SpinOff XMLegacy #233:Writers Wishes

In the X-Men: Legacy #233 thread a discussion started about Carey not having as much clout in the X-offices as the other writers. Someone brought up examples of his wishes or stories not going as he said so in interviews and such (to see the fully written post check out the thread...Sixhours explains it well-http://uncannyxmen.net/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=7244&PN=3). From there I thought of this point:

Well I mean going off that we don't know how much of "what they want" any writer gets...I mean there could be 20 more instances were Carey didn't get what he wanted. While it could be 20 more where he did. I mean obviously we wouldn't get a "Carey's a total pushover" but we also don't get a linear note everytime somebody wants something done in their book and they do or don't get it over someone else...We don't have enough evidence to extrapolate anything, I mean for every idea that Carey got squashed maybe K/Y got 5 squashed or 7. I mean maybe K/Y wanted to kill like nearly everyone on Utopia or wanted to make Utopia a moon base. I  mean I know those are exaggerations (I hope) but the same way you say we have evidence that shows Carey has been "overruled or undermined and the fact that some of his wishes have been ignored" we don't know about all the evidence where he gets his way or about the ratio of get what you want and don't get what you want from other writers...

So my question is do you think we can truly infer things like which writer has the most clout or say so by solely looking at what is done? Or do you think we need more information. And for that matter do you think that me and Six's discussion is irrelevant or not important to the topic of what happens in a book?


Edited by Blackcyclops - 02-Mar-2010 at 5:57pm

Well from what I see of Uncanny's sales clearly someone else likes it LOL...but I mean that doesn't mean I don't think criticisms about it have merit...and I mean Fraction isn't the only writer who some people feel has a large amount of clout in the offices...I mean look at Loeb or K/Y or Bendis. I mean Bendis is perhaps the only one where actual evidence has been shown that he has some push and pull...but what about Loeb?

I honestly think (and I know this is off topic) but I think the smoking thing achieved a life of its own. I think originally it had an actual merit (remember when it came out, smoking was evil) and its one of those things were the press and some hyper-fans keep bringing up and I'm sure they want to ignore but they gotta constantly constantly reference and discuss...gotta love the scrutiny of the media on fiction...LOL

back on topic LOL...well Loeb constantly gets work even though many people remark his work as bad (Ultimates 3 was labeled by many as the worst comic of 2009) but on the same token he still manages to write ALOT!

To me it seems that Fraction has clout because he's writing Uncanny which is the flagship X-Book, not because he's Fraction. The focus--storywise--of the X-universe is Uncanny so he gets whatever characters he wants and so on. I think if there weren't a wider story being told in Uncanny and it was just one of however many X-Books he wouldn't have as much pull as he seems to. It probably doesn't hurt that Uncanny's numbers are good comparatively.

Well, personally, I think comparing Fraction on Uncanny to Carey on Legacy is a bit off. While yes, Fraction has the name NOW, when he was on Uncanny the only book he wrote for Marvel was Immortal Iron Fist, and then the Order - both of which he left to do Uncanny. Both of those books were great IMO, but I had never heard of him otherwise.

It was much the same for Carey - I had never heard of him until he was on X-Men and I loved him. X-Men/Legacy has been one of the most SOLID runs in recent years and if given the chance to write the flagship book, I bet he'd become the Big Name that Fraction is now.

As for the topic of "who has more pull and why", I do think that Fraction being on Uncanny is the main reason he has such pull. Marvel is really pushing Uncanny as THE main book and so Fraction can influence what he wants and how.
Notice that while Carey has said LOTS of character he wants to use, there's been no real reason for him NOT have used those characters. Most of the one he's expressed interest in are either on Utopia or not being used at all - he just hasn't used them. Whether this is due to editorial influence or what, I think it's just because he knows how to balance his story. He might want to write Northstar and Iceman and Husk, but Legacy (at the mo) is about Rogue and the kids. As such, he writes about Rogue and the kids.

I need to try his actual book series.

... Especially since Kubrick's been dead for a while. The Deathly Hallows would never get out of Development Hell with him at the helm.

I have no doubts that Carey can write The Core X-book. Supernovas through Blinded By the Light is an action roller coaster with all the right character beats. He can do arcs that are both self-contained and build upon each other.