Robserecaps Seven – episode 37 Sabotage!
by Joe
This was prime time for the start of my die hard comic fandom that would continue to this very day. I’m sure the Rob will get into it as this issue of Spider-Man was Todd McFarlane’s last before the start of Image Comics. As always, be sure to check out the episode for yourself! Also, I would be remiss to mention here, last week broke the seven episode streak of the Rob brining up the construction paper covers for Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight #1. Have we moved on completely? Let’s find out together!
- the Rob feels Marvel didn’t go with ‘Summer of X’ because it sounds too much like ‘SEX’
- the Rob beat boxes the opening to the Beastie Boys’ Sabotage
- the competitiveness between the Rob and Todd McFarlane fueled the comics industry for over ten years
- the Rob draws a FINE line between polybagged, polybagged with cards and multiple covers (good) and cover gimmicks like thermal ink, holograms *bad)
- the story of how Sabotage lines up with Mutant Genesis is full of “Kicks & Giggles”
- It is harder than you think to get the number one comic on the charts and the big two have their favorites they’ll spend two million dollars up front to make it happen
- The Rob tells a story about a conversation he had with an unnamed executive two years ago who wouldn’t take credit for a certain hire. This specific hire, also not named, was tired, was no longer doing peak sales, etc. Based on the impression, I’d guess it was Dan Didio
- the Rob’s royalty check off X-Force #1 was $900,000, it would have been more if he did the word balloons
- Whenever Todd ask you a question, he already knows the answer
- the impetuous for the Spider-Man/X-Force crossover was to take the teeth out of the Jim Lee X-Men launch
- the Rob hasn’t met any time travelers, but he has met many ‘hateful ogres’ who tell him he had nothing to do with Deadpool’s success
- the Rob states Deadpool was to be his version Spider-Man, someone without a face who would be faster to draw
- Bob Harris pushed back on releasing Sabotage before X-Men #1, so Todd suggested they go around him to Tom DeFalco, but Defalco said no as well
- The Rob is getting a bit more free and loose with swears, saying dick, shit (a TON) and ass in this episode alone
- Mashing up Todd and the Rob’s art in landscape for the ads gave them the idea to both issues in landscape (sideways)
- Little did the the Rob know, Todd was giving the same advice to someone else (unnamed) who got fired for doing exactly what the Rob was doing
- When Image was set to begin, an entire Marvel editorial contingent flew out to try and convince Jim Lee to stay, but not Todd and the Rob since they weren’t “mama’s number one”
- Changing Cable’s costume all the time was inspired by Gerry Conway drawing the Wasp in a different costume all the time
- the Rob calls Mike Carlin a “cry baby, man baby, temper tantrum throwing” editor from when the Ron did a sideways issue on Hawk & Dove (they were going to the Chaos Dimension, the Rob wanted to turn things sideways). Carlin thought the Rob was going behind his back while he was in Florida celebrating the launch of the Superboy TV show
- With all the people with swords in his books, the Rob was told exit wounds were OK but entry wounds were not, which was the last straw for Todd
- the Rob recommends getting the original, single issues (X-Force #3 & #4 and Spider-Man #16) of the crossover as the colors and printing on the collections are butchered, double page splash shots made single page, etc
*Please note* the thoughts and ideas in this post do not reflect those of my co-host, Todd. He doesn’t care about any of this.
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