Interview With Emily Muto - Creator of The Way to Your Heart

For those of you who were not readers back when I was a regular writer for Comics And..., I'd like to add a bit of an introduction. As much as I grew up with traditional comic books I find myself enjoying webcomics more and more as I get older. There's a lot of great work out there that's creator driven and often has an ending planned before the creator even starts posting. Also, with many webcomics you have a chance to have an ongoing conversation with the creator(s) through comments sections, emails, online forums and, in Emi's case, a shoutbox. I have a lot of fun reading webcomics and some of my best interviews have been from reaching out to the creators directly. If you haven't checked out some of the great comics available FOR FREE online, you should. Then, if you like them you can choose to support the creators directly without any middle man.

The Way to Your Heart (TWTYH) is a webcomic I started reading a over a year ago. I actually found it through another comic I read as Emi (Emily Muto) contributed a guest page while the creator of Red String was on hiatus. Her art work for Red String attracted me to her page and I have been an avid reader ever since. 

Without further ado: Emily Muto!

Gwen: Tell us a little about yourself.

The Gerry Conway Interview Kickstarter

Roger Priebe contacted us regarding a Kickstarter project which you can see by clicking this link. Before we could get the post up and running he already reached his goal, but the great thing with these projects are you can still participate and get a copy of the over 3 hour interview with someone who was heavily involved in writing and editing (even editor in chief at Marvel) for awhile. There are only a few days left so get over there and jump in. Also check out the Kickstarter site for a over 8 minute clip of the interview.

For fun we are Roger to answer a few brief questions.

Gerry Conway

Jim: A Gerry Conway interview sounds interesting. Why don’t you tell us a little about yourself and the project?

Roger: My name is Roger Priebe, and I have been a comic book fan for over 25 years now.  Even more than that, I love the history behind the comic books. I soak up magazines like “Alter Ego” and “Back Issue” like sponges. I can never get enough of the stories behind the comics. And as an independent filmmaker from Cleveland Ohio, I decided to put my two loves together. Why not film a interview of one these comic book legends for a DVD? I mean, just imagine if we had this kind of interview with people like Jack Kirby, Bob Kane, Jerry Siegel, Joe Shuster? People like that and those story’s are now gone forever. So I decided something needed to be done!

I’ve had this idea for this style of interview and it was a matter of finding the right person for the first one. And luckily Gerry understood perfectly what this series of interview dvd’s could be. And he gave one of the greatest interviews I have ever seen. Gerry is very open, entertaining, and informative about not only his entire career but the comic book industry in general.

Channel Evil – An Interview with Writer Alan Grant

First off I want to thank Alan Grant for agreeing to do this interview. Alan’s work spans decades and includes Judge Dredd, Judge Anderson, Batman, Outcast and many, many other comics. Alan is one of only a handful of writers whose work is as vibrant today as it was when he started.

In doing some research for the interview I stumbled upon this interview of Alan by Andy Diggle. It is a great interview giving a good history on the breadth and depth of Alan’s career. Granted it is from 2004, but any Alan Grant fan should enjoy it. Just click here.

Alan Grant

Jim: Alan, before getting into Channel Evil, can you give a little background of your extensive history in the comic’s medium?

Alan: When Pat Mills and John Wagner were working on ideas and stories for a new science fiction comic (which would become 2000AD), they were unable to meet their existing writing commitments and asked me if I’d like to take over writing Tarzan comics for continental distribution (excluding the UK). While visiting the Tarzan publisher in London, I paid a visit to the 2000AD offices...and left an hour later with a job as sub-editor. I stayed for a couple of years,  and got to know all of the contributors - Ezquerra, Bolland, McMahon, Dave Gibbons, Brett Ewins, Brendan McCarthy etc. But I’m far from being a team worker so I left to become a freelance writer.

John Wagner fell ill about this time, and asked if I’d like to become his co-writer on a number of series...the birth of our 10-year writing partnership. We did Judge Dredd, RoboHunter, Strontium Dog, Hell-Trekkers, Bad City Blue and many others for 2000AD, as well as series such as Doomlord, Computer Warrior and The Fists of Danny Pyke for Eagle, and various other stories for Scream, Roy of the Rovers and any other comic which would employ us.

We had a call from DC’s Denny o’Neil offering us a trial two-issue run on Batman, and although John left after half a dozen issues (the trial was successful, but John was never a fan of American comics) I continued on the various Batman titles (Detective Comics, Batman Monthly, Shadow of the Bat) for around 10 years. For DC I also wrote The Demon, LEGION 89 and Lobo on a regular basis. I did some work for Marvel - the RoboCop comic series, a Silver Surfer story and other odd bits here and there - an Incredible Hulk story, for instance. And for Dark Horse I wrote many of the Terminator mini-series.

Meanwhile, John and I continued to work together on some stories - we created The Bogie Man, which is still (as far as I’m aware) the best-selling independent title ever published in the UK.

I wrote an Evil Ernie series for Boom! Studios, and worked on Jeremiah Harm with my old Lobo pal Keith Giffen. More recently I’ve written The Loxleys and the War of 1812 graphic novel for Renegade of Canada, who have also released Tales of the Buddha (before he was enlightened) as an e-book...and, indeed, Channel Evil.

I’ve written around a dozen novels - mainly based on superheroes - as well as contributing to half-a-dozen short story anthologies. I wrote the Action Man “Robot Attak” movie, a movie version of Dominator (with Tony Luke), and a few others which remain unmade.

  

Interview with Tim Truman and Ben Truman Co-Creators of A Man Named Hawken Part 2 of 2

Now for Part 2

Jim: Is it more fun being the artist or the writer or does each bring its own challenges?

Tim: When I'm writing I want to be drawing and when I'm drawing I want to be writing. Writing is usually a less frustrating experience for me, though. I'm my own worst critic when it comes to drawing. I'm seldom happy with what I draw. When I look back at a story I've done art for, it never really turns out the way that I ideally envisioned it. I'm quite self-critical and insecure about my drawing skills. 

Jim: How did Hawken come about? 

