Line #8 Trivia/Marville


1	* ArtistDisillusionment: Bill Jemas' open letter in issue #6 was a long expression of his disappointment not only in the comic's failure, [[DearNegativeReader but in the comic industry as a whole]], claiming that only {{superhero}} comics sell well at Marvel (directly citing ''Marville'''s failure as proof that [[ViewersAreMorons their audiences only want superhero action, nothing more]]), and that everywhere else was unfriendly to ideas that defy the superhero norms (claiming that Creator/DCComics avoids [[TakeThat "publishing anything that actually says anything"]], Creator/ImageComics [[TakeThat will leave you bankrupt, and independent publishers have no money or viewership]]). Jemas was motivated to combat this by reinstating the then-defunct Creator/EpicComics imprint as a means of hiring and promoting up-and-coming comic creators with new, non-superhero stories... [[ShortRunners before it folded again one year later]]. Even within issue #7 (the submission guide for Epic Comics), Jemas seemed to have little faith in the endeavor, repeatedly mentioning that new-blood comics with no preexisting Marvel characters attached do poorly on principle, and that creator-owned comics would only be deemed "valuable" [[ItsAllAboutMe if Marvel as a whole saw net profits from them]].
2	* ColbertBump: Most people know of ''Marville'' thanks to ''WebVideo/AtopTheFourthWall'' reviews of it.
3	* CowboyBeBopAtHisComputer: Jemas apparently didn't know Marvel's own characters very well, as at one point he brings up how ComicBook/SpiderMan [[PartingWordsRegret didn't get to make amends with Uncle Ben about their argument before he died]], and his inability to reconcile his father issues with Ben are the core of the character's mythos. The problem is that this is all from the [[Film/SpiderManTrilogy Sam Raimi]] films and the [[ComicBook/UltimateSpiderMan Ultimate Universe]]! In the original ''Spider-Man'' origin story in the comics, there ''was'' no argument with Uncle Ben before he died, and Peter got along with him just fine.
4	* CreatorBreakdown: It's pretty obvious that ''something'' happened to Jemas between issues 2 and 3--the most likely answer being, that's the point when it would have become obvious that he would lose the bet.
5	* DearNegativeReader: The series concludes with [[https://readcomiconline.li/Comic/Marville/Issue-6?id=61298#24 an open letter from Bill Jemas]] that is absurdly self-indulgent, where he blames the failure of ''Marville'', and the state of the comic industry in general, on the fanbase and the publishers (both DC ''and'' Marvel). He denounces comic fans for only liking action-packed superhero stories, and publishers for prioritizing money and the writers and subjects that make it, and neither of them care about comics that explore questions of philosophy and morality. The rest of the issue touches on the same themes as the letter, with the framing device of Al pitching the story of his adventure to a comic editor and the editor refusing him because he doesn't think the comic would sell very well since its subject matter isn't what comic readers are interested in, no matter how (supposedly) profound and insightful Al's story may be.
6	* DuelingWorks: Enforced by Marvel[='=]s ''U-Decide'' campaign, which pitted this up against ''ComicBook/UltimateAdventures'' by Ron Zimmerman and Creator/PeterDavid[='=]s run of ComicBook/{{Captain Marvel\|MarvelComics}}. To say that ''Marville'' lost would be an '''understatement''' -- it was on the receiving end of a CurbStompBattle from David's book both commercially and critically, and while not as drastic, ''Ultimate Adventures'' also did better in the critical department. Neither book is considered a classic, but ''Marville'' bombed rather terribly. Although one could make the argument that it was a runner-up, since people at least '''remember''' ''Marville'', even if it's just because of how bad it is.
7	* NoBudget: Rumor has it that Jemas had almost no funding by #3, resulting in such shortcuts as ''printing the script on the pages'' instead of lettering.
8	* ReferencedBy: In the only time another Marvel title remembered this one exists, [[https://preview.redd.it/50u60knwh5wy.jpg?width=640&crop=smart&auto=webp&s=6d2daddc92597c6d158ef6ba176337073091c3bb Kal-AOL rejected a proposal to join the]] Comicbook/GreatLakesAvengers.
9	* WhatCouldHaveBeen: [[https://tombrevoort.substack.com/i/72799652/a-comic-book-on-sale-years-ago-today-september According to longtime Marvel editor Tom Brevoort]], ''Marville'' was almost a new [[ComicBook/CaptainMarvelMarvelComics Captain Marvel]] series. After Peter David criticized Marvel raising prices on their comics, Jemas initially intended to remove David from Captain Marvel and take over writing the series himself with a new iteration of the character. After being talked down from that, Jemas reworked the draft for the first issue of this idea into ''Marville'' for the U-Decide contest.

Context Trivia / Marville