Mr Stern -

Hello. Could you tell us about your experiences working on Avengers #1.5, and if you'd be willing to do something like that again with other characters?

Thanks!

Ah, that book couldn't have been more fun to work on!

It all began when Tom Brevoort gave me a call and explained that Bruce Timm had drawn this pin-up of the original Avengers...and everyone in the offices had loved it so much that they'd convinced him to draw an entire issue set between AVENGERS #1 and #2...and would I be interested in writing it.

Let's see...write a story about the original Avengers...and Bruce Timm is going to draw it. Of course, I said yes! Immediately!

Some of the best time I ever had as a writer. Bruce really captured the look and feel of those old Kirby issues...and he contributed a wonderful bit when he had the Hulk throw up.

And yes, I wish we could do it all over again. How a bout, say...TALES OF SUSPENSE ANNUAL #1, with Tony Stark using the Power of Iron Man to take on The Thing?

-- Uncle Rog

Wait, what? Where...wow, I can't believe I never heard of this before now. I'll have to see if I can dig it up locally anywhere.

Jeff, I wuz in the same boat! Didn't "discover" it until a few years ago! Go eBay one right away! Or, pick up the DVD and see it there! Great issue!!!


(side qquestion, Rog; do you get anything--even a small royalty--fer the DVD-reprinted issues?)

Not so far. I suspect that Marvel won't pay talent any more for the DVDs than they do for foreign reprintings...which is to day, nothing.

(A free copy would have been nice.)

-- Uncle Rog

You mean...this?



-- Uncle Rog

Yessir, that. I hope the print copy is larger though.

A larger cover scan, and a few choice pages to whet your appetites:

Y'know, they've been having McDuffie and Oeming do backups in the Avengers Classic series. If Marvel was smart, they'd hire you to write those once McDuffie was gone.

If Marvel was smart, he'd be doing a lot more than that. Few people not named Stan Lee "get" the characters as well as Roger.

Rog has a GREAT handle on the Avengers. And that sucks great big windage that they don't getcha royalties on published works. Hopefully, as we advance into the digital age, that will change...

Add me to those who never knew of this book.
Time to call my LCS......

Hey, Unc, a follow-up question: since you mentioned a near-perfect scenario, what WOULD your "perfect phone call" be? Any company, any character, any editor, any artist, past present, future?

Marvel doesn't pay DVD royalties. DC says it wants to pay DVD royalties

That is why there are Marvel DVDs and not DC, because DC has yet to find a way to make that affordable, and still have the price be competitive with marvel's $50 price.

There was an article on newsarama about that.

Well, even a dinky royalty for creators....I mean, we are talking about HUGE collections, where one creator isn't likely to be the influence s/he would have on a trade paperback or something.

You are all knuckleheads. This issue was quite well-advertised, as I recall.

I treasure my copy.

I remember this story! Written way back in... 1999?

PARTY like it's 1999

That's a fun story. It is included in the Avengers Assemble volume 3 hardcover. Avengers Assemble is the series reprinting the Busiek/Perez run, and I believe it would be available through AmazWAN. Highly recommended.

While you're at it, volume 4 has the Ultron Imperative one-shot that Roger did a portion of with Paul Smith on art. Also highly recommended.

Uncle Rog, do you get royalties from the book reprintings?

North American reprints, yes. But Marvel doesn't pay any royalties on foreign reprints...unlike DC, which has been paying on foreign reprints for... oh...a couple of decades now.

-- Uncle Rog

That was a great comic book. It's really worth hunting down, and I hope Marvel reprints it somewhere.

In Spain we had two editions, one with the comic book in color and one in our Kinda Essentials of the Hulk. Sadly no royalties for Uncle Rog.


JFK wrote:


Absolutely agree, McDuffie its a good writer but it would be great to see those backups done by old avengers writers like: Micheline, Shooter, Englehart and of course Stern.

Ha nice.
For some reason I never had volume 3, and I know I'm getting it for Christmas. Can't wait to eat it....I mean read that story......