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Mon Aug 24, 2009 — by Glenn Hauman
Interview: Chris Claremont on 'X-Men Forever', part 2
This is the second part of a very long interview with Chris Claremont that started on the topic of X-Men Forever and branched into a number of other areas. Part one of the interview is here, and we recommend reading it to get up to speed. Warning: plot points are discussed up to X-Men Forever #5 at least, do not read this interview if you want to be spoiled.
ComicMix: X-Men Forever-- this isn't just you taking your old X-Men script from 1991 and picking up where you left off.
Chris Claremont: No. The point is that I took my concepts from 1991 and sat down and looked at the team and rethought the whole thing. The difference is that the scripts in 1991 were a whole series of arcs that in more than a few cases had ended up being echoed, if not outright adapted, by subsequent writers.
CM: In the same vein, since your initial run on the X-Men, a lot of your work and your own style has been adapted in other places; for example, your creation of Kitty Pryde has been cited as an inspiration for Joss Whedon on Buffy. Let's not even get started on what people have been drawing on for Heroes and Lost. So now that people know your tropes and it's become mainstream, what's next? How do you go beyond that now that the rest of the world is catching up with you?
CC: Well, theoretically the rule we're running with is if I've done it before, I can't do it here. One of the rules that Mark and I are using is to try as much as possible not to take a story in directions that people anticipate. We'll see what happens. Part of it is the nature of the characters themselves. My original impulse was to excise Cyclops from the cast because I wanted to focus on someone else-- and he just wouldn't go! Every time I wrote him out, he'd write himself back in. Some part of my brain refused to accept that perception of the X-Men's reality; its vision was that Cyclops is a key and essential character. There comes a point, as a writer, when you have to listen to that part of your instinct, to ask "why is is saying this?" And once you find the answer, go with it. I am throwing everything up in the air. There are major changes to the eight characters in the series...
CM: Those being Storm, Rogue, Nightcrawler--
CC: Let me start at the top. Cyclops, Storm, Nightcrawler, Beast, Kitty, Gambit, Rogue, Nick Fury, and two others to be named later.
CM: Nick Fury's a mutant, or just showing up a lot?
CC: Nick Fury's a member of the cast. He's the head of S.H.I.E.L.D., but we don't have a S.H.I.E.L.D. book, so we can use him. His rationale for being there is the X-Men are a critical facet of the world community, just because of the power that mutants represent, and they need a minder. That, plus concerns he's about to have in terms of S.H.I.E.L.D. itself, make it more convenient/essential for him to stay on scene with the X-Men to figure out what's going on.
CM: Since you mention Nightcrawler and Kitty Pryde...
CC: They were in Excalibur, yes; they are coming back to the X-Men.
CM: A lot of people have been asking that very question.
CC: The opening circumstances of the book, as seen in the preview, are that this is taking place subsequent to the memorial service for Magneto, where all the X-Men have gathered. There's one panel on page four where you see the group shot of whole bunches of mutants out back. That explains what they're all doing there.
CM: So you'll have all of the X-Men there, you'll have X-Force there, you'll have Excalibur...
CC: Those who wish to honor Magneto. Some of them may decide they're not coming. Anyway, things start to happen from that point on. Essentially, for issue 1, Charlie temporarily closes the school and sends everybody home. He gathers a core team of X-characters to go out after Fabian Cortez, who killed Magneto, to bring him in, and to turn him over to S.H.I.E.L.D. and end this disaster before it gets any worse. Fury is there, saying this: You're living in a dream world. Magneto threatened the world, and some of you X-Men helped him--you were mind-controlled, but you helped him. The rest of you X-Men stopped him. What makes you think the world's going to stand back and accept the fact that you guys are unaffiliated, independent operatives and let you go on from there? You represent far too much power.
