Joss Whedon

By our (slightly dubious) math, that’s one full year’s worth of Joe Fridays here at Newsarama. And hey, since we’re in the business of comics, anniversary issues seem to be all the rage when you hit a year’s worth of anything, so we wanted to do something special.

Instead of our usual weekly one-on-one with Marvel Editor-in-Chief Joe Quesada, we decided to throw an anniversary party...and invited some of Joe’s best buds and go-to creators. So join us as Joe, Brian Bendis, J. Michael Straczynski, Jeph Loeb, and Joss Whedon sit in for the fun, in a virtual roundtable about the last year of Marvel Comics, some of the more recent Joe Fridays hot button issues, and of course... the future...

Newsarama: First off, I’d like to start by thanking you all for coming in to share this special edition of Joe Fridays. This week, we’re trying something new and different...something...

Brian Bendis: Let’s call it what it is - Joe gets yelled at every week, and now he’s throwing us under the bus. Now we’re all going to get crap on Newsarama.

[all laugh]

J. Michael Straczynski: At the risk of being the first one to suck up, at least until Loeb gets here - the best place to start, I think, is what a remarkable thing this has been for Joe to do. For an Editor-in-Chief of any company, or an executive of any company to sit down and talk about what he wants to do, why he wants to do it, what his reasoning is, what the logic was - is remarkable. And to take the full brunt of the fans with the questions and the problems, and to expose oneself in front of large groups of people is a remarkable thing for any Editor-in-Chief to do.

BENDIS: Is Straczynski trying to get another ICON book?

Joe Quesada: Dude, I’m signing the check right now, you just got a raise, Joe!

NRAMA: Let’s just start with some of the larger topics that Joe has covered in the past 51 installments of Joe Fridays. First up - let’s hit the changes that we’ve seen in the Marvel Universe over the last year and a half or so. Brian, let’s start the ball rolling with you - the tone of the Marvel Universe. How does it strike you now compared to as when you came in? Has it changed at all, is it a perception of change thing, or are there things going on?

BENDIS: I think it has, but it’s still evolving, and like a lot of people on this call, I’m working on books for much later this year, or even into next year, so we’re even into how it will feel next year, which will be different from how it feels now. So it’s little hard to even look at right this second...I guess it’s not really up to us as to how it feels. It’s up to the readers to make that judgment. But after Civil War, it’s even more different.

What keeps us moving in that direction is something that Joe said to me a couple of years ago, and it really did strike me. He said that if Stan was still Editor-in-Chief, you wouldn’t even recognize the Marvel Universe today. Nobody mowed over changes and tore through ideas the way they did when the Marvel Universe was first created. He’s right. That inspired me, and Mark, and other people on the call here to go, “Let’s go crazy. Let’s go nuts, because that’s what the Marvel Universe has always been about, and should be about. It shouldn’t be about Valentines.

STRACZYNSKI: One of the points that was broached at the last big retreat we had where we were talking about some of the big changes we wanted to make - someone looked at Ralph Macchio, who, in many ways is the keeper of all things Marvel, and asked, “What would Stan do?” And without hesitation, Ralph said, “Stan would go for it.” Stan had no aversion to tipping over the tables, and that’s what makes Marvel an extraordinary place to work - the sense that you can tip over the tables, and they will stay tipped to one degree or another.

QUESADA: That’s become a big catchphrase with us after the last retreat, and I keep joking that I’m going to get bracelets made with “WWSD” on them for “What Would Stan Do?” That’s really been our motto for a while now. We start with asking what Stan would do, and take it form that point.

Joss Whedon: That beats out the previous catchphrase of, “Are you going to finish that?”

STRACZYNSKI: Which replaced, “What’s that smell?”

BENDIS: But just for people who get nervous when they hear about a group of creators sitting around and talking about change, the conversation always goes right to, “What kind of stories do we get to tell because we made this change?” The change is cool, but then what?

