HOUSE OF B: AN INTERVIEW WITH TOM BREVOORT

[Alex Groff]

<a href="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/previews/marvel/0505/GLA002.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/previews/marvel/0505/GLA002_T.jpg" align=left alt="GLA #2"></a> by Patrick James, ComiX-Fan Staff Writer

How do you make yourself invaluable to any company? Do the work of two or three of your peers, and you may be on the Tom Brevoort approach to business. With an impressive 28 titles falling under his editorial reign, this is a man with plenty of stories on his mind, and the right sense of how to convey each in just the right way. All that, and he’s still got time to tell you how to succeed yourself, plus dish on New Avengers, Spider-Man projects, House of M and more.

ComiX-Fan: So, to start, let’s get those unfamiliar with who you are a brief run-down of all the books you edit for Marvel. And just for grins, let’s include mini-series as well as ongoings.

Tom Brevoort: I, along with associate editor Andy Schmidt and assistant editors Molly Lazer and Stephanie Moore, am currently working on New Avengers, Stormbreaker, Fantastic Four, Iron Man, Captain America, The Pulse, Spider-Girl, Spectacular Spider-Man, Young Avengers, Captain America & the Falcon, Secret War, Rogue, Excalibur, Livewires, Spider-Man & Human Torch, She-Hulk, Great Lakes Avengers, Marvel Team-Up, House of M, Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, New Thunderbolts Hulk, Defenders, Fantastic Four: Foes, New Invaders, Spider-Man Unlimited, X-Men The End, Marvels: Eye of the Camera and a bunch of other stuff that nobody knows about yet.

CXF: How is Marvels: Eye of the Camera coming along? Do we have a tentative release date yet?

TB: It's progressing just fine, but we're still a long ways away from a release date. We'd all like to avoid a situation where one or two issues come out and then fans are waiting months or years for the rest of the series, so especially since it's a sort of timeless story, being set entirely in the past, we can afford to take things slow and release it when it's ready to go.

CXF: You broke into Marvel by interning and basically working your duff off. What advice would you give to someone new to the industry that is interested in editing comics these days?

<a href="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/previews/marvel/0505/NEWAVN007.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/previews/marvel/0505/NEWAVN007_T.jpg" align=right alt="New Avengers #7"></a>TB: To break in under any discipline, you need to have three things: Talent, Perseverance and Luck. Without all three, you won't make it, and you can't really control the last one. So the best thing to do is to learn as much about your chosen profession as you can, try to circulate and make contacts with people in the business without making a pain of yourself, and then wait for an opportunity to present itself and don't drop the ball when it does. Don't be resistant to constructive criticism and keep your ego in check. And don't feel that any opportunity to practice your craft is somehow beneath you--you never know what's going to open a door.

CXF: How far in advance do most writers give you plots for upcoming stories for approval?

TB: Depends on what you mean by plots. If you mean the actual written scripts, it depends on the writer and the title. Right now, I've got scripts from Brian up through New Avengers #7, for example. If you're talking about plots in terms of loose breakdowns of future issues, then Brian's got at least up through issue #25 figured out, though stuff may shift or slide around as other factors come into play--events happening in other books, new ideas that might come up, etc. It's different for everybody and every book.

CXF: You’ve openly stated in interviews and posts here in your forum that Avengers Disassembled and New Avengers were ideas you were opposed to at the outset. How are things turning around for you now that we’re a few issues into “the future?”

TB: As I've said before, things are fine. New Avengers is a really good book, and it's getting a terrific response despite all of the controversy surrounding it.

CXF: Do you hope to eventually see a traditional team of Avengers Re-Assembled?

TB: Again, not especially. Given enough time, it'll probably happen at some point, but I do feel like we sometimes end up going backwards just as fast as we move forwards. So I'm not really counting the days until we can reassemble the Avengers of last year--that'd be somewhat self-defeating.

<a href="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/previews/marvel/0505/EXCAL014.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/previews/marvel/0505/EXCAL014_T.jpg" align=left alt="Excalibur #14"></a>CXF: What is going to happen to the old Avengers mainstays who don’t have their own books? I mean, we know where Scarlet Witch ended up, but what about other long-time Avengers?