Tim: In 2010, my wife, Beth and I took a trip to Tucson Arizona to visit Ben, who lives out there, working as a writer and educator. We took this whirlwind tour of Arizona-- north to Flagstaff and the Grand Canyon, south to Tombstone and Bisbee. Along the way, Ben started telling me about this idea for a story he wanted to do about a sadistic mountain man. Somehow, the germ of those conversations started intertwining with input from the sights we were seeing. Our Kit Hawken character started taking shape pretty quickly. By the end of the trip, we knew we were onto something. Both Ben and I became totally obsessed with the character. When I returned home, sketches started pouring out of me and Ben and I were emailing each other and talking on the phone with each other very day-- sometimes three or four times a day-- running ideas past each other. We were totally on fire with the idea. In fact we still are, in many ways. It was really exciting. We finished most of the issue before we even started shopping the series around, which is really unusual for me. Initially we were just going to do Kit Hawken short stories-- wicked little horror tales about this grizzled old killer. But as things progressed, Ben and I knew we had a really solid tale on our hands so we started showing it to publishers. 

Jim: What is the process with working with your son Ben? Who does what?

Tim: Ben and I sort of "head-jam" on the basic concepts, working stuff out, flying ideas and reference material past each other, working out plot and character points. The beginning stages remind me of the way that Joe R. Lansdale or John Ostrander and I usually work together, actually. After that, Ben starts roughing in a script, usually shooting two or three drafts past me before we settle on something. 

We're quite different from each other as writers, actually, so we tend to play off each others' strengths: Ben is great at structure and plotting, and for throwing in these unexpected, unique scenes and action sequences. I have a penchant for dialog and for keeping the storytelling very direct and communicative.   

Anyway, after a few rough drafts, we final arrive at something we're both happy with. Ben finishes up the script so that the editor can easily follow it, then he shoots it to me and I go from there. 

Interview with Tim Truman and Ben Truman Co-Creators of A Man Named Hawken Part 1 of 2

First Page I Purchased From Tim

A little background before we jump into the interview. I have been a long time Tim Truman fan from back in his days with First Comics all the way through his writing on Conan and to this project that he and his son Ben Truman put together. One thing I admire about Tim’s work is that it seems to still be getting better and better. Many artists over time seem to stop learning or take a lot of shortcuts and there material becomes a shadow of the work they did before. Not in Tim’s case, I think Hawken might be some of his best work ever and I’m a proud owner of a few pages of Tim’s art.

Second it is nice to see a father and son team up, especially in creating a new character. I have two daughters, but I always enjoy any sort of projects that we can do together and I be willing to bet that Tim and Ben pushed each other to do their absolute best and it shows.

Of you passed up on Hawken I encourage you to either go here and buy it or order it from you favorite comic book store. It is more then worth the price of entry. And if you want to keep up to date with Tim check out his official site here.

We have decided to run the interview over two days, so onto part 1.

Ben and Tim

Jim: Tim you have been in the comic book industry for a long time. Can you give us a little background of how you got into the business?

Timothy Truman: I was always into comic books. Growing up, I became a rabid fan.  I found myself paying attention to the work of various artists rather than following specific titles or companies. So I decided pretty early that I wanted to become a book illustrator or comic book artist. However, being a rural kid form West Virginia, I had no idea about how to actually land a career doing it.

After graduating from high school, I attended Columbus College of Art and Design for one year and then went to West Virginia University's Art Department. I flunked out of both places. I had specific goal of becoming an illustrator of some sort and really didn't have the patience to sit through all the foundation year courses, art education courses, and the like. After meeting my wife Beth at WVU, I sort of sat it out for a few years while she went for her degree there.

After she graduated, it was my turn to complete my education. Fortunately, Joe Kubert began his school in New Jersey at about that time. As soon as I saw the ad for the place, I knew I'd found my shot at entering the field. I started my courses there during the school's third year and ended up graduating on the Dean's List.

Interview with Artist Alex Sheikman

Now for something different for a Monday post.

Dark Crystal Art

Jim: It has been since March 2008 when we last interviewed Alex and during that time we did get to see the next mini-series on Robotika. So let's get that out of the way first. Are both Robotika books still available and if yes where can we buy them? And is there a next chapter and when can we expect it?

Alex: The first volume of Robotika sold out and Archaia went back to press with the second edition, so both hardbound Robotika collections are still in print and should be available in the comic shops. Both volumes are also available on Amazon.com and I am sure that the individual floppies can be found in the quarter boxes across the land :)

(Jim: Note click on link for Robotika and Robotika for few Rubles More. These are both great stories and well worth the money.)

I have the plot worked out for the third (and final) Robotika instalment, but I have not started drawing it. My hope, at the moment, is to do some work for hire for as many publishers as I can in order to get some name recognition and after that I hope to finish the Robotika storyline.

Arsenic Lullaby - Interview with Creator Douglas Paszkiewicz

Doug

So after reading and reviewing Arsenic Lullaby the Devil’s Decade I reached out to the creator/artist/writer Douglas Paszkiewicz to do an interview. Doug’s work is fun and has an edge to it that most comedy is missing. We have become a politically correct society that has no sense of humor; Doug is working to correct that problem.

Jim: Arsenic Lullaby is absolutely brilliant and hilarious, but touches on subjects that most people would not get near, much less make jokes about it. What possessed you to go down the road of serial government baby killers and Zombie Fetuses?

Doug: It wasn't really a conscious effort to go down dark roads.  I just wrote/write stories that I found funny.  Often the content is driven by what I think would be fun to draw for awhile. I drew the witch doctor in my sketchbook and liked the drawing so I found a way to stick him into a story. There is also the problem of keeping things original I try to find elements that haven't been beaten to death already in the form of songs, movies, comics, etc. So after 6000 years of human civilization that really only leaves darker content that other people haven't wanted to touch...like fetuses and killing babies. I may come up with a funny story about a working class dad and his wacky neighbor but what's the point? It's either been done or something similar has. So it is really a matter of what my brain latches onto filtered by what has already been strip mined by every story teller before me.

