Wednesday, February 8, 2023

DeMULTIPLYING!

The other day I shared an image of all the DeMultiverse single issues, and today I have the pleasure of sharing an image of the printed proof for our collected edition that includes all four first issues, a foreword by Tom DeFalco, intros to all the stories by yours truly, development art, scripts—and an amazing Liam Sharp cover.

So proud of this!  I can't wait for our Kickstarter backers to receive their copies!


20 comments:

  1. Well Dematteis, to answer your question, the first appearance of Brooklyn in the Marvel Universe was in fact Marvel Comics #1. Specifically the Human Torch Story.

    Depending on where your parents are from, since Marvel bills itself as "the World Outside your window," that means you are a creation of Carl Burgos imagination.

    I am sure that is creating some existential crisis in you, BUT remember... that means there is a good chance you are android or human mutant(Toro) who can burst into flames without harm.

    Also look on the bright side at least you are not from Queens. That was first in a Captain America story from 1946, written by Bill Finger. Which not only means anyone you know from there is just a mopey guy in a cave, but that Spider-Man and Fran Drescher's the Nanny are also properties Finger got screwed out of credit.

    Speaking of SPider-Man, the love of his life, Mary Jane Watson, is from Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh was also created by Burgos. and one of Spider-Man's oldest allies is the second HUman Torch. Curious,

    Jack

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    1. Well, since, in my view, the entire universe is just an illusion, this isn't all that far fetched!

      And, hey, think of all the universes I'VE created!

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    2. Most of your "created worlds" are somehow locked into Brooklyn, Which would mean they were actually create by Burgos. And you have not sent his family a single royalty check. Brooklyn Dreams for God's Sake!

      Well, Dematteis you can always try out the flaming on at your next dinner party to entertain your guests.

      If I see a flaming figure coming my way I will know my Lost Hunt letter displeased you. Or I was the second person to make a wrong turn and wind up in Carbon Works on Devil's Night.' BOOM! a refrence you won't get!

      Speaking of SPider-Man, when you run into him, is it weird to no mention that he was married...since he forgot...or it was magiced away, or something.

      "HEy SPidey, how is the wife?"
      "Dematteis, are you okay? Are the 60s catching up with you? WAIT! DId you travel to the future and forget ow far back you went? WHO IS SHE! ...how do I die? Should I invest in Borders BookS!"

      "Crap...sorry I forgot Mephist..I mean I was thinking of...Ben...Reilly. He is married to...his...vagrant lifestyle. The..road is his wife."

      "wait isn't he a villain now?"

      "Gotta GO! and by the way Borders closed over a decade ago! And even at their height they were not a particularly strong stock!""


      Jack

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    3. I live in a universe where Peter Parker is still married. I'm not familiar with the other guy.

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    4. Well that is certain a better universe ti live in.

      My head cannon is that the Peter Parker from our universe would never give up his marriage, so he was replaced with a Peter from an almost identical universe...except Aunt May once said to him "Please Peter, never let me die under any circumstances, deal with the devil himself if you must to keep me alive!"

      The real Peter is living in the Midwest of another universe with MJ.

      HOWEVER! You like crazy hippie "reality is not what it seems" nonsense.

      If memory serves, in the Silver Age DC it was explained why the olden Age heroes have comics on Earth 1 is because the writers brains were attuned to the vibrations of that world. I think that was also in a Justice League episode.

      Marvel has had a weird history with Pete and MJ. They keep not wanting them together, but it keeps happening.

      She was going to just be a frivolous love interest. According to Conway, that changed because the fans PREFERRED Mj.

      At the end of the 70s, they tried to ship her off, but a few years later she came back. NO longer a frivolous love interest, but rather Peter's best friend. That is correct, Harry and Flash were never Pete's best friend, it was always MJ

      In the Newspaper strip, at the time still partially helmed by Stan Lee, she came back a little sooner, but she and Peter were in more interested.

      Tom Defalco once said they intended to NOT have Pete and MJ get married in the 80s, .Obviously, they did.

      When the 90s SPider-Man animated series came out, Stan Lee, the guy who conceived the character, told them Peter and Mary Jane ultimately had to wind up together.

      In the late 90s they tried to kill MJ off. Tried DESPERATELY to make it stick. Then she was back.. but separated. There could be other women, but MJ had to be shown to be Peter's ultimate love. At least... According to John Semper jr., the head writer on the show.

