"Mr. Perlmutter was very kind and gracious when talking to me. He apologized for the actions of Bill Jemas and Joe Quesada, as mentioned in my letter. He told me that he appreciated my alerting him to this problem. He told me that this kind of behaviour is unacceptable and he would not tolerate it. "

"In baseball," Mr. Perlmutter explained of how he deals with such matters, "there are three strikes. With me, there is ONE strike!"

"When I started to explain to him that I wrote because I am not only a retailer, but also a fan that cares about Marvel, Mr. Perlmutter told me it was "Irrelevant." "Irrelevant, " he continued, "whether you are a fan, or not a fan, it does not matter. People to not treat other people in such a way as you and others were treated by Bill Jemas."

 

WARLOCK 10” BUST

"This is not how professional people speak to others," Mr. Perlmutter assured me. He told me that he reread my letter and he was still angry at what he learned of the conduct of his employees."

It was shortly after that, that I heard reports Bill got a little talking to.

Matt reports that Bill called him earlier this week. Matt wrote in a newsletter:

"Well, I just got off the phone -- OK, it's been an hour or so -- with Marvel's President and COO, Bill Jemas. I was able to discuss many things with the man, including Marvel's policies, story content, sales, and the creative side of the business in an hour long call.

"Many of you might already be aware of this, but last week I received a phone call from Ike Perlmutter, the owner of Marvel Comics. The reason for that call was concerning a letter than I had written about issues I had regarding the public behaviour of Bill Jemas and Joe Quesada.

"You'll probably not find a bigger fan of Marvel Comics characters than me. I love comics in general, and I am very fond of that company's roster of heroes and villains. And, as a retailer, I am concerned about the goings-on in the industry. It matters to me, both as a fan and as a retailer when I see things occurring in our industry that I feel needs improvement or outright change.

"Many of you have read about or heard about the "bad boy" image of Bill Jemas and Joe Quesada. While there is no doubt that Joe Quesada has brought in some reputable talent to Marvel, and many books are more enjoyable than they have been in years, there is just as much change that has not been so beneficial to the company. And the public relations between Marvel's management and both fans and retailers leaves something to be desired.

"Anyway, I had written this two-page letter to the owner and upper-management at Marvel Comics a couple of weeks ago. If nothing else, I figured it could be a cathartic exercise of sorts. Well, to my own amazement, the letter reached the top of the company. That is when Mr. Perlmutter called me last week to express his concern over matters and offer an apology for the behaviour of his employees.

"Mr. Perlmutter seems to be a very sincere man who cares about the perception of his company. He showed Bill Jemas my letter and, I assume, discussed what I had written therein.

"That brings us to today's phone conversation. Mr. Jemas tells me that there will be changes coming from Marvel in the upcoming six months. First, he assures me that he will not be making the kind of comments he has made in the past. He tells me that he couldn't understand how people in comics could take things so seriously and that growing up in New Jersey he was raised to make fun of people as a game, and that he laughs such stuff off. He explained that he didn't understand why others do not do the same. I explained to him that comics fans have enough of others making fun of us, and that we should at least count on the publishers not to denigrate us. If we don't take ourselves seriously, I asked, how are others going to do so?

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