TB: You'll see some of them in House of M.

CXF: Why are there X-Titles in your roster these days? Rogue, Excalibur, X-Men The End…does this have something to do with House of M, maybe? Or just branching out?

TB: X-Men The End wound up with me mainly because I'm the guy who came up with the The End concept, so I've wound up doing most of the projects. Rogue and Excalibur slid over with Stephanie during a recent personnel realignment--she was directly editing those titles under Mike Marts, so they came with her. Mike's still involved with them to some degree, but now so am I.

CXF: To back-track a little, how did a project like Great Lakes Avengers come up?

TB: GLA is, in some ways, my buy-off for the hassles of Disassembled--needing to scrap existing plans, and pull things together on short notice. With all the shake-ups in Avengers, the timing seemed right. And there's more to it than most people who are expecting a light, fluffy "Can't Believe It's Not Justice League" feel realize. Dan Slott regards the first issue as one of the most disturbed things he's ever written--this is the Arkham Asylum Dan Slott at the wheel, rather than the She-Hulk Dan Slott--and every issue comes complete with parental advisories from an anthropomorphic squirrel. And it's got a message, a point of view that it wants to get across. If it all comes together properly, it'll be one of the best things my office puts out in 2005.

CXF: How is Season 2 looking for She-Hulk? Do you predict higher sales?

TB: I don't know about higher sales, but it's certainly better than being axed at issue #12. Hopefully we'll be able to get more people to climb onboard. Dan and I sat down over lunch and brainstormed as many total whore-out moments as we could fit into the structure of the next batch of issues without ruining anything--so we're coming in with the strongest marketing game we could come up with.

CXF: Anyone from the Spider-Man Unlimited experience turn out to be Marvel gold?

<a href="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/previews/marvel/0505/FF527.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/previews/marvel/0505/FF527_T.jpg" align=right alt="Fantastic Four #527"></a>TB: I don't know about gold, but there were a number of good guys who've done stories for Spidey Unlimited. Certainly Robert Kirkman's done more Marvel stuff, as has Allan Jacobson. And there are folks like Scott Gimple that I'd like to find a place for. The trick, really, is that we're publishing a lot of stuff as it is, and so a lot of territory is already filled up on the landscape. And it can be tough to find a way to elevate a new writer to a self-sustaining level--look at how long it's taken poor Greg Pak.

CXF: After all the recent controversy surrounding J. Michael’s Straczynski’s Sins Past arc on Amazing Spider-Man, did you hesitate to put him on Marvel’s First Family? I mean, Fantastic Four contains some of your favorite stories ever and is historically one of Marvel’s most family-friendly books.

TB: Fans keep asking me this sort of thing, and I really think it's kind of a moronic question, and one that says more about our readership than anything. JMS has written more well-received comic books than most, including an outstanding run on Amazing Spider-Man that even the folks who didn't really care for it had to admit was well-constructed and well-presented. Same goes for Supreme Power, and Rising Stars, and so forth--not to mention Babylon 5, widely considered among the two or three best shows ever in its genre. And yet, JMS writes one story that people don't like, and suddenly he's some sort of crazy risk, a talentless hack, a guy people feel no confidence in, a guy that people with not even a fraction of his talent feel comfortable slamming, as though this is somehow clever and they're the first person to think of it.

I expect JMS to bring his strong humanitarian vision of speculative futurism to his run on FF, along with all the hallmarks of his writing that have been in evidence for the last two decades. And sure, Sins Past wasn't to my tastes especially, but no writer ever produces nothing but hits--even the giants of our industry have done books that do nothing for me.

This isn't science. It's art, it's entertainment, it's alchemy. There's not a specific recipe for a successful comic book, and nobody's ever going to bat 1000.

<a href="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/previews/marvel/0505/CAPA007.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/previews/marvel/0505/CAPA007_T.jpg" align=left alt="Captain America #7"></a>CXF: True enough, and it’s unfair of us to expect them to. Now, Mark Waid said last fall that he and Wieringo decided together it was time to move on to another project. Was that project always Spider-Man?

