Ed Summer, the man who opened one of America’s first comic book stores and went on to a varied and significant media career, died Thursday from cancer.
A graduate of the New York University School of the Arts (his classmates included Oliver Stone, Jonathan Kaplan and Alan Arkush), Summer opened the Supersnipe Comic Book Emporium on Manhattan’s upper east side in 1971. The store was named after the Street and Smith comic book character who owned more comic books than anybody else in the world. In the late 1970s he opened a comic art gallery, also one of the first, near his store. His friend George Lucas was an investor.
Moving on to motion pictures, Ed wrote or co-wrote Conan the Barbarian (and also was associate producer), Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck cartoons for Disney, and Shinsha (a anime take on Little Nemo). He was marketing and script consultant for Star Wars: A New Hope and advised Lucasfilm Ltd on numerous projects over the years.
Summer also wrote comics for Gold Key, DC and Marvel and he wrote numerous articles for a wide variety of magazines, including Time, Skeptical Inquirer (a science magazine) and Video Watchdog. He also edited and published Walt Disney’s Uncle $crooge McDuck: His Life and Times, one of the first detailed retrospectives on the work of master storyteller Carl Barks, and was an adjunct professor at New York’s School of Visual Arts.
And that just scratches the surface of Ed’s vast media career.
A native of Buffalo New York, In 2005 Ed started the Buffalo International Film Festival, one of his proudest achievements. He told ComicMix’s Martha Thomases he did it not only to bring some tourism to his hometown, but also because there were so many fabulous old movie palaces there. The Festival continues to this day.
As the economy went into free fall, ICv2 notes that October sales have shown some slippage. From their just released list of the top 25 titles, just two showed signs of improvement over September sales. One was Amazing Spider-Man #573 which featured the faux-Stephen Colbert for President cover while the other was Batman #680, the penultimate chapter to Batman RIP.
Despite somewhat stagnant sales, the dollars sold in to comic stores were up a “robust” 9% compared with a year ago, according to the industry watchdog. September and October were the first positive months for comic sales since January. Of course, more titles were retailing last month at $3.99, rapidly becoming a standard, as opposed to last October. ICv2 did note that the unit sales for the title charting in the 300th position was 4200 compared with 3000 just twelve months ago which they interpret as a sign of overall industry strength.
Graphic novel sales showed an increase of just 5% compared with last October. Combined with comic book sales, that creates an 8% total increase.
The site notes that the company crossovers, Secret Invasion #7 (154,675 copies) and Final Crisis #4 (115,666 copies) took the first two spots on the list. Marvel had seven of the top 10 and 17 of the first 25 with DC taking the balance. IDW’s G.I. Joe relaunch and Angel: After the Fall were the first non-Top Two titles to crack the top 100 list coming in at 65th and 66th place. This further cements IDW’s fourth place standing among comic book publishers, after Dark Horse and now ahead of Image.
In graphic novels, DC’s Joker by Brian Azzarello, took first place with an estimated 17,000 copies sold, also nabbing the top spot for dollars earned. Marvel’s best seller for the month was the Marvel Zombies trade paperback, which likely hit the top Marvel spot given its three variant covers. Wile Watchmen slipped from first place to sixth, its 6000 copies remains impressive given its age.
So, ComicMix readers, as per my previous column, Awesome Con DC happened April 20 and 21…and, I say this unironically, it was awesome. I had a blast. I spent time with good friends; I met new friends; I walked the con floor and met comics legends (great chat, Larry Hama!) and witty and charming award-winning artists (hello, Ben Templesmith!); and was delighted with the strong turnout of talented local comics folks. I went to a couple of panels (amazing, for me, since I usually plan to go to tons and then don’t go to…any); and wore my Girl Jayne Firefly costume. And yes, naturally, I boughtsomestuff (surprise!). I also pretended to be Nick Galifianakis for awhile (don’t tell!) and did three fantaaaastic interviews: with Nick, and with the amazingly talented Phil LaMarr and Billy West. (More convention pictures here, and oh by the way, next year’s Awesome Con dates are already set! April 19-20, 2014! Woo!) So much fun!
