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. Okay, so there’s the Terrific Ten and the Subtle Seven, that equals seventeen (I knew those math classes would come in handy)…Are we really to believe that Marvel has seventeen writers? That seems a bit high to me, since BENDIS! writes half the books, and Millar writes a third…the other fifteen writers must take turns, writing a page of script, then emailing it to the next guy who writes a page, who emails it to the next guy, etc…

  3. PAD, you know, it is okay to just call it a stupid concept and be done with it. Because that’s what it is. It’s not like anyone’s going to fire you from FNSM over it. And if they do, they’ll just make you relaunch it and give you six issues to get the most sales.

  4. Man, that puppy is cute! And your daughter is so beautiful.

    But, uh, what’s this “Terrific Ten” the other comments are talking about?

  5. The Subtle Seven.

    I like that. Any chance of joining? We could be The Elusive Eight. It would be quite a step up for me. After all these years I get really tired of people always asking me when am I finally going to leave The Terrible Twos.

    🙂

  6. Good God. Don’t get me started on this. There’s one particular writer on that Terrific Ten list that makes me want to punch him in the head every time I see or hear from him. He’s like John Byrne only worse.

    Don’t ask me who because you’d be waiting a long time for me to answer.

    Thank you. I feel much better.

  7. But are the Subtle Seven the ones behind everything on LOST? It would explain so much. Actually, no it wouldn’t…

  8. Peter, could you let Glenn know that his super-secret technology isn’t working that well? Instead of the promised daughter/puppy shot, I seem to have to have been given a link to a video clip of Erik Larsen clubbing a box of kittens. What does he have against pûššìëš anyway?

  9. Ooh! I want cookies! Please, please, please! Also, to respond to the past few posts….Happy birthday, PAD….Erik Larsen needs to downscale the pomposity…have you seen Serenity and what do you think?…I’m glad you are working on such great stuff but it sure looks like I’ll have to save all my money for next summer when everything comes out!

    Alan

  10. Personally, I think the Subtle Seven should have held out for beer. Make Joe Q send you a case of Heavyweight Perkuno’s Hammer every month.

  12. dave golbitz: “Are we really to believe that Marvel has seventeen writers? That seems a bit high to me, since BENDIS! writes half the books, and Millar writes a third…“

    I guess you won’t believe that the reality is that there were 44 different writers listed in the Marvel section of the latest Previews catalog.

    Simon Furman
    Ed Brubaker
    Chris Claremont
    Keith Giffen
    J. Michael Straczynski
    Zeb Wells
    Dwayne McDuffie
    Dan Slott
    Daniel Way
    Joe Casey
    Brian Michael Bendis
    Robert Kirkman
    Fabian Nicieza
    Brian Vaughan
    Sean McKeever
    Paul Jenkins
    Michael Oeming
    Tony Bedard
    Rick Veitch
    Mike Carey
    Greg Pak
    Allan Heinberg
    Reginald Hudlin
    Richard K. Morgan
    Joe Quesada
    Garth Ennis
    Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa
    Andy Diggle
    Jeff Parker
    Fiona Avery
    Tom DeFalco
    Kevin Smith
    Mark Millar
    Warren Ellis
    Orson Scott Card
    Damon Lindelof
    Christopher Yost
    Craig Kyle
    David Hine
    Peter David
    Peter Milligan
    Marc Sumerak
    Stuart Moore
    Christopher Long

  13. Ok. This has nothing to do with anything here but… Man this is a goofy sight to see. How many jokes have there been on this site about TMNT being everywhere and on everything in some way, shape or form? I was a huge wrestling fan in the late 80’s and early 90’s as well as a comic book fan and even I never saw this thing before.

    http://www.wrestlecrap.com/wwow.html

  15. “PAD, you know, it is okay to just call it a stupid concept and be done with it.”

    I don’t think the concept is stupid. I think getting upset about it is stupid. Well…maybe not stupid. Stupid’s your word. “Silly” is probably better.

    PAD

  17. 1) for those of us able to see this post, is there somewhere we can see the Caroline with puppy picture?

    2) As for the 44 writers – Most of that list is a collection of pen names for Bendis & Millar.

    BTW – which book(s) are by Rick Veitch? I missed that when I went through Previews.

  18. “K-nuck: Here’s my idea for an ad campaign.

    Guiness: Like drinking a loaf of bread. Yum.”

    BB: Guinness is for beginners (although it is a fine example of an Irish Dry Stout). You want a real stout, I’ll hook you up. You want the most delicious Irish Dry Stout ever brewed, go find yourself some Black Biddy from the Biddy Early Brewing Co. Yow.

    Just out of curiosity, how (by any stretch of the imagination) can Joss Whedon be identified as an “up and coming writer”?

  19. “Andy Diggle?? He’s exclusive to DC…. When did that change?”

    Nope, he became freelance a few months ago, IIRC.

  20. You mean, somebody else writes for Marvel besides Bendis?

    I thought he wrote everything that Marvel’s printing these days. 🙂

  21. “Just out of curiosity, how (by any stretch of the imagination) can Joss Whedon be identified as an “up and coming writer”?”

    Because Toy Story was such a low entry point. (sigh)

  22. Well if you go on the basis that most of the 10 are new-esque writers, and Whedon is there to give them some promo rub, it makes sense that PAD’s not there.
    (and Nicieza is there in the should be on rants with PAD and Priest…its like some kind of .net fanboy trinity).

    My main issue is they couldn’t find a better name than “Ten Terrific”? (not Terrific Ten as PAD called it, which sounds a little better). Couldn’t Marvel’s 10 up and coming writers come up with somehting better? Something kick butt…like “The Osmonds”!

