November 16, 2025 • 41 mins
2014 was a turning point for Marvel — and Axel Alonso was right in the middle of it.
In this archival conversation, Marvel Editor-in-Chief Axel Alonso sits down with me to break down exactly where the House of Ideas stood in 2014: the big swings, the new voices, the editorial gambles, and the seismic moves that were reshaping the entire line. We get into:
If you love behind-the-scenes talk about how big superhero universes actually get made, this one is essential listening.
In this archival conversation, Marvel Editor-in-Chief Axel Alonso sits down with me to break down exactly where the House of Ideas stood in 2014: the big swings, the new voices, the editorial gambles, and the seismic moves that were reshaping the entire line. We get into:
- The rise of the “All-New Marvel NOW!” era
- How Marvel was recruiting and developing its next wave of writers and artists
- The push toward diverse character spotlights like Kamala Khan, Miles Morales, and a newly elevated Carol Danvers
- The build-up toward Jonathan Hickman’s Avengers mega-architecture and the early tremors leading to Secret Wars (2015)
- How editorial was navigating movies, TV, digital comics, and a rapidly changing readership
- The state of the X-Men and what Alonso could — and couldn’t — say about their future
- The balance between legacy characters and new heroes
- Marvel's strategy for creator-owned-adjacent projects and keeping top talent in the fold
If you love behind-the-scenes talk about how big superhero universes actually get made, this one is essential listening.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hey, everybody, welcome back.
Speaker 2 (00:01):
It's word balloon to come up with conversation show John
Cutres here, I'm presenting a great conversation I had with
Axel Alonso back in twenty fifteen, and it was a
look back at Marvel now, big initiative, big changes. A
lot of different things happened that year and going into
the following year twenty fifteen, and actually really laid out
a lot of basic Marvel philosophies. We talk about the
(00:23):
Marvel summits that used to happen in person. Now they
seem to happen remotely. It's our post COVID world, and
you can really kind of glean some of the recent
creative changes that we've heard about that are coming in
the new year. Bennis is coming back to the Avengers,
my buddy Stephanie Phillips is about to do Daredevil starting
in March. There's been some really neat announcements I think
(00:46):
with Marvel, and you could see a pattern. And I
think if you listen to what Axel had to say
about what was going on in twenty fifteen after the
successes of twenty fourteen, you kind of see a through line,
I think, and I hope you'll en joy this great
conversation with Axel Alonso back in the time machine on
today's word Balloon. Word Balloon is brought to you by
(01:06):
Alex Ross Art dot com, the home for stunning, realistic
artwork of the legendary painter Alex Ross. Check out limited
edition prints, sketchbooks, and exclusive pieces featuring the world's greatest heroes.
Whether you're a lifelong fan or a new collector, there's
no better place to see the artistry that's defined modern comics.
Visit Alex Rossart dot com and bring the heroes home.
Speaker 1 (01:31):
And don't forget.
Speaker 2 (01:31):
If you're in the Chicago area, you can see Alex
Ross's exhibit Heroes and Villains at the dun Museum in
Suburban Chicago in Libertyville, Illinois, through February of twenty twenty six.
Word Balloon is brought to you by the League of
Word Balloon Listeners my patrons at patreon dot com slash
word Balloon. For just three dollars a month or more,
(01:53):
you'll find access to our exclusive monthly e magazine packed
within depth, creator interviews and behind the scenes story you
won't hear anywhere else. And as a supporter, at three
dollars or higher. You're also invited to the Word Balloon
book Club, where Brian, Michael Bendis and I sit down
on camera to dive into a great graphic novel. You
can join us through Mypatreon Patreon dot com slash word Balloon.
(02:18):
It's a great way to support ward Balloon, get bonus content,
and be part of the conversation. Join me today the
League of Word Balloon listeners Patreon dot com slash word Balloon.
Thanks for listening and thanks as always for your support.
Speaker 1 (02:31):
Axel Alonzo, Welcome back to word Balloon.
Speaker 3 (02:33):
I can't believe it's been eight years since you've been
on the podcast.
Speaker 1 (02:36):
You've been very busy though, so thanks for coming back.
Speaker 4 (02:38):
My pleasure. Eight years. You're kidding, Wow, I know, man, I.
Speaker 1 (02:42):
Think you had just come to Marvel.
Speaker 3 (02:43):
It was two thousand and six, so I think you
were at Marvel by then, of course.
Speaker 4 (02:47):
Yeah. I was, I mean at Marvel since two thousand
and one, so I was around for a few years,
but I wasn't aware that we focused so long ago.
Speaker 1 (02:54):
Yeah, man, you were.
Speaker 3 (02:55):
Yeah, you were in charge of the ex office at
the time. Art Belt as ours slo and hopes your
shoes are doing good.
Speaker 4 (03:00):
They're not doing good. They're well born.
Speaker 1 (03:03):
Yeah, very good.
Speaker 3 (03:05):
So let's start off with, you know, some of the
new directions that Marvel's going into in twenty fourteen. In
the past, they've you know, I think the community has
referred to them as reboots and stuff.
Speaker 1 (03:17):
Do you think that a big kind of creative.
Speaker 3 (03:21):
Change is necessary where the publishing market is today?
Speaker 4 (03:26):
Yeah, I mean I think that. You know, when we
did Marvel now about a year and a half ago,
the goal was to shake things up and revitalize the line.
We had a number of creators who had enjoyed very
long runes are in their books, and we thought that
it was time to sort of play a game of
(03:46):
musical chairs, to challenge them to move out of their
comfort zones and take on the challenges of new franchises.
So what you saw was instances where you know, someone
like Brian Bendis, who had been writing Avengers for something
like eight years at that point, took on the challenge
of the X Men franchise, you know, and Jonathan Hickman,
(04:07):
who'd had a run on Fantastic Four, came over to
do Avengers. Uh, and it worked out. You know, we
we went in over a period of four months, we
made sure there was a new book on the racks
that would be a window into the Marble universe. And
uh we we won over the cynical and people embraced
(04:27):
the books, and uh, we're very happy. Now now we're
doing all new Marvel now which is roughly a year later,
where we're uh bringing some new titles into the line,
fresh new launches that we think build on the line
and in hands the line. You know, we dug into
our catalog, you know, from Nathan Edmison and Field notice
(04:47):
Black Widow to Warren Els and Dicklan Shelby's Moonnight. I'm're
very excited about what we have in store.
Speaker 3 (04:54):
Are guys constantly pitching you on things like Moonnight. I
remember back in the day when when you the first
attempts to bring back Moonnight and stuff, and I did
hear every year a lot of these B and C
list characters, for lack of a better description, that there
were like constant pitches. Have there been constant pitches on
Black Widow and Moonlight up until moon right Night rather
(05:15):
up until you know, reaching the decisions of these books.
Speaker 4 (05:17):
Well, we're a publishing company, so There are always pitching inquiries,
but it doesn't mean that we're we're necessarily looking to
develop the character. We tend to strike when we think
there's a window of opportunity. In the case of Moonnight,
I myself edited the Charlie Houston run from several years ago,
(05:40):
and more recently we had a celebrated run by Brian
Bendis and Alex Malev youvet, and we pulled the trigger
on this Moonnight because Warren Ellis was bringing to the
table we thought was really fresh and new and inviting,
and we had confidence it would work. And that's really
what we've done here with all of these launches, from
Moonnight to Charles sol On, how we play those she
(06:03):
Hulk to Carrie Andrews's Ion Fist. It's creators who really
have something to say with these characters who I prefer
not to call Blis's characters, but just characters that haven't
found there the popularity deserve.
Speaker 3 (06:16):
Where do you think I mean as far as back
in the day, a lot of of a lot of uh.
And again I'm just using the label there. But these
these you know, other tier characters, not the Spider Man,
it's not the Wolverines, but like the ones we're talking about,
back in the old days, you could count on, you know,
a three year run, a five year run. Do you
see just in general that those kinds of runs are
(06:38):
probably over and we are looking more at the thirty
issue and you know, maybe if we're lucky, you know,
forty eight to fifty issue runs, but you know, not
the not the you know, multi year runs that used
to you know, happen in the past.
Speaker 4 (06:52):
Well, I think that I wouldn't dure any conclusions at
the stage. What I would say is that we put
a premium on telling good stories and making sure that
we provide the easiest entry point into those stories as possible,
especially in an era when our characters are enjoying a
(07:13):
higher curating than ever you know, on the silver screen,
in television and what have you. So we're less obsessed
with numbering than we are with good stories. But that's
not to say that we don't have a respect for
the history and tradition of you know, the periodicals over time.
So I think what we've begun to see is structuring
(07:36):
or publishing, akin to what you're seeing with television seasons.
When and if we see a story that represents a fresh,
clean break, a new starting point in the life of
a character, will take up the opportunity to brand it
in some way that brings it to the attention of
the reader that this is new, that this is fresh,
(07:59):
and in a certain case said, well, we might feel
that a story, a Daredevil story, let's say, hypothetically, a
sort of way Mark Wade that brings Daredevil to you know,
to a new place, in this case, my hometown in
San Francisco, to begin a whole new chapter of his life.
We might decide that that that the clean entry point.
It's the beginning of a new story, it's the beginning
of a new season, and number it accordingly. But we
(08:22):
we pick our spots, and you know, there's a sort
of a list of criteria that shifts around. It makes
us decide what we want to do and when we
want to do it. But I think we're learning and
where we you know, as you recall we did Marvel
now a year and a half ago. We did not
interrupt Way to run on Daredevil because it kept its
(08:44):
regular numbering, because we didn't feel it was it was
proper advertising. This was not a shift in the life
of the character. This was not a new chapter. This
was a continuation of what he was doing, and to
brand it as anything other than than that would have
been false advertising in this case. However, this new shift
in Matt murdocks life, we think warrant an issue one.
