60 MINUTES II to spotlight the popularity of Super Heroes

By: Jennifer H. Tomooka
Date: Wednesday, October 30, 2002
Source: Marvel Press Release

OK comic book fans (Marvel Comics fans in particular), set your VCR's for this one. The Wednesday, October 30th edition of 60 MINUTES II will feature a segment in which correspondent Bob Simon interviews Joe Quesada, Bill Jemas and Avi Arad on the increasing rise in popularity of super heroes and Marvel Enterprises. The episode focuses on the runaway success of the SPIDER-MAN movie and what impact it has had on Marvel's future, as well as the entire comic book industry.

"I remember watching 60 Minutes habitually with my father as a kid," says Quesada. "I used to watch how they would bust crooked businessmen and investigate corrupt world leaders. And I used to think to myself, 'Man, the last thing anyone wants to get is a call from 60 MINUTES saying we'd like to have a moment of your time.' This, of course, is different, and the greatest satisfaction to me -- outside of the fact that they're doing a piece on comic books -- is that I know that my dad will get to see it!"

Aside from Quesada's pride of having his father see him on TV, Quesada also wants to make sure that his time on the tube is not wasted. He has a specific message that he wants to get across.

"They interviewed me for hours, and I did a lot of talking about comics in general," Quesada continued. "One of the things that I told the producer that I wanted to get across was that this is a boom time for the entire industry. Yes, this is a boom time for Marvel, but there's some great stuff happening everywhere. It's the same speech I give whenever I'm on one of these shows: comic books are not just a kids medium."


The episode airs tonight at 8:00 pm (EST) on CBS.

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