Your Man Talks to Tom Brevoort

The king of Wakanda calls him friend. He's a welcome guest at Avengers Mansion. Hulk and Thor have his back. His name is Tom Brevoort -- and as many people quickly will tell you, he's one of the best editors (if not the best) in the entire comic-book industry. With change and excitement swirling throughout the House, Tom put down his Avengers Identicard -- through which he was jawin' to Jarvis -- and talked to me about how he found himself working with some of the greatest characters in comics...and where they're all headed in 2001.

YM@M: With your grasp of Marvel history, I'd assume you're a longtime comics reader. How long have you been reading comics, and what were your favorite books before you got here?

Tom: I've been reading comics since 1973, though I didn't really become a Marvel reader until a few years later. The earliest Marvel books I read disturbed me in unpleasant ways. My favorite comic-book series is the Stan Lee/Jack Kirby FANTASTIC FOUR run, and my favorite superhero is the Flash. (Shhh! Don't tell Stan.)

YM@M: So how'd you get into the House, and what was your path to your current position?

Tom: I started out as a college intern in the summer of 1989, working for the editorial offices of Bob Budiansky, Craig Anderson and Gregory Wright. Somebody must have liked me, because I was hired on as an assistant editor in December of 1989 in Bob B's area: the special-projects department. We did all manner of stuff that wasn't traditional comics: movie adaptations and posters and trading cards and so forth, as well as working with licensees on action figures and plastic PVC figures and assorted other merchandise. We did manage to squeeze in the occasional comic-book project, such as the DEATHLOK bookshelf limited series and the MARVEL MASTERWORKS hardcovers.

Within a year, I had been promoted to managing editor -- and sometime thereafter to editor. Along the way, I've edited such titles as DEATHLOK, NEW WARRIORS, UNTOLD TALES OF SPIDER-MAN, THE OFFICIAL HANDBOOK TO THE MARVEL UNIVERSE, VENOM, GHOST RIDER, GREEN GOBLIN, UNLIMITED ACCESS, BLAZE OF GLORY, MARVEL UNIVERSE and a multitude of others. I also contributed to such legendary turkeys as NIGHTCAT and NFL SUPERPRO, though only as a lowly assistant editor.

YM@M: A fine pedigree, indeed. So, Tom, there's been much talk regarding the changes brought on by new EIC Joe Quesada. Has all the activity affected you?

Tom: Well, we hold a lot more meetings in girlie bars these days...

For the most part, I was left alone to do my thing under Bob Harras -- and that continues to be the case under Joe. Joe's got a somewhat different take on a lot of things than Bob had, but it hasn't really impacted on me in a major way. I do have a new title: senior editor -- which is like senior citizen, only editorially.

YM@M: Congrats! But given the impressive list of titles you edit, I can see how that happened. Have you always wanted to work with the "varsity" heroes -- such as the Avengers, Thor, Captain America and Iron Man?

Tom: Not specifically, although I certainly like the core of the Marvel Universe and seem to have a decent enough grasp on how to make these books work. But I like all kinds of comics. That's why I always leap at the chance to do things like the MARVELS COMICS or HEROES REBORN: DOOMSDAY or BLAZE OF GLORY -- where I can try out different things, different approaches. The book I always really wanted to edit was FANTASTIC FOUR. But that said, I'm quite happy with the titles I'm working on at the moment.

YM@M: People are buzzing about Alan Davis' arrival on AVENGERS. How will his addition change the title, and what does Kurt Busiek have planned?

Tom: The simplest way it's going to change things in AVENGERS is that Alan's got a different approach to telling a story than George (Perez) had. He breaks down a page in a completely different manner -- still a classic storyteller, but with a totally different style.

What Kurt did do when faced with the artistic switchover was use it as an opportunity to re-examine the way in which we'd been approaching working on AVENGERS and sort of reinvent it from the ground up. We looked at it as reconceptualizing the series as though it had been created today rather than many years ago.

The watchword of this new AVENGERS will be "chaos." There's going to be a lot going on -- both in the sheer number and magnitude of the threats involved, and in the interactions of the characters. We'll have a different structure to the standing Avengers team as well, which'll permit us to involve a host of different characters on a regular basis. We'll be structuring the book more along the lines of how THUNDERBOLTS worked during its first year or two -- where different story threads overlapped, and you were never really quite certain where anything was going to end up.

