Tom DeFalco: Marvel Comics’ former editor in chief details his journey and creative process
By Anna Vogt
Introduction
Tom DeFalco, writer, editor and former editor in chief of Marvel Comics, offers a candid look at his history, creative process and the shifting landscape of the comic book industry. Drawing on decades of experience at major publishers like Marvel Comics, DeFalco shares invaluable insights that have accumulated from over 50 years of experience in the industry.
DeFalco began his writing career working at a giveaway newspaper where he wrote reviews.
“Any kind of article they would throw at me, I would go and do,” he said.
This was the beginning of DeFalco’s rich career.
It was during this period that DeFalco approached a local newspaper, which he said hired freelance writers, for a position.
“I think the first thing they said was, ‘What do you know about flowers?’ And I said, ‘Absolutely nothing.’” DeFalco reminisced. “They said, ‘Well, there's a flower show. Why don't you go cover it?'”
And DeFalco did cover the event, submitting a 3 to 4-page article to the newspaper’s editor. This was DeFalco’s first publication.
“The next day, the article came out. It was a paragraph long — maybe three sentences — none of which I had written. But they paid me, so, you know?” DeFalco said.
Eventually, DeFalco joined the comic industry.
“I joined the comic book industry in 1972, working for Archie Comics,” DeFalco said. “I started in their editorial production staff, so I basically learned the industry from the ground up.”
DeFalco explained that eventually, after settling in at Archie Comics, he began writing stories for the actual Archie characters.
“And then from there, I branched to a company called Charlton and wrote a bunch of comic books for Charlton: Scooby-Doo, the Flintstones, stuff like that,” he stated.
After his time at Charlton, DeFalco worked for DC Comics, working on issues like Superboy.
“Then, eventually, I was asked to do some work for Marvel,” he said.
Some of the titles DeFalco worked on included “Spider-Man,” "The Mighty Thor,” and the “Fantastic Four” — titles that younger Marvel fans will instantly recognize.
DeFalco was later approached to take on an editorial position at Marvel — a position meant to last 6 months.
“The 6 months ended up to be closer to 20 years,” DeFalco said.
DeFalco described his role.
“At Marvel, I edited a bunch of comic books, like the Spider-Man titles, and Ghost Rider, and a bunch of other things,” he said. “For reasons that befuddled the heck out of me, they decided to promote me, and I became the second in command.”
DeFalco served as the company’s editor in chief from 1987 to 1994, a tenure of approximately seven years.
During this period, he had a clear vision for the company's future.
“I had a desire to make Marvel Comics like a real publishing company,” he said. “A real publishing companies map out what they're going to do years in advance. And they plan accordingly.”
This required immense foresight and planning on DeFalco’s part.
“I spent my time trying to plan what we were going to do. I originally wanted to have a 3-year plan,” he explained. “And in the course of that, I figured out we're going to introduce a team of teenage superheroes in the first year. In the second year, we're going to spin at least one of them off into his own title. And that sort of stuff.”
During his time in this role, DeFalco made many essential decisions; however, one creative risk he took turned out exceptionally well: Marvel Masterworks.
“I came up with this thing called the Marvel Masterworks, which were these hardcover books that reprinted the first 10 issues of, Fantastic Four, and the first 10 issues of Spider-Man — that sort of thing,” he said.
But that isn’t all! DeFalco also created and oversaw “Marvel Year in Review” publications.
Craft
DeFalco is a skilled writer, having spanned genres and industries. However, writing, as a craft, varies.
“The difference between any kind of prose writing, nonfiction or fiction, is you're doing all the heavy lifting yourself,” he said. “You're all by yourself. You’re locked in your own head.”
“Even with nonfiction, you know, you're dealing with the facts, but you're the one who has to assemble them,” he said.
Comic writing, however, offers a welcome contrast to prose writing.
“The thing I love about comics is that it’s a team sport,” he said.
And DeFalco not only appreciates the team effort, but he also explained that team members have one shared goal:
“Most of the people working with you have only one goal: To do the best comic book they can, the best story they can,” DeFalco said. “And most of the time, they're just concerned only about the story.”
However, not every industry is the same. DeFalco explained that this prioritization does not exist in television writing.
“In other kinds of team sports, television writing, for instance, you're dealing with a whole bunch of egos and a bunch of executives who feel they must comment, even if they haven't read the script,” he said. “So, it's a whole different kind of a team sport. That's a team where I think it's trying to devour itself a lot of times.”
Comics offer a plethora of benefits compared to TV Series or movies. This form of media allows for a certain degree of creativity that other media do not.
“The good thing about comics is you have an unlimited budget,” DeFalco said. “It costs the same thing to destroy your universe on a page.”
This applies to writing fictional novels.
“The most ridiculous things happen in novels,” DeFalco said, “which is why they are so much fun.”
The only constraint? Imagination.
“You know, the sky's the limit — whatever your imagination can come up with,” he explained. “If you describe it in such a way as to make it almost believable, people will buy it. They’ll go along with it.”
