Tom Brevoort is a real disappointment

Brevoort, one of Marvel's leading editors, put up a post on his blog in which he answers to correspondents questions. One person's query was about Brand New Day:

As you said BND won't go anywhere and there is no plains for reverse it, so why using mephisto, deals and magic instead of divorcing Peter and MJ? Spider-Man always was a comic that dealt with personal problems and human tasks, that what made Spider-Man comics so unique, divorce instead of using mephisto could ha been a way to show that Peter is a human being and could face human problems like divorce. I definitively know you won't respond and will think it is offensive, but would be great to know why Mephisto instead of divorce.

And Brevoort responds:

I think there are two reasons why you don’t divorce Spider-Man, one a publishing reason and one a larger marketing reason. The publishing reason is that a divorced Spider-Man really isn’t all that much better than a married Spider-Man. It’s yet one more thing that makes him old, makes him your parents rather than being you. The marketing reason is that Spider-Man is more than just a super hero, he’s Marvel’s corporate icon, so doing a story in which Spider-Man gets a divorce is tantamount to Marvel endorsing divorce. And while you might not think so, that’s still a real hot-button issue in certain circles (as I’m sure will become apparent at some point during this year’s Presidential campaign.) And that means it would have much more far-reaching consequences than just the sale of issues of AMAZING SPIDER-MAN.

Just like a politician, he avoids the deeper issues, most notably the deal made with the devil in the guise of Mephisto. Divorce is a hot-button issue, but deals with the devil aren't? I'm sorry, but he really flubs here.

A decade ago, I used to appreciate Brevoort when he was the editor of Fantastic Four and some of the Avengers-related series, but in recent years, he's really lost it as he became one of Quesada's yes-men. He's actually making things worse by addressing it at all. I may have once thought he could be an ideal choice for EIC, but after seeing him descend into this dreadful charade here, no longer.