Robert Greenberger

This week: Robert Greenberger!

Are you a comic book fan? If so, you're in for a treat! This week, The Writer's Pane interviews Robert Greenberger, who has written and edited for both DC and Marvel comics, among many other achievements. Take a look at what he has to say about writing, editing, and teaching. 



Name: Robert Greenberger
Social Media: Facebook: facebook.com/bobgreenberger
Goodreads: Robert Greenberger
Genre: Mixed


Where do you find inspiration?
For fiction, it comes from everywhere. I was recently on vacation in Scotland and Iceland and some of the history I learned and some of the sights I saw sparked numerous story ideas. I read the news and always find nuggets in articles or interviews. Of course, not every idea bears fruit or works for a complete story but there’s never a shortage of starting points.
Nonfiction is less inspiration-driven, more about a topic or issue or personality that speaks to me and gets me interested in spending a lot of time with the subject.

Which character in literature do you associate yourself with the most?
Interesting question, but there is no one character I associate myself with. There may be some I’d like to try on and, as Atticus Finch said, walk around in their shoes for a while. 

Which piece of your writing was the most entertaining/enjoyable to write? Why?
That all depends on the day you ask. Of late, I have done a lot more nonfiction and have been thinking a lot about that material. I’m writing a lot of short columns and articles that let me revisit the material I grew up on, be it television, movies, or comic books, and the fresh perspective makes writing about them fun.
The fiction that I may have found most enjoyable to write was my first solo novel: Star Trek: The Next Generation: The Romulan Stratagem. I had the book to myself and got to play with the characters.

Was the first novel you published the first you ever wrote? What was? 
While I started outlines and ideas, unlike so many others, I have no completed manuscripts sitting in a drawer somewhere. I came to fiction after being trained as a journalist and working in magazines and as a comic book editor before slowly getting up the confidence to try my hand at fiction.

When I’m not writing I’m usually…
I read. A lot. I listen to audiobooks while walking and driving, go to sleep every night with a graphic novel, and usually have a novel on my Kindle. I go through magazines while watching television and start each morning with the newspaper. I also watch a lot of television (all genres of drama, no reality TV for me) and movies. I’ve been dabbling with smoking meats; and as a lifelong New York Mets fan, I am usually suffering.

If you could tell or ask any character in literature or film anything, what would it be? 
Good question and I wish I had a witty reply. I’ve never considered this.

If you had lived a different life, made different choices, what would you be doing now? 
Once I locked in on Clark Kent, I don’t think I ever considered anything but writing and publishing. I made a very conscious choice at 40 to explore my job options beyond DC Comics, which sent me on a different trajectory into the dotcom world, but the site I was at was ahead of its time so I got recruited by Marvel about six weeks before I would have been laid off as the bubble burst.

What are five things you couldn’t do without? 
My wife, my glasses, coffee, barbecue, and books.

What do few people know about you? 
I’m an emotional mess with heart-tugging stories, getting weepy-eyed no matter how manipulative or obvious.

Are you working on any current projects?
My 100 Greatest Moments: DC Comics Super-Heroines will be out in October and 100 Greatest Moments: DC Comics Super-Villains has been written and is in design for a 2019 release. I was just invited to write a short story for a forthcoming anthology, Footprints in the Stars, coming in summer 2019 from eSpec Books. At Crazy 8 Press, I’ll be editing Thrilling Adventure Yarns, our tribute to the pulp magazines, also out in summer 2019 (and I’ll have a story there, too).

I continue to pen a semi-monthly column at Westfield Comics and do DVD and book reviews for ComicMix.com.

So the answer is yes.

What work of fiction made you want to be a writer?
Superman comics, drawn as much to Clark Kent being a journalist as Superman flying through the air.

What tools do you use for writing, organization, marketing?
I write on my Dell laptop, using the Microsoft suite of software for writing and organizing. I do minimal marketing beyond social media so it depends on the project.

Why do you write?
I like to communicate, I like sharing my feelings and thoughts in a variety of media. There are questions to explore, characters to investigate, and topics that deserve the spotlight. When I am not writing, there is a tugging in the back of my mind, so I know there’s an inner drive at work, too.

What's the most intimate or profound experience from your own life that you've ever worked into your writing? 
Great question and I will disappoint you and say I never seem to tap into my life for the stories. I’ve been chided about this and it’s been suggested by writing peers I need to do that with my original work but I keep thinking I have nothing to plunder then they remind me of all these things I’ve experienced. I guess I’m not nearly as introspective and tortured as I need to be.

BONUS QUESTIONS! 

What pushed you to cross the bridge from admiring comics to writing/editing them?
I loved comics and was certainly jealous as I watched fellow fans become working professionals. That said, it was a dream and one I never expected to become a reality. When I graduated college, I wanted to get into publishing and the only place to even interview was Starlog Press, which was a stepping-stone away from comics. Things broke my way for which I am forever grateful.

