Bob Harras

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Bob Harras
BornRobert Harras
(1959-01-11) January 11, 1959 (age 65)
NationalityAmerican
Area(s)Writer, Editor
Notable works
 X-Men titles
The Avengers
Nick Fury vs. S.H.I.E.L.D.

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.

Contents

Career

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

Marvel Comics

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<i>Nick Fury vs. S.H.I.E.L.D.</i>

Nick Fury vs. S.H.I.E.L.D. is a six-issue comic book miniseries published by Marvel Comics in 1988. It was written by Bob Harras and drawn by Paul Neary. Each issue is 48 pages long and they are referred to as books. The series was the first time in almost twenty years that Nick Fury and S.H.I.E.L.D. was the main focus and the series sold exceptionally well, prompting Marvel to produce an ongoing series of Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. in 1989 that lasted 47 issues.

References

  1. ↑ Comics Buyer's Guide #1650; February 2009; page 107
  2. ↑ Miller, John Jackson (June 10, 2005). "Comics Industry Birthdays". Comics Buyer's Guide . Archived from the original on February 18, 2011.
  3. ↑ "Bullpen Bulletins," Marvel comics cover-dated February 1984.
  4. ↑ Shooter, Jim. "Bullpen Bulletins," Marvel comics cover-dated November 1983.
  5. ↑ Zimmerman, Dwight Jon (November 1988). "Bob Harras". Comics Interview . No. 62. Fictioneer Books. p. 13.
  6. ↑ Lantz, James Heath (September 2016). "Prince Namor the Sub-Mariner: Scion of the Deep or Royal Pain?". Back Issue! . Raleigh, North Carolina: TwoMorrows Publishing (91): 59–60.
  7. ↑ GrayHaven Magazine.
  8. ↑ The Week in Review Archived October 7, 2010, at the Wayback Machine . BobGreenberger.com (2010-03-07). Retrieved on September 9, 2011.
  9. 1 2 "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.
  10. ↑ McMillan, Graeme, Borys Kit. "DC Comics, DC Universe Hit By Major Layoffs," The Hollywood Reporter (AUGUST 10, 2020).

Sources

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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