Over the last 20 years Marvel Comics has gone through some incredible ups and downs, through it all they’ve been the leader in the comic industry and through all of the last 20 years, Tom Brevoort has been a part of it. From their issues in the late 90′s to becoming the sales giant they are today, to being a part of Disney, Tom talks about it all with us here…
Jef-Hey Tom, so you’ve been at Marvel 20 years now?
Tom- Yes, that’s right. Twenty years as of 12/27/09.
Jef-That’s amazing, Now you started as an Intern right?
Tom- Yes, but even before that, in the summer of 1989. I interned for three months, between June and August, working for three different editorial offices at the same time. And it was at the end of that year that I was hired by Marvel.
Jef-So what’s it like going from, what is pretty much the bottom of the ladder, an intern,
to being where you are now?
Tom- It’s like a twenty year journey, I guess. Certainly the business has changed and evolved in that time, and hopefully I’ve become better and more skillful at what I do. At the very least, I’m more experienced at it.
Jef- And I seem to remember you recently received a promotion as well…..
Tom- That’s correct, my title is now Vice President – Executive Editor. Which is a nice thing, but doesn’t materially change the kinds of things I’ll be involved in all that much.
Jef- Sounds cool though (Laughs), I was thinking about this the other day, you’ve been at Marvel through some amazing events. Through the 90′s there were events like Heroes Reborn in the 90′s, and then in the last decade you’ve had the major seven year arc with Secret War and Civil War, etc etc, all coming together now with Siege. What it’s like knowing that you’ve been a part of what may very well be some of the biggest stories in Marvels history?
Tom- Probably a lot different than it is for you to think about, as my experiences all relate more to what was going on in the offices than the vantage point from the outside would allow. So I don’t look on these stories or these periods with the same eyes as somebody who was just reading them, or as somebody whose earliest comic book memories might be in picking some of them up. It is strange, though–among out latest crop of interns we now have kids who were born while I was working at marvel, and who’ve never read a new Marvel comic that came out of a company that I wasn’t a part of.
Jef-How do the stories of today, compared to the work being done when you first started your career at Marvel?
Tom- I think that the overall quality of the writing is much higher now than it was when I started. Which isn’t to say that there weren’t good writers doing great work back then, but the level of sophistication and the complexity of both story ideas and emotional beats has grown in leaps and bounds since 1989, to the point where the average comic of that year would look horribly stilted and dated were we to put it out today. But that only stands to reason, doesn’t it? Things need to change and evolve and move on.
Jef-From the last ten years to the next ten years, what’s Marvel doing next?
Tom- More of the same, really. Telling compelling contemporary stories. You’ll likely see us continue to explore the options presented by the new digital formats that are being devised, more things like our Motion Comics and the Digital Comics Unlimited initiative.
Jef-From where you are now, are you more excited now about your job then you were 20 years ago?
Tom- I don’t know about more excited–it’s difficult to match that initial enthusiasm that comes with being hired at marvel in the first place. But yes, I’m still enthusiastic about what’s to come, and about the gig in general, and doing comics.
Jef- What’s it like working for one of if not the biggest name in comics for more then 2 decades?
Tom- The biggest name in comics, without question. Even when we were going through bankruptcy, we were still always that. I could say something pithy, but I think the best illustration I can give you is that, all of the people I’ve encountered who have left Marvel at one time or another would virtually to a man like to come back. It’s that sort of a place.
Jef-Now Marvel is a part of Disney, is this an exciting moment for you?
Tom- Absolutely. Disney’s an absolute powerhouse in the world of entertainment, and so we’re now going to have opportunities and in-roads into places it might have taken us years to reach otherwise.
Jef- How do you feel about Disney and Marvel compared to when WB and DC came together…
Tom-WB and DC have been together for years, going back into the late ’70s if I remember right. Unless you’re thinking of the period when AOL bought Time-Warner, which was more recent. But I think the difference is that, for the last two or three decades, it’s seemed like Time-Warner hasn’t quite known what to do with DC, other than skimming the top two or three properties off the top for an easy cash-stake.
It looks like that may be changing now that Marvel Studios and IRON MAN have shown the benefit inherent in even characters that wouldn’t be considered the absolute top-tier. Disney, on the other hand, purchased Marvel knowing exactly what they were getting, and in the hopes of being able to create great synergy out of the entirety of Marvel’s catalogue of characters. The success of IRON MAN and what Marvel Studios has been able to do has been an absolute game-changer in that industry.
Jef-So what’s the single best thing about working at marvel for all this time?
Tom- I get a bundle of free comics every month. Over twenty years, that adds up.
Jef-(Laughing) Now that sounds cool. So can you walk us through your life at Marvel the last 20 years?
Tom- Wow, big question. So I’ll answer it in broad, sweeping terms. I started as an intern in the summer of 1989, working for three editorial offices, those of Bob Budiansky, Greg Wright and Craig Anderson.
I was hired at the end of 1989 as an Assistant Editor in Bob Budiansky’s department, Special Projects. In those days, Special Projects tended to do anything that wasn’t a regular comic book, so we did a lot of movie adaptations, posters, licensing artwork, the Marvel Masterworks, all sorts of things. Eventually, we began the Marvel Trading Card line with Impel, and while working on that I was promoted to full editor.
After Marvel purchased Fleer and the Trading Cards became their own thing, I segued with Budiansky over to the Spider-Man titles, editing a bunch of stuff around the periphery of that line, most memorably UNTOLD TALES OF SPIDER-MAN.
After Bob Harras became Editor in Chief, during the Heroes Reborn experiment I started THUNDERBOLTS with Mark Bagley and Kurt Busiek, which in its way let to me editing AVENGERS when it came back under Kurt and George Perez. And I’ve edited AVENGERS ever since, through all of its ups and downs, transformations into NEW AVENGERS and back again, as well as a ton of other stuff.
Jef-So you’ve been around the titles, are there any moments that you’ll never forget from your time at Marvel?
Tom- There are all of the typical stories of meetings with Stan and so forth, and working with guys like John Romita or going to lunch with John Buscema. But the first thing that comes to my mind when you ask the question was a day back around 1991, when Sergio Aragones visited the Bullpen. This was back when Epic was publishing GROO, and so Sergio came in, did a lot of drawings for a lot of people, and chatting in that thick accent of his. I recall that, when somebody complimented him on the then-new character Rufferto (Groo’s dog), Sergio saying, “Rufferto ees mah dog’s name too. Hee’s name was Rufus–but, that was stuuuupid name.”
Jef- (Laughing) Ok, so at what point did you say, this is what I what to do with my
life?
Tom- I kind of knew that from before getting hired at Marvel. Working in comics was always something I was aiming at. Didn’t have to be Marvel, could have been DC or another smaller outfit, or just doing my own comics on the side, but this has been my focus since I was very young.
Jef-So, 20 more years?
Tom- Well, nobody gets to stay here forever, so I’ve been insanely
fortunate to have survived for as long as I have; eventually, that
string will run out. But sure, twenty more years, why not?
Jef-As always Tom, Thanks so much for talking with me, it’s always a pleasure.NC