Beached Monster In Lawnguylen?

People are guessing it is some sort of viral marketing. Rich Lovatt suggested, via Twitter, that it's probably for Fringe. And that, folks, is "2 Degrees of Comic Book Relevance" I needed to justify putting this up as a blog. ;)

I'm With Marvel_b0y?

People have started claiming that the I'M WITH MARVEL BOY button is evidence that Marvel_b0y was their viral campaign. Kinda forgets that Marvel Boy is a character involved in Secret Invasion...

Confirmation That Jen Grunwald Is Marvel_b0y

Why is it that no one at Marvel appears willing to confess to and address the Marvel_b0y excessively shite-y viral marketing campaign?

Mr. Anonymous (no, Marvel didn't find out who he was and make him sleep with Namor) has found out that, for at least the Windows Live iteration, it definitely was Jen Grunwald. I contend that it was always her and done with the blessing of Bendis and others the whole time.

Ms. Grunwald is an admin at the Bendis boards. She'd definitely have had the power to idiotically reactivate and rename the Marvel_b0y account over on the Bendis boards. The horridly fake game of cat and mouse between her and Bendis the whole time clearly points to his being complicit in the whole deal. I've heard whispers of others at Marvel being involved in the process, but then they turned up on the MySpace viral campaign...so it might have just been crossed signals.

I'd really like to know why Marvel doesn't own up to their goof. Come clean and put it to rest. Someone should pose that question to Joe Quesada this week.

Can We Get The Consensus on Marvel_b0y's Status?

He stopped posting suddenly. Barely addressed any of the audience's many concerns about his legitimacy. Ended on the whimper of saying that RUN FATBOY RUN.

So...do we think now that he was definitely marketing and they didn't know how to wrap up the production?
Or maybe the silence is meant to build things up for him speaking out again as a viral marketing tool?
Was he just a bitter employee like he suggested?
Or something else?

I'll be running a poll on the front of the site to get what popular opinion is.

Much Better Than Marvel_b0y

I have to agree with the masses: THIS is the proper way to run a viral marketing campaign. Well...the proper method, but you do have to find a way to infect more people earlier on...

Why Marvel_b0y Is Viral Marketing Reason #19293

Anyone notice how I've been blogging Secret Invasion spoilers, starting with the ones that led MB to pull his blog off of LJ?

From the start, I said I'd pull it all down if someone official from Marvel so much as sent me an e-mail requesting it. I practically said, "mother, may I please have a C&D pdf?"

Have I gotten anything? Nope. Have I even gotten a comment from anyone purporting to be Marvel brass? Nope.

And it isn't because they have no legal grounds. I mean...they don't, really. But C&D's get sent out all the time to intimidate into complying with a request that has no legal basis for being demanded.

They've sent nothing...because it's all just a game. They've apparently decided that these spoilers getting run will be less damaging than anything that might develop from them asking me to stop.

That last spoiler is coming. I'm not telling you an exact time. Keep checking throughout the day.

*SPOILERS* How I Know Marvel_b0y Is Viral Marketing (aka More Mr. Anonymous)

Update: People are linking to this blog to say that Mr. Anonymous says Marvel_b0y is viral marketing. He says no such thing. I believe that his information reinforces my stance that Marvel_b0y is a plant, but it isn't meant to represent his opinion at all.


So...Marvel_b0y is back for all of an hour and my source hits me back up again.

