What’s SHOOT THE MESSENGER?
Well, AICN COMICS: SHOOT THE MESSENGER is your weekly one stop shop for comic book -EWS. What’s comic book –EWS? Well, it’s our hodge podge of everything not reviews here at AICN Comics. Sure you can find out the @$$Holes’ critical opinions of your favorite books every Wednesday at AICN Comics. But here, you’ll find special reports such as previews, interviews, special features, and occasionally news gathered here from our online brethren at Newsarama, CBR, Wizard, etc. Sure those guys are the best at reporting news as it breaks. Click on the links for the original stories. This column cuts the crap to run down all the vital information for those of you who don’t follow it as it comes in, and serves it all up with that special ingredient of @$$y goodness.
Hey all, Ambush Bug here with a pair of interviews for you. First up, click here to check out Luke O’Neil’s interview with Jeff Lemire, writer of DC Vertigo’s THE NOBODY OGN. Thanks, Luke, for another cool interview. Check out Luke’s website here for more cool stuff.
Bug Meets One of the Greats
Peter David @ SDCC!
Bug here with one of the last interviews I did at this year’s San Diego Comic Con. You don’t often get to sit and chat with one of your heroes, but I was able to do just that when I ran into Peter David hanging around the Marvel booth on day four of SDCC. As described in last month’s intro page of X-FACTOR, Peter was waiting for Tom Kinney to arrive at the Marvel booth so Tom could call his daughter on the phone in the voice of Spongebob Squarepants. While we were waiting for Mr. Kinney to arrive, Mr. David agreed to sit and chat with me about X-FACTOR, intro pages, and the controversial kiss between Shatterstar and Rictor. Let’s see what Peter had to say.
AMBUSH BUG (BUG): Thank you, sir, for taking the time to chat today.
PETER DAVID (PD): You actually caught me during my one dull moment of the entire day. But it’s San Diego, so dull is a relative term.
BUG: So how’s it going so far for you?
PD: So far, it’s going great. I’ve been here from the bitter beginning and I’ll be here till the tragic end. I met some interesting people. I met John Berryman. I met Colin Baker. Which, you know, I’m a fan myself, so it’s a lot of fun. Seeing old friends. Having interesting discussions with fans. Done some panels. I signed a buttload of stuff. It-it’s really been interesting for me.
BUG: I saw that you’re going to be on an LGBT comics panel--
PD: Oh, Gays in Comics. Apparently I’ve been outed. Yeah, I got tagged for that, I would assume because of the end of X-FACTOR #45. Although, I think you have to be deaf, dumb, and blind at this point not to at least be aware that Shatterstar and Rictor have had a sort of “don’t ask—don’t tell” nudge-nudge wink-wink relationship for the past 19 years, lip locked on the last page of X-FACTOR #45. Maybe I’m just naïve. I honest to god didn’t think it was going to be a big deal when I wrote it. Aside from the fact that this bas been a very blatant subtext between the characters for almost two decades.
BUG: And it wasn’t just you writing that.
PD: No, it was never me writing that before that. I made some oblique references to it in the early issues of X-FACTOR, but other writers have laid that track work. And I just simply said, “Alright, let’s follow up on it.” And why not? I mean, really, why not? I just didn’t think that two men kissing was going to be that big of deal in this day and age. Turns out, it’s a bit of a deal.
BUG: Well, especially when you think of how the story was going in that issue. Shatterstar and Rictor hadn’t seen each other in a very long time.
PD: Not only had they not seen each other for a very long time, but Shatterstar had been trying to kill Rictor for the better part of the issue because he was being mind controlled. And he was incredibly relieved that he did not kill Rictor. So you know, it’s not the kind of situation where two guys who have that kind of genuine kind of love for one another are going to thump each other on the shoulder and say, “Whoa that was close, bunky!” Let’s be honest. Let’s be sincere. Let’s be real. I wasn’t trying to make any kind of major statement about it. I wasn’t going for shock value. I wasn’t trying to titillating. If I was trying to be exploitative, which I’ve been accused of, then I would have had their lips coming closer towards each other in the last panel, so that you’re left wondering with a cliffhanger “Oh my God, are they going to kiss?” Some sort of bullshit approach like that. No, it was just a genuine emotion. No different than any other genuine emotion as far as I was concerned. I was actually caught a little off guard about it at the level of response to it.
BUG: I’ve been a huge fan of X-FACTOR.
PD: Thank you.
BUG: And the last few issues are just great.
PD: It’s on a roll, I guess.
BUG: What do you attribute that to? All of a sudden there’s an energy to the title that for a while, it seemed to lack a little.