This week, I get to share with you my Awesome Con interview with Phil LaMarr, who is so fantastic. Seriously, y’all. So fantastic. And multi-talented. If you don’t remember him from his many roles during his five year stint on the sketch comedy show MADtv, then you might remember him as Marvin (poor Marvin! So young, so shot-in-the-face!) from Pulp Fiction. Or you might have seen him on one of the many other shows in which he made guest appearances. Or you might know him from his voice acting, in such roles as Hermes Conrad (and Reverend Preacherbot) on Futurama; or as John Stewart, Green Lantern, on Justice League; or as J.A.R.V.I.S. and Wonder Man on The Avengers TV series; or as Samurai Jack on Samurai Jack; or from Family Guy, or Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, or Avatar: The Last Airbender, or Star Wars: The Clone Wars, or King of the Hill, or Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends, or Marvel: Ultimate Alliance, or, or, or…really I could go on forever. But instead, why don’t we go to the interview?
If you want to listen to the interview (listen to it! He does voices! We geek out about comics!) you can do so here. Or, you can read the (slightly edited) transcript below!
Hello, this is Emily Whitten, and I am here with Phil LaMarr at Awesome Con, the first comic con in the DC area in something like eight years. Phil, thank you for joining me.
Of course.
And I’m a big fan of your work; who isn’t?
Awww.
And…there’s so much of it, I almost didn’t know where to start; so I’m going to ask you, what was the first time that you were on stage, or acted?
Ooh, wow; first time ever was eighth grade, in a school play; a production of The Phantom Tollbooth. I played Tock the Watchdog.
You played Tock!
I did.
That’s fantastic. So how did you like it; what was your experience there?
Oh, it was amazing. The play opens with the real-world version of Tock, who is the clock in Milo’s room, doing a monologue to the audience. So my first time on stage in front of an audience was alone, on stage, under a spotlight, talking to the full auditorium; and it was a transformative experience. It triggered something in me that has never been the same since. I mean, that’s basically the dragon I’ve been chasing – since eighth grade.
So then were you in all the other school plays after that, or did you feel your way out; how did that work?
Not all of them; I did tech crew, and stuff; you know – because I was in eighth grade. And then in tenth grade, I got the part of Bogart in Play It Again, Sam. Which was arguably the start of my voice work and impressions…I mean, because (as Bogart) “‘Cause honestly, I was doing a Bogart impression and I was fifteen.” When most kids my age didn’t know who Bogart was. I beat everybody out by doing it.
Well that’s amazing! Now since then, obviously you’ve done a lot of work.
I’ve never done Bogart again.
You haven’t? No! But you did do a lot of work for MADtv. Now, tell me how that came to be?
Well, I’d gone through The Groundlings program, so I’d done sketch comedy and improv and over the course of that, created a few characters. I didn’t get MADtv through The Groundlings – I wasn’t there when the casting people came – but I was prepared for it, from creating characters and writing sketches. I’d been at that point, doing it for…that was ‘95, and I’d been in The Groundlings program since ‘89. So I had a lot of experience under my belt doing it. And it translated nicely.
So when you went to MADtv, and you had the characters, like Slick Rick, and you had the UPS—I mean UBS guy…
Right…yeah, that always annoyed me; it’s like, “Really? We can’t say ‘UPS’? We can say UPS.”
It’s unfortunate! So were those characters that you had created and brought over?
The UPS guy I had done at The Groundlings on stage; and in fact the first UPS guy sketch that I did with Mary Scheer on MADtv; I had also done with Mary Scheer on stage.
Oh, okay – because she was in the program as well?
Yeah, she was in The Groundlings with me, and we both got the show at the same time. Of course, for some reason the producers made me change the ending; because, in my version, he got the girl.
Awww. As it should be, you know?
Of course!
