New Joe Mondays 2/26

Every Friday, Newsarama slaps on a fresh coat of chapstick, buys a new dress and sidles up to Marvel's E-i-C for a little "Q & A". On Mondays, we here at 2 Guys Buying Comics will translate some of the bullshit pandering hucksterism interview for you good people. Some text has been edited for brevity's sake. You can reference the actual article at Newsarama here.

Newsarama: Joe, big picture-wise, and now since the [Civil War] story is done, you can give a few more details into your explanation.

JQ: I think it’s pretty obvious now that we’re done that what we are left with is a level of uncertainty and uneasiness in the Marvel Universe which is similar in feel to the way it was at the time of the universes inception, and early years that followed....Civil War was a way of getting that uneasiness and edge back without having to reset everything in a Crisis like event.

Translation: 3 issues in I realized that there was no way we could end this in any kind of way that would make sense or satisfy the requirements for being a "well told story", so I'm going to invoke the Days of Early Marvel in a desperate attempt to convince folks that we've taken steps forward instead of wasted everyone's time.

Commentary: OK, am I the only person who doesn't buy the whole "wow, the MU really is a different place now" line? Aside from Cap being in jail (been there before) and Tony being S.H.I.E.L.D. director (until Nick Fury comes back in two months), what precisely has really changed? Based on issue 7, I have no reason to believe that the MU is any more "edgy" than it was before this nonsense.

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NRAMA: ...So much so that expectations [were] that a Marvel villain would eventually be revealed as influencing [heroes and events in Civil War] were present throughout.

JQ: That would have been the obvious thing to do, but I promised fans that there wouldn’t be a villain in the shadows curling his mustache when it was all said and done and there wasn’t. Well, with the exception of the yet to be revealed traitor in Tony Stark’s midst who is a major player yet to be revealed.

Translation: That promise I made about there not being a villain? I kept it! Oh, wait, no I didn't. Never mind. Hee!

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NRAMA: Tony's final speech to Miriam - in your view, sincere/inspirational or menacing?

JQ: Absolutely sincere. You’ll see more of this in Mighty Avengers. The bottom line is that while Tony manipulated certain events to get us to a certain point, at its heart it spoke to the most sincere of goals and will lead to a very interesting Marvel Universe from this point on.

Translation: Did I mention we're launching another Avengers title? Also, if I keep claiming that everything is done in the name of making the Marvel Universe more "interesting", "uneasy", or "edgy", does that get me off the hook for breaking characters and ignoring plot holes the size of Jupiter?

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NRAMA: So, given what Tony said, will there be a strong undercurrent throughout the Marvel Universe in the coming months and years of this "better world" building? If so, what makes them think that this time it will be different than previous attempts?

JQ: There’s a cohesive plan this time. That’s all I can say for now.

Translation: I'm hoping that we can muddle along until World War Hulk without having to follow up too closely on this idea, because everything's going to change again when WWH hits!

Commentary: If there's a more ironic metatextual statement than Joe uttering "There's a cohesive plan this time. That's all I can say for now.", I don't know what it is.

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NRAMA: For you, personally - obviously, this was a bear of a project, and now, it's wrapped. Do you have enough distance from it yet to be able to reflect a little and see how this fits in the continuum of projects you've overseen over your career at Marvel?

JQ: Nope. Our editorial group is already working on future storylines and while Civil War was fun and a lot of work as all these huge projects can be, we’re not dwelling on it nor patting ourselves on the back. Our attitude is quite simply, “Next!”

Translation: Why in God's name would we want to reflect on this? Have you seen the negative response that seems to be everywhere except the Millarworld boards? Damn that Brevoort! We made our cash, now it's on to the next event! Did I mention World War Hulk? This summer!