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AICN COMICS SHOOT THE MESSENGER: News! Q&@ with Andreyko/Gaydos on MANHUNTER! Tournament Round Four!
What’s SHOOT THE MESSENGER?
Well, AICN COMICS: SHOOT THE MESSENGER is your weekly one stop shop for comic book news that’s dropped in the previous week. Thanks to Newsarama, CBR, Wizard, etc. for reporting it as it breaks. Click on the links for the original stories. This column cuts the crap to run down all the vital information for those of you who don’t follow it as it comes in, and serves it all up with that special ingredient of @$$y goodness. It’s also the place for interviews, previews, and special reports.
Hey folks, Happy Memorial Day! Ambush Bug here with an extra special Q&@ with writer Marc Andreyko and artist Michael Gaydos, the creative team from the relaunched and reduxed MANHUNTER, set to hit the stands in June. We had a chance to ask the creators a little bit about all things MANHUNTER.
@: First things first: how does it feel to be back? I have to imagine with a book like this, which seems more to be a labor of love than just your basic stint on *insert title*, that it was very strenuous watching it go on the roller coaster ride it has battling cancellation back. Y'know, the "Spider-Girl-a-whirl" so to speak.
MARC ANDREYKO (MA):It’s exhausting, exhilarating, and completely humbling. The fact that MANHUNTER has gotten two reprieves continues to blow my mind. And the devotion and love of the die-hard fans have for the book and for Kate energizes me. I would love to write MANHUNTER for the foreseeable future. And, in a perfect world, it would be like James Robinson’s STARMAN, something that I see through from beginning to end. And if we're half as good as the brilliant STARMAN was, I'll be happy :)
@: What do people new to MANHUNTER need to know going into this relaunch?
MA:Not much, actually. We do a 2 page recap of #1-30 that brings you up to speed. And anything that isn't answered fully is pretty easy to pick up. It's a serialized story but I try to write it thinking "every issue is someone's first". The more you know, the richer the story becomes, but it's pretty accessible and interesting (I hope) if you're a newbie. And hopefully, there will be 5-10,000 newbies when we start up again!
@: Now that we're back, are we going to be jumping right back into where we left off with Kate, or is this going to be sort of a "getting to know you" designed to welcome a new audience to the book?
MA:See the first part of my answer to #2 :) and we're jumping right back in. This is a new storyarc, obviously, but I trust everyone will be up to speed in short order. And, hopefully, intrigued enough to pick up the 4 trade paperbacks collecting MANHUNTER #1-30! Available at finer comic shops everywhere! (sorry, but every new reader helps!)
@: Are all the old familiar faces going to be coming back as well? One thing I loved about the book was the use of oh so many completely off the radar characters from the DCU. Cameron Chase, Obsidian, Director Bones, etc. It was just such a lovable bunch of misfits.
MA: I love having a large supporting cast. Whether it's Altman's film NASHVILLE or the Wolfman/Perez TITANS, I love huge casts. And the more "real" characters you have surrounding your lead, the more that's revealed about the character. Plus, I am an old time comic geek and loved INFINITY INC. so Obsidian was a no brainer (and has turned out to be a blast to write).
And CHASE is one of the best series no one read. I really would love DC to put out a trade or two of Cameron's adventures. The stories were so ahead of their time and you get stunning J.H. Williams art! So, write DC and demand a CHASE trade today! LOL!
@:And while we're talking about the old crew, I figure I should ask about any new recurring faces showing up to join the shenanigans. Or at least some guest appearances, like a certain Amazonian made before the book last went on hiatus, or some of the BIRDS OF PREY that our MANHUNTER "freelanced" for during that time off. What's the deal?
MA:Some new characters will be gradually introduced, but this first arc takes place outside of L.A. so the supporting players we already have don't even get much time.
I'd love to get Kate dating again. I already know how her speed-dating session would go :) and Iron Munroe is a bigger presence now, too.
@:How much legalese do you have to know to write this book? Were you familiar with the legal system before taking on this title?
