Enough already! We got the message! Let me share with you the thinking we did that led to our contemplation of a title change. The genesis of Steve's and my discussions was not lack of sales as some of you inferred. WEST COAST AVENGERS is consistently in the top 10% of our direct comics sales. The problem, to Steve's mind, is lack of respect. To be perfectly honest, those of us who do this title consider it to be a real Avengers book-- equally as legitimate an heir to the Avengers tradition as any other book. But when special projects are discussed, it's always "X-MEN/AVENGERS", not "X-MEN/WEST COAST AVENGERS". Sure, teh Whackos sometimes get to participate under the generic name, but what it boils down to is a perception that AVENGERS is the lead title and WEST COAST AVENGERS is a mere spin-off. We have discussed equalizing the titles by changing the other book to EAST COAST AVENGERS, but the decision we always came up with is that this would only serve to diminish the power of that title. We have discussed AVENGERS WEST and AVENGERS EAST, bu the decision is that WEST and EAST look a lot alike and the readers would get confused. We have discussed calling both books AVENGERS and publishing that title bi-weekly, but the decision is that this would confuse the retailers. And so, Steve and I ended up at NEW AVENGERS-- and your decision was loud and clear on that one. Now hear this: We will not be changing this magazine's title to the NEW AVENGERS. Okay? Okay!

But that just leaves us right where we started: since a lot of people consider the contents of this book to be pretty nifty, how do we get the title to command the same respect? Is there a change we should make-- or will quality eventually win without our doing anything? Steve and I would sure like to hear from all of you on that.

--Mark Gruenwald

I love it when I get great letters, especially ones of "general interest" that I can share with you in this column. I have such a one right here that's far more interesting than anything I have to say this month.

Dear Mark Gruenwald,

The letters page can be a fun, informative, interesting part of a comic book, but rarely is. Instead, predictable letters are printed and responded to. These letters can be broken down into several categories:

A) A letter asking for a No-Prize.

B) Fan letter: "I've been collecting comics for 12 years and have over 5,000 of them, but IRON MAN #217 was the best..." Or, on the other side of the coin, "I HATE YOUR COMIC! I REALLY THINK IT STINKS!"

C) Compliment letter: "Wow! Astounding! I love _________'s (fill in the blank) art! It's the best since...", or the opposite, "Your art sucks eggs! It's really ugly! Get a new artist!"

D) Simple comment letter: "Bring back the Tumbler!"

E) Humorous letter: "Print this letter! Or I'll--I'll--I'll do something!"

F) Historical question letter: "Where did Captain America get his shield?"

G) Current question letter: "How old is Tony Stark?"

H) Intelligent, interesting commentary: (Well thought out letters, such as those discussing whether or not Cap killed anybody during World War II, Tony Stark's alcohol problem, etc.)

Of course, all of the above letters appear in letters pages and all are needed. However, I suggest that when someone writes a letter of type A through E, you simply put their name, address, and type of letter they wrote. You'd save lots of space, and get to print a lot more interesting commentary. Well, I guess that IS a little too radical, I think everybody enjoys reading No-Prize requests and humorous letters, but please keep them to minimum. Your comics have the best letter columns in comics-- keep it that way!

--Jeffrey R. Lacasse

Thanks for writing, Jeffrey. So what do you think, o' rest of my readership? Should this guy be lionized or hung out to dry? Write me in care of this column.

--Mark Gruenwald

It seems to me that I've tackled this topic before, but since I continue to get letters asking me about it, I'll address the subject again, trying to hit it from a different angle. This issue's topic: How do you get to be a writer for Marvel Comics?

There are only three ways to break in as a writer for Marvel. The easiest way is to become renowned, much sought-after writer for other companies, call up the editor-in-chief (hi, Tom) and say you're available, and when the e-i-c gets the word out, editors will call you. The second way (the way I did it, actually) is to acquire an entry-level staff position with Marvel, keep your ears open for writing opportunities, and submit material to colleague editors at every available opportunity. I'm proof this system can work, but being a staffer is no guarantee that you'll sell a single story. (There are no guarantees anywhere in life.)

The third way (and the way most people take) is blind submission through the mail. It is important to remember that Marvel technically does not hire writers. What we do is buy stories. What about books (like X-MEN) where the same writer (Chris Claremont) has been writing the same book for ten years, you ask? Wasn't he hired as the writer of the book? Not really. Chris does not have a contract that says he and only he can write the X-MEN, and Marvel will buy every single X-MEN story he writes. What he has is an unwritten agreement that, provided he turns in acceptable work on time, Marvel will continue to buy it. So what does this mean to aspiring comics writers? It means gear your efforts to selling stories, not selling your ability as a writer. Your ability as a writer will be amply demonstrated when an editor buys one of your stories. When you submit work to a book that rarely if ever uses inventory material, you may as well attach a note to it saying, "Don't buy this story please." If you are not trying to sell a story, you are not thinking like a writer. If you send us a proposal for a new series (whether using your creations or ours), you may as well attach a note to it saying, "Don't take this proposal seriously, please". Why? Because no one sells a new series as his first published comics work. You must pitch your story at the titles that exist, not expect a title to be created just for you. That's the cold reality of comics publishing.

Now let's say you sold your first story to Marvel. Then what? Well, you've got to pitch another, and make another sale. Then another, then another. Eventually an editor (or two) will think of you as someone who can do professional-level work, and when a book opens up, maybe the editor will think of you as his/her (no contract, no commitment) regular writer. And that's how this crazy business works.

--Mark Gruenwald

One of the things I told writers submitting stories to SOLO AVENGERS is that I wanted to see new villains. After all, most of the individual Avengers who have never carried their own feature don't have a lot of foes they can call their own and here would be a good place to give them some. Now I know that creating new super-villains is no mean feat (this from the man who gave the Marvel Universe Armadillo and the Slug), and one of the hardest parts is coming up with a good name. That's what I want to talk about this outing.

During my recent move to another office, I unearthed a document written circa 1978 by Marvel writer Peter Gillis and his brother Robert. What it is is a handy-dandy guide to creating thousands of valid villain (and hero) names by combining two simple words to make a compound word. Herewith, for your edification, and by kind permission of the Brothers Gillis is...

THE PATENTED GILLIS SUPERDUDE NAME MAKER

(Pick one from Column A and one from Column B-- and presto! you have a character name.)

See how simple it is? Hey, readers, how many names of established characters can you find by putting together a word from Column A and Column B?

--Mark Gruenwald