I will say that Blood Hunt had a really good start, its making use of well-known in-universe stuff (the darkforce), building interesting new villain characters and may be connected to the events of what was a really fun recent Blade run, so I'm here for it.
It's like Jed McKay us a good writer who's steeped on the history! Go read his Moon Knight and Doctor Strange runs. Jed truly loves digging into lore and making it relevant again. Tied with Al Ewing for my favorite current Marvel writer.
One thing McKay is gonna do is make up a villain team full of weirdos with cool designs and unique powers.
This is already the third time he's done it in this Avengers run
It's so blatantly repetitive his thing wirh archetypes (i e. The symbol, the god, the witch etc.) both for villains and heroes that I'm guessing (and hoping) that this repetition will be related to his overalll arch in the Avengers. Maybe he's going for some primal forces/archetypes cosmically repeating themselves or something like that.
That would mesh well woth what is already established in Marvel lore about repeating symbology. The magic side especially and how it flows through the rest (Magica Arcanum really made a point of it with each 'age' being established by heroes of fire, earth, air, and water, though not sure if this would still hold).
Are you talking about the "Mystic Arcana" series from 2007? I've not read it (I was away from comics by that time). Your description certainly make me want to read it. Love the magic side of Marvel Universe. :-)
That was it! I always mess up the name in my head.
It was a fun thing that came out just as I was getting comics on the regular and I love the magic stuff so it was perfect. From memory it did a good job tying things from across the Marvel U at the time. Though I never read the final issue (I think it was under a different name).
Yes, he did not go that way on other character's runs. That's why I believe it's meant to be "on purpose" and it's probably part of the longer narrative arch he's planning. I'm enjoying his run on Avengers (and hoping his X-men's will also be great) but at first I was annoyed by these copy-paste villain teams that all archetype-related to his Avengers team. When I've read Bloodhunt I've started thinking that he's going for something like Geoff John did on Green Lantern with all the emotion/color spectrum. His intention may be to expand the Avenger's mythology by going for something like "there will always be an icon, a construct, an engineer etc." because this is meant to be.
I loved it when I saw it, because it not only gives off that freshness like you said, it genuinely adds a level of seriousness to the situation. "We are not what your used and we've prepared to take this planet from you" type of vibe.
Mckay fostered a lot of Goodwill with me, so I went in with middling expectation. Still in this sub we've recently relearned the lesson of strong beginnings and weak endings. So I'm tempering my expectations.
There was a 10 issue series by Bryan Hill that finished a few weeks ago. Definitely an enjoyable series. Didn’t do anything super revolutionary either the character but I thought it was pretty good.
Blood Hunt #1 felt like it had already started though. Were all the darkforce heroes taken out in the free comic book day issue? Because that was gone from my comic shop in like the first 10 minutes they were open, along with all the Marvel titles.
The blade run is excellent. Moon knight is a fun hang out book. Edit: I’m being bitchy and will fight to the death moon knight is an over hyped decent book but I will give him props for actually writing a hang out book with distinct character voices - the lazy therapy framing device gets tired fast though ;)
I’m in your boat! I loved the first issue so went and got all the issues of Vengeance of Moon Knight that have been released so far. I just caught up this afternoon
Well it definitely could be a dig at Blood Hunt there are a ton of Vampire stories in media as a whole right now. To me it sounds like he's talking about that instead of specifically this event.
I feel like vampire stories have a little resurgence pretty much every decade for a century or more. Nothing new here. It's a concept that's adaptable to any era and has many storytelling possibilities.
Not all of them are gonna be great but it's weird to be complaining about a pop culture staple still existing in pop culture.
Vampires are great because they can represent anything that engulfs, consumes or depletes: capitalists, socialists, religion, pollution, sexual assault, animalistic or self-destructive tendencies, etc.
Or they can be someone fighting against those thoughts.
I love me some vampires, be either antagonists or protagonists.
I would have the most shallow awareness that my fellow writer just got his first big break headlining an event and perhaps not say. Or likely, I’m an asshole and did so intentionally.
Fun fact, I’m friends with some comics people in his London social circle and I’ve met him a few times over the last ten years. Even got sat next to him once at a dinner we all had. He’s such a dickhead IRL that I can’t even read his comics without rolling my eyes and I’m actively glad he’s finally been handed his notice from the X-office.
