In one of today’s features for our Guardians of the Galaxy Month here at Multiversity to benefit to Bill Mantlo (which you can read more about here and here), we continue our chats with various people behind the current iteration of “Guardians of the Galaxy.” And, as a special diversion from the regular interviews we do, today we’ll be chatting with Executive Editor Mike Marts.
Having worked at Marvel from 1996 to 2006, Marts was head of the X-Men Office that oversaw runs such as Morrison’s “New X-Men” and Whedon’s “Astonishing X-Men,” before leaving to work for DC as the Batman Group Editor. In February of this year, however, Marts returned to Marvel as Executive Editor of numerous titles, including but not limited to working on the “Guardians of the Galaxy” series.
Read on as we chat with Marts about his work behind the scenes at Marvel, coordinating the various cosmic titles and the secret life of a Marvel Editor.
You’ve been editing books for quite a long time now. What are some of the tricks or tools of the trade that you’ve picked up over the span of your career?
Mike Marts: It’s a few different things. Definitely surrounding yourself with creators who have a similar vision on how to produce comic books is always extremely helpful. Just knowing that you’re on the same page as the writer and artist, and coming at things from the same direction always helps. Also, I always feel doing as much conversation and planning for stories at the onset of the project is key to a successful run on a book or a successful issue. The more planning and conversation that happens upfront, the better the end product is going to do.
Absolutely. And what about with “Guardians of the Galaxy?” When you came to Cosmic Marvel and “Guardians,” what were some of the things that you looked at with the series and set as goals, things that you wanted to see accomplished over the run?”
MM: The nice thing about coming onto “Guardians” is that it was always in such a great place. Brian has such a clear and distinct vision for the series, and Steve Wacker and crew had been taking care of the book so well prior to my coming on. It’s one of those assignments that’s an editor’s dream; you come on to a book that doesn’t require too much tinkering and fine-tuning. It’s already in a really great place. One of the things we wanted to do was to bring some new artistic vision to the book with Sarah Pichelli leaving, so we’re bringing on Nick Bradshaw, one of our other Young Guns, and then Ed McGuinness comes onto the book. We’re hoping to give the readers some more visual excitement to the book.
Did you have any past experience with the Guardians? Any of the previous runs, or are there any of the previous creators that you’re in particular a fan of?
MM: You know, just as a reader. I was trying to think back to all the comics that I’d edited and I don’t think I had any series in the past where I’d dealt with the Guardians characters. But, certainly I’m a fan of the stories when they debuted back in the 70’s, and also Jim Valentino’s series was something that I was picking up as a reader. I’ve always enjoyed the characters, especially in the “Annihilation” storyline that Abnett and Lanning and Giffen did. That was of big enjoyment to me.
That’s actually a great segue, because Cosmic Marvel used to be a bit more niche. It had its audience, and a very vocal audience at that, but the appeal of Cosmic Marvel, “Guardians” especially, has grown so much. Why do you think “Guardians” in particular has become such a bigger beast?
MM: It’s a few different things. We have this immense library of characters that are all situated out there in the cosmos, and there’s so many different characters to choose from. I think readers respond to that. They’re excited about seeing new characters, new concepts, new storys, new ideas — and with so many characters to choose from, it’s almost limitless what you can do. I also think it’s just the right type of franchise at the right time; people are responding to it, people are excited about something that feels as epic as Star Wars, and that’s what this franchise is doing right now.
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And something of note that was pointed out to me is how expansive Cosmic Marvel has become. It used to just be “Guardians” and “Nova” as the two cosmic books, but now we’ve opened up to “Captain Marvel,” “Cyclops,” “Silver Surfer” and the like. Keeping all these books together, keeping a distinct vision throughout all the cosmic titles, is that a challenge? Is it relatively easy to juggle all the books with different creators, different offices?
MM: You get into a rhythm. I think from the outside looking in people might think it’s a bit confusing or complex, but it’s really not. The editorial team up here, we work so closely together and most of our writers also work close with one another, so there’s a real synergy, a real sense of cooperation taking place. It’s not as complex as someone might think. Fortunately each of the books have their own vision, their own voice, their own identity, so they can all kind of exist on their — but when they need to get together and interact it’s not all that tricky.
I want to look behind the scenes a little bit, if we can. I don’t think most people appreciate what goes into being an editor of a book, so I was hoping you could talk to what kind of work you do as the editor of “Guardians of the Galaxy.”
MM: Well, it’s a bunch of different things all at once. The editor wears many different hats during the day, and it can range from story editor to manuscript editor to copy editing to art direction to talent scout to office work to marketing — there are so many different things that an editor does during the day, and all are different skill sets. It’s all part of what you need in order to put a comic out, though. For instance, on “Guardians,” maybe I get a script from Bendis in the morning, and then I’ll immediately read it and make sure the characters are acting the way they should be acting, making sure the structure of the story is sound. If there’s any edits I’ll ask Brian for that, otherwise I’ll forward it on to Nick Bradshaw or Ed McGuinness, whoever is drawing the issue. Then it’s about being excited for when the layouts or pencils come in.
You talk about wearing different hats, but is there a particular hat that’s maybe more difficult to wear, perhaps? Difficult’s not the word I’m looking for, but it’s the first one that comes to mind.
MM: Maybe the word you’re looking for is challenging? And, I guess it depends on the day, it depends on the book and it can depend on the creator, but the big thing is the long-term planning. That’s also, it’s the most challenging but it’s also the most exciting. Everything that you’re doing with long-term planning can dictate the future of the book, and a lot of times that means taking risks and not knowing how the readers or the retailers will respond. That’s the fun of it, though.
