Editors-in-chief

The Marvel editor-in-chief oversees the largest-scale creative decisions taken within the company. While the fabled Stan Lee held great authority during the decades when publisher Martin Goodman privately held his company, of which the comics division was a relatively small part, his successors have been to greater and lesser extents subject to corporate management.

The position evolved sporadically. In the earliest years, the company had a single editor overseeing the entire line. As the company grew, it became increasingly common for individual titles to be overseen separately. The concept of the "writer-editor" evolved, stemming from when Lee wrote and managed most of the line's output. Overseeing the line in the 1970s was a series of chief editors, though the titles were used intermittently. Confusing matters further, some appear to have been appointed merely by extending their existing editorial duties. By the time Jim Shooter took the post in 1978, the position of editor-in-chief was clearly defined.

In 1994, Marvel briefly abolished the position, replacing Tom DeFalco with five "group editors", though each held the title "editor-in-chief" and had some editors underneath them. It reinstated the overall editor-in-chief position in 1995, installing Bob Harras. Joe Quesada became editor-in-chief in 2000.

• Joe Simon (1939-1941)
• Stan Lee (1941-1942)
• Vincent Fago (acting editor during Lee's military service) (1942-1945)
• Stan Lee (1945-1972)
• Roy Thomas (1972-1974)
• Len Wein (1974-1975)
• Marv Wolfman (black-and-white magazines 1974-1975, entire line 1975-1976)
• Gerry Conway (1976)
• Archie Goodwin (1976-1978)
• Jim Shooter (1978-1987)
• Tom DeFalco (1987-1994)
• No overall editor-in-chief (1994-1995)
• Bob Harras (1995-2000)
• Joe Quesada (2000-present)