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BLACK PANTHER AND STORM WEDDING CONFERENCE
by Jennifer Contino (Pulse)
This afternoon Marvel hosted a press conference to talk about the upcoming nuptials between Black Panther and Storm. We've got details from some of the wedding party about this new direction.
Black Panther writer Reginald Hudlin, Storm writer Eric Jerome Dickey, Editor Axel Alonso, Director of Sales David Gabriel, Director of Marketing John Dokes, and Marketing Coordinator Jim McCann, and Jeff Sutter hosted a conference call about the upcoming Black Panther/Storm wedding.
First they had Axel Alonso give some details about the upcoming story. “Basically we’re building to an event in July that has been decades in the making,” Alonso said. “While the event has been alluded to in the current issues where T’Challa has been urged by his mother that as a king he needs to find his queen. The event kicks off in February with Storm # 1 written by Eric Jerome Dickey, a best selling and uniquely qualified author and David Yardin, an emerging rising star artist. The limited series event proper kicks off in Bride of the Panther which runs through Black Panther #s 14 – 18, shipping from March to July.”
“In the pages of Black Panther, Reggie Hudlin and Scot Eaton are telling the real time story of T’Challa connecting with Storm and essentially sort of filling the gaps in the time between the two of them, as he makes the decision of his life and urges her to make her decision as well. What we’ll get done in Storm is tell the flashback story of T’Challa and Ororo as younger teenagers in the African outback falling in love.”
“This story was told decades ago in Marvel Team- Up #100 from Chris Claremont and John Byrne. Chris and John did a short story that had a brief flashback sequence where we learned that Ororo and T’Challa’s paths had crossed, they survived some calamity, and then went on to other adventures. Chris Priest also alluded to this in his run on Black Panther. We’re building on something that has been there for some time”
David Gabriel interjected to release news that those two stories would be collected soon. “There will be a Marvel Milestone reprint of the Priest and Claremont story soon.”
Alonso then continued with more details on the upcoming stories. ” We think Storm is essential reading. This tells how the African prince on his walkabout and the young beggar with her emerging mutant powers will meet, find that first spark, and survive an adventure. Between Storm and Black Panther, you will understand why these two are meant to be and fated to be together.”
David Gabriel then took over and talked about some other things going on for the retailers to promote this comic saga.. He said retailers would receive a post card within two weeks to promote both the Storm limited series and Black Panther story. Gabriel said, “Also said we will be doing an Uncanny X-Men Annual # 1 with Chris Claremont writing a story to tie into the Black Panther/Storm wedding. This story will focus on Storm prepping for the wedding and looking back on her path.”
Alonso said Claremont was coordinating the story with Hudlin as well. He also noted that promotion for this upcoming story included articles in the Houston Chronicle, interviews on the Steve Harvey Show, and interviews with author Eric Jerome Dickey in Black periodicals in New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago. Then he joked, “Maybe BET TV will have something to say about this too.”
Then the floor was opened up for Dickey and Hudlin to talk about their work. Hudlin began saying that this story has been in the works for a while. “A little over a year – maybe two years ago – we first hooked up and I started talking about my love for comics and my desire to do the Black Panther,” Hudlin said. “This upcoming wedding is literally a dream come true. I’ve been wanting to do this for a long time and, as the story arcs of the Panther have been building, the excitement has been growing. We will be doing something historical and BET will be covering this.”
Dickey said he wanted to acknowledge and keep the continuity established by Priest and Claremont but also to give a “stronger foundation to the relationship between T’Challa and Ororo. I also want to give a little bit more to her past and origin for the readers to get a better feel for who she is.”
Then the floor was opened to a question and answer session for those in attendance.
EDITOR'S NOTE: this PULSE reporter tried to get as much of the Question and Answer session word-for-word, but, due to time constraints, some of the questions and answers may have been paraphrased.
QUESTION: Mr. Hudlin, you’ve obviously come out of the film industry. Is this something you view as a film project down the line? Have you been given permission to think about that? Do you write with a future film potentially in mind?
