The Terrific Ten

Posted By: Peter DavidPosted On:

There is much discussion over on newsarama.com about Joe Q’s announcing ten writers at Marvel as being “the Terrific Ten,” slated to get all manner of additional support and push to carry them to “the next level.” And some fans are voicing indignation that I’m not on the list (Priest’s name is also mentioned repeatedly.)

Never fear. I tell you this in the strictest confidence. In fact, this is so secret that ONLY YOU are seeing it. Yes, you. Through groundbreaking technology, this post is being made with a special firewall so that only you, (your name goes here), is actually reading this posting. Everyone else is seeing a photograph of my youngest daughter, Caroline, playing with a puppy. In fact, if you’re at work right now, it’d be best if you said, “Awwwwww…” just to cover your tracks in case someone is listening.

The reason I am not part of the Terrific Ten is because I’ve been assigned to a different group: The Subtle Seven. (We were originally going to be the Secret Six, but that’s trademarked DC, plus we picked up one extra guy when the Terrific Ten was cutback from the Excellent Eleven due to budget constraints.)

The Subtle Seven is a group of seven writers whose job is to keep a low profile. Stay off the radar. Make the other guys–who are good, I’ll grant you–look even better by not distracting from them.

You may ask, okay, but the Terrific Ten get publicity. What’s the Subtle Seven getting out of it?

Cookies.

Each week, we each get a shipment of two dozen chocolate chip cookies. Joe bakes them himself. Comes in a designer tin with little pictures of Marvel characters on it. It’s really nice.

Unfortunately, the non-disclosure agreement I’ve signed precludes me from telling you the other members of the Seven. I mean, how subtle would it be if you KNEW who was on the list? Besides, if I told you, I’d have to–you know–kill you. Which I’d hate to do, and I’d probably wind up tossing my cookies…which would be kind of a shame ’cause Joe works so hard to bake them.

So…the Subtle Seven. Watch for us, whoever the hëll we are. And for God’s sake, keep it under your hat.

Say it with me: “Awwwwww…”

PAD

82 comments on “The Terrific Ten”

  1. Who’s getting upset about it? I think it would be fine just call the whole thing “stupid” rather than writing an entire entry that tries to spoof it.

  2. Dear PAD:
    Not to be a brown-noser, but to me you’re the “Only One.” The last time I was in a comic shop was for Hulk #86. The next time I go into a comic store will be for Fallen Angel Vol.2, #1.
    (After 2 issues, “Destruction” just ain’t doin’it for me.(I told I wasn’t brown-nosin’.))

    PS. I will be checking out your first issue of Spiderman as well.

  3. My only concern; are we certain those chips in the cookies are really chocolate?

  4. See, PAD, it doesn’t matter if you’re on the Terrific Ten, the Subtle Seven, or the Not-listed Nine! It’s the subtle (yet powerful) blend of humor, sarcasm, and wit evident in your post that ensures the fact that you will always have legions of fans around the globe.

    Well, that and the hope that they can score some of those cookies off of you. 🙂

    Bill

  7. [THIS POST HAS BEEN EDITED INTO NON-EXISTENCE BY PAD. PEOPLE ATTEMPTING TO IMPERSONATE OTHERS WILL NOT BE TOLERATED. IN THE FUTURE, I REQUEST THAT EVERYONE IGNORE ANY SUCH POSTS THAT THEY SEE. IT ENCOURAGES SUCH TROLLS, AND WILL ULTIMATELY BE RENDERED MOOT SINCE SUCH POSTS WILL BE DELETED IN SHORT ORDER IN ANY EVENT.

    THANK YOU.]

  8. Had Bendis actually lost his mind and social graces, he’d have at least bmade it amusing.

  9. Subtle Seven. That’s pretty funny. But I never thought in a million years I would hear PAD refer to himself as “subtle.”
    As for the joke that Bendis and Millar are writng all the books. That must explain why I don’t pick up any Marvel books anymore.