Continue reading Interview: Chris Claremont on 'X-Men Forever', part 2 ›
Wed May 20, 2009 — by Glenn Hauman
Interview: Chris Claremont on 'X-Men Forever', part 1
This is the first part of a very long interview with Chris Claremont that started on the topic of X-Men Forever and branched into a number of other areas. We start the interview today to tie in with today's release of X-Men Forever Alpha, and we'll be running more as we get closer to the release of X-Men Forever #1 next month.
ComicMix: X-Men Forever Alpha is a reprint of the first three issues plus an eight page bridge to the new series, correct? What do we need to know going in?
Chris Claremont: Essentially nothing. Those were the issues going in, to establish all the fundamental parameters: the X-Men are a team of heroes that are based at Xavier school for gifted youngsters at Salem center, outside of New York City.
CM: So you’re starting up right from where you left the book in 1991.
CC: Yes.
CM: Is this House Of C, then, as compared to House of M?
CC: No, it’s the Marvel Universe, there’s no real change to it, other than the fact that in a very practical sense that the subsequent sixteen, seventeen years of material following my departure doesn’t exist.
CM: So this is a new forked off continuity.
CC: Yes. We’re essentially picking up where I left off and the only acknowledgment we are making to the passage of time is that if a label needs to be placed on #1, #2, and #3, they occurred in the opening months, weeks, whatever of 2009.
CM: Then everything that happens since in mainline Marvel continuity has not happened and is not going to happen?
CC: Everything that relates to the X-Men specifically has not happened. The origins of characters that were established after I left are not necessarily the origins that we will encounter here. For example, the reality in this book is that Sabretooth and Wolverine are father and son. Betsy Braddock has not been transferred into a cloned dead Asian body.
CM: Do you find it strange that people are looking at this series and referring back to your original run as the time when X-Men continuity wasn’t convoluted?
Continue reading Interview: Chris Claremont on 'X-Men Forever', part 1 ›
Tue Mar 31, 2009 — by Jenifer Rosenberg
Interview: Matt Forbeck
Matt Forbeck is a creative powerhouse. Over the past twenty years, he has created games of all sorts (including board games, roleplaying games, and computer games), has written novels and comics, and has won several awards - and has just been nominated for two Scribe Awards. But despite his decorated success, Matt is a very personable guy who is very devoted to his family. I recently had a chance to ask Matt some questions about his impressive career.
What first piqued your interest in gaming and comics?
I learned how to read with comics, especially the old Spidey series Marvel published with the Electric Company. They hooked me young and for life. Given that, I suppose it's not surprising I became a voracious reader and got into fantastic fiction of all kinds. That set me up to fall hard for D&D. I first ran into the game when a friend's mother bought it for him for Christmas on a Blue Light Special at K-Mart. Our mothers got us together to play, and we didn't stop for months.
You are a very busy man. Do you still find time to game?
Not as often as I would like. I play lots of games with my kids now that they're old enough to appreciate them. Like me, they'll play just about anything, from Jenga or Blokus to Super Mario Smash Bros or Rock Band. Between my kids and wife and my work, though, I don't have a whole lot of time for anything else.
When you do game, do you play your own games primarily, or do you check out things written by your industry colleagues?
I play other people's games. I only play my own games when I'm working on them. Once they're in print, I'm usually on to something else. I play them for game demos or when I'm thinking about an expansion for the game, but that's about it.
I normally only play a game once or twice, and I'm rarely interested in who's winning or losing. I'm there to pick it apart and see how it works, to learn what I can from it and figure out what the designer put into it. There are so many great games out there, it's hard to dedicate myself to just a few.
Many people, including fans, look very closely at media tie-in work. Is there a lot of head-butting or other challenges that are not present with designing your own world?
Yes, although it's not as bad as some might think. The toughest part is usually the outline stage. That's when you're trying to read the minds of your editor and your licensor's approval stamper and figure out what they want. There's often some miscommunication because the writer rarely has access to everything in the original creator's head, so it's like charging into a room blind. But if you can work it out in the outline stage, you save yourself lots of time and headaches down the road and make sure that everyone winds up happy.