PD: I think I lost sight of what the book should be about, which is the notion that anything could happen at any time. That was the groundwork that I laid as of issue number one. That was the tone that I set. The concept that in the end of issue number one, Rictor getting pushed off the ledge by Jamie Madrox’s dupe, totally caught people off guard. That’s what I felt had been missing. And I felt that I wanted to go back and establish that feeling that sense of “Oh my gosh, anything can happen at any time.” And the first shot across the bow was the end of issue #39 with the absorption of the baby and that was done with absolutely no advertising whatsoever. We did not let people know it was happening. As a matter of fact, I played into the perception. A few weeks before the issue came out, I was at a convention doing a Marvel Q&A and I was asked about the return of Layla Miller. I said, “Look, the return of Layla Miller would be a very big deal. She disappeared during a major, inter-title crossover. If she was going to come back, don’t you think that Marvel would do a massive promotional push to let everyone know?” And people nodded and went, “Yeah, that’s how it works.” And I said, “So that’s your indication. Layla obviously isn’t returning anytime soon which you can determine that there’s been no advertising from Marvel indicating as such. Two weeks later, out comes X-FACTOR #40. I didn’t exactly lie. I just said this is how Marvel generally operates. Would that happen to be the case here? It didn’t occur to anyone to say, “Well no, not necessarily, what if they decide to blindside us?”
BUG: And with comics these days, with the internet and the previews and things like that, you know what’s going to happen in every issue before they come out.
PD: Not X-FACTOR, baby.
BUG: Not X-FACTOR, and that’s what I love about it. It reminds me of the time before the internet when you were completely surprised picking up the book off the rack, not knowing what you were going to get.
PD: More often than not, I write the solicitation material for X-FACTOR. Sometimes the editors do that when I don’t have time, but more often than not, I write the solicits because the editors know that I like to phrase things in such a way that it makes it sound interesting and exciting and something people want to pick up. But I avoid blowing any major plot aspects.
BUG: Another thing I wanted to talk about is the intro pages. They are very unique and distinct. They tell a little bit about what’s been happening in the comic and then you talk about some of the more personal stuff in your life and your family. And I think it’s become pretty popular. A couple of issues it didn’t show up and people were commenting about it and missing it. What were your original thoughts about doing the intro page in this way?
PD: I like the idea of using the intro page as a way to connect with the readers. There was real feeling of connection with the reader in comic books in the old days that, to a certain degree, seems to have fallen by the wayside because the internet has taken so much of that. I would like to put that back into the comic books. First of all, and I know this is hard for people to believe, not everyone is on the internet. That’s a shocker, I know, but it’s true. And the second thing is that I just like the comic books just being part of the reading experience. Anything that happens on the internet is going to be after the fact--why don’t we try to make connections with the reader right up front? And as it stands now, we’re going to be coming and going. We have opening pages where we talk to the reader and chat and that kind of thing. And we’re going to be reissuing the letters page soon. What’s going to happen is that the Marvel editorial staff is going to pick the letters and I will write the answers to them.
BUG: That’s great. You’re right, you just don’t see that anymore.
PD: And I think the problem is that in the old days, when you did that…when you had the Marvel Bullpen, it was supplanted by the internet. Now there are dozens and dozens and dozens of different comic books sites—including a Marvel comic book site. And I think that due to that there’s a deleterious effect on the concept of a Marvel community. Out first and best resource for such a thing is for it to actually be in the Marvel comic.
BUG: One of the thing that I really love about X-FACTOR is the noir aspect of it.
PD: Keep in mind that the noir aspect of X-FACTOR is Jamie Madrox’s version of noir.
BUG: That’s what I was getting to--
PD: Just as REMINGTON STEELE is doing his version of a hard boiled detective series.
BUG: He’s doing his version of noir. He keeps commenting that he thinks he’s so noir. But it’s not exactly noir. He doesn’t totally get what noir exactly is.
PD: And he’s not really noir. It’s a subtle distinction that some people don’t really pick up on, and that’s understandable because who the hell else is doing this?
BUG: So what about some of the other projects you’re working on?