  10. um this ‘terrific ten’ concept sounds like it is backed by a dictatorship to me.
    if it were a democracy most of the “terrific ten” would land in the “eighty-six can”

  11. um this ‘terrific ten’ concept sounds like it is backed by a dictatorship to me.
    if it were a democracy most of the “terrific ten” would land in the “eighty-six can”

  12. um this ‘terrific ten’ concept sounds like it is backed by a dictatorship to me.
    if it were a democracy most of the “terrific ten” would land in the “eighty-six can”

  14. Just to clear up the earlier “Bendis” comment. That is our resident Troll who must not be fed.

  17. Actually, I’ve met Bendis quite a few times (granted this was back before he became Mr. Marvel) but I always found him to be courteous and friendly. He actually gave me a piece of artwork he did (yep, boys and girls, he USED to be a drawer and tracer too!) for AKA Goldfish.

  18. You don’t want to be in the Terrific Ten anyway. I have it on good authority that eventually they all get put into a pit to fight to the death until only one survives.

  20. LOL…I really do love your commentary and subtle quips and wit on things.

    And seriously demand more then cookies! You should be getting Milk delivered by him special Spidey bottles.

  21. “X-Ray is BACK?!?!?!?”

    Don’t even joke like that BB. Its not funny.

    Anyway, trolls seem to be cylical, with a new one showing up about every four months. Alas, ’tis the curse of the blogger. Especially a popular one like PAD.

    oh, and hey, PAD, can I have a cookie? 🙂

  22. Hmm… very interesting blog you’ve got here. The Marvel fan-people have been in chaos since ‘That Arc Which Shall Not Be Named’.

    I linked here from a newsrama interview, and it mentioned a few titles you’ll be doing. I could’ve sworn I’d seen that you’ll be writng ASM soon. Is this true? I have no idea how many people agree with me, but I’m ready for a break from JMS once The Other is finished.

  24. Stephanie: He’s writing 1 issue of Amazing Spider-Man, the issue that’s in arc 1/Month 1 of “THE OTHER” storyline.
    PAD will be writing FNSM, ASM, and MK:SM the first month, then Reggie, then JMS.
    then everyone runs back to their own titles, PAD on FNSM, JMS on ASM, and Reggie on MK:SM.

  26. Well, I’d hazard a guess at the answer being yes, since he didn’t ask for brownies. :p

  27. Terrific ten? Give me a break. They can’t hold a candle to guys like you, Michelinie, Fabian, and a whole list of others Marvel has let go. Keep up the good work and I’ll keep reading them!

  28. PAD, you are my favorite Subtle Seven writer! All the other guys clearly don’t deserve to be on the Subtle Seven list 😉

  29. A Great article on this by Steven Grant in his Permanent Damage weekly column.

    http://www.comicbookresources.com/columns/?column=10

    Had a few people ask me what I thought of Marvel’s “Terrific Ten,” and my kneejerk response was…
    What the hëll’s the Terrific Ten?

    Someone told me they were Marvel’s hot writers for the next generation: Allan Heinberg, David Hine, Reggie Hudlin, Robert Kirkman, Sean McKeever, Greg Pak, Roberto Sacasa, Dan Slott, Daniel Way and Joss Whedon.