Sun Mar 15, 2009 — by Glenn Hauman
IDW's Chris Ryall interviewed on Chuck Palahniuk's site
Now, we aren't saying that this cover to Angel: Smile Time #2 had anything to do with Chris Ryall being interviewed on Fight Club author Chuck Palahniuk's site... but it certainly is an interesting coincidence, ain't it?
Come to think of it, Chris Ryall does look a bit like Edward Norton in that film...
Wed Mar 4, 2009 — by Glenn Hauman
Interview: The scans_daily moderators
With all the hullaballo as to what happened to scans_daily, we decided that we should hear from as many of the players as possible, especially the ones who have been silent so far. We're still waiting on an official statement from LiveJournal, but we have been in contact with two of the moderators from the former scans_daily group, "Stubbleupdate" and "Rabican", and they've graciously responded to our questions.
ComicMix: What do you know about the circumstances of the shutdown? Has LiveJournal told you what prompted the shutdown? Were you given any warning, or any ability to address the situation?
Stubbleupdate: I crawled out of bed on Saturday morning (which meant that the community would have been deleted late evening/night on Friday, America time) and saw that my inbox had a lot of LJ friends requests from people on the community. I get that sometimes, but four overnight is unusual. They all wanted to know where the community had gone, which is the first that I had heard of it. A lot can happen in six hours on the internet.
There was also an email from the LJabuse team telling me that the account had been permanently suspended. That was it. LJ tends to take a “Shoot first, ask questions later” approach to getting rid of communities that it’s been told are against its policies or laws, so that part shouldn’t be surprising.
As for correspondence from LJ, they didn’t say what had prompted it, just that it had happened. I don’t expect them to.
Rabican: The shutdown occurred overnight while the mod team was asleep, so we've had to pull together the story of the shutdown from multiple accounts. The most likely scenario we've surmised is that Peter David reported a group of X-Factor #40 scans to Marvel around the 24th; Marvel complained to Livejournal, and the Livejournal Abuse Team shut us down the night of the 28th (US time). We were given no warning whatsoever and told that the account was permanently suspended. The justification, given by form mail, was that our community existed "primarily to host copyrighted material without the permission fo the copyright holder" and this was against Livejournal's TOS. We're still looking into finding out the details of the abuse report made to the LJ Abuse Team.
It's worth noting that both Livejournal and, I suspect, most of the major comics publishers have known about us for years, so it's interesting to speculate what prompted them to move against us now. It's possible Peter David making the report removed all possibility of plausible deniability. Or, Marvel wasn't nearly as well-informed as we thought they were. We don't know whether they thought the poster had uploaded most or all of X-Factor #40 rather than the half she did upload, although legally it doesn't matter. The Peter David situation may have been a coincidence and it wasn't Marvel at all, but Livejournal doesn't move against copyright violations without a complaint from the copyright owner, so we know it was a comics publisher.
Sun Jan 18, 2009 — by Matthew Weinberger
Interview: Greg Pak
Greg Pak is a very busy man. Between the just-launched War Machine, Skaar: Son of Hulk, Magneto: Testament, and Incredible Hercules, which he co-writes with Fred Van Lente, it seems like he’s writing half the Marvel Universe.
It’s an incredibly diverse body of work—Skaar brings to the table the same combination of cosmic Marvel and high fantasy that his very well-received Planet Hulk storyline did, while Incredible Hercules is a more tongue-in-cheek buddy adventure that’s very much rooted in the recent goings-on on Earth. Magneto: Testament presents, at long last, a cohesive and historically accurate origin for the mutant master of magnetism. Finally, War Machine casts Jim “Rhodey” Rhodes as the planet’s lethal protector.
But don’t take it from me. Greg Pak agreed to take some time out from his busy schedule to answer a few questions about his various series—and provide a few teases. Spoilers abound, so you might want to make sure you’re all caught up on these books before you continue on.