PD: FALLEN ANGEL, I’m tremendously excited about. We’ve been doing it as an ongoing monthly series, but then it’s occurred to me that Mike Mignola doesn’t feel the need to crank out a monthly HELLBOY comic book. Frank Miller ain’t churning out SIN CITY month after month after month. Why are we breaking our heads with FALLEN ANGEL? And now we’re doing FALLEN ANGEL: REBORN, a four issue series. It actually guess stars Illyria, it’s the very first time you get to see a Joss Whedon-verse character outside of a Joss Whedon series. I approached Joss about it at the San Diego Comic Con last year, and Joss agreed to it. And this series is coming out and I’ve got to tell you, I think it’s some of J.K. Woodward’s best art. He’s combined some of his best photorealistic style with some of his best pencil and ink style. And the best thing about not doing this month to month is that he gets a chance to get ahead. If you’re putting out a monthly book and it’s off for two months, that can be deadly for a book. But if you’re doing groups of limited series and there’s two months in between, then who cares?
BUG: Exactly--I wish more companies would do that rather than have all of these delays which make the fans so frustrated.
PD: I think it is 100% the wave of the future.
BUG: Thank you so much for taking the time to talk with me. I know they’re kicking us out of here, but I wanted to ask about prose. I really enjoyed TIGERHEART, your version of Peter Pan, and I know you’ve done a lot of prose work in the past. Is there anything else coming from you prose wise?
PD: Oddly enough, there is, but I’m not allowed to talk about it just yet. The other big thing that I’m getting a lot of attention for here is that I wrote a video game called SHADOW COMPLEX, I scripted it. And it’s a new game that’s coming out August 19th and it’s getting a lot of attention. Basically, a young man, a reluctant soldier, he never wanted to be a soldier, but he has the skills, he’s out on a camping trip with his girlfriend. She falls into a large hole. He descends after her and discovers an underground military industrial complex that appears to be dedicated to overthrowing the United States. He has to save the girl and save the country.
BUG: OK, sounds great. Well, they’re kicking us out. (Editor’s note: The room we were sitting in at the Marvel booth was going to be used for some portfolio reviews and it was just too damn loud out there on the floor for a decent interview, so we had to cut this one short) But thank you so much for chatting with me.
PD: Thank you.
I honestly could have talked with Mr. David all day and hopefully, I’ll do a follow up interview with him soon. He truly is one of the greats. As indicated by the picture on the right, I bow down to Sir David, as should we all. Look for Peter David’s X-FACTOR, FALLEN ANGEL, SHADOW COMPLEX, and anything else he writes at your local comic shop.
Ambush Bug is Mark L. Miller, reviewer and co-editor of AICN Comics for over eight years. Check out his short comic book fiction from Cream City Comics’ MUSCLES & FIGHTS VOL.3 and MUSCLES & FRIGHTS VOL.1 on his ComicSpace page. Bug was interviewed here and here at Cream City Comics. Look for more comics from Bug in 2009 from Bluewater Comics, including the sequel to THE TINGLER for their VINCENT PRICE PRESENTS ongoing series in stores September 2009 and VINCENT PRICE PRESENTS WITCHFINDER GENERAL and ROGER CORMAN PRESENTS DEATHSPORT to be released in late 2009/early 2010.
Optimous Douche Interviews 45’s Andi Ewington!
Hey folks, Optimous Douche here with skinny on some in-development goodness from Com.x, the company that brought us the star launching CLA$$WAR. Andi Ewington is penning 45, the story of a reporter who travels the world to learn the promise and perils that come with being a super human. Also, instead of just one artist providing the artwork there are actually 69 at work here (OK that’s a lie there’s actually 45, I just couldn’t do an article where I don’t offend the bible belt at least once). Actually, let’s just let Andi tell the rest of this story.
OPTIMOUS DOUCHE (DOUCHE): What was your creative well-spring for '45'?
ANDI EWINTON (AE): I'm an ideas kind of guy. You can ask my wife - I'm always thinking about creating a story from the most innocuous of things. Late 2007, my wife and I had just returned from our 12 week scan (Optimous Note: This is British for ultrasound), so I was a walking encyclopedia on the whole birthing process. I was reading 'World War Z' by Max Brooks at the time and I loved the way you could dip in and out of the book without having to read it from start to finish. I began thinking hypothetically about scenarios where my child could be born with super-powers and it started me wondering about how I would react to that kind of news and how I would cope. I started to develop a story about a journalist faced with the imminent birth of his child who is potentially carrying a 'Super-S gene' which, if it is, would mean it would be born with super-powers. He embarks on a mission to interview a whole spectrum of superheroes in order to accumulate a better understanding of what he could potentially expect from bringing up a child with extraordinary abilities. I roughed out the story arc that followed the “hero” as he interviewed each of the characters.
DOUCHE: So tell us a little bit about the structure of 45; it sounds like each page is its own story.