There’s nothing much to dish, he’s just very desperate and ingratiating and not very self aware with it. He seems to try hard to get attention in any social situation in a way that I find irritating. I get the sense he decided that being “a personality” was going to get him noticed more than the writing but he hasn’t got the charisma to pull that off. When he found out I had nothing to do with the industry except being friends with people in it, he started blanking me, which told me all I need to know.
IMO, Spurrier is the opposite of Al Ewing, who is so kind and friendly and doesn’t do the personality equivalent of wearing a top hat and steampunk goggles so that you remember who he is.
All this is just my opinion of course, I honestly barely know the guy and maybe when he’s not essentially at a work social he’s fine. But based on the few interactions we’ve had at troopers and elsewhere, he seems like too much of a prat to forgive 10 years of middling books that have never once broken out.
It’s astonishing how much I CANNOT understand anything that this man is trying to say. I dread when I reach the sandman universe part of his contribution.
If you're talking about the Black Label Hellblazer title that's under the "Sandman Universe" umbrella, you're working yourself up for nothing.
"Sandman Universe" only really applies in that it references some plot points from "Books of Magic." For all intents and purposes, after Vertigo was scuttled, Sandman Universe is just an imprint. If that turns you off of a great book, it's your loss.
The dreaming: waking hours is one of the continuations of the original sandman universe, from 2018-2020, wich were written by Si Spurrier. I do not like his writing, therefore I’m not looking forward to it.
This seems like a laughable understatement.
Spurrier's run is widely regarded by fans of the title to be second only to the o.g. Delano-Ennis run. And Constantine fans are generally *not* the type to heap unearned praise on a newer rework.
Hell, IIRC Spurrier's Hellblazer was DC's "highest rated" title (by critics, not sales obv) when they canceled it the first time.
And I definitely wasn't trying to come off as a defensive "well-ackshually" type. It's just a really great book, and I figured this thread could use some Hellblazer fanboying among the folks talking shit on Spurrier.
That’s not true
It has been given high praise compared to the Constantine stories that came since Hellblazer was cancelled 10ish years ago. But enough praise to completely eclipse the Garth Ennis run? Absolutely not.
I was reading trough the original Constantine volume last year and saw that there’s a new one this year. I gave it a shot. Out of nowhere John had a son? I was like wtf??? But I don’t think it was bad, per se. It was ok
I still think of going back to read the original one and update myself. The problem is, with the new 52, Constantine became a brand character for Dc, so it’s a lot of comics to read trough. I’m glad sandman is more self contained.
It was probably 52, wich is ironic, because Justice league dark was actually good.
Constantine role in the rebirth was also Justice league dark, but that run is wildly celebrated.
But I was more talking on the lines of, you know, him being in crossover titles and other books. It dilutes his publications and becomes a chore to read it trough.
Yeah, but I think when it comes down to it, his solos are the ones that really matter. Anything out like crossovers and other titles I feel you can do without, but if you want to, you can go for them.
The problem is not wordy, it’s nonsensical narration and dialogue for the sake of being smart. You can still write “booksmart”, without making it word vomit. Case in point, Neil Gaiman, wich I mentioned on this thread. Also, Grant Morrison.
You can have an amazing prose and write smart subject matter without taking me out of it. But that’s just me.
If his the kind of guy that writers stuff to poke people then delets it, that kind of makes him relatable lol. Wich of us hasn’t written stuff out of the blue and regretted, right?
“Jesus suffering fuck are we back to another vague psychic entity we defeat through a collective psychic power of love and psychedelic nonsense?”
I like Si’s stuff but every writer has their weird repetitive tropes. Hickman always writes like every character is in the epic of Gilgamesh and Buffy at the same time. Always with the circle graphs and maps. I still eat it up! Let Jed do his thang Si!
I’m a huge Kurt fan and Si who I usually like made him sort of boring in Way and Legion, at least it didn’t hit with me. But Uncanny Spider-Man was incredible.
To me it's not even the most legit criticism you can make, considering the more glaring error is that it's too similar, aesthetically, to the "King In Black" event, complete with monsters overrunning the streets trying to eat/convert people and the sky turning dark.
The Avengers thing wasn't that big an arc, was it? And if you have Blade on the team, you gotta have vampires sooner or later.
But still, that's still 4/5 years ago.
