Write Now! #7 by TwoMorrows Publishing

INSIDE: SUCCESSFUL SERIES PITCHES! 1994--2004

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In the USA

M AG A ZI N E

JEPH LOEB CHUCK DIXON

7 May 2004

PLUS: MORE

WRITING TIPS!

The Magazine About Writing For Comics, Animation, and SCI-FI

M AG A ZI N E Issue #7

May 2004

Read Now! Message from the Editor-in-Chief . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . page 2

Challenger of the Unknown Interview with Jeph Loeb . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .page 3

Who He Is and How He Came To Be Interview with Chuck Dixon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . page 21

An Epic Saga Interview with John Jackson Miller . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .page 33

Building a Monster: How I Created the Frankenstein Mobster Mark Wheatley tells how his Image series came to be . . . . . page 50

An Animated Career Interview with Yvette Kaplan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . page 58

Comics Into Film: A Cautionary Tale Platinum Studios’ Lee Nordling and Aaron Severson tells you the good news and the bad news about Hollywood’s interest in your comics property . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page 65

This issue is dedicated to the memory of JULIUS SCHWARTZ, 1915–2004

Conceived by DANNY FINGEROTH Editorial by Danny Fingeroth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . page 72 Editor in Chief Designer Feedback CHRISTOPHER DAY Letters from Write Now’s Readers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . page 74 Transcriber STEVEN TICE Nuts & Bolts Department Publisher JOHN MORROW Script to Finished Art: SUPERMAN/BATMAN SECRET FILES #1 Pages from “When Clark Met Bruce,” by Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale . . . . . . . . . . . . . page 6 Cover by Script to Pencils to Polished Script to Printed Comic: SUPERMAN/BATMAN #5 TIM SALE Pages from “State of Siege” by Jeph Loeb, Ed McGuinness and Dexter Vines . . page 10 Special Thanks To

In Praise of Marvel-style

Script to Pencils to Polished Script to Printed Comic 2: BATMAN #618 Pages from “Hush: The Game” by Jeph Loeb, Jim Lee, and Scott WIlliams . . . . page 16

Script to Printed Comic: BRATH #11 Pages by Chuck Dixon and Alcatena . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .page 24

Script to Printed Comic 2: EL CAZADOR #4 Pages by Chuck Dixon and Steve Epting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .page 28

Script to Pencils to Printed Comic: IRON MAN v3 #73 Pages from “The Acquisition” by John Jackson Miller & Jorge Lucas . . . . . . . . . . page 36

A Successful Pitch: CRIMSON DYNAMO John Jackson Miller’s proposal for a new series that was accepted and produced by Marvel Comics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . page 43

“It’s Alive!” Mark Wheatley’s first notes on Frankenstein Mobster . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . page 52

Script to Thumbnails to Printed Comic: FRANKENSTEIN MOBSTER #1 Pages from “Made Man” by Mark Wheatley . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . page 56

Episodic Animation Script: BEAVIS & BUTTHEAD Pages from “Manners Suck,” by Kristofor Brown . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .page 60

Comics 101 More enlightening lessons in comics storytelling from Dennis O’Neil . . . . . . . . .page 70 NEW ADDRESS FOR TWOMORROWS: 10407 Bedfordtown Drive, Raleigh, NC 27614 • PHONE 919/449-0344 • FAX 919/449-0327

ALISON BLAIRE CHUCK DIXON PATTY JERES MIKE JUDGE YVETTE KAPLAN JEPH LOEB JOHN JACKSON MILLER ERIC NOLEN-WEATHINGTON DENNIS O’NEIL MARIFRAN O’NEIL

1994--2004

ADAM PHILIPS CHRIS POWELL BEN REILLY TIM SALE AARON SEVERSON VARDA STEINHARDT NEIL VOKES MARK WHEATLEY MIKE WIERINGO

Danny Fingeroth’s Write Now! is published 4 times a year by TwoMorrows Publishing, 10407 Bedfordtown Drive, Raleigh, NC 27614, USA. Phone: (919) 449-0344. Fax: (919) 449-0327. Danny Fingeroth, Editor. John Morrow, Publisher. Write Now! E-mail address: WriteNowDF@aol.com. Single issues: $8 Postpaid in the US ($10 Canada, $11 elsewhere). Four-issue subscriptions: $20 US ($40 Canada, $44 elsewhere). Order online at: www.twomorrows.com or e-mail to: twomorrow@aol.com All characters are TM & © their respective companies. All material © their creators unless otherwise noted. All editorial matter © the respective authors. Editorial package is ©2004 Danny Fingeroth and TwoMorrows Publishing. Write Now! is a shared trademark of Danny Fingeroth and TwoMorrows Publishing. Printed in Canada. FIRST PRINTING.

READ Now!

Message from Danny Fingeroth, Editor in Chief

fter last issue’s Write Now! In Depth, focusing on Powers, I was wondering how we could top it. But, you know, I think we just might have. How? Well, to begin with, this issue’s interviews. Check out the roster: • Jeph Loeb, who’s writing some of the best and highest-selling comics of recent times, including Batman: Hush and Superman/Batman. And the guy is also on the writing staff of the Smallville TV series. You can’t help but learn things from him. • John Jackson Miller, who tells us about his path from comics industry journalist to regular writer of Iron Man. JJM was the winner of the “Epic experiment,” but his experiences are relevant to anybody trying to put an idea across to an editor or publisher. • Chuck Dixon is another guy who writes an extraordinary quantity of high quality material. From Batman to El Cazador, Chuck gives us insight into just how he’s able to do it. You want to know about professional attitude? This is the guy to ask. • Yvette Kaplan has worked many different jobs in animation, ranging from Head of Story on Ice Age, to director on Beavis and Butthead. Only recently has she taken on the official mantle of “writer.” In this interview, Yvette shows how animation is truly collaborative when it comes to crafting story. It’s an eyeopener. And we have another great first-person “making of” article. Mark Wheatley came up with an idea and ran with it. The result is the Frankenstein Mobster series. Mark tells us how his imagination worked overtime to bring the character to life. The straight-on Nuts & Bolts are pretty awesome this issue, too: • We get to see John Jackson Miller’s proposal that ended up becoming the Marvel series Crimson Dynamo. Both in terms of structure and content, this is one that made the grade. Worth a careful read. • Much the same could be said for Mark Wheatley’s exploration of the creative journey that ended up with Frankenstein Mobster. You want to sell a series? Read this. • We also explore how Mr. Loeb works with a variety of artistic collaborators, including Tim Sale, Jim Lee and Ed McGuinness. We get to see just how Jeph modifies a script even after it’s drawn from one of his full scripts. (And apologies for any misunderstanding when we printed some other pages from Batman: Hush in DFWN #5. We only had access to the dialogue aspect of Jeph’s script, leaving it ambiguous as to who plotted the story. Jeph is indeed the plotter as well as scripter of those pages.) • We have some of Chuck Dixon’s scripting style for Brath and the smash hit El Cazador. Again, we see 2 | WRITE NOW

how two different artists (Steve Epting and Alcatena) interpret Chuck’s scripts, resulting in stories of vastly different moods. • JJ Miller’s action-packed Iron Man script is powerfully interpreted by Jorge Lucas. • Platinum Studio’s Lee Nordling and Aaron Severson pull the curtain back and give some extremely valuable advice on how to react should Hollywood want to make a movie or TV series out of your comics property. • And Dennis O’Neil is back with more of his comics storytelling lesson. This is the real deal, straight from the source, folks. And you have to be back next issue! That’s the big Write Now!/Draw! Crossover. My old Darkhawk collaborator, and Draw! Magazine Editor-in-Chief, Mike Manley, and I are combining forces to create a brand new character! That’s right—Nuts & Bolts is indeed going wild again! We’ll start the process in DFWN #8 and finish it in Draw! #9, both due out this summer. Draw! will even have a pullout color comics insert featuring the debut adventure of our new character. As if that isn’t enough, Write Now #8 will also have the longawaited Don McGregor interview, an interview with Stuart Moore, more great Nuts and Bolts, and of course, the usual surprises! SHAMELESS PLUG DEPARTMENT: My book, Superman on the Couch: What Superheroes Really Tell Us About Ourselves and Our Society (published by Continuum) is on sale now. It’s gotten some great reviews in Publishers Weekly and Library Journal, among other places. It’s available at your local comics shop, as well as Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble, and finer bookstores everywhere. And I’ll be teaching my Writing Comics and Graphic Novels course at New York University’s School of Continuing and Professional Studies in their summer session. Many of the students in my first two semesters teaching it are Write Now! readers, which is very gratifying. People seem to enjoy it, if just for the guest speakers who show up regularly. So far we’ve had Dennis O’Neil, Axel Alonso, and Mike Mignola, among other luminaries. You can go to the NYU website (www.scps.nyu.edu) for more info. Now that I’ve kept you so long with the hype, please, tarry no longer. Go forth and enjoy this very issue! Write Away!

Danny Fingeroth

Challenger of the Unknown

The JEPH LOEB Interview

I’d read. I remember once retelling The Wizard of Oz to my entire high school cafeteria, essentially playing all the roles, but beefing up the comedy. The eph Loeb is a guy who can’t be pigeon-holed. He writes writing was an extension of comics, he writes and produces television, he writes and that. I did start a novel in produces movies, he writes and produces animation. He 3rd grade called Me and The does material like Batman: Hush that’s as current as Chimp about a veterinarian current gets as well as things like Superman: For All Seasons who rescued a chimpanzee that mine the past for neglected gems. From his days at and hilarity ensued. I got Columbia University film school, where he studied with the about four pages in. I still likes of Paul Schrader (writer of Taxi Driver and Raging Bull, have it. I guess I couldn’t and writer/director of American Gigolo and Affliction) and meet a deadline then either... Milos Forman (director of Amadeus and One Flew Over the [laughs] Cuckoo’s Nest), to his work in Hollywood with people like DF: When did you first think writing would be something you Arnold Schwarzenegger and Michael J. Fox, to his current gig could do for a living? of putting words in Tom Welling’s WB-heartthrob mouth, Loeb JL: I’m not sure. I never really thought I couldn’t make a living has worked constantly since leaving film school. The fact that at it. In 10th grade I had an English teacher who said I could in addition to his screen work, his comics work, both in quality write professionally. I don’t think I did anything other than agree and quantity, rivals that of anyone who has ever worked in with him! [laughs] Look, I’ve been very lucky and I don’t take the industry is simply astonishing. The X-Men, The Avengers, anything for granted. But, I work hard and never stop writing. Superman: For All Seasons, Spider-Man: Blue, the sales Even now. I’m writing this interview! record-setting Batman: Hush and his latest hit series DF: What and who were your early influences in life? Superman/Batman are just part of his comics resumé. Tim JL: Well, first it would be my Dad. He loved to tell stories, make Sale, Jim Lee, Ed McGuinness and Michael Turner are just up characters. He could make going to the Post Office sound some of the superstar artists he has been paired with. like an Indiana Jones Clearly a creator who movie. My parents got does not like to put all divorced when I was 10 his eggs in one basket, years old and it had a Jeph has devised a profound effect on how I career for himself where looked at the world. he has a variety of There was no center to options in a variety of hold onto. That makes a media, which for a difference. working writer is the DF: What and who were best of all possible your early influences in worlds. Here, he tells us writing? some of the things he’s JL: I watched a lot of learned along the way movies. Particularly the to that position. Warner Bros. movies —DF from the ’30s & ’40s. Bogart, Raft, Cagney, DANNY FINGEROTH: Did Robinson—I watched you always write, from the them all—and it wasn’t time you were a kid? just gangster stuff. They JEPH LOEB: I’m not sure made musicals and it was writing as much as comedies and even a storytelling. I would love few awful westerns—you to make up things, big haven’t seen bad until tales that I would tell my you’ve Bogart in a friends. Sometimes they cowboy hat. Mostly it were amalgamations of was watching and movies I’d seen or books Lois & Clark go for their first flight together in issue #2 of Jeph Loeb & Tim Sale’s Superman

Conducted via e-mail January 4, 2004 Edited by Danny Fingeroth / Copy-edited by Jeph Loeb

JL: I went to Columbia Undergrad and then got into the film school a year early, so I got my BA and MFA in five years, not six. The most valuable thing I learned was how to live in New York City. It’s an amazing place, probably my favorite city. I miss it—the energy, the people. Secondly, I met my former writing partner there, Matthew Weisman, who was older than me and a much more talented writer. We really had a lot of fun and moved out to L.A. together to find fame and fortune. I think we found fortune cookies… [laughs] DF: Any specific inspiration that came from your teachers at Columbia, Milos Forman and Paul Schrader? JL: The way Milos thought about scene construction and dialogue was fascinating. He’s Czech, so just how he saw America was different. I can’t really put it into words, but Cuckoo’s Nest gives you a fair idea. I worked on Ragtime, that was the first film set I’d ever been on. Schrader was completely different. He hadn’t ever taught a class and he was in preproduction on Cat People, so he was much more HOLLYWOOD than anyone I’d ever met. He got me my first agent and taught me the lessons of what it is like to be a screenwriter—which is different than writing. You need to understand the business to survive and Paul was the first person to open that door of knowledge. DF: Is film school good prep for a writer? JL: You have to do it if you want to work in movies or television. It’s part of the training. Would you want a physicist who hadn’t taken physics? Are there guys who have jumped film school and moved right onto making film? Sure. But, I can’t see how it’s done without learning the basics. And at a place like USC [University of Southern California] or the AFI [The American Film Institute], the contacts you make are invaluable. DF: How do you approach a comics script as opposed to a movie or TV script? JL: Actually, very much the same way. I write an outline for the scenes, I even work on the same format as a TV or Movie script. I use a software program called “Final Draft” that conforms my writing to look like a screenplay. I tend to think of the artist as the director/cinematographer—I often refer to panels as “shots” or in camera terms. It just helps me to keep thinking in a direct line. DF: You seem to do most of your comics work on established characters. Do you do any creator-owned material? JL: I have. The stuff we did at Awesome—Kaboom, Coven, that stuff which was realizing the characters for Jeff Matsuda and Ian Churchill respectively. The Witching Hour I own with Chris Bachalo. Part of the problem with writing creator-owned stuff is that it doesn’t pay very well and it takes a long time. That’s time I could spend writing a screenplay that fortunately or unfortunately pays a jillion times better. But, the real reason is that I spend all day writing television or movies, so writing

learning how to tell a story. Even then, I was aware of the writer. I read a ton of comics. Stan Lee and Roy Thomas certainly were influences, because they wrote so much of what Marvel produced and that’s what I read. DF: What was the influence of DC Comics writer Elliot S! Maggin on your career decision? JL: Elliot was at Brandeis University where my stepfather worked, in the town next to mine. He was the first comics professional that I ever knew. He was really cool about showing me what a script looked like, listening to ideas, and generally dealing with a teenager who wanted to know about this business. For someone who had read comics most of his life, I knew very little about how they were made. Elliot helped with a lot of that—even though he’s a very charming but cynical bastard who I adore. It wasn’t like he made comics out to be the party of the century. DF: Since your step-dad was in academia, did that give you any hesitation about working in pop culture? JL: My parents never had any impact on what I did except—and it’s a huge exception—they supported whatever I wanted to do. It’s hard when you’re a kid and your parents think you’re making a mistake. Mine just pushed me to do the best and see what happens. I’m very grateful for that kind of understanding and support. DF: You have an MA in film from Columbia University. What was that course of study like? Did it prepare you for your current career? Writer and artist make a quick cameo at the end of the first issue of Awesome Entertainment’s Kaboom. Script by Loeb, art by Jeff Matsuda & Jon Sibal. [©2004 Awesome Entertainment, LLC.] 4 | WRITE NOW

