Posted in: Comics | Tagged: Comics, Danny Fingeroth, entertainment, Marvel Comics, spider-man, The Stan Lee Universe, Wizard World Nashville

Talking With Comics Editor And Scholar Danny Fingeroth About Wizard World Programming And More

Danny Fingeroth should be a name well-known to most comic book readers. He started editing titles for Marvel in the 1980s and continued as an editor and writer until the mid-1990s, but during his time with Marvel he was the most notably the group editor for all of the Spider-Man titles and wrote books such as Darkhawk and Dazzler.

Since leaving Marvel he has kept a connection to the comic book industry with a variety of professional endeavors, including teaching courses on comics writing and appreciation at New York University, writing books such as Superman on the Couch: What Superheroes Really Tell Us About Ourselves and Our Society, Disguised as Clark Kent: Jews, Comics and the Creation of the Superhero, and Stan Lee Universe. He is also the "go-to" guy for moderating the panels at the Wizard World Comic-Cons. I was able to interview him shortly before his appearance for the Wizard World Nasheville Comic-Con on September 26-28th. Here's how that went.

Cat Taylor:  I've noticed that you are pretty much the go-to panel moderator at the Wizard World Comic Cons. How did you manage to fall into this role?

Danny Fingeroth:  I moderated a couple of panels at their New York show last year, and I guess they must have liked how they went and the people I arranged to have as panelists, because they then engaged me as a programming consultant for all their shows.

CT:  Which specific panels would you most recommend as "do not miss" events at the 2014 Wizard World Comic Cons and why?*

DF:  I plan all my panels to be "do not miss." I will say that one I would urge people to check out on some of this year's shows features Hate's Peter Bagge and The Simpsons' Phil Ortiz doing an entertaining and instructional panel on "How to Draw Funny." These are two awesome funny and talented guys, and seeing them together should be an amazing, once-in-a-lifetime experience. But my other panels, including one with legendary inker Drew Geraci and one with Jacque Nodell—romance comics expert and granddaughter of Martin Nodell, creator of the original Green Lantern—promise to be equally amazing.

CT:  Your literary books about comics tend to be in a scholarly, academic realm, even though they aren't written in a scholarly style. What is it about traditional superheroes that fascinate you enough to go into the level of analysis that you explore in books such as Superman On the Couch and Disguised as Clark Kent?

DF:  I spent so many years writing and editing superhero stories at Marvel, where I ran the Spider-Man comics line, that I had a lot I wanted to express about the genre.

CT:  Speaking of that, as the group editor for all of the Spider-Man titles when you were with Marvel, what do you feel were your most important contributions to their flagship character at the time?

DF:  I like to think that the stories my writers, artists and I came up with kept the character vital and yet always kept the readers wanting to know, "What happens next?"

CT:  Is there anything you regret allowing to happen with the Spider-Man character or his books during your time as the group editor?

DF: Yes.

CT:  Ummm, okay. Let's try this another way. Are there any specific accomplishments or failures during your long career that stand out? If so, what did you learn from them that you can pass along for the younger generations?

DF:  Always be aware of what's going on at your company's corporate levels outside, above and below your own and at companies outside the one you're working for. An awareness of general social, political and economic trends is recommended, as well.

CT:  Even though you no longer work for comic book publishers, you have maintained a connection through all of your jobs and careers since then. Since you have an obvious love and attachment to comic books, what has kept you from writing new comic book stories in the last several years?

DF:  I have worked on a number of lower-profile comics projects, in and out of the superhero arena, including a major one that should be out within the next year or so, and I'm always open to assignments and offers at www.dannyfingeroth.com.

CT:  One of your comics-related ventures that fascinates me is teaching comics courses for New York University. All of the colleges of which I am aware would immediately shun the idea of a college course specifically dedicated to writing comics. What circumstances occurred that enabled you to teach such a course at NYU?

DF:  Comics have allies at many academic institutions. It's just a matter of finding them. I was able to do that at NYU, the New School, and a number of places.

CT:  One of your more recent books, The Stan Lee Universe, has been out for a few years now. So, I don't think we have to worry about revealing spoilers. Therefore, what kinds of information were you able to find and publish in your book that a reader couldn't find elsewhere?

DF:  The Stan Lee Universe is a collection of articles, interviews, and artifacts relating to Stan Lee, many of which I found at his archives at the University of Wyoming, others that co-editor Roy Thomas and I found through various sources. My favorite items in the book are transcripts I had made of recordings of radio interviews I found in the archives, including one joint interview of Lee and Kirby from 1967. Many of these were aired on local New York radio, and perhaps just recorded by Stan himself but otherwise don't exist anywhere else. Reading the transcripts of the interviews is like being a witness to history. Then there's copies of Kirby's pencils and notes to his and Stan's 1978 Silver Surfer Graphic Novel, including correspondence between the two that hasn't been seen elsewhere. Tons more cool stuff, too.

CT:  I appreciate all the insight and I think Bleeding Cool readers as well as Wizard World convention attendees will appreciate your insight as well. Thank you for your time.

DF:  Thanks for your interest.

*Here is a link to the Wizard World Comic-Con website so you can see when the convention is coming to a town near you:  http://www.wizardworld.com/

Cat Taylor has been reading comics since the 1970s. Some of his favorite writers are Alan Moore, Neil Gaiman, Peter Bagge, and Kurt Busiek. Prior to writing about comics, Taylor performed in punk rock bands and on the outlaw professional wrestling circuit. During that time he also wrote for music and pro wrestling fanzines. In addition to writing about comics, Taylor tries to be funny by writing fast food fish sandwich reviews for Brophisticate.com. You can e-mail him at cizattaylor@hotmail.com. Not so coincidentally, Taylor just returned from the first day of the Wizard World Comic-Con in Nashville, Tennessee. It looks like it's going to be a fun weekend.

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