Chapter 421: Stagnant Waters
It sort of is a small world but still... it's a Golden Globe!
Even though it may just be a lump of peanuts to a certain somebody, it's still an achievement to take note of for everyone else.
In spite of the shady and less-than-stellar track record of the HFPA, along with the anti-war sentiment that Hollywood predominantly stands by... Top Gun taking home a trophy was something.
Something noteworthy.
It's a shame that was canceled out by the snubbing of other popular Creed series. But that was also given, given that they're animated.
Perhaps being cartoony and such weren't that appealing to an association of foreign press.
Even when said "cartoons" broke quite a lot of 80s cartoon molds, with 18 great episodes for each show, aired respectively as of this January.
And there's only a few left until the anticipated but dreaded finales of their season ones.
Of course, aside from the usual TMNT and Dragonball tandem breaking molds, there's also Creed Games breaking grounds... to the arcades!
It's not exactly arcade mania but the traffic and attention were considerable.
Another success... further exemplified by the new format of monthly polls and monthly ranking posters.
As it turns out, other than the Connors of Terminator Genesis winning the top crowns of comic popularity, video game personas could also be seen amidst the splash of characters!
Which begs many questions... about what the heck happened to Marvel?
For even 'Castle in the Sky' made quite the considerable millions in box office tickets...
Showcasing that things were really publicly going well... for certain Creed Entertainment companies and their endeavors.
So... what about Marvel?
Well, that was something that even Editor-in-Chief Jim Shooter had no straight-shot answer.
But as he gazed into a pothole-esque depression in front of New York HQ and the puddle of rainwater it held... he can't help associating...
Since Marvel, as it currently is, might as well be akin to stagnant waters.
Accumulating but never flowing and never getting anywhere. It was stuck as it is.
For about 4 months now, this was the company's status quo. Unchanging, like this unfixed pothole of rainwater before him.
Not that he himself was getting anywhere with this contemplative staring, so his only option was to evade the puddle anyways.
Still, why the hesitation to step over it?
It's not that he's worried that he'll get his shoes wet. It's more on the fact that he's worried about all that he has to face inside.
This office of work hasn't been the same lately and he's worried that he'll drown.
Not in the stagnant waters as he considered it to be... but in the overwhelming sentiments that discontented folks had to let out... on him.
Even someone as stoic and hardened as him wanted to voice his own discontent as well.
But... oh well... an editor-in-chief's got to do what an editor-in-chief's got to do.
Follow the new boss's directive... to cut and curate stories and storylines... reign in some grumbling creatives... and make sure that the waters of this established brand wouldn't stay stagnant for long.
On that note, why not direct people to work on this stagnant rainwater issue as well?
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And so, he did what he could... as if it any of them were that easy.
It was all so damnedly hard. Much harder than when a mocking effigy of him had to be burnt to send some message of scorn.
Polarizing Shooter can attest to that.
He had never gotten along with the folks here, artists, higher management, and even maintenance alike.
There was even the gut feeling that they were already plotting to unanimously sack him, after Cadence's intention to drop "parent-company-hood" became implicitly known.
Oh, how the turn of events came to turn.
Jim, the shooting target, remained standing as the new boss willed it so... while the so-called higher management itself was the one mercilessly struck.
As for the "artists", they were now turning to him for increased survival during this sequential culling.
This feat of victorious self-preservation is probably one of the reasons why he took up that Godfather-esque offer from the "God-kid".
Of course, he wasn't the only one that took it up.
The other happened to be approaching him right this moment.
"How's it going, Jim?" Said an old man who was acting youthful.
This old man is none other than Stan Lee, an old legend around these parts.
Someone that propped him in this position and with whom he eventually had a lot of disagreements.
However, it all mellowed down as a certain threat came into the picture.
A fellow fellow that was in support of the recent annexation that is still consequential to Marvel up to date.
"I take it that it's not going well then?" Stan Lee assumed after the bout of silence that the stoic gave him.
"Just got lost in thought, which is getting frequent nowadays." The stoic Shooter said. "You would know if you were in my position."
"Haha. I do know. Absent-mindedness comes with advanced age and I happened to be chief editor at some point, after all." Stan laughed the man's problems off with that reminder. "I've also been bombarded by the same complaints as you have had, so I know the what's what. Making me all curious about how'd your trip to the new parent company turn out? Any highlights for me?"
Jim's countenance only got heavier as he remembered that obligatory trip he just got out of.
