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Interview: Joe Quesada   My Lunch with Joe: The Interview By Matt Yocum Published: 2006-07-12

I met with Joe Quesada while attending the Wizard World Los Angeles Convention in March 2006. I’d won an online ebay auction sponsored by ACTOR (A Commitment to Our Roots) that allowed me a one hour lunch with Joe and a personalized sketch. The one hour lunch — which was to be at a sports bar we discovered was closed — turned into two and a half hours at a nearby Holiday Inn cafe. The sketch became a rendition of my first love, Iron Man. Our discussion ranged all over the map: auction stories (me of how I won the bid on ebay, he of a failed opportunity to win a Beatles guitar pick which he later discovered, to his pleasure, was a fake), talk of Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, and Steve Ditko, a discussion of current artists and writers, and, of course, talk of the Civil War now raging among Marvel’s heroes.

While at the lunch, I had the chance to record an interview with Joe and get his thoughts on several topics. He addressed each question with the time and attention he would have given a reporter from the New York Times. No matter the venue in which he is speaking or being interviewed, Joe Q is one of comics’ greatest evangelists. The audio interview conducted with Joe turned out to be of too poor a quality to include on ComicCritique.Com, however the following is as near an accurate transcription of the interview as could be made. Where the audio quality was completely unclear, you’ll see [brackets] which serve as the transcribers’ closest approximation.

Matt Y and Joe Q (click to view full size)

Matt Yocum: This is Matt Yocum from ComicCritique.com, and I want to thank Joe Quesada, the editor-in-chief at Marvel Comics for having lunch with me.

Joe Quesada: It’s great meeting you Matt, and we had fun.

MY: The first question I have is, what do you feel has been the hardest part about your role as editor-in-chief at Marvel Comics?

JQ: Early on the hardest part for me was sort of re-establishing and recreating new systems at Marvel. And one of the unusual things that I found when I took over was how much of the actual business of comics and the way comics were being built was still stuck in a forty year old tradition. When you think of any business, any modern business, businesses have to adapt, they have to change with the times, they have to change with the [community], with different tastes and with the world of technology. And even the way Marvel was doing their comics was still stuck in a twenty year old cycle. I think that if we could go back in time to sort of the heyday of 1965 when Marvel was really coming to prevalence and you pulled Stan Lee aside and said, “Hey Stan, I’m from the future, and do you know that 40 years from now, 50 years from now, we’re still making comics exactly as you do now, he’d probably go, “Oh my god, you’re kidding me? You haven’t grown?”

That was a real shocker to me, how things were still being done in that old way. And the reason why they were being done (and this should be a lesson to anyone getting involved in business with the creative world) was “we do it this way because that’s the way it’s always been done.” And the one thing that I learned to ask is, you gotta ask “Why?” A lot. And when you say “but why?” [and get], “Well you know, because you’re supposed to.” “But why?” And eventually you get to the point where somebody can’t really give you a good reason why something is being done the way it’s done then you know you have to change it and you know you have to look for a different way of doing it.

“When you begin writing, put your comics away. Put them away. Draw from life, don’t draw from comics… at the end of the day you have to learn how to write.”

In current times, I think the toughest thing for me as Editor-in-Chief is I don’t get as much of a chance to do my own creative stuff. I literally have to take time between the meetings. You know, I get fifteen minutes here between meetings, I’ll get to draw one panel or half a panel, or here’s half an hour time, do I go to lunch or do I draw? It’s a real drain on me the fact that I don’t get to do as much creative stuff as I used to.

MY: Well a lot of the people at ComicCritique.Com I think have expressed interest in writing and certainly there’s a lot of prospective artists out there, and I’m sure this is a question you get a lot, but what would you say to a prospective writer and also to the prospective artist?

JQ: Well you just have to do it. You just have to keep writing, keep drawing. My first bit of advice is if you’re a fan of comics, great. When you begin writing, or you begin drawing, put your comics away. Put them away. Draw from life, don’t draw from comics. Write from life. Go to writing courses. It’s wonderful to talk to comic writers to get their opinions on things and how they view certain things, but at the end of the day you have to learn how to write. In many ways, comics are a distraction of real life. There’s a lot of [fantasy] involved, there’s a lot of structure and that goes for drawing as well. So that’s my first bit of advice, learn your craft, learn your craft, learn your craft.

And then once you learn it, you have to start doing it. There’s so many people who show me portfolios, let’s take artists for example, and they’ll show me three pages and it’s hell on the pages that aren’t finished. And I kind of look at them and say “Would you go to a job interview and show me half a resume?” Or go to the job interview and not dress properly for the job you’re being interviewed for? Because that’s what you’re doing with your portfolio. The first thing is, you could be the most talented person in the world, but the first thing that goes through my mind is this is a person who can never finish an assignment. So you know, be prepared. Learn your craft. Put together a small portfolio and present yourself properly.

“ I think the thing I’m proudest about is the Heroes magazine that we did after 9/11. That was really an amazing moment, and I hope we never have to do it again.”

MY: Have you had a certain issue on any of the series you’ve written, that has touched you deeply and personally and if so why?

JQ: Well, you know, again because of my limited time I’m running late as usual, Daredevil: Father is one of the things that’s really been the most emotional thing that I’ve ever done. You know, I literally wrote the outline for the story on, what I didn’t know at the time, was my father’s deathbed.

He was at the hospital, and I went to visit him for a week, and he sat there watching TV, trying to overcome respiratory problems. And I sat there for a week right next to him. I had nothing else to do, and I just started writing this story, and it just sort of manifested itself based on this small idea I originally had that I thought would be a one issue thing that turned out to be a six issue thing. And when I finished the story, it was the day I had to leave. I was going to come back a few days later, but I had to run back to New York for this [xxxxx] thing. I kissed my father goodbye, and getting on the plane, and landing in New York that night, and the next morning getting a call that he’d passed away in the hospital. So every ounce of this story is for him.