Daryl Gregory Interview -- Writer of BOOM! Studios' Planet of the Apes Part 2 of 2

We're back with part 2 of my interview with Daryl Gregory. If you missed the ape-centric part 1 go here! Oh, and if you haven't seen Rise of the POTA yet, you should. It's one of the best movies of the year. Absolutely FANTASTIC!!!

Daryl Gregory Interview -- Writer of BOOM! Studios' Planet of the Apes Part 1 of 2

SURPRISE!!! I've been keeping this one underwraps for a month now, but I e-mailed Daryl some (re: a LOT of) questions before leaving for vacation and I just got his responses this week -- just in time to coincide with the opening of Rise of the Planet of the Apes yesterday. I hope to actually see the film today myself. (I'm working on my Aunt's AOL dial-up in Kansas right now, so I may be a little lite on accompanying images. Actually, I'm going to have to move the images above later -- they just won't cut and paste right now.)

Paul Tobin Interview -- Writer of Marvel Adventures Super Heroes Part 3 of 3

This is the third installment of my interview with writer Paul Tobin. Click here if you need to read part 1 and here for part 2.

Marvel Adventures Spider-Man #6 on sale 2010-09-22

Finally, I’d like to finish with a few personal questions.

Matthew: Where do you live? Have you always lived in that region or did you grow up somewhere else?

Paul: I live in Portland, Oregon, perhaps the highest concentration of comic book creators in the world. I’ve lived here since 2004, and previous to that I was an Iowa boy. I still miss the storms of the Midwest. Doesn’t really seem to ever rain, here… not by the standards I know.

Multnomah falls along the Columbia River Gorge 31 miles east of Portland

Matthew: I know you’re married. Is there anything you’d like to share about your family?

Paul: No children. It’s just Colleen Coover and I. We don’t even have a pet. We spend most of our time creating things, or building our secret base.

Some of Colleen's excellent artwork

Matthew: This may seem like an odd question, however, I think it tells a lot about a person… What’s kind of music do you like?

Paul: A wide variety, but music doesn’t play as big a role in my life as I’d like. I simply can’t listen to music when I’m working, and I work quite a bit. I do like to listen to music when biking, or walking. Eagles of Death Metal. Black Joe Lewis. Ennio Morricone. Tom Waits. Yard Dogs. Gogol Bordello. Neko Case. Smugglers. The Cramps. Split Lip Rayfield, etc. etc. I don’t go to live shows as much as I’d like, but whenever I do I find it really inspiring, afterwards, to write.

Matthew: Do you have a particular philosophy or guidelines you like to live by?

Paul: Done is beautiful.

Matthew: When you said "Done is beautiful", do you simply mean finishing assignments?

Paul: "Done is beautiful" is across the board for me. It comes from a theater friend I once had... he was in charge of all props and sets, and he was always having to rally his team to quit worrying about minutiae and start realizing that, sooner or later, the curtain has to go up. Some of the best artists I know will never work in the industry. I started a project a couple years back with a guy who drew the first page TEN times. Just needed to get it "right." End result... nearly two months of work for one page. Secondary result... dead project.

Matthew: Just because I have such strong opinions myself on the subject…What’s your favorite text font to use on the computer?

Paul: I’ve been using Garamond of late. I’m not a font-junkie, though. I’m okay with Times New Roman, or Arial. I don’t like comic sans, but I don’t have the vicious hate of some of my friends.

Matthew: I've got to say I despise Times New Roman, especially in the technical reports I have to review and/or write. Arial's my preference.

****

Matthew: Other than the books we already mentioned what’s next for you?

Paul: I’m working with some of Robert E. Howard’s characters… starting with Conan. And Colleen and I will be having our Gingerbread Girl graphic novel come out from Top Shelf. I’m helping to develop a television property that’s been a lot of fun, and has a rather big name person looking through my scripts. There are two unannounced Marvel projects. And I’ve even been hitting my sketchbook, of late.


Matthew: Do you have an on-line way for your fans to interact with you like a blog or a facebook page? Anything else you’d like to mention?

Paul: I have both a twitter… http://twitter.com/PaulTobin And then my own website: http://www.paultobin.net/

Thanks again to Paul for taking time out of his busy schedule to answer my questions. It was a blast!!! The next issue of Super Heroes goes on sale this Wednesday, 2010 Sept 15.

Paul Tobin Interview -- Writer of Marvel Adventures Super Heroes Part 2 of 3

If you're just joining us, you can find part 1 of this interview here:

Now, let’s focus on the writing side.

Matthew: When did you discover you were a writer? Where did you get your encouragement? How did you break into the “Biz”? I saw that you co-wrote an issue of MA Avengers with Jeff Parker, what’s your connection with him?


Paul: Not sure I can say there was ever a moment of me discovering a writer. It was just always something I did… jotting ideas down on paper when I was a kid, then typewriters, then computers. I hear it’s the same with artists… always drawing as a kid, needing to bring out imagination in visual form. For me, it’s words. I like to build worlds. Characters. As far as breaking into the biz, I did a bunch of black and white comics when I was in college, and then left the field to write (still unpublished) novels. My wife Colleen Coover began doing her own comic, though, a book called Small Favors, and I helped her out with that, giving her guidance on how comics are made. It gave me the bug again, and then a friend asked if I’d like to do some work for Marvel. I thought about, said yes, and was soon working on assignments. As far as my relationship with Jeff Parker, he’s a good friend. He’s taught me a lot about the biz, and our ideas on storytelling mesh well enough for us to zing ideas back and forth, inspiring each other.

Matthew: When do you find time to write? Do you keep a journal or anything? Is writing your fulltime “gig” or do you have to supplement with another job? Any tips for aspiring writers?

Paul: It’s more difficult for me to find time NOT to write. I typically work on comics for maybe 8-10 hours a day. And then I do 2 or 3 hours a day keeping up with the day-to-day needs of working in the biz, the correspondence, okaying pages, requesting changes, bribing the right people, that sort of thing. And then I still try to work some on my novels, every day. It is indeed a full time gig. As far as tips for aspiring writers… just write. Always write. One of the best pieces of advice I’ve ever heard is from Dave Sim. He was asked, “How do you become an artist?” and his answer was, “Buy a stack of sketchbooks that’s taller than you are, and then fill every single page with drawings. By the end of it, you’ll be an artist.” It’s the same thing when you want to be a writer. Also… read. And if you’re reading list is ONLY comics, you’ve already lost.