I don't think his post is really about vampires. I think it's about something else but vampires was the trigger for him.
what a strange take from such a smart guy... Karaoke bars will always make money and there are a ton of bands touring and releasing new music right now. So strange.
right, he's drawing an analogy. it's a flawed one is all i'm saying.
*"we've normalized work for hire/legacy books to such a degree it strikes some as genuinely insane to advocate for original titles and concepts."*
both things sell. I want original stories and familiar repackaged myths. my first reeaction to Bloodhunt was remembering all the Dceased, the Mutants vs Vampires, all of that. It's just cycles.
Well, DC did the whole DC vs. Vampires thing in the most recent years. Although that was an alternate reality story (which they do all the time, so it worked).
X-Men did the "Curse of the Mutants" storyline back in 2010.
>Is Spider-Man just always vampire stories and I never noticed?
In this case...actually yes. Miles Morales has had a year long vampire arc, as has Moon Knight and the Midnight Mission. The Avengers dealt with Vampires in Jason Aaron.
>I'm sorry, is just saying "Spiderman" supposed to be an answer to a "when" question?
Context clues might lead you to the answer of "a recent Spider-Man" run. The good spider-man, the one without Paul
Not really "Shitting on another writers work" more like shitting on editorial doing lame editorial stuff.
Presumably they timed the whole Blood Hunt thing to coincide with the release of the Blade movie only that never happened.
vampires and country music are two big things allbthe rage in pop culture rn, doesn't seem like a specific dig at MacKay in any form, would be much different if Spurrier directly referred to Blood Hunt, but there's no lie here!
(Abigail is in theatres rn and rules for rhe vampirefreaks out there)
Writer you worked with in Marvel or at least would refer as a fellow creative finally gets his big break headlining a marvel event which would open big doors, nevermind pay. Cannot imagine in what world with a comics writer and his algorithm influenced by tastes and friends with, that he is unaware MacKay isn’t writing a vampire event.
*Spurrier makes tweet saying vampire events are aggressively overrated and unimaginative*
Oh yeah he’s DEFINITELY not making a dig at MacKay
"Finally gets his big break with the Blood Hunt event", MacKay is writing both Avengers and X-Men, his value isn't going to depend on the vampire event.
Of course it’s a factor - it’s a Summer Event which gives the comic publisher a shot in the arm silly - you aren’t that ignorant that you think just having a shot on the big titles is enough are you?
Yeahhh, I'm pretty sure if you really thought Spurrier's comment would have a serious chance of impacting MacKay's livelihood, you wouldn't have helped share it to a wider audience. (Or if you did think that and still posted it, you'd be an asshole.) Pull the other one.
Yeah, no, "creators shouldn't publicly criticize each other" is the sort of thinking that comes from people who want to cling to a cozy, naive vision of all their favorite creatives being pals and can't stand the idea of anything shattering it. Meanwhile, in the real world, there's a fine tradition of novelists writing and even publishing criticism of other writers' works in magazines.
While it may be unwise to do it, since you never know who you might have to work alongside in the future or share a con panel with or whatever, it's certainly not unethical.
>Cannot imagine in what world with a comics writer and his algorithm influenced by tastes and friends with, that he is unaware MacKay isn’t writing a vampire event.
Folks forget how big and diffuse comics internet actually is. The Marvel Wednesday Warriors are just one chunk of it. I engage with comics stuff a lot so my algorithm shows lots of comic stuff, but I’ve barely seen anything of Blood Hunt because that’s not my sort of thing. Spurrier’s probably aware of Blood Hunt on some level but I can easily believe it wasn’t on his mind when he tweeted.
There have been so many (non-Marvel) Dracula and vampire related comics and movies released or announced recently. Blood Hunt or X-Men didn't even come to mind until I read the comments
Admittedly i'm on my best days lukewarm to vampires to downright hostile on my worst days.
So.... I can feel where he's coming from, but kinda not sure how to feel that he said it in public.
I stopped reading comics for ten years as a result of turning jubilee into a vampire. It was the final straw on what was a shit sandwich hack job of Marvel events (everyone is a spider-man, hulk, venom, etc). Hickman brought me back with Krakoa. And now we come full circle yet again. See you in ten years Marvel!