      That did not last either. Instead JMS wrote a Spider-Man/MJ relationship many people loved.

      After a decade of trying to make people forget Pete and MJ were a thing, they finally said "FINE!" in 2018, and allowed them to...date again. Not marriage, but still a relationship.

      This was after SPider-Man Renew Your Vows vol.1,,,an alternate reality story...outsold the main book on either sides of the event, and the first issue of vol. 2 did the same.

      Currently, MJ is living with a guy named Paul and his kids in a flash forward, but we are coming up on 20 issues without an explanation of how this happened.

      I submit to you that the "real "Pete and MJ" ARE still together. The collective consciousness of comic readers...and some creators are aware of this

      However, businesses are business and act as such, trying to shuffle things around. GO towards preferences of people in charge, follow charts, yadda, yadda.

      We are subconsciously rejecting this, because we know it is not real. The true Pete and Mj, that live in a universe where time moves slower are still together.

      Collective unconscious rejecting a fabricated reality, created by a corporate structure, because they sense the love is not present. Because characters we precieve as fiction are more real than real people.

      I think that is about as Hippie as this can go.

      Jack



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    5. I've said many times that these characters have lives, and minds, of their own. And this is kind of proof of that. No matter how much people may try, Pete and MJ WANT to be together and they'll make it happen. And I'm totally with them on that!

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    6. Most fans want it as well.

      I remember Denny O'Neil once saying that Jason Todd in he 80s was a character that took on a life of his own.That was ultimately one of the reasons he okayed killing him No matter what that new life came out, and rubbed readers the wrong way.

      I think that is ultimately what happened with Pete and MJ. They just developed a life of their.own. Or their relationship did.

      Let us see if we can figure out why.

      It is not so surprising. Even from the early days, Spider-Man was set up to be a dichotomy. Unlike Batman, where BAtman the real personality and fun-loving Bruce Wayne the Mask, Peter ans Spider-Man are two equally valid sides of the same person.

      Spider-man is Peter Parker unshakable from expectations and societal roles. Spider-Man is the man let loose, and Peter the sense of obligation.

      It only makes sense that when Stan injected dueling love interests., they would each appeal to each side of the character.

      Gerry Conway said MJ was perfect for Peter because "she saw the tiger in him before anyone else did." More than that, she pulled it out. She allowed him to be more himself.

      Gwen had Peter trying to fit into a box. She hated Spider-Man, She hated Peter'sself-expression. More importantly, she was a match fo a Peter that no longer existed.

      Even Before ROmita took over, Peter was pushing back on Flash, an dbeing kind of charasmatic with Betty Brant. By the time he met Gwen he had already out grown her.

      It is no wonder the fans preferred MJ, which according to Gerry Conway, is the reason Gwen was killed.

      It probably did not hurt the Pete-MJ relationship that Conway, Wein, and Wolfman were around Peter's age while they wrote the book. Able to inject some personal experiences.



      continued,,,,

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    7. Peter's less than flashy normal self was also shown to be a good anchor for Mary Jane. He was able to talk her into overcoming fear, and talking to the police about a crime she witnessed, and even had his squarer tendencies seem intrquing to her,

      Before the 70s were out, MJ was shown to not only have a great deal of affection for her own Aunt Anna, but also Peter's Aunt May. This not only showed that their bond was not superficial, but that the kindness and love were at the heart of each character.

      MJ left around 1980. It did not hurt that this was also about the time Peter's social life began to fall through the cracks of the comics, and the closest you got were a few dates. none of which went very far. Not even when he dated bonafide Extra Terrestrial Marcy Kane.

      Eventually he started dating Black Cat, around the same time MJ returned. Now the tables were flipped MJ was the one more in-tune with the Peter side, with Felicia being the one appealing to Spider-Man. Of course, Black Cat was nuts, and was disgusted by Peter Parker, now adding the double flip script the Spider-Man side now being what was forced into a box to please his significant other.

      In a third twist on the formula, that did not even matter, because MJ was saying that she did not want to be involved with Peter, but rather just be friends.

      MJ revealed that she knew Peter had always been Spider-Man. This does not in and of itself mean anything. However, it did lead to a deeper understanding between the two. The two began to have real conversations about him being Spider-Man specifically in relation to him quitting, a which Mj actually succeeds in convincing him to give it up...once the Hobgoblin has stopped.

