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Perhaps it is inevitable in all work environments that have many people. You have so many different types of people together, all with their own backgrounds, opinions, and minds, you have to expect a clash to happen sooner or later. But, when it happens early on in the life of a group, it can be fatal to the organization.
Through the last half of March, Marvel X suffered through what perhaps could be described as a character building event. Maybe more of a baptism by fire for its new writers and first time Editor-In-Chief, Eric Moreels.
The details of how the debate began is lost in the infinity of the web, but the results threatened to shake Marvel X to its roots. The debate caused rage and tears, and, ultimately, Marvel X without two of its writers and Eric having to temporarily become in charge of their planned Outside the X branch, a lofty goal to start series for more than just X-titles from the Marvel universe.
But, now, folks are concerned about not only the future of OtX, but Marvel X as a whole. HEROES caught up with EiC Eric Moreels to find out what he thinks.
Jason Kenney: Was there a point during the arguments that you feared for the future of Marvel X?
Eric Moreels: I suppose I did at some point - mainly because Marvel-X is something that I've devoted a great deal of time and effort to, and it's also something I dearly love doing, but thanks to the support of many of my fellow writers and editors we've managed to move past the arguments and bickering, and get back to what we're all here for - writing fan fic and having fun :)
JK: Do you think this was a necessary evil for MX to go through? Do you think the results of this will be good, bad, or indifferent?
EM: I suppose you could say it was inevitable that something like this would happen - whenever you've got a group of people with such vastly different ages, as well as social and cultural backgrounds, there's bound to be some friction involved. Overall, I think the results have been indifferent - it's sad that some writers felt the need to pack up and leave, but it's good that as a whole we as a group have managed to put this behind us and get "back to business" so to speak.
JK: What events happened to start the whole debate?
EM: Put it down to a clash of personalities. I won't go into details as we've gone past that now.
JK: Looking back on it, is there anything you all think you could have done to solve the problem before it escalated to the flame war it became?
EM: I wouldn't go so far as to call it a flame war. One thing you should know is that a lot of us are new to fan fiction, myself included, and I'm definitely new to being an Editor-In-Chief. I tried my best to contain the situation, but again, a clash of personalities is a hard thing to control. I dare say every fan fic group has gone through something like this at some stage - but the good fan fic groups are the ones that can move past it and keep on going.
JK: If any of the writers who quit asked to come back, would you let them?
EM: Sure - I'm not one to hold grudges. I just want to write fan fic and share the experience with others, but at the same time I do want to ensure that it's a well organized fan fic group, and so not everyone can get their own way all the time.
JK: What was your opinion of those who left and what was your reaction to their quitting?
EM: I was sad to see them go, but they felt the need to leave and so I couldn't really stop them once they had their mind set on it.
JK: One of the writers who quit was the editor of your upcoming Outside the X branch. Are you planning on continuing with the project?
EM: Definately - Outside The X was born out of the desire of several Marvel-X writers who wanted to write their favourite, non-mutant characters. Even though the original editor has left, Outside The X is still continuing with a new editor and we have writers onboard for Amazing Spider-Man, Blade, Fantastic Four, and Thunderbolts, so far.
JK: Are you worried about the effects of the writer starting up his own OtX-ish group? Do you think this will affect MX in any way?
EM: There are many other fan fic groups out there that do the style of monthly titles - in fact, Marvel-X was created as a homage of sorts to MV1 - one of the longest running fan fic groups. The new group will be one more group helping to promote fan fiction, and giving new writers a forum to express their creativity
JK: What all do you have planned for OtX and who's going to head it up?
EM: Outside The X is an imprint that deals with the non-mutant titles. Marvel-X started after the "Hunt For Xavier" crossover, and took the idea that all the titles were cancelled, and the X-books became the core focus of the universe. But what of the non-mutant heroes? That's where Outside The X comes into the picture.
JK: So, Marvel X is going to survive?
EM: It will as long as we have people who want to see it survive. And thankfully, we have several such people, both writers and editors, that are in the Marvel-X group that want to see it's continued success. I consider myself honoured that they all share my dream of seeing Marvel-X become the best, most organized, and fun fan fic group around :)
Ultimately, Eric "just [wanted] to assure people MX is continuing - I have no intention of folding it all up when we've still got a great bunch of people writing great fan fic stories, and having fun doing it :)"
Marvel X seems to have survived it's first of many hurdles that face a fanfic group. Only time will tell how they fare with the others.
NOTE: As of this posting, MX had found an editor to head up OtX and moved their mailing list form ListBot to Onelist to better handle future mailing list problems.