[01:01] Mr. Anonymous: he's back?
[01:06] SchwappOnline: Apparently so. But now he doesn't allow anonymous comments. Which is why I think even more that this is a Marvel run viral marketing campaign.
[01:07] SchwappOnline: You have to sign in with a Microsoft ID...making you a lot more trackable, IMO.
[01:07] Mr. Anonymous: yeah
[01:08] Mr. Anonymous: i apparently had one without knowing it
[01:09] SchwappOnline: don't we all?
[01:09] Mr. Anonymous: I guess if you have an Xbox, you automatically get one
[01:10] Mr. Anonymous: i'll keep that in mind and refrain from posting there again
[01:11] SchwappOnline: No hurt feelings if you decide to try to find a way to get comments in over there, but I'm still here when you need me
[01:11] Mr. Anonymous: i dont want to feed his ego
[01:11] Mr. Anonymous: or give marvel my IP
[01:11] Mr. Anonymous: depending on whether it's viral marketing or not
[01:12] Mr. Anonymous: here's the thing
[01:12] Mr. Anonymous: the 70's heroes aren't coming back
[01:12] SchwappOnline: LOL...really???
[01:12] SchwappOnline: that's just an April Fool's Joke?
[01:13] Mr. Anonymous: I guess
[01:13] Mr. Anonymous: it's misinformation
[01:13] Mr. Anonymous: marvel certainly wants the readers to think that the 70's heroes are back
[01:14] SchwappOnline: I hate to ask again...but...may I?
[01:14] Mr. Anonymous: Secret Invasion #1 opens with a Skrull ship crashing in the Savage Land
[01:14] Mr. Anonymous: yeah, these are more spoilers for #1
[01:14] SchwappOnline: so...I can go with the SI 1 spoilers and the 70s aren't returning?
[01:15] Mr. Anonymous: oh yes
[01:15] Mr. Anonymous: anything to discredit m_b
[01:15] Mr. Anonymous: assuming he's real
[01:15] SchwappOnline: gotcha
[01:16] Mr. Anonymous: so the skrull ship crashes in the savage land
[01:16] Mr. Anonymous: both teams of Avengers rush to get there
[01:16] Mr. Anonymous: Luke's team steals a Quinjet
[01:16] Mr. Anonymous: Tony's team follows
[01:16] Mr. Anonymous: so by the end of the issue, they've surrounded the ship
[01:17] Mr. Anonymous: they accuse eachother of being Skrulls
[01:17] Mr. Anonymous: meanwhile, Skrull-Jarvis uploads the computer virus
[01:18] Mr. Anonymous: and Iron Man has a seizure
[01:18] Mr. Anonymous: Luke Cage opens up the door to the ship
[01:18] Mr. Anonymous: and all the heroes stand in awe of...
[01:18] Mr. Anonymous: Page 33- 35
Double page spread
1- Wide across both pages. And 3/4's down. Close to full figure.
Out of the hatch comes an amazing group of marvel heroes circa the 1970's. In the glory of their Retro costume designs and younger days.
They come out, not to attack, but looking around. Wincing at the sunlight. Not sure where they are or how they got here.
Original Phoenix, Spidey with web pits, Iron Man with the nose armor, Luke Cage in satin shirt and tiara, original Ms. Marvel, Jewel, original Vision, classic Hawkeye, blue furry Beast, Sue Storm, original Wonder-man design, Mockingbird. Captain America, evil Emma Frost, and Wolverine in the Hulk 181 costume.

[01:19] Mr. Anonymous: Classic LukE Cage
Sweet Christmas!!
Classic Ms. MARVEL
Is this it??

Did we make it back to earth?
Classic Beast
Oh my stars and garters!!
Classic Spidey
Yeah, I was just about to say that... cuz...

I know who I am...
2- Wide across the bottom of the spread. The New Avengers have backed up to gather with the Mighty Avengers. United in their mouth opened shock.
The modern, darker, dirty versions of all the characters stare at their more innocent version of themselves in shock.
Classic SpiDEY
(off panel))
But who are you guys supposed to be exactly?

[01:20] SchwappOnline: Oh...so then the 70s characters do sort of return...but they could all be fakes meant to create doubt.
[01:20] Mr. Anonymous: yeah
[01:20] Mr. Anonymous: of the 70's heroes, the only one I think is real is Mockingbird
[01:21] Mr. Anonymous: the rest I'm 90% sure are really Skrulls
[01:21] Mr. Anonymous: for example, the "evil" Emma Frost
[01:22] Mr. Anonymous: she HAS to be a Skrull because Ellis is using her in his Astonishing X-Men run
[01:22] Mr. Anonymous: It's all a swerve

So...it seems like Marvel_b0y is just playing up the stuff Marvel wants you to think and get excited about in anticipation of Secret Invasion #1. Otherwise, he'd put it into a little more perspective than that.

Of course, Marvel_b0y could be legit and Mr. Anonymous could just be feeding me stuff to make people doubt him. Either way, Marvel winds up having engaged in dishonest viral marketing. But I'm partial to my source, whether I sink or swim. ;)

*SPOILERS* Updated: The Comment That Toppled Viral "Marvel_b0y"

Many people have come to the conclusion that Marvel_b0y was nothing but a viral marketing campaign. I won't go into a lot of the different ways people have come to this conclusion. Only one is really important:

As soon as any seriously spoil-y spoilers appeared (from an anonymous commenter instead of the blog author), the LiveJournal got deleted.

Right after pledging to be around for a long time. I completely missed the comment that appeared, but CBR poster diana_fan pointed it out to me after the fact.

And what were those comments? According to a friend who saw them before the blog imploded:

• Skrull Hank Pym shoots Reed
• Skrull Captain Marvel blows open Thunderbolts Mountain
• Skrull Jarvis has something that makes all Iron Man shit not work
• Skrull posing as Sue Richards (but not Sue herself) goes into the Baxter Building and sends it in the Negative Zone
• Skrull busts open the Raft and the villains escape including Dr. Doom
• Last page is the Skrull armada landing on Earth

Now, I don't work at Marvel and never have. I'm not in possession of any of Marvel's products. I'm just reporting information culled from what was likely their viral marketing blog that they lost control of. I welcome a cease & desist PDF, but I really don't know what grounds it would stand on. But if anyone officially contacts me regarding it, I'll pull it down. That will stand to confirm that the whole Marvel_b0y thing was a stupid viral marketing campaign, of course.

Update: I hear that Marvel is going out of their mind to take down spoilers revealed in the last comment before deletion of the Marvel_b0y LJ, but I haven't heard so much as a boo from them. I stand by my word: anyone official asks me to pull it down and away it will go.