Matthew: Who are your primary influences? What writers do you like to read (you don’t have to limit it to just comics) and why?

Comic-wise, I’d go with Steve Gerber, Alan Moore, Will Eisner… with touches of Brubaker and Beto Hernandez. Outside comics, Dashiell Hammett, Robert E. Howard, Oscar Wilde, P. G. Wodehouse, early Chuck Pahlaniuk, Angela Carter, and I’d have to say the best book I’ve ever read is Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird. For pretty much all of them, it’s because of their ability to inject character into fantastic circumstances.


Matthew: Did you start reading comics as a kid or did you discover them later? What was your favorite comic book series growing up?

I’ve read comics all my life. I was completely a Hulk fan when I was growing up. A desire to be left alone, the strength to make it so, but a good person inside. I think a lot of what makes the Hulk great has been lost to certain writers.


Matthew: What would be your dream project? Are you interested in creating your own creator-owned series someday?

My dream projects are all creator owned. I completely love working on the iconic characters I’ve been allowed to play with, but at the same time it can be constricting, at times, to have to play within the bounds of marketing. In a creator owned book, I can explode my writing and the characters at any time, and that leads to better storytelling overall. That said, I get a huge kick out of being one of the very few that gets to put words in Spider-Man’s mouth.

Matthew: We’ve had a lot of discussions on the blog about legacy characters and secret identities. What’s you’re take on those issues? Should characters grow old and pass on the mantle to the next generation or should they just be rebooted every decade or so, but essentially stay the same? I wish your Iron Man had a secret ID, but do you like secret identities or do you think that’s a convention, which has past it’s prime?

I’m a fan of reboots. I like Tony Stark as Iron Man. Stephen Strange as Dr. Strange. Bruce Banner as the Hulk. Bruce Wayne as Batman, and so on. As far as secret identities, I can’t say that I sway one way or the other. It seems right for some characters to have a secret identity (Spider-Man, Bat-Man) while in others (Iron Man, the Fantastic Four, Wonder Woman) it doesn’t feel right to me.


Matthew: Given the romance you have in Super Heroes, how do you feel about marriage in comics? What’s your take on Peter and MJ or Clark and Lois?

Paul: I love marriage in comics, but… it’s a huge writing problem. I love writing relationships, and if Superman / Clark Kent is married, then there’s no flirtation relationships with other characters past Lois, and that’s a huge stopping block. And we work in a field of high drama, and a married character is either having marital problems (which looks bad for the character) or is in a happy marriage, which, frankly, leads to a lot of boring story-telling. “Things are great!” is not the base for high drama.

Come back next week for part 3!

Paul Tobin Interview -- Writer of Marvel Adventures Super Heroes Part 1 of 3

Hi everybody! I'm filling in for Jim this morning and I was going to do my version of Jim's "What I'm Getting", but it turns out I'm gettin' nothin' this Wednesday! Actually, that's a good thing since I'm planning on spending some money at Comic-Con tomorrow (two-days past for you readers -- time travel is always so confusing). Fortunately, I've got something even better for you -- Part 1 of my interview with writer Paul Tobin!!! I contacted Paul prior to writing my review of Super Heroes and he graciously agreed to answer my questions. I'm telling you, his responses were awesome. But don't take my word for it, read on...

This interview was conducted by e-mail via a Word file between 2010 Aug 13 and Aug 26. Paul was super-busy, so I really appreciate him taking time out of his schedule!

First, let’s focus on some questions about the Marvel Adventures Super Heroes title itself:

Matthew: I had originally thought that issue 1 was the start of the series, but it looks like it actually began in issue 17 of the last Marvel Adventures Super Heroes title, correct?


Paul: Correct indeed. That was the launch of me on the title, and a new direction for the title itself. We’d originally launched Super Heroes as a venue to showcase heroes that didn’t have their own Adventures titles, but with issue 17 we decided to do that within the greater scheme of the Avengers… so that we’d have a team book, and single issues would highlight members of that team.

Matthew: Was this a subtle reboot of the Marvel Adventures (MA) Universe? The Giant Girl (Janet Van Dyne) who starred in the MA Avengers title originally written by Jeff Parker has never been a member of the Avengers in the new PTU (Paul Tobin Universe), right?

Paul: Maybe a VERY soft reboot. The Adventures line was never all that concerned with continuity, but it was about that time that I really noticed how many of the books I was doing, and that I might as well institute a sort of broad scheme continuity. I always like shout-outs to things that have happened, and plot clues to what might be upcoming.

Matthew: This is really an Avengers book and now that there is whole Avengers franchise out there is there a specific reason why this series doesn’t use the name “Avengers” in the title?

Paul: Mostly because we do still want to highlight individual characters. We see “Avengers” as the family from where we draw the characters of the moment. The rest of the characters play sideline to whoever is stepping forward in any given issue.

Matthew: Is any of your work on the late MA Fantastic Four series part of this new universe’s continuity?


Paul: I consider it to be that way, yes. But as far as it be “officially” that way, not as much.

Matthew: Was there any change in the way you wrote the book from the “red banner” days to the new incarnation? It seems a little different to me (better…more subplots), but it could also be the difference of having rotating artists versus a consistent artist. Please tell me Cliquet and Santos are coming back after issue 5!

Paul: I’ve been given the go-ahead to go a little deeper into storylines, as long as each issue is still contained, and I’m certainly taking advantage of that. I love building stories over time. So, while each issue IS complete to itself, previous issues have events that lead into them. And Ronan will definitely be around. Scott Koblish will have some upcoming issues, and then we cycle back to Ronan Cliquet. Ronan is currently turning in pages for a Thor / Pirate story that is Knocking My Socks Off.

Matthew: Do you write out detailed scripts or do you collaborate with the artist using the “Marvel Way”? Do you modify your story based on what you know are the artist’s strengths or would artist A and artist B get the exact same story from you?