ComicMix: Magneto: Testament has been getting a lot of attention, both for attempting to tell the definitive origin of Magneto and for placing it in a meticulously specific historical context. Would you mind telling us a little bit about where this project came from?
Greg Pak: Marvel editor Warren Simons has wanted to tell this story for years. And from the minute he started telling me about the project, I knew I had to be a part of it. I researched the project for about three years before we finally went to script. And Warren and I have spent hours and hours talking through the history and the nuances of the story beats. I think everyone working on the book has felt the same kind of responsibility to getting the story right. Artist Carmine DiGiandomenico and colorist Matt Hollingsworth in particular have gone above and beyond, bringing just the right tone and nuance and gravity to the images while making constant tweaks to ensure the book is as historically accurate as we could make it. And we owe a thousand thanks to our historical consultant, Mark Weitzman of the Simon Wiesenthal Center.
CMix: When it's done, will it represent the canonical last word on where Magneto came from, or is this outside of continuity?
GP: As Marvel editor-in-chief Joe Quesada recently confirmed in his MySpace Comics column, Magneto Testament is indeed in continuity. Feel free to start updating your wikis, Mags fans!
Sat Jan 17, 2009 — by Glenn Hauman
Interview Series With Al Jaffee, Jules Feiffer, Harvey Pekar In New York Begins January 21
The YIVO Institute presents one-on-one interviews with Al Jaffee, Jules Feiffer, and Harvey Pekar. YIVO’s “Comics and the American Jewish Dream” series kicks off Wednesday, January 21 at 7:00 pm with:
"The Mad, Mad, Mad (Jewish) World Of Al Jaffee"
A graduate of New York’s High School of Art and Design, Jaffee worked as an editor, writer and artist for Stan Lee at Timely (later Marvel) Comics during the 1940s. In 1955, Jaffee joined “the Usual Gang of Idiots” at Mad Magazine, where he’s been a mainstay ever since, entertaining generations with his Snappy Answers to Stupid Questions and Mad Fold-Ins. Join us as Jaffee provides snappy answers to provocative questions about his art and life, including his new book, Tall Tales, published by Abrams.
Series curator and moderator Danny Fingeroth, a longtime writer and editor at Marvel Comics, has spoken about comics at the Smithsonian Institution and The New School. He’s the author of Disguised as Clark Kent: Jews, Comics, and the Creation of the Superhero (Continuum) and The Rough Guide to Graphic Novels (Penguin).
Wednesday, January 21, 7:00
The YIVO Institute For Jewish Research
15 West 16th Street / New York, NY 10011
The series will continue with:
Jules Feiffer: Tuesday, February 3, 7:00 P.M.
Harvey Pekar: Tuesday, February 17, 7:00 P.M.
Admission to programs: $25 / YIVO members: $18 / students: $12
For tickets: call 212-868-4444 or visit www.smarttix.com
For more info visit www.yivo.org
Sun Dec 21, 2008 — by Jeff Ayers
Interview: Keith DeCandido and 'Farscape'
Keith DeCandido is known throughout the fan community as one of the best writers of media-related fiction in both the novel and graphic world. While primarily recognized for Star Trek, he has also written fiction based on Supernatural, CSI: NY, and Farscape, among others. His novel of John Crichton’s adventures, House of Cards, was published in 2001. Recently, BOOM! Studios picked up the rights to publish new Farscape stories and the show’s creator, Rockne S. O’Bannon, will plot the first one with a script by Keith and art by Tommy Patterson. After some delay, the first issue will be in stores on Wednesday/ ComicMix briefly spoke with Keith about the show and how he got involved in the new stories.
ComicMix: When did you first discover the show, Farscape? Why were you hooked?
Keith DeCandido: I kept hearing good things about it from people who were watching it—this was in the first season in 1999—and I caught an episode or two and liked it. What hooked me in general was a four-episode marathon Sci-Fi did, and what hooked me in particular was the moment in "A Human Reaction" when Crichton confirmed that he wasn't home, but in a simulation created from his memory when he threw the women's room open and it was orange swirly stuff. I was hooked at that point....