We've got a major long-term storyline in the works that'll only be hinted at in Alan's first issue, but which'll play out over the coming year -- to AVENGERS #50 and beyond. And to make things even nicer, the powers-that-be have decided to knock the cover price of Alan's first issue, #38, down to $1.99 as part of the new "Slashback" program.

YM@M: Another big addition to the Marvel Universe is the reformation of the Defenders. How does this group compare to the Avengers, another team that Kurt writes?

Tom: AVENGERS is about the varsity, about the A-team of heroes that everybody turns to in times of trouble. They're the comforting heroes at the center of the Marvel Universe. DEFENDERS, on the other hand, is about a bunch of monsters and malcontents -- banded together out of necessity, even though they'd rather not share the same space at all. These guys are scary and unsettling to the average denizen of the Marvel U.

What DEFENDERS was always lacking back in its heyday, to my mind, was a core concept that worked. Relatively quickly into the run -- while they still bandied the non-team notion around -- the group had a headquarters, a firm roster and regular meetings. The non-team core concept, in other words, was a sham. And what you were left with was a second-tier Avengers, a team of B-heroes. Our DEFENDERS series changes that. There's a premise at its core that Erik (Larsen) and Kurt came up with that'll drive the series for a good long time and justify why these guys who don't really like each other much at all seem to regularly get together to punch no-goodniks in the nose. It'll also be quirky and funny and odd and disturbing. DEFENDERS has a much broader range in terms of acceptable story material than AVENGERS seems to, and we'll be pushing those boundaries every month.

YM@M: Sounds like big fun. Speaking of big, Thor and the Hulk are two of Marvel's strongest heroes. What's it like controlling their destinies? And what's on the horizon for these two bruisers?

Tom: Thor fans and Hulk fans are the two most single-mindedly loyal and intense camps of fans I've yet encountered. They're demanding about what they want and will quickly tell you when they think you've fouled up. It's tough to please them, honestly -- but we'll keep trying.

In THOR, the next thing we've got up is our 100-Page Monster issue, #32. I absolutely love this format, so I hope people will keep coming out and supporting it so I can do more. And Thor fans should be pretty happy about the contents -- with stories pulled from the Stan (Lee) and Jack (Kirby) days, the (Roy) Thomas and (John) Buscema era, and the Walt Simonson run included in the package. And the new story by (Dan) Jurgens and (Andy) Kubert isn't half bad either. After that, we'll segue into the introduction of the already-controversial Thor Girl, featuring stunning guest artwork by Stuart Immonen. Just the glimpse of the cover shown in Previews and online has the message boards lighting up, so just wait'll the actual issue comes out! And to follow that up, we'll move toward a double-sized dust-up between Thor and a certain red-caped alien in our 35th issue.

The big news in HULK, of course, is the imminent arrival of artist John Romita Jr. And we're slashing back the price of his first issue, #24, to $1.99. This'll be the first half of a two-part story culminating in the most over-the-top brawl ever between the Hulk and his opposite number, the Abomination. We've heard some fans complain that the Hulk hasn't really been depicted as the ultimate engine of destruction lately. Well, issue #25 will correct that impression in spades! Following that, Paul Jenkins plans to follow up on the whereabouts of the Devil Hulk that was released from the recesses of Bruce Banner's mind at the end of #20. And of course, Banner's physical condition will continue to deteriorate as his ALS progresses toward its final, terminal stages.

A Thor/Hulk battle has also been talked about every now and again as a possibility, so stay tuned!

YM@M: CAPTAIN MARVEL, BLACK PANTHER and THUNDERBOLTS seem to generate critical praise every month. What do people like about these titles, and what do you have planned that you think they'll like in 2001?

Tom: The connecting element inherent in these three series is that they've each got a strong, distinctive voice. They're unique -- different in tone or style or content from everything else that's being published. That's why people who like them feel so strongly about them, I suspect.

CAPTAIN MARVEL will continue to combine high adventure with broad comedy, and there are a couple of sucker gut punches coming up for unsuspecting readers who think they've got the series pegged. Peter (David) loves to weave back and forth from comedy to tragedy and back again. And since #11 with its Mar-Vell storyline went over so well, we've invited Jim Starlin and Al Milgrom to come back for two more issues -- #17 and #18 -- which'll spotlight a confrontation between Genis and Thanos, and will guest-star Thor. But before then, we've got the Microns, Drax, the Psycho-Man and the secret of the Comic Book Castle.

