Our series of interviews from New York Comic Con continues as John interviews author Bob Greenberger on the release of his new Star Trek related project, Star Trek The Complete Unauthorized History. They discuss the work including Bob's approach to chronicling his own history as editor of the DC Comics Star Trek line. Plus, Bob talks about his journey to becoming a high school English teacher. Take a moment to comment on this episode in the forums, or by writing john@chronicrift.com or by calling 888-866-9010.
Robert Greenberger (born July 24, 1958) is a writer and editor.
Greenberger was born in Brooklyn in New York City, the son of Edwin L. Greenberger and Joan Greenberger. A lifelong fan of comic books, comic strips, science fiction and Star Trek, he drifted towards writing and editing, encouraged by his father and inspired by Superman’s alter ego, Clark Kent.
While at SUNY-Binghamton, Greenberger wrote and edited for the college newspaper, Pipe Dream, moving from general assignment writer to Arts Editor, Managing Editor and ultimately Editor-in-Chief. He served an internship at Gannett’s Binghamton Sun-Bulletin as a feature writer and reviewer.
Upon graduation, he worked for Starlog Press as Managing Editor ofFangoria. He was also an Associate Editor for Starlog and while there, created Comics Scene, the first nationally distributed magazine to focus on comic books, comic strips and animation. The magazine lasted 11 issues before its first cancellation at which time Greenberger went to work on their sports magazines.
In 1984, he joined DC Comics as an Assistant Editor, working with Len Wein and Marv Wolfman on DC’s Golden Anniversary projects Who’s Who andCrisis on Infinite Earths. He went on to act as assistant editor to numerous titles for each editor until he was promoted to editor. During his tenure, his titles included Star Trek, Suicide Squad, Warlord, Doom Patrol, Lois Lane, Action Comics Weekly, Time Masters, Secret Origins, The Hacker Files and others.
By 1990, he had given up editing to become the company’s Editorial Coordinator, helping grow the Editorial Administration department. When he left the company, he was Manager-Editorial Operations.
In March 2000, he left DC to become a Producer for Gist Communications, television news and listings web site. After ten months there, he learned some new skills and got out before the dotcom bubble burst.
In January 2001, he joined Marvel Comics as Director-Publishing Operations. During his year with the company, he oversaw editorial schedules, Production, Manufacturing, the Print Library, and other departments.
In January 2002, he left Marvel and rejoined DC in May 2002 as a Senior Editor-Collected Editions. He helped grow that department, introducing new formats and improving the editions’ editorial content. He also managed DC’sElfQuest publishing program.
He left DC in January 2006, becoming a freelance writer and editor. His clients included Weekly World News, Platinum Studios, scifi.com, DC and Marvel. By June, he was offered the post of Managing Editor at Weekly World News where he helped transition the newspaper from being produced jointly in Florida and New York to just NYC.
When the paper folded in August 2007, he resumed his freelance career which continues to this date. Along the way, he helped revitalize Famous Monsters of Filmland and served as News Editor at ComicMix from August through December 2008.
He is a member of the Science Fiction Writers of America and theInternational Association of Media Tie-In Writers. He served on the final Nebula Short Fiction Jury.
Greenberger joined Fairfield, CT’s Parking Authority in 1999, serving until June 2006. He resigned from the Authority to join the Cable Advisory Council for Area 2 in Connecticut. In November 2005, he was elected a Representative to Fairfield, Connecticut’s Representative Town Meeting. In November 2007, after winning re-election, he was voted to preside as its Moderator. After losing the 2009 election, he was appointed to represent Fairfield on the Greater Bridgeport Regional Planning Agnecy.
He was married to Deborah Upton on October 18, 1980. They are the parents to Kathleen Michelle (March 18, 1986) and Robert Edward Jr. (April 8, 1988-August 14, 2008).
