Highway 62

MM: Just to let you know, we’re being recorded. I’m not breaking any federal laws here by recording you without your knowledge.

TF: (laughs) Thank you very much.

MM: How are things going?

TF: Things are going well, thank you.

MM: I see you’re right by your phone after lunch.

TF: I’m actually eating my lunch at the moment.

MM: Do you want me to call back?

TF: No, no. I’m actually doing it purposely. I’ll try to keep the chewing noises down to a minimum.

MM: Let’s go ahead, then and jump right into this. Can you tell us a bit about yourself and what you’re doing at Marvel/Epic?

TF: Sure. Basically my responsibilities here at Marvel are to recruit new writers for comics from various other media. The process to integrate new writers into the line is still ongoing. Another part of what I do here is overseeing the Epic line. Overseeing the day-to-day, making sure that the people who are doing books get the answers they need, to keep those books moving along. I also review books. We have a few people who review the submissions, and then they all go by me before we either accept them or send them back.

MM: Okay. So you’re a second line of approval.

TF: Yes.

MM: Would you say then that your primary job is as a talent scout?

TF: Yeah. And that’s why Epic has been put under, not under my asuspices, but why I joined the Epic team. It seemed to make sense that if I was going to be recruiting talent, that I should be aware and on top of the stuff we were getting from Epic. So that as soon as we recognized someone who had a real talent we could jump on them, and it wasn’t an additional process.

MM: As I understand it, Epic submissions have become the unofficial slush pile for Marvel.

TF: What do you mean?

MM: That even if unsolicited submissions are sent to Marvel directly, they’re ending up in the same review process that Epic submissions go through.

TF: Ideally, the way it works in terms of submissions; we should either be getting the form we requested for Epic materials [as outlined on the website] or original non-comic writing materials from people who have absolutely nothing to do with comics.

MM: Just to show talent.

TF: Right. Both of those come through me. They’re separate, but they end up on my desk. So if someone sends a proposal for Spiderman, it goes through the Epic submission process. Although that’s not the form that we’re looking to accept ideas right now.

MM: Right. Unsolicited submissions have always been an uphill battle.

TF: Exactly. There’s only so much you can do.

MM: Yeah. Back to the question list here. So, what’s your background in comics?

TF: I’m from the outside. I was obviously familiar with them when I was a kid. But my background up to this point has been theatre. I have an undergraduate and graduate degree in theatre, and that’s where my professional experience was: looking for writing talent in the theatrical field. I worked at the Gersh (Teresa – spelling?) Agency in their theatre department, working with their playwrights and directors. Taking care of and representing a few of them. A lot of that job was reviewing material and finding new clients and that sort of thing. It actually is not such a transition as it sounds. Writing talent for theatre or for film or for comics is much the same. Storytelling is storytelling, as I think. Looking for good storytellers in whatever medium is pretty much the same job.

MM: That seems to be a crucial component that sometimes gets overlooked. Particularly in the comics world, sometimes the storytelling isn’t there. Sometimes it seems as if the readers are just expecting flash.

TF: Obviously, that’s part of what we ultimately want the books to do, is to have a certain level of action and excitement. But what we’re really trying to do is to find people who have, at the heart of their work, a concern for storytelling.

MM: That’s heartening to hear.

TF: (Laughs) Well, good.

MM: Now we need to get you into Hollywood…

TF: That’s a big job! (Laughs)

MM: To switch gears a little bit, do you think that there are too many superhero books out there?

TF: I don’t know that I’m the best person to make that sort of distinction. I do know that part of what we’re looking for and hoping for from Epic are stories that don’t involve superheroes. If we could get a really good horror story or detective story, something that didn’t involve superheroes, that would be great. Because obviously there are genres that comics aren’t doing as much as they used to when they first started. It’d be great if we could find some stories at Epic that filled that void.

MM: Right. Genre diversification (or the lack thereof) is certainly a problem in American [mainstream] comics in the last ten years. When I started reading comics in the late 70s, there were all kinds of science-fiction and adventure comics. Although by then, they’d been discontinued, Marvel had been producing romance comics up until the early 70s. Certainly not the lion’s share of the market, but they were out there for people to read.