comics has to be fun for me and working with the characters of my childhood is a blast. DF: Have you done any material that’s not actionadventure? If so, what was/is it? If not, would you like to? JL: Again, The Witching Hour covered a lot of that ground. Chris drew it beautifully—and many people think it’s my best work. Someday, I’d like to do a true-crime noir story with Tim Sale and Richard Starkings. I think Tim would draw it with such passion, I don’t know how we can’t get to that. DF: Is there an equivalent in comics to the 44minute format (a.k.a. the one hour show) of dramatic TV? Or are comics evolving to a story arc model, the way TV often does? JL: Every story has it’s own merits. I don’t think in equivalents… If I’m writing comics I do think what it would look like as a movie or a television show, but that’s just how my brain works. As to lengths of arcs, it’s often what the story dictates… I like doing the longer tales so you can slow things down and have some fun with the characters. Every script I write is too long. It’s then about editing and making it move. DF: Is there any difference in approach to the way you handle Marvel versus DC characters? Betty Ross confronts the Hulk for the first time in Loeb & Sale’s Hulk: Gray #2. JL: None. I write the best story I can and hope [©2004 Marvel Characters, Inc.] folks like it. staff at Smallville are some of the best writers working in DF: Do you work full script or Marvel-style [plot first] ? Why? Television. Mostly, you can’t stop. If you stop, you get run over. JL: I guess it’s a full script—needless to say, it’s a script in the And nobody likes that! sense of a screenplay with description of every panel, every DF: What’s the best way to learn to write comics? scene, all the dialogue. But, I go through the artwork as it JL: By writing them. Every day. Tell different stories. Tell stories comes in and often change the dialogue to better suit the with minor characters. An interesting story about Alfred the artwork. Again, it’s all about who is drawing, i.e., directing, the Butler is worth much more than a Batman story when you’re script. I conform to their strengths… at least, that’s the plan! starting out since Batman is going to be written by known DF: Is there a quick fallback recipe for plotting a story when you writers. Start small—think big. Go for the emotional beats of run up against a deadline or (God forbid) writer’s block? the story, not the action beats. Anybody can do a big fight. Tell JL: I’ve never really had writer’s block. I may not have the best a scene between Peter Parker and Aunt May that nobody has idea on hand, but there’s always something to work from. Part ever done. Think like that… of that is including the artist in the collaborative process. If I DF: What are effective ways to break in to comics these days? can get Michael Turner, for example, excited about the scene JL: I get asked this all the time. There is no right way, but he is going to draw, it’s going to be a better scene. Is there a getting to know editors always helps, and you can best achieve secret? Get really talented friends. I share an office with Geoff that through letter writing and attending conventions. San Johns and we just inspire each other to do better work. The Diego Comic-Con and Wizard World Chicago are two musts, simply because the most people attend those. You can actually put a face to your name and since there are hundreds of people vying for your job, you want the editor to recognize you. I believe that talent always wins. Write for anyone. Do independent comics—since the best thing to do is show someone your work. If you want to tell superhero stories, do that, and do it the best you can. DF: Into TV? JL: That’s a little clearer, just far more difficult. Find a great show and spec (write for free) a script that has the look, feel and sound of that show. Use that to get an agent and an entertainment lawyer. They will send you out to meet the buyers—the studios, the networks. But, it’s about your talent and your drive. DF: Into movies? Peter Parker goes webslinging in the third issue of Jeph Loeb & Tim Sale’s second Marvel “color” series Spider-Man: Blue. [©2004 Marvel Characters, Inc.]

[LOEB continues on page 8.] JEPH LOEB | 5

In this and the rest of Jeph’s Nuts & Bolts this issue, we have the writer’s own comments on the work showcased. Note that Jeph’s scripting method involves writing a full script (all panel descriptions and copy is supplied before the artist gets the script) but that, after the penciling is done, Jeph will often rework the dialogue. For these Nuts & Bolts, we print both versions of his scripts so you can see how things change. The reasons for the changes can include that the art inspired Jeph to modify something, or that Jeph just had a better idea in the time since he handed in the script. This very short story appeared in Superman/Batman Secret Files #1. The narration captions were colored differently for each character. [©2004 DC Comics.] 6 | WRITE NOW

“This is an example of working with Tim Sale. Final and script very close. Notice how Richard Starkings A) improves on my placements and B) changes the font for each artist.” — Jeph Loeb

JEPH LOEB | 7

[LOEB continued from page 5.]

JL: Same as TV only spec a feature. It will take you longer, but sometimes a really good spec script can find you work in both markets. I remember one thing that Paul Schrader taught me that has always stayed with me, even in a haunting kind of way: You have to be honest with yourself. You need to have sold something professionally in three years and make a living at it, solely at it, in five, or get out. I’ve taken that and made it a hair less callous, by telling people, if you haven’t sold anything in 35 years, you need to be honest with yourself and see how A selection of Jeph Loeb’s films. [©2004 Respective copyright holders.] you could reinvent what you are doing. Try a different for years. I happen to enjoy producing even more than writing. I genre, a different medium. Get a partner. Being honest with like the interaction with people—writing is a very solitary job. yourself, with your talent, is probably the hardest thing to do. DF: What lessons do you bring from your film and TV work to DF: You produced several high-profile films with your company comics and vice versa? Empath Films—Commando, Teen Wolf, Burglar. How did Empath JL: Be specific in your wording. Try to convey your thoughts come to be? both in an exciting and at the same time, understandable JL: You forgot Firestorm! [laughs]… Empath was formed by manner. And even though the budgetary restraints are different myself and my then writing partner when we came out to L.A. for each medium, you have to be aware of your limitations. You to make movies and television. It’s pretty much my own imagination is boundless, but you ability to actualize those company now. It buys properties for me to develop, and when ideas isn’t. production begins, becomes the production entity. It more has DF: What’s the origin of the Empath name? What is your Empath to do with business than anything else. partner (Matt Weisman) doing now? DF: A lot of people want to produce movies, but you’ve actually JL: Empath… it’s one of those stories that you kind of had to done it. It’s a mysterious process to a lot of people, especially to be there to get the joke. Suffice to say, our motto was “We writers who are often introverted folks. How did you actually get know just how you feel.” Matthew continues to write movies the films started, finished, financed and onto screens? I don’t and television. He does quite well because, as I said, he’s a mean write a manual, of course, but can you give something of a brilliant writer. peek behind the curtain at the process, if only so writers reading DF: Do your comics credits help in Hollywood and vice versa? this will know something of what the process entails. JL: Of late, sure. Comics are sexy right now, so people who JL: I think a lot of people think of producing like in The work in them have value in the marketplace. I don’t know about Producers, as if you’re going around and swindling old ladies the vice-versa—since I don’t have to look for work in comics out of their fortunes so you can make your movie. [laughs] A right now. But, since folks like Kevin Smith and Joss Whedon, producer in film or television is the person who is ultimately both of whom I like and respect, can walk in and take over a responsible for taking care of the production, the “father” of big title without doing much else in comics, I guess it counts the project. A really good producer—and I think Joel Silver and for something! Jerry Bruckheimer are the best examples of this right now— DF: How did Jenette Kahn end up contacting you puts together the best talent to make about writing a Flash movie? to project. It starts with knowing a JL: Um… you’ve got some of the story wrong. I great script and then bringing in the was working at Warner Brothers on Burglar, right director and talent. But, at least which, at the time, was a Bruce Willis movie in the traditional sense of movie (loooooooong story). Stan Brooks, who ran the making, the studio and the networks television division at Guber/Peters, who were are the bank—the “old ladies.” You producing Batman, had done a television don’t have to raise financing, you special about Superman’s 50th birthday. Stan need to sell them on your ideas, your knew me, knew of my love of comics and people, the script. It’s about pitched me for a project there. They had the “taste”—a great producer has great inside track for the Flash movie and wanted me taste. That’s obviously subjective, but to do it. Now, in Hollywood, things often fall when you have a hit, heat brings apart and this was one of them. But, along the more heat and you build from that. I way, Stan introduced me to Jenette. She asked look at what (Smallville Executive if I wasn’t going to write the movie, would I at Producers) Al Gough and Miles Millar least write a comic book for DC. I was floored. I do, and it’s an astonishing amount of think it was the first time I had lost a job and cat juggling. They set the look of the got a job in the same hour. show, the music, oversee the editing, DF: How did you end up writing your first comics the writing, the talent, hire everyone, series, the Challengers of the Unknown? Were and ultimately, have to decide what is you a fan of the characters? happening in every frame of the JL: Another long story… but the short version show. It’s a huge responsibility, but if was there was this list that [then-DC VP you have the passion for it, you can The cover to Loeb’s comics debut, and first collaboration with artist Tim Sale. Cover art by Editorial] Dick Giordano had with all the make something that is going to last Brian Bolland. [©2004 DC Comics] 8 | WRITE NOW

for either Rob or Jim Lee. That kind of training characters that were just isn’t there. available. Unfortunately, most DF: Is there a prejudice for or against comics of the characters were writers in Hollywood? spoken for—although I now JL: As I said, right now, comics are sexy. Look suspect they wanted me at Smallville, The X-Men, Spider-Man, The Hulk, where I would do the least Daredevil, Teen Titans, Justice League—the harm! Hollywood writers variety of projects based on this wonderful hadn’t done a lot of work in source that we all knew was there and is just comics, so I was a very beginning to get mined. unknown commodity. I got the DF: What do you do on Smallville? Clearly, you Challs because nobody else write the episodes credited to you. But what’s really wanted them, or at your staff role? least that’s what I was told JL: My title is “Consulting Producer.” I think that later on. But, then I had to folks believe I come in Thursday morning and in pitch and put through a my best “Comic Book Guy” voice from The proposal just like anybody Simpsons say “Worst Episode Ever” and then I else. I look back on those go home. [laughs]. No, I work about ten hours a stories and I’m surprised how day when I’m not writing the episodes. We well they hold up—a lot of break stories [which is defined below. –DF], do that has to do with Tim Sale’s Young Clark Kent, Lana Lang, and Lex Luthor in The WB series Smallville. [©2004 The WB Television Network.] pitches, write outlines, read and comment on talent in the illustrations. every draft, look at dailies, different cuts of the DF: Can you talk about the influence of the late, great Archie Goodwin—who was your editor [LOEB continues on page 14.] on the first Batman Halloween Special that eventually led to one of your most respected works, Batman: The Long Halloween—and about the role of the editor in general? JL: Archie was my hero. He was a first class gentleman, and had a wit about his ways and words. I really liked him—and that made working with him and for him a pleasure. Archie believed in letting the people you hire do the job they were hired to do. He would find small things… but they were nuggets of gold… to tell you how to make the story better. And he fought for us behind closed doors when other people thought we shouldn’t do something. That’s what you want in an editor. If I wanted someone who would fold, I’d get a deck chair. DF: Any reflections on the Marvel “Heroes Reborn,” or the Awesome Comics—where you were Rob Liefeld’s company’s Publisher—experiences? JL: Most fun than I’ve ever had in comics. Both ended badly, sadly, but not from any internal experience. Rob Liefeld, for all his controversy, has always, always, always been straight-up with me. He trusted me with the company, believed in me as a publisher and let me loose on the talent in the business. If some of the unfortunate things hadn’t happened, none of which had to do with Rob, I think we could have made a decent run at being the #3 company. We laughed. Gawd, did we laugh. DF: Are you still Publisher of Awesome? Is the company still in existence? JL: That’s mostly in the past. If Rob wanted to play again, I’d do it again tomorrow. DF: If you had to choose between comics or movies/TV, which would you choose and why? JL: I can’t choose. The stories choose me. Again, I’m so lucky. I get to work in the field of my choice. I’ve never really had any other job. I left film school, tended bar for a little while and then went to work in the business. I’ve never looked back. I do comics out of love because the money is gone—but it’s not like it’s for free either. Some of that is coming back, which is good, since it helps draw in (sorry for the unintentional pun) new artists. Comics are a visual medium and we don’t have the access to the artists’ studios that Image Comics provided. Tim Sale’s cover for the 1996 trade paperback collection Batman: Haunted Some of the best known people in comics started out working Knight, collecting the three Archie Goodwin-edited Halloween Specials. [©2004 DC Comics.] JEPH LOEB | 9

These pages are from Superman/Batman #5. Script by Jeph. Pencils by Ed McGuinness, inks by Dexter Vines.

“Note how Ed takes a different approach from the descriptions, and the dialogue later will be changed to fit.” — Jeph Loeb

[LOEB continued from page 9.]

