How Legendary Writer-Editor Roy Thomas Is Preserving The History Of Marvel Comics - Exclusive Interview

It's not really hyperbole to say that Roy Thomas is a living legend. A comics fan since childhood, the former teacher was hired in 1965 by DC Comics' then-editor Mort Weisinger to become an assistant editor at DC on a trial basis. But Thomas soon found Weisinger too difficult to work for, and after writing a letter to Marvel Comics editor Stan Lee, he got a call from Lee inviting him to come take a writing test.

That led to a staff writing job with Marvel, with Thomas eventually becoming an assistant editor, a regular Marvel Comics writer and, finally in 1972, editor-in-chief after Lee was promoted to publisher. During his initial tenure with Marvel, Thomas wrote titles such as "The Avengers," "Doctor Strange," and "X-Men," and co-created a breathtaking catalog of characters that included Vision, Wolverine, Carol Danvers (Ms. Marvel), Ultron, Man-Thing, Adam Warlock, Morbius, Red Guardian (soon to be seen in the next MCU film, "Black Widow"), Ghost Rider and many more, working with iconic artists like John Buscema, Neal Adams and others.

His other Marvel accomplishments included launching the "Conan the Barbarian" comic in 1970 with artist Barry Windsor-Smith, bringing the famous Cimmerian warrior to a whole new audience. Thomas also helped launch Marvel's "Star Wars" adaptations, which then-editor Jim Shooter said saved the company. Later in his career Thomas penned a line of classic literature adaptations under the "Marvel Illustrated" banner — his last regular work for the comics giant.

Thomas has continued to contribute over the years to DC, Marvel, and independent publishers while also writing a biography of Stan Lee and a history of Marvel Comics. More recently, the now 80-year-old Thomas has teamed up with boutique publishing company Folio Society to curate a series of lavish archival books compiling some of the greatest tales from the company's Golden, Silver, and Bronze Ages. Their latest collaboration is "Captain America," a collection of classic tales starring the First Avenger to commemorate his 80th anniversary.

Looper interviewed Thomas by email — with an assist from Folio Society Special Projects Editor James Rose — about the Marvel books he's curated, his memories of the early days at Marvel, his favorite characters, and more.

What went into your decisions regarding the Captain America stories you chose?

RT: I wanted a good representation of events, stories, writers, and artists, from 1940–'41 through today.

Can you talk about including the solo Jack Kirby-penned story "Screamer in the Brain"?

RT: It was the first of the stories of which Jack was the accredited writer and penciler when he came back to Marvel in the mid-1970s, so it seemed as good a story as any to reprint. The art, too, was top-notch.

Were you and/or Folio able to get things like original artwork from Marvel, and how much of that material is accessible from their archives?

JR: Of course, many of the original comics were available from Marvel's own archive, including the most recent comics for which we were allowed to use the original print files, but some we had to source ourselves. We are very fortunate to have established a fantastic group of collectors and enthusiasts who provide some of the missing files for us, and in other cases we actually went and bought original copies ourselves.

Roy, you also curated the books collecting work from Marvel's Silver, Bronze and Golden Ages. Do each of those eras represent a certain theme or phase in American pop culture or comics history?

RT: Yes, because Timely/Marvel was a major player in the Golden Age during the 1940s and "Fantastic Four" #1 began the Silver Age in 1961, and has of course continued to be a prominent force ever since.

Why do you think Captain America has remained so popular?

RT: He was one of the best-designed superheroes ever, with his red-white-and-blue costume, and had a great origin, in keeping with the looming of World War II at the time he was created. He became a symbol for America ... even as America itself changed with time. Sometimes he seemed more in tune with those times than others, but that just makes him all the more intriguing.

Is there a particular story or arc you're most proud of from those days?

RT: If you mean in the '60s, it would be the introduction of Ultron and the Vision — though also "X-Men" with Neal Adams and "Captain Marvel" with Gil Kane were great stories too. In the '70s it was "Conan the Barbarian" — ["Conan" artist] Barry Windsor-Smith was human in those days — and the Kree-Skrull War with Neal and John Buscema.

You've helped bring many beloved characters to life over the years and have seen a number of them join the MCU. But which character (or characters) would you love to see join the MCU the most?

Of those not yet in the MCU (since Morbius and Red Guardian and even Black Knight are in the can, just awaiting release of the movies they're in), it might be Werewolf by Night — even though I only made up the basic concept and plotted the first story with my then-wife Jean — and Killraven. I was wild about my "War of the Worlds" concept for that, and only sorry I didn't have time to actually write it — [scriptwriter Gerry] Conway named the character, but I made it up, as amended by Neal when we talked over the first plot.

I was also kind of pleased with Red Wolf, both modern and 19th-century incarnations, and Man-Thing. The Sci-Fi Channel's version was so awful, it needs re-doing to do justice to what Stan and I, plus Gerry C., made up. I also liked 3-D Man, which was underrated as a period piece, in my view, and "The Invaders" — that could be a whole movie set in World War II, with the original Torch and Sub-Mariner and hopefully even Union Jack and Spitfire!