MA:I have a decent knowledge of extremely basic stuff, and I also have friends who are lawyers (who now dread my phonecalls), but I don’t adhere to our laws exactly. I try to apply how they would work in a superhero universe, and sometimes, for drama’s sake, I fudge things a little :)
@: So how did the stroke of genius of adding Michael Gaydos onto MANHUNTER come about? It seems so obvious having an artist like him on the book, given his past with books involving more confrontational and acerbic female leads. Did the stars just happen to align and he just fell into the book, or did one party actively seek the other?
MA:Well, at the San Diego Con last year, I bumped into Michael for the first time in years and forced him to do a sketch in my MANHUNTER Sketchbook. What he gave me was absolutely freaking amazing! So much so, that I showed my editor, the Great Joan Hilty, and said how great it would be to get Michael on the book.
One cancellation and uncancellation later, the artist we were originally going to use moved on and we were looking. I went to a Con in Spain where Michael was a guest too, and started chatting him up. A few phone calls later and “Voila!” We have a gorgeous looking book!
@: For Michael, what is the most challenging thing you've had to draw so far with MANHUNTER?
MICHAEL GAYDOS(MG): Really, getting comfortable with the main characters and finding the right look for them within my style is the most challenging thing. I'm hoping after a few issues under my belt, everyone will be in place. Kate is obviously the main concern. My rendition is a bit different than the previous artists in the book. I wanted to hold true to some of what they brought to the character while still making her my own.
Bones is a lot of fun to draw and in the first issue you'll see I got to draw yet another skull-headed character. Maybe I can get Marc to make this some sort of ongoing theme :)
@:What lessons that you've learned from working at Marvel on ALIAS & THE PULSE are you bringing to MANHUNTER?
MG: Most of the books that I have worked on are very much character driven. I have also seemed to be blessed with the fact that they are females. The opportunity to be able to try to portray real feeling and emotion through the characters is something that I really enjoy. While working on ALIAS and PULSE, I learned to appreciate what subtlety can bring to a character and the story. This is especially true when juxtaposed to a lot of action. Although easier to do with actors in movies, I still think it is something that works really well in the comic form.
@: Are there any characters in the DCU that you are itching to draw? Here's your chance to let Marc know about what characters you'd like to have Manhunter team up with or go up against in MANHUNTER.
MG:I'm sure like everyone else, Batman is up there on my list, but there are a few characters that would be fun if they happened to show up in Kate's world. Hmmm...let's see--Green Arrow, the Demon, Dr. Fate, Mr. Miracle, Constantine, I really need to take a look through my WHO'S WHO books.
@: In comics we're used to seeing big breasted, all hips, no waist, amazonian goddesses. With ALIAS, did you know that you were going to make Jessica Jones "a real woman" from the start or was that tonality set by Bendis, and are you planning on bringing that type of realism to MANHUNTER?
MG:The tonality was somewhat set by Brian and what he wanted to accomplish with the series. He had some basic ideas for her look, but she eventually evolved into the Jessica that we now know and love.
I think MANHUNTER is ripe for that type of realism. Especially considering the topics that Marc is wanting to tackle. In much the same way as Jessica did in the Marvel universe, Kate is dealing with a lot of the underbelly of the DCU.
Portraying Kate in the "real woman" sense is also a bit different because she regularly parades around in a costume. Learning to balance the two Kates in a believable way is a challenge as well. Having to draw a woman in a hot costume isn't too bad in itself.
@:Although it’s set in a more realistic corner of the DCU, there looks to be much more spandex and capes in MANHUNTER than in ALIAS. Do you plan on adjusting your more realistic style to fit the colorful costumes and superpowers?
MG:Only slightly, if at all. I'm finding myself trying to make things a bit cleaner, or I should say finer, with my line in certain areas. Overall, as I said, i think this book is a good fit for a more realistic approach. I'm having a lot of fun with it and i hope everyone else does as well.
@: Back to Marc: now that Michael is on the title, will his brand of realistic art change your storytelling style, possibly ground your stories a little more in reality?
MA: Well, the stories will have a more "real" feel (as real as you can get with superheroes flying around anyway), but I am not making any conscious change because of Mike. His art does exactly what it did on the late, lamented ALIAS - it gives a veneer of earthiness to the craziness of the DCU.