episodes, offer choices for casting, music—you know, produce the show. Mostly, it’s being in the Writers’ Room—which is this big room with a big table and white board and nine of the funniest, most dedicated, hard-working people and come up with the episode. It’s just a big amalgamation of ideas, plots, dialogue, and style and somehow, it makes great television. A lot of the credit goes to the show’s creators and Executive Producers, Al Gough and Miles Millar. It’s their vision, it’s their drive that keeps the show as good as it is. DF: Can you describe how the TV team-writing process works? JL: Some of that I’ve done above. We start with a notion, a story area that has to be cleared by the studio and the network. We pitch about half a dozen at a time, and about half get through. You can’t be married to anything, you have to realize that your ideas are not your children. When you have children, you really understand that. The next step is breaking the story. We take the writers who are not writing episodes and sit in the room and go over the details of every scene and write it all out on the white boards. There’s sample dialogue, action beats, everything. Then it’s all polished up and comes out to be about a 10–12 page outline. That’s the road map the assigned writer then takes to script. But, it’s just a road map. When you go to script it becomes yours to make work for the show, for the production and for the budget. It has to be visual, fast paced, funny and dramatic all in one show. DF: What’s the status of the Buffy animated series that you were involved with? JL: Nothing ever dies in Hollywood. And Buffy the Animated Series is so rich, so superb, it will get made, I’m just not sure where or when. DF: Jumping back to comics, are they mostly for adults these days? Can a kid-audience be re-grown? JL: I think it can. Certainly the Superman/Batman series is written with a larger audience in mind. More stand alone kind of things. Not burdened by continuity, but not ignoring it either. What’s interesting is when you have something that sells as well as “Hush” or Ultimate Fantastic Four, it shows there isn’t a ceiling anymore. We have titles that are selling 200–300,000—that’s not the millions we knew in the ’90s, but it’s a long way from an 80,000 unit market. Somebody is buying those comics and it’s not just our little homegrown fan base. DF: What can we learn from the popularity of manga and anime? Are they fads or permanent new categories? JL: Everything works for a reason. Anime has its audience and so we can learn from it. The storytelling, the action, the level of violence, all of that goes into it. Clearly it resonates, but we have to make it our own. I see it in Ed McGuinness’ work, but I also see Byrne and Kirby in him as well, so Ed has made it all his own. DF: What’s the appeal to you of doing stories like Spider-Man: Blue and Batman: The Long Halloween that are set in the pasts of established characters? JL: Freedom. I don’t have to worry about bumping into what’s going on in Aquaman’s book this week. Also, you get to tell the stories of how the character learned to be who he/she is today. It’s one of the big appeals of Smallville. You know how that story ends and it ends badly—but we are doing the trials of Clark Kent. It’s fascinating to me. DF: Do you co-plot with your artists? JL: Not exactly. I include the artist in the storytelling. I work 14 | WRITE NOW

toward his strengths. I wouldn’t tell the same story with Jim Lee as I would with Tim Sale. Different sensibilities, different styles. But, they both convey the emotion of the moment. Tim likes to hide the view, obscure it, make it noir. Jim is all about being out in the open, the details. It affects the story. DF: Now that the Batman: Hush phenomenon is behind you, is there anything you and/or the comics industry can learn from it? JL: What I’ve always argued and believed. Marvel does it constantly. You put the best talent on the top tier books. You get the best production values—paper, coloring, lettering, everything—and people will come. It’s not one thing, it’s an amalgamation of all these things. I had to tell a compelling story, Jim had to deliver on it, Scott Williams gave it its polish, Alex Sinclair colored it magically, and Richard Starkings lettered with his spectacular craftsmanship. We were a team, making the best product we could. If it failed, I would have probably dropped out since I knew, at the time, it wasn’t going to get better than this. But, I never knew how it was going to blow up. It was just a monster. And that’s good for everyone. DF: Are there comics or characters you’d want to write that you haven’t had a chance to? JL: Nothing comes immediately to mind. I’d have to have a story. Tim and I have talked about a Captain America story that takes place in World War II I’d like to get to someday. I came very close to doing an X-Men thing with an artist I love and respect when I signed to go to DC. Things happen. I’d go back on The Avengers... that’s a jones I never got to fulfill. DF: Tell us about the Catwoman: When In Rome limited series. It’s you and Tim Sale together again! What will be different—

and/or the same—about this collaboration compared to previous ones you and he have done? JL: It’s always new—that’s the joy of working with Tim. The challenge is making the story something that gets him excited and the more we work together, that’s harder to do. But, we really understand each other, both as friends and as storytellers so it makes a huge difference in what I choose to write about. Catwoman: When in Rome is a crime story set in Rome during the Batman: Dark Victory period (it actually fits right into the Dark Victory story, but you don’t need to know that) where she’s the femme fatale and the hero. It’s very cool in that sense. I can’t wait for people to see it. Tim just loves drawing these characters and that’s very exciting to me. DF: Besides Catwoman, what are your other upcoming projects? JL: I don’t like to talk about stuff that hasn’t happened or that’s all anybody wants to talk about. The “Whatever Happened to...?” of it all if the project doesn’t ever happen after you’ve talked about it. DF: Are there books or courses on writing that you recommend? JL: There’re a few, mostly about being a writer as opposed to the craft of writing. William Goldman’s Adventures in the Screen Trade is a must for feature writers... Titan Books published two volumes—one called Writers on Comics Scriptwriting, and the other, Artists on Comic Art that are filled with interviews (conducted by Mark Salisbury) with the best in the business. What makes them so valuable, at least to me, is that, with the Scriptwriting book, you can see how other writers think about how to approach a story. And the value of the Comic Art book for a writer is, if you can understand how an artist thinks, you can write to his strengths. DF: I like to think that one of the missions of Write Now!, through interviews like this, is to serve that same “how writers

(and artists) think” function. JL: Absolutely. And without this turning into a meeting of the Mutual Admiration Society—which only meets on Thursdays— you’ve highlighted one of the major reasons I wanted to do this interview. I’m a strong believer of giving something back to the well after you’ve taken a drink. DF: So, did you have a Plan B if writing didn’t work out? JL: Nope. This is what I wanted to do. It didn’t even occur to me to have a Plan B, and I don’t say that out of arrogance, it was more out of ignorance! I just wanted it more than anything and have kept at it since. DF: Anything else you’d like to say to aspiring writers? JL: Write every day. At least one page. Keep at it. Try new ideas, genres. Learn the material you are working on. If you want to write comics, read all the comics you can get your hands on, even the ones you don’t like, so you can see what you don’t like about it. Never forget that it’s a learning process even when you’re on top of the mountain; you can get better or at least different. And don’t let anyone, ANYONE stop you from your dream. The measure of a man is not how he got knocked to the mat, but how he gets up. DF: This was great fun. Thanks for taking the time to speak to the Write Now! readers, Jeph. JL: Thank you. See you round the spinner rack on Wednesday!

THE END

JEPH LOEB | 15

“This is ’Hush’ #11 from Batman #618. Note how close Jim follows the script. Dialogue changes later, after seeing the artwork.” — Jeph Loeb

16 | WRITE NOW

JEPH LOEB | 17

LOOK! UP IN THE SKY!

It’s... You!!

Welcome to modern society, where superhero culture has become the METAPHORICAL prism through which we see--and live--our lives.

Cover art by Mark Bagley

& Scott Hanna.

What is it about superheroes that speaks to us, that cuts across boundaries of nationality, race and gender to entrance us?

“Danny Fingeroth has produced a readable and socially insightful consideration of the superhero. His analysis of society’s solution to its dissatisfaction with the protection provided by standard law-and-order systems makes it important and current.. Stan Lee’s ’excelsorial’ foreword is an enjoyable addition.” —Will Eisner

paperback

$19.95 available now

“In Superman on the Couch, you’ll explore subjects that may make you reconsider preconceived notions and perhaps bring you greater appreciation of the superhero stories.” — From the foreword by Stan Lee

In Superman on the Couch, DANNY FINGEROTH, longtime Marvel Comics writer and editor, and editor-in-chief of Write Now! Magazine, digs deep into our cultural psyche to explore just what we see reflected back when we look at superheroes.

“…With humor and a touch of comic book hyperbole, the author capably mines the genre’s cultural morphologies and the societal changes it reflects - a subject largely overlooked by contemporary pop psychologists and academics…” — Publishers Weekly Online

CHUCK DIXON:

Who He Is And How He Came To Be

Conducted via telephone September 2003 by Scott E. Hileman Edited by Danny Fingeroth / Copy-edited by Chuck Dixon

huck Dixon says this about himself: “I was born in Philadelphia the same year that Elvis recorded his first single. After an uneventful childhood and string of meaningless jobs I stumbled into comics where I have had the extraordinary fortune of working with the best in the business. “I wrote long runs on Marvel’s Savage Sword of Conan, Moon Knight, The ’Nam and The Punisher. At DC I worked on Detective Comics, Robin, Nightwing, Birds of Prey, Green Arrow and many, many side projects. “I currently write three titles for CrossGen: Way of the Rat, Brath and El Cazador, as well as the upcoming Richard Dragon with DC and frequent contributions to The Simpsons Comics.” Scott E. Hileman caught up with Chuck and asked him a whole bunch of questions. Wait’ll you read the answers! —DF SCOTT E. HILEMAN: When did you first decide you wanted to write? CHUCK DIXON: When I realized I could never draw well enough to work in comics as a penciler. My idol growing up was Steve

Ditko. By the time I was thirteen I came to the conclusion that I didn’t have the talent or the discipline to pencil the kind of comics I wanted to. So, I turned to writing. SEH: Did you immediately want to write for comics, or were there other things you wanted to write?” CD: Comics. Comics. Comics. Everything was aimed at that single goal. It’s the medium that I was most attracted to and that I felt I had the greatest understanding of. SEH: But, what was your actual age? When did it go from being a childhood wish to this is what you want to do? CD: My only deviation from wanting to work in comics was a brief time when I was six. I had decided that being either a milkman or a priest might be cool. Milkmen only work until noon. I didn’t know they got up at two in the morning to begin their rounds. And priests seemed like the coolest guys in the world to me, at least at my parish where they were all Irish tough guys. SEH: When you made that decision to write, how long was it before you actually wrote something and sent it to an editor or publisher? CD: I was submitting to publishers while still in elementary school. But don’t go looking for any Silver Age Chuck Dixon stories. SEH: Even at that young age, were you sending in fully-scripted stories? Were you pretty “with it,” thinking of subplots, characterization bits, etc? I guess I’m wondering if you were a comic writing prodigy. CD: My earliest submissions were done Harvey Kurtzman style. I’d sketch the story out with the dialogue in the balloons. I had no way of knowing what a script looked like. I was not “with it.” My early stories were probably very lame. Make that certainly very lame. Pastiches of comics stories I’d read. No prodigies here. SEH: What was the response? CD: If I was lucky, I got a form letter. SEH: At some point, though, did you get something that wasn’t a form letter? It might have still been a “no thanks, kid,” but there was something there that was encouraging? CD: Nope. For most of the time trying to break in, it was the impersonal form letter. DC in the ’70s had a kind of “in-person form letter.” They’d schedule interviews for the same time every week, and you’d stand with a group of other hopefuls and get told there was no chance in hell you’d ever get a job in comics. I remember that I worked up the nerve to call for an interview

CHUCK DIXON | 21

and they gave me one mid-week and mid-morning. I was living in Philly at the time so it was an easy train ride up to DC. A bunch of us sat in the reception area. Guys with portfolios, guys with manila envelopes. I had nothing. None of us were aware that we were all here for the same appointment. Bob Rozakis and Jack C. Harris, then DC associate editors, came out from the bowels of DC and called us all over to the corner of the reception area. We didn’t even get to go inside! They told us about the implosion [a sudden cutback in the DC line in the late 1970s. —DF] and the layoffs and that there were no jobs in the business and that the medium was, for all intents and purposes, dead. They answered a few questions and introduced us all to the harsh realities of comics publishing. It was over inside of ten minutes. It was a crushing experience. But I bounced back after a few months and was sending submissions to Marvel and Warren. Anyone remember Warren Publishing? [If you do, or even if you don’t, be sure to check out the TwoMorrows Warren Companion. —DF] SEH: When you started, what was your writing schedule? Did you write in the morning? Evening? What did you sacrifice? TV? Movies? Hanging with friends? CD: I broke into comics fulltime following a divorce. I had a security job and lots of time on my hands. Every spare waking hour was spent writing. I cranked out proposals and outlines and springboards and sent them to everyone. When I did finally get assignments I’d sit and write six or seven stories in a row and submit them. Pure, high-octane enthusiasm. SEH: Sorry to hear about the divorce, but this is when you broke in, right? What about before? What was your method before that breaking in? Did you tell your buddies “Sorry, can’t go out for hoagies tonight. I gotta write.” CD: My schedule wasn’t that heavy before my concerted effort to get into comics. I’d feverishly work up a bunch of stuff in a concentrated period and take a run at one or both of the majors. SEH: What kind of support did you get from family and friends when you said “I want to write comics for a living”? Did they look at you with raised eyebrows and open mouths? CD: My parents were very supportive. They never tried to dissuade me from working in comics. I think they had in mind 22 | WRITE NOW

that I might one day work in newspaper strips. It must have been hard for them because, to outsiders, I looked like an aimless bum. Never went to college. Worked a long string of meaningless “donkey” jobs. My Dad lived long enough to see me successful, and for that I’m very grateful. SEH: Did you write longhand? Typewriter? Speak into a tape recorder? CD: Longhand, and a typist typed it up. Then she quit on me, and I had to learn how to word process in two days. I walked into an office supply store and asked for a word processor I could use without reading the manual. I was scripting that afternoon. I still type by hunt-and-peck method. SEH: Hunt-and-peck? Good grief! And you’re the most prolific writer in comics! Your forefingers must be worn down to nubs. [laughter] Shoot, if I had known that, I would have applied as your typist. I used to type other people’s papers in college. CD: I’m the fastest hunt-and-peck typist I know. Stephen King types that way, and he seems to keep up all right. But had you been there at the right time, you’d have had a job, friend! SEH: Did you set minor goals to accomplish your major goals? For example, did you try to write at least an hour a day until a story was finished? CD: My problem was stopping writing. My major goal was to be writing full time within two years. For me, that meant a hundred pages a month, which meant the equivalent of four monthlies. SEH: And did you reach that goal? Did you actually start writing full time within two years? CD: Once I got the lead feature on Savage Sword of Conan assignment, I was fulltime. SEH: Were there setbacks? CD: There were no real setbacks once the jobs started coming. Just a steady building of page count until I had enough regular monthly work. I proved my reliability and my flexibility. I was willing to make changes to stories and make them rapidly. I still am. SEH: In pursuing your goal of writing full time in two years, were you concentrating on coming up with new characters, or were you writing established characters? Did Eclipse come to you about Airboy or did you go to them? CD: Eclipse came to me with it by way of Tim Truman. They first approached Tim and he campaigned to get me on as writer of the title. I already knew the character well. The only Golden Age comics I owned at the time were Airboy. It was kind of weird that this old character I had an affinity for would be my first major color comics work. The fact is that, in addition to the old Airboy stories being great fun, they were also the cheapest Golden Age books you could buy. So I had a dozen or so I’d picked up for a buck or two at conventions in the ’70s. SEH: When you started, what was your ultimate goal? What were thesteps you were taking to reach that goal? CD: My goal was to maintain gainful employment in comics until the day I died. SEH: To help with the reliability area, did you have a file cabinet of stories, plots, etc. to repackage and send off? Or did you just do it off the cuff? CD: I had years of daydreaming and a filing cabinet in my head that was crammed with gags, hooks, character ideas and loose plots. My first sale to Marvel was a western I’d written when I was 22. I rewrote it almost ten years later for Savage Tales. John Severin drew it. I still draw on those years occasionally. I’m doing a two-part arc in Sigil right now that is based on a story idea I had over twenty years ago.