Even the argument that Joe has started on the Newsarama boards about the Spidey marriage goes along those lines. The marriage is cool, but what kind of stories did Marvel get to tell afterward? What kind of Spider-Man stories are being told because of the marriage? So now, using that as the cautionary tale, every time we make these Civil War changes or before with the House of M changes, the meetings, these retreats that we all go to - they’re not about the changes themselves, but once the change is decided upon, asking, are the Wolverine stories cooler? Are the mutant stories cooler? Are the Avengers stories cooler? It’s always about story, not just let’s change everything to change everything for shock or awe.

STRACZYNSKI: Or from Mark’s view, “What can I earn off of this?”

[laughter]

NRAMA: Over to you Joss on that same thread. Can you address the concept of how you played with change in Astonishing X-Men, given that you came in as an avowed X-Men fan, was there a period of adjustment in regards to the amount of change you were able to bring to the team, or did you come in the door looking to knock things over?

WHEDON: It’s clear that I’ve got to start killing people - and fast - I don’t think that I’m with the program enough. I think I’ll ask John to draw them all more dead. [laughs]

For me, I didn’t come into this as part of the Marvel gang, so it was very much not about change, and finding the stories I could do without upsetting the status quo too much. Then ultimately, once I had my sea legs, I realized I could do this, reposition this, examine these things, and maybe pull something out here, and put something in over there. But at first, I feared change. I was trying to get up to speed, and was mostly worried with making the X-Men feel the way the X-Men should feel to me.

So then, I walked into the middle of a war - it was like I decided to vacation in the middle of Beirut - all of a sudden, there was the Avengers shakeup, House of M and Civil War and all these things going on. Meanwhile, I have these stories that happen in the space of a day, and are very internal with a lotta yak-yak. I loves me some yak-yak. So, I’m trying to go with more change, because I agree with it. The mandate with Marvel is that the status quo isn’t about the way things are, the status quo is about the way things are told. So, it doesn’t matter who’s on the Avengers, it matters how much you are jazzed by them. It doesn’t matter who’s alive and who’s dead, it matters how much the Universe grounds you every month. So, the “What Would Stan Do?” makes perfect sense to me.

But I am a little removed from all of the larger stuff, because I planned my stuff out at the beginning, and of course, the Universe is quaking at all times, so I kind of have to get through, and then when I need to walk into the world, I call somebody, usually Mike Marts, and say, “Who’s alive? Who can be in this? Who’s in the Fantastic Four? There are six of them now? And they’re sinister? Okay.” But I just try and get up to speed when I need to. It’s hard for me - this is my first time at Marvel.

QUESADA: We popped Joss’ cherry pretty well, actually but we were gentle. But I think Joss is also being way too modest about what he brought out of the X-Men. By coming back and reexamining that status quo, it’s something that we haven’t had in X-Men for a very long time, and it was missing. It was like he took a bright shining light and was able to show why these characters are great, and why they’ve resonated with people for the last, especially, thirty years.

And by doing that, he actually affected change, by bringing back something that was core to the characters, the metaphor behind them - what was created when the Giant Size X-Men #1 came out. So Joss, I think you did affect a lot of change, but you did it by bringing back and reminding everybody what made this thing great.

WHEDON:.. I’d like to change my answer to what he just said.

[laughs]

First we found out that Joe is awesome for doing these things, and now, apparently I’m awesome too. Wow.

[laughs]

NRAMA: With all that said, and the idea that Marvel, as a whole, welcomes large scale change on the “event scale,” Joe, can you pick up something that Joss mentioned he likes - the quieter moments. Do you ever get worried that, with all the noise of the events, you won’t get a chance to show how these big things have affected the characters on a day-to-day basis? Is that a concern?

