Mark Gruenwald Explained

Birth Name:Mark Eugene Gruenwald
Birth Date:18 June 1953[1]
Birth Place:Oshkosh, Wisconsin, U.S.
Death Place:Pawling, New York, U.S.[2]
Write:y
Pencil:y
Edit:y
Notable Works:Captain America
Squadron Supreme
Quasar
DP7
Awards:Comics Buyer's Guide Fan Award, 1987, 1996
Spouse:
    Children:1

    Mark Eugene Gruenwald (;[3] June 18, 1953 – August 12, 1996) was an American comic book writer, editor, and occasional penciler known for his long association with Marvel Comics.

    Biography

    Early career

    Gruenwald got his start in comics fandom, publishing his own fanzine, Omniverse, which explored the concept of continuity. Before being hired by Marvel, he wrote text articles for DC Comics’ official fanzine, The Amazing World of DC Comics. Articles by Gruenwald include "The Martian Chronicles" (a history of the Martian Manhunter) in issue #13[4] and several articles on the history of the Justice League in issue #14.[5]

    Entry to Marvel

    In 1978 he was hired by Marvel Comics, where he remained for the rest of his career. Hired initially as an assistant editor in January 1978, Gruenwald was promoted to full editorship by Marvel editor-in-chief Jim Shooter in 1982, putting Gruenwald in charge of The Avengers, Captain America, Iron Man, Thor, Spider Woman, and What If.[6] [7] During this period, he shared an office with writer/editor Denny O'Neil, whom Gruenwald considered a mentor.[8]

    Penciler

    During the years 1982–1984, Gruenwald did fill-in pencil work for a handful of Marvel comics, most notably the 1983 Hawkeye limited series, but also issues of What If?, Marvel Team-Up Annual, The Incredible Hulk, and Questprobe.[9]

    The cover of Comic Reader #180 (May–June 1980) featuring Hawkman and Adam Strange and the entry for Merlyn the Archer in Who's Who: the Definitive Directory of the DC Universe #15 (May 1986) were Gruenwald's only comics artwork outside of Marvel.

    Writer

    In 1982, Gruenwald, Steven Grant, and Bill Mantlo co-wrote Marvel Super Hero Contest of Champions,[10] the first limited series published by Marvel Comics. As a writer, Gruenwald is best known for creating the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe[11] and his ten-year stint as the writer of Captain America (from 1985 to 1995) – during which he contributed several notable characters such as Crossbones, Diamondback and U.S. Agent. He made a deliberate effort to create villains who would be specific to Captain America, as opposed to generic foes who could as easily have been introduced in another comic.[12] At one point Gruenwald owned a replica of Captain America's shield – the same shield now owned by Stephen Colbert.[13]

    His 60-issue run on Quasar[14] (1989–1994) realized Gruenwald's ambition to write his own kind of superhero. However, he considered his magnum opus to be the mid-1980s 12-issue maxiseries Squadron Supreme, which told the story of an alternate universe where a group of well-intended superheroes decide that they would be best suited to run the planet. Gruenwald was highly loyal to each series he wrote. In addition to his lengthy stint on Captain America, he wrote the entire runs of both Quasar (save for one issue) and D.P.7,[15] and Jim Salicrup recalled that when Gruenwald was taken off of Spider-Woman after only 12 issues, he "was crushed."[16]

    Executive editor

    On September 1, 1987, Gruenwald became Marvel's executive editor,[12] with a particular remit as the keeper of continuity. Gruenwald was famous for a perfect recollection of even the most trivial details.

    In the pages of Fantastic Four, Walt Simonson paid homage to Gruenwald by having the Time Variance Authority (TVA)'s staff all be clones of Gruenwald; no one could keep track of everything but him.

    Gruenwald was a recurring character with Tom DeFalco in the single-panel comic The Bull's Eye that ran in Marvel comics in the late 1980s–early 1990s, created by Rick Parker and Barry Dutter. These strips, which ran on the Bullpen Bulletins page during the majority of DeFalco's run as editor-in-chief, featured Gruenwald depicted as a caricature and foil for DeFalco's antics.