      What is the point? This shows Pete and Mj were able to connect deeper, and beyond the superficial, and discuss genuine fears and goals and concerns for each other. Have adult conversations. Not to mention that they both grew individually apart, and could also do so together.

      More importantly, it was MJ is Pete's best friend.

      I know people say it is Harry, but they are wrong. In the 80s, he was absent from the book for a while. He also was not Peter's best man at his wedding, Flash was. Neither of them had as close of a friendship as Pete and MJ did when she said she was not interested in a relationship.

      Then of course they went to Pittsburgh, and MJ's uncanny origin is revealed. We learn Pete and MJ are more alike than we thought, both having secret identities and masks that make them seem fun-loving, Except, for Mj it is not Peter's realization of self, it is hiding herself, her pain and shame.

      Then they get married. Some villain...Hypno Hustler, I think...traps peter and becomes him for a few weeks. We see just how much they care. We see she is literally Peter's will to live. That MJ knows Peter so well that she can;t be fooled by an imposter.

      continued...

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    8. Tings go along. Peter David writes a story were Peter helps MJ try to get her friend off Heroine. MJ is blacklisted from her career. We see even through challenges she is the one who can help eternal pessimist, Peter Parker, see things okay.

      Most importantly, Mj becomes a sounding board for Peter.. Kind if like Robin with Batman, but less weird because it is two adults and not a kid you are supposed to be raising.

      However, MJ pulls Peter out of his head. Talks to him, helps him work through things. We see MJ is tough, willing to stand up to authority figures, Peter's (robot) father, and even a supervillain or two.

      Eventually they decide to kill MJ off in a plane crash, The bring in Gwen Stacy's cousin, so act as the new Mj, because they REALLY wanted that 70s vibe back.

      However, no matter how much they tried to make her like MJ, it never seemed correct. Showing that MJ was not a collection of elements, she was a character, with nuance, that could not be replaced.

      She is revealed to be alive, then leaves, saying she can;t be with Peter. JMS brings her back, and she and Peter are having an adult relationship, she is eventually hanging out with the Avengers pulling a gun on Norman Osborn.

      The simple answer is...they were always a good match as a character, and their creators did not notice. The characters grew more complex, and whenever anyone tried to


      I think DC learned the hard way from the New 52 that the heart of the Dc Universe s Superman, not Batman, and at the heart of the Superman mythos is his relationship with Lois.

      That emotional core in priceless. It is why the character works.

      No matter how many X-Men spin-offs, or how big the profit from the Avengers films, Spider-man is the heart of the Marvel Universe, and a strong character dynamic is a great way to strengthen that core.

      People say it limits the marriage limits Spider-man, but it actually does the opposite. What does it limit him from doing? Sleeping around?

      However, with that core you can do so much more. Stories that seem bizarre or out of place for Spider-man can become grounded with that emotional core.

      That just needs to be remembered.


      Jack

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    9. I have to say Deamtteis, given how much of a supporter you are of the marriage, I am a little surprised you never wrote an essay about it here.

      Or maybe you did, and I forgot.

      Jack

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    10. I guess you could consider LOST HUNT my essay on the marriage and its value.

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    11. I could. I am not going to, but I could.

      I prefer to let it fester in you until you go to the Marvel offices and protest the undoing of the marriage by playing Beatles covers on a sitar. Of course hoping that the "good vibes" will change their mind.

      This will go on for a few hours before they finally cave and say, "FINE! just stop laying that damned sitar...or take some lessons, at least... and we will let you write an alternate reality series where they are still married. Or you can bring them back! Or be editor and chief! Just for the love of God, stop! You clearly have no idea how to play and think it is the same as playing a bass guitar. It is not. There are notably MORE STRINGS!"


      Jack

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    12. Interesting plan. I think, perhaps, it would be even more effective if I play a Theremin.

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    13. Couldn't they just unplug the theremin if they wanted you to stop.

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    14. My imaginary Theremin has its own battery pack, so they can't!

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  2. To answer your question, Dematteis, in Latin America when Superman takes off flying what he says does not translate to "Truth Justice, and the American Way" OR "Up,up, and Away!"

    Rather, he says (albeit in Spanish) ""to fight for justice"

    Also, did you know that you have a comic coming out this week?


    Jack

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  3. John, will be the second volume of DeMultiverse?

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    1. Once everyone gets their books, there will be a vote on which title goes to full series and we will Kickstart that. But the hope is to continue ALL of these in time. Thanks for asking!

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