STRACZYNSKI: There is a need for the single-issue stories, and I also don’t a think that they’re necessarily absent. Certainly the Civil War books are the big explosions going off in the Marvel Universe, but the echoes that go across the Marvel Universe tend to hit in the quieter moments. Certainly in Spidey, we see him having those moments - we see the big events happening, and he thinks that, as a citizen, what is his responsibility, and what should he be doing in this case? The angst that he goes through - we do have those very human moments all throughout the different titles, and I think that there is room to do one-off stories and single issue stories.

For me, it’s like a World War II story - it’s a crucible in which we see our characters tested, and see parts of our characters brought out that we wouldn’t necessarily see in other ways. If Spider-Man goes out five days a week and fights crime, you don’t tend to see other colors manifested. But now, if he has to decide, “Do I fight my own government, or do I do something else?” That brings out a whole other aspect of who and what he is, which we never saw before. So I think it’s a great opportunity to have those character moments, but in a whole different light.

QUESADA: To Joe’s credit, he’s done an incredible job with Spider-Man in Civil War. If you’re reading the current Spider-Man arc I’m sure you understand what I mean. But I think that’s what’s taking a lot of people by surprise about Civil War is when you hear about it, you think it’s going to all be about heroes fighting heroes, lots of loud explosions, etc, etc, and then you get to it, and the big surprise is this is about character. Sure, there are big moments, but Civil War is all about character, and there are tons of character moments, not just in Civil War, but in all the ancillary books as well. I think that Joe is probably doing it better than everybody.

No offense, Brian.

NRAMA: And keeping with the awesomeness thread, we just learned that Brian’s not so awesome...

BENDIS: Exactly...[laughs]

QUESADA: Brian and I spend literally days doing nothing but knocking each other down as many pegs as humanly possible...

BENDIS: It’s okay - Joe hasn’t read my work since 2003, anyway.

QUESADA: Yeah, not a single one since I found you begging in some Indy Art ...[laughs]

STRACZYNSKI: Joe and Brian tend to pretend that they don’t like each other only to conceal a deep seated resentment for one another.

BENDIS: Yeah...wait...[laughs].

NRAMA: Well, as Brian suggested earlier on - it’s probably time to throw everyone under the bus, and let Joe watch a little, since he’s done enough talking on this topic over the last month or so...

QUESADA: I have no idea what you’re talking about...

NRAMA: The Spider-Man marriage.

QUESADA: Oh - that. [laughs]

NRAMA: Let’s hit everyone...

WHEDON: Spider-Man is married?

NRAMA: Yes he is. Let’s start off with Joe Straczynski - as concise as you can make it: The Spider-Man/Mary Jane marriage. Your thoughts - good or bad?

STRACZYNSKI: There are several aspects to the conversation. First, I’ve been writing that relationship for a while now, and it’s a great deal of fun. I think MJ’s a very important part of his world, and I really had no problem doing it. As Brian said a moment ago, the question then becomes, after x number of years plowing the same field, or the same wife...

BENDIS: How romantic.

[laughter]

STRACZYNSKI: You change things in ways that will give you broader story opportunities. Joe made the point recently in Joe Fridays about how if that were to change, what other elements would you be able to put into the stories?

Having said all of that, my job is as a hired hand, as any writer working on somebody else’s universe is. When I was given Spider-Man, that to me, was a trust that I had to be careful not to break. So, if starting tomorrow, Marvel were to say, “From now on, Spidey’s going to have nine legs,” I would have to find a way to work with that, because it’s their character. They own it, and I have to respect that. I trust Joe’s judgment implicitly, and if he were to say, “We have to go this way,” I’m already on board, waving a banner and beating a drum, because I trust his judgment and it’s his character.

QUESADA: And of course, we’re not saying that we’re un-marrying them. Nobody here is saying that.

BENDIS: I was there when Joe was going nuts about what a big hit Big Love is for HBO, and that Peter’s going to marry MJ, Black Cat, and Ms. Marvel, because she debuted pretty high.

[laughter]

QUESADA: It’s what the kids like - they’re down with polygamy these days.

