Daniel McAbee of The Tangled Web in Spartanburg, South Carolina was prompted by our article on Matt Ragone's departure from Marvel (see 'Matt Ragone Ankles Mavrel') and Bill Rosemann's comment (see 'Bill Rosemann of Marvel on Ragone's Departure') to let us know that he thinks both of them are stand up guys:
I wanted to comment on both the sad news of Matt Ragone's departure from Marvel and on Bill Rosemann.
Matt Ragone was truly a credit to Marvel Comics during his tenure with the company. I had the opportunity to meet Matt several times at meetings and conventions over the years and I can say with no hesitation that there is no one at Marvel or any other publisher that I respect more. He was a gentleman and a consumate businessman throughout several 'unpleasant' years during Marvel's fall and subsequent bankruptcy.
When all of my copies of Amazing Spider-Man #32 were shorted and never arrived, Diamond could not give me ANY replacements. One call to Matt Ragone explaining the situation and 50+ copies were FedEx'ed to me FREE OF CHARGE directly from Matt's office at Marvel. Matt took the time to walk through and collect all the in-house copies he could find and they were on my doorstep the next day. Matt was a VP of Marketing at the time and this was NOT his job but he took it as his problem and helped us avoid a total nightmare. He also later the next day got me copies from Diamond. He is a great person and Marvel is the worse for losing him/letting him go.
I have likewise met Bill Rosemann and find that he is also of impeccable character. He always has time to chat and talk business but he also is a fan of comics and the medium. He didn't comment to me on Matt's departure when I spoke with him in Chicago but you could see the uneasiness on his face. Bill worked with Matt and I have seen the way they got along; they seemed like they were friends. I don't believe for a second that he took any joy in Matt's departure. Let's give the guy the credit that he deserves and let him be.