TB: Yes.

CXF: And is this the title that will replace Spectacular Spider-Man after Jenkins exits?

TB: Eventually, yes. The new book starts after House of M, mainly to give us some run-up time so we can get ahead. During House of M, there's another Spidey project that'll be filling the gap.

CXF: Is the Spider-Man mini during House of M an oft-rumored mini-series drawn by fan-favorite Salvador Larroca?

TB: I don't know how oft-rumored it is, but yes, Salva's going to be illustrating the Spidey House of M project.

CXF: Are you sad to see Waid and Wieringo depart Fantastic Four?

TB: Absolutely. And yet, it feels like it's about the right time. We produced about three years worth of issues once you factor in the double-shipping, and I'd rather bring things to a close while people are still liking the book rather than trying to keep it going and not being able to maintain the level of quality. But it's been my favorite title to work on--so hopefully that energy will translate over to the new Spidey book.

CXF: Who is your favorite artist in your stable right now? And in that vein, who’s the biggest “undiscovered” talent in your art roster?

TB: I don't know that I can narrow it down to one artist, as I have a very strong stable of talent right now. How could you choose between, say, Mike Wieringo and Steve Epting? Their approaches come from different places, but they're both wildly successful at what they do. And again, I don't know that any of my guys are "undiscovered", but I'd bet that you're about to see Jim Cheung's stock go up, and Andrea Di Vito is only going to continue to build up a following.

<a href="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/previews/marvel/0505/STORMB005.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/previews/marvel/0505/STORMB005_T.jpg" align=right alt="Stormbreaker #5"></a>CXF: After having such success on Thor and now working on Stormbreaker together, do you have plans to keep Michael Avon Oeming around as a writing talent?

TB: Yes. In fact, we just got final on his next project this past Friday. So you'll hear about it once we get closer.

CXF: Can you give fans the update on the Thor relaunch and where that stands now that Millar has backed away to do other things?

TB: As I understand it, Millar hasn't backed away from it, merely put it aside for the moment in order to focus on his Ultimate FF run. But he's still going to be writing the new Thor series.

CXF: Fair enough. Young Avengers does seem a little testosterone heavy, even more so than New Avengers. Any chance we'll be getting a Waspite or some other female cast member in the future?

<a href="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/previews/marvel/0505/YNGAVN004.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/previews/marvel/0505/YNGAVN004_T.jpg" align=left alt="Young Avengers #4"></a>TB: There are definitely female cast members in the offing, as you'll see over the next few issues.

CXF: One last one, then I promise I’m done. It seems that the premises of Marvel comic books are beginning to reflect television’s flair for reality programming. I mean, both New Warriors and Hercules have been promised to fans with similar premises involving heroes as stars of reality TV shows. Is this a trend Marvel is trying to start, or a strange coincidence?

TB: I think Marvel books have always reflected the popular culture. You can see it clearly with characters like Luke Cage, who clearly grew out of blaxploitation films, Ghost Rider, who was a by-product of the biker movement, or Iron Fist, who came out of the Kung Fu craze. This is no different. Marvel titles tend to reflect the times in which they were made.

CXF: I suppose you’re right. Well, that’s all we’ve time for, but feel free to stop by Tom Brevoort’s forum here any day you like and ask him any of the important questions I’ve missed.

[Captain America]

Tom's the man. This House of M seems to get bigger every day though, can't promise I'll buy everything tying into it. Kind of excited about it, yet terrified simultaneously.

Anyway, Captain America's a great title coming out of Mr. B's office, I'd highly recommend tracking down the first three issues to anyone who hasn't checked it out. New Avengers has been alright for me, if not world-shattering...hopefully it'll all pay off over the next few issues.

I've been waiting for Eye of the Camera to come out for, at last count, 74 years.

[Patriot]

Originally Posted by Drew Shirley

I've been waiting for Eye of the Camera to come out for, at last count, 74 years.

What is it?

