MARVEL POP ART PRODUCTIONS The Classic Marvel Comics Group—Set in the Modern Day A Proposal by Carlton J Donaghe This is a proposal for a line of giant, magazine-sized Marvel Comics, published for an all-ages, general market under the banner ‘Marvel Pop Art Productions.’ This line doesn’t replace any imprint currently published by Marvel. Instead, this self- contained set of 12 monthly titles will present a modernized version of the original Marvel Comics Group (with some later characters thrown in) packaged into an easily- accessible product designed for the general distribution market. The depiction of Marvel’s most recognizable characters in their well-known original costumes and settings will both benefit from and promote the continued use of the classic comics in merchandise and licensing. Format Each issue of every title will contain three 20-page comics, each comic with its own interior cover page and two-page spread of introductions and recaps using art from previous issues. In addition, every issue will contain a set of features, called the FOOM (Friends Of Ol’ Marvel) Pages—all in a single format, pulling the entire line together, making every one of the twelve titles an individual part of a single, sprawling epic. The front cover of each title will be a modernized version of the classic Marvel Comics Group format from the mid-1960’s, decorated with captions and blurbs in boxes, circles and arrows, and an action-oriented cover, drawn by a regular rotation of the three interior artists, depicting an exciting scene from their own story in the moment it is happening. The stories will be done in the Marvel Method, with the writer producing a plot, which he then discusses with the artist and modifies according to the artist’s input. The artist takes this plot and breaks it down into 20 pages, telling the story in a dramatic fashion, discussing any changes with the writer along the way, so that the best possible story can be created. The artist makes additional notes and suggestions of dialogue to go with the art. The writer, provided with full-size copies of the original pencils, all the artist’s notes, as well as clean digital copies of finished artwork, will then script the captions, sound- effects (unless the artists wants to make sound-effects part of the art), and dialogue, indicating the text placement, if not actually lettering the book themselves. MARVEL POP ART PRODUCTIONS Writers will also be responsible for putting together readers’ letters for the F.O.O.M. Pages, with input from the artists when needed, as well as writing teasers and coming attractions for their books to be used in solicitations, news pages and the checklist. The House Style One of the key visual aspects of the Marvel Pop Art Productions should be that the characters actually look like they are wearing costumes. Most super-hero artwork depicts the heroes as essentially naked, with the details and colors of the costumes simply added to the naked body. There is no cloth that can cling to the human body so that fine details of musculature can be seen underneath. In Jack Kirby’s artwork, especially in the early days of the Fantastic Four, the characters were drawn as if they were wearing clothing. There was no doubt the men were muscular and the women curvaceous, but the costumes weren’t depicted as sprayed-on cloth. Another example would be Iron Man’s armor. Why would musculature be shown on his armor? Does it cling to his body that closely? Or did he build the muscles into the armor to make him look like he’s in shape? The armor can look powerful without having to draw muscles in it. The costumes, even with their colorful designs, should look like they’re made of real materials like spandex, cloth, leather, plastic, metal, or wood. The costumes should have wrinkles and folds. They shouldn’t look painted on. You should be able to see that the heroes are muscular, but you shouldn’t see detailed musculature underneath the costume. You should only see definition only if the skin is bare. Interior Covers and Recap Pages Each of the 12 titles contains three 20 page features. Each feature has its own interior cover, drawn by the regular artist, plus a two page spread with character introductions and story recaps, illustrated with images from preceding issues. The recap page is laid out by the series artist, with copy by the series writer. They are the creators charged with the entire stylistic presentation of the story. Every character, not just the super-heroes, has its own specially drawn “standing logo,” an “action logo,” and a “face logo.” These three logos for each character will be drawn by the main series artist and will be used as identifying marks for the characters in the comics, on the web-site, and with the merchandise. 