I love Jaq.
Everyone does!
He’s great, you know?
Eventually they saw the error of their ways, and then they began to write sketches where he, like, really got the girl. It became increasingly sexual; it’s like, guys, guys: (as Jaq) ‘Well no ’cause he’s just all moving around-‘ it’s like: (exasperated sigh).
The video store one is probably one of my favorites, because you do the embarrassed not-quite-sure-what-to-do very well.
Thank you.
And the fact that he was kind of popping up all over the store, that was fantastic.
Right. Pretending to rent everything except the one he wanted. Yeah, I don’t know where that came from. Out of whole cloth, completely imaginary.
Right; you heard a story once, or somebody had an experience.
Although it’s funny that you mention that one, because that was the one sketch that I got writing credit for.
Really?
Yeah.
Well good job, well done you!
Thank you.
Now when was Pulp Fiction, was that before MADtv?
That was before MADtv. We shot that in ’93, and it came out in ’94; so yeah, next year it will be twenty years, actually.
Wow – and of course it is a classic already, even though it will officially be a classic, you know, when it’s twenty. …I guess, if that’s how you calculate.
It will be an ‘antique.’
Yes; well I hear cars are classics after twenty or something like that…
Oh, okay; and movies…are classic once they reboot them.
Yes, exactly; Spider-Man’s like twelve classics now.
Exactly.
So when you were working on Pulp Fiction, obviously you have a great but not huge part, but what was that like, and what was your favorite part, or did you learn something new from it that you found very valuable in the future?
It was interesting because – you know, I loved Reservoir Dogs, so I was chomping at the bit to audition, and I got the chance. And it was so much fun; because Quentin was just so generous. You know, in the audition process, and later on, you know, in the shooting process as well; and I got to audition with the Jules and Brett scene – Sam Jackson, you know, has the gun on Frank Whaley, and it’s just – it’s like reading fresh Shakespeare. It’s like: “So Romeo and Juliet; but they can’t get togeth-my God, this is amazing!” You know? It’s like, “Where do you come up with these ideas, Will??”
Yeah, it was amazing. It’s the sort of thing where when you’re preparing for the audition, by the second or third time you’ve read it through you realize, “Oh, I’ve got this memorized;” because the words just flow, one into the other; it just makes sense.
That’s really great.
Yes; it was the best set that I’ve been on; still, to date.
In terms of the people you were working with, or the atmosphere, or the direction, or everything?
The vibe and the atmosphere; which, oddly enough, I think came from the script. Everyone who read that script loved it, you know, and wanted to be a part of it. Bruce Willis took a – I mean, I don’t know how big a pay cut he took, but the budget for the movie was eight million dollars; so he took a hell of a pay cut. And again; I mean, I knew going into it that it was a very, very small part – it’s like, five lines; but I also knew, “Well, as small as it is, they can’t cut me out – or they lose forty-five minutes of the movie.” Where did all the blood come from??
Yeah, they call up their friend, and they’re like, “What do we do now?” And what would they do if there was no you? The [plot would] be in trouble.
Exactly.
So, okay, you had done some improv, and you had done the movie, and you’ve done voice work – between the three – or however many different kinds of roles you’ve had – what’s your favorite and/or what do you find the most challenging to prepare for?
Well it’s funny, because the most challenging to prepare for is my least favorite. And that’s things that are badly written.
That’s fair!
Because honestly, that’s the most challenging to prepare for. It’s like, “Oh dear God. How can I make this work?” When something is great? When something is just a fantastic piece? It’s not work. It’s like, “Oh! Oh I could do this!” You’re inspired by what you’re given. So that’s not work at all. And it’s funny, because people always ask, “Do you like live action, or animation, or stage?” And I’m like, “I like things that are good.”
And the truth is, things that are good have more in common than just being something in the same medium. Like Pulp Fiction has more in common with Samurai Jack than Samurai Jack has with Pound Puppies.
