Blogs by Tom Brevoort

Tom Brevoort is an editor at Marvel who runs most of the main Hero books like The Avengers, Iron Man, Captain America and the like. He's also a guy I have been on discussion lists with, traded e-mails once in a blue moon, and think is a stand up editor who knows the history of comics but doesn't let it get in the way of doing new things. He is a HUGE Jack Kirby fan, and often helps out the reprint department at Marvel when it comes to the old Silver and Atomic Age stuff.

One thing he hasn't done well lately is communicate to fans the problems with the big crossover event "Civil War", and while I commend him for staying on a couple of message boards as people attack him for the delays and his explanation, I wonder if it's a good idea.

One of the things I am impressed with, and why I'm writing this as a blog entry, is that he has put together a simulation on what it's like to be an editor by having two fans work with him on a FICTIONAL (got to highlight that, since he says that one of the creators named thought it was real and was scared he was going to have to leave a book he was currently writing for one he knew nothing about) group of books and the problems therein.

It's fascinating to me because it shows all of the work going on behind the scenes to coordinate modern comics, as well as giving people an idea of what it's like to put things together. For comics fans, it's amazing reading, and for people who don't read comics, it gives a good idea of what it's like to balance creativity with market concerns.