    Death

    In 1996, Gruenwald succumbed to a heart attack, the result of an unsuspected congenital heart defect. Gruenwald was a well-known practical joker and, due to his young age, many of his friends and co-workers initially believed the reports of his death to be just another joke. Just days prior, he had done one of his trademark cartwheels down the halls of the Bullpen. A longtime lover of comics, Gruenwald made it known among his friends and family that his one desire was to have his ashes used in part of a comic. In accordance with his request, he was cremated, and his ashes were mixed with the ink used to print the first printing of the trade paperback compilation of Squadron Supreme.[17]

    Personal life

    Gruenwald married singer Belinda Glass in May 1981.[18] They later divorced, and he married Catherine Schuller on October 12, 1992, in New York after a year's courtship; she was the executor of Gruenwald's famous will. Gruenwald had a daughter, Sara.

    Legacy

    The Amalgam Comics book The Exciting X-Patrol #1 (June 1997) and the Marvel Comics book Generation X #21 (November 1996) are dedicated to Gruenwald's memory as was Peter Parker: Spider-Man #75 which saw the return of Norman Osborn after his supposed death twenty years earlier.

    In the DC Universe, a building in Gotham City was named the Von Gruenwald Tower,[19] and in the novel Captain America: Liberty's Torch written by Tony Isabella and Bob Ingersoll, the lawyer kidnapped to defend the similarly kidnapped Captain America in a mock trial before a militia is named Mark Gruenwald, and is described with the same general physical attributes and personality as the real Gruenwald. The lawyer acts heroically throughout the story.[20]

    In Richard Starkings' Elephantmen, the executive director of the Information Agency where almost all of the main characters of the series work is called Gruenwald and bears a strong resemblance to Gruenwald. In an interview with Newsarama, Richard Starkings confirmed that the character was based on his friend.[21]

    In volume four of Nova from Marvel Comics, the new director of Project Pegasus is named Dr. Gruenwald.[22]

    In 2006, Gruenwald was officially named the "Patron Saint of Marveldom" in the new "Bullpen Bulletins" pages.[23]

    In the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) show Loki, TVA analyst Mobius M. Mobius is portrayed by Owen Wilson, and is made to resemble Gruenwald's likeness.[24]

    Jason Olsen's Mark Gruenwald and the Star Spangled Symbolism of Captain America, 1985-1995, a book about Gruenwald's run on Captain America, was published by McFarland & Company in 2021.[25]

    Selected bibliography

    Regular writer

    Fill-in writer

    Penciller

    Editor-in-Chief

    Executive Editor

    Editor

    Hercules Unleashed #1 (October 1996) – (one-shot)