Speaker 3 (09:04):
Fair enough, you mentioned the other iterations. Oh, I'm sorry, Axel.
Did you want to continue? I don't want to mess
you up if you had to. Okay, you mentioned the
other platforms that Marvel stories are now being told on
on a regular basis. The movies are coming out every year,
Television continues to explode, the Netflix thing.
Speaker 1 (09:20):
Everyone's excited about that.
Speaker 3 (09:22):
So where is the comic division in the Marvel hierarchy
where you know it used to be the main engine?
Speaker 1 (09:29):
You know, has it changed?
Speaker 3 (09:30):
I mean, what what is marvel comics role in this
bigger Marvel world?
Speaker 4 (09:36):
Well, I'd still think we're the main engine. All of
the stories that made a silver screen came from the
comic book page, and rest assured that my job, and
my job, my staff jobs, our job security hinges in
our ability to be to tell the best stories available
and to make those stories popular. So I think that
(09:57):
we are where things start.
Speaker 1 (10:00):
That.
Speaker 4 (10:00):
Of course, that's not to say that with the number
one revenue generator. But you know, we're all one big company,
We're one team, we're one family, and we we we coordinate,
we cooperate. Uh, we're all building towards the same goal,
which is to make sure that these characters who've endured
the test of time for decades, that this modern mythology
(10:23):
that we've built is around long after we're gone, and
our goal is to keep it fresh for new generations
of readers. And this case of viewers, I'm rest assured
that as thrilled as any of you are about the
characters who are part of the next books programs, no
one is more excited than me. If you will be
(10:45):
hard pressed to find anyone as a bigger fan of
Luke Cage or Iron Fist. Sure, so to think about
seeing them become potentially household words is a dream come true.
Speaker 1 (10:55):
I've betman, Now, that's really cool.
Speaker 3 (10:56):
And also, let's talk a little bit about some of
the new voices that you're bringing into Marvel and stuff. Honestly,
and I'm sure that you've got Lieutenant's other editors and
other creators that might be pointing guys in your direction,
but you made your mark Axle with with Vertigo and
then in Marvel where you were able to bring really
interesting voices in the Jason Earns, the Fractions and some
(11:17):
of these other guys along, you know the way. And
I'm glad Michelle Fife is going to be one of
the new voices in the Ultimate Universe, for example. So
so yeah, I don't know if you want to point
out a few other you know, Nathan Edmonson certainly is
another guy like that.
Speaker 4 (11:31):
Well, what I'd just say is that, you know, we
are our editors are always on the hunt for new
talent and new voices, and what we look to do
is find writers and artists who we think deserve wider,
a broader audience, a bigger audience, and match them up
(11:53):
with the types of assignments that allow them to really
play to their strengths. You know. In the case say
Nathan Edmanson, I was a fan of his book Who
Is Jake Kellen? And I began some discussions with him
at a very early stage about my desire to do
Black Widow. And I had always been a big fan
(12:17):
of Phil Noto and had always felt that Phil's biggest
friend was time being given the opportunity to really think
in and do the work that everyone had seen in
his amazing sketch books, bring that life to the comic
book page, which means won't stop shopping. And so paired
(12:38):
them up with editor Elie Pyle and used all the
lea time we could to make sure that this is
a team that is there on the racks day in
and day out to tell a particular kind of story
and a story that can't be found elsewhere. And I
think that's the goal with all of these books, we've
tried to look outside. Senior Editor Mark Piniccia really thought
(12:58):
outside the box with his all new ghostwriter, Finding Writer,
an animator of Felipe Smith who has created a bold
new ghostwriter and is accompanied by Tad Moore, an artist
who who's just blowing everyone away right now. It's just
amazing the work he's putting into so much detail in
(13:20):
his pages. He's unlike anyone out there. And I commend
Panic for for thinking outside the box and coming up
with such a such a different creative team. You know,
in other instances, you know, Steve whacker Uh in conversations
with Warren, Ellis played the hunch that Warren might respond
to the character and was right, Warren has something to
(13:42):
say with the character, and we've got to sell a
new book. In another case, I'm a big fan and
a good friend of Carry Andrews. We've had many a
conversation about the movies and books that influence us. So
when I saw an opportunity to maybe doing you Iron
fifth book, I started with him. We began talking and
the result is aren't f It's a living weapon again,
(14:03):
it's one stop shopping. It's a totally inspired Corry doing
martial arts, mystical epic that just blasts up the page.
Speaker 1 (14:13):
I'm excited for those books, honestly. Yeah. Absolutely.
Speaker 3 (14:16):
I also think that in the in the last year
or so, there's been a lot of great visual experimentation
in the art. Certainly David Aja what he's been doing
with Hawkeye speaks for itself. Young Avengers as well, another
another great book that I think is again just doing
something slightly different that that really kind of stands out,
(14:36):
and it's interesting to see some of the risks that
are being taken superior foes of Spider Man. I just
think the tone of that book and I'm glad that
there is room for those kinds of books now.
Speaker 1 (14:47):
I don't know.
Speaker 3 (14:48):
You know, obviously sales dictate what kind of shelf life
these books have, but at least it seems like innovation
is still very important, and you want consistency and character,
but also the opportunity to do something visually interesting.
Speaker 1 (15:01):
Still.
Speaker 4 (15:02):
Yeah, I think it's very important that you find the
right artist for an assignment, and I've tried to encourage
editors to remember that there's no such thing as a
house style here at Marvel. It's all about finding the
right writer and the right artist for the job. And
we're all comic fans, and if you think about it,
(15:25):
if you were to name your ten favorite comic artists,
odds are you'll find that their styles very widely. I'm
a huge fan of Jeff Garrow. I'm a huge fan
of Brian bolland I'm a huge friend fan of Roberto Ramos.
You know, those are three very different artists, and I
liked all of them for very different reasons. And as
(15:47):
a fan and as an editor, there's certain books that
I would like to see them all, you know, and
other said I wouldn't. So this is an instance where
you know, we've just really tried to create a culture
here at Marvel, which says, you know, the best book
come to us. No such thing as a bad idea
doesn't mean you'll get what you want. But if you
make the right argument, we'll we'll make it work. And
(16:08):
the result is I think the you know, broadest uh
looking the broadest range of books you can imagine.
Speaker 1 (16:18):
Stylistically, we're seeing a bit of a turnover.
Speaker 3 (16:21):
I mean that's constant in comics, but I think a
lot of stalwarts that have been around Marvel for a
lot of years are taking different jobs now at Brew,
Baker is kind of getting busy, and you know, I
think more difficult for him to find room for a
Marvel book in his schedule. And uh, we're seeing, like
I said, some new voices coming in. Uh, you know,
how do you adjust another guy? And you mentioned him
(16:43):
for on the editorial side, I think Steve Whacker really
packaged a lot of really interesting books, great creators, and
it's it's a shame to see him go. You know,
Like is the stewardship of editors and and not only
finding new talent, but also the you know, the ability
to take over when one of these you know, important
editors leave and stuff. How how is that transition to
(17:06):
some of these, you know, newer editors that have more responsibility.
Speaker 4 (17:09):
Now, well, it's like a sports team. You have to
step up. You know. Steve h It was a terrific editor,
is a terrific editor who you know, has a trained
a number of junior editors, associates and assistants and editors
along the way. Now is the opportunity for any number
(17:32):
of people to step up and show what they're made of.
You know, in the case of Steve, you know, I
can't talk shop here, but we're going to make sure
that we have an editor of capable who's you know,
equally capable to fill that desk. Whether the filtem within
or without remains to be seen. But you know, it
(17:52):
all comes down to the editors in their vision and
how they how they control their offices, the choices that
they make in conjunction with myself and others the other
senior editors, to put talent on books and to make
sure that we're putting writers and artists in the best
position they are to succeed to do their best work.
(18:15):
One of the things that we while we have a
very as it's well known, all of our books function
against the backdrop of one you know, universe one one backdrop.
We do our best to get out of people's way,
help them tell the stories that they want to tell,
and not change the rules on people. We're not of
(18:36):
my way or the highway shop. You know. Editors are
here to pick the right people, pick them for the
stories they want to tell, and do everything in their
power to make sure that the stories see the light
of day and see how the fans respond.
Speaker 3 (18:52):
Okay, if we could, I'd be interested to hear your
perspective on the Marvel summits, your transition to editor in chief.
You've seen it both as as a group editor when
you were editing the xbooks to now where are you
and I'm not sure when it comes to the summits?
Speaker 1 (19:08):
Do you run the show? Are you?
Speaker 3 (19:09):
Are you kind of the point man on these things
as far as you know conducting the business of the day.
First of all, yeah, you can answer that question shortly,
but I'm interested in if if it's changed much in
your stewardship as editor in chief now.
Speaker 4 (19:24):
I think the formula, the basic formula is the same thing.
We gather together our editors and a number of writers
who're working in core titles, and we walk our way
through the various families the stories are telling, and we
see how those stories overlap, and we look for, as
(19:44):
I put it, potential. We try to avoid car crashes
and on occasion create some interesting car pools. So it's
really about mapping out these stories and seeing how the
shared universe is functioning. And we normally go in with
an agenda that includes a couple of things. We want
to discuss an event happening either in one family or
(20:05):
across the line. Uh, and we'll we'll have that writer
sort of walk us through their their game plan along
with their editor, and uh we call it running the gauntlet.