CMix: How did you end up writing House of Cards and what sparked the idea for the story?
KRAD: Mine was actually the last of the three Farscape novels commissioned, but the first one released. There were delays with Andrew Dymond and David Bischoff's books, so they needed a book quickly, and Greg Cox, the American editor of the books (they were published first in the UK by Boxtree) recommended me. Greg and I have worked together many times in the past, and he knew how much of a Farscape fan I was and that I could hit deadlines. As for the story, my brain went to the idea of "Rygel loses Moya in a card game," and I ran with it from there.
CMix: With Farscape over, how did you learn about the comic line and how did you get involved?
KRAD: Honestly, I read the press release about BOOM! getting the rights, and I went to their web site, found a contact e-mail, and said, "Hey! I wrote House of Cards! Henson and Rockne and the fans all like me! Pick me, pick me!" Amazingly, that actually worked (which I think was a first for me....).
Continue reading Interview: Keith DeCandido and 'Farscape' ›
Sat Nov 22, 2008 — by Robert Greenberger
Interview: Tim Pilcher Talks Erotica, Part 1
Tim Pilcher has made a fine career for himself writing and editing in the pop culture world. His most recent project is the second volume in his heavily-illustrated survey of Erotic Comics, coming to the UK in January and America in March. We decided to find out how one covers the subject without getting arrested or losing interest in sex. Speaking of which, given the subject matter, we advise you that the art does the subject justice.
ComicMix: Hey Tim, nice to speak with you again. A So tell me, what qualifies you to write about sex?
Tim Pilcher: Well I’m not a virgin! I can prove it, I’ve got kids!
CMix: Seriously, what prompted the two volume critical look at the subject?
TP: It was a series of disparate events over many years. I remember Melinda Gebbie showing me the original artwork for the first few pages of Lost Girls, when I worked in a comic shop (Comic Showcase in London), back around 1990, and being impressed. Then some friends bought me a copy of L’Enfer des Bulles by Jacques Sadoul, which basically highlighted “saucy moments” in regular and erotic comics. I also read Maurice Horn’s Sex in The Comics, which came out in 1985 and it suddenly dawned on me that no one had done a critical, comprehensive, English language, study on the history of erotic comics for over 20 years! I thought that was bizarre, particularly as Eros Comix, and the erotic comic explosion of the late 80s/early 90s happened just after Horn’s book came out, so there was a huge amount of material that hadn’t been explored, such as Howard Chaykin’s Black Kiss. I think the final part of the jigsaw was reading an article by Alan Moore in Arthur magazine about the history of pornography ("Bog Venus Versus Nazi Cock-Ring: Some Thoughts Concerning Pornography", Vol 1, No 25, November 2006) and that got me thinking about how sex had been portrayed in comics. So Alan and Melinda were the real catalyst for the whole project, and that made getting Alan to write the foreword for volume 2 a really significant honor for me.
Continue reading Interview: Tim Pilcher Talks Erotica, Part 1 ›
Fri Nov 21, 2008 — by Robert Greenberger
Interview: TwoMorrow's John Morrow
Once upon a time, these would have been faznines produced using Xerox machines or newfangled offset presses. But, today, Alter Ego, Back Issue, Write Now!, Draw! and the Jack Kirby Collector are all legitimate magaines from TwoMorrows. The company has expanded to include books such as their Modern Masters series along with their welcome Companion books exploring facets of DC Comics history. We sat with founder with John Morrow to see what was new.
ComicMix: Did you ever imagine this being a fulltime gig?
John Morrow: Initially, no; furthest thing from my mind. Back in 1994, my wife and I were in the early stages of building our graphic design business, and had just gotten over those first few years where you’re killing yourself pulling all-nighters to service your clients. Just as things slowed down to a reasonable level, Jack Kirby died. I’d been out of comics for several years, but I felt compelled to produce a (albeit fairly slick) fanzine about Kirby, just to re-experience what drew me to his work originally. This led to lots more all-nighters getting the Jack Kirby Collector off the ground, but I envisioned it lasting no more than maybe six or seven issues, having some fun, then calling it a day.