As an editor, how do you help authors or creators who don't make the cut?
I took my time reviewing talent, either material mailed in or at conventions. Some would take the advice and work at it, others storm off in a huff and I’d never hear from them again. But I was always constructive, always showing where they could and should improve. One mailed in sample was from Matt Haley and Tom Simmons, pitching themselves as a partnership. Matt’s pencils were ready, Tom’s inks were not. It was a challenge to hire one and not the other, but later, Tom admitted he agreed he wasn’t ready. It always comes down to how you address them.

What would be your advice to those seeking a career in comics?
With hundreds of titles published in print every month, and even more online, writers, artists, letterers, and colorists should find an outlet for their work. DC and Marvel are at the top and not everyone is ready to start up there. It’s a matter of honing the craft, growing, and working on material that shows your passion. Then, with luck, you get noticed and opportunities present themselves.

Be open-minded when getting your work reviewed at a con or by email. Be polite. Be professional, This is a business and people all too often let passionate cloud judgment.

How has editing changed you as a writer?
Editing made me look at the need for clarity in storytelling and it also showed me the value of story structure, plotting, and pacing. These are lessons I keep relearning and applying to the next assignment.

With the never-ending battle between the DC and the Marvel universes, which would you want to be real? Why? 
The rivalry between publishing companies is certainly legendary, at times exaggerated, at times heated. But in print, the universes are vastly different. When Kurt Busiek and George PĂ©rez did JLA/Avengers, they postulated DC’s earth was larger to accommodate all their fictional cities. What an elegant solution. That said, I suspect the Marvel Universe would be an easier one to live in with fewer targets and a greater number of street-level protectors scattered around the country (at least today).

How do you write for comics?
Storytelling remains the same so it’s a mechanical process. Comics are 20 or 22 pages so you need to ensure you have enough going on to fill the pages, pacing them out so your artist has some variety and they’re not all six-panel pages. The end of each page should be a mini-cliffhanger, causing the reader to hurriedly turn the page to see what happens next. You have to accommodate space for both visuals and word balloons/sound effects so it has been honed into a unique art form. Thankfully, there are tons of how to write books, including one I co-authored with Stan Lee: Stan Lee’s How to Write Comics.

What is one tidbit of knowledge you wish every journalism or creative writing graduate knew this year? (Having been in the field when it was still strong, and now that it is declining)
For journalists, especially my students, it has to be that deadlines matter. For creative writing students, it has to do with finding your voice and working with it to make your style unique.

You had quite a colorful career with so many interesting stories to tell - what led you to become a teacher?
I was Managing Editor of Weekly World News when it was prematurely canceled in 2007 and I found myself a fulltime freelance writer. In 2010 two things happened: the iPad arrived and a major DC project was put on the shelf. The former meant publishers said no to everything until they could figure out how best to monetize eBook publishing and the latter left a huge hole in my income stream that the former prevented me from filling. After a year of beating my head against numerous closed doors, I needed a plan B and my wife said it was time to consider teaching. All along, people thought I’d make a good teacher and it has been in the back of my mind, so I did some exploration and went after my Master’s degree in education and here we are.

What is the most impactful experience you have had as a teacher?
So far, and I am only beginning year five of fulltime teaching, it has to be watching students “get it” and blossom as writers and thinkers. The ah-ha look in their eyes is a never-ending delight.


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Author Bio: Robert Greenberger is a writer and editor. A lifelong fan of comic books, comic strips, science fiction and Star Trek, he drifted towards writing and editing, encouraged by his father and inspired by Superman’s alter ego, Clark Kent.

While at SUNY-Binghamton, Greenberger wrote and edited for the college newspaper, Pipe Dream. Upon graduation, he worked for Starlog Press and while there, created Comics Scene, the first nationally distributed magazine to focus on comic books, comic strips and animation. 
In 1984, he joined DC Comics as an Assistant Editor, and went on to be an Editor before moving to Administration as Manager-Editorial Operations. He joined Gist Communications as a Producer before moving to Marvel Comics as its Director-Publishing Operations. 

Greenberger rejoined DC in May 2002 as a Senior Editor-Collected Editions.  He helped grow that department, introducing new formats and improving the editions’ editorial content. In 2006, he joined Weekly World News as its Managing Editor until the paper’s untimely demise. He then freelanced for an extensive client base including Platinum Studios, scifi.com, DC and Marvel. He helped revitalize Famous Monsters of Filmland and served as News Editor at ComicMix.com.

He is a member of the Science Fiction Writers of America and the International Association of Media Tie-In Writers.  His novelization of Hellboy II: The Golden Army won the IAMTW’s Scribe Award in 2009.

In 2012, he received his Master of Science in Education from University of Bridgeport and relocated to Maryland where he has taught High School English in Baltimore County. He completed his Master of Arts degree in Creative Writing & Literature for Educators at Fairleigh Dickinson University in 2016.

With others, he co-founded Crazy 8 Press, a digital press hub where he continues to write. His dozens of books, short stories, and essays cover the gamut from young adult nonfiction to original fiction. He’s also one of the dozen author using the pen-name Rowan Casey to write the Veil Knights urban fantasy series. His most recent works include Captain America: The Never-Ending Battle and Justice League: 100 Greatest Moments.

Bob teaches High School English at St. Vincent Pallotti High School in Laurel, MD. He and his wife Deborah reside in Howard County, Maryland.

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