  23. This is much ado about nothing. PAD, you don’t need additional support to push you to the next level. You can do that yourself. You just need the normal fair marketing and PR that any other writer there should get. So let them put the extra effort behind these other writers (and I don’t even know who they are — it wasn’t worth my time to go look). Nice to know you don’t need the (dare I say it) “affirmative action.” 🙂

    Nice to see you not only have your sense of humor, your creativity (subtle seven) continues to be quite fun to observe.

    Iowa Jim

  24. How about: Ten Writers Not Named Bendis?

    Ten Pûššìëš Shilling for “The Man”?

    Ten Writers Not Named “Peter”?

    Two Basketball Teams Worth of Writers That We Think Are Swell?

  26. The problem with an idea like this is that it will inevitably lead to some hurt feelings…the 27 guys who are neither terrific or subtle must be right pìššëd about now.

    If I were in charge of people I’d try to avoid this sort of thing but Joe Q must think it’s gonna do more good than harm. I guess he can argue that folks like PAD are already at “the next level” and one can certainly make that argument. Still, this leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

  30. The timing of all this is kinda funny.

    Erik pops up for a mindless rant, creators and creations are being discussed, Image is in the fan debate news and now Marvel does this. It kinda reminds me of one of PAD’s BIDs from ten years or so back that was a response to the crap storm Image was stirring up.

    PAD actually brought something like this up in what was, I think, a Vic Chaulker piece. Vic was going on about how the Image guys were right and how the creators weren’t being pushed, i.e. respected, by The Big Two. The response (short version) was pointing out how that was full of it and creators were respected quite well. It was pointed out that Marvel would always push their creations because A) they wouldn’t up and leave and B) it was fair and showed more respect.

    You had A list creations and B list creations and C list creations anybody could move from an Alpha Flight to an X-Men with no problem. Marvel respected all their talent by really pushing the creations (with some refs to the creators in there) rather then saying, “These are the guys we’ll promote the best. These are the guys that we’ll promote not as much. These guys are on their own more or less.”

    It was fair and it showed respect to everybody on the Marvel team. The promotion system wasn’t designed to tell creators, even indirectly, that they were only thrid or fourth rate talents.

    It’s ten years later and it seems that Vic is finally running Marvel.

  32. Hey, at least writers get mentioned. Marvel hasn’t mentioned inkers in, what, two years now…? Pretty strange when half their books seem to use two or more inkers per issue…

  36. “Mmmmm, cookies, indeed. Think I’ll be baking some up tonight for my wife…”

    I was sort of thinking along similar lines. Except with beer and falafel (she does the baking, I do the cooking. We both do the beer drinking).

  37. Mine is 37.8 weeks pregnant. I may have some wine (I have to…Dr. orders) but she’s a few weeks (maybe days) away from joining me in the booze and cookies routine.

  38. Well, Peter, if you’re at all disappointed by not being invited to join the Ten Super-Writer Buddies (or whatever the hëll it is that they’re calling themselves that I can’t be bothered to scroll back upwards to re-read), I’m inviting you to join my own little group of professional writers. There are five of us, and like all good trade organizations, its only two purposes are to congratulate ourselves for making it in and to exclude other people from joining.

    We wouldn’t be inviting you to join us at all, naturally, but one of the group suggested that maybe the whole concept was pointless and self-aggrandizing, so we shot him.

    LMK via private email and enclose your kimono size. Also, do you have a gun already?

  39. I also assume there’s a policy that these “comp cookies” cannot be sold anywhere, including to other “cookie shops” in NYC nor on eBay? Wouldn’t want you getting immediately terminated.

  40. You know, wine and cookies might actually work. A nice imperial stout works well with cookies as well (chocolate, preferably).

  43. Oh my lord, you actually took the time to list every Marvel writer listed in Previews. Um…thanks? Way to take an (admittedly poor) stab at humor too seriously.

  45. It’s just a way to advertise the newbies at Marvel. No biggie. It’s like the writer version of the “Young Guns” concept.

    I am a little skeptical about listing Joss Whedon as an “up and coming” writer too, though. Not only because he’s done such well known work already, but because I doubt he’ll be sticking around. After Astonishing X-Men’s second year is done, he’ll probably be back off to Hollywood where his work has already proliferated and he can make a lot more money (making him more “here and gone” than “up and coming”). Astonishing X-Men is probably a side project at best. A good side project but still a side project. Of course, if he does then go on to accept new comic work right off the heels of AXM, then I will gladly eat my hat . . . with salt.

  46. AdamYJ:
    It’s just a way to advertise the newbies at Marvel.

    Why does Joss Whedon need to be hyped? Especially since he’s only doing one book. I mean, the whole point of the Terrific Ten is to boost sales. Whedon’s book already does pretty darn well (the fact that it’s the flagship X-book notwithstanding). So why not select another talented writer who is writing multiple books? The potential sales increase is greater, I think. I mean, everybody who is going to read Astonishing X-men most likely already is. I don’t see the sense from a raising sales perspective.

    Unless Whedon’s name among the TT somehow adds credibility to the other names on the list. “Daniel Way’s on that list with Joss Whedon? Darn, I’d better pick up his books!”

    How is Daniel Way? Good?

  49. So, is there any chance my girlfriend can get the recipe for the cookies? They sound yummy!

    Lee Whiteside

  50. Hey PAD, where can I get one of those cookie tins? If you haven’t put yours on Ebay yet would you be willing to part with it?

Comments are closed.