On November 12, 2003, The Savannah College of Art & Design’s Sequential Art department hosted its annual Editor’s Day. In attendance were Chris Staros, Editor-in-Chief & Publisher, Top Shelf; Joey Cavalieri, Editor, DC Comics; and Jamie Rich, then Editor-in-Chief, Oni Press. During their visit to the college, they reviewed portfolios and offered real world advice to aspiring comics creators.
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As a child I remember watching The Adventures of Superman on TV, and whenever they showed the door to Perry White’s office withthe word “editor” on the name plate, I tried to figure out what an editor actually did. From what I saw on the show, they yelled a lot.
Thirty years later, half that time spent in the newspaper industry, I’ve come to understand an editor’s job better...but they still yell alot.
But in the world of comics, if you ask, you’re likely to get a different answer from each person. Illustrator Adam Hughes once said an editor’s job was to make xeroxes. One comics writer referred to his boss as a coach. It was explained to me thusly: Imagine three guys on a cross-country drive. The writer and artist may drive, but it’s up to the editor to give directions.
So there are good and bad interpretations of the job, but ultimately what we as readers see on the page has been under the guidance of the one individual, often with the longest track record of most of the people working on that particular title. It is often a thankless task dealing on a daily basis with creative personalities found in writers, pencillers, and inkers. Deadlines lurk around every corner.
“One of the toughest things to surmount as an editor is that everyone wants to know what’s so great about your opinion,” says Joey Cavalieri of DC Comics. It ultimately is based on experience in the industry, and the ability to recognize the potential for a truly unique and different story.
Cavalieri tells the story of working with Dylan Horrocks on a story for Bizarro. “He was working on a short story for me and it was sort of working and kind of not working,” he says. “So he sort of suggested another story, just off the top of his head, and it was a story about Mary Marvel and Supergirl just kind of talking over old times and having a latté and a chesecake in a restaurant somewhere and I said, ‘Get rid of this other thing, THIS is the story. This is great, do this one,’ and he said, ‘You’ve got to be kidding.’
The story was illustrated by Jessica Abel, and drew high praise. “The best part of this was to have Dylan doubt me,” Cavalieri continues, “and then after the book was published have him walk into a comic book store and have two other people, not knowing he was in the room, talking about this story and how much they liked it. It justified my phoney-baloney salary.”
One of the perks of editorship is the opportunity to travel to the various conventions, and meet the adoring fans, each with their own opinion on how to improve one title or another. Often this means wading through countless reviews of aspiring artists. “When we go to convention we take piles of stuff back and try to go thru them as quickly as possible to find what we’re looking for,” said Jamie Rich, former editor -in-chief at Oni Press.
Even so, an editor’s rejection need not be taken personally. When a story is rejected, it is the words that are rejected, not the person who wrote them. Despite how a good a story idea may be, that doesn’t automatically guarantee acceptance. ”Inappropriate is the word I would use,” says Cavalieri. “It’s great stuff, we just don’t have a place for it.”
“The editor’s job is to be that confidant and that second set of eyes for somebody,” adds Chris Staros, publisher of Top Shelf. “You can never trust your friends because they value your friendship more than being honest with you about how bad your story was. Ultimately, the editor’s job is to be very honest. Be diplomatic, but also defeat the illusions as to where the story should go.” •
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