TF: Right.

MM: It seems as if that’s been the drum-beat of Epic, to look for something a little bit different.

TF: Right. Part of Epic for us is to not only find talent and to help talented people be able to do their books, but to be able to do the kind of books that we couldn’t instantly do as part of the main line because of costs. To be experimental. Definitely to try genres that we’re not trying now.

MM: Talking about that, I’d heard that Marvel was looking at print runs of around 12,000 to keep Epic books profitable.

TF: I honestly am not familiar with the numbers. (Laughs) They don’t involve me in any of that.

MM: You just find the talent and herd it up and let it go?

TF: Exactly. I wouldn’t be able to confirm or deny that.

MM: Do you have a preference as to monthly comics or trade collections?

TF: Not really, but trades have been immensely helpful in getting us book markets and bookstore markets. If it looked like a good idea for the material we were working with at Epic, we’d certainly move ahead with trade paperbacks. That gets us a different audience altogether, one that might not be going to a comic store now, but might start up after reading the trades and being interested in what we were doing.

MM: How would you convince an “average Marvel reader” to take a look at what you’re doing with Epic (knowing full well that there’s no such thing as average Marvel reader.) How do you get them to take a chance on Epic, with material that’s not the standard fare?

TF: I think that because our main focus in choosing things for Epic is the quality of storytelling, that there’s some kind of point to it and not just events, events, events. We’re trying to make them all fantastic stories that accessible to all kinds of people. I’d hope that that would be enough for people to want to check them out. Our goal is to have great stories that are interesting for the “average reader”. Hopefully that’s enough of a statement to make people curious about what we’re doing.

MM: We’ve already talked about this a bit, but your official title is “Assistant Editor..”

TF: Associate Editor.

MM: Sorry. So what’s the Editor’s role in things? I know that you’re primarily looking for talent and moving it along.

TF: Really as far as Epic goes specifically, the proposals get a first read in our office, and then the readers let me know their initial thoughts before I read it and decide if we’re going to move it forward to Joe [Quesada] and Bill [Jemas] for their thoughts. Or not. Then it’s up to them, whether it’s “Yes” or “No” or “Yes, with these changes.” That’s kind of the process. The actual production of the Epic books will be mostly outside the offices.

MM: Right. All the content is going to be made externally, but Marvel will handle the printing.

TF: Right. We’re consulting with the writers and the artists on the final layout and the look of the books and all that sort of thing. But ideally, we’re not as involved in that part of the process. Some of those books are happening through our [Epic] office, and some of them are happening in other editorial offices. We’re farming a few of them out. We’re trying to be available to the creative team and to answer questions, but not he as hands-on as with standard Marvel books.

MM: Approval goes through Mr. Quesada and Mr. Jemas, obviously; they’re running the whole show. I’ve seen where they’re offering direct editorial input on the scripts. Is that going to be the usual way of doing things? Or is this for the first batch?

TF: I really don’t know at this point. At some level, they’ll have input or comment on the books, just as they do now. As for how detailed that will be on however many Epic books we’re doing, we’ll just have to see how time will allow things to go. Certainly they’ll be involved and give initial feedback and final approvals, though.

MM: It seems at this point that it’s kind of early to say that there’s even a “typical” game plan for an Epic book.

TF: Yeah, I would say so…

MM: Well, there goes a whole line of questioning. Ka-Boom. Oh well.

TF: (Laughs)

MM: I realize that you’re kind of biased in this, but does a book need an editor at this point? Would a book pass through if it were really that good.

TF: Yeah, certainly. We’ve got an Epic project right now that’s getting very little input. We’ve said things like “Fix XYZ if you want to, otherwise, move forward.” It all depends on the project and the book. Sometimes we’re responding to the story, sometimes to the writing, sometimes to both. It’s really a project-by-project thing.

MM: There’s no average Epic script?

TF: Exactly.

MM: Do you think it’s a good idea to throw untested talent into the crucible without editorial oversight? At least not a direct, hands-on approach?

