American comics writer and editor (born 1959)
Robert Harras
(born January 11, 1959
[1]
[2]
) is an American
comics
writer and editor, who was editor-in-chief of
Marvel Comics
from 1995 to 2000 and editor-in-chief of
DC Comics
from 2010 to 2020.
Career
[
edit
]
Harras started his career at Marvel as assistant editor for
Ralph Macchio
,
[3]
where he worked on such titles as
The Saga of Crystar
,
Dazzler
,
ROM
,
U.S. 1
, and
Micronauts
.
[4]
Later, Harras was chief editor of Marvel's
X-Men
and
Midnight Sons
lines. Harras also worked as writer on a number of comics, including a run on
The Avengers
lasting from 1992 to 1995, and the best-selling
[5]
1988 limited series
Nick Fury vs. S.H.I.E.L.D.
His brief run on
Namor, the Sub-Mariner
in 1992?93 was unique for the time, taking the form of a mostly standalone
Tolkienesque
epic.
[6]
Harras's tenure as editor-in-chief occurred during the time which Marvel teetered on bankruptcy around 1996 and 1997 (financial trouble became significantly worse during his time at Marvel). During his tenure, Harras oversaw titles such as
Captain America
,
Daredevil
,
Ka-Zar
and
Deadpool
. Following the
Heroes Reborn
experiment, where oversight of four titles was outsourced to
Jim Lee
and
Rob Liefeld
, one of the more successful relaunches during Harras’ tenure was of those titles under the "Heroes Return” banner, including
The Avengers
by
Kurt Busiek
and
George Perez
.
However, the Spider-Man "
Clone Saga
", in which
Norman Osborn
was brought back as the
Green Goblin
despite the opposition of many of the writers, received enough negative reception that it overshadowed his critical successes.
[7]
After leaving Marvel, Harras joined
WildStorm
as contributing editor on November 15, 2001. Harras worked from his New Jersey home office, and reported to
Jim Lee
, WildStorm's editorial director. Until late September 2010, he was the group editor for
DC Comics
collected editions and editor of DC's new
Who's Who
series.
[8]
On September 27, 2010, DC Comics named Bob Harras as the company's new editor-in-chief and Vice President.
[9]
Harras oversaw editorial for all
DC Comics
,
DC Universe
,
MAD Magazine
and
Vertigo
publications. He became DC's first Editor-in-Chief after
Jenette Kahn
, who had held the position from 1989 to 2002.
[9]
He was laid off from DC on August 10, 2020.
[10]
Bibliography
[
edit
]
Marvel Comics
[
edit
]
- The Avengers
#280, #334-339, #343-351, #355-369, #372-375, #378-382, #384-395 (1987-1996)
- Avengers: The Crossing
#1 (1995); one-shot
- Avengers: Strikefile
#1 (1994); one-shot
- Avengers: Timeslide
#1 (1996); one-shot, co-written with
Terry Kavanagh
- Defenders of the Earth
#1 (1987); co-written with
Stan Lee
- Fantastic Four
Annual
#23 (1990); co-written with
Walt Simonson
- The Incredible Hulk
#360 (1989)
- Iron Man
#178,
Annual
#7-8 (1984-1986)
- Marvel Comics Presents
#17-24 (1989)
- Namor, the Sub-Mariner
#33-40 (1992-1993)
- Nick Fury vs. S.H.I.E.L.D.
#1-6 (1988)
- Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.
(vol. 3) #1-6, #12-14 (1989-1990)
- RoboCop
#1 (1987); film adaptation one-shot issue
- Rom: Spaceknight
#50 (1984); second story
- The Thing
#18 (1984)
- The Mighty Thor
#356 (1985)
- Vision
#1-4 (1994-1995)
References
[
edit
]
- ^
Comics Buyer's Guide
#1650; February 2009; page 107
- ^
Miller, John Jackson
(June 10, 2005).
"Comics Industry Birthdays"
.
Comics Buyer's Guide
. Archived from
the original
on February 18, 2011.
- ^
"Bullpen Bulletins," Marvel comics
cover-dated
February 1984.
- ^
Shooter, Jim. "Bullpen Bulletins," Marvel comics cover-dated November 1983.
- ^
Zimmerman, Dwight Jon (November 1988). "Bob Harras".
Comics Interview
. No. 62.
Fictioneer Books
. p. 13.
- ^
Lantz, James Heath (September 2016). "Prince Namor the Sub-Mariner: Scion of the Deep or Royal Pain?".
Back Issue!
(91). Raleigh, North Carolina:
TwoMorrows Publishing
: 59?60.
- ^
GrayHaven Magazine
.
- ^
The Week in Review
Archived
October 7, 2010, at the
Wayback Machine
. BobGreenberger.com (2010-03-07). Retrieved on September 9, 2011.
- ^
a
b
"Robert Harras Named Editor-in-Chief, VP DC Comics"
.
dcu.blog.dccomics.com
. Archived from
the original
on September 30, 2010
. Retrieved
September 27,
2010
.
- ^
McMillan, Graeme, Borys Kit.
"DC Comics, DC Universe Hit By Major Layoffs,"
The Hollywood Reporter
(AUGUST 10, 2020).
Sources
[
edit
]
External links
[
edit
]
Preceded by
|
The Avengers
writer
1991?1996
(with
Terry Kavanagh
in 1995?1996)
|
Succeeded by
Terry Kavanagh
|
Preceded by
|
Namor the Sub-Mariner
writer
1993
|
Succeeded by
|
Preceded by
|
Editor-in-Chief of
Marvel
1995?2000
|
Succeeded by
|
Preceded by
|
JLA
writer
2005?2006
|
Succeeded by
|
Preceded by
|
Editor-in-Chief of
DC Comics
2010?2020
|
Succeeded by
|
|
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