NRAMA: Same question to Brian, and you’re in a unique position to answer this - you write an unmarried Peter Parker in Ultimate Spider-Man and a married one in New Avengers. How do you view the marriage?

BENDIS: Well, handling him in New Avengers, we get to examine that interesting choice he’s made through a marriage, which is cool. I love Joe’s take on all of that to - the whole Iron Man/Spider-Man thing. I wasn’t thinking about that, and then Joe came in and saw the same material, and saw the relationship.

But that said, I do still get to write the wide-eyed, innocent, first-love Spider-Man which, any writer will tell you, is the juice - there’s nothing better than writing those first love experiences. That said, my argument when we discussed the idea is that Peter has been married forever to the comic book reading community. He’s been married since the mid to late ‘80s - so there are what, maybe three generations of comic book readers who don’t know him not married. So, why do we need to change that? Just because we remember a more innocent time for the character, doesn’t mean that we have to find a way to get back to that. I argue that a lot, and it’s a good argument.

NRAMA: With Spider-Man or others?

BENDIS: With everyone. Maybe this change is unnecessary, or if this change would happen, this would be unnecessary. I think it all just makes everyone work harder on trying to come up with a story idea that would un-marry him that is unique. So if they ever do that, we’ll see if they do.

NRAMA: Over to you Joss - as a character, what has more appeal for you, a married Spider-Man or an unmarried Spider-Man?

WHEDON: It’s tough. And I agree with Joe - I like the way he’s handled it, because it’s all in the writing. A marriage is the toughest thing to write, to make sexy, to make interesting. It’s one of the most fascinating things you can actually go through, but it doesn’t really have a palace in any storytelling.

[Jeph Loeb arrives]

WHEDON: But basically, I have to say, I’m a fan of someone showing a marriage that’s immature and interesting and fun and useful, and at the same time, I don’t think it’s written in stone that Peter and MJ should be married. Spider-Man’s alone-ness is kind of more in his definition than it is for MJ. In a way, I think that the Ultimate MJ is more canon than regular MJ. In Ultimate, she’s a part of his identity from the beginning - he’s a guy who grew up with his best friend, MJ. “Our” Spider-Man, the non-Ultimate...the penultimate Spider-Man is not that guy. He’s the guy who was alone, but isn’t now. So - I guess I’m saying I wouldn’t mind if she was out of the picture, because his vulnerability is usually the best way to get at him. I hate advocating that, because as I said, an interesting marriage is always good to read.

Jeph Loeb: But you’re the only one who has an interesting marriage, so I don’t know if that’s fair...

[laughter]

[art from Jeph Loeb and Rob Liefeld’s Onslaught Reborn]

STRACZYNSKI: I should point out too that Joss has a definite vested interest in Spider-Man’s personal life in that, during the retreat, I mentioned a plan that we had with respect to a certain old Spidey character, and he actually got up from his chair, crossed the room and embraced me, and called me a “brother.” So there was that.

WHEDON: It’s true. I also tried to spoon him...a little bit. But he’s tall.

QUESADA: So Brian - you meant to tell me that you’re not in support of an "un-marrying" if we ever did it?

BENDIS: I think if you go back to what I said you’ll see it. Change for change’s sake - I’m not in support of.

QUESADA: Of course not. Who is?

BENDIS: In pursuit of great storytelling, I’m in complete support of it. So I bring up my obnoxious opinion to make sure that, if you do ever do this, that it isn’t just change for change’s sake, because it’s that thing that haunted you, and that what comes out of it is the best run of Spidery stories ever. That’s all.

But come on, I could never come at you - with all the sh*t I’ve pulled, and yell, “That’s just change for change’s sake! Luke Cage should be an Avenger!”

WHEDON: And Hawkeye should die!

BENDIS: Yeah - exactly. I’m for it, but I want to see it go the whole way. That’s all.