SEH: When it came to flexibility, was there anything particular you did to prove your flexibility? Do you remember a project that had you thinking, “This is nothing I’m in interested in, but I gotta do it if I’m going to achieve my ultimate goal?” CD: I’ve taken jobs that I was initially not thrilled about. But I see every opportunity as a challenge and can easily invest myself into almost any storyline. Sometimes taking over a lame book that no one’s interested in takes the pressure off. It’s like anything you do will be an improvement. It’s easy to defy reader’s expectations when those expectations were low to begin with. I’m not the only guy who built his career off of resuscitating fallow characters. SEH: In the prose area, I know you’ve written children’s stories and some science-fiction stories for a magazine. How did those come about? CD: I had friends who wrote and drew kids’ books, and they introduced me to their editor, and things moved from there. The sci-fi stuff was a cattle call from a publisher desperate for cheap material for a magazine to compete with the then-new Heavy Metal. It didn’t. SEH: Do you feel, in the long run, that these projects helped with reaching your ultimate goal by proving flexibility and reliability? Or in hindsight, were they more of a distraction in reaching your goal? CD: I suppose they taught me something about dealing with editors. You had to have a hard hide to deal with children’s book editors. They roamed in packs and all had ideas. Then the marketing and art departments would weigh in. Their ideas would all conflict and, for the most part, they had no idea what kids wanted to read. When I proposed a kids book featuring a cast of robots I was told that children don’t like robots. This was in the fall after the release of Star Wars and every kid in America was running around with a C-3PO and R2-D2 t-shirt on. SEH: When rejections came in, how did you deal with them? Even in the beginning, were you writing continuously, regardless of whether you heard from an editor? Or were you waiting for an answer on your last submission? CD: I wrote all the time. I bombarded editors over and over again with submissions and requests for interviews. The rejection notices were irrelevant to me because I had the bullheaded notion that I was always right and they would always be wrong unless they hired me. I also suspected that 90% of the submissions weren’t even being read. SEH: What was it that convinced Marvel editor Larry Hama to give you your first comic script acceptance? CD: My supreme arrogance on the phone—feigned. I wanted that job so bad. Hilary Barta told me that Larry was starting up a magazine like Two-Fisted Tales, the old EC book. But Hilary warned me that Larry could be tough on newbies but not to let that stop me. I ginned up my courage and came off as an arrogant bastard. Larry gave as good as he got but said he’d look at springboards for eight-page stories. I sent in a stack of them and he bought a half-dozen. After working with me for a few months he sensed my eagerness and saw proof of my staying power. He hired me every time he could. SEH: When you say you wrote all the time, was that actual writing or daydreaming? CD: Daydreaming. Always blueskying. Writing is a twenty-four hour job. Most of my time writing is spent simply thinking about stories and scenes and characters. Sometimes I’ll think about a story for years before it comes together enough to start writing. While driving the car or exercising or whatever, I’ll revisit

story fragments in my head and whittle away at them. SEH: How did you obtain this bullheaded notion that you were always right? What made you believe you were right? CD: I was a great student of comics history. I’d read anything pertaining to comics. Maurice Horn’s history. Steranko’s massive two-volume set. And I’d look at as many old comics as I could. Also collections of old strips. In the ’70s, they reprinted these huge collections of Little Orphan Annie, Terry and the Pirates, Buck Rogers and others. I’d study them. I discovered Eisner and Kurtzman during this period. When I came of age to try and break in, it was the ’70s, and comics were in miserable shape. Wordy, slapdash, and cramped. The older pros were being treated like dinosaurs. Young punks whose attraction to comics was a love of the characters over the medium were running the companies. Sales were plummeting even though distribution was still strong. There were a few decent comics being done, rare bright spots like anything Archie Goodwin wrote, or a short run on a given series. But almost everything else was dreck. My approach was always visual—stories that engaged you with compelling pictures and drew you in. I knew that comics had to return to this if they were ever to regain their audience. When I fought to get into comics, I felt like I was on a mission from God. There was tremendous resistance to this approach. And I wasn’t the only one howling in the wilderness. Mike Baron and Steve Rude on Nexus. Tim Truman on Grimjack. Forgotten runs like DC’s Atari Force and Dave Gibbons on Green Lantern. Guys who were trying to entertain using the potent visual medium of comics. They were using all the tools in the box. SEH: One of the things that greatly impressed me about you is how you analyze movies, books, comics, etc. to see how the story can be better. Can you give some description of the mental checklist you go through when you see or read something for the first time? I realize that this may be something you do unconsciously… CD: If I’m really enjoying a book or movie I’m not analyzing it at all. I go along for the ride. But if I spot an inconsistency or a technical mistake, I’m taken out of the story immediately and my mind begins picking it apart. I start “fixing” the story as I go along. I recently watched The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance. By the end of watching it, I’d re-paced the story, moved the dramatic events around to make them more dramatic, and re-characterized the lead character so he fit the story’s theme in a more impactful way. You learn far more from watching a bad movie than a good one. Not MST3000-bad but Hollywood dreck bad. Rent The Hand That Rocks the Cradle and watch it. Each time you say to yourself, “Oh, come on!,” think how you’d have fixed that scene so it played better. Also, pick up three books called Backstory 1 through 3. They’re interviews with great screenwriters from the ’30s to the present. It’ll open a new chamber in your head as you hear these guys talk pure story and pick apart movies you’ve seen. They explain the process of telling and dramatizing a story in no-nonsense terms. If you like writing, you’ll eat these up like popcorn. SEH: How do you schedule your time? Seriously, I am in awe of how you find time to write, read, watch the movies and TV shows that you do, and I don’t even know what other interests and hobbies you may have, plus family and friends, etc.

[ DIXON continues on page 26.] CHUCK DIXON | 23

Full-script pages from Brath #11, written by Chuck Dixon, with art by Alcatena. While not called for specifically in Chuck’s script, somewhere in the creative process it apparently was decided that page five of the story would incorporate design elements appropriate to the story and its milieu.

[ DIXON continued from page 23.]

in background details and things like that. I’ve come up with ways to CD: Most of my “work” time is spent work where we only have to draw a daydreaming. I spend very little time background once and then reuse it. at the keyboard. Any time I try to And we’re creative enough with work on a regular schedule I wind up PhotoShop and with the way we do producing less not more. This has color that it doesn’t look the same been a challenge for me since each time. If you have a palace in a coming to CrossGen where it’s an instory, for example, doing estaboffice environment. I usually produce lishing shots of it over and over most of my writing in the morning again doesn’t mean we have to before heading to work or on draw it over and over. In some weekends. cases, we even have it to the point SEH: Earlier you said your problem where things are computer was “stopping writing,” but now you modeled, and we can show it 360 just said that you actually don’t write degrees. This affords the artist that much, but spend a lot of the more time to concentrate on other time daydreaming. To clarify this, do stuff instead of drawing the same you consider the daydreaming part of objects over and over again. I am the writing when you say “My problem always very aware of what the is stopping writing”? penciler does. For instance, with the CD: Daydreaming is the job. My pirate book, El Cazador, I wife’ll tell you— I do it 24/7. Dixon reworked the Batman villain Calendar Man, into a modern considered it impossible to do a SEH: Let’s take a pause here, so you character. Art by Mike Deodato & David Roach from the Batman 80-Page Giant #3. [©2004 DC Comics.] monthly, ongoing pirate book unless can mention important points I may we could computer-model the ships not have touched on. and in fact, get programs for that. What you see in the book is CD: Two things: Never write down your last idea of the day. not a computer program. You are seeing the artist’s rendering That way you know what you’re going to write the next day and using a computer program as a guide, because the ships must so you’ll know how you’ll start. And follow what I call the “Jack be consistent, accurate, and detailed. The audience we’re going Kirby Principle.” Never throw away an idea because at first for—I feel we want to reach a lot of nautical fiction readers, blush it seems stupid. No idea is so dumb that it can’t be and they demand accuracy. made to work. The Silver Surfer, for example, could be seen as SEH: What about inkers, colorists, letterers? How do you see a silly idea, but look how it developed. I’ve found I’ll work their roles in telling a comics story? harder at what seems like a bonehead idea than one that CD: Inking, to me, is almost a mystical aspect to comics. seems like a natural. In the end, that hard work will pay off Those guys are Zen. The Jedi masters of comics. You know, I with something that started out as silly but is now unique. really appreciate and like inkers, but I don’t really understand SEH: Can you give an example of a “bonehead idea” you worked how they do it. So I don’t have that much input. The penciler is on that became a success? Maybe you can talk about some of the one who associates with the inker. I have some input with the metamorphoses that it went through. color, but again computer color is so complicated now, a lot of CD: Calendar Man, an old (impossibly lame) Batman villain, that I don’t understand. Lettering is another story. I work very would be a dumb idea that was not my own, but that I wouldn’t closely with the lettering guys. They’re brilliant. I love their input give up on. I spent three years working out how to make him a on how we can approach lettering sound effects and things like cool character. I struck on the idea of having him commit that. I never knew there was as much to lettering as there is. I crimes according to different calendars from past civilizations. have a lot of friends who are letterers, but Dave Lamphear is This gave him a creepy resonance. The biggest problem was so good at articulating what he does and he’s so open about the amount of research I’d have to do to work out how the what he does that a lot of it came to me as a revelation. ancient calendars match up to dates in the Gregorian calendar SEH: How about dealing with editors? How do you know when to for seven consecutive days. That took the most time. stick with what you really want, and when to back off? An idea that started out as being laughed at during a CD: Well, if you really believe in it, and you think the project is Batman story summit was Batman’s subway rocket. Graham going to suffer because of that editorial input, then start Nolan was the only one who took me seriously on that one. arguing your case. But at the end of the day, it’s still the The plan was for Batman to have his own subway car and a editor’s decision. Also, an editor can alter the work after you’ve concealed spur that ran under the Batcave. To use a play on finished it, so you have no say there. That’s one reason why I words, I laid the tracks for this one slowly over a year’s time like CrossGen. I have control of the work until it goes out the before the rocket showed up. I think it worked well. The idea of door to the printer. If I don’t like something, I can continue to an unknown, black rocket car speeding along under the city argue my side of it. seems spooky to me. Imagine if you were standing on the SEH: So CrossGen has been a positive experience for you? platform at midnight and this sleek, dark vehicle blasted by at CD: I am probably making some of the best friends I ever 200 mph. made here. It’s comics! We’re a brotherhood! We’re all on the SEH: As a writer, are there things one should consider when same page. We all grew up the same way. We all like the same working with an artist? things. But, it goes beyond that, too, you know, like a personal CD: At CrossGen, I’ve been afforded opportunities to work on bond. Feeling that the work is yours, and you have a big stake ways to save the penciler’s time, because our books are so rich 26 | WRITE NOW

offering comics cheap! A great format with top production in it. I’ve seen guys work crazy hours to help a guy meet his values, and we just didn’t cut it. I think the timing was wrong. deadline because he was sick or had to go to a funeral or That was the only thing wrong with what we did, and there was something like that. And it’s done without question or no foreseeing that. You know, we might try again in a couple of complaint. It’s a great bunch to work with. You’re taking a years, and it will go gangbusters. I just think the timing was bunch of guys who were freelancers, basically a bunch of wrong for it. loners foraging on their own, and now you’ve forged them into a Also, going to library shows is educational. I went to library group. If I am having a problem, I know my team is going to shows with a couple of our salesmen. Big eye-opener! The back me on it. enthusiasm out there in the mainstream for comics—! It’s SEH: What things after the stories are written should a writer important to know all that stuff so you can understand what should be aware of? audience you’re aiming at. A lot of things that I took as given, CD: A writer should learn everything about the business, if as conventional wisdom about comics, is simply not true at you’re serious about it, especially because as the writer you’re CrossGen because we aren’t doing the same old thing. going to be coming up with the concepts that will reach the SEH: Changing gears here a little bit… throughout your career, readers. You’ve got to know your audience. You’ve got to know have there been any big pitfalls or mistakes that new writers about everything from penciling to final production to printing might avoid? and, more importantly than anything else, sales. CD: I don’t know. I’ve been really lucky. [Chuckles] I’ve had a lot Everywhere that I’ve ever worked, from children’s books to of fortune on my side in comics. I can’t think of too many advertising to comics, I’ve gotten friendly with the sales staff. missteps I made. Some advice I can give from those early Not just as a schmoozing thing, but because I appreciate what years would be things like being careful when you’re dealing they do, and I like what they do. Salesmen aren’t always the with smaller publishers. You’ve got to watch your back because cutthroat guys. The salesmen at CrossGen believe in what they can go out of business in a second, and you’ve got to we’re doing, they’re part of the mission, and they’re making it know the warning signs for when a business is going under. As possible to find new ways to market the stuff. We’re actually soon as you hear the words “cash flow,” run for the hills! doing market testing, things that no other comic company has Then, at the big two, and for your entire career, it’s best to ever done. That’s important to me to so I can continue my figure you have a window of opportunity that you might have a phony-baloney employment [laughter]. You know, this silly job I full working schedule of about love so much. I want to know five years. It’s a very fickle every aspect of the business. If industry. Guys who were white-hot you’re going to write for comics or five years ago can’t get arrested work in comics, you need to know now. I went into it that way. everyone else’s job. Not enough Thankfully, I’m in my 17th year of to do it, but to understand it. You full-time and have plenty of work, should also understand your but you should always be aware history. You should know, going that you should never be back, where comics came from comfortable. Always think six and what they were like because, months to a year ahead, “Where really, in 65 years, they haven’t will I be next year? What will I be changed much. doing?” That’s where I was when SEH: What kind of resources do CrossGen made the offer. I really you use when checking on sales? wasn’t sure where I was going to Just talk to the sales people? be next year. CD: You talk to the sales people. SEH: Let’s switch gears now to They’ll give the good news and action and adventure plotting. Do the bad news. Like we tried you have the story first and add Compendia, Edge and Forge. They the action to it? Or do you have a were giant, monthly collections great action scene in mind and containing seven to eight issues come up with a story for that? of a comic with interviews and CD: Usually I start with the big articles and selling for under ten scene. I’ve always done that. If I bucks. You were paying a dollar have a big scene, then I hook per comic. It didn’t work. And everything around it. I mean, publisher Mark Alessi beats going into El Cazador, in the first himself up because it was his two years of the book, I knew idea, and it didn’t work. He there were certain things I shouldn’t. If we could have wanted to do. I wanted to do changed the buying habits of the cannibals. I wanted to do a sea American comic-buying public to chase. Two ships pursuing one buy Compendia, we would have another for days. Boarding done the Lord’s work. Because parties, things like that. this is the only country in the The artists on El Cazador use computer modeled ships as guides when Then, you’ve just got to figure world that buys three-dollar drawing the highly accurate pirate saga. Script by Chuck Dixon, art by comics pamphlets. And we were Steve Epting. [©2004 CrossGen Intellectual Properties, LLC.]

[ DIXON continues on page 30.] CHUCK DIXON | 27

Pages from El Cazador #4, script by Chuck, art by Steve Epting. Note that story page ten, while scripted for three panels, ended up as four. Somewhere in the process, writer, penciler or someone at the CrossGen office—or all three combined—decided the scene would be better told with the extra panel.