ANSWER: HUDLIN: Do I think about Black Panther as a movie property? Absolutely. But my involvement in it is as a comic book writer, so that is how I think of it. One of the reasons why I wanted to do this is to write comics. I’ve always wanted to do that and I just found out that I had to make movies and TV shows first to get some consideration for writing a comic book. So it’s just that - I’m working in a medium I really love, and if a movie never happens with Black Panther these books exist. It would be a shame, a tragedy, a horrific error if a movie never happens, but, in either case, these books exist. I’m writing books for the fan in me. It’s great when I get letters from fans all over the world who are excited about the same things I’m excited about.
QUESTION: Mr. Dickey, While we’re talking about movie aspect you’re deeply in novels what different muscles did you use writing a comic script that you don’t have to use so much writing a novel?
ANSWER: DICKEY I stared out with comics. I wasn’t writing them, but I’m a comic book baby from the ‘60s. I think it is one of those things where I get a phone call from Axel wanting to know if I want to do a comic, and I’m like “YEAH!” So, for me, I just think the novel writing and the screenplay writing and going every Wednesday at someone‘s comic shop like a crack head, just put me in a great position to write comics. I know about the characters. It’s just a matter of trying to see where I can fit in and what I can contribute to the Marvel Universe.
QUESTION: But does your approach differ?
ANSWER: DICKEY It’s still visual. Even as a writer, you sit down and write. You still describe stuff and what’s happening in a scene that you see. I see it and it goes beyond what I imagine with the art. It’s not just text only. When I write a scene I get a sense about it.
QUESTION: Obvious questions to Reggie: This is it. This is Storm and Black Panther getting married. How do you approach an epical story?
ANSWER HUDLIN: Well … again, like Eric mentioned, it’s both building off what has been laid before us by Claremont and by Priest in his story. Again satisfying what I’ve always wanted to see: these two regal, powerful characters, with roots in Africa, but also international and interstellar travelers - they have a lot in common. So you go, “ok, would this make sense?” You feel that they are a great match for each other. It really is a natural comparison. Like Batman and Wonder Woman to find an analogous paring. With this it’s powerful and hot, but grounded in reality. What I love about Eric’s book is that he takes the blueprint of the Chris Claremont story and really fleshes it out, so you just go “wow this was the first great love of these two characters.” You really understand where they are coming from. Bouncing back to my book, it’s like what happened in between? What tore this great love apart? What makes up their personal history? And, what is the irresistible pull that brings you back to that one true love?
DICKEY: For me, it’s thinking about how the foundation is here. Why do they love each other? What do they see in each other that first time - in that first adventure? It’s one of those things that at the end, the reader goes, “yeah they are supposed to be together.” And, as Reggie said, we’re going back and filling in the blanks and hopefully it all pulls together in the end.
QUESTION: Do you think women will like it?
ANSWER: DICKEY: I think they would like it . Who doesn’t want to meet a man of their dreams? He’s a prince. In the section I’m writing, they are teenagers – kids. He’s the son of the Black Panther - not the Black Panther. He’s a kid on his walkabout, out to discover the world, and he meets Ororo, who is orphaned, hardened, and living a life as a thief. They are not in the superhero mode yet. I have six issues of no tights.
QUESTION: Reggie, you’ve said in the past how important it is to market Black Panther to the black comics community. If its not too early, what do you have in mind to market this trade to the black literary community, since this is where Eric is coming from?
ANSWER: HUDLIN: We’re talking to you right now.
Further on, just having a novelist with the profile of Eric writing this, brings us a level of excitement to it. The two of us together, working on the bookends of this story, creates a level of awareness outside the hard core comic book buying audience that makes you see it on your radar when it might not normally have been there. This is one, of a lot of outreach efforts that Marvel’s doing. Marvel is aggressive in promoting this to tell people about Black Panther. There is a huge audience out there, hungry for what we’re talking about. They just need to know that the book exists and where to buy it.
QUESTION: Does the marketing department handle this or you?
ANSWER: HUDLIN: I always, no matter what the project, kibitz and put my two cents in. But they are the professionals. They know what they are doing, but if I have a suggestion or point of view, I like to share it.
DOKES: Reggie is not shy in sharing his ideas.
GABRIEL: We are planning at the BEA this summer, to promote both Black Panther and Storm. We might bring out Eric, and we definitely will be doing a signing with copies of the first issue of the comic pushing the trade out there. We have postcards coming and we are doing this conference call. We are planning to make a big effort. The call will be podcast later on. We will push this as much as we can.
