I don't know how many of you might recall this, but...as Civil War was unfolding...an apparent mole at Marvel was revealing many secrets of the mini-series before they hit the stands.
Its Spider-Man that gets unmasked in Civil War. He does it willingly on live TV. Thor comes back as a clone/cyborg created by Richards and Stark and Sue leaves the FF with Black Panther and Storm filling in for her and a mortally wounded Human Torch. And Namor's still a prick.09-26-2006)
Discuss amongest yourselves.
What's up with the lack of Spoilers? Civil War is in full force and you aren't dropping hints on anything.He hits Blog@Newsarama to drop a hint:
Like, who's gonna be on the new Fantastic Four?
Will Tony and Reed be able to control their Clone Thor?
Is it true that the Winter Soldier will be wearing Cap's costume when this is all said and done?
What's up with the mutants leaving the mansion, and how does the world's first mutant play into that?
Who is Hulk bringing back with him when he comes back in World War Hulk?
Is everyone's favorite scottish writer really taking over after whedon leaves the house that Xavier built?
And most importantly, how much is Marvel paying you to keep your mouth shut? Inquiring minds want to know.
In January 2007, he shares the following on a CBR thread:Tigra’s a double agent. Wait, I mean….Spider-man unmasks on TV. No, what I meant to say is that Punisher kills two v-, no, no, actually Cap is really le-, ah forget it.
Comment by The Painted Doll — December 13, 2006
That Amazon review is bogus.So...the question remains...who is THE PAINTED DOLL? A Marvel staffer? A Marvel writer? Rich Johnston, alluding to being paid off in some manner for not reporting it himself, but still getting the info out there? All one knows for sure is that this person had amazing resources or contact within Marvel editorial and appears to have been a fan of Alan Moore/Promethea.
Cap gives up in issue 7. During the big super hero slugfest (which ends in the streets of NY), civilians jump to Iron Man's defense, making Cap realize the error of his ways. CW ends with his ass in jail. As for what makes them kiss and make up.....go reread the end of Watchmen for your answer to that question.
Toddles.
Maybe they are still out there?
Posts
I doubt it was Rich Johnston, he'd probably do it in a much more subtle way like his "Elektra Is A Skrull".
ReplyDeleteI'd bet it was a lowish level staffer who happened to see a page with a checklist or bullet points of what was going to happen. It all pretty much flew under my radar to be honest until Johnston mentioned it in his column. If you really wanted to then you could probably check their IP address to get a location.
I'd need to have access to their IP. But there are proxy servers that could mask that, anyway.
ReplyDeleteI don't think a low level staffer would have had as much access to plans that far out, though. Painted Doll knew about Secret Invasion more than a year before it is set to come out.
Just so you know, no, I don't post comics gossip under pseudonyms, it's self defeating. And I don't get paid off by publishers.
ReplyDeleteI looked into this a while back and consensus was someone who was at a specific Marvel writers summit. My best guess? Someone from Wizard who was fired.
Rich Johnston
Sorry, Rich...that was meant to be tongue-in-cheek while recognizing that you're the only person known for getting such scoops out there.
ReplyDeleteMy opinion leaned more towards a starting-to-get-bitter JMS, but you're probably right in your pick.
I'd still like to know the definitive answer to this mystery, though.
Whatever your opinion of him, I cannot believe that JMS would spoil other people's stories.
ReplyDeleteIt isn't that I have a low opinion of JMS at all. I can just see reason to be bitter enough to make such an error in judgement, especially since no one initially would have taken him seriously. Most people dismissed The Painted Doll's spoilers until long after they were revealed to have merit.
ReplyDeleteBut like I said...you're probably more accurate with your guess than I am.