Paul: I’m very detailed with my scripts. I have a pretty clear vision of what I’d like to see, how I’d like to see it. At the same time, I realize it’s my job to stand back and let the artist do his job, so unless there’s a specific reason, I stay away from calling shots. And I love aiming scripts towards specific artists, but sometimes (due to deadlines, potential artist availability, etc) I’m writing scripts blind… not knowing who is going to be illustrating. If I DO know, and I have time, I like to ask an artist what kinds of things they find exciting to draw.

Matthew: Did you get to pick all the team members or were some editorially mandated for you?

Paul: A little of both. It’s not uncommon for me to pick what artist I want to work with… but quite often I’m picking from a small pool of available people. There are three or four artists I’m trying to work into our regular stable, at this point.

Matthew: I really love the inclusion of the Invisible Woman, Nova, and the Vision. As a fan what’s your history with these characters and which comic stories (I’m thinking specific issues or runs) in the past are most influential on the way you write them today?


Paul: I have a horrendous memory, so I rarely think in terms of the past in specific, but I certainly think of the characters in overall themes. I like to strip a character down to what’s essential to them, why they put on the costume, what would make them stop, where his or her boundaries are set, and really play with those elements. Cap, for instance, is an Avengers leader because he is driven to do the right thing, whereas Sue (in a very subtle difference) is a strong leader because she’s afraid of what would happen to the people she cares about if she doesn’t do the right thing.

Matthew: I love the romance between Sue and Captain America. She’s really going to fall for Steve once she discovers whatever secrets Reed’s been keeping from her (via the Black Widow). Do you actually have the freedom to break out of the 50-year cycle of Reed and Sue as a couple? I’m not just talking a temporary break, I’m actually hoping to see Mrs. Susan ROGERS in the PTU someday!

Paul: I have quite a lot of freedom in the Adventures line, yes. How best to utilize that freedom is always interesting to me… and Steve’s attraction to Sue is definitely going to become a front story element quite soon.

Matthew: Any hints at what’s coming up next in the series?

Paul: Unexpected romances. Betrayals. A trip to Asgard. Pirates. One of the Avengers very much is AND isn’t who you might believe. And sea monsters.

Matthew: Do you know if this series will be collected in digest form or regular trade paperback?

Paul: Digest size, I believe, but I haven’t talked to the marketing people about that, so I can’t say for sure.

Matthew: I’m already sold on Super Heroes, how about you give me some reasons why I should be reading MA Spider-man too? It would help if you could highlight any similarities or differences between the two titles and how they’re written.


Paul: Spider-Man is actually a more “pure” book for me. The fact that I can focus on Spider-Man rather than a cast of seven heroes (in the Avengers title) means that I can go more in depth, and can really focus on characterization, plot development, relationships, and all the other aspects of storytelling. Because of this, I also have room for a strong supporting cast, like Sophia “Chat” Sanduval, who is a girlfriend to BOTH Peter Parker and Spider-Man, as opposed to so many girlfriends in the past. And I can also play with the Blonde Phantom in a reoccurring role, and of course the younger years of Emma Frost. She’s currently a character called the Silencer. She isn’t really sure if she likes her best friend, Chat, to be dating such a cool guy as Spider-Man, and she isn’t really sure if she’s a good guy or a bad guy. Lots of fun tension in poor ol’ Pete’s life.

Matthew: I heard that you’re writing the new spider-girl series that takes place in the regular Marvel Universe. Now, I am a HUGE May “Mayday” Parker (the one and only) Spider-Girl fan and normally, I wouldn't give any other “spider-girl” the time of day; however, with you writing it I’m willing to at least try out the first issue. I think you could engender a lot of good will with the MC2 Spider-Girl readers by saying some nice things about May and the phenomenon that’s about to end (only if you really mean it though).

I actually own this piece of artwork folks!

Paul: There seems to be a small segment of people that are making this an either / or situation, but I’m not really one of them. Mayday Parker was a great character, and continues to be a great character. Nothing we do is going to change that. What we can do is add ANOTHER character to the name, and that’s really my aim. I want Spider-Girl to be her own character, her own life… not standing for any replacement of all the great works that DeFalco did with Mayday. I hope that Anya Corazon is around for a long time to come, and I hope that Mayday sticks around, as well.

Matthew: Now, that you know which camp I belong too, can you make a pitch for why any other MC2 Spider-Girl fan should try out the new title?


Paul: Same reason that drew me into comics in the first place… a fascinating character in fascinating settings, dealing with the fantastic. And, I like to think that I’m bringing, to this title, what I’ve been known for in other titles, strong characterization that leads people to care about the people behind the masks. That’s what it’s all about for me… the human side of those that we comic creators Toss Into Chaos.

Matthew: How will your writing of spider-girl (you may have noticed that the lowercase is intentional kind of like God versus any other “god”) in the Marvel Universe differ from how you’re writing Spider-man in the Paul Tobin Universe for Marvel Adventures? What sort of “code” do you have to follow within MA (I thought the avoidance of saying “Deadpool” in issue #4 was hilarious)?

Paul: There are certain elements we shy away from in the Marvel Adventures line… the “blood n’ death” aspects are at a lower level. To be honest (and this is something I’ve discussed with my pal Jeff Parker, who agrees with this line of thinking) I think ALL writers should have to start in the Marvel Adventures line. Because we have certain restrictions, we have to learn to have stronger characterization, more inventive styles of drama, and so on. This means that when we do work within the 616 line, we’re coming into that market with a bigger bucket of storytelling tools, and it only leads to better stories.

Matthew: The regular Marvel Universe isn’t very all ages friendly at all most of the time. Since you’ve been so heavily into the Adventures universe, do you have any qualms about writing “darker” things? I guess I’m wondering is there a line that you won’t cross as a writer (i.e. No Sue Dibny tragedies or Sins Past fiascos)?