2 Carlton An All-New, All-Different MARVEL COMICS GROUP The F.O.O.M.* Pages * Friends Of Ol’ Marvel In addition to nearly 70 pages of comics, each title will feature: • Marvel Bullpen Bulletins a fresh mix every month, consisting of • Marvel news “Items,” creator news, hints and teases from the “Didja Know...?” Dept. • A Soapbox, with the opinions and views of guest columnists • A monthly Mighty Marvel Checklist with great one-line teases, creative teams, and covers for current issues of all titles • Marvelmania catalog pages featuring merchandise for sale tied into Marvel Pop Art Productions • F.O.O.M. pages, including ° An MMMS coupon for joining the club ° 2 pages of fan-mail with answers from the writers of the series, with input from the artists when appropriate ° the letters pages for each title has its own name and accompanying illustration— such as: “The Spider’s Web,” “The Hammer Strikes!” and “The Fantastic Four Fan Pages” ° The Ranks of Marveldom, including names of readers who claim the beginning title by joining the mailing list, everyone who gets a letter printed, all MMMS members, all No-Prize winners, subscribers and readers who tell us they buy all 12 titles! ° the bottom of every merchandise page has a continuously updated list of outlets for comics and merchandise, based upon a display agreement with retailers and • a Next Issue page—featuring the cover, a teaser for the issue, and information on where the comics can be found! Donaghe 3 MARVEL POP ART PRODUCTIONS The Mighty Marvel CHECKLIST MARVEL’S GREATEST COMICS & FANTASY MASTERPIECES starring MIGHTY MARVEL WESTERN the Fantastic Four plus the Black featuring Kid Colt, Outlaw plus Red Panther and the Uncanny Inhumans Wolf & the Two-Gun Kid and Ghost Rider AMAZING FANTASY starring the Amazing Spider-Man plus the Black TALES to ASTONISH! featuring the Cat and Spider-Man Team-Up Advanced Idea Mechanics plus the Incredible Hulk and the Savage Sub- MARVEL GIRL starring Millie the Mariner Model also featuring Patsy Walker plus Marvel Girl and Our Love Story! STRANGE TALES featuring the Young Champions plus Dr. Strange, Master of MARVEL COMICS starring the the Mystic Arts and Nick Fury, Agent Avengers plus Young Champions of SHIELD Team-Up and the Defenders TALES of SUSPENSE featuring the JOURNEY into MYSTERY with the Invincible Iron Man plus Captain Mighty Thor plus Tales of Asgard and America & the Falcon and the Black Hercules Widow SAVAGE TALES starring Wolverine UNCANNY TALES starring the plus Power Man & Iron Fist and Ka- Uncanny X-Men plus the Sensational Zar, Lord of the Savage Land! Spider-Woman and the New Mutants AMAZING ADVENTURES featuring Daredevil, the Man Without Fear plus Captain Marvel and the New Avengers 4 Carlton An All-New, All-Different MARVEL COMICS GROUP MARVEL’S GREATEST COMICS & FANTASY MASTERPIECES featuring The Origin of the FANTASTIC FOUR Mr. Fantastic, the Invisible Woman, the Human Torch and the Thing It started with the Advanced Idea Mechanics.* A.I.M. had always been a collection of the most talented, creative, and inventive scientists of their generation—Reed Richards, Moira MacTaggart, Bill Foster, Scott Lang, Victor Von Doom, Bruce Banner, fellow gamma-researcher Samuel Stern, and young Hank Pym. The Director of AIM was wealthy industrialist Simon Williams. [*See Marvel Comics’ TALES to ASTONISH! for more on this new Advanced Idea Mechanics!] Individually and in groups, the Mechanics worked on a variety of projects—some funded by AIM, some was contract work—for the government and for private industry. Reed Richards had created and built the X-1 rocket-ship—a rocket with the capability of flying a round-trip mission to the moon. Unlike the multistage rockets employed by NASA in the old space program, the X-1 was a single-unit craft designed to not only travel to the moon and back, but to land on and take off from the lunar surface as well. The X-1 represented the next great step in space exploration. Reed was a brilliant scientist and engineer, but also very conservative in his thinking, speaking, and comportment. He was a stern man who only went to college at Empire State University after joining the Army and serving in Afghanistan. Reed was a man who never questioned his own authority—because he never lied, and he was always right. Simon Williams, Director of AIM, had his own agenda for the X-1, a secret mission protected by national security. Williams had already put together his own team—to be headed by US Air Force Colonel John Jameson—to take the X-1 rocket-ship to the moon. To prevent anyone else from flying his ship, Reed persuaded his best friend, AIM test- pilot Benjamin J.