People give their honest opinion about everything from the macro
to the micro. So that's really what we do. In
(20:25):
terms of my role. Uh yeah, I pretty much. I
pretty much run the room. But that's just to say
that I try and keep people on agenda. Uh and
of course they're in chief. Uh, try and steer the
agenda the way I want to go. So long and
short of it is that you know where where where
best idea wins shop. And we pride ourselves in our
(20:48):
ability to discern what that best idea is, even if
we don't decide right then and there in the room.
Maybe if we need to sit on it, sleep on it,
and come back. What I have learned about the retreats
that anybody who's in that room that doesn't want to
punch someone else, who says they didn't want to punch
someone else as a liar, because that always happens. That
(21:10):
the beautiful thing is at the end of the day,
you're done, you cool down, you go out, you have dinner,
a beer, a soda, whatever, and and you relax. And
I've done enough of these. Now it's not my first rodeo,
but I know that that something productive always comes out
of these, even if you don't see it right out
(21:30):
the gate. There are fights, but but they're almost always
resolved and and and quite frankly, that's the way things
should be. You know. Michael Jordan Chicago Bulls won six championships,
but they weren't always getting along. They aired it out,
but at the end of the day they was They
raised the trophy, you know, and I think that that's important.
Speaker 1 (21:52):
I have a feeling. You read that Sam Smith book
that Jordan rules.
Speaker 3 (21:56):
Twice there you go there, Well, you know, I'm from Chicago,
so yeah, I'm well, I'm well aware of the story too, absolutely, man.
Speaker 4 (22:02):
I was a Jordan fan back to North Carolina, and
I watched the Young Bulls get eliminated by the Pistons
three years in a row. I'm not ashamed to say
that I wept two tears when that happened. And so
I earned being a Jordan fan. I was. I was
a lover of Jordan long before the band Wagoners. So yeah,
all right, we.
Speaker 1 (22:20):
Won't tell anybody at Madison Square Garden how you felt
about this.
Speaker 4 (22:23):
I'm not a nick Fent. I'm a Golden State Warriors fan.
Speaker 1 (22:25):
That's true, exactly, San Francisco. I respect that. That's hilarious.
Speaker 4 (22:28):
I'm all Golden State and it's a good year.
Speaker 3 (22:30):
Have you seen have you seen that Reggie Oh God,
Reggie Miller versus The Knicks ESPN movie?
Speaker 4 (22:37):
I haven't, but I've heard about it.
Speaker 1 (22:39):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, as any has. Anyone who dislikes the
next I'll tell you that's that's some good movie viewing.
So yeah, you definitely have to see.
Speaker 4 (22:46):
I wouldn't go so farth to say I disliked The Knicks.
What I would say is that I've I've tried to
become a fan, and unfortunately my heart is in San Francisco.
Interested and I just I'm a Golden State fan, and
I adopted the Bulls along the way and the the
ellen Iverson seventy six ers would probably be my third team.
It's along with the book, along with the Brooklyn Nets.
Speaker 1 (23:07):
So there you go. That's cool. That's awesome.
Speaker 4 (23:09):
I looked two blocks away from Berkley Center.
Speaker 1 (23:11):
So nice. Yeah, yeah, that's fantastic. That's great. Now, I
was very excited when Brooklyn got its franchise and everything.
That was great.
Speaker 3 (23:18):
I think that's a really smart move. All right, back
to comics, what has has your do? Do you feel
when you took the editor in chief job or since
you've gotten the job, do you feel there was ever
any sort of philosophical difference from what Joe was doing
when when he was running the line? You know, and
I'm not looking for any you know, dirty laundry or
(23:40):
anything like that, but it's just really like, was there
something you wanted to bring to the flavor of Marvel
that you felt, you know, wasn't really being you know,
taken advantage of.
Speaker 4 (23:51):
No. I mean I think that I wouldn't say that
I had I had an agenda. I think that philosophically
think Joe and I have far more and the not. Okay,
I think that I know that going into my first
summit that I wanted to do Avengers Versus X Men
because I wanted to do a universe spanning event that
(24:15):
would allow us to sort of break down the line
between Marvel Universe and X Men universe and there is
a line, and do an oil on event that would
almost function as a as an end cap to everything
we've been doing for the last few years. And probably
part of my agenda was I thought that this might
function as, for lack of a better term, an end
(24:40):
chapter in Palate Cleanser that will allow us to do
the Game of Musical Chairs that was Marvel. Now. I
do know that I thought it would be very important
that we we do the Game of Musical Chairs, that
we do what we did, which was to move people
out of their comfort zone, move them in to you know,
(25:01):
new books, new challenges, shake things up, and have a
great jumping on point for the next generation of readers,
you know. So I think that that was maybe if
there was any any agenda or difference, it was that
I knew what I wanted to do coming in in
as editor in chief, and I will say that an
end goal for me was putting us in a position
(25:24):
where we would gain the let's say, the confidence of
retailers and fans do an initiative like Marvel Now that
they would it would have a trickle down effect for
the other titles. What we're doing with All New Marvel
Now is very different than Marvel Now in so far
as what we're looking to do is bring a number
of new titles. You know, in Humans, Black Widow, Moonlight,
(25:48):
she Hulk, All New Ghostwriter, All New Invaders, Punisher, Iron Fist,
you know, let me see the Nightcrawler, book, Magneto, all
of these books, just you know, with talent as wide
ranging as Chris Claremont and Rocky Kim, you know, it's
(26:08):
important to me that we use the credibility of Marvel
Now to build confidence in these new launches, these new franchises,
because I think that ultimately, at the end of the day,
you know, I said to all my editors, it's a
tough market out there, but what I'd love you to
do is build a monthly that's good. So in a
worst case scenario, when that book doesn't make it when
(26:30):
the numbers don't come back the way you would want
after issue thirteen or fourteen, that people will say, damn,
that was a good book. I wish that had stuck around.
Sure that you know, there's no guarantees in this business,
but it's not that hard to launch high and sustain
interest for a while. It's for the long term. It's tricky.
(26:51):
There's a lot of things out there competing for your attention,
for your discretionary income, many of them not comics. So
the goal here is that you make a good, a
compelling read, something that people want to come back to
month after months. A book discratches an itch that the
next thing doesn't, and that's that accompetent about a bit
(27:12):
of that, yeah.
Speaker 3 (27:13):
Does the Then when when it comes to events, Then
when you do release all of these new books, it
almost seems like you know, you're competing, you know, with
yourself within the company, depending on how the event is,
is you know put out there, is it changing the
way you guys do events. I'm always interested because I
do see the experimentation in terms of you know, multiple
(27:37):
issues in one month being concentrated and maybe not you know,
having it be a line wide crossover that you know,
in some very old cases certainly didn't make sense twenty
years ago.
Speaker 1 (27:50):
You are right.
Speaker 4 (27:50):
We try not to cannibalize ourselves. That's part of the
reason that with both Marvel Now and All New Marvel Now,
we didn't roll out, you know, hypothetically fifty two number
ones at the same time. We didn't want to put
retailers in a position where they had to buy in
everything all at the same time, and we didn't want
to force readers to look at it as you're all
(28:12):
in or you're not in at all. For us, it
was about, here's a lot of different options, a lot
of different flavors. We hope you like one, two, three, four,
or five, take your pick. We hope you like a few.
And that was our roll up plan to make sure
that each week, if you heard the buzz that you
could go into a store. Let's say you'd heard about
(28:32):
All New X Men. Someone had told you this is
a great jumping on point. You could go into the
store and you could find that book, but you could
also find another book, another number one that would allow
you entry pointing into the Marvel universe. And so that's
part of the reason that we try and make sure
that we're not you know, saturating the market with number one,
(28:54):
you know, such that you're looking at, you know, fifteen
number ones in one in one month. That's a game plan.
I think it's worked for us. I don't think retailers
completely understood it when we did Marvel Now, but by
the time Marvel Now was over, they David Gabriel, our
sales and marketing VP, has told me they completely understood
the logic behind it and they supported it.
Speaker 1 (29:14):
That's excellent.
Speaker 3 (29:15):
How about on the digital side, you guys have done
some experimentation with Ultimate comics here and there, and some
specific digital only products. Really going back to God, I
want to say, if not Civil War, then you know
House of Them or something like that. I know that
they've been going on for some time, but where do
you see the digital platform right now?
Speaker 4 (29:35):
Well, it's extremely important. It's a new newsstand for distribution,
and I think that digital functions as a compliment to print.
We're not the music industry. The music industry is an
oral It's an oral pleasure you're getting from it. You
there's nothing tactal about music books and comics. There's something
(29:56):
different about them. And especially comic books with collectibility built
in to this. I sincerely believe there will always be
a place for the periodical and they'll you know, the
floppy comic book, and will always be a place for
the trays and the hardcovers. I know myself that, whereas
I buy most of my music online now and I
don't buy, uh, you know, a CD at this point,
(30:18):
that's not true with my comic book reading. I buy
the books, you know, the Darwin Cook Parker books. I
buy those as hard cuts.
Speaker 1 (30:28):
You bet.
Speaker 4 (30:29):
There's certain books I need. I need them from my bookshelf,
and I know I'm not alone. I know in my
gut I'm not alone. And then there's books I don't need.