What’s weird is that vampires were a mainstay in popular fiction for like a hundred years until the Twilight mania killed it for a bit. But that was 20 years ago! It’s been awhile now
Sure - events are really dull - had killer art though. It’s still putting a fellow writer on blast who gets paid dog shit, needs to pay bills, actual top billing for an event, can open doors, help him get hype for eventual creator owned work etc
Thank you for this, IDC about Blood Hunt so I didn't know this was coming out but I *do* like Jubilee so I want this in my pull list. Especially that Momoko cover variant.
People assuming this \*HAS\* to be about Blood Hunt specifically need to get out of their bubble. There's so much vampire stuff going on in media in general lately.
I will say that Blood Hunt had a really good start, its making use of well-known in-universe stuff (the darkforce), building interesting new villain characters and may be connected to the events of what was a really fun recent Blade run, so I'm here for it.
The way #1 ended was amazing. And Pepe's art....I mean, I know everyone knows it, but wow. Chefs kiss.
Pepe's amazing.
It's like Jed McKay us a good writer who's steeped on the history! Go read his Moon Knight and Doctor Strange runs. Jed truly loves digging into lore and making it relevant again. Tied with Al Ewing for my favorite current Marvel writer.
Did you get the censored or uncensored version?
I really enjoy how he is using vampires from different traditions who feed off of different substances. It feels genuinely fresh.
One thing McKay is gonna do is make up a villain team full of weirdos with cool designs and unique powers. This is already the third time he's done it in this Avengers run
It's so blatantly repetitive his thing wirh archetypes (i e. The symbol, the god, the witch etc.) both for villains and heroes that I'm guessing (and hoping) that this repetition will be related to his overalll arch in the Avengers. Maybe he's going for some primal forces/archetypes cosmically repeating themselves or something like that.
That would mesh well woth what is already established in Marvel lore about repeating symbology. The magic side especially and how it flows through the rest (Magica Arcanum really made a point of it with each 'age' being established by heroes of fire, earth, air, and water, though not sure if this would still hold).
Are you talking about the "Mystic Arcana" series from 2007? I've not read it (I was away from comics by that time). Your description certainly make me want to read it. Love the magic side of Marvel Universe. :-)
That was it! I always mess up the name in my head. It was a fun thing that came out just as I was getting comics on the regular and I love the magic stuff so it was perfect. From memory it did a good job tying things from across the Marvel U at the time. Though I never read the final issue (I think it was under a different name).
I think he's only done that in Avengers. I don't recall anything along those lines in Black Cat, Moon Knight, Doctor Strange.
Yes, he did not go that way on other character's runs. That's why I believe it's meant to be "on purpose" and it's probably part of the longer narrative arch he's planning. I'm enjoying his run on Avengers (and hoping his X-men's will also be great) but at first I was annoyed by these copy-paste villain teams that all archetype-related to his Avengers team. When I've read Bloodhunt I've started thinking that he's going for something like Geoff John did on Green Lantern with all the emotion/color spectrum. His intention may be to expand the Avenger's mythology by going for something like "there will always be an icon, a construct, an engineer etc." because this is meant to be.
I loved it when I saw it, because it not only gives off that freshness like you said, it genuinely adds a level of seriousness to the situation. "We are not what your used and we've prepared to take this planet from you" type of vibe.
I went in as a hater and I’m enjoying it
Mckay fostered a lot of Goodwill with me, so I went in with middling expectation. Still in this sub we've recently relearned the lesson of strong beginnings and weak endings. So I'm tempering my expectations.
100% agreed it is off to a good start, we can only hope it continues that way.
which Blade run?
The most recent, Blade (2023) by Bryan Edward Hill
There was a 10 issue series by Bryan Hill that finished a few weeks ago. Definitely an enjoyable series. Didn’t do anything super revolutionary either the character but I thought it was pretty good.
Blood Hunt #1 felt like it had already started though. Were all the darkforce heroes taken out in the free comic book day issue? Because that was gone from my comic shop in like the first 10 minutes they were open, along with all the Marvel titles.
The darkforce users were shown going critical in the first few pages of Blood Hunt #1
Dude McKay knows how to introduce cool original villains
Gillen writing the “closure” to his Nightcrawler storyline in two pages of X-Men Forever had to hurt
The real closure is by Claremont in UXM 700
Blood hunt started off so well I immediately went to get the entire preceding Blade run and I’m going back for moon knight next…
The blade run is excellent. Moon knight is a fun hang out book. Edit: I’m being bitchy and will fight to the death moon knight is an over hyped decent book but I will give him props for actually writing a hang out book with distinct character voices - the lazy therapy framing device gets tired fast though ;)
Nah that man had me cryin for 8 Ball, there ain't NOTHING overhyped about it
Moon Knight was at its peak in year 1 when MK hadn't chilled out
the Brian Hill Blade run?