Marvel method
The “Marvel Method” is a technique used for creating comic books. Die-hard fans may be familiar with this term; however, DeFalco explained it for those who are not.
“The Marvel Method was created by a gentleman called Stan Lee,” DeFalco said.
He explained that during Marvel Comics’ earlier days, Stan Lee was writing many of the comics fans are familiar with.
“So, what he would do is come up with a rough plot and give it to the artists,” he said. “And the artists would do a lot of the detailed work on the story.”
In short, a plot is drafted to provide general direction. Then, the next phase of creation begins:
“And then the artist will figure out the best way to visually tell that story,” he said.
Then, the completed spread is given to the writers to fill in the dialogue and text.
According to DeFalco, the Marvel Method gives artists more creative control and is particularly beneficial for action-packed comics.
“I think for action, Marvel style is best because, you know, comics are a visual medium, and the artists live in the visual,” he said. “No matter how much we writers think visually, we can never match an artist.”
Even DeFalco, a talented and seasoned writer, expressed the necessity for artists.
“There have been times where I've worked out this visual bit of business that I've worked out very meticulously, and I put it in the plot. And I send it to my artist, a gentleman by the name of Ron Frenz,” DeFalco elaborated. “And Ron looks at it and says, ‘Wow, that's a terrific scene.’ And then he goes, ‘But what if we did this instead?’ And his ideas are always better than mine. Always. And I resent him for that.”
The Marvel Method remained prevalent during DeFalco’s time at Marvel Comics.
“During my period there, the Marvel Method stayed,” he said. “Around 2000 or so, people started to come in and do full scripts. I think, for superhero comics, that’s a mistake.”
DeFalco explained that full scripts provide all necessary information for a scene, including physical and visual cues. However, for action-based comics, DeFalco feels that full scripts may shift the visual focus to a dialogue focus.
“I look at a lot of the comic books being done today. And they strike me more as radio scripts, where you have a lot of people standing around talking — And the dialogue is propelling the story,” he explained.
And the last style, storyboarding, is more collaborative.
“Companies like Archie Comics and Harvey — that did Casper the Friendly Ghost — they did storyboards,” DeFalco said. “And I think radio scripts are great for a radio play, but not for a visual medium like comics.”
Shifting scene
As media platforms have changed and evolved, so have comics, which are a physical medium.
The comic book industry has undergone significant changes throughout the decades.
“I think when I first got into the business, we were very focused on the visuals,” DeFalco said. “We wanted to grab the readers by the throat — an exciting first page."
However, today, a new method has become popular.
“These days, they have this method called decompression, where they’ve slowed everything down. I've said to a number of guys, decompression is terrible,” he said.
Decompression slows down the plot of a story.
DeFalco compared his experience with early writing to the decompression method:
“When I was first writing, I was working on a mystery for an editor, and the editor said, 'I need to see a dead body in 5 pages, because if I don't see the dead body in 5 pages, I'm not going to page 6, and neither are any of the readers,’” He said. “And these days, sometimes, you know, they don't introduce the metaphorical dead body till, like, the third or fourth issue of a comic book.”
DeFalco explained that this affects a comic book’s ability to capture an audience's attention.
“I think comic books have slowed down to the point of boredom today,” DeFalco stated. “The stories don’t start right away. They don’t get into it right away. They have characters standing around talking too much.”
Moreover, DeFalco explained that with advancements in media, comics are struggling to keep up.
“And I think that every medium is speeding up, moving faster and faster, except for comics, which are moving slower and slower. And I think that's why comic book sales are so terrible these days,” DeFalco said.
Professional advice
For those pursuing a career in the industry, DeFalco offered some insights and advice.
“I am of the belief that you should be a writer first, and a guy who does comics second,” he said. “They’ve got to think visually, because if you decide, at some point, you want to write television, you’ve got to be visual. You want to write movies? You've got to be visual. You want to write novels or short stories? You have to be visual.”
Aside from being visual in one's craft, versatility is also vital.
“And be a writer who will take any assignment because today you might be able to sell a comic book story, and tomorrow you might have to work on a streaming TV series,” he said.
And finally, simplicity ensures that an audience can follow a storyline.
“The worst thing is when a writer explains a scene,” DeFalco said. “As an editor, I used to say, ‘Okay, I'm here, and you've just explained to me what that means.’ But you're not going to explain it to the 100,000 people who are going to buy this comic book.”
Practice and polishing your craft are two ways of avoiding overcomplicating your writing, DeFalco explained.
DeFalco summarized his craft, highlighting the reason why his presence and talent have been so beloved among the comic community.
“I can entertain you, I can put a smile on your face, I can bring a tear to your eye, I can make you enjoy this 15 minutes, the half hour, the 2 or 3 weeks that it takes you to read a novel, I can make that all worth it for you," DeFalco said.
“And that's what my job is.”
Tom DeFalco on the creation of Spider-Girl in the Marvel universe
("Spider-Girl: The Complete Collection, Vol. 1" by Tom DeFalco, Ron Frenz and Patt Olliffe/https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/37488239-spider-girl)