But I think that the important thing is that these
two function complimenting each other. That we can use digital
to broaden our base. Maybe a few of the people
that consume Superior Spider Man is digital will be interested
(30:49):
in buying the trade paperback when they're in a bookstore,
a comic book store. A few months later, they'll want
that for that shelf. I think it all, it all
feeds into the same thing. It all it builds the
baseball our for our our characters and ultimately I think
that the savvy retailer will take advantage of that. In
terms of what we've done recently, I think that infinite
(31:10):
Comics is being an innovation that we've uh brought to
the medium that we continue to work on because we
think that it represents a new canvas for storytelling. These
these are are comic books that are created specifically for
handheld media. This isn't just taking a comic book and
then you know, sizing it so it fits onto your
(31:30):
iPad screen. It's writer and artist working together to create
a comic book experience that can only be told by
swiping the handheld media, whether it's your your iPhone or
or your or your your iPad. And so we're learning
how to do this. We're getting better and better. It's
an investment on our part, but it's one that we
(31:53):
think is going to bear fruit in the long run
and help us build our audience.
Speaker 3 (31:58):
Do you talk to you know guys? I mean Mark
Waite obviously does work for you and stuff, and I
know that he is very forthcoming with what they're doing
over at THROWBN, for example, and some of the innovations
that they've come up with with digital comics. Do you
look at what everybody else is doing and say, oh,
you know, let's cherry pick the best ideas and put
them in the market.
Speaker 4 (32:14):
Of course, absolutely, yeah. And you know, any editor who's
done Infinite comic will in the course of doing the
Infinite comic come back with questions about, hey, is it
even possible to do this? And as a technology gets better,
it'll become possible to do things that we weren't able
to do with our you know, our first steps into this,
into this type of storytelling. And you know we'll be
(32:37):
the first to say we don't have complete control over it.
Where we're we're learning how to do it even as
as we speak. But we are getting better and better
at it. We are learning and it is evolving and
it will become something I think becomes more and more
relevant to the comic book reader as time proceeds.
Speaker 3 (32:56):
How are things with trying to get kids in because
I think, on the one hand, it's wonderful to have
an outlet like Disney XD and I really do think
much as when we were little kids, it was the cartoons.
I mean, Bashki's Spider Man in reruns on you know.
Speaker 1 (33:11):
School after school, the times.
Speaker 3 (33:13):
That's what That was my first experience with a Marvel character,
and I think that probably the same goes for a
lot of kids now with the animated product that Marvel
Marvel is putting out, and you know, I don't know,
it seems like it was easier for me with my
fifty cent allowance to be able to buy you know,
a couple comic books off the newstand. Do you do
you see comics for kids is still a viable way
(33:35):
of getting you know, kids interested in the hobby or
is it, you know, their exposure coming more from you know,
television and film.
Speaker 1 (33:41):
Though.
Speaker 4 (33:42):
It's a good question, and I don't really have the
answer to that. All I can say is that it
continues to be a challenge to create comic book material
for young children that sells and sustainable numbers. That's not
to say that we don't continue to do it, and
but it also means that we're challenged to work around
(34:03):
the limitations and look into the way that handtail media
digital can contribute to that experience. I know that I,
as a kid watched the you know, the Spider Man
cartoon was probably my first and the Batman Live action
show were probably my first introduction to superheroes, and part
of why I knowed comic books on the rack at
the five and dime and picked them up, and that
(34:25):
was my entry point in and but I also know
at the time that there weren't iPads and iPods and
what have you that that also were vuying for my
attention and video games and all these other things. So
I found an outlet in comic books and sports at
a young age. You know, Pong didn't come out till
I was, you know, like twelve or something like that,
eleven ten, So you get the gist, you know, you know,
(34:47):
I comics were something I've found because they were there,
they were available. And you know, I have a ten
year old son who's put his arm around me recently
when he was eight and said, I'm not that into superheroes.
So I failed, but he is. He's a he's a
superior athlete, three sport athlete, and it's really into sports.
(35:08):
And he I know that when I travel with him
or I do things with him, I can I can ride,
I can fly six hour flight. And if I hand
him an iPad, he can he can watch a movie,
he can play video games, he can read a book
and he does all three on a ride, So I
know I know that for him that that's going to
be his entry point into this world. At some point,
(35:28):
Tito will click on superheroes, probably because we created some
infinite comic or some innovation that he's engaged in that
is part of his everyday experience. He wanders into much
the same way as I wandered into them through cartoons
and the five and time. It's a different world, you know,
it's a different world.
Speaker 3 (35:49):
And you mentioned earlier about you know, Avengers versus x Men,
the the the movie rights you know, belong to different companies. Currently,
Spider Man is a Sony Film property, Avengers or rather
x Men is a Fox property. Does that influence in
any way what you guys do on the comic side
(36:11):
in terms of, you know, pushing product forward or anything.
Speaker 4 (36:15):
Well, I'll say I'd love to see an next Men
Avenger versus Avengers movie, right, Avengers versus x Men movie?
And who knows that could happen?
Speaker 1 (36:24):
Do you really think in this current era do you
think that can happen? I mean, that's that's never.
Speaker 4 (36:29):
Say never, all right, Where there's a great story to
be told and money to be made, you never know. Okay,
you know, it's kind of like arranging the big Price
fight between Pakia and Mayweather exactly. Yeah, again, never say never.
You know, when if people see that there's potential, you know,
to make a good story and make a lot of money,
I could, I could see it happening, But what do
I know? But what I can say is that you
(36:51):
know here in publishing. You know obviously the characters that
we have less equity in outside media, but you know
X Men is an invaluable part of our publishing line.
Sure we wouldn't devote the talent and resources we do
to it if it weren't important. I know that it's
(37:11):
very important to me and my staff that we we
take advantage full advantage of all of our franchises, from
from X Men to h to Guarding the Galaxy two
in Humans, that we find a way to make them
the best they are and maximize the potential creatively and financially.
So whether it's Avengers, X Men, Spider Man, Daredevil, in Humans,
(37:35):
my job is to make the best comic book I can,
the best graphic novel I can.
Speaker 1 (37:39):
Fair enough, how how long have you been editor in chief? Now?
How many years?
Speaker 4 (37:44):
I think three.
Speaker 3 (37:45):
Okay, all right, So that's that's kind of early in
the run and stuff. Where where do you see yourself
in the position?
Speaker 1 (37:50):
Are you are? I mean day to day and stuff?
Is it?
Speaker 4 (37:53):
You know?
Speaker 1 (37:54):
Is it crazy?
Speaker 4 (37:54):
Is it?
Speaker 1 (37:55):
Is it still fun? Is it? You know? I'm glad
I've got this job? Or Christ? What was I think
in taking this job? Where are you in the job
right now?
Speaker 4 (38:02):
It's the best job in the world. It's a fantastic job.
I mean, you know, I work, I work with incredible
and incredible staff for editors. I have in contact with
an incredibly diverse and creative group of writers and artists.
There's really very little not to like about that. Like
like any job, it comes with its amount of stress,
(38:26):
you know, But that's why it's called the job. You know.
There they're they're there are always challenges. There their personalities
you have to deal with, and there's there's you know,
their their their headaches that come with managing. But that's
part for the course. You know. I I I worked
(38:46):
on a fishing boat. I I know what hard work
is and this is not that. This is this is
challenging in very in very different ways. But now I'm happy.
I think that I've I'm much more comfortable in the
position as at times preceded have become more and more
comfortable in the position. And I think it comes from
this stability that Dan Buckley and my boss brings to
(39:06):
the organization. He's very consistent with his message. Uh. He
never panics. Uh, and uh, I know, I know what
my goals are. I know what the goalposts are. They
don't change. And I think that as long as that's
the case, that you've got no one yourself if you
don't do it right well.
Speaker 3 (39:25):
And as you observe the other portions of of Marvel
and it's its place in the.
Speaker 1 (39:30):
Pop culture world, where do you see comic books?
Speaker 3 (39:33):
Because I think you know, we're all fans and part
of us always want uh legitimacy and respect for for
the things we consume. And we know how cool they are.
We know how great the and talented the writers and
the artists are. Are you able to you know, kind
of stick your finger in the air and see which
way the wind is blowing and is you know, has
(39:54):
I mean, it seems like from a character standpoint, there's
you know, never been better awareareness and love for the characters.
But you know, are comic books themselves able to capitalize
on this current love affair that the geek culture is having.
Speaker 4 (40:12):
I think we do, absolutely. I think that the challenge
is is distribution and making sure that people are aware
that we're out there finding ways to drive people into
stores through word of mouth and through digital and creating
a generation of people that are well versed in reading
(40:33):
comic books, you know, who know how to pick up
a comic book and where to start and that finding,
you know. I think the moment when we have enough
material collected that people can find that can serve as
their first welcoming experience into the medium, the more likely
we are to build our audience. It's really simple as
(40:55):
that we need people to know how to read comics
and enjoy them. And if we build the concor and
they'll come fair enough.
Speaker 3 (41:01):
Man, well, you guys are building great content, and I'm
really happy. I think a lot of as you said,
a lot of people were scratching their heads at the
first Marvel. Now the proof is in the product that
you guys delivered in the last year and a half,
and real really excited about some of these other big
books that are happening in twenty fourteen, And as I say, honestly.
Speaker 1 (41:20):
I mean it.
Speaker 3 (41:20):
You've always had a great eye for talent, exel and
you and I think the editors that you've chosen following
your footsteps.
Speaker 1 (41:27):
Well, So keep up the great work and I hope
to see you. What conventions will you be at this year?
