Spinning out of last week’s discussion at the V about Alex DeCampi’s experience pitching for Vertigo, Steven Grant considers the role of editors in modern comics:

Part of the perception problem about editors comes from prevalent fannish notions, many of which you could see at play in the V-Hive discussion, which many people, most of them having nothing to do with comics professionally, besides Brian and Alex took part in. There’s the semi-pro syndrome that promotes the idea pretty much anyone involved in the creative end of comics has espoused as least half-heartedly at some point in their careers, but which is really an almost idiotic oversimplification, that an editor is nothing more than a glorified proofreader. Or that they should be nothing more than glorified proofreaders. There’s also this fantastic sense of entitlement that pops up in the comics business, the idea that comics companies have a duty to publish whatever “the creators” (I’ve always thought the term was a smidge pompous, which is why I generally say “talent” instead) have brilliantly dreamed up. Which leads to all kinds of fascinating, self-serving theories, like that editors are intimidated by your talent and genius (I use the editorial your, so I don’t mean you, except the ones I do mean and you know who you are) and realize publishing your work will expose all those other hacks they already work with as the uninspired hacks they are. There’s also an interesting phenomenon I’ve run across many times with aspiring professionals and even some existing professionals. No matter how cool for school they talk about superheroes being bogus, trite and old hat, or how much indie cred they say they’re striving for, these are inevitably people who grew up reading Marvel and DC superhero comics.

Which generates a psychological schism that isn’t often discussed. While elements of ambiguity and delayed resolution have become part of the language of superhero comics, at base they’re still all about good guys and bad guys, and comics where the good guys don’t ultimately undo, if not flat out defeat, the bad guys are generally comics that don’t hold an audience for long. Because the superhero audience expects the hero to emerge victorious.

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