But, now; being someone who’s known for improv and sketch comedy as one of your things, do people give you more leeway in roles that wouldn’t usually call for that, necessarily? Like do you ever go in and say, “Oh, but I could do it this way!” – because I know that can happen with any actor, sometimes, that they can go in and improv something; but do you find that people expect that of you, or like that from you?
At times. It depends on the project. Although, the weird thing is, even though I’m an improviser, as an actor I’m really, really text-driven. So my first impulse is not to go off script; my first impulse is to go into the script and figure out: “Okay, how best can I serve the writer’s intent?” But yeah, I mean obviously there are a lot of comedy things, roles in shows that you get on, where they’re looking for you to, like, “Make it better!” Which is a great challenge, and a great opportunity.
That’s really interesting. Now, speaking of the different kinds of roles, could you pick your top roles that were either the most fun or most challenging, or both? And I know we’ve talked about the connection between fun and challenging. But roles where you could look back and say, oh, my life was more complete because I did these things, or my career was more complete, my experience.
Hm, I don’t know, Justice League [for which Phil does John Stewart, Green Lantern] was definitely a lot of fun, just because it was a wonderful nexus; because I’m a comic book person, and to be able to play in that world was really, really fun and rewarding. It was also made by spectacularly talented people, you know: Bruce Timm, and Dwayne McDuffie, and Sam Berkowitz, and Len Uhley, and Andrea Romano; like basically everybody involved with it was at the top of their game.
Yeah, they’re basically legends in their field. And now you said, as I was aware already, that you’re a comic book fan. Tell me, when you were little, how did you get into it, or what’s your favorite character or storyline?
Well I think I was pretty much a casual comic book reader, until maybe ten or eleven? Then our neighbors had a son who came back from college, and basically bequeathed unto me his entire comic book collection.
WOW.
So he was like in his early twenties-
-You can tell I’m excited about this.
Yeah, he just like, handed me this longbox.
The actual longbox, like what is it, like 300 comics at least in a longbox?
Right! And there were some amazing – I mean, I had some Mad Magazines, some of which I still have, that are older than I am. And I had great old Carmine Infantino Batmans; [and there were] twenty cent comics, and this was at a time when comics weren’t twenty cents anymore. And just a wide range. Stuff that I probably wouldn’t have picked up myself, but I got to read them. And it’s funny, because I’ve never been a “collector;” I’ve always been a reader; and the one time I tried to be a collector in the mid-eighties, I’m like, “Oh, there’s these new issues of this comic book coming out; I’m going to make sure I get number one!” and most of the number ones I have are, like, crap. I have Rom #1; Rom: SpaceKnight.
I don’t even know if I know that one.
No, you don’t. No you don’t.
I should, right?
No, you shouldn’t. It was really, really awful. The main character was a space robot.
Hmm, because “Space Knight” actually sounds kind of cool; but a space robot…?
But there was no there. There was no character, it was like, “No! He’s just a robot. From space. Doesn’t talk!” But I mean, I do also have New Teen Titans #1. So that was one I jumped on. And actually, I have Moon Knight #1, which wasn’t that great at the time…
Yeah, but he’s gotten a lot bigger, in the last, I don’t know, I would say five years? I feel like it’s been more recently that he’s gotten more attention and more development.
Well it’s a tough character, just because that initial thing is like: “Okay, so, he’s a rich guy. And a mercenary! …And also a cab driver!” It’s like: “Whaaat??”
Yeah, he’s a little schizophrenic in the character development.
And eventually they wrote that into the character. “No no no, he’s actually just crazy.”
I was thinking, “Are they going to retcon that ever, or is it just going to be part of him now?”
Yes, somebody’s going to erase that. “Oh, the moon came over and it erased that…mental disease that this hero has.”
Yeah…but still, having the #1 of that is pretty good!
Well, especially because it’s early Bill Sienkiewicz. It’s Bill when he was still, like, “Is that Neal Adams? But just with really…with more sketch lines?”
That’s fantastic!