QUESADA: Yeah - but I go back and bring up the same argument, which is, when Stan and the rest of our predecessors created this character...compare it to Ultimate Spider-Man. Ultimate Spider-Man has been running for five years now. Within five years of the original Spider-Man series, he was already out of high school, in college, and on his way out. They were aggressively progressing him through a timeline, because back then, they had no idea how long Spider-Man was going to last. They figured two, three, maybe four years at best. It was very tough to launch a new character back then.

So, I would argue that Spider-Man has always worked better as a young - early 20s, say - character. Outside of telling a story about a divorce, outside of telling a story about someone getting widowed, telling a story about a couple having a child, I don’t think that there’s any story that you can tell with a married Spider-Man that can’t be told with a single Spider-Man. Let me add that I also don’t think that a story about a divorced, widowed, or parental Spidey are in the best interest of the character. Yet, I believe that there are stories that you can tell with a single Spider-Man that you can’t go near with a married one.

BENDIS: Like Chlamydia.

QUESADA: What was that?

BENDIS: Spider-Man: Chlamydia.

WHEDON: Isn’t that what we’re doing after Civil War?

QUESADA: Yeah - Spider-Man, Chlamydia. There’s the relevancy we want with today’s youth.

BENDIS: Hey, I’m just out here pitching.

[laughter]

LOEB: If I could - I came at this from the point of view that I was one of the writers who inherited the Clark and Lois relationship when I came on to Superman, which left you totally no place to go. If there was one whole range of the human experience that you wanted to see him tempted by, you couldn’t do it.

WHEDON: But you were the first person though, who wrote their marriage the way I thought it should be. Not to blow smoke, but Jeph, Lois and Clark bothered me. I wanted him to step out on her until I read your version of their marriage, and then I got it. It was the central rock for both of them, but I think that has something to do with her living in his world a little bit more.

LOEB: Right, but still, at the end of the day, it comes down to the fact that if you want him to have a six month run at Wonder Woman, you can’t do it. Really, Black Cat, or any of the other female villains and characters, which Brian is showing us can be so much fun in Ultimate...you can’t do any of that. Peter is effectively neutered outside of his marriage, and what superhero is fun that way?

QUESADA: Write your e-mails to “Mr. Jeph Loeb” kids.

BENDIS: Well, you’re all missing the whole storyline where Peter begs MJ for a threesome for a year and a half. You can’t do that story with a single Spider-Man. We haven’t gotten to that yet...

[laughter]

QUESADA: That might be the watershed moment of this whole thing - I take it all back - there is one story that we can tell about the marriage that isn’t half as much fun with a single Spider-Man.

LOEB: And then we can end it with MJ agreeing, as long as the third is Luke Cage.

QUESADA: Well, if Brian is writing it, it definitely would be Luke Cage.

BENDIS: WHAT? What are you insinuating sir?

LOEB: You love Luke Cage. You loooooove him. You may want Peter to love him too.

[laughter]

NRAMA: So is this a good idea of what editorial summits are like?

ALL: Yes!

BENDIS: Except if this was an editorial retreat, Loeb would’ve told me to go f___ myself a lot earlier.

LOEB: That’s true - I’ve pretty much withheld it so far. But yeah, although another difference, any story that we would’ve pitched by now, Brian would’ve interrupted with, “Why don’t we do that with Luke? We could have Luke playing that part!” He’s like the stage mother, always wanting to put his daughter in there.

BENDIS: That’s right.

QUESADA: Let me add that you’re not getting the full brunt of it either as we’re gravely missing Mark Millar on this call. Unfortunately, with the time difference and Mark’s being buried up to his wee eyeballs in Civil war he wasn’t able to make it.

WHEDON: Can I go off on Mary Jane with one more thing?

NRAMA: Sure.