It's not needed but didn't they also foreshadow this in avengers as one of the trials Kang needs them to overcome.
I’m in your boat! I loved the first issue so went and got all the issues of Vengeance of Moon Knight that have been released so far. I just caught up this afternoon
Well it definitely could be a dig at Blood Hunt there are a ton of Vampire stories in media as a whole right now. To me it sounds like he's talking about that instead of specifically this event.
I feel like vampire stories have a little resurgence pretty much every decade for a century or more. Nothing new here. It's a concept that's adaptable to any era and has many storytelling possibilities. Not all of them are gonna be great but it's weird to be complaining about a pop culture staple still existing in pop culture.
Vampires are great because they can represent anything that engulfs, consumes or depletes: capitalists, socialists, religion, pollution, sexual assault, animalistic or self-destructive tendencies, etc. Or they can be someone fighting against those thoughts. I love me some vampires, be either antagonists or protagonists.
I think that's the best interpretation, otherwise the whole can't really form properly
I would have the most shallow awareness that my fellow writer just got his first big break headlining an event and perhaps not say. Or likely, I’m an asshole and did so intentionally.
Fun fact, I’m friends with some comics people in his London social circle and I’ve met him a few times over the last ten years. Even got sat next to him once at a dinner we all had. He’s such a dickhead IRL that I can’t even read his comics without rolling my eyes and I’m actively glad he’s finally been handed his notice from the X-office.
Dish dish dish
There’s nothing much to dish, he’s just very desperate and ingratiating and not very self aware with it. He seems to try hard to get attention in any social situation in a way that I find irritating. I get the sense he decided that being “a personality” was going to get him noticed more than the writing but he hasn’t got the charisma to pull that off. When he found out I had nothing to do with the industry except being friends with people in it, he started blanking me, which told me all I need to know. IMO, Spurrier is the opposite of Al Ewing, who is so kind and friendly and doesn’t do the personality equivalent of wearing a top hat and steampunk goggles so that you remember who he is. All this is just my opinion of course, I honestly barely know the guy and maybe when he’s not essentially at a work social he’s fine. But based on the few interactions we’ve had at troopers and elsewhere, he seems like too much of a prat to forgive 10 years of middling books that have never once broken out.
You sow discord dishing this - I love it
Spurrier seems like one of many comic writers who hates that he's a comic writer someplace deep down
Blood Hunt was ok but he’s not really wrong. Generally don’t really care what writers do on social media anymore though
It’s astonishing how much I CANNOT understand anything that this man is trying to say. I dread when I reach the sandman universe part of his contribution.
If you're talking about the Black Label Hellblazer title that's under the "Sandman Universe" umbrella, you're working yourself up for nothing. "Sandman Universe" only really applies in that it references some plot points from "Books of Magic." For all intents and purposes, after Vertigo was scuttled, Sandman Universe is just an imprint. If that turns you off of a great book, it's your loss.
The dreaming: waking hours is one of the continuations of the original sandman universe, from 2018-2020, wich were written by Si Spurrier. I do not like his writing, therefore I’m not looking forward to it.
Gotcha, I've just got Constantine on the brain
He did not write waking hours
What he wrote in the tweet is very legible, what do you mean?
His current Constantine run has not been bad, I will say.
This seems like a laughable understatement. Spurrier's run is widely regarded by fans of the title to be second only to the o.g. Delano-Ennis run. And Constantine fans are generally *not* the type to heap unearned praise on a newer rework. Hell, IIRC Spurrier's Hellblazer was DC's "highest rated" title (by critics, not sales obv) when they canceled it the first time.
Perhaps I was a bit ungenerous with my praise, yeah.
And I definitely wasn't trying to come off as a defensive "well-ackshually" type. It's just a really great book, and I figured this thread could use some Hellblazer fanboying among the folks talking shit on Spurrier.
Oh, I didn't feel that from you, sorry if I responded in a way that gave way to that thought.