Paul: I’m by no means adverse to darker themes. I like having them around as a way of raising the ante, upping the drama, stacking the deck in favor of the villains… BUT… I’m hugely against using such “dark” elements as crutches. This is a rant I could go on for hours, and I often do… writing such as the Sue Dibny episode are created as no more than shock value, throwaway elements to make a story seem important. In turn, though, they ultimately devalue the story and the writer both. If people are always dying, then each death lessens the impact of the next, until it graduates to the meaningless. And if a writer can’t think of a better story than “SOMEONE DIES!” then that’s pretty sad. This medium is rampant with creators that think, “I’ll be remembered because this story is important,” when is should be filled with writers thinking, “I’ll be remembered because this story is good.”

That's not nearly all folks come back on Saturday for Part 2!
And come back later today for some pictures from the Baltimore Comic-con!

An Interview with Amy Reeder

As a graduation gift Jim got me the coolest present! It is a page of original art from Amy Reeder's work on Madame Xanadu. I was so excited by this as it was something I would have never thought to get for myself on my own and I absolutely love it! It's always great to be happily surprised and Amy is one of my favorite comic artists (in case you haven't been able to tell from all of my previous Madame X reviews). On top of the art Jim also got me in touch with Amy and I am happy to present the resulting interview!



Gwen: To start everyone off how about introducing yourself :) Personal introductions are always better than anything I'll be able to come up with on my own.

Amy: Well, I'm Amy Reeder; I'm a comics artist with a style that sort of mixes Japanese sensibilities with realism and American comics too. I got my start through a contest put out through Tokyopop, and with them I got my first gig, writing/drawing/everything Fool's Gold, a teen drama inspired by Pride and Prejudice. Since then I've been drawing the Eisner-nominated Madame Xanadu for Vertigo, a story written by Matt Wagner that goes through history and traces the life of a fortune teller who's been alive for centuries. Now I'm starting work for DC Proper, drawing covers for Supergirl and interiors for Batwoman.

Gwen: What do you think of Madame Xanadu as a character?

Amy: I feel extremely close to her...Matt allowed me to have a lot of say on her design and we reinvented her in a lot of ways. The first arc was a whole ten issues and she aged and matured throughout it. And...so did I, often going through similar stages.

I think her biggest theme in the series is tireless altruism, and everything she can do and does do traces back to that. Nothing's really so much out to get her; rather, she goes out of her way to find people in need, and finds ways to expand her abilities to facilitate whatever might come up. She throws herself into the thick of the trouble. So I find her very admirable.

Gwen: What do you have the most fun drawing in the Madame Xanadu comic books?

Amy: The historical clothing! At one point I thought about pursuing a graduate degree in something like the history of fashion, so I could help with period films or documentaries. So when it became my job to know these things, I was overjoyed. Xanadu herself was especially fun, because I could mix fashions from all the previous places she's been, and add into it her particular sensibilities.

Gwen: Previous to working for Vertigo you worked for Tokyo Pop on a manga called Fool's Gold. As most manga is traditionally done in black and white did you have to make any adjustments in order to better work with a colorist on a regular basis? How about working with a separate inker?

Amy: To this day, I'm still figuring out what works best in color comics, as well as collaborating with an inker and a colorist. I felt fairly knowledgeable in black and white by comparison, I think in part because I was doing every process, and so I would know immediately what wasn't working and could adjust accordingly.

In black and white, you have to anticipate the minds of your readers and trust that they'll fill in the blanks. Like it's mostly illusion and you'd be surprised how much the mind actually makes up that's not really there. When it's in color, you can still get your reader to fill in some blanks, but in most instances you have to materialize backgrounds and details or it'll look empty and confusing. Mistakes show up much more easily when your work is colored! There are a lot of tools and tricks in rendering for color and I'll often look to top superhero artists for clues.

Working with an inker (Richard Friend) and a colorist (Guy Major) is huge; we've gotten better together the longer it's been. I've formed a close relationship with both of them and work directly with them, whereas I know most people work through their editors. I think differently when I'm working with others; there are certain things they excel at that I definitely take advantage of. And some things are impossible to convey, so I take that into consideration as well. It's made me rely less on impressing readers with my ability to render, and more on the underlying structure, gestures, and composition, because I have much more control over that.

Gwen: What is it like to work with a writer as opposed to drawing and plotting out the story?

Amy: It's great especially because your own mind can limit how much you can really come up with. I've drawn so many things I never knew how to draw or even thought to draw. And Matt Wagner's a great writer...drawing for him has felt like an in-depth study in writing...it's helped prepare me in many ways to one day write my own material again. It's definitely a different process; when I wrote for myself I devised a method specifically catered to how I think, developing the visuals and the dialogue simlutaneously. With Matt I do a lot of deconstructing so that I can internalize it and pretend that I somehow made it up...because I feel that my storytelling comes out better from my own ideas.



Gwen: Madame Xanadu takes the readers through many different time periods in order to tell the story of her past. How much research do you have to do for the drastic setting changes in Madame Xanadu? What aspects of a time period do you look into before drawing?

Amy: The research was huge...it's one thing to pass a history test, another to teach history (I have a degree in social science education), and I've found it's quite another to recreate it. You have to know much more than you ever really show on the page. For each era I have computer folders packed with various categories of reference. Much of that is from image searches, but I also rent a lot of period films and take screen captures. And I have books that I refer to as well. You have to get to the point where you're so familiar and immersed that you can make something up and still have it be believable. The first issue of an era is always the slowest because of this, and the most difficult one was the Yuan Dynasty China one...I started to realize what little I had in common, how every little object is completely different from the assumptions I make in my own culture. AND there weren't any movies set in that particular time and place. I ended up trying roundabout methods like copying and pasting Chinese characters of clothing articles into image search engines.

Gwen: I've worked with an artist in the past who had a problem with getting work done on time. She was bothered by the idea of her art becoming too much like work. How do you keep drawing fun even in the face of deadlines? Do you have any advice for artists who want to make a living off of their talent but still want to enjoy their work?

Amy: It's certainly common; we all start drawing as part of a selfish act and it doesn't feel right to do it for any other reason, even making a living. During Madame Xanadu I actually went through that transition, of starting to think of art as work and as a way to make money. I resisted it until I got to the point where I was so behind that I could lose my job. It was then that I really valued my gig as an opportunity and an occupation. But I can't say this is the end of the story...I certainly haven't figured out the perfect balance and am working now to get back to drawing for sheer enjoyment again. Because of that, I don't have the answers. But what I suspect is that you need to do two things to prevent getting burnt out: One, you have to be diligent at finding time to do your own personal work. And two, you have to constantly analyze your work and improve it. Improvement is a huge rush and the work that goes into it makes people forget how fulfilling it can be.