[ DIXON continued from page 27.]

where the elements you want to see are going to be in the story. You know, maroonings, mutinies. There’re all these things you expect to see in a nautical adventure, and I wanted to use them all. Then there’re all these little gags that you think of that you want to get in. I mean, Mark Alessi wanted to change the name of our female lead, but I was in love with the gag in which she gets her name, and I wouldn’t budge from it. And he says, “But it’s only one gag,” and I said “But I’ve been holding onto this gag for years, and I’m never going to do another pirate book. Plus, it would be such a dynamite scene in a movie. It would be a scene that people would talk about for years.” So I convinced him. It’s little things, scenes like that, that make a story click. Those little pieces are what make it. Beau Smith calls them the “Dr. Pepper” of the story, the thing in the story you didn’t expect to see, and you try to slip something like that into every single story. SEH: It sounds like you’ve been carrying some of this stuff around for years and you just can’t wait to put it down on paper once you find the right place for it. CD: Exactly. SEH: How do you handle the pacing of an action-adventure story? Comics are a static medium. How do you create a sense of flow? CD: It all depends. If you’ve got big action, you want big panels. To try and build tension, you want smaller panels, preferably, smaller panels all the same size. That way, even though the readers aren’t aware of it, there’s a time element, it feels like things are happening quickly. Simple things like that are effective. Another technique is tightening the shots for suspense. The best filmmaker to watch for this kind of thing is Alfred Hitchcock. He storyboarded all of his movies and didn’t shoot them on the fly. They were shot according to storyboard. You can go frame-by-frame in a Hitchcock movie—it’s a comic book! Each shot is important, and how it’s composed is important because he relied so much on visuals rather than dialogue. You’ll never see, in a Hitchcock movie, a character explaining what’s going on. It’s always shown. It’s almost a model on how to do a comic. Matrix Reloaded is a good example of the opposite, where they stop the action so somebody can explain what’s going on before the next car chase or gun-battle. You can’t do that. You have to avoid that at all costs. SEH: When I read your stuff, I just get right into the flow. I almost don’t ever wonder what’s going on. CD: There’s something I learned from a biography of Howard Hawks, a film director from the ’30s all the way up to the ’60s. There was a period in his career where he took three years off from filmmaking, and he went to live in Europe. When he left America, television was just starting, and it was quiz shows and variety shows, things like that. When he returned, there were dramas on television. Westerns, crime shows, doctor shows. And he was stunned because he said “Here are Americans sitting and watching hours and hours and hours of dramas.” He realized that they’re absorbing so much story that the next movie he would make, he’d have to hide that it’s a story. “I’ve got to give them more of an experience, less of a story, but still have the story there.” And he made the western Rio Bravo which, if you watch it, you see that the plot is entirely hidden from view the entire time. There’s no sense of 30 | WRITE NOW

Fight sequences need to be slightly more realistic in a relatively straight martial arts book like Way of the Rat (above) than the the more fantastic scenes in a book like Nightwing (next page). Art from Way of the Rat #1 by Jeff Johnson & Tom Ryder. Both stories written by Chuck. [Way of the Rat ©2004 CrossGen Intellectual Properties, LLC.]

“I’m watching a story.” You simply think you’re watching vignette after vignette of some character-building and some funny stuff and some suspenseful stuff. But when you get to the end of it, you realize that that you’ve watched this rich story in which every character had an arc, and in which these events happened, and they comprised a story. I mean, sometimes events happen in that movie that are mentioned so slyly in the dialogue. I saw the movie 12 times before I realized that the stagecoach, which is vitally important to the film, is never shown. You never see it coming in. You never see it leaving. It’s mentioned quite obliquely in dialogue. But in such a natural way that you don’t feel as though you’re being informed. So when you’re writing a story, to me, that movie is a guideline. Hide your plot. Like I said, never have a character explain what is going on. Just lead the reader through so that you’ll erase the aspect that “I’m reading a story.” Audiences are hip. They are really smart about story structure and fiction. If you keep them aware of the story, then they’ll be thinking, “Oh, I know what’s going to happen next.” I try to make my characterization and my plot development and everything else as hidden from the view of the reader as possible, so what characters say or do tells you everything you need to know. SEH: I know you’re a big history buff. How does that impact on your work? CD: Well, to use El Cazador as an example again, I’m reading a lot of nautical fiction. Everything from Robert Louis Stevenson to the more current stuff. In fact, we’re in the golden age of historical fiction right now. There’s a lot of stuff available, both

a respiratory specialist to figure out how long two people could reprint and new. And then, tons of reference. I can’t let Steve survive inside a sealed, 10' x 10' space. Epting—the penciler— do all the heavy lifting. So, I’m learning SEH: Would this have been a stunt you would have been willing about knots. Eventually, he and I are going to have to go on a to try? sailboat because there’s some stuff that I just don’t get it from CD: Uh, no. But for me those are the hardest. It must be hard reading about it. I mean, I kind of understand what tacking is. for other writers to do traps like that because they so rarely We’re going to have to go out and see it done. show up in comics. A clever trap is a good one. One of the SEH: You haven’t been out? better ones I worked on was with Graham Nolan. He came up CD: No, and we’re in Tampa, so we can go anytime. There’re with the idea of climbing up a tunnel in a cave with the cave sailboats leaving all the time. flooding under you. His idea was that it wouldn’t be the water But, things like Brath are easy for me because I’m very that would kill you, it would be the air pressure. The pressure comfortable with that period, Rome in the First Century AD. I’ve would be forced to build up in the tunnel as the water rose and been reading about it all my life and have shelves of visual would incapacitate the Dynamic Duo. And that was such a cool reference. On the other hand, Way of the Rat would have been idea, I couldn’t wait to do it. It was such a great trap. You impossible without Jeff Johnson because he is a martial artist combine drowning and being knocked out by the worst and lived a long time in Asia. He and I come up with all the headache of your life from the air pressure, not being able to stories, and he does all the reference work. This is the most breathe. And it even worked for Batman and Robin’s research-intensive time I’ve ever had in my career. You can’t characters. When Robin loses consciousness, Batman fights fake any of that. furiously on to save his partner. But traps are really tough to SEH: As far as plotting an action scene, is there any difference come up with. in how you would plot an action-adventure scene for, say, Brath In Brath, we’re doing a lot of planning for gladiatorial combat as compared to one for Nightwing? stories in the next arc, doing stuff in the arena. As much CD: There’s an expectation in a Batman story or something like research as I’ve done on it, I thought it would be a walk, but that, that it’s a little more, you know, it’s not realistic. then, it’s not so easy, because you have rising action in the Characters really can’t jump 20 stories from a building and arena sequences. So what do I throw against Brath next? expect to live. Things like that. There’s more of a fantastic We’ve got some pretty zany stuff he’ll run into. To me, the element to the fights. The books I’m working on now are more reader expects the action to rise, for it to get more and more earthbound. We’re trying to show the fighting as realistically as threatening, and that challenges us. possible. And, actually, that requires a lot more thought SEH: Have you tried sword-fighting? because you can’t fall back on “I know this couldn’t happen, CD: Nah, haven’t tried sword-fighting. I’m not coordinated but this is Robin, or it’s the Punisher.” With non-superhero enough to play basketball. I know the firearms. That’s my end stuff, when characters get hurt, they’re hurt! of it. I’ve fired flintlock weapons. I’ve loaded and fired them. SEH: You’ve plotted some really great cliffhangers. Do you ever Boy, were they accurate! Surprisingly accurate! So that stuff I’m paint yourself into a corner and wonder how you’re going to get more familiar with. In the the characters out of it? pirate book, we’re not going CD: Generally, I try not to, by strict dueling rules of but sometimes that swords. If you’ve seen a happens, especially, if you’re sword fight in a movie, then up against a deadline and you pretty much know the just sort of end something. moves, the posture, things In a recent issue of Sigil, like that. But we do have I’m really not sure how I’m some fencing manuals that going to get them out of we look at. We also have a that corner at this point. bunch of weapons. Steve When I get back to Tampa, and I, over the internet, I’ve got to figure that out. assembled some cutlasses, SEH: The classic to me was flintlock pistols. I want to the armor-truck-in-cement in get a boarding axe! issue #5 of Robin. Robin [laughter] and the Cluemaster are SEH: I know you’ve done a trapped together inside of an lot of reading on ancient armored car that’s been Rome, but do you have dropped in a pit and then someone you go to if you the pit is filled with concrete. have some weird question? CD: Well, that I had all Do you search the internet, figured out ahead of time. or what? There’s no fudging on CD: There’s a lot of stuff on something like that. The the internet because you more complex a trap, the have a lot of Roman army more you have to make sure re-creationists there, it works from beginning to especially in Europe. That’s end and no cheats. The an expensive hobby. That guys at DC even contacted Hoohah action from Nightwing #9, written by Chuck, with art by Scott McDaniel & Karl Story. [©2004 DC Comics.] CHUCK DIXON | 31

even old magazines with reviews of armor will cost a fortune. movies long forgotten and pushed to SEH: I’ll bet! the back of the cable schedule. This CD: They have a lot of sites that sparks discriminating thought and show photographs and gatherings. forces you to think about story and They have message boards. I want to structure and plot as you find things get more into it. Not the dressing-up to agree, and disagree, with in the part though! I’ve approached the review. different sites about Brath, but I I’d also suggest reading as much think they don’t realize how serious as you can outside of comics. Your we are, because no one has really comics work should not be informed picked up on it. I think once our first only by comics. My influences are as trade paperback is out, it will show varied as James M. Cain, Donald we’re serious and want to keep it Westlake and P.G. Wodehouse. accurate, so we’d appreciate their SEH: What’s the future for comics? help. CD: I think it’s a varied one. Once SEH: Where do you see yourself going upon a time we could survive on the now, professionally? spin-rack. Now, we’re forced to CD: I don’t want to go anywhere. I diversify into the booktrade, like what I’m doing and like a full libraries, multimedia and the web. schedule of varied projects. Comics rely more and more on SEH: Any desire to do TV, movies, etc.? ancillary deals with games CD: Only if I had to. Only if the companies and movie studios to comics work dried up. survive. The biggest challenge facing SEH: You’re doing work for CrossGen creators is coming up with and DC and Bongo at the same time. something that captures the imagiHas the CrossGen policy about not nation of the broadest base of working elsewhere changed, or is it readers. I’d love to see a Pokémon an exception for you, or is the DC and Scott McDaniel & Andy Owens art from the cover of Chuck Dixon’s or Yuh-Gi-Oh! type craze that was Bongo stuff grandfathered in? upcoming Richard Dragon series. [©2004 DC Comics.] spawned by someone here at home. CD: I was released from my excluAfter all, we created comics, didn’t we? sivity with CrossGen when we reorganized last year. I took the SEH: What does the popularity of manga and anime tell us, if opportunity to get a few outside projects. But the bulk of my anything? work is still for CrossGen. CD: That comics should be visually driven. They should also SEH: Any tips for aspiring writers? stay ahead of the curve of popular culture. For the longest CD: Persistence is the key. time, movies and TV generally ran behind comics as far as Also, do not bring springboards or plots to conventions to concepts and characters. Now they’re catching up. When Star hand out. I can’t tell you how many submissions I get handed Wars came out, it dealt in ideas that were generations old to to me at cons. Wannabes will walk up and hand me a script, comics readers. Movies like The Matrix franchise and TV like ask me to read it and give them feedback and then walk away! Buffy and Angel are running neck-and-neck with comics. The When I was starting out, I somehow knew that these handouts gap is growing more narrow and other media will pass comics were useless. I would try and speak to editors and make some as a bleeding edge pop phenomenon. Manga isn’t a wake-up kind of impression, create some kind of rapport. Then I would call to announce that Japanese comics are hipper. It’s a wakeask if I could call for an interview. I’d wait a week or so and call up call that our audience has changed and we need to change for the interview and was usually granted one. I got high level with it and present more challenging comics. appointments with some of the biggest names in comics long SEH: As we get to the end of the interview, is there anything before I was ready professionally. upcoming you want to plug? SEH: You have a website that’s pretty elaborate and active. CD: I’m currently at work for DC on an ongoing book called What’s the appeal for you? Richard Dragon. The book reunites me and Scott McDaniel for CD: At first it was just fun. I mean, it’s all about me. What’s not the first time since our Nightwing run. It’s a martial arts book to like? Then I noticed that the sales of my four DC monthlies based on a long-fallow DC character created in the ’70s by began to draw closer together. Three of my titles rose in sales Denny O’Neil. A lot of fun! closer to Nightwing. I was brand-naming myself without Also, I’m doing a Lady Death/Sojourn crossover that allows realizing it. The site also became neutral territory for some epic me to work with George Pérez for the first time in my—or his, arguments. The message board hosted a terrific, and heated, for that matter—career. discussion between Peter David and Kevin Smith a number of SEH: Thanks for your time, Chuck. I think the Write Now! years ago. readers will get a lot out of this interview. SEH: Any books, courses, websites you want to recommend to CD: You’re welcome. This was fun! aspiring or even established writers? CD: Well, Ron Marz and I are writing one for Watson-Guptill that Scott E. Hileman is a writer and assistant editor for should be out next year. It’s tailored for the experienced writer Shooting Star Comics. He has written “Interrogation of who hasn’t worked in comics and needs to understand the Specimen One” and “Looking for Lou” for their anthology medium. title. He has written for various publications in Indiana. Also, read criticism. Read reviews of movies you’ve seen,

THE END

32 | WRITE NOW

An Epic Saga

The John Jackson Miller Interview

to write isn’t enough, though—you need something to write about. So grad school gave me a lot of ideas I’ve been able to mine for Crimson Dynamo, Iron Man, and my other projects. DF: Talk about your influences/inspirations: Friends, family, teachers, etc? hat happens if your mother never throws your JJM: My mother certainly contributed to what I’m doing today; a comics books away? Then you, too, can spend your grade school librarian, she not only didn’t throw my comics career strip-mining your childhood for fun and away, she made me get them organized. By my teen years I profit. That’s what happened to John Jackson Miller, writer of had a huge “accession list” in a big notebook, which is comics and games and books about comic books and games. probably my precursor to today’s Standard Catalog of Comic Since 1993, he’s been at Krause Publications, where he Books (which is ironically about the same size). produces books and magazines as editorial director of the Meanwhile, my dad, who’d taught electronics in the Marines, comics and games division. His comics work ranges from gave me a good grounding in applied science to offset the umpteen small-press ventures to such titles as Marvel Comics’ unreality of comics. More importantly, when I went to work for Iron Man. With a master’s in comparative politics from his repair business as a teenager, he didn’t mind (too much) Louisiana State University, he’s sought to play on internathat I read comics on the job. tional and political elements in his fiction and games. In And my sister, who’s a few years older than I am, introduced nonfiction, his research specialties include studies into online me to a lot of what was going on in pop culture—so I often feel collectible auctions and comic book circulation history. like I’ve “been around” longer than I have. I got to experience a Analysis of both topics appear in the massive (no lie, it lot of the 1960s and 1970s vicariously, giving me some more weighs six pounds) Standard Catalog of Comic Books. to write about. I also had one of those teachers in junior high and high DANNY FINGEROTH: Talk a bit about your background. What school who was pivotal. Ellen “Burnzy” Burns, who’d been a were your interests as a kid? nun, a flower child, and a comics collector is her past lives, JOHN JACKSON MILLER: Comics, of course. I got my first taught English with verve. It was sort of like having Shirley Uncle Scrooge, my first Harveys, at age six—and began drawing Maclaine as your creative writing guru. Knowing that I undermy own comics right about the same time. I had an entire stood the fundamentals of grammar and writing, she agreed to “line” with a “universe” before I ever picked up my first Marvel let me turn in several essays in comics form. I’d discuss “The or DC comic book, and recall being tearful at nine when I Fall of the House of Usher” as assigned—only do it in the couldn’t sell my comics to the little girl next door—because, context of a “little theater” production my characters put on in after all, I’d spent “a third of my life” in comics by then! a comic. DF: You have Journalism undergrad degree and a Poli Sci M.A. I think, at the time, I thought I was “getting away” Were they helpful in what you do now? with something—but, of course, we know doing the JJM: Oh, yes, and in different ways. Journalism taught work in comics form took far longer than it would have deadlines and how to write on demand. Just being able as a simple essay. Clearly, that helped support my learning to communicate through comics—and I appreciate it to this day. She moved to San Diego years ago, and I was happy to see her drop by my first Comic-Con. DF: Can you talk about writers and other creators who influenced you? JJM: In fiction, it’s a mixed bag—from Arthur C. Clarke and Hal Clement in the science fiction end to Tom Clancy and C.S. Forester in the “military procedural” end. I devour P.G. Wodehouse, and accidentally slip into a style Iron Man takes flight in Iron Man V. 3 #74 written by John Jackson Miller with art by Jorge Lucas.

