue to be well reviewed. Hopefully this is a sign that "writer burnout" won't be an issue.

    At least not yet. Brubaker did say that he was writing 18 issue of CA this year plus Winter Soldier (which is double shipping this month) plus Fatale. Don't burn out Ed, please.

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    Rabbitearsblog

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    #3  Edited By Rabbitearsblog
    @jsphsmth said:

    Brubaker and Remender's comics continue to be well reviewed. Hopefully this is a sign that "writer burnout" won't be an issue.

    At least not yet. Brubaker did say that he was writing 18 issue of CA this year plus Winter Soldier (which is double shipping this month) plus Fatale. Don't burn out Ed, please.

    Oh yeah! I heard so many good things about X-Force and I hope that it continues to be good!
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    WildValentine

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    #4  Edited By WildValentine

    Same thing happened with Fraction! He was off on his own, writing the critically acclaimed Invincible Iron Man series. Marvel took notice of his incredible work and basically shoveled everything they could in his direction. As horrendous as Fear Itself was, I still love Matt Fraction and as long as he keeps writing Iron Man, I'll keep buying it.
     
    I seriously hope Marvel leave Brubaker alone. He's writing titles for Captain America and Bucky, his two mainstays. Leave it at that. This is your Christopher Nolan, Marvel; don't push him.

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    jsphsmth

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    #5  Edited By jsphsmth

    First blood. Remender is co-writing a five issue arc of Venom because his "schedule is shifted."

    I hope that his collaboration with Cullen Bunn will deliver the same quality stories that he produced in the past.

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    jsphsmth

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    #6  Edited By jsphsmth

    So Remender is leaving Venom as of issue 22. Guess that confirms my fears.

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    PowerHerc

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    #7  Edited By PowerHerc

    Interesting.

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    jsphsmth

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    #8  Edited By jsphsmth

    and now Brubaker is leaving Captain America. Nice going Marvel.

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    daredevil21134

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    #9  Edited By daredevil21134

    @jsphsmth said:

    and now Brubaker is leaving Captain America. Nice going Marvel.

    WHAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! He is?

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    jsphsmth

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    #10  Edited By jsphsmth

    @daredevil21134: Guess I should have linked the CBR article. Link

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    daredevil21134

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    #11  Edited By daredevil21134

    @jsphsmth said:

    @daredevil21134: Guess I should have linked the CBR article. Link

    WOW!

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    Cap10nate

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    #12  Edited By Cap10nate

    I just hope that he stays on Winter Soldier for a long run. He is quoted as saying "...I know I'm still going to be doing the Winter Soldier for a while, potentially a long while..." but also says that he will continue to write Winter Soldier for "as long as I can." I hope he isn't pushed out or burns out before he can make this title a classic.

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    jsphsmth

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    #13  Edited By jsphsmth

    @Cap10nate: His commitment to writing Winter Soldier makes the news of his departure from CA a little easier to take. I would hate to see him leave Winter Soldier early like he did with Secret Avengers.

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    HotSauceCommittee

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    Slott, Gillen, Aaron etc manage it fine. He's been doing Cap for 8 years, anyone would get burned out after that, and as far as Remender goes;

    I got to do about 92%," Remender said in regard to how many of the stories he wanted to tell got told during his tenure.

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    jsphsmth

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    #15  Edited By jsphsmth

    Reevaluaing my Marvel pull list. Between this and the forced events/crossovers, I am not interested in reading Marvel anymore. Dropping everything except Punisher and Winter Soldier.

    Might as well give my money to DC and IDW. I am much happier with the products they are delivering at this point.

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    Rabbitearsblog

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    #16  Edited By Rabbitearsblog

    @jsphsmth said:

    Reevaluaing my Marvel pull list. Between this and the forced events/crossovers, I am not interested in reading Marvel anymore. Dropping everything except Punisher and Winter Soldier.

    Might as well give my money to DC and IDW. I am much happier with the products they are delivering at this point.

    I'm reading mainly comics from IDW and Dark Horse too since at least the stories in those comics don't seem too forced.

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    Blood1991

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    #17  Edited By Blood1991

    @jsphsmth said:

    and now Brubaker is leaving Captain America. Nice going Marvel.

    NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! Not this, Wood is leaving X-Men and now Brubaker is leaving Captain America!? Damn you for this Marvel. So I am seriously considering DC comics I already get Batman, Wonder Woman, and Aquaman any other suggestions?

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    HotSauceCommittee

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    This has nothing to with Marvel, Ed has been writing Cap for eight years, there's very few, if any, people still working on the titles they were at in 2004 when he started, I can't imagine anyone not being burnt out after so long on a project, but whatever, carry on with the irrational Marvel hatred.

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    jsphsmth

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    #19  Edited By jsphsmth

    @HotSauceCommittee: It has everything to do with Marvel. Axel loves his double ship sales strategy. He recently addressed artist burnout due to the strategy, but failed to comment on the writers who do not get the option of sitting out an arc. link

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    jsphsmth

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    #20  Edited By jsphsmth

    @Blood1991: Big variety at DC since the relaunch. I found it much easier to jump onboard new titles and I am having a hard time trimming down my pulllist. (I end up adding with every subsequence New Wave) Hard to recommend anything without knowing your tastes though.

