Mark Gruenwald

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Mark Gruenwald
Born June 18, 1953(1953-06-18)
Died August 12, 1996 (aged 43)
Nationality American
Area(s) Writer, Penciller, Editor

Mark E. Gruenwald (June 18, 1953-August 12, 1996) was an American comic book writer and editor. Gruenwald got his start in comics fandom, publishing his own fanzine, Omniverse, which explored the concept of continuity. In 1978 he was hired by Marvel Comics, where he remained for the rest of his career.

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[edit] Biography

Gruenwald was born in Oshkosh, Wisconsin in 1953.

Hired initially as an assistant editor in January 1978, Gruenwald was promoted to full editorship by Jim Shooter in January 1980. In the late 1980s he became executive editor, with a particular remit as the keeper of Marvel continuity. Most fans, as well as Gruenwald's colleagues at Marvel, believe that had there not been a restructuring of the entire company by the owners in the early 1990s, he would have become editor-in-chief.

As a writer, Gruenwald is best-known for a ten-year long stint as the writer of Captain America (from 1985 to 1995), and for the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe. During his stint as writer, he was in possession of Captain America's shield, reportedly the same shield now owned by Stephen Colbert. Although it suffered from low sales, his sixty-issue run on Quasar (1989-1994) realized Gruenwald's ambition to write his own kind of superhero. However, his magnum opus is widely regarded to be his mid-1980s 12-issue miniseries Squadron Supreme, which told the story of an alternate universe where a group of well-intentioned superheroes decide that they would be best suited to run the planet. His work is notable for the realistic touch he brought to his characters. For example, in the D.P.7 series he created for Marvel's New Universe, the main characters were all regular people who gained odd abilities, and never put on a single costume.

Mark Gruenwald (or Gru or Grueny as he was often referred to) was a recurring character along with Tom DeFalco in the single-panel comic that ran in the Bullpen Bulletins. These strips ran as filler pages in comics during the majority of DeFalco's run as Editor-in-Chief and Gruenwald was often depicted as a cariacture and foil for DeFalco's antics.

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. In accordance with his request, he was cremated, and his ashes were mixed with the ink used to print the first trade paperback compilation of Squadron Supreme.[1] The Amalgam Comics book, The Exciting X-Patrol #1, is dedicated to his memory.

Gruenwald was famous for a perfect recollection of even the most trivial details. An annual contest where fans tried to stump him with obscure questions was eventually discontinued by Marvel as it became clear he would never lose.

In the years since his death, many projects have been dedicated to his memory, especially those involving complicated continuity that would have delighted him (the JLA/Avengers crossover or the Earth X trilogy to name two). In the DC Universe, a building in Gotham City was named the Von Gruenwald Tower, and in the novel Captain America: Liberty's Torch, the lawyer kidnapped to defend the similarly kidnapped Captain 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" one. The lawyer acts heroically throughout the story.

Fellow Marvel writer/artist Walt Simonson created the Time Variance Authority, a cosmic bureaucracy that regulates the Marvel multiverse. Simonson paid homage to Gruenwald by having the TVA's staff all be clones of Gruenwald; no one could keep track of everything but him.

In 2006, he was officially named the "Patron Saint of Marveldom" in the new Bullpen Bulletins pages.

[edit] Selected bibliography

[edit] Regular Writer

[edit] Fill-in Writer

[edit] Penciller

[edit] Editor-in-Chief

[edit] Executive Editor

  • The War #1-4 (Marvel Comics, June 1989-March 1990)

[edit] Editor

[edit] Assistant Editor

[edit] Colorist

[edit] Notes

The artwork of Merlyn in Who's Who in the DC Universe is the only known work by Mark Gruenwald for a comics company aside from Marvel Comics.


[edit] External links

Preceded by
Tom DeFalco		 Marvel Comics Group Editor-in-Chiefs, Avengers titles;

Bob Harras, mutant titles; Bob Budiansky, Spider-Man titles; Bobbie Chase, Marvel Edge titles; Carl Potts, licensed-property titles
1994–1995

 Succeeded by
Bob Harras
Preceded by
Roy Thomas		 Thor writer
1980–1981
(with Ralph Macchio)		 Succeeded by
Doug Moench
Preceded by
Mike Carlin		 Captain America writer
1985–1995		 Succeeded by
Mark Waid
Preceded by
John Byrne		 Avengers writer
1990
(back-up stories; main stories by Fabian Nicieza)		 Succeeded by
Larry Hama
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