AE: That's correct. I wanted to do something different from the standard comic format, i.e. pages and pages of sequential art. '45's strength lies not just with the art but also with the dialogue. It was important to me that we conveyed a deeper understanding of each character being interviewed. That was something that simply wasn't possible to do in sequential format with the limited number of pages I had given myself. I decided that I wanted to condense each story into one page, leaving the opposite page free for the artists to work in. This then became the template for the book. I won't deny it's been quite a challenge to put so much information into one page of transcript; beyond expanding each character's story, there are underlying themes, cross-overs to other interviews and characters and subplots which run through the book that can be unearthed at a later date. Some of the artists have found it just as tricky; I didn't just want splash page following splash page as that would have been too easy. I needed to break the rhythm up with a variety of illustrative styles. I was amazed at the results - I think John Higgins hit the highest number of panels in one page, I counted 18 and it pretty much covered the whole interview - that was inspired - I had only expected him to capture a single moment! I gave each artist the same brief: read the transcript and create something that truly captures the essence of the interview. I left it up to them to interpret it in their own way. The results speak for themselves.
DOUCHE: Was 45 originally forty-five separate stories?
AE: No, I always envisaged it being one complete story. Once the main structure was in place, I looked at how '45' would work logistically. It was apparent that, due to the number of interviews I had in mind, traditional sequentials weren't going to work. It was Eddie Deighton at Com.x that hit upon the idea of commissioning different artists to illustrate different interviews. We decided that we could document the whole story in transcript form, and have a single piece of artwork opposite to reflect that moment in time.
DOUCHE: So is 45 your first comic?
AE: Yes, this is my first foray into the comic book world - hopefully not my last!
DOUCHE: What else have you written?
AE: Quite a lot, but most of it hasn't been published yet! I co-wrote a novel called "Limpit Muskin & Company" with my best friend, Dennis Johnson. It's a fantasy comedy. It's technically 'unpublished', although we produced a small quantity of books for personal distribution. I've also written a superhero comedy that I'm developing as a graphic novel and I do want to do a follow-up to '45' and no, it won't be called '46'...
DOUCHE: So was your child born with super powers?
AE: Judging by the soiled nappies (Optimous note: British for diapers) I've had the misfortune to change I'd say that there certainly isn't something normal about him; I swear some of the contents would melt through Adamantium. One last thing: I finished the first draft June 7th, about three hours after my son, Zack, was born. Coincidentally, 'Zack' is also the nickname for the Zombies in World War Z - though I haven't told my wife this yet!
Look for these 45 pages of original goodness in the October timeframe.
When Optimous Douche isn’t reading comics and misspelling the names of 80’s icons, he “transforms” into a corporate communications guru. "What if the whole world had superpowers? Find out in the pages of Optimous’ original book AVERAGE JOE. Read the first full issue on Optimous’ New Blog and see original sketches by fellow @$$hole Bottleimp. If you are a publisher or can help these guys get AVERAGE JOE up, up, and on the shelves in any way, drop Optimous a line."
Hey folks, it’s the Bug again, spinning the old Spinner Rack to the Future and bringing you glimpses of what’s hitting stores soon. Let’s start out with what looks to be a pretty cool comic about America’s first serial killers. HARPE is an original graphic novel available in this month’s Previews and I’m glad I have a chance to share it with you here. Click on the pics to check ‘em out.
HARPE OGN
Writer: Chad Kinkle
Art: Adam Shaw
Publisher: Cave In Rock
Release Date: Available to order in this month’s Previews!
WITCHBLADE #130
Writer: Ron Marz
Art: Stjepan Sejic
Publisher: Top Cow
Release Date: This Thursday!
ROTTEN #3
Writer: Mark Rahner & Robert Horton
Art: Dan Dougherty
Publisher: Moonstone Books
Release Date: This Thursday!
DRONE #1
Writer: Scott Chitwood
Art: Randy Kintz
Publisher: Red 5 Comics
Release Date: This Thursday!
REIGNBOW & DIVA #2
Writer: Brian Anderson
Art: Celina Hernandez
Publisher: Can be found here and here and
here.
Release Date: This month!
DEAD SPACE: EXTRACTION One Shot
Writer: Antony Johnston
Art: Ben Templesmith
Publisher: Image Comics
Release Date: This Thursday!
KICK-ASS #7
Writer: Mark Millar
Art: John Romita Jr. & Tom Palmer
Publisher: Marvel Icon
Release Date: This Thursday!
Editing, compiling, imaging, coding, logos & cat-wrangling by Ambush Bug
Proofs, co-edits & common sense provided by Sleazy G
Ad by Prof. Challenger
