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View all search resultsOf marvels, manga and epicurean meals
JP/Tertiani ZB SimanjuntakCB Cebulski, a writer and editor for Marvel Comics, says he is the luckiest person on earth when it comes to living out his childhood dreams and his passions in life
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JP/Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak
CB Cebulski, a writer and editor for Marvel Comics, says he is the luckiest person on earth when it comes to living out his childhood dreams and his passions in life.
Cebulski has become an influential name for both aspiring and professional illustrators and comic artists and, recently, epicureans.
'I'm surprised that more people are more interested in my food blog than what I do at Marvel during talks at conventions,' he said during a brief visit to Jakarta recently.
Cebulski attended the inaugural Indonesia Toy, Game and Comic Convention at JIExpo Kemayoran, Jakarta, perusing over 200 artworks within two days ' so far the largest number of applications ever submitted at a convention.
'It's daunting, but in a good way. The works range from kids doing copies that their parents sent in to fully formed artists who are already employed here, in China or in Japan.'
On the first day of the convention he already had two artists committed to joining Marvel.
'Most people submitted their portfolio at the convention looking for validation from someone from Marvel, from me, so they could say: 'Marvel likes me. Marvel wants to hire me, but I turned it down',' he laughed.
However, whenever he sees a spark of potential, he makes time to give constructive criticism.
'Let's say that's an investment in our future. Marvel wants to grow a community, a creative community that is.'
As Marvel's vice president for international development and brand management ' an inflated version of the title of recruiter ' the 40-something-year-old Cebulski is responsible for scouting for talent worldwide and thus changing the face of superheroes as we see them today.
A fan of Marvel since he was four years old, the New York resident literally grew up with comic books and food. His father is Polish while his mother is Swedish and the family used to spend summer holiday in European countries where he got his first taste of culinary masterworks.
When his mother decided to go on a Japanese diet for her health, young Cebulski would go along to a Japanese market and be left in the manga section while his mother shopped for groceries.
His love of comic books, especially manga, grew stronger and he decided to go to Japan in the early 1990s to learn the language so he could read the comics in their original language.
Cebulski fell in love with the culture and ended up staying in Japan for five years as an English teacher. There he met his wife, a Japanese woman who once studied at a university in Yogyakarta.
He started his comic book career editing manga for a media publishing company in New York City, bridging Japanese and US comic companies. As Japanese comic style found a stronghold in the American comic industry, Cebulski became a sort of agent for artists who wanted to join in American syndicated comics.
Cebulski acknowledged that he didn't have strong drawing skills, but making a script, story ideas or concepts of superheroes were definitely his forte.
He was hired to lead several projects with Marvel and when Pokemon and other celebrated Japanese anime started a craze worldwide in the late 1990s, Cebulski became a full-timer.
Cebulski is known for his work on titles such as X-Infernus, the sequel to Inferno; Marvel Mangaverse; and Marvel Fairy Tales including the X-Men Fairy Tales, Spider-Man Fairy Tales and Avengers Fairy Tales series ' all in manga-influenced style.
His recruits were responsible for titles like Young Avengers and Runaways as well as the Marvel Fairy Tales.
In homage to the importance of his contribution, in the video game Marvel Ultimate Alliance, one of two hackers to access S.H.I.E.L.D files was named after Cebulski. The other one was a traitor.
Cebulski continues his editorial duties in talent scouting by browsing social media and blog sites as well as taking international trips to comic conventions.
'There is no secret to working with Marvel. All you have to do is to draw well,' said Cebulski, who was included on entertainment website IGN's list of 'The Best Tweeters in Comics' for his tips on getting into the industry.
'We don't look at resumes, religion, race or sex. You don't have to move to New York for the job. You just have to get your work out there because you don't know where the editors are going to look.'
He said that currently Marvel works with over 3,000 artists every month living in South America, northern Europe and Asia 'and we even haven't met half of them'.
The swift development in information technology in the late 1990s bred a natural progression in Marvel that was marked with the appointment of Marvel Knights line editor Joe Quesada as editor-in-chief of the company from 2000 to 2011, the first artist to get the position.
The Internet, said Cebulski, had opened their eyes to what fans like and don't like and the different art styles out there.
'Marvel has become more open globally. If in the past editors wanted to inject themselves more into the work, now [Marvel] gives as much freedom as possible to the artists.
'Marvel now is about artistic integrity, it's all about respect to the creators. Happy artists make good comics.'
It is not only pencils and colorists that lend a distinct style to the comic books, but writers and editors also bring real-life issues based on their life experiences into the Marvel universe.
'We are the first to have black, Asian and gay superheroes,' said Cebulski.
Aside from staying on the lookout for talent on his trips, Cebulski has also documented his culinary journeys on his popular Eataku blog site since 2010. Eataku is a word play on eat and otaku, Japanese for obsessed.
Food and cooking, his life passions, were recently accommodated by Marvel when it created a cooking channel on YouTube, 3-Course Comics, where Cebulski prepared superhero-themed meals in his own kitchen and invited creators and editors to chat over dinner.
'It's an interesting way for Marvel to expand because with growing social media we have to find new ways to market. The show is a way for us to engage different fans to keep them interested in different ways. Plus it helps me share my passion for cooking.'
Cebulski has no intention of leaving Marvel any time soon.
'I have my dream job now. Growing up I was like the very obscure character, teen mutant Dani Moonstar. She has the power to touch people and look at them and realize what their dreams are and make people see what they really want in life.
'I was always a big believer in dreams. I believed I could make my dreams come true and I did. I love what I do now, I won't change a thing. This is for life. If you cut me I don't bleed red, I bleed Marvel red.'