Conducted by Danny Fingeroth via e-mail January 25, 2004 Edited by Danny Fingeroth / Copy-edited by John Jackson MIller

an escape from comics—such as Kenzer’s aping his when I’m writing too fast. Knights of the Dinner Table, which is all Comics is a longer list, simply because about the gaming hobby. I’ve read more. Carl Barks and Charles No, much of my spare-time reading today Schulz were my earliest favorite comics is nonfiction, partially books that I was writers, and remain on the short list. supposed to have read in college but Others, I admire for various reasons. skimmed in order to have more time to read David Michelinie, in Iron Man and Marvel’s comics or work on comics of my own. I tend Star Wars, taught me to build a supporting toward the monstrous books that’d put cast readers might care about, despite the shivers into the spine of a student with a fact that they bought the books to see the deadline — last year it was The Rise and stars. Jim Starlin told suspenseful, layered Fall of the Third Reich; this year it’s stories, and really showed how to plant Churchill’s history of World War II. elements to string out a mystery—in DF: You worked on what you call Dreadstar, you didn’t feel silly poring over “minicomics”? What were they, where were two-year-old issues for clues, because you they seen? knew they’d be there. Roger Stern—and later JJM: Minicomics are comics-as-fanzines, Kurt Busiek—I admire for their handling of basically—generally called “mini” because continuity, which can be so much of a One of Miller’s recent book projects, The most had pages a quarter the size of a challenge that some writers avoid it Standard Catalog of Comic Books. sheet of paper. Some were smaller, some altogether. And Chris Claremont always has [©2004 Krause Publications.] larger. They flourished in the 1980s as sort great ideas and interesting dialogue, though of a descendant of the undergrounds, which now could get full I always preferred his smaller self-contained stories to the access to comics shops through the direct market, and the ones that sprawled. Amateur Press Associations, which saw a lot of their talent And before taking on the role as editor of Comics Retailer, I moving on to self-publish. They were much more grassroots, feel I had a pretty good grounding in the business of comics the simplest being photocopies. simply from reading Dave Sim, whose essays in the back of They were distributed through mail-order channels—Comics Cerebus—for which he never charged more, it should be Buyer’s Guide had not only a classified section for them, but remembered—often had a lot to say about the subject. I’m also a column, “FPO,” by former Marvel employee Paul Curtis. pleased that in my editorial role I was able to call on him to Fanzines such as Tim Corrigan’s Small Press Comics Explosion share his thoughts on business in our magazines. networked for their producers, allowing people to find interThe advice of Michael Stackpole, a novelist (and the comics ested readers. Almost every minicomics reader also produced writer who married off Luke Skywalker at Dark Horse) has been them, so there was this nice little community. greatly helpful over the years in preparing me for what to Matt Feazell, whose stick-figure “Cynicalman” typifies the expect in the freelance realm. And just about everything else I minimalist nature of minicomics, saw some wider exposure, needed to know seems to have come from the Thompsons, and Eclipse published four issues of Giant-Size MiniComics Maggie and the late Don, editors of the Comics Buyer’s Guide. during the black-and-white explosion. DF: What were your favorite comics as a kid? In your teens and In high school, and for a while after, I self-published my own twenties? minis; contributed often to Misc!, one of the larger anthologies; JJM: Maggie Thompson says “the Golden Age of Comics is and also published with Neil Dorsett under the label, Chapter 12.” Mine was 14, when comics were momentarily cool with all Eleven Productions. (Our motto: “If we’ve made a profit, we’ve the kids in school and I could “come out of the comics closet.” made a mistake!”) We did the photocopying at his dad’s In those days, I was principally into Marvel—Avengers, Star biological antigens factory—I sure hope we didn’t kill any of our Wars, Iron Man, Uncanny X-Men, Defenders, Master of Kung customers. Fu—and was just beginning my entree into DC with New Teen DF: Were they a good training ground? Titans. JJM: Anything that makes a writer think in panels, I feel, helps. Later, the comics-reading clique nearly vanished, all at It’s part of why I approach writing comics today as if I were once—something about girls and beer—but I kept on with it, doing the breakdowns—as if I were going to, God forbid, draw becoming the “early-adopter” in what was left of our set. I them myself. discovered Comics Buyer’s Guide which swung the doors open In the long run, dabbling in the art really kept me from to Dreadstar, Cerebus, Watchmen, normalman, and what would creating more than I did. I was a far faster writer than an artist, wind up being a raft of indies, the more eclectic the better: and I never could find a collaborator who could rescue me from Vietnam Journal, Open Season, To Be Announced, just to name my weak drafting skills—thus my output wasn’t what it could a few. have been. In college, with the black-and-white boom fizzling out, I really DF: What’s the equivalent of minicomics now? How would just worked to consolidate my existing collection, filling out someone get into doing them? runs as far back as I could afford. (You know, that thing we had JJM: Very clearly, webcomics are the minicomics of today, to do before trade paperbacks.) because distribution is wrapped up right in the format. That DF: What are your faves today? was always my undoing—and the undoing of anyone I ever JJM: These days, I have less time to read comics than ever worked with: writing and drawing is interesting, but paste-up before. My “to-read” comics pile toppled so many times it now and printing and advertising and fulfilling orders is less so. has a separate room. When I do slow down to read something If you walk around artists’ alley at any major comics new, it’s as likely as not to be a comic book which itself offers 34 | WRITE NOW

convention, you’ll see there are still a lot of minicomics producers around, too. You don’t even need a copy machine any more to publish them—just a computer and a printer. That’ll always be part of their charm. There were more than 2,000 links for “minicomics” on Yahoo, last I checked. DF: What was your comic Faraway Looks? Was it a mini-comic? JJM: A lifetime ago, Faraway Looks began as a humor comic strip I did back in my minicomics days. The characters went through several incarnations as my style changed—they actually started as funny animals—but their personalities stayed constant. The current incarnation, which bears resemblance to what began, is a college humor strip featuring three losers who never leave the front of their dorm room TV set— whence comes a mass of snide observations about life, popular culture, academia, etc. In 2000, taking a cue from the ultra-minimalist Knights of the Dinner Table, I put some of my scripts to paper using computer “cels” for the characters—allowing me to basically “draw” as fast as I could write. This resulted in a selfpublished sample press run of a collected edition in 2002. I was considering the future of this material when the Marvel offer came up, at which point it was shelved. However, an established humor artist has shown interest in putting (much better!) pictures to my words, so this may well be something that will see wider distribution one day, should I ever have the time to return to it. DF: You come from a journalistic background. What led to your interest in that? JJM: Nearly failing calculus! That’s true—more on that later. Actually, in my life I’ve found myself repeatedly coming back to rely on the skills I’ve learned from being a fan of comics. Why did I wind up editor on my high-school paper? I’d like to say it was because I was a budding Woodward or Bernstein in training. But the fact is, I sought to be the paper’s cartoonist first—and then, since this was the paste-up era, realized that I had developed all the skills to run the paper while publishing my little comics-and-SF fanzine, Tripe—reporting, editing, layout. Same story in college. Despite my best efforts to find a higher-paying vocation at the University of Tennessee, I drifted back into the newsroom and wound up as editor of the daily. And, finally, after an attempt to escape into a life of academia in grad school, I wound up in publishing’s web a third time—at which point I said, “The hell with it—going blind in front of a computer terminal is my destiny. Guild scale is the best I can hope for.” DF: How is your journalism background helpful to your comics writing? JJM: In journalism, you usually don’t write a word without knowing that it’s going to be published—and that it’s got to be done by a certain day. Fiction on spec doesn’t come with a destination and a timetable built in, and as such I used to get distracted easily from my fiction. But now that I do have deadlines and a venue, everything’s changed. I’ve had to rewire my creative process to get things done—bringing in my work habits from the non-fiction side of things. That’s allowed me to turn in 17 scripts in 12 months— not much in comparison with guys who do this full time, but for someone with a day job, it’s a dizzying trip from zero to 60. DF: You’re known as a member of the fan press, but focused more on the retailer and business angle than on the character

and creator angle, yes? How did you end up doing that? JJM: I was editing a line of lumber trade magazines in Tennessee in 1993 when Don Butler, editor of what was then known as Comics Retailer, was hired away by Sendai, which was then publishing Hero Illustrated, a competitor to Wizard. Their intention was to publish a competing magazine, Comic Book Business, with him at the helm. Don was, himself, Comics Retailer’s second editor in its twoyear existence—K.C. Carlson having been pinched by DC. Putting out the mag in the interim fell to Don and Maggie Thompson, the editors of Comics Buyer’s Guide, which it had spun off from. Don’s heart problems resurfaced around this time, and Krause Publications was willing to take a chance to fill the CR job—moving me up from Memphis to icy central Wisconsin. I got the gig from answering an ad in the classifieds in CBG—so, yes, Virginia, those ads do work. I didn’t know it then—not many people did—but things were about to get icier, still. Sendai’s retailer magazine lasted only nine issues, and Wizard’s competing retail magazine, Entertainment Retailing, was gone after 17. Comics Retailer might have followed—had I and the ad staff not leapt upon what happened to be my other hobby, games. And games happened to be exploding at the time, with the release of Magic: The Gathering. Today, we’ve just sent the 144th issue of what is now Comics & Games Retailer to press, and it’s [ MILLER continues on page 39.] JOHN JACKSON MILLER | 35

Full-script pages from Iron Man v. 3 #73. Written by JJ Miller with art by Jorge Lucas. It was Miller’s work on Crimson Dynamo (see the successful proposal for that series elsewhere in this issue) that showed he had the chops to be trusted with a Marvel icon like Iron Man.

Note how Miller denotes the characters and other key elements in each panel by referring to them in CAPITAL LETTERS. This makes sure editor and artist know what John feels is most important in a given shot.

[ MILLER continued from page 35.]

going strong. And games are now fully half my job, with our Scrye title the leader in the hobby gaming field worldwide, outpacing even Dragon and the Wizard people’s offering. DF: Most of your resumé is a logical path through various kinds of publishing and fan-oriented books. But I have to ask—how did you end up involved with so many lumber industry publications? JJM: Completely by accident! That was in my “dark age,” between grad school and Krause, when I felt I really had to get back into the swing of publishing. In the beginning, running the line was one of those challenges a writer takes to—proving he can learn anything, even the difference between hardwoods and softwoods. (Oh, all right. Hardwood comes from deciduous trees; softwood, from conifers. I think.) But the situation was both frustrating and comical. The offer to come to the wintry wilds of Wisconsin and work for Krause couldn’t have come sooner. You haven’t known ennui until you’ve had to doctor photos of cocktail parties, prePhotoshop, so you don’t show that any lumbermen have drinks in their hands. Because, you know, you sure don’t want to buy wood from a guy who’s lit…

THE EPIC EXPERIMENT DF: You became a comics writer via the short-lived Epic experiment. Any thoughts on that now that it’s dormant? JJM: I certainly appreciate the opportunity it gave me. It was one of those situations where writing comics is something I always wanted to and thought I could do—I just rarely had the time to pursue it myself, and no one else had ever asked. Here, Marvel asked—me and dozens of other print and online writers, the stated goal being to find a “first wave” of Epic writers who already knew a little something about publishing. I went through the proper channels at Krause, where we pretty much decided that if the worst possible interpretation were true—if it were all a dark conspiracy to co-opt the comics media—it would still be worth doing to get me the added experience and the added exposure, especially given the number of books I’m now authoring for Krause. The Marvel folks were great about everything, helping me as they could. I was lucky to get so much personal attention, given that I came into the process before the mountain of submissions came in over the transom. That period really helped me, I think, since a lot of their mechanical storytelling wants and needs were revealed to me as we went along. DF: In retrospect, was/is it a conflict of interest to be a comics journalist and a writer for Marvel (or any comics company)? JJM: I really haven’t been a journalist, per se, for some years. I’m in publishing, and some of our products cover comics. Ironically, Marvel gets a bit less coverage on my stuff simply because CBG can’t generate a piece on me in house—the impetus has to come from outside, either initiated by Marvel or a freelancer. No other creator has that handicap. But we’re being a lot more careful than we probably have to be, given that this field’s standards in this regard are only observed in the breach. There’s a rather free flow of print and internet commentators back and forth between professional comics jobs and journalistic enterprises. And most comics magazine publishers publish comics themselves—Krause is already a rarity in that it doesn’t. Krause simply saw my opportunity as well within what’s standard practice for the business. I won’t say that everyone agreed with that perception, but all

differences of opinion have been reasoned and civil. Clearly, I wouldn’t be doing it if my publishers didn’t feel that giving me this creative exposure would benefit my work at Krause. And, indeed, I’ve returned to the office each day with a better understanding of how the comics-making process works than I could have gotten otherwise. That’s had some value. And I admit that my greater public exposure has helped sell some books for both publishers, but I fail to see where that’s a bad thing. DF: Had you submitted ideas to mainstream comics publishers before that? JJM: Not in any determined, organized manner. Years ago I cooked up a raft of Star Wars and Indiana Jones pitches— which tells you how long ago this was—before learning Dark Horse wasn’t allowed to take pitches for the licensed stuff over the transom. So I filed those away—they may see the light of day some day—and got distracted with other things, such as prose and game design. DF: How do you feel about how things worked out with the Crimson Dynamo series? JJM: I’ll admit I never expected to be the first book out the door. Trouble was ostensibly the flagship title, but its writer, Mark Millar was a known quantity, so the fact that he was writing a comic wasn’t unusual—and so it was Crimson