QUESTION: In the past when there have been high-profile comics weddings, we’ve seen high-profile clothing designers working on the gowns and other attire. Who’s designing the wedding attire?
ANSWER: We have calls out to a few designers to see if they will participate in this, but it’s too early to say.
QUESTION: Eric, your novels are kind of racy/hot, with writing for Storm at this age, did you have to tone down anything?
ANSWER: No. It was an automatic adjustment, because you know the audience you’re writing for. I’m not writing for that book reader, who wants the super erotic scenes, so I don’t think Storm at 13 is like that. I had written some scenes that Axel wonderfully edited that came out great and fantastic. We got the point across without being in your face. We show the heat, chemistry, and desire between the characters. But it’s still wrapped around their youthfulness. It’s all new, fresh, innocent eyes - even though he’s a warrior and she’s a thief. They are still teenagers and going through puberty.
QUESTION: Since this is going to be in both storylines filling in the path of the two characters were these characters connected in the path during the Uncanny days and things like that?
ANSWER: I don’t want to give away too much of the story but they had issues we can all understand having issues.
QUESTION: Could you go into a bit more detail basically how you’re going to reach out to audiences traditionally not known for buying lots of comics, like women and the African American audience? How will you get them in comic shops? Will you try to push the individual issues or work on them more when trades come out?
ANSWER: I’m calling all my ex-girlfriends.
QUESTION: And after that one woman?
ANSWER: I think that Reggie had a line out the door at the comic book store signing he did in LA. It was his appearance on talk radio shows talking about the series and supporting him at that store, that’s key. Getting the word out on stations and TV like BET – hint, hint, is the key to getting the word out to the demographics we try to reach, and get to the comic industry as well. So when we get the trade in, we will focus on the distribution area to black stores and getting that trade outside those areas a well.
ALONSO: Reggie’s first hardcover from Black Panther has quotes from Henry Louis Gates Jr. to Ziggy Marley. When’s the last time you saw something like that happen? We rely on retailers to know how to position it and help us sell these books as well.
QUESTION: Are there any structural factors in marketplace in terms of distribution and locations of stores that have dampening effect on sales and what can we do about it?
ANSWER: DICKEY: On my end, I’m not aware of a lot of shops inside of the African American community. I have to leave the community every week to buy my comics. Even now, when I go out to the Comic Locator Shop, they don’t stock books in my neighborhood. I know, on this end, when I’m doing the novel thing we tend to know where all the African American bookstores are; so when we make rounds, we can promote ourselves at all those stores. On this end, I don’t know how to do that. I promote things on my website and send out stuff every month up until the end.
So far as actually saying, here’s a store inside the African American community, I don’t have a list.
GABRIEL: With this, we rely on the hardcover of Storm, that comes out and that’s where we put more of the effort to reach that community. There are specific target bookstores we can reach with the hardcover with Eric’s name on it. That’s a lot more impact than trying to get women in the comic shop. We’re not ignoring women, but it’s like parting the Red Sea for us – it’s much easier to set up a book like this to get the trade to the markets later on. That’s where we’ll concentrate on.
DICKEY: There’s a list on my website that my fans put together of black-owned comic stores; but you’re right. It’s one of the big challenges when I tell my friends to get my comic or book, telling them exactly where to go. There are so many great retailers like Golden Apple, Meltdown, and so on, but that’s one of the challenges, which is why we’re so grateful for trade paperback and hardback formats, that we can get in a wider area of venues.
QUESTION: How close have you worked with X-Office to keep continuity?
ANSWER: HUDLIN: I’m a big X-Men reader - a fan of the book, so it’s easy to keep her in continuity. Whenever we write stuff that affects characters ongoing in other books, there is a coordination between the editors and writers where we rough out ideas, toss it back to the next guy, and make sure we’re not stepping on any toes. We all play fair because we all may need a favor tomorrow.
Because this is a concept that got the support from the highest levels of Marvel, there isn’t a lot of warning lights or breaks. It’s very much in the Marvel tradition - meaning Marvel is not a static place. Things change, characters evolve, big events happen - it isn’t just some stunt, but something with real emotional resonance. This is two beloved characters, each with a strong fan base, who are now coming together. When you look at them, who they are, their history, you go, “Wow, what a great marriage! What a great idea! What a great springboard for future stories!”
