Axel Alonso

Axel Alonso

Alonso at a "Meet the Publishers" Q&A at
Midtown Comics Downtown, April 14, 2011.
Nationality American
Area(s) Editor
Awards 2004 Eagle Award for Favourite Comics Editor
2006 Eagle Award for Favourite Comics Editor
2010 Eagle Award for Favourite Comics Editor

Axel Alonso is American comic book creator, known primarily as an editor at DC Comics from 1994–2000, and at Marvel Comics from 2000 to the present. At DC, he edited a number of books published under their Vertigo line, such as Doom Patrol, Animal Man, Hellblazer, Preacher and 100 Bullets. As Senior Editor at Marvel Comics, he edited Spider-Man and X-Men related books before ascending to Vice President, Executive Editor in 2010, and Editor-in-Chief in January 2011, replacing Joe Quesada. He has also worked as a writer and inker.

Contents

Career

Alonso, who is half Mexican,[1] worked as a journalist and magazine editor for years before he entered the comic book industry. One day, he saw an ad in The New York Times for DC Comics editors and thought it would be fun to interview, never thinking he would actually be offered a job, though he ended up being hired by the publisher.[2]

Alonso's first published work for DC Comics was Doom Patrol #80 and Animal Man #73, which were published in July 1994, the latter of which was part of the company's Vertigo line, which publishes books in genres such as horror and fantasy aimed at mature readers. Other Vertigo titles he edited until 1999 included Garth Ennis' Preacher, Black Orchid, Kid Eternity, Hellblazer, Unknown Soldier, 100 Bullets and Human Target.

In late September 2000 Alonso went to work at DC's main competition, Marvel Comics, as Senior Editor,[3][4][5] where he worked on Spider-Man books such as The Amazing Spider-Man and Peter Parker: Spider-Man. His first published work as editor was The Amazing Spider-Man trade paperback that collected issues #30 - 32 of that title, and was published in 2001.

Alonso spent more than a decade as an editor at Marvel, working on some of its most notable characters, and helping to create the Marvel MAX line for mature readers, and overseeing critically acclaimed runs on The Amazing Spider-Man and X-Men, such as "X-Men: Messiah Complex" and "Curse of the Mutants", as well as stories featuring the Western character Rawhide Kid.[4] He is also credited with bringing crime writers to work on Marvel titles, such as Duane Swierczynski and Victor Gischler.[6] Although primarily an editor, he also wrote Spider-Man: One More Day Sketchbook, a 2007 tie-in book to the "Spider-Man: One More Day" storyline, and inked issues 3 and 4 of the 2008 miniseries NYX: No Way Home.

He was promoted to Vice President, Executive Editor in early 2010, and oversaw cross-promotional projects such an issue of the ESPN The Magazine, which depicted several NBA basketball players as Marvel superheroes.[2][4][7] The issue was published in October 2010 by ESPN, which like Marvel, is owned by parent company Disney.[8]

In July 2010 Alonso and fellow Marvel editor Tom Brevoort began a weekly column on Comic Book Resources called "Marvel T&A", a new installment of which appears every Friday, along with Joe Quesada's "Cup O' Joe" column.[2][9]

On January 4, 2011, Alonso was named editor-in-chief of Marvel Comics, replacing Joe Quesada,[4] who was named Chief Creative Officer the previous June.[7] In attaining the position of editor-in-chief, he became only the third person in 15 years to hold the position, and one of the few in the company’s history to gain it "without tumult or corporate bloodshed".[10]

Personal life

Alonso has a son, Tito.[10]

Awards

Wins

Nominations

References

  1. ^ Ching, Albert. "Identity of the New ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN Revealed". Newsarama. August 2, 2011
  2. ^ a b c Phegley, Kiel. "Alonso Named Marvel Editor-In-Chief", Comic Book Resources, January 4, 2011
  3. ^ Quesada, Joe. "Marvel T&A: Tributes & Teasers", Comic Book Resources, September 24, 2010
  4. ^ a b c d Moore, Matt. "Marvel Promotes Axel Alonso to Editor-in-Chief", ABC News, January 4, 2011
  5. ^ "Marvel Promotes Axel Alonso to Editor-in-chief", CBS News, January 4, 2011
  6. ^ Phegley, Kiel. "Alonso Speaks as Editor-In-Chief". Comic Book Resources. January 7, 2011
  7. ^ a b "Marvel's JOE QUESADA Promoted to Chief Creative Officer". Newsarama. June 2, 2010
  8. ^ Phegley, Kiel. "Marvel & ESPN Redraft the NBA". Comic Book Resources. October 21, 2010
  9. ^ Quesada, Joe. "Introducing Marvel T&A!", Comic Book Resources, July 9, 2010
  10. ^ a b Itzkoff, Dave. "Modern Marvel". The New York Times. March 25, 2011
  11. ^ Patty, Shawn. "2004 Eagle Awards Winners", Comics Bulletin, November 11, 2004
  12. ^ 2006 Eagle Awards winners, eagleawards.co.uk, accessed January 5, 2011.
  13. ^ "2010 Eagle Award winners", The Beat, October 30, 2010
  14. ^ 2007 Eagle Awards winners, eagleawards.co.uk, accessed January 5, 2011.
  15. ^ 2008 Eagle Awards winners, eagleawards.co.uk, accessed January 5, 2011.

External links

Preceded by
Joe Quesada
Marvel Comics Editor-in-Chief
2011–
Succeeded by
Incumbent