It bears the rather cumbersome title "Marvel: 2000-2001 Fanboys & Badgirls: Bill and Joe's Marvelous Adventure and contains interviews and art by the "hot" names that Marvel has assembled over the past two years. Bill Jemas begins the book in his usual fashion by slamming the very retailers that order and stock his product, lumping together "small" retailers with "dirty, messy and confusing" stores. He further says that these stores are the ones who don't understand and appreciate Marvel's policies. By implication, this would mean that retailers who have a problem with his policies are in fact, "dirty, messy and confusing" stores who are simply too stupid to understand the wonderful work that Marvel is doing. Or am I just being harsh? Who can say what really goes on inside this mans head. Peter David has said that perhaps Bill Jemas prefers to remain a "wrestling villain" and I often think that this might be true. I can think of little other reason to repeatedly insult the very shops that carry your product. Maybe he feels that bad publicity is still publicity and keeping Marvels name in the news is a way to insure that fans stay aware of everything that Marvel does. Or perhaps Bill Jemas is simply an unprofessional person who doesn't understand that insulting everyone else to gain attention is a tactic best left in junior high school.

In his forward, Bill Jemas reserves most of his attacks for his counterpoint at DC: Paul Levitz. Levitz has been in the comic industry for over 30 years and has risen from a fan entry position to the virtual head of the DC empire. Under his tenure, DC has gone from being a company that produced habitually late product and generally followed Marvels innovations to being the industry leader in innovation itself. From its' Vertigo imprint to its' industry leading graphic novel backlist, DC has pretty much launched the programs that all the other companies (yes, even Marvel) have only followed. Sadly, Levitz does not warrant even professional courtesy in the mind of Jemas:

"Paul Levitz runs DC Comics and is in a position to mobilize the massive AOL-Time-People-Warner Books and Music-TNT-TBS-CNN-HBO media machine to increase comic readership. With one click of the "send" button on his office e-mail, he could get an entire industry back on its feet. Yet this man, who has devoted his life to comics, chooses not to share the wonders of the genre with the world at large.

"It appears that Levitz has purposely kept DC below the Time -- then Time/Warner, now AOL Time/Warner -- radar screen. Those who love him say it's because Levitz wants to shield his creators and characters from the commercial exploitation and corruption that could come from mass media exploitation. Those who loathe him say Levitz is a man with teeny talents, who keeps the industry tiny to protect his own power over truly bright and talented creators.

"Here's no surprise: The Levitz lovers are the insiders and retailers who want to keep the comics club closed. The Levitz loathers are those who want to reach the next generation of new readers."

All of which is typical Jemas, as people who like Levitz are categorized as those who want to keep the comic industry stagnant and those who dislike him are the ones that want to move the industry forward. Levitz, in a show of class that would undoubtedly be lost on Jemas, refuses to comment and get into a war of barbs and cut downs that serve no purpose beyond generating negative publicity. But, as I said, Jemas obviously feels that there is no such thing as bad publicity. In which case he should love California retailer Brian Hibbs.

Brian Hibb owns Comix Experience in San Fransisco. He has long been one of the leading retailers in comics and writes a column in Comics And Games Retailer that is widely read. He is also one of Jemas' most consistent critics. Comix Experience is not one of those "dirty, messy" stores, although Jemas would likely categorize it as such. Hibbs has led the way for the newer "Book store model" of comic shop. Hibbs has also initiated an $18 million class action lawsuit against Marvel.

Marvel's contract with retailers (that includes "dirty, messy and confusing" stores as well) call for Marvels books to be returnable if they cannot be shipped to stores within a certain timeframe. Hibbs tallied a list of books that had shipped late from Diamond Comics (the direct market distributor for Marvel's books) that total $6.3 million. The lawsuit further charges fraud on Marvel's part as it had continually shipped late books without allowing any returns, which conflicted with the terms of its' contract. It is no secret in the industry that there is no love lost between Jemas and Hibbs. In fact, there seems to be no love lost between Jemas and anyone who is not in line with his ego.

Comic shop owners can be a pretty grumbly bunch. Grousing and complaining about the industry is often a favorite pastime. However, comic retailers relationship with DC these last few years has bordered on a lovefest. When the topic of Marvel and some recent outrage comes up, DC is usually held up as the example of how to do things right. Is DC really that benevolent? My first answer would be yes, but I really imagine that their shining image has more to do with being able to put forth the best Public Relations spin on what they do. they have made the comic retailer feel that their aim is to provide a decent amount of service and make a better and more profitable market for all concerned. DC is raising the price on a number of books this fall, but it has so far not met with any of the loud cries of resistance that Marvel meets with on most every move that it makes. My grandmother wasn't the first to say that "you'll catch more flies with honey than with vinegar." Perhaps Jemas' purpose is to make sure that people keep talking about Marvel. In that case, I'm certainly falling right into his plan.

Marvel Editor In Chief Joe Quesada was criticized last year for a speech in which he described comic fans and retailers as being a "self loathing" bunch. If Jemas seeks to perpetuate that by constantly placing any who disagree with him in the category of "dirty, messy and confusing" stores, he misses his mark. By attacking any and all who fall outside of his own agenda he only draws attention to his own blunt inadequacies. Perhaps, as Peter David suggested, we need a "wrestling villain" to give us a convenient target to fuel our message boards and newslines. I can't disagree with that, it's just that I can remember when Marvel really was the "House Of Ideas". That Marvel would have come up with something better than Bill Jemas.