Yeah, I love that.
So yeah, that’s a good one, absolutely.
I’ve got to get him to sign that.
Yes, you should. He goes to cons, right? I haven’t actually run into him at one, but I’m sure…
He was at New York Comic Con last year.
Oh, then I’ve been at one with him and not – just kind of like how I saw you maybe from a distance at NYCC, I don’t know.
Yes, he’s very elusive.
Well I’m sure he’ll be at another one, and we’ll be at another one. So speaking of comics, I am embarrassed to say, that while I was –
That you’ve never read a comic book?
Hah, no! You know that’s not true!
“I’m, I’m just really pretty, aaaand…”
“I’m a fake geek girl, you know, ohmigoood…”
You are the fake unicorn. You are a horse with a horn glued on.
Hah, I am, I exist, the fake geek girl! No; I’ve read – my collection is quite impressive. I actually do have the entire-
You sound like such a dude when you say that.
I know, right?
You have a Ferrari – it’s a little red Ferrari: “My collection is massive. It’s really pretty impressive.”
“It’s amazing, dude. Bro!”
“You should see it. But don’t touch it! Or I’ll…”
“Dude, it’s all in the little bags and boards, and if you get your fingerprints on it, I’m gonna be like, ‘Phil LaMarr’s fingerprint versus a mint condition, I don’t knoooow…'”
…But I have the entire Deadpool run.
Oh wow.
From the first appearance in New Mutants all the way through the current…
Really.
Yeah, I’m missing, like, a Black Panther that I cannot find. Black Panther #23.
So you’re kind of a completist?
Oh, I am. When it comes to Deadpool. And then when it comes to current runs that I’m reading if I miss one I go back and I get it.
Oh, well that just makes sense.
But yeah, I’m a definite completist when it comes to Deadpool; my collection is ridiculous.
How are you liking the Posehn/Duggan stuff?
I have to admit, I’m a little behind. Don’t tell! So far I’m liking it…
That’s the problem with being a completist.
I know! And I’ve also done some review copies lately so the stack [of stuff waiting to be read] is always changing. I have a stack right now that still includes Peter David’s X-Men: Gifted prose novel in the plastic and I got it for Christmas! But I read a little bit [of the Posehn/Duggan Deadpool]; I like it so far. But here’s what I’m embarrassed to admit: I was looking at your Wikipedia to prepare for this interview, even though I know some of your work, obviously, and I was like –
“He’s black! What the hell? No one ever told me!”
Right? “I didn’t know!”
No, but I was like, “He was in Spider-Man 2??” Which, I love that movie! And I love the scene that you’re in. And I was always so focused on Spider-Man; I went back and I was like, “Where is he, where is he, I have to find him!” This was last night; I have the movie, but I got on YouTube, because I knew it would be on there, because it’s the train scene – it’s the big scene. So I watched, and I was like, “And he catches Spider-ma – look at that!” How did you make that happen? No, I mean, they probably came to you and were like, “Phil. Come be in our movie.”
No! I auditioned for the Hal Sparks part; the guy in the elevator, when Spider-Man’s powers stop working.
Which is a great scene, where he’s like, “Cool Spidey suit, dude.”
Right.
So you auditioned for that…
And didn’t get it. And then they called, randomly, in August, and said:
“Hey, is Phil available to work from Wednesday to Friday?”
“For what?”
“Oh, Spider-Man 2.”
“Well, what part? Is it the part that he auditioned for?”
“No.”
“Well what part?”
“We can’t say.”
“Well can you send over a script?”
“No.”
And they refused to say anything! Like, “Well, what are we doing?” “They won’t tell me.” “Uhhhh…o-kaaay.” And I’m just racking my brains, like, “Well, this is Spider-Man, but…what am I doing?” And I told my agent, “All right: ask them, will I be working directly with Sam Raimi?” Because I knew, it’s a big, big movie; and I’m not going in there to be some sort of second unit, running from falling building blocks. And they said, “Yes, you will.” “All right, I’m in.” But I had no idea what I was doing. I showed up, and I’m like, “Whaaaaat are we doing?” And it turned out, [Sam] saw that scene, that fight between Doc Ock and Spidey, especially with Spider-Man losing his mask and keeping going, as the action heart of the movie.
