Tom King Talks CIA Cover Story, Frank Miller Deadpool And Wolverine Cover Draws Conversation, Marvel And DC Don’t Rank On World’s Top Publishers | Comic Book Club News For December 2, 2024

Tom King CIA past has returned in a new profile, including how being a comic book writer was his cover story. Frank Miller Deadpool & Wolverine cover draws conversation online. Marvel and DC don’t show up anywhere on a list of the top publishers in the world.

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Episode Transcript:

Tom King’s CIA past crops up in new profile.

Frank Miller Deadpool & Wolverine cover draws conversation.

Marvel & DC not on list of top publishers.

This is Comic Book Club News for December 2, 2024.

Tom King Reveals His CIA Cover Story Was Pretending To Be A Comic Book Writer:

Every few years, the world rediscovers that comic book writer Tom King was in the CIA. This time it’s through a profile on Business Insider that’s gone viral thanks to a bit where King discusses his cover story: he pretended to be a comic book writer.

Per the profile, King joined the CIA after 9/11, and became a counterterrorism officer for seven years in Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan, and more. As King explains it, while his boss wanted him to pretend to be a chemistry businessman, he didn’t know anything about the chemistry business. Said King, “So I threw that away and I’d be like, ‘Oh, I’m a comic writer.’ If I ever got interrogated, they’d be like, ‘Let me talk to you about comics.’ I’d be like, ‘Let’s go!'”

King did leave the CIA after the birth of his first son, and then became his cover story for real, winning Eisners, selling out books, and working his way into being an integral part of James Gunn’s new DCU. Whether this is all a cover story, too? I guess we’ll never know.

Frank Miller Deadpool & Wolverine Cover Draws Conversation:

Once again, a Frank Miller Marvel cover is the subject of controversy online. This time, it’s the cover to Marvel’s Deadpool & Wolverine #1, which features a highly exaggerated Wolverine crouched in front of Deadpool, brandishing a sword.

While some fans were fine with outright slamming the cover for its strange pose and big-eared Logan, others pointed out more positively that these wild designs are somewhat a natural extension of the 67-year-old Miller’s style, which was already heading in this direction.

And furthermore, like with previous covers that drew controversy, once you remove the colors and look at the pure pencils and inks, they actually look pretty good.

Whatever you think of them on an individual basis, Miller has continued to be very generous with his cover work, not only tackling Marvel but several more independent books, and turning in some wild designs, every time.

Marvel & DC Don’t Rank On World’s Top Publishers:

Publisher’s Weekly has put out a list of the top publishers in the world, and Marvel and DC don’t rank anywhere on there. In fact, the parent companies, Disney and Warner Bros. Discovery, don’t rank as well.

Per The Beat, the list is dominated by companies that publish business, scientific, and technical books — rather than fiction and non-fiction. Part of the issue, perhaps, is that the list ranks by overall revenue, and a lot of these companies have their fingers in other, non-publishing businesses.

To talk about some publishers you may be familiar with, Penguin Random House hits at number three on the list, and they have multiple comic book imprints including BOOM! Studios. Hachette comes in at number six, and again they have several comic book imprints — mostly in France. Hitotsubashi Group is at number seven, and they own Viz in the United States. HarperCollins is at number 10, Scholastic at 12, and Simon & Schuster at number 20.

So why frame this as Marvel and DC not showing up? Perhaps to once again explain that while we love comics here, it’s a teeny, tiny, infinitesimal part of the book industry. And that’s fine, but when people get upset about writers with shady pasts, or iconic artists turning in weird covers… It’s a tempest in a teapot next to the sales for textbooks.

For Comic Book Club News, I’m Alex Zalben. And coming tomorrow: Scientific Textbook News! Just kidding.

Got tips or stories you’d like us to cover? Email us at comicbookclublive@gmail.com.

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