CMix: What has surprised you the most about running TwoMorrows?
JM: Other than the fact that we’ve been at it for 15 years, it’d have to be the staying power of Kirby’s work and influence. I was really naïve to have ever thought Jack’s hold on the industry would wane over time; if anything, it’s probably as strong now as it ever was, with all the reissues of his work, and revamps of his characters. I don’t think I could still be doing an ongoing magazine about anyone else in comics, 50-plus issues and 15 years later.
Sat Nov 1, 2008 — by Christina Troup
Interview: Nate Powell on 'Swallow Me Whole'
The cartoonist's cartoonist talks about his most ambitious project to date and what he has lined up next
Nate Powell hits upon some pretty heavy subject matter in his latest graphic novel Swallow Me Whole, now out frolm Top Shelf. We’re talking childhood schizophrenia, obsessive compulsive disorder, family breakdown, animal telepathy, and misguided love, just to name a few. The Indiana-based cartoonist traverses the familiar territory of teen angst and all the growing pains associated with it in his new work, but without the formulaic melodrama that so often saturates the topic. When he isn’t tackling the troubling madness of adolescence as an author and artist, Powell splits his time operating DIY punk label Harlan Records and works with adults with developmental disabilities.
Despite his oh-so busy schedule, ComicMix recently had the chance go catch up with Powell before he hits up the Alternative Press Expo this weekend in San Francisco. Here’s what he had to say about his new work, how he hooked up with publisher Top Shelf and what’s next on his plate:
ComicMix: First off, let’s start with some background material. You’ve lived in a number of locales, that’s for sure. Where have your travels taken you and where are you at now? As for comics, do you remember when you first discovered them and what led you to create your own.
Nate Powell: I'm from North Little Rock, Arkansas, and since early 2004 I've lived in Bloomington, Indiana. In between I've also lived in Montana, Alabama, DC, New York City, Kansas City, Michigan, western Massachusetts, and Rhode Island.
As for comics -- when I was a toddler in Montana I read a lot of Spider-Man, Wonder Woman, and Hulk comics. Apparently I spontaneously began reading out of a Fantastic Four activity book when I was three years old.
Continue reading Interview: Nate Powell on 'Swallow Me Whole' ›
Sun Oct 26, 2008 — by Robert Greenberger
Interview: Marc Sumerak on 'Weapon X: First Class'
Writer Revisits Classic Era
Coming November 5 will be the first issue of a three issue miniseries, Weapon X: First Class, which will explore the Weapon X program and how it turned Logan into Wolverine. Writing this fresh take on the story will be Marc Sumerak, former assistant editor and currently one of Marvel’s fresh new voices.
CMix: Hey, Marc, nice to catch up with you. Just how did you manage to transition from staff to fulltime freelance?
Marc Sumerak: I spent four exciting years on Marvel's editorial team as Tom Brevoort's Assistant Editor, working on some of my all-time favorite titles (including Avengers, Fantastic Four, Iron Man, Thor and more). But, as they say, all good things must come to an end... and for a number of reasons, I found myself leaving NYC and heading back to my hometown of Cleveland, OH.
At that point, I figured my career in the comic biz was pretty much over... but not long after the move, I was contacted by Marvel and asked to pitch a few ideas that I had been starting to develop right before I left staff. One of those ideas became my first series at Marvel: Guardians. That came out in July, 2004...and somehow I've managed to continue working in comics steadily ever since! Only now, I'm not the one enforcing the deadlines...I'm scrambling to meet them instead!
CMix: You seem to have concentrated on the lighter, brighter sections of the Marvel Universe such as the Power Pack miniseries. What’s the appeal?