And I totally agree!
It is.
That’s actually the reason I never noticed that it was you, because I’m so focused on the whole of the scene!
And it’s a fantastic scene!
Do you know, whenever I watch that movie, I actually watch that scene at least two or three times? Like, whenever I watch it. I cannot stop myself.
Because when else have you ever seen a fight scene at 100 miles an hour? In and out.
I know, with the windows, and the arms, and everything, and he goes in and out of the cars, and then at the end, when he’s stopping it with all the webs; it’s great! It’s fantastic.
Yeah, and the fact that it’s like: Is he going to stop it? No! He fails! No, he’s going to try again! And it’s just really – it’s just about willpower. But Sam knew that he needed emotion in this scene, and he said, “Okay, I’ve got, like, sixty extras,” and he sat us around and he said, “Okay, I’ve hired you eight actors so I can sprinkle you throughout this scene, so that I always have someone amongst the extras that I can cut to, to give me what I need at that moment, in the scene.” And I’m like, “I’ve never heard of that; that’s absolutely brilliant!” Like, if you have a crowd scene; yes, you don’t want to have to cut to extras to deliver the heart or the fear or whatever. And so he said, “I don’t know what the lines will be; we may be playing around with stuff; there’s nothing really scripted; but we may put some things in. You may not have lines, you might have lines, we don’t know .”
And you didn’t actually have a line, did you?
No; I had a line at one point that got cut out in the final cut.
Okay; but in that scene, I vividly remember people catching Spider-Man, and the emotion of it; I just didn’t realize it was you!
And you’re not supposed to! That would have been really distracting.
Well, and actually, the last time I had watched you on TV was more like Pulp Fiction and MADtv and stuff, and then I knew your voice acting; and so I don’t think I had connected the two of them as much. But that’s so great.
Yeah, it was fun. Well it was hilarious, because that two days turned into two and a half weeks.
Because that’s a huge scene! So how was it, working with Sam Raimi and everything?
It was great. I mean, a lot of sitting-around time, because on a movie with that kind of budget, they don’t really care if you sit around for twelve hours and don’t work. They’re like, “Your pay isn’t even going to show up on our budget,” you know what I’m saying? So it’s like, “Yeah, two weeks. Eh.” Actually, they didn’t even tell us that it was going to be extended. Just at one point, it’s like Friday, and it’s like, “Okay, so I guess it’s our last day,” and they’re like, “Oh, by the way, you’re on a weekly contract.” And I’m like, “Whuuu…?”
“See ya tomorrow!”
Right! “Oh, okay, I guess we…” But it was fun. It’s funny, because I wound up meeting Chloe Dykstra, who is a cosplay model and host, and she was fifteen, sixteen? And her dad was doing the special effects – John Dykstra – although it’s funny, because at one point – the subway train was pretty analog, like when the train rocked, there were a bunch of grips pushing a big wooden pole to rock it back and forth; and it looked very practical. They had practical Doc Ock arms, puppet arms that came in; and I passed John Dykstra one day on set, and I was like, “Well, this looks like a pretty easy scene for you, not a lot of special effects.” And he’s like, “…Not really.” And I was like, “Well what do you have to do?” “I have to create all of New York.” And he pointed up, and I realized that the entire three-story sound-stage we were in was a green screen.
Wow, and so he had to do everything rushing by, and when the webs go?
Everything you’re seeing – because actually, even some of the webs were practical; like when he’s holding them? Those were actual, practical webs.
I would think they would have to be, at least in his hands, so that they would look real.
But everything you’re seeing as it goes by, like all of the lighting, and all of the texture and everything – he created.