[Jonny Demonic]

I wonder what else Spidey's gonna do during the House of M?

[Captain America]

Originally Posted by Patriot

What is it?

The long-awaited sequel of sorts to MARVELS, which was written by Kurt Busiek and painted by Alex Ross. The sequel has a different artist on board, and was originally meant to be released to coincide with the 10th Anniversary of Marvels last year.

[LordofDreams]

I would have to agree about what he said with reguards to JMS. I was a little worried about him taking over FF when I first heard the news, but his AMS run is truly amazing, and a great work reguardless of the one blister story arc.

[Ken Boehm]

But still, one bad story like say, Susan actually cheating on Reed with Namor, can ruin any writer's run. And we all know how comic creators can never have couples be content with one another.

This was one of the better interviews, because Tom actually said some meaningful stuff.

I wish there was more information regarding Allan Jacobsen doing some more Marvel work. The man should be the go to guy for Golden Age stories.

As far as Eye of the Camera, I thought it was an April's Fools joke, to be honest. Haven't heard anything about it for the past year. If only the let Mark Bagley paint the book *drool*

[James Groves]

Excellent interview.

Great stuff.

My one comment about JMS's Sins Past storyline though, is that readers now know he has the potential to unearth a storyline like that one. Yes--no writer writes a complete blanket of superb Watchmen-esque or DKR-esque storylines. But readers now know what COULD be in store for the F4, as opposed to just warrantless specualtion. (Hey, that's good or bad depending on how u viewed Sins Past).

As for Supreme Power--thats Excellent. And Rising Stars is pretty good too.

[Patrick James]

Originally Posted by Ken Boehm

This was one of the better interviews, because Tom actually said some meaningful stuff.

I wish there was more information regarding Allan Jacobsen doing some more Marvel work. The man should be the go to guy for Golden Age stories.

Originally Posted by James Groves

Excellent interview.

Great stuff.

Aw, thanks for the kind words, guys. I'm very proud of this interview, and very pleased that Tom was as candid and honest with me as he was.

As for Allan Jacobsen, sadly, that news hadn't broken by the time this interview was wrapped, so that was a missed opportunity. However, I feel like the interview does well enough and perhaps we'll talk to Jacobsen himself sometime about his situation with Marvel.

[Chris Day]

Originally Posted by Alex Groff

CXF: Can you give fans the update on the Thor relaunch and where that stands now that Millar has backed away to do other things?

TB: As I understand it, Millar hasn't backed away from it, merely put it aside for the moment in order to focus on his Ultimate FF run. But he's still going to be writing the new Thor series.

Millar is relaunching Thor?

oh *#@%&!#&$!!!

i would have preferred Michael Avon Oeming to stay on as the writer of Thor, his Ragnarok story was great

[dreamer]

patrick, as a fellow loyal fan i am surprised that you've left out asking about a very important and cool comic book that Mr.B edits ; the New Thunderbolts .

Let me ask a commentary about it:

The most recent attempt at telling the stories of these bunch of villians with possibly good intentions haven't beenreceived as enthusiasticaly as it was first launched at the end of 90s. Couple of issues in, we can see that the sales slid even below the levels of the mini-series that featured the team against avengers, published last year. Is this series troubled once again? Why do you think it settled down below the point of interest that some other books under your supervision receive? Or id you never expected it to become a smashing break-through coming out of Reassembled? What possible attempt are you planning to drive some attention to the book? Are we going to see some key development and connection to the House of M? What about some major figures appearing both from the previous Thunderbolts run or the old Avengers team?


Here is a question about Spider-girl:

Recently David Gabriel has told the fans that there would be a new and hyped up mini series set in the MC-2 Universe (the one that spider-girl and many other second generation heroes and heroins inhabit) titled "Last Hero Standing", but he also told us that there is still some time for an official announcement. Would you please spoil us a little bit more? Will you be editing that mini as well? Who will be the creative team? what should we expect from this mini?