Speaker 4 (41:33):
I'm always at San Diego. I'm not quite certain beyond
that what I'll be doing at this stage. Okay, I
coach a basketball team, so I need to work around that.
Speaker 1 (41:43):
Well, I hope you have a good season.
Speaker 4 (41:44):
All right, Hey, thank you. We're four and oh we're
doing great, Adam, that's fantastic.
Speaker 3 (41:49):
Well, keep up the great work and let's not wait
eight years for the next conversation.
Speaker 4 (41:53):
Absolutely, thank you. Take care,
Hey, everybody, welcome back.
Speaker 2 (00:01):
It's word balloon to come up with conversation show John
Cutres here, I'm presenting a great conversation I had with
Axel Alonso back in twenty fifteen, and it was a
look back at Marvel now, big initiative, big changes. A
lot of different things happened that year and going into
the following year twenty fifteen, and actually really laid out
a lot of basic Marvel philosophies. We talk about the
(00:23):
Marvel summits that used to happen in person. Now they
seem to happen remotely. It's our post COVID world, and
you can really kind of glean some of the recent
creative changes that we've heard about that are coming in
the new year. Bennis is coming back to the Avengers,
my buddy Stephanie Phillips is about to do Daredevil starting
in March. There's been some really neat announcements I think
(00:46):
with Marvel, and you could see a pattern. And I
think if you listen to what Axel had to say
about what was going on in twenty fifteen after the
successes of twenty fourteen, you kind of see a through line,
I think, and I hope you'll en joy this great
conversation with Axel Alonso back in the time machine on
today's word Balloon. Word Balloon is brought to you by
(01:06):
Alex Ross Art dot com, the home for stunning, realistic
artwork of the legendary painter Alex Ross. Check out limited
edition prints, sketchbooks, and exclusive pieces featuring the world's greatest heroes.
Whether you're a lifelong fan or a new collector, there's
no better place to see the artistry that's defined modern comics.
Visit Alex Rossart dot com and bring the heroes home.
Speaker 1 (01:31):
And don't forget.
Speaker 2 (01:31):
If you're in the Chicago area, you can see Alex
Ross's exhibit Heroes and Villains at the dun Museum in
Suburban Chicago in Libertyville, Illinois, through February of twenty twenty six.
Word Balloon is brought to you by the League of
Word Balloon Listeners my patrons at patreon dot com slash
word Balloon. For just three dollars a month or more,
(01:53):
you'll find access to our exclusive monthly e magazine packed
within depth, creator interviews and behind the scenes story you
won't hear anywhere else. And as a supporter, at three
dollars or higher. You're also invited to the Word Balloon
book Club, where Brian, Michael Bendis and I sit down
on camera to dive into a great graphic novel. You
can join us through Mypatreon Patreon dot com slash word Balloon.
(02:18):
It's a great way to support ward Balloon, get bonus content,
and be part of the conversation. Join me today the
League of Word Balloon listeners Patreon dot com slash word Balloon.
Thanks for listening and thanks as always for your support.
Speaker 1 (02:31):
Axel Alonzo, Welcome back to word Balloon.
Speaker 3 (02:33):
I can't believe it's been eight years since you've been
on the podcast.
Speaker 1 (02:36):
You've been very busy though, so thanks for coming back.
Speaker 4 (02:38):
My pleasure. Eight years. You're kidding, Wow, I know, man, I.
Speaker 1 (02:42):
Think you had just come to Marvel.
Speaker 3 (02:43):
It was two thousand and six, so I think you
were at Marvel by then, of course.
Speaker 4 (02:47):
Yeah. I was, I mean at Marvel since two thousand
and one, so I was around for a few years,
but I wasn't aware that we focused so long ago.
Speaker 1 (02:54):
Yeah, man, you were.
Speaker 3 (02:55):
Yeah, you were in charge of the ex office at
the time. Art Belt as ours slo and hopes your
shoes are doing good.
Speaker 4 (03:00):
They're not doing good. They're well born.
Speaker 1 (03:03):
Yeah, very good.
Speaker 3 (03:05):
So let's start off with, you know, some of the
new directions that Marvel's going into in twenty fourteen. In
the past, they've you know, I think the community has
referred to them as reboots and stuff.
Speaker 1 (03:17):
Do you think that a big kind of creative.
Speaker 3 (03:21):
Change is necessary where the publishing market is today?
Speaker 4 (03:26):
Yeah, I mean I think that. You know, when we
did Marvel now about a year and a half ago,
the goal was to shake things up and revitalize the line.
We had a number of creators who had enjoyed very
long runes are in their books, and we thought that
it was time to sort of play a game of
(03:46):
musical chairs, to challenge them to move out of their
comfort zones and take on the challenges of new franchises.
So what you saw was instances where you know, someone
like Brian Bendis, who had been writing Avengers for something
like eight years at that point, took on the challenge
of the X Men franchise, you know, and Jonathan Hickman,
(04:07):
who'd had a run on Fantastic Four, came over to
do Avengers. Uh, and it worked out. You know, we
we went in over a period of four months, we
made sure there was a new book on the racks
that would be a window into the Marble universe. And
uh we we won over the cynical and people embraced
(04:27):
the books, and uh, we're very happy. Now now we're
doing all new Marvel now which is roughly a year later,
where we're uh bringing some new titles into the line,
fresh new launches that we think build on the line
and in hands the line. You know, we dug into
our catalog, you know, from Nathan Edmison and Field notice
(04:47):
Black Widow to Warren Els and Dicklan Shelby's Moonnight. I'm're
very excited about what we have in store.
Speaker 3 (04:54):
Are guys constantly pitching you on things like Moonnight. I
remember back in the day when when you the first
attempts to bring back Moonnight and stuff, and I did
hear every year a lot of these B and C
list characters, for lack of a better description, that there
were like constant pitches. Have there been constant pitches on
Black Widow and Moonlight up until moon right Night rather
(05:15):
up until you know, reaching the decisions of these books.
Speaker 4 (05:17):
Well, we're a publishing company, so There are always pitching inquiries,
but it doesn't mean that we're we're necessarily looking to
develop the character. We tend to strike when we think
there's a window of opportunity. In the case of Moonnight,
I myself edited the Charlie Houston run from several years ago,
(05:40):
and more recently we had a celebrated run by Brian
Bendis and Alex Malev youvet, and we pulled the trigger
on this Moonnight because Warren Ellis was bringing to the
table we thought was really fresh and new and inviting,
and we had confidence it would work. And that's really
what we've done here with all of these launches, from
Moonnight to Charles sol On, how we play those she
(06:03):
Hulk to Carrie Andrews's Ion Fist. It's creators who really
have something to say with these characters who I prefer
not to call Blis's characters, but just characters that haven't
found there the popularity deserve.
Speaker 3 (06:16):
Where do you think I mean as far as back
in the day, a lot of of a lot of uh.
And again I'm just using the label there. But these
these you know, other tier characters, not the Spider Man,
it's not the Wolverines, but like the ones we're talking about,
back in the old days, you could count on, you know,
a three year run, a five year run. Do you
see just in general that those kinds of runs are
(06:38):
probably over and we are looking more at the thirty
issue and you know, maybe if we're lucky, you know,
forty eight to fifty issue runs, but you know, not
the not the you know, multi year runs that used
to you know, happen in the past.
Speaker 4 (06:52):
Well, I think that I wouldn't dure any conclusions at
the stage. What I would say is that we put
a premium on telling good stories and making sure that
we provide the easiest entry point into those stories as possible,
especially in an era when our characters are enjoying a
(07:13):
higher curating than ever you know, on the silver screen,
in television and what have you. So we're less obsessed
with numbering than we are with good stories. But that's
not to say that we don't have a respect for
the history and tradition of you know, the periodicals over time.
So I think what we've begun to see is structuring
(07:36):
or publishing, akin to what you're seeing with television seasons.
When and if we see a story that represents a fresh,
clean break, a new starting point in the life of
a character, will take up the opportunity to brand it
in some way that brings it to the attention of
the reader that this is new, that this is fresh,
(07:59):
and in a certain case said, well, we might feel
that a story, a Daredevil story, let's say, hypothetically, a
sort of way Mark Wade that brings Daredevil to you know,
to a new place, in this case, my hometown in
San Francisco, to begin a whole new chapter of his life.
We might decide that that that the clean entry point.
It's the beginning of a new story, it's the beginning
of a new season, and number it accordingly. But we
(08:22):
we pick our spots, and you know, there's a sort
of a list of criteria that shifts around. It makes
us decide what we want to do and when we
want to do it. But I think we're learning and
where we you know, as you recall we did Marvel
now a year and a half ago. We did not
interrupt Way to run on Daredevil because it kept its
(08:44):
regular numbering, because we didn't feel it was it was
proper advertising. This was not a shift in the life
of the character. This was not a new chapter. This
was a continuation of what he was doing, and to
brand it as anything other than than that would have
been false advertising in this case. However, this new shift
in Matt murdocks life, we think warrant an issue one.
Speaker 3 (09:04):
Fair enough, you mentioned the other iterations. Oh, I'm sorry, Axel.
Did you want to continue? I don't want to mess
you up if you had to. Okay, you mentioned the
other platforms that Marvel stories are now being told on
on a regular basis. The movies are coming out every year,
Television continues to explode, the Netflix thing.
Speaker 1 (09:20):
Everyone's excited about that.
Speaker 3 (09:22):
So where is the comic division in the Marvel hierarchy
where you know it used to be the main engine?
Speaker 1 (09:29):
You know, has it changed?
