The Incredible Hulk #181 in 1974 it is recognized as the comic in which Wolverine appeared in all his glory for the first time. Len Wein, Herb Trimpe and John Romita Sr. were credited as the character's authors, but former editor Roy Thomas will now be added to the list. A recognition that will become effective from the premiere of the character's next film, Wolverine & Deadpool.
Bobbie Chase, former editor-in-chief of Marvel, has revealed that she had a talk with Wein's widow and that they explained to her that the decision has been made, but few seem to agree.
“Recently, my friend and Len Wein's widow, Christine Valada, received a call from Marvel executive David Bogart, informing her that in the upcoming Wolverine & Deadpool movie (due out in July), Roy Thomas will now be credited as co-creator alongside to Len Wein and John Romita Sr., and David said it's a fait accompli. I was in Christine's kitchen last Sunday when she told me about the phone call. Of course, Christine is seriously concerned about Len's legacy. Len was profoundly important to the comics industry, and that legacy is being changed for the worse, six years after his death.”
The truth is that the controversy arises around What really was Thomas' contribution? to shape the character. The story suggests that the editor suggested both the name and the Canadian origin, but it was the aforementioned trio that was in charge of designing his appearance, costume, powers, personality and other characteristics. Chase did some personal research to shed light on the matter and his position is clear.
“I looked up The Punisher Wikipedia, and apparently Stan Lee takes credit for replacing Gerry Conway's name, The Assassin (inspired by the Executioner) with The Punisher (apparently Galactus had robots called Punishers in Fantastic Four #49) But even Stan never took credit for co-creating The Punisher – because editing, developing and guiding is the editor's job.”
Other important authors of The House of Ideas, such as Rob Liefeld or Mark Waid have been against this decision. “I immediately felt distressed and terribly upset,” says Liefeld, who has already had a chat with Valada. For his part, Waid assures that “one rule in comics: staff editors cannot claim co-creator credit on characters their writers and artists create for them. Throwing out suggestions and brainstorming is part of the editor's job. ” We'll see how this whole thing ends.
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