MY: What would you say has been your proudest accomplishment as a creator — as an artist or a writer — the thing that you look back on and say I’m more proud of that than anything I’ve done.

JQ: Wow. I think the thing I’m proudest about is the Heroes magazine that we did after 9/11. That was really an amazing moment, and I hope we never have to do it again. The comics industry came together to put that magazine out in record time. When you consider how many pages, in full color, with text and art, and we put that thing together in like two, three weeks. It was truly probably the thing I’m proudest of, you know, in my… I’ve been in comics for almost fifteen years.

“You could be the most talented person in the world, but the first thing that goes through my mind when I see an unfinished portfolio is this is a person who can never finish an assignment.”

MY: Let’s turn to what’s coming out here shortly which is Civil War. You’ve been kind of building toward this Civil War. We’ve seen the signs of it coming. And my question is, a lot of times things are hyped, and they claim they’re going to change the status quo and ultimately they bring things right back to where they started. So that’s the question, is that going to be the case here, are things going to revert back or is this truly meant to change the status quo through the miniseries Civil War?

JQ: Well, it’s absolutely going to change the status quo. Obviously more so with certain characters than others. There will be things that will happen in Civil War that you will say, “I can’t believe they actually did it.” The ending of Civil War #2 you’ll go, “I can’t believe they did it. It must be a dream sequence.” But it’s not a dream, folks, I’m telling you. No, there’s a lot of great stuff happening within it.

I think it’s one of the most interesting concepts. And again I don’t say this because I’m at Marvel — but I do — but I think it’s one of the most interesting concepts for an event that’s come around in a long, long time. And I think that’s [indicative] of Mark Millar and Brian Bendis. Usually a big event in comics and crossovers in comics [operate sort of] by nature. So why they get a lot of attention, especially why the media pick up on them, if John Q. Public decided they read the article and said, “Hey, look here. So and so has a big event,” they’ll probably go to their comic store, pick up the book, and have no idea what’s happening. Civil War is meant to be accessible; it’s a very easy premise to get. You need no knowledge of the Marvel universe to understand it.

All you need to understand is that the U.S. government is asking superheroes to register. To register their names — their real names — their aliases, and their powers, and to become trained. Because just like our policemen, our firemen, our military, they don’t hand you a gun, they don’t hand you an M-16. You have to go through strict training to do these things.

“Something happens in Civil War where the populace, the human populace of the Marvel universe, says we want this.”

And basically superheroes are walking WMDs. Let’s look at it from a real world perspective. Imagine you’re walking down the street, and all the sudden this guy’s coming at you, wearing a wrestler mask, and each one’s carrying an M-16. What are you thinking? Okay. Even, if they say, “Hey, we’re the good guys. We’re policing your neighborhood.” You’re going to be like no, hell no, you’re wearing a mask. I don’t even know who you are. You’d be petrified. And putting the whole idea of superheroes in a real world perspective, I think is really interesting.

And also the timing of the event, it’s [a little more close to me right now]. We question that here in the States. We struggle, and that’s not a very simple question, would you give up your civil liberties for your personal freedom? And I don’t think there’s a right or wrong answer here. I think it’s a very personal question, and I think everybody’s got a different answer on it. And our heroes and our characters feel exactly the same way. And I’ve already heard fans going, “Oh, bad government! Bad government!” And what people seem to forget is that in the Marvel universe the reason this is happening is not because the government willy-nilly decided they wanted to do this, but because it’s the will of the people. Something happens in Civil War where the populace, the human populace of the Marvel universe says we want this. And the government does what responsible government does — it answers the will of the people. So if this is what you want, then this is what we will instigate. So that’s the way that the story goes forward.

MY: It sounds extremely interesting. I’m looking forward to it. You’ve seen the new art now, you’ve read the scripts. So already from what you’ve seen, or from what the series intends to do as a whole, what do you see is the most exciting thing about, maybe not within the issues themselves, but what this series will accomplish? What do you see is the most exciting thing about it?

JQ: Well, it’s going to change the Marvel universe for quite a while. It really will. But I think for me the most exciting thing is already it’s been getting mainstream play. The New York Times covered it, and there are plans for a lot more — I can’t really say right now, but I know it’s coming up. It’s really exciting the places where you’re going to read and see Civil War. And to me I’m very proud because I know that someone who’s never picked up a comic before can pick this up and will have an immediate understanding of the story and will want to follow it. Because all great stories … You know, I kind of equate Civil War to … [the rumor stops here; I’m a fan of] Battlestar Galactica. One of the reasons that Battlestar Galactica to me is so wonderful is, even with all the bells and whistles and stuff, every story they do is about a real world event that’s happening today. They’ve been doing terrorist stories, they’ve been doing political intrigue stories, election stories. You know, I don’t want to spoil the season finale [Season 3] for anybody, but it is all about today’s world and today’s politics, and it’s doing what Star Trek did when it was at its very best. Dealing with social issues and disguising it in a fantasy element. And that’s exactly what Civil War does. And by the way, when Marvel comics are at their best — it’s when we do stories like this.

MY: Again, I want to thank you for the lunch. I want to thank you for the opportunity to talk to you. And I want to thank you too, that it’s clear you’re not just an editor and a creator, but you’re also a fan. And that, to other fans, I think you can see it. And I just want to thank you for that.

JQ: Thank you very much, Matt. And to all the fans out there, thank you. Because you guys — every day, I’m thankful and I’m blessed for the career I have, but wouldn’t have it without the fans out there supporting. You guys pay my rent! Thank you!