BLACK PANTHER's a series I'd like to get more of a spotlight on. It seems like people tried the book when it was first starting out two years ago and then somehow jumped off along the way. With that in mind, we've put together the current "Sturm Und Drang" arc to almost dare them to come back and check us out again. The Panther will be forced to go head-to-head with such diverse parties as Doctor Doom, Namor and Magneto -- and their respective nations. There's high adventure, international intrigue, wacky hijinx and illicit romance -- something for everyone!

And fear not, THUNDERBOLTS readers -- there is a plan. And you'll find out what it's been as we zoom toward our big 50th issue -- an issue that will change everything, much as #12 and #21 and #35 changed everything in the past. I can't say too much without revealing some of the book's trademark secrets, but I will say that we'll reveal the true identity and motivations of Scourge before #50 arrives, and things'll hit the fan from there. We'll also be launching a separate T-Bolts-related limited series out of the events in that same issue.

YM@M: Keeping on the T-Bolt thread: With Mark Bagley knocking people's socks off on ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN, I hear there will be an artistic change coming to THUNDERBOLTS. What's the scoop there?

Tom: Mark's going to be leaving THUNDERBOLTS as of #50. He's done four years of tremendous service on the book, but now he wants to devote some time to sleeping and eating and shooting pool. Mark's been juggling two titles for a number of months now, what with his work on ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN; it's been a grueling workload. So we wish him well, the lazy git.

Coming on board as the new regular THUNDERBOLTS penciler as of #51 will be Patrick Zircher. Patrick's already pitched in on #45, and he'll also be filling in on #49 due to a back injury that Bags sustained. You may have also seen Pat's work on IRON MAN: THE IRON AGE, NEW WARRIORS, Nightwing, Superman and CAPTAIN MARVEL. Pat'll bring a new energy to the book as we move beyond the changes #50 will bring -- and he'll get to draw Captain America in his first issue, as well!

YM@M: Are there any current characters or creators you'd love to work with that you haven't already?

Tom: There are plenty, almost too many to name. But I'm knocking the list down each and every month.

YM@M: Fill in the blanks: If I could pick from any Marvel characters and creators throughout time, I would love to edit _____, written by _____, penciled by _____ and inked by _____.

Tom: I'm almost more inclined to pick some crummier era, where my involvement might have done some good. Because let's face it, Stan and Jack didn't need me to do great comics. I'm more interested in putting together the great team of tomorrow, finding the great character of tomorrow. So those would-be writers and artists out there can imagine their own names in the spaces above. Hey, it could happen!

YM@M: All right, settle the debate once and for all. Each packing a classic lineup, who would win in a fight: the Avengers or the JLA?

Tom: Seriously, I don't think they'd fight. These are not stupid characters. They're the best each side has to offer. It's almost a strain on credibility to suppose that they could be manipulated into taking each other for villains or whatnot and going at it. So I expect they'd team up.

That having been said, my money would be on the Avengers for a simple reason: They work as a team. Fans often debate this issue by comparing statistics -- "Well, Flash is faster than Quicksilver, but Iron Man is stronger than Green Lantern..." -- but that's not the way an actual battle would be fought at all. These guys aren't going to line up in nice, neat rows and tussle one by one. Given that circumstance, the JLA is a league -- a professional society. They work together, but they're not a team in the truest sense. Given the current power levels of the characters involved, I expect that superior teamwork would give the Avengers the advantage.

YM@M: You got that right! I'm glad someone as smart as you is controlling all of these butt-whumpin' heroes!

My Man,
Hey, I've got a few questions for you:
1. Is there any chance of you telling me what's up for THOR in the next couple months?
2. Is there any chance of a Thor vs. Magneto fight in the future, 'cause that would be good!

I dig numbered questions, Lee -- so here goes:
1. This month, the god of thunder has his hands full with Malekith, the dark elf, and Pentigarr, the frozen emissary of winter. In December, Odin's No. 1 son encounters both Kurse and the 100-Page Monster. January will see the mysterious appearance of a golden-haired, helmet-wearing, hammer-wielding character who is neither Thor nor Beta-Ray Bill. And in February, our Norse butt-kicker takes on a guy who wears a red-and-blue costume with a triangle on his chest!
2. That would be a cool battle! I wonder, would Magneto's power over magnetism affect Thor's Uru hammer? Or would Mjolner's magical enchantments cancel out Magnus' control?