Here comes a Hulk question:

I would personaly congradulate on the fabilous return of Peter David on the title. We recently learned that his 6 month run was extended till the end of the year. I would have liked to learn what particularly promted you (the editorial) to make that decision. Was it based on the fan reaction or was the return of PAD a greater success economically, than you have expected? Also would you share with us what should we expect from the title after the Tempest Fugit wraps up? Are there any big plans past #83? Any House of M ties, or Hulk facing of againt the New Avengers?


Another book edited by Big Mr. B:

I am really pleased to learn about a new New Defenders series coming up. How is it proceeding at this point? And I also wonder if it would be in anyway tied with what is currently going on in Marvel Universe, or will it have a more "timeless" feel to it?

I think taht's about all. I'm sorry if I have gone to far by practically drafting a pirot interview after the real one, but from what I have followed from his borad here at comiXfan, Tom Brevoort is one of the kindest people that you can find in the industry and he spares the time to respond to any and every question directed at him. (which is alot more than anybody should expect from him) So I would be very happy if he did comment on these titles that were not asked about in the actual interview.

I could have posted it in his regular board, but i thought the readers of this article at the top of the front page deserved to see him comment on these too, if he ever does.

Yours sincerely
dreamer

[Jerry Smith]

Mr. Brevoort said about fan opinions, “JMS writes one story that people don't like, and suddenly he's some sort of crazy risk, a talentless hack, a guy people feel no confidence in.”

A hack? No, it’s worse. JMS actually believes his “Sins Past” story was good writing, and rejects all fan criticism. A guy people feel no confidence in? Yes. I have no confidence in him to understand or respect the characters he writes. It’s not that he wrote one story no one liked (although his track record on AMAZING is a bit spotty), it’s the story he wrote. He completely misunderstood the characters he was writing, and ruined a perfectly good, long-dead character for no reason. It’s true that I just don’t trust him. I’m scared to death for him to take over FF—will Sue have an abortion now? Will Johnny come out of the closet? Will Reed sink into alcoholism? Will Ben begin to murder people? Why should I have to worry about my childhood heroes doing these things? Because JMS has demonstrated that he does not understand the characters he writes. For non-mainstream books, he’s fine. I enjoyed RISING STARS and SUPREME POWER, among others. But on books like those he can do anything he wants. Not on SPIDER-MAN and FF. I don’t want him ruining any more characters, and I truthfully dread him taking over any mainstream comic as regular writer.

[StarJammer]

Originally Posted by Jerry Smith

Mr. Brevoort said about fan opinions, “JMS writes one story that people don't like, and suddenly he's some sort of crazy risk, a talentless hack, a guy people feel no confidence in.”

A hack? No, it’s worse. JMS actually believes his “Sins Past” story was good writing, and rejects all fan criticism. A guy people feel no confidence in? Yes. I have no confidence in him to understand or respect the characters he writes. It’s not that he wrote one story no one liked (although his track record on AMAZING is a bit spotty), it’s the story he wrote. He completely misunderstood the characters he was writing, and ruined a perfectly good, long-dead character for no reason. It’s true that I just don’t trust him. I’m scared to death for him to take over FF—will Sue have an abortion now? Will Johnny come out of the closet? Will Reed sink into alcoholism? Will Ben begin to murder people? Why should I have to worry about my childhood heroes doing these things? Because JMS has demonstrated that he does not understand the characters he writes. For non-mainstream books, he’s fine. I enjoyed RISING STARS and SUPREME POWER, among others. But on books like those he can do anything he wants. Not on SPIDER-MAN and FF. I don’t want him ruining any more characters, and I truthfully dread him taking over any mainstream comic as regular writer.

I don't think the problem with JMS is that he does'nt understand the mainstream characters he's working on. On the contrary, I think he understands the characters all to well. The problem with JMS (and many comic writers currently working at the Big 2) is that he either can't or refuse to accept the way these characters have been consistantly portrayed over the years. He can't or refuse to accept that Gwen Stacy was "perfect". He can't or refuses to accept the traditional trappings found in comics that were originally created for kids. In short, JMS is a symbol of everything that's wrong with he current comic book industry.

[dreamer]

hey everybody,

mr. brevoort has answered my questions at his q&a board.