In terms of the long-term planning, if we look at the previous Cosmic Marvel, the long-game in between the end of “Annihilation” and the death of Thanos up to his eventual return is a pretty big, nice, full story where there was clearly a lot that Dan and Andy were planning right from the beginning. Obviously you can’t tell me where “Guardians” is going right now, but in keeping everything together and on track, what are the tools or systems you use to make sure everything is going towards where it needs to be? Especially with other books that now relate, like “Rocket” and “Star-Lord”?
MM: Well, it’s always being aware of the different long-term story plans that writers have. Whether it’s Brian on this book or Dan Abnett on “Guardians 3000” or Sam Humphries on “Star-Lord,” we’re always trying to keep aware of where everyone is going, making sure the characters intersect at the right place, but also, you know, making sure they don’t come into conflict with one another in other spots. It’s also being aware of where all the various characters will be in any point time.
Continued belowSo it’s kind of like an elaborate chess game?
MM: Sure, that’s a great way to put it. [Laughs]
Looking at the books, “Guardians” is about to have these spin-offs with Rocket getting his own book, Star-Lord as well. What do you find is endearing about these characters that engenders them to have their own titles now?
MM: You know, each of them is so distinct and their characters are so well defined, I think what’s funny is that each of these characters you can relate to. Even though you’re dealing with a raccoon and you’re dealing with a tree, these are all characters that you can relate to. They have problems like you and I do. They’re doing superhero things, but they’re not necessarily a hero in the truest sense of the word; they all have things about them which make them human, for lack of a better term.
And with Star-Lord?
MM: Well, yeah. I meant the entire cast, but it’s more funny to use the raccoon and the tree as an example. [Laughs]
Do you find that you have a particular favorite Guardian or anything like that? Is there a character that speaks to you more?
MM: Probably Peter. He’s the unlikely leader of this group of ragtag misfits, and he’s doing it one day at a time. For every success he has, he has two failures. For every step forward, he takes two steps back. He’s learning slowly, and he’s coming into this role whether he wants it or not. I think that that’s admirable. He’s been elected to this position without wanting it, but he embraces it and gets better all the time.
One thing I’d like to ask you about, just to get your thoughts on, is basically: you look at Cosmic Marvel — and there’s a very obvious answer to this question — but what is it that sets the Cosmic side of Marvel apart from the more Earth-bound, grounded things in the Marvel Universe?
MM: I think it’s the fact that it’s so expansive and has such a wide range, not only in characters and concepts but in terms of the physical space itself. It’s limitless. There’s so many different worlds to explore, so many different alien races, so many different characters. You could go on and on. When you talk about the regular Marvel Universe characters on Earth, eventually you run up against some type of limit, but that doesn’t exist with the Cosmic realm.
I realize this may be something that verges into spoiler territory, but since you’ve come on as editor, has there been anything that has struck you as, “Wow, this is something that can only happen because this is a Cosmic comic”?
MM: Oh, sure. Most definitely. There’s an exciting scene in “Guardians” #15 where all the different members of the team are spread out, they’ve all been captured by different alien races, and seeing them in different environments with different races is so much fun to jump from one character to the next, to see how they react to these different situations. It’s something you wouldn’t be able to see anywhere else.
And with the current Guardians storyline, how did the decision come about to bring in Captain Marvel and Agent Venom? That’s pretty different, I think, than from what we’ve seen from the team dynamic so far.
MM: Exactly. When the book first started, Iron Man was paling along and was a part of the team, and readers responded to that so well. They enjoyed the Guardians characters, but they also enjoyed seeing a familiar face from the Marvel ranks hanging around with the Guardians. So we’re trying to keep that tradition alive, certainly with Venom — who, I think a lot of times people look at him and say that wouldn’t be their first choice but it’s still seen as interesting, and with his alien ties and the symbiote people will be really excited about where that goes — and then Captain Marvel, too. She already has some cosmic connections, but I think the addition of her to the team has been a lot of fun.
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So, looking at the more broad range of things, obviously we have the Guardians film coming out. I’m sure you’re like the rest of us and haven’t seen the film yet, but can you talk about your thoughts on having this book and being able to see the film operating in similar realms of thoughts?
MM: I had the good fortune of reading the script for the movie, and I’ve gotta say — the script is so great, and the comic and the movie are very similar to one another. It’s the same type of flavor in both places, and the characters all behave and act the same way. It’s really a great job on both the comic creators and the movie creators.
I talked a bit with Sam Humphries about this, but is there any kind of conscious effort to create synergy between the two?
MM: Oh, sure. Yeah, and I think that’s natural. It’s organic. At this point in time we’re the same company that makes the movies and the comics together. It’d be silly not to have that type of synergy. So, yes, it’s intentional and it’s a fun part of the job.
And I imagine it’s probably pretty different than anything you’ve worked on in the past? Does it open up new realms of the places you can go in the book?
MM: Yeah, very different. It can open things up, and that’s part of the fun of seeing where we go from here.
Is there anything in particular about the movie that you find yourself excited about in the same way you’re excited about the books?
MM: From what I’ve heard, there are some exciting characters that people aren’t expecting. That’s certainly something that I’m looking forward to.
Well, looking forward at the future of the Guardians of the Galaxy, with all these various books that tie into it now, what are some of the things you’re excited to have people see coming up in the Cosmic Marvel Universe?
MM: The nice thing is that there are so many different characters in the group, and there’s the potential for so many exciting spin-offs. I think people will be surprised with what we’re doing over the coming year, with new launches and new characters.
Are there any things that you’re hoping will take the Guardians to the Next Level, so to say? At least in terms of how we see them, in comparison with, say, the Avengers.
MM: Well, I think a lot of that will depend on the movie. If the indications from the trailers are anything to go by, I feel that people will respond to the film really well. Hopefully that in turn drives people to the comic book stores to find the source material and to read more on these characters, and to buy more books.