Speaker 3 (09:30):
I mean, what what is marvel comics role in this
bigger Marvel world?
Speaker 4 (09:36):
Well, I'd still think we're the main engine. All of
the stories that made a silver screen came from the
comic book page, and rest assured that my job, and
my job, my staff jobs, our job security hinges in
our ability to be to tell the best stories available
and to make those stories popular. So I think that
(09:57):
we are where things start.
Speaker 1 (10:00):
That.
Speaker 4 (10:00):
Of course, that's not to say that with the number
one revenue generator. But you know, we're all one big company,
We're one team, we're one family, and we we we coordinate,
we cooperate. Uh, we're all building towards the same goal,
which is to make sure that these characters who've endured
the test of time for decades, that this modern mythology
(10:23):
that we've built is around long after we're gone, and
our goal is to keep it fresh for new generations
of readers. And this case of viewers, I'm rest assured
that as thrilled as any of you are about the
characters who are part of the next books programs, no
one is more excited than me. If you will be
(10:45):
hard pressed to find anyone as a bigger fan of
Luke Cage or Iron Fist. Sure, so to think about
seeing them become potentially household words is a dream come true.
Speaker 1 (10:55):
I've betman, Now, that's really cool.
Speaker 3 (10:56):
And also, let's talk a little bit about some of
the new voices that you're bringing into Marvel and stuff. Honestly,
and I'm sure that you've got Lieutenant's other editors and
other creators that might be pointing guys in your direction,
but you made your mark Axle with with Vertigo and
then in Marvel where you were able to bring really
interesting voices in the Jason Earns, the Fractions and some
(11:17):
of these other guys along, you know the way. And
I'm glad Michelle Fife is going to be one of
the new voices in the Ultimate Universe, for example. So
so yeah, I don't know if you want to point
out a few other you know, Nathan Edmonson certainly is
another guy like that.
Speaker 4 (11:31):
Well, what I'd just say is that, you know, we
are our editors are always on the hunt for new
talent and new voices, and what we look to do
is find writers and artists who we think deserve wider,
a broader audience, a bigger audience, and match them up
(11:53):
with the types of assignments that allow them to really
play to their strengths. You know. In the case say
Nathan Edmanson, I was a fan of his book Who
Is Jake Kellen? And I began some discussions with him
at a very early stage about my desire to do
Black Widow. And I had always been a big fan
(12:17):
of Phil Noto and had always felt that Phil's biggest
friend was time being given the opportunity to really think
in and do the work that everyone had seen in
his amazing sketch books, bring that life to the comic
book page, which means won't stop shopping. And so paired
(12:38):
them up with editor Elie Pyle and used all the
lea time we could to make sure that this is
a team that is there on the racks day in
and day out to tell a particular kind of story
and a story that can't be found elsewhere. And I
think that's the goal with all of these books, we've
tried to look outside. Senior Editor Mark Piniccia really thought
(12:58):
outside the box with his all new ghostwriter, Finding Writer,
an animator of Felipe Smith who has created a bold
new ghostwriter and is accompanied by Tad Moore, an artist
who who's just blowing everyone away right now. It's just
amazing the work he's putting into so much detail in
(13:20):
his pages. He's unlike anyone out there. And I commend
Panic for for thinking outside the box and coming up
with such a such a different creative team. You know,
in other instances, you know, Steve whacker Uh in conversations
with Warren, Ellis played the hunch that Warren might respond
to the character and was right, Warren has something to
(13:42):
say with the character, and we've got to sell a
new book. In another case, I'm a big fan and
a good friend of Carry Andrews. We've had many a
conversation about the movies and books that influence us. So
when I saw an opportunity to maybe doing you Iron
fifth book, I started with him. We began talking and
the result is aren't f It's a living weapon again,
(14:03):
it's one stop shopping. It's a totally inspired Corry doing
martial arts, mystical epic that just blasts up the page.
Speaker 1 (14:13):
I'm excited for those books, honestly. Yeah. Absolutely.
Speaker 3 (14:16):
I also think that in the in the last year
or so, there's been a lot of great visual experimentation
in the art. Certainly David Aja what he's been doing
with Hawkeye speaks for itself. Young Avengers as well, another
another great book that I think is again just doing
something slightly different that that really kind of stands out,
(14:36):
and it's interesting to see some of the risks that
are being taken superior foes of Spider Man. I just
think the tone of that book and I'm glad that
there is room for those kinds of books now.
Speaker 1 (14:47):
I don't know.
Speaker 3 (14:48):
You know, obviously sales dictate what kind of shelf life
these books have, but at least it seems like innovation
is still very important, and you want consistency and character,
but also the opportunity to do something visually interesting.
Speaker 1 (15:01):
Still.
Speaker 4 (15:02):
Yeah, I think it's very important that you find the
right artist for an assignment, and I've tried to encourage
editors to remember that there's no such thing as a
house style here at Marvel. It's all about finding the
right writer and the right artist for the job. And
we're all comic fans, and if you think about it,
(15:25):
if you were to name your ten favorite comic artists,
odds are you'll find that their styles very widely. I'm
a huge fan of Jeff Garrow. I'm a huge fan
of Brian bolland I'm a huge friend fan of Roberto Ramos.
You know, those are three very different artists, and I
liked all of them for very different reasons. And as
(15:47):
a fan and as an editor, there's certain books that
I would like to see them all, you know, and
other said I wouldn't. So this is an instance where
you know, we've just really tried to create a culture
here at Marvel, which says, you know, the best book
come to us. No such thing as a bad idea
doesn't mean you'll get what you want. But if you
make the right argument, we'll we'll make it work. And
(16:08):
the result is I think the you know, broadest uh
looking the broadest range of books you can imagine.
Speaker 1 (16:18):
Stylistically, we're seeing a bit of a turnover.
Speaker 3 (16:21):
I mean that's constant in comics, but I think a
lot of stalwarts that have been around Marvel for a
lot of years are taking different jobs now at Brew,
Baker is kind of getting busy, and you know, I
think more difficult for him to find room for a
Marvel book in his schedule. And uh, we're seeing, like
I said, some new voices coming in. Uh, you know,
how do you adjust another guy? And you mentioned him
(16:43):
for on the editorial side, I think Steve Whacker really
packaged a lot of really interesting books, great creators, and
it's it's a shame to see him go. You know,
Like is the stewardship of editors and and not only
finding new talent, but also the you know, the ability
to take over when one of these you know, important
editors leave and stuff. How how is that transition to
(17:06):
some of these, you know, newer editors that have more responsibility.
Speaker 4 (17:09):
Now, well, it's like a sports team. You have to
step up. You know. Steve h It was a terrific editor,
is a terrific editor who you know, has a trained
a number of junior editors, associates and assistants and editors
along the way. Now is the opportunity for any number
(17:32):
of people to step up and show what they're made of.
You know, in the case of Steve, you know, I
can't talk shop here, but we're going to make sure
that we have an editor of capable who's you know,
equally capable to fill that desk. Whether the filtem within
or without remains to be seen. But you know, it
(17:52):
all comes down to the editors in their vision and
how they how they control their offices, the choices that
they make in conjunction with myself and others the other
senior editors, to put talent on books and to make
sure that we're putting writers and artists in the best
position they are to succeed to do their best work.
(18:15):
One of the things that we while we have a
very as it's well known, all of our books function
against the backdrop of one you know, universe one one backdrop.
We do our best to get out of people's way,
help them tell the stories that they want to tell,
and not change the rules on people. We're not of
(18:36):
my way or the highway shop. You know. Editors are
here to pick the right people, pick them for the
stories they want to tell, and do everything in their
power to make sure that the stories see the light
of day and see how the fans respond.
Speaker 3 (18:52):
Okay, if we could, I'd be interested to hear your
perspective on the Marvel summits, your transition to editor in chief.
You've seen it both as as a group editor when
you were editing the xbooks to now where are you
and I'm not sure when it comes to the summits?
Speaker 1 (19:08):
Do you run the show? Are you?
Speaker 3 (19:09):
Are you kind of the point man on these things
as far as you know conducting the business of the day.
First of all, yeah, you can answer that question shortly,
but I'm interested in if if it's changed much in
your stewardship as editor in chief now.
Speaker 4 (19:24):
I think the formula, the basic formula is the same thing.
We gather together our editors and a number of writers
who're working in core titles, and we walk our way
through the various families the stories are telling, and we
see how those stories overlap, and we look for, as
(19:44):
I put it, potential. We try to avoid car crashes
and on occasion create some interesting car pools. So it's
really about mapping out these stories and seeing how the
shared universe is functioning. And we normally go in with
an agenda that includes a couple of things. We want
to discuss an event happening either in one family or
(20:05):
across the line. Uh, and we'll we'll have that writer
sort of walk us through their their game plan along
with their editor, and uh we call it running the gauntlet.
People give their honest opinion about everything from the macro
to the micro. So that's really what we do. In
(20:25):
terms of my role. Uh yeah, I pretty much. I
pretty much run the room. But that's just to say
that I try and keep people on agenda. Uh and
of course they're in chief. Uh, try and steer the
agenda the way I want to go. So long and
short of it is that you know where where where
best idea wins shop. And we pride ourselves in our
(20:48):
ability to discern what that best idea is, even if
we don't decide right then and there in the room.