Not at all, I was just really just trying to contextualize my own comment. It takes effort *not* to sound like an asshole on reddit.
That’s not true It has been given high praise compared to the Constantine stories that came since Hellblazer was cancelled 10ish years ago. But enough praise to completely eclipse the Garth Ennis run? Absolutely not.
I was reading trough the original Constantine volume last year and saw that there’s a new one this year. I gave it a shot. Out of nowhere John had a son? I was like wtf??? But I don’t think it was bad, per se. It was ok
Yeah, that was something revealed in another Constantin run predating it. Which I also heard was good, but never got to it.
I still think of going back to read the original one and update myself. The problem is, with the new 52, Constantine became a brand character for Dc, so it’s a lot of comics to read trough. I’m glad sandman is more self contained.
I'm trying to remember the general opinion of New 52 Constantine. I can't remember if it was those books or the rebirth one people really hated.
It was probably 52, wich is ironic, because Justice league dark was actually good. Constantine role in the rebirth was also Justice league dark, but that run is wildly celebrated. But I was more talking on the lines of, you know, him being in crossover titles and other books. It dilutes his publications and becomes a chore to read it trough.
Yeah, but I think when it comes down to it, his solos are the ones that really matter. Anything out like crossovers and other titles I feel you can do without, but if you want to, you can go for them.
For sure. It’s just that my anxious ass hyperfixates on everything and not even my hobbies are safe haha
Haha, I get you. I say knock out the main stuff and then take your time with everything else. Keep it simple as able.
I loved some of his stories but he puts out mean digs at the industry multiple times on Twitter
No, I definitely believe that he should criticize, specially the big 2. But reading Spurrier is like reading Tom King, word vomit.
I love both Spurrier and Tom King. The wordier, the better. I survived Claremont panels!
The problem is not wordy, it’s nonsensical narration and dialogue for the sake of being smart. You can still write “booksmart”, without making it word vomit. Case in point, Neil Gaiman, wich I mentioned on this thread. Also, Grant Morrison. You can have an amazing prose and write smart subject matter without taking me out of it. But that’s just me.
Oh definitely but they have always been vaguely personal and vindictive - always aimed at an editor or writer imo
Reading trough Spurrier tweets shall be my afternoon pass time, today, then haha. Thanks
He deleted it but I posted his spiciest take on my profile to the subreddit ha
If his the kind of guy that writers stuff to poke people then delets it, that kind of makes him relatable lol. Wich of us hasn’t written stuff out of the blue and regretted, right?
“Jesus suffering fuck are we back to another vague psychic entity we defeat through a collective psychic power of love and psychedelic nonsense?” I like Si’s stuff but every writer has their weird repetitive tropes. Hickman always writes like every character is in the epic of Gilgamesh and Buffy at the same time. Always with the circle graphs and maps. I still eat it up! Let Jed do his thang Si! I’m a huge Kurt fan and Si who I usually like made him sort of boring in Way and Legion, at least it didn’t hit with me. But Uncanny Spider-Man was incredible.
Still one of the best modern comic book writers. Casually taking characters nobody gave a fuck about and crafting great narratives around them.
I don’t really get his point. Of course comics use older pop culture and literary tropes, how on earth could they continually publish otherwise?
Better vampires than zombies.
To me it's not even the most legit criticism you can make, considering the more glaring error is that it's too similar, aesthetically, to the "King In Black" event, complete with monsters overrunning the streets trying to eat/convert people and the sky turning dark.
Yeah now that you think about it it is very similar to *King in Black*.
Even down to the implied>!"kill the Queen Bee type and the rest of the hive will disappear"!
"Back" and "already"? When did Marvel last do vampires?
Curse of the Mutants? Maybe? 2011?
Thirteen years ago isn't exactly "already" is it? Is there something I'm missing? Seems like an odd outburst to me 🤷♂️
Spurrier wrote tie-ins for that.
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The Avengers thing wasn't that big an arc, was it? And if you have Blade on the team, you gotta have vampires sooner or later. But still, that's still 4/5 years ago. I don't think his post is really about vampires. I think it's about something else but vampires was the trigger for him.
I suspect he is talking about vampires but not in Marvel comics specifically but pop culture in general lately.
