I have to chuckle when I see how steamed my colleagues get when responding to Bill Jemas's constant needling.  Guys -- the real IQ test is this: how many times are we gonna bite when he baits us?

I view Bill Jemas much the same way as I view a naughty child: he's funny sometimes and a pain sometimes and you just have to accept the bad with the good.  I love what he's done with Marvel's standing as a now-viable company, but Jemas and Quesada are now playing a silly game of good cop (Quesada)/bad cop (Jemas), and we keep falling for it.  Let me attempt to shed some light on what I really think is going on in the House of Ideas: Jemas is an adherent of the Oscar Wilde school of thought on publicity -- 'The only thing worse than people talking about you is people NOT talking about you.'  Jemas spouts off, gets a lot of press, the industry is all abuzz about Jemas's latest rantings, then in rides our White Knight, Joe Q, to smooth ruffled feathers -- and all the while, quietly re-building long-burned bridges with great creators in the background while Jemas keeps Marvel on everyone's lips.

Jemas's statements are intended to get us riled up, guys.  He's full of brag and swagger, just like a kid on a playground; or maybe, like a bear, just roaring to let the other animals know who's boss.  He's not evil -- like the bear is just being a bear when it causes mayhem searching for food, Jemas is just being Jemas, and doing what he knows how to do -- put the company he runs first and foremost on everyone's mind, and whether it's for the good or the bad, at least everyone is talking about Marvel and not DC or Image.

In my store, we just say, 'More Jemas' when our customers ask what we think of the current provocation.  We also order Marvel comics the same way as we always have: based on what we really think we'll sell for the new, untried books, and with an eye to the future (saving some for backstock) on the evergreens like Amazing Spider-Man and Uncanny X-Men.  Jemas is smart, but I'm just as smart -- I'd rather sell out of a Marvel book than go to backstock with 50 unsold copies of Marvel Mangaverse.  I recommend we all purchase Marvel books the way it makes sense business-wise, and allow our orders to catch up to demand naturally or procure additional copies of a hot book (fewer and farther between now than a year ago) from another friendly local dealer (a good reason to maintain friendly relations with your competitors).

Me and Namor?  I'll be ordering a bunch of the stunt-priced #1 and a few of the regular-priced #2.  And speaking of # 2... I'll just watch and see how that one sells or if the issue number says it all.  That's what my IQ tells me I should do.