TF: The reality of that is that we take it on a project-by-project basis. There are some projects that have demanded more involvement than others. We’re always available to the creative teams. We’re not trying to be involved so little that we get a book turned into us and we end saying “This is not going to work.”

MM: Well, I’d hope that it wouldn’t get that far.

TF: Exactly. We’re following along in the process, to make sure that there are no major hiccups along the way, as much as possible without being too obtrusive.

MM: What happens if you get a team that says “We can’t work together without a boss?”

TF: (Laughs)

MM: “We can’t lead our own little group. We need a master.” That’s where the editor would step in, right?

TF: Right. That’s a part of what the Epic editorial office is supposed to do. If a group needs specific guidance or oversight, we can provide that. Obviously that’s something that we don’t want to do all the time, but if the need arises, that’s what we’re set up to do.

MM: Is it fair to assume that the author is being asked to serve as the editor as well? As I understand it, some of these duties aren’t pre-arranged, but the writer is the one asked to assemble the team (based on approved artists/etc).

TF: If you’re meaning production editor, yes. Though there are teams who are bringing along someone to do that. I’m sure each group will be different. There’s no set formula on how that should happen.

MM: But I’m sure that there will be a lot of teams thinking “There’s four mouths to feed as it is, so we may as well pick up the slack ourselves.”

TF: Exactly.

MM: Do you know how many “marquee” characters we can expect to see in Epic books? Why have Spiderman in an Epic book when he’s already in a bunch of other books?

TF: Right. Actually a lot of the pitches we’ve gotten haven’t involved the big characters, which is better I think. When you do that, you’re setting yourself up to be compared to the books already being done. Again, we look at each project on its own merits. We’ve gotten a few of them, but not the majority. I don’t know what we’d do with a really great Spiderman story that came to Epic.

MM: I’m sure you’d find a way to get it out.

TF: Sure, if it was good enough to do in the main line, then we would. Obviously, the idea is to keep all of these projects in the Epic format, at least in the beginning.

MM: It seems to me that you’re setting the bar much higher for yourself if you’re doing a Spiderman pitch, ‘cause I’m sure there’s all kinds of people who are doing Spider-Man pitches.

TF: Right. What we’re hoping for is someone who has the imagination and initiative to pick up an old character and make them interesting again. But you know, certainly, this isn’t to tell anyone not to send in their Spiderman story.

MM: Has that been a predominant trend in the submissions?

TF: Yeah, there’s been a lot of that actually. Not as many original ideas, but a lot of revamps in the pitches we’ve been getting.

MM: Any favorite characters showing up a lot?

TF: We’re actually getting a lot of Moon Knight. A lot of Dr. Strange.

MM: That’s not a surprise at all. He’s a great character who’s not being utilized. Moon Knight doesn’t surprise me at all, either. He had a cult following in the 80s and I’m sure that a lot of that group figured that “they’re not using him, so I can.”

TF: Right (laughs).

MM: Are you getting many creator-owned pitches?

TF: I wouldn’t say many. Perhaps 1/3, but that’s not a hard figure. It’s nowhere near the majority of the submissions.

MM: I know that there’s been some debate as to whether or not creator-owned properties will become a real possibility over at Epic. Stephanie Moore has mentioned that Marvel may not do creator-owned properties at all.

TF: I’m not privy to where the discussion stands at this point in terms of what sort of arrangements we’ll be able to offer. I can say that it’s not completely inconceivable we would be doing creator-owned agreements, but not at what level we’ll be offering them.

MM: Is it fair to say that your chances [of acceptance] are better if you stick with an older property that Marvel has clear ownership of?

TF: I don’t know that I’d phrase it that way. I can’t say for certain what the agreement would be for creator-owned. If you’re concerned, just stick with Marvel character pitches.

MM: Your chances are better if you tell a good story.

TF: Exactly!

MM: Are there any titles/concepts that you can announce that haven’t yet been announced, or is that out of your purview?

TF: That’s out of my purview. I’ll leave that for the people who make the announcements.

