Timdogg aka Comic Book Chancellor

timdogg98 asked: Hopefully this isn't too spoilery or behind-the-scenes, but for you, what all goes into your decision to reach out to a creator to work with them on a project? Especially one you haven't initially met or known before?

jordandwhiteqna:

This is basically the most important part of the editor’s job. 

I’ve learned a lot of things from Tom Breevort over the years I’ve been at Marvel (seven, now) but one of the things he’s always said that is completely true is that casting is 90% of the job. If you pick the right creators, if you’ve lined up everyone in just the right combination, you can just wind them up and let them go. 

That said, the other thing he’s said about casting is that it’s more alchemy than science, and that is equally true.

Developing the gut instinct for how the alchemical reaction of mixing creators plus characters plus concept will turn out is something you just have to slowly feel out. I think I’ve gotten pretty good at it—I’ve done a lot of books in the last few years that I am really quite proud of, and most of that comes down to bringing in the right creators.

It’s pretty unlikely that I would cast someone whose work I was not familiar with, though. If I am casting a writer I’ve never worked with before, it’s because either I read something by them that I really like on my own and sought them out, or that someone recommended them to me, and I checked out their work and liked it. Naturally, the more of their work you know, the more you can get a feel for their style.  Same goes for an artist, although in many ways it is easier to see if an artist has talent from a few pages than it is with a writer.