Maybe if we need to sit on it, sleep on it,
and come back. What I have learned about the retreats
that anybody who's in that room that doesn't want to
punch someone else, who says they didn't want to punch
someone else as a liar, because that always happens. That
(21:10):
the beautiful thing is at the end of the day,
you're done, you cool down, you go out, you have dinner,
a beer, a soda, whatever, and and you relax. And
I've done enough of these. Now it's not my first rodeo,
but I know that that something productive always comes out
of these, even if you don't see it right out
(21:30):
the gate. There are fights, but but they're almost always
resolved and and and quite frankly, that's the way things
should be. You know. Michael Jordan Chicago Bulls won six championships,
but they weren't always getting along. They aired it out,
but at the end of the day they was They
raised the trophy, you know, and I think that that's important.
Speaker 1 (21:52):
I have a feeling. You read that Sam Smith book
that Jordan rules.
Speaker 3 (21:56):
Twice there you go there, Well, you know, I'm from Chicago,
so yeah, I'm well, I'm well aware of the story too, absolutely, man.
Speaker 4 (22:02):
I was a Jordan fan back to North Carolina, and
I watched the Young Bulls get eliminated by the Pistons
three years in a row. I'm not ashamed to say
that I wept two tears when that happened. And so
I earned being a Jordan fan. I was. I was
a lover of Jordan long before the band Wagoners. So yeah,
all right, we.
Speaker 1 (22:20):
Won't tell anybody at Madison Square Garden how you felt
about this.
Speaker 4 (22:23):
I'm not a nick Fent. I'm a Golden State Warriors fan.
Speaker 1 (22:25):
That's true, exactly, San Francisco. I respect that. That's hilarious.
Speaker 4 (22:28):
I'm all Golden State and it's a good year.
Speaker 3 (22:30):
Have you seen have you seen that Reggie Oh God,
Reggie Miller versus The Knicks ESPN movie?
Speaker 4 (22:37):
I haven't, but I've heard about it.
Speaker 1 (22:39):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, as any has. Anyone who dislikes the
next I'll tell you that's that's some good movie viewing.
So yeah, you definitely have to see.
Speaker 4 (22:46):
I wouldn't go so farth to say I disliked The Knicks.
What I would say is that I've I've tried to
become a fan, and unfortunately my heart is in San Francisco.
Interested and I just I'm a Golden State fan, and
I adopted the Bulls along the way and the the
ellen Iverson seventy six ers would probably be my third team.
It's along with the book, along with the Brooklyn Nets.
Speaker 1 (23:07):
So there you go. That's cool. That's awesome.
Speaker 4 (23:09):
I looked two blocks away from Berkley Center.
Speaker 1 (23:11):
So nice. Yeah, yeah, that's fantastic. That's great. Now, I
was very excited when Brooklyn got its franchise and everything.
That was great.
Speaker 3 (23:18):
I think that's a really smart move. All right, back
to comics, what has has your do? Do you feel
when you took the editor in chief job or since
you've gotten the job, do you feel there was ever
any sort of philosophical difference from what Joe was doing
when when he was running the line? You know, and
I'm not looking for any you know, dirty laundry or
(23:40):
anything like that, but it's just really like, was there
something you wanted to bring to the flavor of Marvel
that you felt, you know, wasn't really being you know,
taken advantage of.
Speaker 4 (23:51):
No. I mean I think that I wouldn't say that
I had I had an agenda. I think that philosophically
think Joe and I have far more and the not. Okay,
I think that I know that going into my first
summit that I wanted to do Avengers Versus X Men
because I wanted to do a universe spanning event that
(24:15):
would allow us to sort of break down the line
between Marvel Universe and X Men universe and there is
a line, and do an oil on event that would
almost function as a as an end cap to everything
we've been doing for the last few years. And probably
part of my agenda was I thought that this might
function as, for lack of a better term, an end
(24:40):
chapter in Palate Cleanser that will allow us to do
the Game of Musical Chairs that was Marvel. Now. I
do know that I thought it would be very important
that we we do the Game of Musical Chairs, that
we do what we did, which was to move people
out of their comfort zone, move them in to you know,
(25:01):
new books, new challenges, shake things up, and have a
great jumping on point for the next generation of readers,
you know. So I think that that was maybe if
there was any any agenda or difference, it was that
I knew what I wanted to do coming in in
as editor in chief, and I will say that an
end goal for me was putting us in a position
(25:24):
where we would gain the let's say, the confidence of
retailers and fans do an initiative like Marvel Now that
they would it would have a trickle down effect for
the other titles. What we're doing with All New Marvel
Now is very different than Marvel Now in so far
as what we're looking to do is bring a number
of new titles. You know, in Humans, Black Widow, Moonlight,
(25:48):
she Hulk, All New Ghostwriter, All New Invaders, Punisher, Iron Fist,
you know, let me see the Nightcrawler, book, Magneto, all
of these books, just you know, with talent as wide
ranging as Chris Claremont and Rocky Kim, you know, it's
(26:08):
important to me that we use the credibility of Marvel
Now to build confidence in these new launches, these new franchises,
because I think that ultimately, at the end of the day,
you know, I said to all my editors, it's a
tough market out there, but what I'd love you to
do is build a monthly that's good. So in a
worst case scenario, when that book doesn't make it when
(26:30):
the numbers don't come back the way you would want
after issue thirteen or fourteen, that people will say, damn,
that was a good book. I wish that had stuck around.
Sure that you know, there's no guarantees in this business,
but it's not that hard to launch high and sustain
interest for a while. It's for the long term. It's tricky.
(26:51):
There's a lot of things out there competing for your attention,
for your discretionary income, many of them not comics. So
the goal here is that you make a good, a
compelling read, something that people want to come back to
month after months. A book discratches an itch that the
next thing doesn't, and that's that accompetent about a bit
(27:12):
of that, yeah.
Speaker 3 (27:13):
Does the Then when when it comes to events, Then
when you do release all of these new books, it
almost seems like you know, you're competing, you know, with
yourself within the company, depending on how the event is,
is you know put out there, is it changing the
way you guys do events. I'm always interested because I
do see the experimentation in terms of you know, multiple
(27:37):
issues in one month being concentrated and maybe not you know,
having it be a line wide crossover that you know,
in some very old cases certainly didn't make sense twenty
years ago.
Speaker 1 (27:50):
You are right.
Speaker 4 (27:50):
We try not to cannibalize ourselves. That's part of the
reason that with both Marvel Now and All New Marvel Now,
we didn't roll out, you know, hypothetically fifty two number
ones at the same time. We didn't want to put
retailers in a position where they had to buy in
everything all at the same time, and we didn't want
to force readers to look at it as you're all
(28:12):
in or you're not in at all. For us, it
was about, here's a lot of different options, a lot
of different flavors. We hope you like one, two, three, four,
or five, take your pick. We hope you like a few.
And that was our roll up plan to make sure
that each week, if you heard the buzz that you
could go into a store. Let's say you'd heard about
(28:32):
All New X Men. Someone had told you this is
a great jumping on point. You could go into the
store and you could find that book, but you could
also find another book, another number one that would allow
you entry pointing into the Marvel universe. And so that's
part of the reason that we try and make sure
that we're not you know, saturating the market with number one,
(28:54):
you know, such that you're looking at, you know, fifteen
number ones in one in one month. That's a game plan.
I think it's worked for us. I don't think retailers
completely understood it when we did Marvel Now, but by
the time Marvel Now was over, they David Gabriel, our
sales and marketing VP, has told me they completely understood
the logic behind it and they supported it.
Speaker 1 (29:14):
That's excellent.
Speaker 3 (29:15):
How about on the digital side, you guys have done
some experimentation with Ultimate comics here and there, and some
specific digital only products. Really going back to God, I
want to say, if not Civil War, then you know
House of Them or something like that. I know that
they've been going on for some time, but where do
you see the digital platform right now?
Speaker 4 (29:35):
Well, it's extremely important. It's a new newsstand for distribution,
and I think that digital functions as a compliment to print.
We're not the music industry. The music industry is an
oral It's an oral pleasure you're getting from it. You
there's nothing tactal about music books and comics. There's something
(29:56):
different about them. And especially comic books with collectibility built
in to this. I sincerely believe there will always be
a place for the periodical and they'll you know, the
floppy comic book, and will always be a place for
the trays and the hardcovers. I know myself that, whereas
I buy most of my music online now and I
don't buy, uh, you know, a CD at this point,
(30:18):
that's not true with my comic book reading. I buy
the books, you know, the Darwin Cook Parker books. I
buy those as hard cuts.
Speaker 1 (30:28):
You bet.
Speaker 4 (30:29):
There's certain books I need. I need them from my bookshelf,
and I know I'm not alone. I know in my
gut I'm not alone. And then there's books I don't need.
But I think that the important thing is that these
two function complimenting each other. That we can use digital
to broaden our base. Maybe a few of the people
that consume Superior Spider Man is digital will be interested
(30:49):
in buying the trade paperback when they're in a bookstore,
a comic book store. A few months later, they'll want
that for that shelf. I think it all, it all
feeds into the same thing. It all it builds the
baseball our for our our characters and ultimately I think
that the savvy retailer will take advantage of that. In
terms of what we've done recently, I think that infinite
(31:10):
Comics is being an innovation that we've uh brought to
the medium that we continue to work on because we
think that it represents a new canvas for storytelling. These
these are are comic books that are created specifically for
handheld media. This isn't just taking a comic book and
then you know, sizing it so it fits onto your
(31:30):
iPad screen. It's writer and artist working together to create
a comic book experience that can only be told by
swiping the handheld media, whether it's your your iPhone or
or your or your your iPad. And so we're learning
how to do this. We're getting better and better. It's
an investment on our part, but it's one that we
(31:53):
think is going to bear fruit in the long run
and help us build our audience.