MS: I think it's important to have a wide variety of titles available that appeal to different segments of our readership. My editors have seemed to think that I have a good grasp on "all-ages" material, so that's been the overall focus of my body of work to date... and I definitely can't complain about that. Working on Power Pack, Franklin Richards and the Marvel Adventures line has been a blast!
Like many of our readers, I discovered the joy of comics at a young age... and if something I'm writing brings that same feeling of wonder and excitement to one of today's young readers, then it's one of the greatest rewards I can imagine.
Without new readers coming in the door, the industry will eventually cease to be. So being able to provide material that a new generation can enjoy -- and that parents can feel comfortable about giving their children -- is an essential step towards strengthening our industry's future. I couldn't be more proud to be a part of that effort.
Continue reading Interview: Marc Sumerak on 'Weapon X: First Class' ›
Tue Oct 21, 2008 — by Tyson Durst
Interview: Todd McFarlane on the State of Comics
Yesterday, the first part of my interview with Spawn creator Todd McFarlane focused on issue 185 of the long-running comic and the changes in store for readers as he returns to active creative duty with Whilce Portacio and Brian Holguin.
Since part one ran, it has been announced that the shipping date has slipped a week and the issue, complete with previously unannounced variant covers, will now be in stores on October 29.
In the second part of our discussion, we chatted about approaching the big 200 mark, the comics landscape overall today and what it might look like in the future, as well as a few Spawn-related surprises.
ComicMix: With issue 200 on the horizon and the “end of Spawn” being teased, will Spawn continue past issue 200?
Todd McFarlane: Yeah, [Issue] 200 we’re already planning for. We’ve thrown enough ripples out already and that people will sort of go ‘whoa’ and have to pay attention to keep pace with it. And 200 will allow us to get to one of the big notes and it’s all sort of a Pandora’s Box; you close one door and another one opens. We’ll have a nice compelling story for 200.
CMix: The comic landscape has changed and continues to change in a lot of ways with all kinds of different formats on the shelves and walking into bookstores now with full sections devoted to trades and original graphic novels, as well as the rise of webcomics and digital formats on the Internet. What are your thoughts in general on these trends and new directions in comics as a medium?
TM: The medium of comic books, which is a combination of words and pictures, I don’t think that medium is ever going to go away. I believe what will evolve over our lifetimes and it’s been a slow evolution, is the delivery mechanism. Is it possible that some day everybody who reads a comic book will turn on a computer? I guess, but it’ll still be words and pictures, it just happens to be in digital form. The basic form of what a comic is will never die. The delivery mechanism, to me, is less important. If people want them in trade paperback, in book form, on their computers, on the back of cereal boxes, I mean, whatever, but it’d still be a comic book. So I’ll let the consumer tell us where they want to get their fix on this medium and then we’ll hopefully not be too far behind the curve and we can give it to them.
CMix: Do you see the monthly pamphlet format headed for extinction at some point as some people have suggested?
TM: It’s possible as long as someone can offset it with another business model that gets it to the consumer. Again, as long as you give people an option as to where they can get it. Change for change’s sake doesn’t make much sense. At some point, there might be an economic tipping point where you look at sales and see you’re selling 51% or more doing something a new way rather than the old way so you start putting all of your resources behind the new way like the transition from VHS to DVD at Blockbuster where [DVD] was 5% and then 10% and then it took over. If we’re going to go in that direction, I sort of see it being the same as other business models where it’ll simply be a slow transition.
Continue reading Interview: Todd McFarlane on the State of Comics ›
Mon Oct 20, 2008 — by Tyson Durst
Interview: Todd McFarlane on 'Spawn' #185
Spawn is now a teenager in the world of monthly super-hero comics, sixteen years old and counting since 1992 when creator Todd McFarlane moved out of Marvel’s House of Ideas to help form Image and launch his own flagship title.
In 2008, Spawn is trying to reinvent itself and attract more readers and interest in an era when attracting new readers for superhero monthlies is a big hurdle for anybody.
