On the “X-Factor” side of things, as long as the title isn’t being forsaken when I see Marvel dry-humping itself to get out a new Deadpool title every two weeks, I’m happy.

I do have one question though: Whenever a comic’s status comes under scrutiny, I only hear talk of the retailers. Does subscribing straight from Marvel not matter in this industry? That is how I get my X-Factor fix, as well as several other Marvel titles.

X-Factor is one of the best written comics out right now, if not the best. It got me back into comics and made me an instant fan of Peter David. I plan on getting all the old vol. 1 X-Factor issues and other stuff written by PAD after reading this

PAD

Perfect. Absolutely perfect. Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU for posting this.

Folks: DJSweet has been kind enough to set himself up as the classic example of the PMF: The Poor Me Fan, who manipulates history and reality, provokes confrontations, then wrings his hands and complains about how ill-treated he was.

Of course, over on Newsarama, he wasn’t calling himself DJSweet. He was calling himself VirginiaAppleJack. To be a true PMF, running around under a variety of fake names while sniping at pros who always post under their own names is an absolute must.

He popped in on a thread extolling the virtues of X-Factor. We were discussing the art. I said we were the only book that I knew of that was regularly using different artists on different storylines. He disagreed and, to my puzzlement, declared that I was “pompous” for believing this.

In his next posting he rambled at length about what he liked and didn’t like about the book and why he’d dropped it, but was “looking forward to picking up 40-50 on ebay” (issue #42 had just come out.)

My scathing response to that?

Nothing. I ignored him. I didn’t reply at all.

Frustrated that I wasn’t rising to the bait, he then posted this passive/aggressive gem:

“So no response to this PAD? I thought I was very reasonable displaying my opinion and support for this title. As well as directly but not rudely, calling you on your $hit about being the only book on the stands using multiple artists to tell different segments of the story. Oh well, I guess we can’t be e-pals.”

At which point I responded:

“I didn’t respond because I didn’t feel the need to. The only thing at all worth addressing was your basically saying that you didn’t feel my work was worth buying either in its original comic form or even in trade paperback; that you would only buy it if you could pick it up at a bargain basement price second hand. Which is, frankly, pretty damned insulting. So I figured either you were clueless, or you were trying to pick a fight. Either way, I didn’t want to reply.

Now I replied. And now rather than telling your friends that Peter David was a big jerk for ignoring you, you can say that Peter David was a big jerk when he responded to you.

Happy?”

Which is, of course, exactly what you did.

Because you’re a PMF. And you may think you’re special, but really, you’re just a dime a dozen, hiding behind fake names and trolling for trouble with pros so that you can then turn around and talk about how meeeeeeaan they’ve been to you.

To everyone else, thank you for–for the most part–your support and positive comments about X-Factor. And just to clarify: No, I wasn’t “blaming” the retailers. I used to be Marvel’s direct sales manager. I was out there in the field regularly talking to retailers and distributors. I know how tough their job is. When I say the retailers aren’t ordering more, what I mean is that…well…they’re not ordering more. What should I say? They are? Except…they’re not. If they ordered more, we’d sell more. Maybe Diamond would stop selling out of it. It’s just a flat statement of truth.

When you think about it, I’m pretty curtailed in what I can say that doesn’t get interpreted in the worst possible way. If I say the retailers aren’t ordering more, I’m blaming the retailers. If I say that more fans aren’t sampling it, then I’m blaming the readers. Quite a few fans have looked at ICV2 charts and pointed out that we hemorrhaged readers during Larry Stroman’s tenure; if I said that, then I’d be accused of blaming the artist. Plus there’s always someone bringing up Scans_Daily which got itself shut down because it was violating the copyright policies of its host, but they’ll sure as hell blame me for it. (And, by the way, started up elsewhere immediately.)

Meantime critics ignore all the interviews right around issue #39 in which I said I thought the book had lost focus, that that was entirely my fault, and I was going to do my damnedest to correct that.

Sometimes a fact is just a fact. Retailers aren’t ordering more. Is anyone arguing they ARE? Because if so, I’d like to know about it. You know how to get them to order more? Order it from them. That’s pretty much the only way. I’ll do my best on the writing end, and all I ask is that people meet me halfway.

PAD

There’s a motivational poster in there somewhere.

Originally Posted by Brother Justin Crowe View Post
If X-Factor didn’t ship for a month, there’d probably be Internet riots that Mr. David would surely endorse.
No. If XF didn’t ship for a month, people would say, “Where’s X-Factor!” and I’d explain why it’s missing shipping and when the next issue will come out.

Because unlike some creators, I haven’t given up on participating in various boards other than my own.

PAD

I didn’t read the thread at the time, but just read through it and I feel like Marvel should make a contract with PAD to keep him off the internet. I’ve seen him misinterpret really innocent statements several times in order to have grounds to start a fight. I know it’s possible to enjoy a book without enjoying the creator, but his vitriol definitely turns a lot of people off. Call a troll a troll.

I love PAD’s work and usually try to pick up his stuff but X-Factor has hit the chopping block for me. Nothing against the book itself but when a bigwig at Marvel made the statement a couple months ago that with the price hike they could lose a 25% of sales and still be ok I got annoyed and am slowly dropping every Marvel title. Thank goodness for Fallen Angel (if you are not getting this title from IDW you are missing some of PAD’s best work).

Sorry, but you’re wrong. His holier-than-thou attitude in the thread for October’s Marvel solicits last month infuriated quite a few people, myself included, and served only to provoke extreme reactions from fans. If he weren’t a comics writer, he would have been accused of trolling by everyone. Civility only prevailed in that thread because of his position in the comics community. Virtually everyone in the thread was accused of bashing Marvel’s output, even if people were just wondering where some missing books, like Exiles and Runaways were and wondering if they were canceled or not. Yes, that’s right: wondering if your favorite series is canceled means you’re not a real fan. He lost a lot of respect from me and many others I’ve talked to since then.

PAD got in a tizzy at me on Newsarama when i posted that I lost interest in the series, but I might pick up 40-50 second hand to give it another try. “You tell me that you do find my comic worth paying full price, that you plan to purchase it in a way that doesn’t benefit me, And you expect me NOT to be offended? ”

What’s worse, to read the comic second hand or never to read it at all? At least reading it second-hand there is a slight chance you will pick up the book on a regular basis…