@: What about our chain-smoking heroine’s role in the DCU? Around the time of INFINITE CRISIS, there seemed to be a little push to get her more in the eye of readers with event banners across the top of the book, or her obvious insertion into some more major panels of the event book itself. Is our MANHUNTER going to get a more prominent push into the DCU limelight, or are we going to continue to just see her working in her own little corner of the Universe with the other misfits that fill out her supporting cast?
MA: Kate and her cast will interact with the DCU as is needed for the story, but, for the time being, the title will not be "banner"-involved in big events. That doesn't mean Kate's actions won't be felt in the DCU, though. Just wait. It'll be cool.....
@: With all of the titles out there that end too soon, there only seems to be a handful that gets second chances like MANHUNTER has. What are you going to do this time around that will help ensure us that MANHUNTER won't be on the chopping block in another eight months?
MA: I'm gonna try and tell the best stories I can, and with the team of Michael Gaydos, Jose Villarrubia on colors, Liam Sharp on covers, and the amazing edits of Joan Hilty, I have a lot of great people to make me look good :)
Other than that, I'm sure I'll still be sending free copies of the book to unbelievers and trying to make MANHUNTER a book you can't wait to read.
And animal sacrifices to the elder gods.
@: What other projects do you have coming up?
MA: I have a bunch of stuff in the works, both comics and film/TV, but, as they say, nothing far enough along to comment about yet. A number of projects will be announced at the San Diego con this year, tho'.
@:Is there anything else you want us to know about MANHUNTER?
Buy it. It'll cure what ails you!
@:Will do. Thanks so much for answering our questions!
And now, the news!
Stones Throw back after last week’s sabbatical. If you’re wondering why there was no column last week, don’t blame me, blame those lazy fucks at Newsarama and CBR! (Only kidding, guys. Thanks for letting me pinch your news.) Anyway, there’s a fair bit that’s of interest this past week. Here it comes…
@ Atoning for Joss Whedon’s very delayed run, RUNAWAYS will relaunch for a third volume in August, with the new team of Terry Moore and Humberto Ramos. And as already announced on the AICN main page, Brian K. Vaughan’s super-powered teenage misfits will also be making it to the big screen too if Marvel has their way. Script to be written by Vaughan…
@ Legendary IRON MAN, DAREDEVIL and BATMAN artist Gene Colan has been taken ill with a failing liver. Details here of the Hero Initiative’s efforts to help the guy…@ Marvel editor C.B. Cebulski announces the winners of Marvel’s “Chesterquest” competition to find new artists here…
@ BOX OFFICE POISON creator Alex Robinson’s new graphic novel is simply TOO COOL TO BE FORGOTTEN!! No, literally. Preview and interview at the link…
@ Warren Ellis reunites with his BLACK SUMMER atist Juan Jose Ryp for another superhero series at Avatar, NO HERO…
@ Possibly the first, and likely the only time a comic book artist has made or will make the cover of SPORTS ILLUSTRATED. Congrats Mark Bagley! Be part of the experience here…
@ Boy, Marvel sure have a lot of confidence in the Knaufs on IRON MAN, don’t they? First they get Matt Fraction for a new Shellhead # 1, as if to say to movie fans, “no, don’t buy that series. Buy this one!”, and now Stuart Moore’s doing a new reader-friendly four issue fill-in on the main title…
@ RIP influential comic book store owner Rory Root…
@ Byrne’s NEXT MEN gets collected at IDW…
@ And finally, James Robinson names the team for his new JUSTICE LEAGUE series here, including surprisingly frank opinions on why Batwoman’s a member. And are Geoff Johns and upcoming SUPERMAN writer Robinson taking over SUPERGIRL? Robinson speaks about their desire to make three must-have Superman books and define the character of Kara here. Just like every other Supergirl writer since time immemorial, then…
So, thoughts on this week’s offerings, gang? Is James Robinson’s Justice League a hit or a miss? What about the big ape on the team (not Oliver Queen, Congorilla)? Or Marvel’s post-IM movie efforts to attract new readers? I’m no fan of the Knauf’s take, but Stuart Moore switched me off with his “he’s as determined to do as good as any character in the Marvel universe” comment from that interview. Hell naw! Iron Man’s the kind of guy who straps on a super-powered suit and punches Fin Fang Foom in between boozin’ and ruttin’, and the sooner Marvel realizes that, the better.