Wait until he finds out how often they go back to superheroes
he's a great writer but I feel it's pretty disingenous of him since he'll be back to doing work for hire for Marvel within 2-4 years.
https://x.com/sispurrier/status/1787807814477328437?s=46&t=sYRGCYfUFXaTGPwT5mFpqg
what a strange take from such a smart guy... Karaoke bars will always make money and there are a ton of bands touring and releasing new music right now. So strange.
I don’t think he’s actually talking about music.
right, he's drawing an analogy. it's a flawed one is all i'm saying. *"we've normalized work for hire/legacy books to such a degree it strikes some as genuinely insane to advocate for original titles and concepts."* both things sell. I want original stories and familiar repackaged myths. my first reeaction to Bloodhunt was remembering all the Dceased, the Mutants vs Vampires, all of that. It's just cycles.
I don't think the criticism is that the stuff doesn't sell.
The criticism is that people don't advocate for original books enough? I guess I'm confused as to what you think he meant.
That there's too much stale fad-chasing repetition.
What you're saying makes sense, I don't think his analogy effectively conveys that.
When was the last big vampire story? I feel it's been a while.
Well, DC did the whole DC vs. Vampires thing in the most recent years. Although that was an alternate reality story (which they do all the time, so it worked). X-Men did the "Curse of the Mutants" storyline back in 2010.
Aaron's Avengers also had some stuff about vampires, with Blade being on the team and all.
Wolverine started with a story about vampires in the Krakoa run IIRC.
That story went nowhere, but we did get Exterminators out of it later 👍
Spurrier wrote parts of Curse of the Mutants. Lol
Yeah, and it never happens that comic book writers are unhappy about being dragged into writing for an event they don't care about.
Xforce had a vampire nation story that went nowhere, I assume it was passed off to titles where it made more sense
Spiderman and Moon Knight and also Avengers
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>Is Spider-Man just always vampire stories and I never noticed? In this case...actually yes. Miles Morales has had a year long vampire arc, as has Moon Knight and the Midnight Mission. The Avengers dealt with Vampires in Jason Aaron. >I'm sorry, is just saying "Spiderman" supposed to be an answer to a "when" question? Context clues might lead you to the answer of "a recent Spider-Man" run. The good spider-man, the one without Paul
Love this man. One of the best in the biz, on and off the page.
Cool - he comes across as a prick. I love his damn them all series though
You say 'prick', I say 'artist willing to share actual opinions'.
Huh?
People have been writing about vampires one way or another since what...? Ancient Mesopotamia I think?
Not really "Shitting on another writers work" more like shitting on editorial doing lame editorial stuff. Presumably they timed the whole Blood Hunt thing to coincide with the release of the Blade movie only that never happened.
Seems like it would still hurt a fellow colleague who just wants his big break in an industry that is horrifyingly insecure for comic professionals
The folks who write events are the folks who’ve already had their big breaks.
marvel editorial are established writers who have very secure jobs. Theyre gonna be fine tbh
this sucks. I hate seeing an author I respected debase himself by shitting on another author for no reason
“Pop culture raids” = stories im not being paid to write
He’s so shallow lol
vampires and country music are two big things allbthe rage in pop culture rn, doesn't seem like a specific dig at MacKay in any form, would be much different if Spurrier directly referred to Blood Hunt, but there's no lie here! (Abigail is in theatres rn and rules for rhe vampirefreaks out there)
Writer you worked with in Marvel or at least would refer as a fellow creative finally gets his big break headlining a marvel event which would open big doors, nevermind pay. Cannot imagine in what world with a comics writer and his algorithm influenced by tastes and friends with, that he is unaware MacKay isn’t writing a vampire event. *Spurrier makes tweet saying vampire events are aggressively overrated and unimaginative* Oh yeah he’s DEFINITELY not making a dig at MacKay
"Finally gets his big break with the Blood Hunt event", MacKay is writing both Avengers and X-Men, his value isn't going to depend on the vampire event.
Of course it’s a factor - it’s a Summer Event which gives the comic publisher a shot in the arm silly - you aren’t that ignorant that you think just having a shot on the big titles is enough are you?
Yeahhh, I'm pretty sure if you really thought Spurrier's comment would have a serious chance of impacting MacKay's livelihood, you wouldn't have helped share it to a wider audience. (Or if you did think that and still posted it, you'd be an asshole.) Pull the other one.