WHEDON: There’s a big difference between MJ and Lois Lane. Like I said, Lois lives and works in Superman’s world a little bit. MJ’s an actress. The thing about marriage is that, when it’s interesting, it’s a marriage of equals. They don’t have to be the same thing, but in a comic book world where getting into the suit, flying around and punching things is ultimately where is has to be, MJ can never be a part of that. If you do a Frankie Raye with her, it will be the cheesiest thing in the universe. That’s the problem with their marriage. It can never feel like a marriage of equals, because the readers will always be left feeling, “Yeah, that’s good...but can you get in the suit now?”

BENDIS: And also, with MJ, her career took on a life of its own - she’s this big, hot supermodel, so how much of a relatable loser can Peter Parker be if, even on his worst day ever, he comes home to his hot supermodel wife that adores him?

WHEDON: Yeah - that was where everything went really wrong. When she became the actress/model type, she lost her grounding...

LOEB: She became Cindy Crawford.

QUESADA: Thank you!

WHEDON: Yeah.

LOEB: At one time, she was the girl next door, and a party girl, and suddenly, she’s Cindy Crawford. How that’s hard to come home to...I don’t know.

QUESADA: But guys, if we’re comparing Spider-Man’s marriage and Superman’s marriage, and how one can work, and the other...eh, while I’m not crazy about the Superman marriage, I can buy it a little bit more, because Superman does have that kind of father figure-esque kind of quality to him. That’s not Spider-Man. Spider-Man is a much younger character. When you see kids, especially younger kids talk about Spider-Man, I just feel that the marriage ages him a little bit more than he needs to be.

Reed Richards - he works best as a married man, or at least, a guy in that single, long relationship that’s not going to deviate. Nobody’s going to tempt Reed Richards. That’s not who he is, or what he’s about. He’s devoted to Sue.

WHEDON: But he’s not exactly looking for any, is he?

BENDIS: He can get some on the side any time he wants to in the Negative Zone.

WHEDON: [laughs] But that goes to what I said - his wife is a huge power. She’s more powerful than Marvel has actually owned up to. She’s amazing.

She’s my Luke Cage.

QUESADA: Is that a hint, Joss?

BENDIS: I think I was the first person to ever suggest Reed Richards discovered the Negative Zone so he can get some on the side.

WHEDON: And that’s the trivia portion of this conversation.

QUESADA: I sense a Sue Richards mini-series by Joss Whedon in the future.

WHEDON: You sense one, eh?

LOEB: Emma Frost/Sue Richards: Extravaganza. We’d sell a billion copies.

QUESADA: Much like our creators summits, this has totally gone off the rails.

NRAMA: I was going to say, this has really taken the turn onto some interesting ground.

WHEDON: Are you guys still doing MAX titles? If you are, then I’d be interested.

NRAMA: Pulling things back on the rails, and trying to wind things down a little, obviously, as you all know, one of the big things we do with Joe Fridays is look ahead, and always hit up Joe for some teases of what’s to come. Y’all are here, so let’s start off with Joe Straczynski...what can you say about things coming up in Amazing Spider-Man that people should keep an eye out for?

STRACZYNSKI: Well, about three issues down the road, Peter has to make a decision of monumental importance, and I know they always say “It’s an event that changes his life forever,” but this one really does. This is one of those pivotal moments where...I’m not sure how much we can say about this...Joe?

LOEB: He kills MJ, why don’t we just say it now?

STRACZYNSKI: Well, I really can’t say what it is, but it’s rather significant, and then, I’m working on a mini-series for the end of the year with an artist who I can’t mention at the moment, which will be a watershed moment for Peter, and the terrible thing is that I can’t talk about either of them more than that, otherwise Joe will come to my house and kill me.

WHEDON: Oh, try doing San Diego the week before Colossus comes back from the dead. That was horrible.

BENDIS: Pussy. Try to do WizardWorld: Chicago the week after you kill Hawkeye.

QUESADA: You know, we should talk about killing Hawkeye...

BENDIS: No!

NRAMA: Okay, moving over to Brian - what’s coming up in New Avengers that we don’t know about, or people aren’t expecting?

