Terry Kavanagh is a comics writer-editor who spent a significant portion of his career working with Marvel Comics. He joined the publisher as an editor on titles like Marvel Comics Presents, then went on to write for their X-Men line, among other titles. Kavanagh spoke to Scoop about getting into the comics industry, his editorial approach, and his work writing for Marvel. He also shared some of the details on original art he consigned to Hake’s Auctions for their current premier Auction #241.
Scoop: How did you get your start in the comic industry?
Terry Kavanagh (TK): A high school friend, Michael Higgins, was working at Marvel. I quit my acoustical ceiling salesman job to travel, and when I came back, Michael gave me Letters Page work. I was at the office delivering a Letters Page, and one of the assistant editors called in with mono, and would be out for about six months, so Michael walked me into that editor’s office and suggested he hire me temporarily. Then Marvel made more work for me until I was hired full-time as Ann Nocenti’s assistant on the X-Men line of books.
Scoop: Which titles did you serve as editor for at Marvel?
TK: Marvel Comics Presents, Excalibur, Speedball, Namor, and many one-shots.
Scoop: How did you approach your role as editor?
TK: My approach was to hire people whose work I respected and enjoyed, and then let them do their thing. I always thought of my job as being a shepherd to the characters and a butler to the creators. Some editors hired people to tell the editors’ stories, but I preferred to go along on the creators’ ride with them.
Scoop: What storylines stand out as the ones you had the biggest impact on in the editorial department?
TK: Weapon X and Black Panther in Marvel Comics Presents. Because it had four stories every two weeks, I had the opportunity with that book to work with nearly everyone in the business. And it allowed me to give a lot of new talent their starts in the industry. As a writer, I would say that pitching the Clone Saga was the most impactful contribution I made.
Scoop: You were one of the writers on the Maximum Carnage storyline that was told across Spider-Man titles. What was it like plotting that major event?
TK: Major events were always difficult AND fun. All the creative teams would meet with the editorial team to pitch new ideas and then lay them out across all the Spider-titles. Everyone had ideas, and we fed off each other that way, but we didn’t always agree on how to execute. In the end, the editors made the final decisions.
Scoop: Given your work on Uncanny X-Men, the main X-Men series, and X-Man, among others, what stands out as the most fun and most challenging aspects of working on X-Men books?
TK: The most fun aspect was the wide breadth of history and rich characters to play with, but these titles required a lot of coordination with others. It was never one’s own sandbox to play in.
Scoop: Which Marvel characters did you find the most enjoyable or challenging to work on?
TK: I loved Moon Knight, personally, and X-Man because he had the least amount of baggage. Hulk was challenging to me because I don’t think I ever really understood exactly how to play him. Sympathetic monster? Raging anger? But many other writers handled him excellently.
Scoop: What are you working on now?
TK: Howard Mackie and I have a company that makes custom comics as high-end gifts. You can find it at inksmyth.com. I’m also working as a consulting editor with 24/7 Comics, which should be releasing its first title soon. Really interesting mix of different genres and characters and creators.
Scoop: Tell me about the art you consigned to Hake’s Auctions?
TK: The Ghost Rider cover to Marvel Comics Presents #99 by Sam Kieth. Wonderfully different and stylized. A George Pérez Avengers page that was the first piece of original art I ever purchased. A Rick Leonardi/Jimmy Palmiotti splash page from a Ghost Rider chapter in Marvel Comics Presents, written by Howard Mackie. A very powerful piece. And a Don Heck Sunfire page from Marvel Comics Presents, written by Scott Lobdell. A classic talent (Heck) paired with a very new talent at the time (Lobdell).
The Ghost Rider cover in Hake’s Auction features Ghost Rider/Danny Ketch surrounded by Fear Lord D’Spayre’s minions, the D’Sprytes. One of the cover’s notable aspects, is that Kieth did not depict Ghost Rider wearing his trademark leather jacket; instead he opted to show Ghost Rider’s bare, skeletal arms.
The Pérez Avengers Annual #6 page (with inks by John Tartaglione) comes from the “No Final Victory!” story. The five-panel page shows Iron Man and Captain America reacting to Nuklo growing to massive size and grabbing Iron Man. The final panel sees Beast, Captain America, Wasp, Yellowjacket, and Wonder Man in the wreckage of his attack.
The Marvel Comics Presents #101 page by Rick Leonardi and inked by Jimmy Palmiotti is from the “Doorway to Darkness” story starring Ghost Rider and Doctor Strange. The splash page features a near full body image of Doctor Strange inviting a boy into the Sanctum Sanctorum.
Heck’s Marvel Comics Presents #32 page featuring Sunfire is from “The Dreaded Deadline Doom” story. On the eight-panel page, Sunfire uses his power to destroy Deadline’s machine to save Tokyo. Sunfire appears in all but one of the panels.
