C. B. Cebulski

Chester Bror Cebulski (/səˈbʌlski/) is an American writer and editor for Marvel Comics, known for his work on titles such as Marvel Fairy Tales. As of November 2017, he holds the position of editor-in-chief.

Chester Bror Cebulski is of Polish descent. Since he was 20 years old, C. B. Cebulski has lived off and on in Japan, where members of his family reside.

Cebulski's early career included working as a translator and a freelance writer.

Cebulski started his comics career in 1997 editing manga for Central Park Media in New York City, bringing titles such as Record of Lodoss War, Slayers, Plastic Little, Geobreeders, Nadesico, and Kia Asamiya's Dark Angel to U.S. audiences. Cebulski remained with Central Park Media until 2001, after which he worked briefly as freelance editor on books such as Jay Faerber's Noble Causes. He did translation work on the anime Boogiepop Phantom and Assemble Insert, both distributed by Right Stuf in 2001.

In the early 2000s, Cebulski did his first work at Marvel Comics, assisting Associate Editor Brian Smith as a consultant on the Marvel Mangaverse, a line of books that reimagined classic Marvel heroes like Spider-Man and the X-Men in the style of manga (Japanese comics). In January 2002, he was hired full time as an Associate Editor under Ralph Macchio, in part because of his fluency in Japanese and his ability to recruit top artists from Japan to work for Marvel. As he rose through the ranks, he oversaw the launch of titles such as Runaways, Wolverine: Snikt, and NYX.

In 2003, Cebulski created the pseudonym Akira Yoshida, under which he began soliciting work from other companies. His work on the Dark Horse Comics books Conan and Hellboy impressed another Marvel editor who, unaware of Yoshida's real identity, asked Cebulski to pitch as well. Cebulski continued to use the pseudonym for a number of Japanese-themed comic books he wrote for Marvel in 2004 and 2005, including Thor: Son of Asgard, Elektra: The Hand, and several X-Men titles. Cebulski did this to circumvent a company policy prohibiting Marvel's editorial staff from writing or drawing comic books without special permission, or in the case of being granted such permission, being paid for doing so. Before Joe Quesada became editor-in-chief in 2000, editors used to write comics for other editors' departments, though this was seen as a corrupt practice, since it gave such editors an advantage over other writers. Cebulski created an elaborate backstory for Yoshida, stating in interviews that he was a Japanese man who grew up reading manga, and had discovered American comics when he lived in the United States as a result of his father's career as a traveling businessman. When questioned about whether or not he was actually Yoshida, Cebulski separately claimed to have met Yoshida and cited unspecified office visits and convention appearances. When Cebulski took a position at Marvel that allowed him to openly write as well as edit, Yoshida abruptly disappeared, leading to persistent rumors that Yoshida had been a pseudonym used by a Marvel staffer. When Bleeding Cool's Rich Johnston asked Cebulski in early 2006 if he was Yoshida, Cebulski said he was not. Marvel also denied the rumors, with editor Mike Marts stating that he had lunch with Yoshida when he visited the U.S. Former Marvel staffer Gregg Schigiel stated in a podcast that several people at Marvel knew about the deception, though he did not give the author's real name, and his superiors took no action on the matter.

Cebulski was the head writer on the 2006 video game Marvel Ultimate Alliance, which features a character named after him. In a sub-quest, the player needs to recommend one of two hackers to help Weasel hack into S.H.I.E.L.D. files and determine whether the Black Widow is a double agent. One of them is named after Cebulski, and is revealed to be the correct choice, since the other, Beroge, is a squealer.

Cebulski quit Marvel in 2006 to pursue freelance editing and writing work, including publishing several of his own creator-owned books through Image Comics, like Drain and Wonderlost. He returned to Marvel within a year as an editor and talent scout, establishing the Talent Management department, in which he oversaw a team of staffers to recruit and manage creators that included Jonathan Hickman, Skottie Young, Adi Granov, Sara Pichelli, Phil Noto, and Steve McNiven. In 2007 Cebulski signed an exclusive deal with Marvel.