Record: Jonathan Peterson

There was once an editor who worked in comicdom from the mid-80s to the early 2000s by the name of Jonathan Peterson. And what I found out about this man, from an old interview reprinted from one of the history guides for DC's Titans, was hugely disappointing, based on his attitude towards Terry Long, once the husband of Donna Troy in the late 80s-early 90s, and even what Peterson thought of Jericho. Some points as follows, based on what's told in the interview:

• When it comes to Terry Long, Peterson said, 'I had plans for Nightwing. Donna Troy [was] another one I wanted to see stay, though I was mad Marv had married her off. I wanted Terry Long to go. Personally, I thought he was a whiner. He needed to be upgraded or tossed out, so he was always on the block. [laughs] Month to month we kept running a vote saying “Should we kill him now? He’s really annoying me this month!”' It's bad enough he thought killing off characters casually as though it's an inherently acceptable idea was somehow entertaining. But to think he'd fail to distinguish between real life and fiction, and act like fictional characters are literally real people, that was going much too far, angering and insulting to the intellect.
• Peterson's take on Jericho was no better. What Peterson said was, "Jericho we decided was sort of expendable. So if Jericho was to die, I think Marv was the one that decided to make it symmetrical. Let’s have Deathstroke be the one to do it; then we have the whole pathos of Deathstroke killing his own son. I mean, it was just too perfect. So by process of elimination, we all agreed he could go. Especially since, much like Terry Long, I thought Jericho was a bit too soft-edged. I mean, I know he has his fans and all, I just wasn’t one of them. [laughs]" So he actually even thought it was funny to insult fictional characters as though they're literally real people, and worse, to just chuck them into the grave like used tissue paper? Sick.

It may not have turned out the way Peterson wanted. Not with Terry, anyway. But no doubt, people like him precipitated the severe damage superhero comics went on to suffer for many years on end. Peterson's approach is exactly what led to Identity Crisis, and his contempt for DC fans speaks volumes. He may have long left comics publishing, but the scars he left on the industry still reverberate till this day.