Gwen: I've read that you'll be (or already are) working on Supergirl covers and the Batwoman comic book for DC along with inker Richard Friend and colorist Guy Major. You work with these two on Madame X as well so obviously you work well together. Has DC just seen that they have a good thing so it's best not to mess with it? Or have you had a say in who you are able to collaborate with?

Amy: I think it's both. With these new projects I've been explicit about wanting to work with them because I think we've built something really special. And when I requested that we stick together, the editors I spoke to were overjoyed. They were fans of what they saw in Madame Xanadu!

Gwen: What type of comic books to you enjoy reading? What are some of your favorites and why?

Amy: The more a book has to do with interpersonal relationships, the more I seem to like it. I started out reading manga meant for teen and adult ladies, and it was mostly drama and romance. The BEST is Paradise Kiss. And it's short, only 5 graphic novels. It's about an uptight school girl who gets lost in the world of fashion school students, when they accidentally kidnap her to be their model. Tramps Like Us (misleading name) is also great.

Since reading American comics, I've grown to be a big fan of Ross Campbell. He seems to play with any genre under the sun, and no matter what it is, I love it. I got into his work through this odd multi-character drama called Wet Moon. He draws mostly girls, all different shapes and colors, all beautiful, and very real. I still maintain he gets girls better than girls do.


Thanks again to Amy for this great interview! If you're interested in seeing more of Amy's work check out her blog : http://tentopet.livejournal.com/ !


Next week I'll be posting a review of Fool's Gold, Amy's work with TokyoPop.

Kill Shakespeare #2 - Review and Bonus Interview!

Kill Shakespeare #2
IDW
story: Conor McCreery & Anthony Del Col
art: Andy Belanger

Kill Shakespeare #2: “Something Wicked This Way Comes”

In this exciting second issue of the saga that combines Fables with League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Hamlet begins his epic quest to find the reclusive wizard William Shakespeare. Joined in arms by the imposing Richard III and his lieutenant Iago, Hamlet is attacked and has his life threatened by multiple forces – a violent rebel group known as the Prodigals, a mysterious fool, and someone he least expects…

I am a big fan of Shakespeare. I was in Shakespeare Club in high school and had the enjoyment of participating in plays like Much Ado About Nothing, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Othello, King Lear and Romeo & Juliet. I also volunteered to work with Shakespeare in the Park productions here in Florida. So obviously I am initially interested in a comic book that labels itself with the Shakespeare name (even if the title implies his death).

First of all I loved the launch of this book. The first issue was just unexpected. With the exception of my commentary on DC solicitations I don't usually read about a book before I read the book. I might have a general idea but in this case I had little to no idea what Kill Shakespeare was about. I absolutely love the idea of Shakespeare as a wizard that Richard wants dead. Hamlet is a good choice as a main hero - while supporting characters from Shakespeare's work are present almost everyone knows who characters like Hamlet, King Richard and Iago are. Using major characters helps to draw readers into the story. Still, I'm having more fun with the supporting cast as it's fun to see how many I know.

The second issue of Kill Shakespeare was even better than the first. The main reason I say this is because of Iago. Iago has got to be one of my all time favorite Shakespearean villains and Conor and Anthony certainty write him well. We also learn in this issue that there is a group of people who don't want anyone to find and kill Shakespeare the Wizard. The foundations of the world are slowly being established and the readers start to understand why Hamlet is important to King Richard's plotting. Honestly I wish this comic had been around while I was in high school - it would have been much easier to get some of the other students interested in the Bard's work. In placing all of Shakespeare's characters into one world and setting them lose on one another Conor and Anthony have created a virtual playground for people like me and have done in it such a way as to gain the interest of people less well versed in Shakespeare's work. Art Belanger's work is a perfect fit for the story being comprised of both easily identifiable features and expressions while favoring heavy and foreboding line work and flowing landscapes. His horses are fun too - they all seem to have personalities - Hamlet's horse was especially amusing the way Art drew him.

Conor and Anthony were kind enough to answer a few questions!

Gwen: Obviously you guys are taking Shakespearean characters out of their normal context. So far it seems that their normal "roles" have stayed the same. Hamlet's a hero, Richard is not very nice, etc. Will readers encounter some surprises along the way as to how characters react or are you guys playing more with the interactions of already established personalities?

Anthony: The great thing about Shakespeare’s characters and stories in his plays are that they are so multi-faceted – no one is truly a “villain” or a “hero”. They are just human. So we try to play with these constructs and the characters that are in our tale react to events in their own way.

Conor: Well we took some flak for playing with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern so I think we have done a few different things with the characters. I think as the series progresses it will be easier to see how we have made these characters our own. However, Shakespeare was so great at hinting possible alternatives for his characters that even when we go “off book” I think one can usually make an argument that the way we have our characters act was at least possible.

Gwen: What inspired you guys to pull characters from Titus Andronicus? Does this mean you all are in the camp that is was actually written by Shakespeare? Are the two male henchmen with Tamora meant to be her sons?

Conor: Anthony suggested Tamora because she’s such a cool female character and we wanted a strong female character in our tale early as Lady M. and Juliet’s stories take some time to play out. Also, since Richard is trying to compete with people like Titus and Lear we thought that Tamora would ally herself with someone who wanted to be greater than Titus. As for who wrote what? I don’t really care so much – the stories are fantastic and that’s what I concern myself with…

Anthony: I would argue that Tamora is one of the most fascinating female characters that the Bard wrote so I’m glad that we’ve been able to incorporate her in such an interesting way. Titus is such a grand, epic story that we hope to be able to incorporate more than one character from it.

Gwen: In regards to pulling characters from Shakespeare's histories do you plan on fleshing out their roles using information from the people the characters were based on or do you guys prefer to stick with Shakespeare's characterizations?