    Well, I’m happy Marvel’s putting effort behind marketing writers. Beyond that…

    I don’t know that I’ve read any Marvel work by any of these guys. I like Reggie Hudlin and Robert Kirkman’s work just fine. I know Sean McKeever, Dan Slott and Daniel Way are certainly enthusiastic. Joss Whedon has at least gone to bat for VERONICA MARS. But whether any of them can write Marvel comics or not, I couldn’t say. I don’t read Marvel comics much. I mean, I’m happy enough to read them if someone sends them to me, I don’t condemn them out of hand or anything, but I don’t go hunting for them. I don’t download bootlegs off the web. It’s just the way things worked out. I haven’t even read any of Warren Ellis’ recent Marvel stuff, and Warren’s a guy whose work I will go out of my way for. I’ll read collections like Brian Bendis’ DAREDEVIL when they surface at the library. But most “mainstream” comics are variations on a theme, and the theme gets old after awhile. I don’t know what Marvel’s like these days but it used to be fairly straitjacketed about the kind of material it would use, and not everyone’s a good fit for that material. Though the blessed were often allowed end runs around “editorial standards.” Maybe it’s not that way anymore, but if it’s not I don’t see much evidence of limitless creative license. So, Terrific Ten. Fine by me.

    It’s just a marketing ploy anyway. I know it’s a marketing ploy. Joe Quesada knows it’s a marketing ploy. He says so right in the press release. They’re trying to pimp these guys. Good for them. Good for the guys.

    It’s not like it means anything anyway.

    Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson has a movie coming up in the very near future, an adaptation of the computer game DOOM. Before his acting career, of course, The Rock was a wrestler, and before he was The Rock, he was Rocky Maivia, combining the wrestling names of his father and his grandfather. (Before that, he was Flex Kavana, but that’s another story.) I remember when the WWE (then the WWF, before the World Wildlife Foundation sank their teeth into them) introduced Rocky to the breathless audiences, and put him over as the salvation of wrestling. Before his first match was over, a chant filled the air:

    ROCKY SUCKS!

    He had a great pedigree, incredible natural ability, a decent look, but wrestling fans have a tendency to resist wrestlers being shoved down their throats. Rocky’s initial push was meteoric before he proved he was worthy of the fans’ attention. “ROCKY SUCKS” chased him out of the ring after a few matches, and into a sabbatical. He was to be the WWE’s clean cut hope for the future; they didn’t yet see Stone Cold Steve Austin on the horizon, or how the face of wrestling would change in the late ’90s. When Rocky returned, it was as a member of the Nation Of Domination, a “black power” wrestling gang. The “ROCKY SUCKS” chants came back. This time Rocky started trash-talking back, and it turned out he was a wonderfully entertaining speaker. He was a heel but he was a charismatic heel. He had shown neither charisma nor speaking ability in his earlier incarnation. The more he told the fans he didn’t care what they thought (“candyass trailer park trash” was his favorite epithet for them), the more they embraced him. Before long, Rocky supplanted the leader of The Nation Of Domination, started referring to himself in the third person as “The Rock,” and became the hottest thing in wrestling next to Austin, and they were about on the same level.

    “The people will think…” “…what I want them to think!” is a famous line from Orson Welles’ CITIZEN KANE, and certainly it has been embraced by hundreds of promoters in every conceivable field. But they don’t in the movie, and they frequently don’t in life, particularly when it comes to media product. Audiences have a fickle way of making up their own minds. Marvel can identify anyone they want as a young, hot talent – and the history of comics is littered with the careers of editors who believed some discovery was The Next Great Thing and neither are even remembered now – and if The Ten are the designated drivers of Marvel’s future, that’s cool too, but ultimately you don’t tell fans who’s hot. Fans tell you. (I’m reminded of a time when Marvel was pushing… um… who were they again?… while fans paid attention instead to some unknown artist named Frank Miller on the third tier book DAREDEVIL that was barely hanging on and demanding that an obscure IRON FIST artist named John Byrne be given a shot at a major Marvel title…)

    Marvel can say anything it wants, but ultimately only two things will matter: the work, and the reaction to it. We’ll see. And I’m surprised I have to tell anyone that.

    All that aside, it seems to me that any “Terrific Ten” list of Marvel writers that doesn’t have Ed Brubaker on it is intrinsically flawed…

  31. Hey Mr. Hine. Ur a writer for Marvel right and I just heard that your going to be part of writing Spawn. So can you contact me by my email so we can talk?

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