MM: I’ve seen people quoted, perhaps Mr. Quesada himself, saying that they’d love to do 60 Epic books a month, if the books were there. Is that hyperbole?

TF: I think it’s actually true. If we can find good books, we’ll print them.

MM: Do you know if Epic’s slated for any kind of outreach to the non-comic-buying market, or the “not-yet-buying-comic market”?

TF: (Laughs.) I don’t know what the marketing plans are for that. It’s something we’re concerned about, but I don’t know about any of the specifics for Epic.

MM: Any idea on when we can expect to see lists of approved artists/inkers/etc?

TF: I believe that’s in the works. I don’t know what the timeline is, but I know the people who work on updating our website have been working on that. I don’t know when it would be, but fairly soon, I’d think.

MM: Perhaps in time for the San Diego Comic Con?

TF: Perhaps. I’ll be there as well.

MM: What about totals for submissions coming into the mailroom?

TF: Since the announcement, we’ve gotten around 600 submissions.

MM: Okay. If people sent in submissions before the announcement, did those get read or did they suffer an uncertain fate?

TF: I think that everything we received for Epic will get reviewed, even the stuff that came in early.

MM: So if you jumped the gun, you don’t have to worry about your submission being shredded?

TF: We’re not being that pesky.

MM: I know that we’ve gone over this, but let’s hit it one more time. Marville #7 laid out what Epic was looking for, but beyond that are there any kind of specifics you can offer in terms of what Epic wants to see in its submissions? Or do you just want a good story?

TF: I just want a good story. I don’t care what it is. I don’t care who the characters are. I don’t care what happens. I just want a good, clear story. Other than that, I don’t really care.

MM: How firm are the “No flashbacks, no origin stories, no comics about comics” rules?

TF: (Laughter) I was just answering that this morning.

MM: It seems to me, as a writer, that those are simply devices to tell a story. Some of them have been completely overused, out of control. Some folks refuse to tell a linear story.

TF: What I was saying this morning was that If you tell a good story, you can use whatever technique you want to use. I was particularly responding to the use of flashbacks. I find that a lot of times, writers use flashbacks as a crutch to reveal information without advancing the story.

MM: Right. If any scene isn’t advancing the story, it probably doesn’t belong in it.

TF: Sometimes they feel like there’s no other way to reveal the information other than to tell us what happened in the past, rather than showing us. As long as people think through their story choices, and make strong choices for strong reasons, they can do whatever they want.

MM: Every time I hear that “no flashbacks” rule, I think of Casablanca, which is certainly one of the greatest Hollywood films of all time. And yet, they used flashbacks to great effect.

TF: It can be done.

MM: Right. It seemed to me that it was stern warning to people who might not have done too much writing before to keep things simple and relatively straightforward.

TF: Definitely. Focus on telling a straightforward, linear story. It’s easier. Don’t try to create this complicated structure. Keep it simple and then later on you can wow us with the techniques you’ve learned. I don’t want people to make it more challenging than it needs to be. Not to use devices just to use devices.

MM: Don’t show off just yet.

TF: Exactly.

MM: Do you have any advice for someone who’s gotten a rejection letter from your offices?

TF: I guess, “try, try again.” There’s been some discussion on this on Stephanie’s board [at xmencomics.com] as to the kind of responses we’ve been sending out. We really do try to choose an appropriate response for the work we’re getting. Hopefully it’s helpful, but we obviously don’t have time to give specific feedback to every person. We really do want this to be a way for people to get into the business, so we encourage them to try again.

MM: Any final words you wanted to share? Pontifications, ruminations?

TF: It’s actually been very exciting. Overwhelming isn’t the right word. The response we’ve gotten is amazing to me. 600 submissions in a month and a half. I love what that says about how people feel about Marvel and the world of comics. I hope that people keep that passion and excitement as we go through the submissions as quickly as we can and hopefully respond in as a positive way as we can, and that people like what we’re doing.

MM: Okay, that pretty much wraps it up. Thanks for your time, Teresa.

TF: You’re quite welcome.