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I had pitched an idea to, then editor, Andy Schmidt a few years back (in 2005) that he really loved. Months and months went by and nothing came of it. We'd touch base every few weeks and he'd tell me how much he and Tom Brevoort loved it but it just didn't "fit" right now in the Marvel U as it was. Ended up dragging on for a good two years without much progress...
Long story short, a very similar title at Marvel came out last year to what I pitched them. When I saw it, it was like being punched in the stomach! I asked about it. Andy assured me that it was a coincidence and nothing more! But he admitted that he had not yet read the new title yet. He said he'd read it that weekend and call me on Monday. Monday rolled around and Andy called and said, "I see what you mean." Then he offered me a gig on MCP. Said he was going to call me that week anyway to offer me the job.
I took it. With the understanding that I was still supposed to write the story I pitched a couple years prior (even though I saw no way of doing this) and that it could co-exist with this other title as an "offshoot" of sorts. So I plodded forward with an extremely tight deadline looming. I had to keep changing it a little here and there, of course, as it was "too close" to this other title now, until it pretty much became a watered down version of what I first intended it to be.
With just weeks before issue #1 was to hit the stands Andy Schmidt then quit Marvel and John Barber took over as the editor on MCP. I was assured that nothing would change, however, with my gig on MCP. The next day John called and told me that my story "wouldn't work" and asked "what else I had"? And could I get them to him in 24 hours as the deadline for MCP #1 was coming quick! So I scrambled and threw him a handful of other ideas I had on the desktop.
Next day he calls and says he likes a few of them but "Thor's sewn up" and "Cap's sewn up" and "the X-Men are sewn up." Then he asks me what I think of the new Guardian character? I was pretty exasperated/dumbfounded/confused/befuddled at this point, let me tell you (and that's the "G" version). He asked if I could throw him a pitch for the new Guardian and could I do that quick. The deadline and all. Looming.
So I did. I worked through the night on it and sent it out. He liked it. We managed to make all the deadlines but it was very, very rough at the start. Tensions ran a bit high.
By the time I was into the third or fourth installment things had settled in and I got into a comfortable groove. All things considered, I think I did a pretty darn good job on the run. It was just recently the only storyline from the twelve-issue run of MCP that was collected into a trade paperback. And re-reading it now I must admit to being very proud of the story.
Like I said, "challenging."