Now on with the fights!
ROUND FOUR FIGHTS
PART ONE
PART ONE
Five weeks ago, sixty-four of comic bookdom’s best fighters entered this competition with hopes and dreams of being crowned THE SECRET TOURNAMENT OF INFINITE @$$-KICKERY Champion. Only the Elite Eight remain. It’s comics’ version of March Madness, only…it lasts a bit longer. You fight master, Ambush Bug is here yet again, on behalf of the @$$Holes at AICN Comics, welcoming you all back to a contest unlike any other: boiling fanboyism down to the bare bones basics...whether one guy can kick the other guy's @$$.
The remaining heroes are the best of the best. Some of them were born to win this match. Others are just damn lucky to get this far. Round Four is about to begin. In this round, we’ll find out who is the winner of each bracket. The Champs of Brackets One and Two will decided from the below matches. But first, the rules:
@ To even the playing field, contestants are powerless and weaponless upon entering the ring. They must win on fighting prowess and character alone!
@ Check out the fights listed below and send a 300 word (or less) fight scene to us determining who the winner is and how the fight should play out. (Remember: it’s best to SHOW, don’t TELL, in these submissions. That means write the scene as if it is happening, don’t tell us what will happen…it makes for more interesting readin’, don’t cha know!).
@ Be sure to indicate the winner of each match in the subject line of your email.
@ Submissions are judged by a select group of @$$Holes (hint: we’re looking for the most entertaining one to win, not necessarily the one that has been done and over done in comics before. ORIGINALITY RULEZ!).
@ Winners of each match will be announced in the column a week later (that means if the fights were introduced in Monday’s SHOOT THE MESSENGER Column, the winner will be announced the following Monday, same for Wednesday’s reviews column).
@ Submissions can be sent in to @$$Hole HQ via the link below until midnight Friday.
@ THIS CONTEST IS NOT FOR PROFIT but done out of love for Fan Fic, comic book store trash talk, and online comic book debate.
@ Have fun and enter as many times as you’d like! There can be only one winner, it’s up to you who that turns out to be!
Here are this week’s four combatants! Be sure to follow the links to find out how our fighters got this far!
Bracket One
Championship Match
LADY SHIVA
VS
RED SONJA
Championship Match
LADY SHIVA
VS
RED SONJA
Lady Shiva has been through her fair share of tournaments. Many a warrior has toppled due to this Mistress of Martial Arts’ fighting prowess. Shiva discovered Elektra’s Achilles Heel in the first round and put the assassin down in minutes. In Round Two, she proved herself a formidable foe in the bedroom as well against the Legion of Super-Heroes’ Karate Kid. In the jungle he may be the king, but Shiva showed the Black Panther who was boss in a wicked pillow fight in Round Three.
After taking down Batgirl in a surprising first round match, Red Sonja burst from the gate ready to win it all. In Round Two, she proved that no man can beat her in a heads up, toe to toe match-up against Wildcat. In Round Three, again, the strikingly beautiful She-Devil With a Sword introduced the chauvinistic USAgent’s bathing suit area to her well toned knee.
Bracket Two
Championship Match
SHANG CHI
VS
NIGHTWING
Championship Match
SHANG CHI
VS
NIGHTWING
Shang Chi danced his way through Round One in a hardcore dance-off against Richard Dragon. In Round Two, Ka-Zar’s jungle fury was no match for Shang Chi’s lightning quickness. In Round Three, the Black Cat tried to pull his heartstrings as she did throughout this entire competition, but Shang’s iron will wouldn’t budge and he sent the feline fatale to the mat.
Although Nightwing lost against Blade in the first round, the former Boy Wonder was given a second chance because the vampire hunter used weapons to win. Nightwing’s second chance proved to be just what he needed to breeze through Round Two against pretty boy Initiative star MVP. And in Round Three, Nightwing was ready for a fight, but Moon Knight proved to be too batshit crazy to even make Batman’s first protégé break a sweat.
