| March 11, 2003 | Alessi Interview at Hero Realm |
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From Hero Realm
Hero Realm Presents
Mark Alessi: MegaCon Aftermath
posted March 09, 2003 10:34 PM
by Alex Hamby
(excerpt)
Alex: Let’s go to Call to Duty.
Mark: OK.
Alex: You called that one – I believe the word was “disgusting”.
Mark: I believe it is disgusting. I thought Heroes was a tremendously positive effort on their part, I wish they would have invited some CrossGen artists to participate but they never did, which was disappointing. Other than George Perez, who considers himself a CrossGen artist – not a Marvel or DC artist – I think Heroes was tremendous. I bought copies myself. I advised my people to. I am very supportive of any project, whether it be Heroes to help folks who were impacted by that terrible tragedy or ACTOR to promote gathering monies for Silver and Golden Age creators. I’m behind that.
If you say that our objective is to promote real world heroes and you do that before 9-11, I applaud you. If you wait until all of the positive publicity about Heroes, which you did as a gesture of public support and courtesy, and then come out with multiple lines of comics, promoting every day heroes who traditionally don’t get comic books, publicize the heck out of it in light of the September 11th tragedy and then offer, for all intents and purposes a no-overprint policy putting retailers in a position of not being able to gauge the ethics of the product. I think you do the retailer a disservice and I think you insult the people involved in the tragedy.
...
Alex: You’re never going to move an artist based on the fact that they might be better suited to something else?
Mark: If you think that was the reason he was moved, good for you. Anyone who has moved here has moved by their own desire. Well, it didn’t sound to me like that was his desire. It sounded to me like he was basically told, “This is your job. Do what you’re told or you’re gone.” It sounded to me like he didn’t want to leave the X-Book. And from looking at his art style I don’t see how he’s a Manga artist at all but maybe I’m confused. After looking at thousands of Manga books I probably don’t have a very good grasp of what it is.
Let me ask you this: They fire people at Marvel who don’t meet deadlines. Do they fire big names who don’t meet deadlines? I don’t think so.
I generate equal punishment and reward systems, if that’s how you want to look at it at CrossGen. I do this evenhandedly. Doesn’t matter whether you’re George Perez or Carl Moline, everybody works under the same parameters.
These things come into question because the biggest and the best in the industry should set the standard, if that’s what they are, should set the standard for the type of industry we are. If you set standards that, in my opinion, are inappropriate for the leadership position I will call you on it. I would do it if I were in technology. I will do it in comics.
| March 9, 2003 | CrossGen Vs Marvel |
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From Silver Bullet Comics
ALL THE RAGE
Immune To Criticism
By Alan Donald
(excerpt)
CrossGen Vs. Marvel
I got a bit of a surprise this week reading Mark Alessi's comments regarding Marvel Comics at MegaCon. I wasn't so much surprised by the comments, so much as the fact Mr. Alessi was making them publicly. Many people have known Mr. Alessi's feelings on the House of Ideas but they've been asked to keep quiet on the subject.
...
The next section has caused a bit of controversy:
If you have the interest as a publisher to make a comic book about real heroes - firemen, paramedics, police officers - God bless you. They do things that protect us everyday all over this country. If you come out with that series after 9-11, you're using one of the greatest tragedies in American history as a marketing ploy. I'm sorry. I salute you if you do it before 9-11, you disgust me if you do it after 9-11. Thousands of people died, and we (Marvel) promoted comic books. Not only did we promote comic books, we hyped the heck out of it so retailers bought them by the droves, and now they're sitting back there with a ton of Valiant comics. And pretty soon, they'll be in the penny box and we'll shred these things so we can send stuffed toys from China with them.
CrossGen sent an email to HeroRealm.com requesting clarification on this point. Bill Rosemann had this to say on the subject:
He was talking about CALL TO DUTY. He knows HEROES was a tribute done to raise money for the Twin Towers Fund, and totally respects that. In fact, George Perez was allowed to contribute to it even though he was exclusive to CrossGen at the time. So Mark has no problem at all with HEROES... during his panel he mentioned CALL TO DUTY by name, but perhaps that wasn't reported in the panel highlights.
Topic: CrossGen Clears Something Up...
posted March 03, 2003 03:33 PM
written by HeroRealmAlex
CrossGen sent an email to HeroRealm.com requesting clarification on one point that might not have been made clear in the Bill Jemas responses. During the panel Mark Alessi was not speaking about Heroes but rather was talking about Call to Duty. Bill Rosemann had this to say on the subject:
"He was talking about CALL TO DUTY. He knows HEROES was a tribute done to raise money for the Twin Towers Fund, and totally respects that. In fact, George Perez was allowed to contribute to it even though he was exclusive to CrossGen at the time. So Mark has no problem at all with HEROES... during his panel he mentioned CALL TO DUTY by name, but perhaps that wasn't reported in the panel highlights."