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    HotSauceCommittee

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    @jsphsmth: Ok, prove it. You've given two names, Remender, who got to write 92% of the Venom stories he wanted to tell, and Brubaker, who has been working Cap for eight years. There's no one else today who's been writing and still is writing a character for that period of time. In this case, double shipping is irrelevant, maybe the extra issues brought it on a little sooner but he was going to burn out regardless. You're taking completely unrelated cases and shoving double shipping in to make Marvel look like the bad guy. Show me a writer who's left a book after a reasonable period of time because they can't handle the schedule.

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    Remi

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    #22  Edited By Remi

    @Blood1991 said:

    @jsphsmth said:

    and now Brubaker is leaving Captain America. Nice going Marvel.

    NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! Not this, Wood is leaving X-Men and now Brubaker is leaving Captain America!? Damn you for this Marvel. So I am seriously considering DC comics I already get Batman, Wonder Woman, and Aquaman any other suggestions?

    Wood leaving the X-Men? Where did you hear this?

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    jsphsmth

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    #23  Edited By jsphsmth

    @HotSauceCommittee: You should read the OP again. Remender's and Brubaker's output has been stable for years, doubleship changed that. Quality dropped, co-writing became commonplace, and now they are off their signature titles.

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    HotSauceCommittee

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    @jsphsmth: Fatale, Cap and Winter Soldier were a drop in quality? That's completely subjective anyway. Co-writing commonplace? If by common place you mean the last arcs of their runs. You're talking out of your ass. Remender admitted he was done with Venom, and Ed was on Cap for eight years so it's no surprise he's leaving. Who exactly is it then that can't handle this schedule? I completely agree with you that double shipping is risky in terms of quality and writer well being, but I can't agree with your examples. Show me someone quitting after six months and we'll talk.

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    jsphsmth

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    #25  Edited By jsphsmth

    @HotSauceCommittee said:

    @Show me someone quitting after six months and we'll talk.

    Remender off Venom and Brubaker off Captain America.

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    TheBlueAngel93

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    #26  Edited By TheBlueAngel93

    Captain America, since the start of the new series, has dropped in quality compared to the previous series.

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    Blood1991

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    #27  Edited By Blood1991

    @Remisaid:

    @Blood1991 said:

    @jsphsmth said:

    and now Brubaker is leaving Captain America. Nice going Marvel.

    NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! Not this, Wood is leaving X-Men and now Brubaker is leaving Captain America!? Damn you for this Marvel. So I am seriously considering DC comics I already get Batman, Wonder Woman, and Aquaman any other suggestions?

    Wood leaving the X-Men? Where did you hear this?

    http://www.comicvine.com/avengers/65-3806/is-hickman-writing-the-avengers-a-good-thing/92-675985/?page=4

    Me and Age of Hurricane were discussing it. He is usually a trustworthy source of info.

    @jsphsmth

    : Ok I'm thinking I may pick up Sucide Squad, Justice League, Flash, and Animalman. Are they good or just meh.

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    HotSauceCommittee

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    @jsphsmth said:

    @HotSauceCommittee said:

    @Show me someone quitting after six months and we'll talk.

    Remender off Venom and Brubaker off Captain America.

    You've misinterpreted me, Venom was two years and Cap was eight. My point is, no one is suddenly quitting after six months on a book, the examples you used had a pretty long run and came to a natural end. All I was trying to say is that clearly he's burnt out on Cap, but to put that soley down to double shipping when there's other factors (like an eight year tenure with the character) is a little short sighted, and should probably be considered before you go hate mongering.

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    jsphsmth

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    #29  Edited By jsphsmth

    @Blood1991:

    I am enjoying all those except Flash. I dropped it at issue five not because of quality, only because my DC pull list is too large. (I have thought about picking it up again. It continues to be well reviewed.)

    I do find that I enjoy Animal Man better when I read Swamp Thing also, the two series share a common enemy and both Lemire and Snyder are amazing writers.

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    Blood1991

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    #30  Edited By Blood1991

    @jsphsmth: Thanks If things keep up they way they are I am certainly going to take some of my Marvel titles and replace them with DC.

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    jsphsmth

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    #31  Edited By jsphsmth

    @HotSauceCommittee said:

    ...before you go hate mongering.

    Hardly. I was expressing a concern in the blog post. Workers who are forced to exceed their normal output tend to burnout. I don't know if you have ever managed people in real life, but it is a fact of life. Short-term it works out fine, long-term, not so much.

    I thought that this would be an even larger problem for Marvel because creative types are hardly clock punchers. It is hard to turn on creativity and then turn on the "overtime" button without quality suffering.

    I buy the comics (43 monthlies plus 14 ongoing series followed in trades plus various mini-series) so I have a right to complain or express displeasure to ALL the publishers, not just Marvel.

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    jsphsmth

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    #32  Edited By jsphsmth

    "It's the beginning a shift from work-for-hire to books I own, instead. I hit a point with the work-for-hire stuff where I was starting to feel burned out on it..."

    Brubaker's own words in an IGN article on why he is leaving.

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