Speaker 3 (31:58):
Do you talk to you know guys? I mean Mark
Waite obviously does work for you and stuff, and I
know that he is very forthcoming with what they're doing
over at THROWBN, for example, and some of the innovations
that they've come up with with digital comics. Do you
look at what everybody else is doing and say, oh,
you know, let's cherry pick the best ideas and put
them in the market.
Speaker 4 (32:14):
Of course, absolutely, yeah. And you know, any editor who's
done Infinite comic will in the course of doing the
Infinite comic come back with questions about, hey, is it
even possible to do this? And as a technology gets better,
it'll become possible to do things that we weren't able
to do with our you know, our first steps into this,
into this type of storytelling. And you know we'll be
(32:37):
the first to say we don't have complete control over it.
Where we're we're learning how to do it even as
as we speak. But we are getting better and better
at it. We are learning and it is evolving and
it will become something I think becomes more and more
relevant to the comic book reader as time proceeds.
Speaker 3 (32:56):
How are things with trying to get kids in because
I think, on the one hand, it's wonderful to have
an outlet like Disney XD and I really do think
much as when we were little kids, it was the cartoons.
I mean, Bashki's Spider Man in reruns on you know.
Speaker 1 (33:11):
School after school, the times.
Speaker 3 (33:13):
That's what That was my first experience with a Marvel character,
and I think that probably the same goes for a
lot of kids now with the animated product that Marvel
Marvel is putting out, and you know, I don't know,
it seems like it was easier for me with my
fifty cent allowance to be able to buy you know,
a couple comic books off the newstand. Do you do
you see comics for kids is still a viable way
(33:35):
of getting you know, kids interested in the hobby or
is it, you know, their exposure coming more from you know,
television and film.
Speaker 1 (33:41):
Though.
Speaker 4 (33:42):
It's a good question, and I don't really have the
answer to that. All I can say is that it
continues to be a challenge to create comic book material
for young children that sells and sustainable numbers. That's not
to say that we don't continue to do it, and
but it also means that we're challenged to work around
(34:03):
the limitations and look into the way that handtail media
digital can contribute to that experience. I know that I,
as a kid watched the you know, the Spider Man
cartoon was probably my first and the Batman Live action
show were probably my first introduction to superheroes, and part
of why I knowed comic books on the rack at
the five and dime and picked them up, and that
(34:25):
was my entry point in and but I also know
at the time that there weren't iPads and iPods and
what have you that that also were vuying for my
attention and video games and all these other things. So
I found an outlet in comic books and sports at
a young age. You know, Pong didn't come out till
I was, you know, like twelve or something like that,
eleven ten, So you get the gist, you know, you know,
(34:47):
I comics were something I've found because they were there,
they were available. And you know, I have a ten
year old son who's put his arm around me recently
when he was eight and said, I'm not that into superheroes.
So I failed, but he is. He's a he's a
superior athlete, three sport athlete, and it's really into sports.
(35:08):
And he I know that when I travel with him
or I do things with him, I can I can ride,
I can fly six hour flight. And if I hand
him an iPad, he can he can watch a movie,
he can play video games, he can read a book
and he does all three on a ride, So I
know I know that for him that that's going to
be his entry point into this world. At some point,
(35:28):
Tito will click on superheroes, probably because we created some
infinite comic or some innovation that he's engaged in that
is part of his everyday experience. He wanders into much
the same way as I wandered into them through cartoons
and the five and time. It's a different world, you know,
it's a different world.
Speaker 3 (35:49):
And you mentioned earlier about you know, Avengers versus x Men,
the the the movie rights you know, belong to different companies. Currently,
Spider Man is a Sony Film property, Avengers or rather
x Men is a Fox property. Does that influence in
any way what you guys do on the comic side
(36:11):
in terms of, you know, pushing product forward or anything.
Speaker 4 (36:15):
Well, I'll say I'd love to see an next Men
Avenger versus Avengers movie, right, Avengers versus x Men movie?
And who knows that could happen?
Speaker 1 (36:24):
Do you really think in this current era do you
think that can happen? I mean, that's that's never.
Speaker 4 (36:29):
Say never, all right, Where there's a great story to
be told and money to be made, you never know. Okay,
you know, it's kind of like arranging the big Price
fight between Pakia and Mayweather exactly. Yeah, again, never say never.
You know, when if people see that there's potential, you know,
to make a good story and make a lot of money,
I could, I could see it happening, But what do
I know? But what I can say is that you
(36:51):
know here in publishing. You know obviously the characters that
we have less equity in outside media, but you know
X Men is an invaluable part of our publishing line.
Sure we wouldn't devote the talent and resources we do
to it if it weren't important. I know that it's
(37:11):
very important to me and my staff that we we
take advantage full advantage of all of our franchises, from
from X Men to h to Guarding the Galaxy two
in Humans, that we find a way to make them
the best they are and maximize the potential creatively and financially.
So whether it's Avengers, X Men, Spider Man, Daredevil, in Humans,
(37:35):
my job is to make the best comic book I can,
the best graphic novel I can.
Speaker 1 (37:39):
Fair enough, how how long have you been editor in chief? Now?
How many years?
Speaker 4 (37:44):
I think three.
Speaker 3 (37:45):
Okay, all right, So that's that's kind of early in
the run and stuff. Where where do you see yourself
in the position?
Speaker 1 (37:50):
Are you are? I mean day to day and stuff?
Is it?
Speaker 4 (37:53):
You know?
Speaker 1 (37:54):
Is it crazy?
Speaker 4 (37:54):
Is it?
Speaker 1 (37:55):
Is it still fun? Is it? You know? I'm glad
I've got this job? Or Christ? What was I think
in taking this job? Where are you in the job
right now?
Speaker 4 (38:02):
It's the best job in the world. It's a fantastic job.
I mean, you know, I work, I work with incredible
and incredible staff for editors. I have in contact with
an incredibly diverse and creative group of writers and artists.
There's really very little not to like about that. Like
like any job, it comes with its amount of stress,
(38:26):
you know, But that's why it's called the job. You know.
There they're they're there are always challenges. There their personalities
you have to deal with, and there's there's you know,
their their their headaches that come with managing. But that's
part for the course. You know. I I I worked
(38:46):
on a fishing boat. I I know what hard work
is and this is not that. This is this is
challenging in very in very different ways. But now I'm happy.
I think that I've I'm much more comfortable in the
position as at times preceded have become more and more
comfortable in the position. And I think it comes from
this stability that Dan Buckley and my boss brings to
(39:06):
the organization. He's very consistent with his message. Uh. He
never panics. Uh, and uh, I know, I know what
my goals are. I know what the goalposts are. They
don't change. And I think that as long as that's
the case, that you've got no one yourself if you
don't do it right well.
Speaker 3 (39:25):
And as you observe the other portions of of Marvel
and it's its place in the.
Speaker 1 (39:30):
Pop culture world, where do you see comic books?
Speaker 3 (39:33):
Because I think you know, we're all fans and part
of us always want uh legitimacy and respect for for
the things we consume. And we know how cool they are.
We know how great the and talented the writers and
the artists are. Are you able to you know, kind
of stick your finger in the air and see which
way the wind is blowing and is you know, has
(39:54):
I mean, it seems like from a character standpoint, there's
you know, never been better awareareness and love for the characters.
But you know, are comic books themselves able to capitalize
on this current love affair that the geek culture is having.
Speaker 4 (40:12):
I think we do, absolutely. I think that the challenge
is is distribution and making sure that people are aware
that we're out there finding ways to drive people into
stores through word of mouth and through digital and creating
a generation of people that are well versed in reading
(40:33):
comic books, you know, who know how to pick up
a comic book and where to start and that finding,
you know. I think the moment when we have enough
material collected that people can find that can serve as
their first welcoming experience into the medium, the more likely
we are to build our audience. It's really simple as
(40:55):
that we need people to know how to read comics
and enjoy them. And if we build the concor and
they'll come fair enough.
Speaker 3 (41:01):
Man, well, you guys are building great content, and I'm
really happy. I think a lot of as you said,
a lot of people were scratching their heads at the
first Marvel. Now the proof is in the product that
you guys delivered in the last year and a half,
and real really excited about some of these other big
books that are happening in twenty fourteen, And as I say, honestly.
Speaker 1 (41:20):
I mean it.
Speaker 3 (41:20):
You've always had a great eye for talent, exel and
you and I think the editors that you've chosen following
your footsteps.
Speaker 1 (41:27):
Well, So keep up the great work and I hope
to see you. What conventions will you be at this year?
Speaker 4 (41:33):
I'm always at San Diego. I'm not quite certain beyond
that what I'll be doing at this stage. Okay, I
coach a basketball team, so I need to work around that.
Speaker 1 (41:43):
Well, I hope you have a good season.
Speaker 4 (41:44):
All right, Hey, thank you. We're four and oh we're
doing great, Adam, that's fantastic.
Speaker 3 (41:49):
Well, keep up the great work and let's not wait
eight years for the next conversation.
Speaker 4 (41:53):
Absolutely, thank you. Take care,
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Las Culturistas with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang
Ding dong! Join your culture consultants, Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang, on an unforgettable journey into the beating heart of CULTURE. Alongside sizzling special guests, they GET INTO the hottest pop-culture moments of the day and the formative cultural experiences that turned them into Culturistas. Produced by the Big Money Players Network and iHeartRadio.
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.