The Walking Dead creator Robert Kirkman opens up about being “treated like crap” at Marvel

The Walking Dead creator Robert Kirkman is not holding back in the slightest bit when it comes to talking about his experience while working at Marvel. During an interview with ComicTropes, Kirkman recalls that he was “treated like crap” at Marvel, and was simply “not a good fit” at the company.

It’s always jarring to hear about the inner workings of big brand companies, and the individual experiences of those that work there. Not many are eager to share the negative experiences, but Robert Kirkman has no qualms about it. And if his experience was truly that bad, he shouldn’t have to hold back.

Between 2004-2010, Robert Kirkman worked at Marvel writing comics such as Marvel Zombies and The Irredeemable Ant-Man. But it was while writing for Ultimate X-Men that he recalls a particularly unpleasant experience. This was circa 2006-2008, in the days before Marvel was a part of the Disney family.

Kirkman butted heads with Marvel Comics editor-in-chief Joe Quesada, and from the sound of it, was quite the tumultuous experience, to say the least.

"It was very restrictive. I mean, I have a great relationship with [Marvel’s Executive Editor and Senior Vice President of Publishing] Tom Brevoort. I think he was a fantastic editor, I loved working with him. Joe Quesada and I do not get along. There were a lot of things that I got blamed for that didn’t really happen, and I would explain, ‘That’s not what I meant by that, what are you talking about?’ And then they’d get more mad at me."

Yikes, that doesn’t too pleasant now, does it? And to think, Robert Kirkman had already created The Walking Dead comics which would forever change the way we’d associate and think of zombies. The guy is clearly a creative genius so it is irksome to learn about his negative experiences at Marvel.

The meddling in Kirkman’s work at Marvel extended to even changing things without running it by him or getting his permission. That’s just straight-up improper etiquette if you’re asking me. I’m not a comic book writer, but I’d imagine that after all that work, you’d like people to run any edits by you.

"I’d be like, ‘Why would you put a word balloon on the cover of my book without telling me or running it by me or letting me write the dialogue? Or I don’t know, God forbid, letting me do the word balloon? Like, ‘This is a bad looking word balloon, I don’t like this dialogue, I would have taken my time to do this right. I don’t know why you guys just wouldn’t let me do this.’"

But wait, it gets worse, folks.

"It got to the point where they wouldn’t promote some of my books. Because some of my books were lower tier books, and there’s a marketing budget. It only makes sense to market the books that are going to make revenue as opposed to the books that are not going to make a lot of revenue. And that’s the other thing: I was completely realistic about my stature — or lack thereof — at Marvel while I was there."

But wait, I’m not done yet.

"You want me to just do these books and not try to sell them? I don’t understand. Look, the fact of the matter is, I was a self-publisher who had gone to work at Image, and Image is a very free environment. If you’ve done self-publishing, Image is the very best place to be because you’re capable of doing everything. So then I go to Marvel, I’m like, ‘I can do all this stuff, I’m willing to handle all this stuff, I’m willing to help out.’ And it just was not a good fit. They read that as arrogance. Like, ‘I’m better than them and I can do this.’ No, it’s just I care about the books, more than a lot of writers care about the books, I care about all aspects of the books."

It’s a shame to hear about Robert Kirkman’s turbulent relationship with Marvel, especially given the value he brought as a comic book writer. The guy had already created The Walking Dead, so clearly he had a lot to offer to the table.

Between creative differences and the disregard for his talents in the company, it comes as no shocker that Robert Kirkman looks back at his time with Marvel with distaste and disappointment.

But alls well that ends well because in July 2008, Kirkman left Marvel and became a partner at Image Comics. And the rest is history–The Walking Dead history, that is.

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h/t Comicbook.com