Marvel Comics: Editors-in-Chief,
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The top dog editor position evolved sporadically. In the earliest years, the company had a single editor overseeing the entire line of comics. As the company grew, it became increasingly common for individual titles to be overseen separately.
The concept of the writer/editor evolved, stemming from when Lee wrote and managed most of the line's output. Then as Marvel Comics moved into the 1970s a series of chief editors were used to oversee the line. Editor titles though, were used intermittently. Confusing matters further, some appear to have been appointed merely by extending their existing editorial duties. By the time Jim Shooter took the post in 1978, the position of editor-in-chief was clearly defined.
In 1994, Marvel briefly abolished the editor-in-chief position, replacing Tom DeFalco with five "group editors", though each held the title "editor-in-chief" and had some editors underneath them. Marvel-Comics reinstated the overall editor-in-chief position later in the year, installing Bob Harras. This position has been kept, with its responsibilities, within the corporate structure to this day.
Although, Stan Lee has always been the most remembered name as a controlling writer/editor, here is a list of those who have held that coveted position over the years. Anybody you recognize here?
- Joe Simon (1939-1941)
- Stan Lee (1941-1942)
- Vincent Fago (acting editor during Stan Lee's military service) (1942-1945)
- Stan Lee (1945-1972)
- Roy Thomas (1972-1974)
- Len Wein (1974-1975)
- Marv Wolfman (B&W magazines 1974-1975, entire line 1975-1976)
- Gerry Conway (1976)
- Archie Goodwin (1976-1978)
- Jim Shooter (1978-1987)
- Tom DeFalco (1987-1994)
- No overall editor-in-chief (1994-1995)
- Bob Harras (1995-2000)
- Joe Quesada (2000-)
To see what Marvel is up to today, you can visit their official site at
Marvel Comics
. There also looks to be quite a varied assortment of all things Marvel at Amazon that may tickle your taste buds. Just click on the image at the left. If you have the interest, there may even be some biographies of all or some of Marvel Comics editors-in-chief. Don’t stay too long though, and come back here.
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Dave Gieber