A
Fanboy In New York, Part 1: Marvel Comics
What
do you think of when you think of New York? Going to the
museums? A Broadway show? Maybe that big green statue in
the harbor? Nah, if you’re a real fanboy, you think
about two things: This is the home of Marvel and DC comics.
So when I recently decided to vacation in Manhattan, we
immediately asked these prestigious bullpens to let Fanboy
Planet drop by for a visit, and they both made time for
us last Thursday.
I arrived
at the Marvel Offices at 417 Fifth Ave on a rainy Thursday
morning, signed the guest book in the lobby and took the
elevator to the 11th floor, where I was met by Arune Singh,
sales coordinator for Marvel. Arune has only been with Marvel
for a few weeks, having previously written for Comic
Book Resources.
Arune
has a very cool Iron Fist tattoo, and I wish we had a photo
of it. However, once we were inside the Marvel offices there
was no photography allowed. There were simply too many “secrets”
lying around.
Seriously Arune was a terrific host who walked me around
the offices showing off all the highpoints, such as:
• Walls of years and years worth Marvel action figures
(including variants). These just seemed to go on forever.
All still in the card of course.
•
The Danger Room – no, seriously, they have a Danger
Room. Unfortunately it was occupied by a bunch of folks
having a meeting so I couldn’t go in and see what
crazy death traps were in play that day. Might have been
just a conference room, though.
• Tons of cubicle offices, all laden with an amazing
array of Marvel memorabilia. We did go into the current
incarnation of “the Bullpen” which is primarily
occupied by Marketing and Sales Publications, but surrounded
by exterior offices of the editorial staff.
• A new talking Spider-Man toy in the Black costume.
Probably 12” inches, was being demoed in the display
box as we passed by.
We
talked for a bit about the upcoming Spider-Man week in New
York. Starting April 30th through May 6th, this event is
heavily advertised all over the island. It’s composed
of more than two dozen separate events taking place at the
Museum of Natural History, the Bronx Zoo and even a Gray
Line bus tour of locations made famous by Spider-Man. The
closing event is a spider-rap-showdown at the Apollo Theatre.
This week is packed with Spidey events, sure to be a great
time. Find
out more online.
Of course,
the most enjoyable part of visiting the House of Ideas was
talking to the editors. We sat down for long chat with Editor
Bill Rosemann. (editor's note: Ric's full interview
with Bill Rosemann coming soon)
Bill
is a terrific guy, who makes no attempt to hide his love
of his work. He’s in charge of the “Varsity
Team” of Marvel heroes, almost anything without an
X in its name. He shared his thoughts with us on
• the psychological basis behind the Fallen Son series
and the reasons and ramifications of the death of Captain
America
• the subtle appeal of Ms. Marvel,
her history and motivations
• Marvel’s adaptation of Steven
King’s Dark Tower series
•
Our mutual appreciation for the cover work of Greg Horn,
and much more!
We were also fortunate enough to a few minutes with Editor
Mark Paniccia. Mark was fighting as cold, but still gave
us a briefing on the upcoming World War Hulk and its cast
of characters. Mark and Bill’s interviews are included
in their entirety in this week’s Fanboy Planet Podcast,
so make sure to listen!
After
we'd left the offices, we received mysterious Marvel emails
with several cover images from upcoming events...take a
look at what happens when Hulk meets Iron Man...
To be continued in Fanboy
In New York - Part II: DC
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