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He was allegedly very overbearing and controlling. Scores of
fans frequently and repeatedly cited him as one of the primary
reasons for high creator turnover and poor quality control. Some
perhaps even laid more blame on him than he deserved. If you
haven’t guessed whom I’m talking about by now I am speaking
of Bob Harras, now former Editor-In-Chief at Marvel.
The guy Marvel picked to replace him is perhaps the best
decision they’ve made in the last decade. Joe Quesada, co-founder
of Event Comics and the driving force behind Marvel’s
extremely successful Knights line, is now calling the shots for the
comics industry’s #1 company, and I firmly believe his
appointment will signal a rebirth of sorts for Marvel. While it’s
definitely too early to ordain Quesada as Marvel’s savior, the
fact that he’s well liked among his fellow creators and that he’s
willing to give the writers and artists he oversees a far greater
degree of freedom and control than Harras is reason for a lot of
optimism.
Quesada understands what being a writer and artists is like, and
that perspective is something Bob Harras sorely lacked. Harras
was so sure that the vision he had for Marvel’s titles was the
"right" one that he overstepped his bounds and reduced the
writers that answered to him to nothing more than puppets. Mr.
Harras might as well have written the books himself.
Joe Quesada, on the other hand, has proven that he works well
with a multitude of creators and has the ability to attract top-
notch talent. Could Bob Harras have lured Garth Ennis to
Marvel? The guy who’s a self-professed superhero-hating
Irishman? I suppose it’s possible, but highly unlikely as far as
I’m concerned. Would projects like the upcoming Killraven:
2020 series - written and drawn by Joseph Michael Linsner of
Dawn fame - have even gotten off the ground under Bob
Harras? Again, I suppose it’s possible, but I really, really doubt
it.
The two most important things Joe Quesada will do for Marvel
is 1) make working there a lot more pleasant for those there and
attractive to those who aren’t, and 2) allow for the Marvel line
to become a lot more diverse in terms of the types of books it
contains. These two changes will dramatically increase the
overall quality of the Marvel line and will attract readers that
haven’t been interested in any Marvel titles to date. Better
books and more readers; exactly what Marvel needs to make
itself a far more strong and stable company. The books coming
out of Marvel over the course of the next year should, for the
most part, be excellent reading, and I for one am enthusiastically
looking forward to the metamorphosis I’m sure Marvel will soon
be making.
--Ian Johnston
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