Tom Brevoort is a nigh-omnipotent cosmic entity who has edited many of Marvel's books over the years, including the AVENGERS for quite some time now.  Writers freely acknowledge the tremendous contributions he has made to the various storylines in the comics he has edited. A self-described "conservative" when it comes to tampering with the fundamentals of the Marvel Universe--he has asserted before that the Avengers should appear in only one monthly book, rather than spreading themselves too thin-- Tom has nonetheless overseen the rise of the YOUNG AVENGERS, as well as the vast shakeups of AVENGERS DISASSEMBLED, NEW AVENGERS and now CIVIL WAR.

In 1998, Tom (along with George Perez and Kurt Busiek) received the Jarvis-Heads' highest honor: a plaque commemorating their "returning the Avengers to their rightful glory."

Thus we give you Six Questions with the Mighty Tom Brevoort! 

[Tom looks over the Six Questions]

Wow, some pretty broad, strange questions. 

That's the idea here, Tom!

All right, let's go:

1. If you could kill (or otherwise eliminate) one character from Marvel Comics-- and know they'd never come back (yeah, right)-- which would it be, and why?

This presupposes a certain bloodthirstiness on my part, I think. There are plenty of characters that I think are dumb, or annoying, or embarrassing, but I don't know that anybody should have the ability or the right to decide to eliminate those characters--just because, for example, I find Magik retch-worthy doesn't mean that there aren't plenty of other people who adore her. So why should they be deprived? If I thought hard enough about it, I could certainly come up with somebody, I expect, but that's more effort than you're really looking for, I think.

2. We all know you're a comics trivia genius. What one comics topic or character(s) would give you the most difficult time, in a trivia contest?

Donald Duck.

3. If you weren't an editor, what would you probably be doing for a living now?

Tough to say. I'd been working towards doing this, knowingly or unknowingly, since I was six years old, so it's all pretty well hard-wired in at this point. I honestly don't have a clue.

4. What creative person, in any medium, would you say has been the most influential on your own work?

Jack Kirby

5. Complete the following statement: ________ is the most talented person working in comics today.

Your momma. 

Okay, Dave Sim.

[Ah, that Tom--such a cutup.  Clearly he's confusing my momma with George Perez or something.  But my momma preferred to draw no more than seventy-five characters in any given scene.]

6. What word have you never seen used in a comic, but wish a writer would throw in?

Tralfaz. Or maybe Antwerp.

Tom B

Thanks, Tom!  Now--get back to telling Bendis "NO" more often.  :-)

(Whew-- I survived an encounter with one of the most powerful entities in the Marvel Universe!  Take that, Galactus!)