WHAT DO EDITORS DO ANYWAY?
by Marc Deering.

In the latest in our series of looks at comic book editors, Marc Deering talks with Bob Schreck, Dan Raspler and Tim Truman and discovers that there's much more to the job than just signing rejection letters.

For those of you that surf the internet profusely or even read a lot of the online message boards and webzines, you'll notice a large amount of people discussing editors and their purpose in this ever expanding market of comics. Editors, while some argue that they are not always needed, are an essential part of the ongoing comics process.

Truth be told, even Dave Sim of CEREBUS fame and a staunch independent publisher, has an editor of sorts. If you look at the credits on the inside cover for every issue there is a spot reserved for Diana Schutz, as a proofreader.

Having once joined a conversation at the COMICON.com message boards on editors, I came to learn a lot about what they do and why, so I decided to do this article with a little help from my friends (or soon to be friends, anyway).

Bob Schreck, Dan Raspler, and Tim Truman. All three of which were extremely pleasant and easy to talk to. Always willing to answer any question no matter how stupid I felt asking it. (For the most part, it was my first time doing an interview of any kind so maybe that was why.)

Bob Schreck (BAT-TITLES, GREEN LANTERN) is one of the nicest guys I've ever met in the industry. He's always been kind, thoughtful, and, most important of all, very honest. I met him, for the second time, at the Small Press Expo '99, where he cave me his card and told me to give him a call. After a few calls and my portfolio finally getting to him, we had talked enough that I felt comfortable calling him for this article. Through an email he answered me.

For Mr. Schreck an editor is; "A fairly well-read person with a good grasp of grammar and spelling. A strong understanding of visual storytelling and the art of lettering and colors. Good juggling skills. Someone who knows how to negotiate with many different personalities and keeping the ultimate goal that the book should be the victor in all disputes, not your ego, or any others. A good listener with a strong opinion who also knows when to take the back seat and allow others to be heard."

Schreck:"A good listener with a strong opinion…"

Fairly simple if you ask me.

Dan Raspler (JLA, KINGDOM COME) replied to the same question; "An editor's job is to make sure the projects he's working on come out as best they can by ensuring the creative teams are the right creative team for the book and that the environment is such that they can do they're best work. That means that, at least in comics, that the artists are in simpatico with the material and each other at the company and that all lines of communication are open. Make sure that schedules are met and the proper promotion is done for the book as well as ordering for it are done too. In the DC universe we also have to do a lot of continuity checks. To kind of make sure that something doesn't fall through the cracks."

OK, cool.

Tim Truman (CREATURE COMMANDOS, SCOUT) thinks that, "…if they pick a good creative team, the most of what they do is handholding, whip-cracking, and psychotherapy!" Which, in a nutshell, is the exact same thing I got from Mr. Schreck and Mr. Raspler.

Each of them has they're own diverse background and their "how they got where they are today" story. Not to pick on one particular individual, but Mr. Schreck's being one of the most diverse.

Mr. Schreck started at Marvel (why I don't know, seems everyone does) as a Marketing editor. Then he moved to the now defunct Comico the Comic Company, editing such titles as Grendel and Mage. From there he moved to Dark Horse comics as the Senior Editor. After that he co-founded Oni Press with Jaime Rich where he was the Publisher and Editor-in-Chief. Now he resides at DC comics as a Senior Editor on books like Batman, Nightwing, Batman: Gotham Adventures, Green Lantern, and the upcoming Green lantern/Superman: Legend of the Green Flame by Neil Gaiman. He is absolutely loving his new job and having a blast.

Truman: "… the most of what they do is handholding, whip-cracking, and psychotherapy!"

Mr. Truman, for those of you that have followed his career, has bounced around almost just as much. Mr. Truman started at Eclipse Comics in the early to mid '80's with his creator owned SCOUT and GRIMJACK. From there he even became an editor for Eclipse 4 Winds comics (AIRBOY, WINTERWORLD, SKYWOLF) and later for his own 4Winds publishing Group. As an editor and an artist he worked with Cat Yronwode - whom he states is one of the best - on projects that were his own as well as editing projects that other people did. He now does a lot of freelance work, mainly working on the new STAR WARS series from Dark Horse Comics as well as the upcoming revamp of CREATURE COMMANDOS from DC.

Mr. Raspler's background is more diverse in that he didn't start in comics. He's been in real estate, a china and crystal salesman, as well as working for a small video company. The lure of comics was just to great for him so he then got hired at Marvel (there they are again) as an editorial assistant, was there for six months and jumped over to DC as an Assistant Editor to Denny O'Neil. He's been there for the past 12 years and is now the group editor JLA and STARMAN. He's really excited to have Mark Waid taking over for Grant Morrison on JLA and feels that it's going be some of his best work.

The question is always brought up, and invariably debated, of whether or not editors are even needed. Quite simply, in one form or another, yes they are. They serve to correct the spelling, fix punctuation, point out continuity errors, and generally keep everyone working hard and putting out their best work. From the small press book published by the writer/artist with his/her own money, to the big corporate monthly titles, they are needed in the background to keep the comics on track and done to the best of the team's ability. Are there more bad editors than good editors? I don't know. Like everything in life, you have to take the fall sometimes and learn from your mistakes. Good editors are needed. They are willing to work with you and look forward to doing so. Just be nice, be on time, and be good at what you do.

Marc Deering is a regular contributor to PopImage.

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