In issue 185, due out on Wednesday, Todd McFarlane will return to the book with Whilce Portacio taking on main art duty to kick off a new storyline called “Endgame”. Brian Holguin, a Spawn veteran, will be working with McFarlane on story and script.
With promises of new directions and changing how people look at the book, issue 185 is its own milestone with three confirmed covers by Todd McFarlane, Whilce Portacio, and Greg Capullo, along with its own website that’s been teasing readers for the past few weeks.
As Spawn closes in on a major milestone of 200 issues, I had the opportunity to chat with McFarlane over the phone about his return to Spawn, where the book has been, and where it’s going.
ComicMix: Spawn 185 kicks off a new storyline called “Endgame”. What is “Endgame” about?
Todd McFarlane: It’s a jumping on point for readers to get in on the ground level and not have to have a lot of backstory. That’s it, just sort of saying “hey, we’re going to come in here and dust some stuff off and make it accessible and start pushing it and creating new stories and situations within the Spawn mythology that hopefully you haven’t seen in the first 184 issues.”
CMix: Where do you want this new story arc to take the Spawn comic book and how does it fit into the overall story and mythology of those past issues?
TM: In the big mythology, it becomes sort of the next step in trying to neutralize the two big forces that have always been in the book which are Heaven and Hell. And again, the idea behind it has always been this man put in between these colossal forces. And is there a way for man to come out on top and not be beholden to any force? If you read the book, I’ve not made it a “good versus evil” in the classic sense of it and so we’ve said in the book and when people have asked, that in this mythology, Heaven and Hell are essentially the same thing; it’s just one guy has a better PR firm. But they both want the same thing: the souls and domination and to annihilate the other guy.
Which is why Spawn has not necessarily been about breaking away from Hell to go work for Heaven; he just wants to break away from it all and be a free man, pushing towards that big concept.
Continue reading Interview: Todd McFarlane on 'Spawn' #185 ›
Sun Oct 19, 2008 — by Matt Raub
Interview with Robert Tapert
Is the Door Still Open for an Evil Dead Remake?
I recently got a chance to sit down and chat with legendary producer Robert Tapert, who you know best as Sam Raimi's better half working with him on things like Hercules, Xena, Evil Dead, and even producing some great horror films to hit theaters in the past few years such as The Grudge and 30 Days of Night. I talked to Rob about some of his newer projects, including The Ghost House Underground Collection, a collection of eght horror films hand picked by Tapert and Raimi, which we will be reviewing here in the coming weeks. We also chatted about his newest TV project, Legend of the Seeker, and even a possibility of an Evil Dead remake.
ComicMix: The Ghost House Underground Collection recently was released on DVD and they are slated as being "hand selected by Rob Tapert and Sam Raimi". Is that true?
Robert Tapert: Sam and I picked the bulk of them. we are partnered with two other guys [Barry Brooker and Stan Wertlieb] who come from a long line of building DVD libraries. There was some guidance that was needed so that we didn't pick all foreign flicks and had a wide enough variety to make the collection worth while. Overall, though, most of our picks made it into the final box set.
CMix: Were any of the eight films in the box set produced by your and Raimi's production company, Ghost House Pictures?
RT: When we created GHP, [Sam and I] would be approached by dozens of directors and agents and young filmmakers who wanted to be hired. After a while we would follow up with them and hear terrible stories about how they got ripped off and lost tons of money through distribution. Then a little over a year ago, Barry and Stan came to us and told us that there is a business to be built in creating a Ghost House Underground consumer brand for direct-to-DVD movies. [Sam and I] were worried about becoming just another distributor who wouldn't help these young filmmakers, but Barry and Stan said "as long as you pay the filmmakers what their due -- wouldn't you have been happy being payed what you were due when working on Evil Dead?" We agreed and have been happy with the outcome thus far. These films, and probably for the next incarnation are pre-existing films that are sent to us or we've at festivals or thousands of other ways.