Send in your 300 word (or less) fight scenes to the link below. Deadline is Friday. Those of you complaining in the talkbacks, I challenge you to take a shot at it if you don’t like what you see. Who advances to Round Five is up to you. Look for the winners of these match-ups in next Monday’s AICN COMICS NEWS SHOOT THE MESSENGER Column, and look for the last batch of Round Four’s match-ups in this week’s AICN COMICS REVIEWS Column on Wednesday.
Send your fight submissions here!
Remember: 300 words or less! No weapons! No powers! Just character and fighting prowess! Good luck, have fun, and go kick some @$$!
Question for Discussion
With the first four arcs done, which writer/artist team was your favorite on AMAZING SPIDER-MAN: BRAND NEW DAY?
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Should be good
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Best wishes to him. One of my favorite Iron Man, Daredevil, and Dracula artists.
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Damn you IndustryKiller!
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Damn You Michael Bay
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Mr 1976 with his tireless if somewhat impotent crusade against Michael Bay, some guy who seemingly wants to inflate the ego of IndustryKiller as though it wouldn't be easier just to ignore him if he bugs you, and testricals who never adds anything to a talkback other than 'Spaced was shit', apparently labouring under the delusion that if he repeats it often enough it'll become truth. All that, and all the news this week is DC related and I don't read much of anything of theirs. Oh well, might as well enjoy the bank holiday with some beers with my brother.
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.......looks rather....eclectic. actually i understand GL and GA, and i guess batwoman and supergirl work as placeholders for the icons, and ray plamer is a JLA mainstay. but then you get shazam jr., alien starman and congrilla? wtf? seems like shazam jr. is only there because he gave elvis his hair style, and alien starman is obviously there because of robbisons affinity for the character, but congrilla? thats a head scratcher...i mean...congrilla? ....really? wow. just wow. it almost seems like maybe someone has been reading too much league of extraordinary gentlemen and just wanted an "mr hyde type" for the team.
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Actually... I often enjoy it when a writer will take a more obscure character and place him or her amongst the bigger hitters. We see facets of the big gun's characters that we might not have seen otherwise and when the writer is of someone like Robinson's calibre then these lower tier characters can grow and shine like they've never had the opportunity to before. One of my favourite characters in Daredevil right now is private eye Dakota North. I wish Brubaker would do more with her. I've been a fan since her original series back in the 80's. Damn. I'm old.
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final crisis is going to be the shit to end all shits. The Filth mushed together with the DCU with grant morrison's shit on top. i can't fucking wait!!!
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Not reading Brand New Day.
Wasn't there a LOT of people who said they'd drop the title because of that shite? -
.....it's always nice to see a writer take a obscure character and give them new life. but at some point you get to scraping th bottom of the barrel and a writer is just bringing some characters back out of pure nostalgia. all i'm saying is congorilla might be the litmus test in this case. as it is, i think the level of "heavy hitters", or "a-list" characters, is much smaller than most fans would like to believe: in fact, outside of batman, superman, spider-man and one could argue wonder woman, thats it, thats the list. every other character is b list and below when you really think about it. my point being that if robinson wants to make up a team of b, c, and z list characters thats fine, i just don't know if using the name "justice league" is the best (or most honest) way to sell it. if that line up was the new..... "outsiders", or "doom patrol", or "seven soldiers of victory" then fine, sure, i can see that. but the justice league? come on. and please don't miss understand me, i don't mind the obscure character love, i just mind the idea of DC slapping the "justice league" name on any old "team" book to make as many sales as possible. "jla classified" being a prime example of what i'm talking about.
