Alexander Creed, a person they've mostly known through his works, actions, and business endeavors. Plus snippets acquired from a private investigator.
As it turns out, those were far from forming the whole picture. Far from it.
Through that supposedly harmless smile, that calculative gaze, and that foreboding offer... they really had to rethink what they think they knew of him.
That was quite the first contact, to say the least.
A real first impression that made quite an impact and an encounter that was sure to stick around.
Something that Stan Lee and Jim Shooter had to recall, over and over, as a string of events unfolded from there.
They've only come to notice it and it sure did continue to unravel, just as Alexander Creed said it would.
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On the block was a speculator boom. It was right under their noses and especially apparent when they looked at what was happening in the Comic-Con before them.
The crux of this boom is due to unfamiliars thinking that just any other comic book is worth something.
The consensus is that the boom started with titles such as DC's Crisis on Infinite Earths, Marvel's very own Secret Wars, and pretty much Creed Comics' popular offering.
All in all, these titles were huge hits and altogether redefined comic books. Growing the market, steadily and healthily.
These inevitably gained a lot of mainstream attention. Just the pouncers and the stream of new pop-up publishers were just the start of it.
A lot of news stories would always mention the worth of older comics like Action #1 or Detective Comics #27.
This, in turn, prompted people to start collecting successful books in hopes that they would gain worth over time.
This led to the practice of just about any comic book being collected, in hopes that they too would gain worth.
This was an interesting theory but had a huge flaw.
The old comics from the 30s and 40s were valuable due to their rarity. These were the type of comics donated to paper drives during World War II. Some of them even survived the great burnings and comic trashing.
So, a speculator market for stories of the current decade was interesting. However, little should have come of it, except that they themselves as publishers started pandering to it.
Stan Lee grimaced at it now while Shooter practically felt that he shot himself in both his feet.
As of current, Marvel is releasing variant covers. There were covers with gimmicks like holograms, die-cut, embossing, and foil stamps.
It wasn't just them, just about every other publisher would look for any excuse to launch a first issue.
Back issues were selling like crazy.
People were buying multiple copies of the same issue.
They even heard that those who only bought one copy of an issue for simple reading would be scolded. It is said that it will ruin its resale value and every freakin thing should be sealed in polybags.
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
Gosh. Stan and Shooter felt embarrassed already.
They looked at these speculators who were supposed to be making money.
And how were they doing that? Who were these speculators going to sell to?
They were actually just selling to other speculators. Not that much sales are even being made.
A flaw in their paradigm.
And the other flaw... oversaturation.
They themselves as the publishers were actually reprinting titles that were selling over a million copies an issue already.
The sight they're seeing this Comic-Con. Was this how this speculator boom was always meant to end?
Without a doubt, it was the killing blow.
The oversaturation from people ordering so much and the publisher meeting demand.
Speculators would try to sell them off and couldn’t because their target audience already had plenty of copies of their own.
And with that, it was high time that the speculator bubble went pop!
It was crazy to know that Alexander Creed actually expected this to happen. A boom-and-bust cycle, as he'd labeled it to be.
What's even crazier is that their Marvel is far too deep in trouble already!
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Of course, what unraveled next was something that Stan and Shooter didn't want to happen.
However... it was actually something that Alexander Creed warned them about.
His keyword was Duck.
If the grim news of this so-called speculator boom was bad enough, then the negative reception of Howard the Duck just made things worse.
"While it has its moments, Howard the Duck suffers from an uneven tone and mediocre performances." An already favorable consensus amidst generally unfavorable reviews.
Labeled as a stupid film. With a story that has no center; the duck is not likable, and the...special effects...are less impressive than a sparkler on a birthday cake.
Critics pretty much pan the movie as it was not enough of a comedy and that Howard should have been given either the Groucho Marx-like personality from his comic books or a fun Donald Duck-like persona.
A failed live-action shooting decision. Ultimately, hopeless.... a gargantuan production which produces a gargantuan headache.
Considering its $36 million budget and the mess of a final product, it truly was.
Lucasfilm promised The Mallard Who Fell to Earth; the result turned out to be more like Xanaduck...
Who'd have imagined that Howard T. Duck, the same web-footed wiseacre who conquered the incredible Space Turnip and the horrible Hellcow, might be done in by something even more ridiculous: Hollywood?
Marvel Comics planned to catch up to their rivals. Probably envious of DC's Superman and Creed's champion hits.
They even went as far as employing stars like Lea Thompson and Tim Robbins from Creed's film line-up.
Copy-pasting characters and altering them a bit may work in the comic book industry but it sure didn't translate well in motion picture.
In almost all accounts, it fell short.
Hence the fate of Marvel's pioneering stake in the cinema and movie business.
It was a mess.
Even Stan Lee and Jim Shooter can't deny it. But did it have to happen at the most inopportune time?
The problems just stacked up altogether.
Compounding into quite the concern that a representative, from their parent company, spasmed from knowing the details. Then, straight up suffered a stroke.
No joke but they literally saw it happen.
It had to be said that Cadence Industries is already facing liquidity issues already...
With these turn of events just piling on, Marvel's conclusion might as well be worst than they thought it would be.
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It had only been a week since meeting Alexander Creed face-to-face, however, the whole layout had already unraveled at a pace that was already hard to keep up.
It was too fast that old Stan Lee felt like he was much too old already.
"Jim, get ready to contact that little fellow." He said with forlorn. "To think that we really don't have much choice but to take up that offer of his."
"What about Cadence? What about the real Marvel decision-makers? The board members, presidents, and all." Shooter reminded. "I'm just the editor-in-chief and you're just an adviser, at most."
"Also, what about regulations, monopoly, and all that?"
"Monopoly schmopoly!" Stan Lee dismissed and reasoned. "You've seen that little guy up close. You've seen how calculative his eyes were."
"It's clear that he's mapped all of this out from the start. He didn't take the time to do all that for nothing."
"Geez, even Howard the Duck's failure was into taken account. Approaching only the two of us is probably just a part of it."
"Who's to say that the boy hadn't considered an issue like monopoly as well?"
Stan Lee grimaced and Shooter could only keep quiet.
Both of them wondering...
Just how far has Alexander Creed thought things through?
Then they thought about his offer.
That foreboding offer turned out to be true.
It truly was an offer that's quite hard to refuse.