I find that stuff so fascinating, and I only know a little about it; and so I’m thinking, like, “How do they make his costume rip in just the right places, at just the right times,” you know?
The continuity was insane. And that was the other thing that was really impressive. Because Tobey Maguire was there on set, and at one point, we’re all carrying him. You know, it was that shot from above. And we were actually carrying him. And he was so nice, and I’m thinking, “If you’ve got me glued into a suit, where I can’t pee but once every eight hours? And then you’re going to throw me, with a recent back injury?”
Oh, he had a back injury?
Around Secretariat.
Oh yes, I remember that. [Emily note: We were both thinking of Seabiscuit. Because, you know, movies with horses and jockeys, yo.]
There was this whole talk about, they weren’t sure if he was going to be able to do it. And it’s like, “And you’re going to have me carried by a bunch of extras?” I’m sure if I was him, I would have done it; but I would have been in a bad mood. But he was so amazingly cool.
Did you get to sit down and chat with him at some point?
A little bit.
Because I’m sure everything was rushing around.
Yeah. And you also don’t want to bother him.
No, because he’s concentrating, he’s the main guy, in the main scene…
Yeah; and you know that guy has to – you don’t know what that person’s process is to maintain their energy. Because there’s a lot of sitting around, but when it’s time to go, you have to be ready to go. And it’s all on him.
Well, and everyone has a different method, and some people want the silence and everything.
Right.
That’s so cool though. I’m so glad that you’re in that; now every time I watch it I’m going to be like, “Look, it’s Phil!”
I’m so glad I’m in it every time I get a residual check.
Hah, that’s fair to say! Well I supported you, then, because I have the movie, and I went to see it.
Thank you.
So just a couple of other questions. Obviously, in your voice work, we mentioned the John Stewart role; also Futurama, which is huge and amazing and fun, and you play Hermes Conrad…
(As Hermes) A thirty-sixth grade level certified bureaucrat!
Which is fantastic! And at some point he gets bumped down and then gets back up there. He’s a great character, and you did other voices too…
Yeah; I mean, it’s been ten, fifteen years…I don’t know how long we’ve been doing it; but over the years we’ve all wound up doing additional characters, secondary characters; because there’s always somebody else to do.
Right. And now with that voice work, I have seen where sometimes with voice actors, you go in and you’re by yourself, and you’re doing your part, and then sometimes there are other people. Did you each record your own parts for Futurama, or were you in the room with everybody?
For Futurama we do group records. In shows that are writer-driven and comedy-driven, where the writers care about the comedy? You do group records.
Because the chemistry just works so much better when everybody’s together.
And you can’t really tell if a joke works if you can’t hear the lines before it.
That’s a really good point, obviously.
But people do it all the time!
Yeah, I’ve seen where people are just by themselves, and I’m like, “Wow, that has to be even harder than doing it with the group.”
As an actor it’s really difficult, because you can no longer trust yourself. You can’t take in the line that you’re getting and then respond naturally. You have to basically guess. It’s like, “Well, I don’t know what my response would be,” so you just have to trust the director.
Have you done that too? Jobs where you had to go in by yourself?
Yes.
So you have both experiences. I would much prefer the group to going in by myself.
Of course. It’s the difference between, like if you’re writing, having an editor you know and an editor you don’t know. It’s like, “Okay, well, I don’t know what this person likes, I don’t know what they hate, but I’ll just deliver whatever I’m going to.” You can do it, you still do the same job, but it’s less comfortable. And a lot of the big companies – Disney and DreamWorks – tend to do more individual records than group reads. Occasionally there will be a creator or producer who can insist on, “I really need a group read,” but generally, more and more of the companies lately are doing individual records.
Right; and I have seen some of that, because I follow the Deadpool fandom, and Nolan North does Deadpool for things like Hulk vs., so I saw some clips of that process. Now you actually worked on a project with him fairly recently; the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
Yes.
And there are a lot of really great names in there, like Sean Astin, and Rob Paulsen –
– and Kevin Michael Richardson, and Jason Biggs, and Greg Cipes.