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Seriously, the All-Star books come out...oh, who the hell can even tell anymore. But hey, it's "in support of the creators so they can do their best work", but frankly who wants to get emotionally involved in anything that comes out THAT erratic -- or to be frank, all because the creators are REALLY off doing something else, and now they need a spare check, so they figure "Oh screw it, let's just do another issue of this now."Seriously, that's how a book like ASTRO CITY lost me early on. Kurt Busiek would whine about how tough it was to get the book out...how it was such a labor of love and it took so much time and thought...but, gee, funny thing: he had no problem meeting any of his Marvel deadlines (and collecting royalties off those babies) to make sure he had his mortgage check or whatever. And every time I'd go looking for ASTRO, I couldn't find it -- but damned if I couldn't find Busiek writing yet another Marvel project or new miniseries. And I HATE that about modern comics. As a long time fan, I fucking HATE when creators try to hide behind the now groan-inducing"I'm making art here!" excuse, when the truth is they suddenly get a bit hot... the phone starts to ring... they then take on too much work... they then spread themselves too thin... deadlines don't get met... and worst of all BECAUSE they took on too much work, the actual quality of the books now suffer too.Personally, DC lost me with the whole 52 stunt. "Hey, buy this for 52 weeks! We flashed forward and now we'll retroactively fill you in. Uh...you just have to give us your money weekly so we can make even MORE money now." So you get suckered in and THEN you get to the end, at which point the official line suddenly becomes "What's that? Did we say we'd fill you in after 52 weeks? Oops. Our bad because NOW you're gonna have to buy this OTHER shit off to the side TOO in order to get the whole story." That's when I said DC could kiss my ass and not count on my wallet anymore. That was just ridiculous.Sorry to be so cranky, but I'm old enough to remember when Roy Thomas and Neal Adams (with a final issue by John Buscema) managed to tell the original great Kree-Skrull War story in Avengers 93-97 and STILL make it epic. What's with these guys today that it takes 52 weeks...a whole year...to get a damn story across? Oh, that's right, I forgot. Everyone thinks they're the next big FILMMAKER, so we get "storyboard comics" where the writer/artist think repeated panels where all that happens is the camera stays locked on a face (for example) and all that moves are the character's eyes or something like that to (supposedly) convey the emotion of the moment. In the meantime, in the glorious Lee & Kirby days, they'd get the same damn point across in one simple panel!
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You're a stupid cunt.
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V'Shael, I dropped Spider-man so hard that I didn't even know there was a question.
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He makes some very, very good points. The tendency for modern comics to make every storyline into a Dragonball-Z fight length epic is not something readers want to see. In the past an epic event arose organically, from the story itself. Now they are manufactored to move product and it shows.
The second major problem is ret-conning. How can I ever find anything interesting or invest any sort of interest in these stories if you're just gonna shake the Etch-A-Sketch every year and start fresh, if anytime someone "dies" it's only until sales lag enough to bring that character back. The shameful Spider-Man fiasco makes everything that came before moot. It's like ending a story with "But it was all just a dream...." PEOPLE HATE THAT! Cripes. I am still pissed off from when they brought Jean Grey back from the dead the first time--telling me the original Dark Phoenix Saga, widely considered some of the finest comics ever, was all for nothing because it wasn't really Jean the whole time anyway, that she had been frozen underwater for the past few years or some other stupid nonsense. Arrrgh. -
I dropped Amazing Spider-Man after One More Day ended so incredibly stupidly. But, I am buying the current arc because it is really really really hard to pass up a Spider-Man story drawn by Marcos Martin. And guess what- it's actually really good. They did some ballsy shit, nullifying the past 20-or-so odd years of Spidey continuity, and then making the book more readable and feature terrific artists.
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Is it really still that big a deal to people? I go get comics every week. I buy whatever comes out that week that I read. Things are usually solicited to ship after they are finished being created. Most books are not usually later than they are solicited for anymore. The All Star books are good. I really don't care how late they are, because whenever they arrive it's a treat in with the rest of what comes out on a regular basis. Or, maybe I just read too many comics and it's all a blur anyway...
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...either. of course i read only DC stuff so it's only really an issue with the all-star books. all star superman is worth it because ever issue gives you a warm fuzzy feeling, and is always the best written book in whatever month it happens to come out. all star batman is worth it because it's fucking hysterical, like a 90's image comic it's big, dumb, over the top, fun. reading ASB&RTBW, makes me feel like porky pig in that cartoon where he rolls around on the ground, laughing his ass off, watching daffy duck pretend to be "robin hood".
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I also simply buy what is on the shelves each week.
But someone mentioned earlier in the TB that comics are serial in nature.
A few eeks is one thing, but when books are months late you lose the suspense (e.g. Runaways) and if you are like most collectors and read more than one title, when the late issue you comes out you have to go back and reread the past issues.
Publishing houses need to kick open the doors and bring in new talent istead of having teh same 12 superstars create books. -
The Day Evil Won is Here.