Opinions on Tom DeFalco.

[shadroch]

I'm curious how forumites feel about Tom D. both as a writer and as the editor-in-chief.In a few conversations with some folks,he was not exactly held in high regard.

I thought his reign as EIC was a pretty good one,and liked most of his Thors.

Opinions,please.

[Lazyboy]

I like his writing in general. I can't think of any stories that really stand out, but I've never read anything he wrote and cringed at how bad it was, either.

As far as being E-i-C goes, he was in the unfortunate position of being in charge during the late 80s/early 90s when there were countless titles being pumped out. I can't imagine it was easy to keep control of everything going on at that time. I don't think he was as good as Shooter, but definitely way better than the current E-i-C.

[fastballspecial]

Nothing stands out his writing to me was average. Not great, but not horrible either. I did enjoy some of his Thor run, but it doesnt rank about Walt S or Jurgens though.

[awe4one]

Tom was great at set-up but regularly failed to deliver a satisfying conclusion.

 

The Johnny Storm/Lyja pregnacy being a great example. She finally had an egg and it was quickly forgotten. Also, his involvement in the Clone Saga will forever taint him with collectors in my opinion. The idea of Peter being a clone wasn't bad on it's own...but the story ran on far too long as Marvel was trying to figure out what to do until they finally lost their nerve and changed the planned on result...

 

Jim

[Cody_Starbuck]

I think Tom was a okay writer, but he was no Bill Mantlo.

[JuliusSeizure]

I really liked his Thor. Very different in style from his predecessor, Walt Simonson, but the Lee/Kirby pastiche worked for me, and did introduce some new blood into the Thor mythology. His run got off to a great start with the Celestials 3-parter in #387-389. Thor fighting desperately, almost losing everything, and never giving up in the defense of an alien people he had never met, and who weren't all that nice -- the essence of heroism really shone through. By the time of the "Black Galaxy Saga", he was pretty clearly out of ideas, but Marvel in the time of the bi-weeklies was in a serious creative slump across the board, IMO.

 

His Spider-Man was fun to read, too. I'll leaf through a DeFalco run on a rainy Sunday any time.

[mica]

Tom was great at set-up but regularly failed to deliver a satisfying conclusion.

 

The Johnny Storm/Lyja pregnacy being a great example. She finally had an egg and it was quickly forgotten.

Still bugs me.

[Moondog]

He was EIC when Todd, Rob, Jim et al left to form Image. Perlman and the investment bankers figured they didn't need to pay these guys what they were worth. DeFalco knew what was about to happen, but as a company man his hands were tied and he had to live with their decision.

 

At the time I hated the idea that Marvel was going to let these guys walk. The best creators on the best characters not only made for good comics - it meant strong sales. So I blamed DeFalco, then I ran into him at a Sotheby's auction and he explained that if it were up to him, he would have paid the guys to keep them in the fold, but he was directed to let them go.

[KingOfRulers]

I like him. I can't really put a finger on all of his stuff, I just know I've read a lot of it and really liked it.

 

Plus, he has a cool name.