Over on Marvel's website, Tom Brevoort responded to JB's challenge to Marvel by saying that JB should (I'm paraphrasing here) "get off of his butt and do work for Marvel or other major comic book company's". He said some other things in his blog in response to JB's challenge. You guys can find his comments at www.marvel.com in Brevoort's blog column

Wow.

My take on it...

" Sorry, just couldn’t let this one go by without a response, since it’s such a desperate cry for attention."

So a guy posts a thread on his own board and it's a desperate cry for attention? Really? How so ? I mean if this was a Newsarama editorial or something I could understand this interpretation but a thread that appears ONLY on a privately owned message board is supposed to pass for vain exhibitionism motivated by bitterness ?

And where'd "desperate" come from? Desperate for what? A fight? A platform to spew/preach from? Is JB desperate for love like the blue meany from Yellow Submarine ? What's the real accusation here? What indicates the presence of desperation here in this thread or the opening post? Does criticism necessarily spring from desperation? Don't people ever just naturally realize that they do not like  something and then say so?  Is Mr. Brevoort reduced to taunting for his response ? Why shouldn't he sign on HERE and respond, or just send Mr. Byrne a private communication like an e-mail? Why use the open letter on a blog post/call out approach ?

It's like ....Byyyyyrrrnnee. Coooome Ouuut and PLAAYEEEAAAYYY!!! (excpet Mr. Brevoort never made the metaphorical trip to Coney Island). He blogged it.

Also there seems to be an element of a "magnanimous" pretense of mercy here. It's as if normally JB's challenge would not deserve a response in the gleaming hallowed anals of Mr Brevoort's blog, but because it's obvious that the poor devil is hurting SO BADLY, and is so in need of intervention well...kindly Mr. Brevoort is going to make an exception this ONE TIME and hold out his hand across the whirling abyss to stop all the hurting for Mr Byrne if he'll only swallow his pride, look inside himself, and TAKE that hand. Because that's the kind of awesome gleaming chivalrous knight in argent that Mr Brevoort is.

After the icebreaker sets the tone of irritated mercy humbling itself to answer the piercing infant-like cries of supposedly envious desperation, we get to read some follow up naughty naughty wappage  via an assertion that JB is ignorant of what's currently  going on in Marvel comics and therefore unable to appropriately criticize it."  There is also a bit of  he did it too back in the day so he's some kind of a hypocrite now " tacked on. This potent blend of ethos oriented polemicsim is slightly softened by a but maybe he's all better now placed right on the end. Of course the problem according to the Byrne/Marvel challenge is that ^^***** is STILL doing this kind of stuff NOW almost nonstop like it was a really good thing or even the very best possible thing.

Next Mr Brevoorts sensibly proceeds to the armchair psychoanalysis proclaiming  Mr. Bryne to be "envious" of the people and the company he has dared to challenge. Mr. Brevoort takes the liberty of restoring the M, and redeeming one of the asterisks in ^^***** to  so that his version looks like M****l, suggesting that he is perhaps not himself incredibly up on recent events at the JBF. But I guess that kind of thing is okay, because the right to criticize something you are not intimately familiar with exists only in those who remain working for ^^*****.

Mr. Brevoort next employs the famous shit or get off the pot tactic and barely bothers to disguise it as a generous invitation back to "the game".

He derides Mr Byrne for " casting aspersions from afar." Perhaps Mr Brevoort has concluded that ^^***** is now entirely beyond the scope of ANY outsider criticism. After all they do have an upcoming Iron Patriot storyline to sell and who's to say how THAT will turn out? If you don't know how it turns out, then how can you not like what's happening at ^^*****? Hmmmm? It is a conundrum.

He says that Mr. Bryne is somehow obligated to either quit complaining or "lead by example".  I don't know, he may be right. I've never properly understood the complex labyrinthine particulars of triple-dog-dares myself. Perhaps there is something to this. Or not. Of course I am struck by the thought that anyone truly looking for leadership or input might be more considerate of the advice contained within the challenge that began this thread.

Mr Brevoort seems to contemptuously all but poop on the IDW books and FX as disapointingly small pertaters and then apparently decides that JB is clearly not happy doing what he's doing right now and cannot conceal this fact. Indeed, I get the impression from Mr Brevoort's blog,  that if JB WERE happy with what he was doing, then he might find his troubles with ^^***** suddenly melting away like a bad mood on a bright Sunday morning (like they were never really there! ).

Mr Brevoort tries to induce a smidgeon of shame by mentioning that Walt Simonson and George Perez are still "in the game" and suggest that if JB is not "in the game" then he really should not express any negative opinions about whatever ^^***** decides to publish (even on his own private message board). This seems to be something of a recurring theme in the blog post. People who are not wearing ^^***** flight rings should not express negative opinions. Only ^^***** can legitimately complain about ^^*****.

Then, Mr Brevoort says "Put up or shut up, John—show us how it’s done." and draws his blog post to a close. 

I guess Mr Brevoort didn't have enough free time to write any more of this healing salve/tough love into his blog post. And I understand that. He works at ^^***** and is probably very busy since there are so many great classic Marvel characters that need to be raped, killed, maimed, screwed up, complicated, Ultimatized, turned psycho, and fed to the zombies these days. Someone has to make the sausage.

But Mr Brevoort doesn't want us to worry. He concludes with, " More later."

So maybe JB gets one more chance. Just one more teensy little chance. Just one.

There is also a brief post script that says that he is not really on Twitter, and that the account there with his name is really a Mr. Steve Wacker who is using it to cause trouble and play tricks.

The whole post reads like a bunch of rules that JB should follow if he expects to ever be invited to Mr Brevoort's birthday party that will have a clown, ice cream cake, and pony rides. 

In the text of this new Magna Carta, Mr. Brevoort made no real mention or direct response to any of the actual terms of the challenge, other than to voice his lack of appreciation that they were ever posted on a private message board (and reported on by weird comics journalism types as news on the internet) in the first place.

I think that's kind of a shame. It would have been nice to hear what Mr. Brevoort thinks about the constructive criticism contained in the challenge post.

Instead, it seems to want to pound the table and possibly measure dicks if that doesn't work.

QUOTE: What arrogance.

That's cute!  Aren't you the one, in this very thread, that called someone a waste of breath and accused someone else of having bad taste?  I bet Brevoort reads YOUR posts and thinks you're JB's bitch, just like you accuse him of wanting JB to be THEIR bitch.  Maybe you should let the person to whom the blog is directed comment on it first.