    Assistant Editor

    Colorist

    External links

    Notes and References

    1. Web site: M E Gruenwald. United States Social Security Death Index. March 12, 2013. The United States Social Security Death Index gives date of death as '15 August 1996.'.
    2. News: Mark Gruenwald Marvel Comics Editor, 43. August 18, 1996. The New York Times. https://web.archive.org/web/20121112172352/http://www.nytimes.com/1996/08/18/nyregion/mark-gruenwald-marvel-comics-editor-43.html. November 12, 2012 . live. August 8, 2013.
    3. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=saD2pP-PvX0 Mark Gruenwald Interviewed by Joe Field 1988
    4. Web site: Amazing World of DC Comics #13 (Oct. 1976). n.d.. Metropolisplus.com. https://web.archive.org/web/20160826025553/http://metropolisplus.com/awodcc/awodcc13.htm. August 26, 2016. live. mdy-all.
    5. Web site: Amazing World of DC Comics #14 (March–April 1977). n.d.. Metropolisplus.com. https://web.archive.org/web/20160826032835/http://metropolisplus.com/awodcc/awodcc14.htm. August 26, 2016. live. mdy-all.
    6. "Avengers Assemble! A Memo From... Mark!" Avengers No. 222 (Marvel Comics, August 1982).
    7. Shooter, Jim. "Bullpen Bulletins," Marvel comics cover-dated November 1983.
    8. Web site: Mark's Remarks . Mark . Gruenwald . October 1987 . Marvel Comics . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20091021190057/http://geocities.com/mh_prime/8710.html . October 21, 2009 .
    9. http://www.comics.org/search/advanced/process/?target=sequence&method=icontains&logic=True&keywords=&order1=date&order2=series&order3=&start_date=&end_date=&title=&feature=&job_number=&pages=&script=&pencils=Mark+Gruenwald&inks=Mark+Gruenwald&colors=&letters=&story_editing=&genre=&characters=&synopsis=&reprint_notes=&story_reprinted=None&notes=&pub_name=&country=us&pub_notes=&brand=&brand_notes=&indicia_publisher=&is_surrogate=None&ind_pub_notes=&series=&series_year_began=&series_notes=&tracking_notes=&issue_count=&is_comics=None&format=&color=&dimensions=&paper_stock=&binding=&publishing_format=&issues=&volume=&issue_title=&variant_name=&issue_date=&indicia_frequency=&price=&issue_pages=&issue_editing=&isbn=&barcode=&issue_notes=&issue_reprinted=None&is_indexed=None Mark Gruenwald's credits as an artist
    10. Book: DeFalco, Tom. Tom DeFalco. Gilbert. Laura, ed.. 1980s. Marvel Chronicle A Year by Year History. Dorling Kindersley. 2008. London, United Kingdom. 208. 978-0756641238. Plotted by Mark Gruenwald, Steven Grant, and Bill Mantlo, and penciled by John Romita, Jr., Contest of Champions eventually saw print in June 1982..
    11. DeFalco "1980s" in Gilbert (2008), p. 210: "As soon as he became an editor, he proposed Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe. Its first volume ran for fifteen issues and included a full image of each character, their vital statistics, their brief history, an explanation of their powers, and any unique weaponry they used."
    12. News: Dwight Jon . Zimmerman . January 1988 . Mark Gruenwald . . 54 . 5–23 . Fictioneer Books.
    13. Web site: WWC: Civil War & Remembrance Panel -Updated!. Seth. Jones. August 11, 2007. Comic Book Resources. https://web.archive.org/web/20121004153735/http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=11169. October 4, 2012. live. September 29, 2008.
    14. DeFalco "1980s" in Gilbert (2008), p. 242
    15. DeFalco "1980s" in Gilbert (2008), p. 228: "Created by editor Mark Gruenwald and artist Paul Ryan, D.P. 7 was published under the New Universe imprint."
    16. Web site: The Fred Hembeck Show: Episode 72 - The Mark Gruenwald Show. Fred. Hembeck. 2006. Asitecalledfred.com. https://web.archive.org/web/20130618061553/http://asitecalledfred.com/2006/09/14/the-fred-hembeck-show-episode-72-the-mark-gruenwald-show/. June 18, 2013. live.
    17. Web site: Comic Book Urban Legends Revealed #1 . Brian . Cronin . June 3, 2005 . Comic Book Resources . https://web.archive.org/web/20130731202051/http://goodcomics.comicbookresources.com/2005/06/03/comic-book-urban-legend-revealed-1/ . July 31, 2013 . dead . September 29, 2008 .
    18. Shooter, Jim. "Bullpen Bulletins," Marvel comics cover dated August 1982.
    19. Book: Manning. Matthew K.. The Batman Files. . 2011. Kansas City, Missouri. 978-1449408220.
    20. Book: Isabella, Tony. Tony Isabella. Ingersoll, Bob. Bob Ingersoll. Captain America: Liberty's Torch. Berkley Books. 1998. 272. 978-0425166192. registration.
    21. Web site: Starkings' Elephantmen Turns 25. Josh. Wigler. April 21, 2010. Comic Book Resources. https://web.archive.org/web/20110214195426/http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=25885. February 14, 2011. live. When I found myself looking for a character who knew more about the world of the Elephantmen than anyone else in that world, I thought of Mark, who in many ways knew more about the Marvel Universe than anyone else..
    22. Abnett, Dan
      Lanning, Andy
      . Alves, Wellinton; Burges, Geraldo. Hanna, Scott. Brothers in Arms. Nova. 4. 17. November 2008.
    23. DeFalco "1980s" in Gilbert (2008), p. 235: "He died unexpectedly on August 12, 1996 and was named the patron saint of Marvel in 2006."
    24. Web site: Whitbrook . James . April 5, 2021 . Marvel Secrets in the New Loki Trailer: The Avengers, Time-Keepers, and More . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20210405212852/https://io9.gizmodo.com/marvel-secrets-in-the-new-loki-trailer-the-avengers-t-1846621398 . April 5, 2021 . April 5, 2021 . io9.
    25. Book: Olsen, Jason. Mark Gruenwald and the Star Spangled Symbolism of Captain America, 1985-1995. McFarland and Company. 2021. 978-1-4766-8150-4. Jefferson, North Carolina. English.

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