Yes! Lots of great names on there. So do you actually interact together, or is that one where you’re recording your separate parts?
Andrea Romano directs that, and Andrea’s very good and pretty old-school. So she does a read-through before, which almost nobody ever does, unless it’s a prime time show. But she does a table read the day of, just like she did in Justice League; like we would start the session by reading through the entire script.
Oh, right, so she directed both of those.
Yeah. She’s amazing. She did Animaniacs, Tiny Toons, Pinky and the Brain, Justice League…
Yes! Which – Rob worked on a lot of those, I know. Did you ever work on Animaniacs and all of those?
No, those were before I got into VO. But fantastic shows. So she tends to do group records. And the funny thing is, there are directors who have four hours, or however many hours, or an hour for an individual thing and can barely get it done. She has an entire group of actors for just four hours, does a read-through first, and will still get you out early.
Wow. So who have you recorded with for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles?
I’ve recorded with the gang.
So how did you like that? And is that coming back?
I believe so.
Okay, well, you should know.
I don’t know! No, the actors are the last to know. Seriously? If you’re putting something together, the last people you call are the actors.
I see. Well I haven’t actually gotten to watch [TNMT] yet, so I wasn’t sure exactly where it is right now.
I think they’re still recording episodes; but maybe they’re in second season; I’m not exactly sure.
Well hopefully there will be more of that. Because I’ve loved Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles from, you know, yea big, so I will want to check that out at some point.
You should, because the people behind it – Peter Hastings, and Ciro Nieli are just really, really talented.
Awesome. I will definitely do that. So tell me, is there any other current work you would like to talk about?
Hm, what’s going on right now…? I’m doing some on-camera stuff; I did a comedy series called Inside the Legend, that’s just been picked up by My Damn Channel. It’s a comedy interview show with characters from history, mythology, fiction, and legend; but they’re all a little tweaked. Like we did one where the female host is interviewing Albert Einstein. And then she introduces him, and he starts talking with a Southern accent. And she’s like, “Oh my God, I’m so sorry! Ladies and gentlemen, Mark Twain!” And they just keep switching back and forth, and she’s never sure which one she’s talking to.
Okay, I must see that! Where and when is that coming on?
Okay, well that’s fantastic; I will definitely put that link in, because that sounds just right up my alley.
Oh, and you’d also love – I’m also working on Chatroom of Solitude; Jeff Lewis from The Guild has written this. It’s for Stan Lee’s World of Heroes, and it’s really hilarious. It’s basically superheroes and supervillains on Google Chat.
I’m in love already. And that is also online?
Yeah. They’re both out now.
Well I’ll definitely check those out, because that’s fantastic. Yay! Thank you so much for this interview; and I’m going to do the thing that everybody [I assume] asks you to do…will you do the Green Lantern oath for me? Will you do it, Phil? I know you did it once today already, but…
Okay… Well, they’ll pick this clip, or the clip from YouTube, whichever:
“In brightest day, in blackest night,
no evil shall escape my sight.
Let those who worship evil’s might
beware my power: Green Lantern’s light!”
Thank you so much, Phil, this has been great.
You’re so silly.
Well, he’s right; I am. Big thanks to Phil LaMarr for the interview, and big thanks to the ever-helpful Kevin O’Shea, producer for Made of Fail Productions, for cleaning up the audio file for me. (And as ever, check out the Made of Fail podcasts for fun geek-tastic discussions, in which I have actually appeared a couple of times.
That’s all for now, and until next week, when I’ll be sharing my interview with the excellent Billy West, Servo Lectio!
by Mike Gold and Martha Thomases
As the economy went into free fall, ICv2 notes that October sales have shown some slippage. From their just released list of the top 25 titles, just two showed signs of improvement over September sales. One was Amazing Spider-Man #573 which featured the faux-Stephen Colbert for President cover while the other was Batman #680, the penultimate chapter to Batman RIP.