WHEDON: In other words, “What’s Luke doing?”

NRAMA: Yes, what would Luke Cage do?

WHEDON: Who would Luke Cage do?

BENDIS: There you go. Okay, are you guys done?

LOEB: C’mon - let Brian talk - this is going to take a half an hour anyway. How many books are you doing now, nine?

BENDIS: I got a lotta artists working. Okay - the new artist on New Avengers post Civil War - amazing. Can’t say who it is yet, but people will be very excited and happy. Unrelated to that - Marc Silvestri is drawing Spider-Woman for something. Ultimate Spider-Man is building to issue #100, where your mind will go boom. Oh, and Powers: on sale now.

NRAMA: Over to Joss - Astonishing X-Men?

WHEDON: I don’t know how much I can say, other than things are just gunning up. I decided, after I got my sea legs, as I said, that I am shaking things up a little. So, by the time I walk away, the roster will be a little bit different, some people are going to go, some may join, and none of it will be pretty.

The other tidbit I can give - Cassaday? Not that good. Not very talented at all. I’m pretty much having to write more dialogue every issue, just to cover up more of the art. I’m at the point where I’m thinking that I need to start drawing the book as well. He’s the Abbot of this particular Abbot and Costello.

QUESADA: He’s the Garfunkel

NRAMA: Over to you Jeph - when does your stuff start coming out anyway?

LOEB: Oh who knows? That’s the big mystery of the Marvel Universe - when is anything ever going to come out. Joe, can I mention the thing about our friend in Rome?

NRAMA: You’re doing something with the Pope?

LOEB: Funny.

QUESADA: Sure - go ahead.

LOEB: I think the first thing we’re going to see came from a call Joe made to me one day and asked...

WHEDON: What are you wearing?

LOEB: Actually ... if there was a story with a certain character that I always wanted to tell. I told him I thought I did, but it depended on who was going to draw it, and Joe said, “We just signed Simone Bianchi. Let me send you some stuff.” Joe sent me three jpegs which Simone thought were chicken scratch, but looked like the Mona Lisa. I truly believe he will redefine the way...this character looks and is drawn for the next decade of artists. There will be people who look at this and go, “Okay, now I get it. Now I understand him.”

The story will answer some long-standing questions that surround this character, and it should start coming out in January.

[art is from Wolverine: Origins #3 cover by Simone Bianchi]

The other thing is I’d like to put a plug in for Ultimate Power that I’m doing with Brian (f___ you) Bendis and Joe Straczynski. What I love about it, aside from working with the guys...have we announced our mystery artist yet?

QUESADA: Not yet.

BENDIS: Why don’t we announce that now? He’s already drawing...

QUESADA: A little early yet...

LOEB: Okay, so what I really like about it is what it will ultimately do at the end of the story, and you can read the pun into that. I think it’s going to be great fun.

BENDIS: Actually, it is great fun - I’ve never had an easier writing assignment in my life. I get to make a mess and leave. From now on, I’m only writing first acts - and keep the jokes to yourself, I know I just set myself up for a ton.

[laughter]

QUESADA: We’re still waiting on Act Two in Avengers aren’t we?

BENDIS: Ba-dum-bump.

QUESADA: Thank you, I’m here all night.

STRACZYNSKI: Oh - one thing that I forgot to mention in regards to what people should keep their eyes open for - Amazing #533 - at some point, the cover on that issue is going to change. The one that is out there currently is not the actual cover. It will change, and it will be quite startling.

QUESADA: Damn you Straczynski!

NRAMA: Okay guys - I think we’re running out of time, so thanks one and all for showing up...

LOEB: I just want to say Joe; it’s the end of an era. That’s all I can really add to this. I was never ever happy about the whole “TGIF” thing, and never understood why anybody should be happy about Fridays until Joe Fridays came along, and now that it’s ending...I guess I’m going to go back to being sad on Fridays again.

QUESADA: Thanks Jeph...