Where Creed, Creed, and Creed were pretty dominant.
He even elicited a rare sigh as he said. "There's a lot to highlight but the main gist is that their operations are just something else."
"Oh, how so?" Stan wondered but more so on someone else. "Just what role does that Alexander kid exactly play in all of it?"
"Well... he's pretty much running everything..." Something that Shooter still found hard to believe. "Split amongst many things but he's actually doing quite fine."
At 12, Shooter himself was just perusing comic books, taking pride in entering the comic industry at just 14.
Yet it all pales in comparison to someone who just turned 12 and is already dictating the industry... and other industries outside comics.
"Even with his apparent youth, his methods are quite unquestionable and effective. Especially with what he's done with comic production." Shooter was somewhat awed as he added.
"It's like creativity in a factory. With a team of obedient creatives, outsider input through surveys, and concrete drafts streamlined to put out all the ideas that he's drummed up."
Throughout his editor-in-chief tenure, he always aimed for that. Unfortunately, it never came to fruition due to many conflicting factors.
From what he could observe during that new workplace immersement, the kid's personality is almost the same as his, somewhat cold and strict on matters. Only more calculating, distant, and even more talented in creativity.
The whole Mr. and Miss designations and all that. And all those "protocols". Those absurdly plentiful "protocols" stacked in some vault.
Making his methods all the more impressive and all the more made that observation trip at Creed Comics and its branches truly enlightening.
Even the listening old comic legend was enlightened, praising. "It would seem that unlike me, the boy may not be saying "excelsior" but he's living it."
Still, Stan asked. "I take it that this has given you some insight into our current predicament then?"
"There are insights in it for me but his directive remains the same. Thinning excess titles and even doubling down on laying off the personnel that isn't that open to the new mandates." Shooter said in worry. "Much-contained titles and consistency in art styles didn't really go over well with a lot of our employees, so jumping ship from these stagnant waters of ours is to be expected. It's even happening as we speak."
Stan Lee's brows scrunched up at that. "Wouldn't that be a problem? I've already checked some of their intentions and aside from migrating to DC and the like, their's talks about establishing independent comic companies for themselves as well. That'll only make the competitors stronger and the market much more competitive than it already is."
To which, Shooter surmised. "Maybe that's the new boss' goal in the first place."
"Is he that into the chaos that will unfold from this? And is he not in it for the profits?" The old man wondered. "Since this decision just further weakens the position that Marvel is already in. Doubling down on layoffs doesn't really offset the thinning profits that come with thinning titles."
"From what I can tell, he's not that concerned with comic book profits." The comic book chief editor didn't know the right reaction to that but he did know this. "He was especially adamant on taking back the Spiderman film copyright that Cannon Films got from us a while back, along with other floating copyrights. And there's the ensued intention with regards to the toy licensing we had with Hasbro and their meeked awkwardness on the issue."
Even Stan Lee knew where that was headed. How could comic numbers even matter to Creed, who happens to have an extensive and successful record on non-comic endeavors?
"So, a Creed Pictures produced Marvel motion picture is in the greater picture?!" That already excited the old man that always wanted his characters to spotlight in Hollywood. "With them on the helm, I may not have to duck conversations whenever Howard the Duck is brought up!"
"Well... I wouldn't be too excited if I were you." Stoic Jim stoically warned. "While I was there, I happened to check on our old Marvel Productions and it's an animation studio that isn't really producing Marvel properties anymore. Now, they're actually working on some comedy cartoon involving some yellow people."
"If cartoons aren't in the picture, what about video games then?" Stan knew about Creed's rising video game dominance, after all.
"That's still in deliberation but I was told about an Arcade-centered theme." The editor-in-chief emphasized. "Arcade the villain and as I said... still in deliberation.
"That's alright. I can wait." Old Stan felt magnanimous since that possibility from earlier made him jovial already. "Then again, I can... but I can't say the same for starved fans? Would their wait for new Marvel Comics continue?"
"Well, the good news is that it's February already and I've been given the go-ahead." Something the Shooter felt really relieved about. "Of course, the little boss had something that he wanted to slip in."
"Oh?" That got Stan intrigued.
On that cue, Jim Shooter reached for the envelope that he brought home from his California trip... opened it... saw its contents and remembered...
That aside from Marvel being stagnant waters, it can also be akin to a pool of death, isn't it?
Dying, in a way.
It may be an out-there conjecture... but is this why the little boss created this Marvel comic book? A comic book about a pool of death?
To herald this company out of it!