As exciting as the wedding is wait ‘til you see what happens next.
QUESTION: Eric, what kind of research have you done for continuity?
ANSWER: DICKEY I’ve read the Claremont and Priest issues. My story takes place when she is 13. I’ve read Ororo Before The Storm, but it didn’t have an impact on what I was doing. So in my little window, I had to be more concerned with keeping the continuity on her origin, with her parents, and the past; and keeping in consideration what Reggie is about to do in Black Panther, so this lends itself towards the marriage.
ALONSO: Even in Storm, it take place after Ororo’s turn in Cairo. We were careful about letting the X-Office see this and fitting it into the right period of time.
DICKEY: Ororo Before The Storm didn’t affect me at all really.
QUESTION: Reggie, Eric has been praised for plugging into the female psyche have you had to embrace your romantic side?
ANSWER: HUDLIN: I have a wife, a 14 year old daughter, and my mom, who lives a few blocks away. I’m very in touch with my sensitive side.
DOKES: Reggie I wish I could quit you!
QUESTION: Will we get a House Party 3 bachelor party for Black Panther?
ANSWER: HUDLIN: There will be a bachelor party - there is no doubt! As you may know, I only did House Party I, so I bear no responsibility or give no money back for the sequels.
QUESTION: What have you done to research the historical and religious implications for bringing Storm into this environment of Black Panther?
ANSWER: I guess I made it all up isn’t a good answer?
I mean the fun things about Wakanda is obviously I used it as a starting point in that there’s all kinds of great books out there and films and music. I’ve grown up steeped in African culture, not just African American culture, but I’ve always been a fan of music, films, television. One of the fun things about writing Black Panther is I get to draw on influences surrounding me my entire life.
QUESTION: Will Storm be considered an outsider?
ANSWER: Remember that Wakanda is a very sophisticated, almost utopian culture. There’s no question that when someone is marrying your king, you’re going to give them the hairy eyeball. We will be making the most of that circumstance.
QUESTION: Will the Black Panther be a fixture in the X-Men?
ANSWER: That would be telling. These questions - which are great questions - are what excites us about the wedding. Just addressing those natural obvious conflicts lead to great storylines.
QUESTION: This year there are some big events from both sides of the aisle. This is being driven as an event through Marvel, so if you had to boil it down and talk to someone in a store and say invest effort and money into this wedding, why should they?
ANSWER: HUDLIN: ‘Cause I’m Crazy and I’ll just write any damn thing.
You may think you know what’s going to happen, but I swear to God my goal is to make people go “I can’t believe you did that!”
ALONSO: Also this is big, big changes for Storm. If you’re an X-Men fan, this isn’t Ororo’s origin story, but she, at the beginning of this story, is a young girl only beginning to come to terms to her powers and her ability to harness these powers. Ultimately her ability to cooperate with this African prince, who is different from her, but still compelling, is really important. There will be obstacles in their journey to the alter. Everybody is aware of the little event we’re doing called Civil War, there are a few major tie-in points that occur in this Black Panther arc.
For a completist, there is an essential Civil War moment in this wedding. This is a universal story here. Yeah it’s about the most recognizable black female and male superheroes getting wed, but they are very different - have a past that comes together, and there are obstacles to their wedding; but they get married. That’s the easy part, but then they have to deal with what happens next. It’s eye-popping and big news. There’s a lot of reasons to buy into this, besides whether or not you want to read a story involving these two particular characters.
QUESTION: What is the successful print run for an Eric Jerome Dickey book?
ANSWER: DICKEY: About 150K
QUESTION: What’s current print run on Black Panther?
ANSWER: Less than that - considerably less than that.
QUESTION: You mentioned House of M tie in. It was one of the best tie-ins. Will you do more with exploring the Wakanda Mythology in future issues of Black Panther?
ANSWER: HUDLIN: Absolutely. What I’ve been trying to do is make a list of dozens of stories you’d love to tell with the Black Panther and bounce back and forth between stories set in Wakanda and stories set in the US and stories set in other regions of Africa and other parts of the world; so you get the sense that T’Challa is an international player. All the Avengers, all the X-Men, every black superhero, everyone and his mother will be at this wedding. I don’t know if you remember Superman vs. Muhammad Ali cover, but everyone is in the audience. Poor Scot Eaton. His hands will fall off.
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