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Bill Jemas to Return to Comics Publishing?

Bleeding Cool has heard that Bill Jemas is getting back into the comics industry. Apparently, he thinks the comics industry desperately needs something — and that thing, it appears, is him.

A former executive vice president of Marvel Comics, he entered the business through trading card company Fleer. Bill Jemas gained prominence in the nineties, kicking off the Ultimate line at Marvel and co-creating the Ultimate Spider-Man stories, hiring Joe Quesada as Editor-in-Chief and gaining a strong personality presence in the line.

Successfully helping to turn the comic book round after Marvel's bankruptcy, he is also credited for some of the wilder attempts at Marvel, a lettering-free month, a no-overship policy, the Marvel MAX line, killing the Comics Code, the Epic line, the panned comic book Marville as part of a grudge match with Marvel writer Peter David, and repeat examples of micromanaging. It was the existence of the comic book Fury from the MAX  line that killed a George Clooney Nick Fury movie that saw Jemas finally dropped, though now before profiting from the multi-multi-millions in Marvel share options to his name.

He was a founder of 360ep, a media management firm, which published a few comics such as Girlfriends with Slingshots. In 2012, Jemas announced the creation of an online comics venture, the Transverse Universe, alongside peace slogans printed on images of naked women and a new comic "Wake The F#CK Up", was released via Zenescope Comics with promotion from Kilgorian Tralfamadore. Then in 2013, Jemas joined Take-Two Interactive to start their comics line Double Take Comics, which after annoying some very powerful games licenses people, created a line of comics based on the public domain movie Night of the Living Dead. This would eventually become a post-zombie superhero comic book line. However, after Hot Topic returned every copy they were supplied, it closed in November 2016.

And now? He's back. With, as we understand it, a new publisher. Could San Diego Comic-Con be the place it launches? Not a clue, but it would be timely…

Bill Jemas to Return to Comics Publishing?
Photo by Luigi Novi.

Thanks to Matt for typo fix.


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Rich JohnstonAbout Rich Johnston

Founder of Bleeding Cool. The longest-serving digital news reporter in the world, since 1992. Author of The Flying Friar, Holed Up, The Avengefuls, Doctor Who: Room With A Deja Vu, The Many Murders Of Miss Cranbourne, Chase Variant. Lives in South-West London, works from Blacks on Dean Street, shops at Piranha Comics. Father of two. Political cartoonist.
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