And there isn’t much reason for Dynamo that wound up in that first news anyone to worry, to begin with, simply conference and which brought an unreal because I’m no longer heavily involved amount of fan scrutiny to my series in the day-to-day running of any one of which was, in reality, not so much a our periodicals. I don’t do any reporting blockbuster, but a light personal story at all, beyond conveying a note about about a troubled teenager. (It really sales numbers now and again. I wasn’t until issue #4, in fact, that we wouldn’t even do that, but no one else got to a cover depiction truly represenon staff will own up to knowing how to tative of the series—featuring the kid, figure a standard deviation. (Darn Gennady, in front of a tattered propaSurvey Research Methods class!) ganda poster of the Crimson Dynamo.) Instead, as editorial director of the One might have mixed feelings about comics and games division, my time is that, but I have no regrets. On the one carved up between developing and hand, being the first one out, it got promoting our growing line of books, tangled up in controversy over Epic and our new magazine specials lines, and the personalities behind it. Every other our existing periodicals in both hobbies. online commentator had been in there My 2004, for example, is packed with pitching to get a series themselves— books: Warman’s Field Guide to Comic making it hard to evaluate their later Books, part of a major mass market comments. (One online reviewer even series; the third edition of my Standard made comparisons between my first Catalog of Comic Books, and other issue and his own, rejected script.) projects. I’m more likely to contribute to So that was strange. But on the other the look of one of our magazines than hand, far more people got to see it than to any of its content these days. would have otherwise—Marvel twice put Steve Ellis’ cover for the fourth issue of the Crimson pages from the first issue into its distribution catalog pages. That’s a pretty big Dynamo series. [©2004 Marvel Characters, Inc.] CRIMSON DYNAMO audience for what is, essentially, a demo DF: Of all the characters in the Marvel tape… Universe, how did you decide to do Crimson Dynamo? Fortunately, now that the storyline is approaching its JJM: My assumption was that part of the goal at the beginning conclusion (I had actually requested that we set any potential of Epic was to breathe life into properties that Marvel owned, ongoing series on hold after #6 before knowing anything about but were underutilized. A Spider-Man title would be considered, the fate of Epic), I think the signal-to-noise ratio has improved a for example, but would need to legitimately have a reason for lot. I’m finally hearing things about the story which are about being—given that other ongoing Spider-titles existed. A title the story, and not about the conditions that brought it to press. about a second- or third-tier character, instead, would be an While the story is done and we don’t quite know all the future easier pitch, since there wouldn’t be any “competition” for the holds for the character, it would be interesting to approach it character coming from Marvel itself. again, later on, under different circumstances. The idea for doing something with Crimson Dynamo actually DF: In principle, do you think Epic was a feasible idea? dates back to the summer of 1991, when I was in grad school JJM: You have to admire the broad goal of seeking new then studying the Soviet Union, which at that point wasn’t long creators, even as we understand the attendant financial goal, for the map. I came up with a storyline involving Iron Man and which is to add depth to a publishing line without adding much a new, post-Soviet Crimson Dynamo, and while it’s not the infrastructure. series I developed for Epic, it has some elements I expect to But infrastructure is sometimes a hard thing to minimize in use down the road. publishing. It’s not a very easy thing to coordinate a book when Plus, the character seemed to me to be wide open for everyone involved is spread all over the country. Computer and reinterpretation. I mean, even my gut reaction to the character communication issues invariably arise, and as I said to Marvel was: “Cool name; cool look; but not one interesting alter ego editor Tom Brevoort after only a few months, no one’s really yet since the first one died in 1964.” There were six. I doubted any discovered an easier way to publish a comic book. Permanent Marvelite Maximuses (Maximii?) could name them DF: Are you now a “Marvel Guy” or, as a freelancer, do you all. (Though one amazingly did, at my first convention after the submit proposals and/or consider offers from all a variety of release…) companies? DF: Do you have any Russian background either ethnically or JJM: Right now, I’m being kept pretty busy between Marvel, academically? Krause, and some video game consulting. I have a wide range JJM: Not much variety on this family tree—we’re Southerners of interests, and I always listen to ideas, of course—I just have from way back. (My great-great-grandfather served under to carefully reconcile anything with my current schedule. Stonewall, and there’s been a John Jackson Miller in the family DF: Does your being a member of the comics press make ever since.) comics biz people not want to hire you, thinking you’d tell tales So it was all academic for me, although I came to it in a out of class? roundabout way. A hard science-fiction fan, I got obsessed with JJM: Not really—but then I play it painfully straight. I got a cell Arthur C. Clarke just in time for the novel—and later the phone just so I could run out into the freezing parking lot any movie—2010. (One of my favorites, though I know I may not time I got a call about a script. have a lot of company. Every year I talk to 2001: A Space 40 | WRITE NOW

Odyssey stars Keir Dullea and Gary Lockwood at the conventions, and Gary always says something disparaging about 2010. But then, his character was too dead to appear… Anyway, when I went to the University of Tennessee, it was with the notion of going into engineering and designing scramjets—spaceplanes, basically, that take off horizontally-— and I took Russian with the thought that—like in the 2001 novel, Americans and Russians would be cooperating in space before long. (Prophetic, that.) But it wasn’t to be. If the Challenger disaster hadn’t already dulled my enthusiasm, I found I stunk royally at calculus—and I set a “breakage” record in the chem lab that stands to this day. So I took a quick walk over to the journalism school. But I still had the Russian, so when I graduated and was lukewarm on going straight to work, I took a petrodollar fellowship at Louisiana State University to pursue Soviet studies. (Louisiana had tons of oil revenue that year and was casting it about in search of good GRE scores.) That was interesting, involving a summer at an “immersion camp” at Indiana University, to learn how to order borscht without accidentally asking for an invasive medical procedure. But fate intervened again, when the Soviet Union collapsed on my dissertation. Never one you could accuse of being blind to a hint, I took the master’s and mustered out. DF: Wouldn’t a fallen USSR have been more interesting to visit and study in? JJM: Sure—for a journalist. Social scientists, on the other hand, need to have data to study, and with everything up in the air, real research went on hold. The guys still in the game then planned to keep on studying their old Politburo data, saying it was relevant to the study of “elites.” Wonderful, I said—if a country with the identical history and geography ever goes Communist, you guys will know what to do. So, yeah, the Russian interest has been there, but it’s lain fallow for a long time. There just wasn’t anywhere in a comics career to put it, apart from noticing when writers were getting things about the country wrong. Being given a chance to get it wrong myself, I figured I’d draw on that background and actually tell a story that was set somewhere other than Manhattan. DF: How did you come up with your specific take for Crimson Dynamo? JJM: In 1992, I saw a photo in the newspaper of a young Russian woman, standing in the snow, selling her child’s toys and formula on the side of the street. She was selling out of a baby carriage, like a lot of people at market do over there. The thing is, she didn’t look as if she had always been impoverished. She looked educated, with graceful features—but this was during a currency crisis that laid everyone out, regardless of class, so the woman looked simply shellshocked, with sort of a “how the hell did I get here?” look to her. And I went, “Poor woman.” But a few years later, as a new father thinking about a pitch for Crimson Dynamo, I reflected on the picture and thought, “Poor kid.” What must the generation growing up now be like? You can’t make broad generalizations, of course; certainly, things are Westernizing quickly, and much of the situation has stabilized. But a lot of the kids there had parents who had either decent jobs, party connections, or both—who lost everything when Communism fell. So I came up with Gennady Garvilov. Not the child of the woman in the picture, of course, but the child of someone who was in similar straits. Anna Gavrilova was the daughter of a

party apparatchik and academic, who married an up-and-comer and seemed to have everything ahead of her. But the coup dealt her a bad hand, with her family disenfranchised and her husband losing his position and running off. A survivor, she does what she has to do, including marrying a factory supervisor who, while clearly beneath her intellectually, does put food on the table. Gennady is the little boy who doesn’t understand this—responding first to his spare lifestyle through theft and to his fool stepfather through rebellion and resentment. And this is the kid at whom I threw an artifact of the original Crimson Dynamo, the Stan Lee/Don Heck one from 1964. I figured that most Russians believed Dynamo and the rest of the Super Soldiers to have been faked for propaganda purposes, and that a kid of Gennady’s age today wouldn’t know what it was at all. So begins my homage to the movie War Games, where Gennady accidentally sets loose a horrible menace—and begins a race to stop it, himself. DF: Does the comic as it appears much resemble your original pitch? JJM: It’s a little busier, in fact, simply because of the embellishments that came as I went along staging scenes. There was a moment after issue #1 where Marvel essentially said, “spread it out,” which, while enhancing some action scenes, resulted in my throwing some of the elements from the train. Were I writing it again, I’d recognize that there’s about eight issues worth of material here, by the pacing I prefer—and would have set up fewer threads to resolve. The relationship between Gennady and his mother is still a part of the story, for example, but it’s a handled in a little more shorthand fashion than I had hoped. JOHN JACKSON MILLER | 41

ON WRITING

DF: Crimson Dynamo is “packaged” by you and Marc Patten. How does that work exactly? JJM: In the Epic situation, Marvel was expecting to be approached by writer-artist teams—who would then be expected to produce the title from start to finish. Marvel’s editors would consult all along the way, but much of the legwork is on the writer-artist team, right up to the day the CD with the comic book is delivered to Marvel. In my case, my superiors at Krause really preferred that I not take on a secondary role as a freelance publisher—writing was going to fill my spare time enough. I needed help, preferably from someone not only with publishing experience, but a good Rolodex and some experience. (I might have been able to find an artist on my own, but lettering and coloring were another story.) Enter Marc Patten, an old friend who’s been in comics for a long time. I met him when he was working for Heroes World Distribution, before they were bought by Marvel. Since then, he’s worked both in retail and on the editorial side of things for Crusade, Topps, and TV Comics. He’s done consulting work as Destination Entertainment. I figured, rightly, he’d be up to the task of finding a team.

DF: Are there any courses or books you recommend, about writing or in general? JJM: That’s an easy one: Courses that aren’t about comics, and books that aren’t comics. I’m strident about this one. You’ve got to know something else to write, or you’re only going to produce comics that are painfully self-referential. DF: Are you a guy who had twenty years worth of ideas in notebooks and now you’re getting to use them and get paid for them? JJM: Maybe that should be on my business card—because that’s exactly right. Of course, I’m also sponging up everything new I see at the same time. I subscribed to MIT’s Technology Review just to keep Tony Stark on the cutting edge… DF: Do you work full script or Marvel style? Why? JJM: I work full script. In the beginning, that’s what they wanted for Epic—and that’s probably best, anyway, for the whole everyone’s-all-over-the-place method of doing comics we have today. When we began Crimson Dynamo, we didn’t yet have broadband out here in the sticks—and if people were relying on me to do word balloon placement and scripting then, there would have been some awful roadblocks. DF: Do you co-plot with your artists? JJM: This really hasn’t been an option, so far. My Iron Man artists are overseas, and there’s a bit of a language barrier; and Crimson Dynamo was written before I met the artist. They do add their own touches—Steve Ellis, who had been an American exchange student in Russia, put a lot of local color into his issues of Crimson Dynamo. And Joe Corroney, a renowned Star Wars artist from Ohio, snuck in a few of his own Lucasfilm references in his issues of Dynamo. Life’s long, though, and the opportunity for collaboration may come up. DF: Is there any “fallback” way you structure stories when there’s a deadline and the inspiration isn’t flowing? JJM: Everything, for me, starts with the dialogue. I generally know how the scenes will play out, and “blocking” the dialogue theater-style tells me how many images we’re going to need. Meaning, I’ll know I’ve got this many lines, this many “beats”— and will need this many reaction shots. Then it’s a matter of wrapping the dialogue around something visually interesting. Occasionally, when a sequence just isn’t working as written, I’ll sleep on it—usually resulting in a 3 a.m. dash downstairs to sketch out in a notebook how a scene should look. If I have a default setting, it’s humor. If getting from point A to point B in a scene is complicated and could test readers’ attention, I’ll break it up with a “bit”—a page with no more purpose than to slow things down and get the readers back in with a gag piece. DF: Since you have a day job and write two comics a month, how do you structure your time? Do you have many family or other commitments you have to juggle? JJM: If a four-year-old and an infant count, yep, I’ve got other commitments. My writing bunches up in marathon sessions on the weekends, with correspondence and revisions fitting into weekday evenings. I’ve wondered occasionally what my output would be like if I did this full-time. I took a leave of absence from work after the birth of my daughter, but that turned out not to be any kind of realistic experiment in stay-at-home work. Playing Mr. Mom for one’s incapacitated spouse doesn’t leave a lot in the way of spare time. [ MILLER continues on page 47.]

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Here’s the short pitch from JJ Miller that first got Marvel interested in a Crimson Dynamo series for their Epic line. When the creator of the Crimson Dynamo died during the Cold War, what the Soviet Union didn’t know was that he’d left a legacy: a spare set of the immensely powerful armor, hidden away. Now the Russian government knows, and wants it back. So does the United States, fearful of what it can do. So does a shadowy group that will kill to get it. What they don’t know is that a teenage kleptomaniac’s got it. And he’s having too much fun to let them have it! After Marvel expressed interest, Miller then expanded the pitch into this full-scale proposal, which was accepted, and became the basis of the series. (We’ve illustrated the proposal with covers from the series and with past appearances of the character.)

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JOHN JACKSON MILLER | 45

Now that you’ve read the proposal that became the Crimson Dynamo series, you might want to compare the proposal to the series to see what stayed the same and what changed.

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[ MILLER continued from page 42.]

Actually, I really do think the tempo of my workweek helps me do what I have to do. During the day, I’m dealing with comics in abstraction, as prices or data points in the computer. That leaves the other side of the brain warmed up and ready to go.

ON IRON MAN DF: How did the Iron Man gig come about? JJM: After Crimson Dynamo was greenlit, I kept hearing that those scripts—and an alternate pitch and script of mine that Epic editor Stephanie Moore enjoyed but couldn’t pursue for Epic—were making the rounds through editorial. So it was a while before the first issue of Dynamo was even announced that Tom Brevoort asked me if I knew of a way to shake things up on Iron Man, to really put a new spin on the character. Within a minute, I had sketched a little drawing of Iron Man in front of The Pentagon logo—I still have that—and then on the cover of my actual pitch, I even Photoshopped him in place of Donald Rumsfeld, just to kind of give the at-a-glance idea. I asked myself, what would be so bad as to make Tony Stark give up part of his life like this to go into public service? And what would the political realities of the situation be? From there, it wrote itself—with considerable guidance from Tom, for which I’m thankful.

DF: Please talk about the pros and cons of working on a character with all that continuity. JJM: No cons, really—it’s all been opportunity. I think Marvel really is approaching these characters with decades of history with a “continuity-as-Easter-egg” approach. It’s like a joke on The Simpsons that only the adult viewers will get, but that the younger viewers won’t notice. In my case, the history of the character held the springboard—and simply needed to be reestablished for new readers in an interesting way. And so my first arc, “Best Defense,” has really ranged all over. Off the top of my head, issue #73 refers to events from Stark’s military work of the 1960s, his pacifist moves of the 1970s, and the “armor wars” of the 1980s. Issue #74 returned one of David Michelinie’s supporting cast. Issue #75 retold a Stan Lee scene from Tales of Suspense and brought back a Denny O’Neil villain. Issue #76 took us past the second Crimson Dynamo (mine is the seventh), Janice Cord, and King Midas, of all people. And not one bit of it is essential—it’s all window dressing. But the old fans like the drapes, from what I hear. In the absence of the old-style editorial footnotes, I mention some of those trivial references in the “liner notes” on my website, www.farawaypress.com (which should be active at your press time). The cons of continuity haven’t really fazed me much. Yes, I’ve done things where people have said, “Wait! You’ve forgotten about this happening,” only for them to see in the next issue that I didn’t forget, but was rather holding that element in JOHN JACKSON MILLER | 47

reserve for the right time. DF: Do you prefer long, leisurely story arcs or compact storytelling? JJM: Well, my “Best Defense” storyline surely came as a shock to some, as it’s crafted as something which starts slow and builds up to a crescendo. Not once in six issues does Iron Man exchange blows with a real supervillain, apart from in flashback. That makes for a risky and different kind of story, and I’m gratified that so many fans have warmed to it. A major part of the story is whether Tony Stark can solve a problem Iron Man made as Tony Stark, and not the other way around, which is the common route. I threw in a lot of bits with the armor and some teases here and there, in part to remind the action addicts that, no, I didn’t forget why we’re here. I also do borrow a bit from Tom Clancy’s storytelling method, which is sort of the upside-down tree—you start with all these branches and characters who don’t know each other, and eventually all their paths cross with a bang, and they realize and the reader realizes it’s all been one big related plot. That certainly happens in Crimson Dynamo, where the chase of the robot armor is a completely separate, and ongoing, adventure, at first completely apart from Gennady and his life—and then the two plots get both figuratively and literally closer together, culminating in the climax in the final issue. And it literally happens in Iron Man, when these various, seemingly unrelated, threads that have been set up all collide in #77 to create the disaster Tony must face. It’s definitely a style that’s suited for trade paperback collections. The trick is to keep enough going on in the individual chapters to keep the issue-by-issue patrons happy, and I work hard at that.