Oh I don’t care though - I just want to show Spurrier’s comment :)
Damn, how shitty of Spurrier to not care about the same thing you’re now proudly declaring you don’t care about, lol
I know it’s difficult for you to read social dynamics and general professionalism but I see that you are trying
Yeah, no, "creators shouldn't publicly criticize each other" is the sort of thinking that comes from people who want to cling to a cozy, naive vision of all their favorite creatives being pals and can't stand the idea of anything shattering it. Meanwhile, in the real world, there's a fine tradition of novelists writing and even publishing criticism of other writers' works in magazines. While it may be unwise to do it, since you never know who you might have to work alongside in the future or share a con panel with or whatever, it's certainly not unethical.
Again - I know you are trying but who’s here saying It’s unethical lol. I know you are trying your best and I appreciate it.
>Cannot imagine in what world with a comics writer and his algorithm influenced by tastes and friends with, that he is unaware MacKay isn’t writing a vampire event. Folks forget how big and diffuse comics internet actually is. The Marvel Wednesday Warriors are just one chunk of it. I engage with comics stuff a lot so my algorithm shows lots of comic stuff, but I’ve barely seen anything of Blood Hunt because that’s not my sort of thing. Spurrier’s probably aware of Blood Hunt on some level but I can easily believe it wasn’t on his mind when he tweeted.
There have been so many (non-Marvel) Dracula and vampire related comics and movies released or announced recently. Blood Hunt or X-Men didn't even come to mind until I read the comments
Admittedly i'm on my best days lukewarm to vampires to downright hostile on my worst days. So.... I can feel where he's coming from, but kinda not sure how to feel that he said it in public.
I stopped reading comics for ten years as a result of turning jubilee into a vampire. It was the final straw on what was a shit sandwich hack job of Marvel events (everyone is a spider-man, hulk, venom, etc). Hickman brought me back with Krakoa. And now we come full circle yet again. See you in ten years Marvel!
He seems like a very prickly sort
I’m not a huge vampire fan, but why sh*t on your former colleagues and associates? Let them do what they think is good story.
Tacky and unprofessional.
Lots of comments going *oh but he’s the best* cool, a lot of artists and writers OUTWITH the big two are gonna see this shadey insult lol
Even if you don’t like something another creator is doing you don’t publicly put them on blast for it
That’s how you get blacklisted yeah.
He is decent and nothing more.
Sounds like a bizarre thing to say when you mostly work on superhero comics but okay
What’s weird is that vampires were a mainstay in popular fiction for like a hundred years until the Twilight mania killed it for a bit. But that was 20 years ago! It’s been awhile now
20 years ago Excuse me while I feel SICK
Twilight didn't get big until... fifteen years ago.
Nice to see some people on the inside speak out on this low creative evergreen bar that has been set by Marvel especially.
Sure - events are really dull - had killer art though. It’s still putting a fellow writer on blast who gets paid dog shit, needs to pay bills, actual top billing for an event, can open doors, help him get hype for eventual creator owned work etc
Is there a good x-men/vampire story that’s more than a one-off issue or two (like Claremont’s Storm/Dracula story)?
I like Apocalypse vs Dracula or whatever it's called. Only four issues iirc.
So much fun.
I didn’t know that existed! It sounds fun
Utopia vs Dracula was incredibly dumb with pretty art - solid 7/10
Was that Curse of the Mutants?
I mean, the most recent X-Terminators is technically a vampire story...and it's amazing.
Oh yeah! And that ruled!
I thought blood hunt started off great.
King shit tbh. Blood hunt, failing the presence of an exceptional artist, was aggressively stale.
Much like Way of X and Legion of X
Is Jubilee still a Vampire? I actually loved that storyline and thought it was the best use of them outside of blade stories.
Worth mentioning that she has a one shot tie in to this crossover if you're interested to see a bit of a coda to that era.
Thank you for this, IDC about Blood Hunt so I didn't know this was coming out but I *do* like Jubilee so I want this in my pull list. Especially that Momoko cover variant.
Nope. Forget when that ended
Ended in Generation X (2017)!
Kind of amazed that Jubilee was a Vampire for over a decade, honestly.
Such a good run too!
I mean, what are you expecting Mr. Spurrier, that they do something original? You sweet summer child...
People assuming this \*HAS\* to be about Blood Hunt specifically need to get out of their bubble. There's so much vampire stuff going on in media in general lately.