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Chip Zdarsky On His New EIC Steve Wacker At The Marvel Comics Summit
Chip Zdarsky on his new Editor-In-Chief Steve Wacker and the recent Marvel Comics Summit in New York (Still)
Article Summary
- Chip Zdarsky says Marvel Editor-in-Chief Steve Wacker led a more open, positive Marvel Summit focused on better comics.
- Zdarsky praised Steve Wacker’s story notes as “bangers,” saying the new Marvel EIC improved his Avengers arc.
- Instead of big crossover pitches, Steve Wacker kept the Marvel Summit centered on strategy, characters, and creator needs.
- Zdarsky says Steve Wacker, Brad Winderbaum, and David Abdo are pushing Marvel Comics toward stronger stories and art.
Chip Zdarsky has given the most detailed creator-side look yet at the first Marvel Creative Summit under new Editor-in-Chief Steve Wacker, which happened ahead of New York Comic Con this month. No mention of whether or not Tom King was there, but still. Speaking on the latest edition of Chip Chat with David Harper, Chip Zdarsky recounted attending the retreat during his recent New York trip. “Steve’s got such great energy. I knew going in it was going to be a very different, revealing retreat, and positive. Even if we were talking about negative things, it still felt really positive,” he said. “A big chunk of it was just kind of discussing the comic industry, discussing Marvel and their place in it and what can be done better and… how to basically make better comics. I mean, Marvel’s making good comics, but they can always do better. And I think that was kind of the thrust of the whole kind of retreat.”
Notably, the summit was not the usual parade of creators pitching massive ideas. “It’s funny cuz I was like, ‘Oh, jeez, I’m going to be going into this thing, and I got to pitch like big ideas or whatever.’ And like that didn’t happen. This wasn’t about the big ideas in terms of stories, it’s about big ideas in terms of where Marvel was headed and what they want from us. And so it was a bit of a relief, for sure.”
Chip Zdarsky was particularly impressed by Steve Wacker’s hands-on approach. The new EIC had given him notes on an upcoming Avengers arc beforehand, “and they were bangers. Every note was like great. Like they made the story better. Like he’s coming at it from a real storyteller point of view. And you could feel that in the room.”
He also praised Steve Wacker for keeping the traditional “book report” portion of the summit tight and practical. “We did the book report, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen it happen so fast. And Steve was on top of it. If any editor tried to go off on a tangent, he’s like, ‘Nope. Nope. We just need to know where your characters are, what they’re going to be up to, so everyone knows how to play with them.'”
But Chip! Steve! Tom has anecdotes to share and he doesn’t do as much Substack as he used to! Come on now! And it seems that Steve Wacker, just as when he used to post to Bleeding Cool’s forums and messageboards back in the day wanted to hear it all. “He was there to basically listen to grievances. Some people had grievances, some people has positive things to say. Some people had slightly negative. Some people had negative things to say. And a lot of it is like institutional stuff that maybe has been done for ever.” The clear mandate, according to Chip Zdarsky was “We are here to tell great stories. So, if you need the space to tell great stories, if you need, you know, help to tell these great stories, that’s what Marvel is there for.”
Chip Zdarsky framed the shift in broader terms. For years, much of Marvel’s energy had gone into “trying to predict and manage upwards… trying to make sure you’re pleasing people kind of above you.” Now, with Brad Winderbaum and David Abdo in place alongside Steve Wacker, “I think it’s turned around, and I think the people above are like, just make good stuff.”
Special guests attended (Chip Zdarsky said he wasn’t allowed to name them, but I’m putting my money on Iman Vellani, Kevin Feige and Tom King), but the shared ethos was consistently “this all starts with the comics. And they have to let comics do what they do best in order to kind of give them what they need, which is more stories to turn into other things.”
There was also a noticeable emphasis on art. Chip Zdarsky pointed to the success of DC’s Absolute line as evidence that strong artists are elevating the work, as what currently drives excitement in the market, and he sees Marvel leaning into that same creator-driven dynamic. “You need both of them… the most successful runs are ones where you name the writer and the artist.”
Looking ahead, Chip Zdarsky expects the big twice-yearly retreats to be supplemented by more frequent, smaller-group meetings focused on actual plotting. “The big room is really hard sometimes to be creative… I think that’s going to be kind of the plan going forward. Talk about stories going to be a continuing thing, not a every 6-month thing.” Break open the Slacks!
Overall, Chip Zdarsky came away saying, “I’ve got smaller things that I’m pitching and bigger things… it feels good. I think also part of the idea going forward for Marvel is like… it does feel like there’s a lot of opportunity in front of us as creators to do things that maybe we weren’t able to do before.” He described the current moment as having “a comeback kid type vibe,” even if Marvel is hardly an underdog. “Steve is the best. I think anyone underestimating him are fools. They’re goddamn fools. This guy’s going to make great comics; he’s already made great comics, and now he’s making them on a bigger scale. I’m not just saying that because he’s my new boss. He’s a genuinely great, good, funny, smart person and that’s very helpful.”
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