Ready to have you day ruined? In a lengthy chat with Comic Book Resources, The Ultimates co-creator has talked more about his decision to leave Marvel, dropping some upsetting revelations in the process. Not only was an Ultimate Captain America series he was working on scrapped (artwork from which can be found at the bottom of the page), but then Editor-in-Chief Joe Quesada decided not to give him and Joss Whedon (yes, the same Joss Whedon responsible for Astonishing X-Men and a little movie you may have heard of called The Avengers) the go ahead on a Spider-Man run. Reading between the lines, it sounds as if Hitch joins a VERY long list of creators who no longer have any interest in working for the publisher due to the way they have been treated. Read his comments for yourself here, but be sure to click on the link below to check out the interview in full.
"It wasn't intended to be my "swan song" either, really. My then current contract expired at the end of 2011 and whilst drawing "Ultron," I'd also been writing a six-part "Ultimate Captain America" series I'd started drawing. It was fully written, and I was drawing the first issue in the gaps between Ultron scripts coming in. "Ultron" sort of kept expanding, and I was never wholly sure of what the full scope was as I was never involved in any planning or plotting for it. We knew I had time for about five issues before my deal expired, and I was happy to extend a short while to complete the series if it ran to six or maybe seven issues, as seemed possible. It was politely indicated to me that it wouldn't be necessary and thank you for the work, and so, as planned, off I went to the heady world of creator owned and "AGP."
"Despite Marvel coming to me and asking for the Cap series, rather than my pitching it to them, it was constantly being sidelined and eventually dropped to my disappointment. Since "Ultimates" ended, I'd been less and less involved in a collaborative process at Marvel. They now had their various brains-trusts, architects or whatever the gang was calling themselves, and that was what led their creative process. It seemed a very closed shop and not what it was like when I signed up to do "Ultimates" at all. I felt like they wanted an illustrator not a creator, and that was very frustrating to me. I'd submitted several proposals for various series, getting nowhere; Cap was dropped, and I didn't even feel involved in the story I was working on. It really felt like I wasn't contributing the way I wanted to be."
"There was a short scene with Spidey in the second issue I LOVED but then, my one regret at Marvel is that I didn't get to do a good run on Spidey. It was discussed a few times, with Joey Q turning down a Spidey book from me and Joss Whedon. I know, right?"
"Obviously the work I did there over more than ten years is a true high point in my career and, in looking at the Marvel movies, clearly influential, but I guess there's a time when you feel like you don't know anybody at the party anymore or nobody's laughing at your jokes and it's time to call a cab. Possibly, had I known the Ultron series was longer than the five issues I'd originally thought and if I hadn't had the Cap book pulled from under me, I may never have considered moving on, but stuff changes I guess. I don't want any of this to sound anything other than light, frothy and pleasant though. There's no regret or bitterness, far from it. There's always things one could have done differently or better but I had an amazing time and got play with a lot of company toys, and it made my career in the best way possible. Now in going forward I feel like I have some incredible opportunities I might otherwise not have had."