Conor: Well we have our own world at play here. We’ve been surprised (but we understand) why people think Hamlet is in England right now, but that isn’t necessarily our intention. We’re going to go off of Shakespeare first, our world second, and “real-world history” third, if at all…

Anthony: The magnetic north on our story’s compass at all times is Shakespeare’s original plays and his interpretation of history. What the Bard did was take these historical figures and then build an entertaining tale around them; this is exactly what we’re doing with his characters in our own adventure.

Bottom line: Give this book a shot! It's a lot of fun in the Shakespearean style and I personally can't wait until the next issue!

A

Kill Shakespeare #2 comes out this Wednesday May 19th!

Interview with the Writing Team of Kill Shakespeare

I enjoyed Kill Shakespeare so much that I asked writers/creators Anthony Del Col and Conor McCreey if they would do an interview with us and they did. Since they answered in tandem I will go with Ant/Con for the replies.

BOTTOM LINE THE BOOK IS OUT WEDNESDAY APRIL 14 - TRY IT OUT. IF YOU DON'T LIKE IT LET ME KNOW AND I WILL BUY BACK THE ISSUE FOR THE FIRST TEN PEOPLE WHO E-MAIL ME THEY DIDN'T LIKE AND THEN SEND ME THE BOOK.


Jim: Okay I love origin stories, so is the secret origin and Anthony and Conor and how did you guys become a writing team?

Ant/Con: Oh, the memories… We both attended the same business school - at the exact same time - but we didn’t actually meet until a couple years after we graduated. I think that our original intent was to stab the other guy in the back (a trick taught to business students that could be described as Shakespearean…) but we discovered that we had similar sensibilities when it came to films and storytelling. We tried optioning a book that we had both loved as kids but were unsuccessful but it started a partnership that led to other projects developed along the way - children’s animated shows and some features.

Jim: What was the genesis of Kill Shakespeare and how did you sell it to IDW?

Ant/Con: We came up with the idea about six years ago after brainstorming ideas for video games. It was originally conceived as a massive-online game but we eventually discovered that the story would be best told in the medium of comics.

We treated the project from the beginning as a business venture. We prepared a 100-page business plan and raised some private equity that would allow us to leave our jobs and work on this full-time. We brought on artist Andy Belanger and prepared a comprehensive series bible that featured character designs, sample pages, summaries of each of the twelve issues, marketing plans, etc. We pitched it to numerous publishing companies and had interest from many but signed with IDW because it was the right fit. They’ve been great for us thus far and we’re really happy with the first issue.

Jim: Baseball season is upon us, any opening day jitters when it comes to the launch of your book?

Ant/Con: Yes and no. There’s always a part of us as creators that is nervous to see that people will like our work. But we’re so busy at the moment – working on future issues, doing the marketing, etc. – that we’re too occupied to spend too much time thinking about it.

Jim: I'm always curious about the process. Who writes what, full script with dialogue, back and forth with the artist, etc.?

Ant/Con : We both sit down and hammer out exactly what needs to happen in each script, looking at the full twelve-issues as the foundation. Conor then takes the first pass at the script and then we both go back and forth with notes and changes until we’re both happy with it (and settle disputes with the rock-paper-scissors method…). The final script has a panel-by-panel breakdown of each page with dialogue in place.

What happens next is magic. We bring it to Andy Belanger (the artist) and he goes through it and does the thumbnails. Andy is a fantastic storyteller in his own right so he’ll make suggestions and changes to how a page or scene will flow, based on his comic book experience. We then make some final revisions to the story and dialogue based on Andy’s suggestions.

Jim: How did you find your artist?

Ant/Con: Eighteen months ago we started to look for an artist and met with a number of people but Andy jumped out right from the beginning. Five minutes into our meeting he slammed his hand on the table and said he was in – he had always wanted to draw Lady Macbeth. He then started to talk about what he could do with the artwork – a strong emphasis on background, etc. It was then that we knew we had created a monster…

Jim: Will this be monthly or do you have planned breaks?

Ant/Con: Kill Shakespeare is a monthly series. The first two issues come out in April and then May, with Issue 3 in early July and everything monthly up to Issue #6 in October. We will then release the first trade in November (a perfect Christmas gift for that Shakespeare fan that you know…) and resume the series in December or January.

Jim: 12 issues is a huge commitment is IDW all in so we know we will get to the end of the story?

Ant/Con: Yes, we’re all-in. We will be releasing all twelve issues. If IDW had any reservations about this that was eliminated when the sales orders for the first issue came in – they were above expectation and we’re pretty happy with the buzz that’s been building since. We’re pretty excited about the storylines that we’ve come up with over the entire twelve issues and think that fans will be able to jump in and enjoy!

Jim: If it is a smash success, do you have ideas for sequels?

Ant/Con: We have a rough outline of what would happen in a second and third series – we’ve mapped it out as a trilogy. There are some plotlines that are really getting us – and Andy – excited about but we’re still spending most of our time focusing on the current series.

Jim: Anything else on the horizon for the writing team or individually?

Ant/Con: We’re in discussions to put together a tabletop RPG game of Kill Shakespeare as well as a mobile game/app that captures the essence of our story and world. We have other projects (film, television) that we’ve been developing on the side but right now we’re spending all of our time on Kill Shakespeare. But hey, who needs a social life?...

Andy is also busy working on his Zuda Comics series Bottle of Awesome which, as a bright comedy, is a radical departure from the epic storytelling of Kill Shakespeare. You should check out that series as well.

Jim: Finally the hardest things about any project is getting people to try out the first issue. I think the book is a great story from the opening and basing it on Shakespeare is a nice touch to give it a different edge. I'm sold, now tell me why you think other people should buy it?

Ant/Con: You should buy it because if you don’t we’ll come to your house and not leave until you buy a copy… And we can be very obnoxious house guests…

This is a great story full of adventure, epic drama, bloody violence, love, lust and comedy. It doesn’t matter if you’re a fan of Shakespeare or not, you’ll enjoy this series. The characters are the greatest of all-time and you’ll really get into the story. It’s an adventure of Shakespearean proportions!

Thanks guys, it is always interesting to me to hear from the people who are behind the books.