Note: Pulse will be running an interview with Mark at some point either today or tomorrow. Go by and check it out. I will be doing a follow-up interview with Mark on Wednesday that should be posted either Thursday or Friday evening. Check back for that as it promises to be of interest.
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| December 19, 2001 |
Heroes Auction |
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From New York City Comic Book Museum
HEROES AUCTION
Marvel Comics extends an invitation on behalf of our artists to bid on select pieces of original art from the acclaimed HEROES book.
All proceeds from this charity aution will go to the victims of the World Trade Center. Please join us as we auction off these original pieces by:
Neal Adams
J Scott Campbell
Richard Corben
Mike Deodato
Gene Ha
Sam Kieth
Jae Lee/Neil Gaiman
Jim Lee
Frank Miller
Alan Moore/Dave Gibbons
Tom Palmer
George Pérez
Joe Quesada/Todd McFarlane
John Romita Jr
John Romita Sr
Alex Ross
Steve Rude
Bill Sienkiewicz
Brian Stelfreeze
Additional pieces to be auctioned online
Thursday, January 17, 2002
6:00 pm
Hosted by Kevin Smith
$250.00 per plate at
Club 101
101 Park Avenue
New York City
For details, contact Marc Kaye at 646-227-8400
or Andrew Lis at 917-472-2100
| December 19, 2001 |
Heroes Mentioned on NBC |
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From Vu
For about 30 seconds, "Heroes" was mentioned on the national televsion station, NBC, on a segment on September 11th. George Pérez was not mentioned, but it is still kind of nice to see comic books being mentioned on TV.
| December 12, 2001 |
GPN #2 LE |
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From Vu
Also, in this week is the HEROES #1 (Second Signed Version) (DF) autographed edition from Dynamic Forces. It retails for $19.95.
| November 28, 2001 |
Heroes Third Printing? |
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From Joe Quesada (his website is unavailable at the moment), via Newsarama
OP/ED: QUESADA'S HOLIDAY EDITORIAL
(excerpt)
Okay, now that that's all said and done, here's the latest report on HEROES. As of yesterday it seems that we completely sold out of our second print run. We're looking into back orders to see if the number is significant enough to make a third printing worth doing. Fox News ran a wonderful piece today (Thanksgiving Day) on HEROES and it had some great segments with John Cassaday, Neal Adams and myself. I want to thank everyone who supported this project by purchasing it at their local shop. Keep your eyes open for Moment of Silence, it's really going to be another special book. Speaking of special books, I've been checking out some of the stuff from all the other tribute books on tap and it's truly inspiring stuff. Please make it a point to support these magnificent books as well, there are a lot of wonderful writers, artist, editors and publishers putting their heart and soul into these projects!
I've been getting tons of e-mail's concerning the art of HEROES and although the news is still vague it looks like the artwork is going to be auctioned off sometime in January. The live auction which is scheduled to take place at a very exclusive and prestigious club in NYC will have 20 or so choice pieces, the rest of the book will most likely be auctioned off simultaneously on Ebay, or so is the plan. More details as we learn 'em!”
| November 9, 2001 |
'Heroes' Signed Sells Out |
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From Comic Book Resources
DYNAMIC FORCES 'HEROES' SIGNED EDITION SELLS OUT
by Jonah Weiland, Executive Producer
Posted: November 7, 2001
(excerpt)
Only days after the signed edition HEROES was offered on the DF website, the tribute book - which has been generating massive media coverage - has completely sold out! Marvel and Dynamic Forces are planning a second signed edition with additional signatures on HEROES - tentatively entitled HEROES 2nd SIGNING - to help fill demand and raise even more money for the New York based charities! The first signing of HEROES #1 included the signatures of legendary artists and current greats including: Neal Adams, Tom Palmer, Joe Quesada, Jae Lee, John Cassaday, Evan Dorkin, John Stanisci, Robin Riggs and Adam Kubert!
Due to the sell through of this first signed edition, Dynamic Forces and Marvel feel that it is imperative for fans to be able to support this worthy cause! For those who missed out the first time and would like to get signed editions, DF has arranged with Marvel to acquire second printings of HEROES, and have them signed by some of the original artists who signed the first signed edition - including Joe Quesada, Jae Lee and Robin Riggs in addition to new signatures by Joe Kubert, Greg and Tim Hildebrandt, Nelson, John Romita Sr. and as many other creators that can participate in this important second signing!
[ Read more DYNAMIC FORCES 'HEROES' SIGNED EDITION SELLS OUT ]
| November 9, 2001 |
'Heroes' Second Signed Version |
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From Dynamic Forces
HEROES - SECOND SIGNED VERSION
Shipping December, 2001
Signed By Joe Kubert, Jae Lee, Joe Quesada and Robin Riggs.
SKU: C95404
Price: $19.99
Category Marvel
Shipping: December, 2001
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