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ON COMICS DF: Can you talk about the influence of manga and anime on US comics? Have they effected a permanent shift in the market, or is it just a fad/phase? JJM: While I certainly appreciate anything that gets kids into comics and causes the cash register to ring for retailers, I can’t say I’m entirely comfortable about what manga’s longterm effects might be. For one thing, for my tastes, too much manga heads for minimalism—a couple of panels per page, a few word balloons at most—meaning you’ve got to sell a heck of a lot of pages to get a complete thought in. There are exceptions—Yukinobu Hoshino, who did 2001 Nights and The Two Faces of Tomorrow, gives us verbose and detailed pages packed with ideas—but in general, a 32-page manga comic book can be read in under two minutes. It’s one reason, certainly, that those publishers have headed toward publishing in giant portions. I’m all about the entertainment value—and I’ve written elsewhere that one of the reasons I fondly recall Chris Claremont’s two-issue Emma Frost story in Uncanny X-Men #151-152 is that there are six issues of story in it. Ten, by the standards of some manga creators. Did Chris torture his poor artists (Jim Sherman, Bob McLeod, and Joe Rubinstein)—in those issues? You bet—looking back on it now, there’re some postage-stamp action sequences I’d never dare try myself. But I remember that story—and remember that it took me 20 minutes to read each issue when I was a kid. I sure got my 50 cents worth, in my view. I also wonder what the long-term sense is in teaching kids to read comics back-to-front. Does it preserve the original art flow? Sure. Show what people in other parts of the world do? Got it. But for some kids, it produces only confusion—and it doesn’t necessarily translate to an ability to consume other kinds of comics. I don’t mean to sound like an old fogey who sees this as a cap-on-backwards affectation. Rather, I think it’s generally true that Americans do not like to be made to work for their entertainment. It’s way too easy to find something else more userfriendly. So, while I think comics can and should tap into some of manga’s energy and audience, we shouldn’t sacrifice those things we already know how to do well—like produce userfriendly packages with decent helpings of storyline. DF: Here’s an easy one: given your unique insider/outsider view, what do you think is the future of comics? JJM: They’ll be with us—but I’m not one of those guys who imagines they’ll be in a wildly different medium. There is a quality to comics in printed form that, for its consumers, is inherently bound up with the printed package. It can’t be replaced by a non-print version of itself. I respect Scott McCloud’s expertise and his devotion to comics on the Web, but really doubt the millions of existing comics readers will be the ones who will make online comics profitable—if they ever become so, which is questionable. It’ll have to be people who don’t know from comics, to put it ungrammatically. Similarly, while I’m in the process of transferring my VHS tapes to DVDs, I still have all my vinyl LPs! Why? Not because the vinyl medium is superior, or even playable. (I think all my needles are shot, anyway.) No, it’s because the packaging—the album art, the liner notes—are, in and of themselves, of value to me. Visual, tactile—those aspects of the package exist, and are not replicated in the CD or the Kazaa download. So, presuming that anyone ever makes the online version of

JJM: As noted earlier, I’m doing a little a comic book more than just an video game consulting for a project I illegible, inconvenient mess, I still can’t really go into. Other than that, probably won’t be emptying my shelves. I’ve studied screenplay writing, and I want the real thing—and I’m betting while I haven’t actively pursued it, feel anyone ever exposed to the printed confident I could adapt my style to it if version in the future will have the same the need arose. response. Other than that, prose fiction is Now, whether the printed delivery definitely in my future somewhere— system has to stay 32 pages is not as though whether it’s now or later will be certain, but I think it might. Directdetermined, in part, by the vagaries of market orders for the top 50 trade the comics market. I owe comics a lot, paperbacks, as reported by Diamond, and intend to give back as long as I’m actually dropped in 2003, while welcome. periodical sales increased. That’s the DF: Would you ever want a comics first time that combination of events editorial job? has ever happened. In the bookstore JJM: Having worked as an editor for market, it’s almost all TPB sales now— many years, I do not envy the life of a periodicals are on the way out. comics editor one bit. I only have I think there’s a reason for that—that writers to deal with, and the occasional the comics shop is becoming the home photographer. They have to herd for the “work in progress” audience. writers, pencilers, inkers, letterers, Which is good, because you have to colorists—it’s amazing what they’re have the periodical, or the publisher will able to get done. My limited brush with never get to the trade paperback. production on Crimson Dynamo was There’s a reason 95% of all squareenough to fill me with respect for Tom bound comics are collections and not Brevoort and Stephanie Moore and Joe original graphic novels. It’s just too Adi Granov’s cover for Iron Man v. 3 #75. Miller will collaborate with Granov on upcoming issues of Iron Man. Quesada and all the dozens of other hard to feed yourself in the middle of [©2004 Marvel Characters, Inc.] people who make the comics happen drawing a 168-page masterpiece— behind the scenes. better to let the direct market subsidize I also have an aversion to traffic, borne of ten years of you at whatever level it can as you go along, allowing work to country life. So unless one of the majors relocates to Waupaca proceed. County, I expect the pickings will be few… DF: What’s the editor’s role, ideally and really? THE FUTURE JJM: To make money for his publisher, while trying to produce DF: What’s coming up for you? something at the same time that improves the world in some JJM: In addition to my Krause work, Iron Man goes biweekly little bit. My job, then, is to make the editor’s job as easy as this spring with “The Deep End,” a sequence set in Iraq and possible, since doing the above is often easier than it sounds. drawn by Uncanny X-Men artist Phillip Tan. I’ve consulted a lot DF: How would you suggest newcomers try to break in? with an old friend who’s an army captain over there right now to JJM: Change careers several times, edit collecting publications get the flavor authentic. There’s also another story, a hard for a decade, demonstrate that you’ve got “sweat equity” in the science-fiction one, drawn by Adi Granov, whose wonderful field, and then wait to be asked to take a stab at a major covers have graced several “Best Defense” issues. That’ll be publisher’s new-talent program. Lather, rinse, repeat. in Iron Man #83, in June. There are other ways, but that’s the one I picked. Your That’s my spring, and beyond that I shouldn’t say… mileage may differ… DF: Do you have any desire to do creator-owned material? Are Seriously, it really is a simple matter of having the fundayou working on any such projects? mentals of communication down, having something new to say, JJM: I would like to get Faraway Looks out there in some and being willing to learn what your market is looking for. Being format, although it’ll keep until I have time to do it in the right in the right place at the right time is certainly a part of it—but way. This is the nice thing about not being a big-time publishing you’ve got to be sure you’re capable of jumping into action concern—when and whether to go forward hangs wholly on your when you get that call. whim and wallet. That’s where, I think, journalism may be one of the best I have a few other pieces on standby that are really waiting starting points for comics writers. When you go to work every for me to return my attentions to them. Two concepts would day for a few years prepared to write obituaries, make lumber work equally well in prose, as screenplays, or as, say, Vertigosound interesting, or whatever comes your way, then reviving style comics series—it’s really just a matter of what doors are old Cold War supervillains on a week’s notice doesn’t feel like open at the time I get back around to them. so much of a curve ball. DF: Are you a comics guy now, or a journalism guy who happens DF: Thanks for taking the time to answer my questions, John. to be writing comics? Your take on things should prove quite informative for the JJM: Yes. Don’t ask me to clarify the response, because my readers. head will start to hurt... JJM: I hope so—it’s been a learning experience for me, DF: Do you have any interest in working in other narrative and one I’m glad to discuss. Thanks for asking! media?

THE END

JOHN JACKSON MILLER | 49

BUILDING A MONSTER

How I Created the Frankenstein Mobster

ark Wheatley is an award-winning creator of radical comic books. Preferring the title “Comic Book Maker,” he is known internationally as an artist, writer, editor, publisher and inventor. Noted for comics with heart and integrity, he holds the Inkpot, Mucker and Speakeasy Awards and his projects have been nominated for the Harvey Award and the Ignatz Award. His work has been included in the Spectrum selection of fantastic art and has appeared in private gallery shows as well as the Library of Congress where several of his originals are in the LoC permanent collection. His comic book creations include Mars, Breathtaker, Black Hood, Prince Nightmare, Hammer of the Gods, Blood of the Innocent, Frankenstein Mobster and Titanic Tales. His interpretations of established characters such as Tarzan the Warrior, The Adventures of Baron Munchausen, Jonny Quest, Dr. Strange, The Flash, Argus and The Spider have brought them to life for a new generation of readers. Not content to simply create the contents of comics, Mark has worked as an editor and art director for a number of publishers and is the inventor of color production technology for comics. He established the highly respected Insight Studios in 1978 as a home base for a team of talented comic creators. Insight Studios is the subject of an “insightful” coffee table style art book, IS ART: the Art of Insight Studios. In other fields, he has written a number of episodes for Troll Tales a new television show being produced in Denmark, illustrated elaborate hardback novels, designed pioneering role-playing games and was an early innovator of the on-line daily comic strip form. Currently two of Mark’s creations, Hammer of the Gods and Breathtaker are under active option by major Hollywood producers and studios. In this enlightening piece, Mark tells the story of how his creation, Frankenstein Mobster, came to be. It’s a terrific insight into the conceptual work that goes into creating a fictional universe and its characters. —DF They call a pun the lowest form of humor. This gem of wisdom obviously came from someone who couldn’t come up with puns. I don’t have that problem. When I’m listening to people talk, reading, watching a movie, driving down the road, my mind is constantly scrolling through a possible list of synonyms, analogs and tenuous relationships between associated subjects. What can I say? I never metaphor that I didn’t like. In my creative process, often it is a pun, word-based or

by MARK WHEATLEY visual, that provides the seed of an idea. All I need is an element that puts an unexpected spin on the ordinary. That’s how I got myself into writing and drawing a comic book series about a tough cop in a city of Monsters and Mobsters; the Frankenstein Mobster. Frankenstein Mobster is equal parts the mood and menace of James Whale and Boris Karloff’s Frankenstein, crossed with the energy and sudden violence of an old Warner Brothers gangster epic, and I draw it with exaggeration and touches of humor. There’s a rich backstory of a family devoted to law and order set against the backdrop of a mob-owned city that has it’s own spooky history dating back to the American Revolution. From Mad Scientist, Witch and Warlock, to bank jobs, fixed

sporting events and crooked politicians, Frankenstein Mobster is a series that has recognizable icons and situations to attract an audience while it sews together the old parts in new ways. The Time: Now. The World: A familiar place with one exception: MONSTERS ARE REAL! The Place: A city that is run by Mobsters and is home to Monsters. The Setting: Monstros City I spent a great deal of time planning the background of Monstros City. Not only did this place need to justify its strange history, but it also had to offer enough conflict and mystery to support a long-running series of stories. So I made it a coastal, sea port city of commerce. Monstros City became a real melting pot of races including long time natives, immigrants fresh off the boat and every kind of spook and monster. This is a place where the lower classes are mostly monsters; zombies, mummies, the unwashed and undead. The living human population has it pretty good with the extensive resource of monsters for a labor force. The lower class of the living is a bit pissed that monsters are taking their jobs and this has precipitated a number of clashes between the poor and the undead. It has gotten to the point where most cab drivers are either mummies or zombies. The sanitation engineers are largely ghouls and the few remaining living humans in that line are really disgusted by the ghoulish habit of snacking on the garbage. The monsters live in a rundown section once known as Druid Hill but now uniformly referred to as the Dead End of town. This didn’t just happen. Monstros City has a long history of spooks and goblins. Goes way back to pre-Revolutionary days. While Salem gets all the reputation for witches, that’s only because those people killed their magic makers. Around Monstros City, the magic crowd managed to play it smart and stayed alive. At the inception of Druid Hill there was an organized league of Druids who helped settle Monstros. They came over on the ships like the Pilgrims did. Searching for religious freedom. But the way this worked out, they ended up on one side of the Sticks River and the good Christian souls took the other side. It was really two separate towns until a little before the Civil War. Druid Hill on one side of the river and Hydes on the other. But everyone pulled together during the War Between the States. As might be imagined, Druids were real helpful in the fighting. The problem came from the pirates. The folks of the town of Hydes made a deal with these Pirates. Druid Hill and Hydes were big on shipping, their shared bay is a natural seaport. So Hydes decided to offer a pardon to any Pirates who would help form a navy and defend the harbor from the Yankee ships. The guy who was heading the Pirates at that time was Lucas Monstros. Funny how people can remember a name, but forget just where it came from. The good news was: Lucas Monstros was a natural leader of men. And his outsider status gave him an unusual sympathy for the magic crowd and the monsters. After he successfully defended the two towns, he quickly put these places back on their feet. After the war he was able to bring the towns together under one city government. Folks around here were so grateful —they had seen what the Yankees and their carpetbaggers were doing to the rest of the South—so grateful that they not

only elected Lucas Monstros as the first mayor of the combined burg, but they also voted to name the place Monstros City. By the time of the First World War, Monstros City was a bustling sea port of entry for the Mid-Atlantic States. The city was an “off the books” kind of place. Essentially a mob-run town. And while the Hydes family currently runs the Mobs and the city, they are acting out the legacy of Lucas Monstros. No one should have been surprised. Elect a crook and a crooked government is what you get. Monstros City is an American town, located on the East Coast just slightly south of Ocean City in Maryland. Today the place is still run by the mobs. And the mobsters have a nasty dislike for the monsters. Like East St. Louis, Monstros City has managed to survive as an isolated capsule of crime into the new century. But unlike East St. Louis, Monstros City doesn’t look like it will be making changes any time soon. The reason most of us have managed to go through life without hearing about the place is the work of a magic spell that has wiped the memory and knowledge of Monstros City from the world. The spell has also had some interesting effect on the city itself. There is very little modern technology. Monstros City is stalled somewhere between the late 1940s and early 1950s in its fashions and gear. You won’t be seeing any computers or cell phones here. And when you do see a family well off enough to afford a black-and-white television set, the TV shows are all somehow warped versions of what we know in the rest of the world. Apparently, the magic spell takes a modern show like Dawson’s Creek and turns it into Peyton Place. When I began developing the Frankenstein Mobster and his world it was the direct result of requests from publishers. In the early 1990s I had conversations with several large publishing houses, some who published comic books and some who were thinking it was time to start publishing comic books. The conversations were the natural result of my knowing and having worked for these people. The odd thing was that in each conversation, it was the other guy who suggested that I should create a whole line of comic books, a shared universe of Mark Wheatley creations. After about the third suggestion I started to actually take the idea seriously. And there my troubles began. With the seeds of an impending collapse of the direct comic book market already planted but beyond my personal radar, I set about bringing nearly 70 characters to life. Never one to do [ WHEATLEY continues on page 53.] MARK WHEATLEY | 51

“IT’S ALIVE!”

Mark Wheatley’s First Notes on FRANKENSTEIN MOBSTER he following is an “exercise” I did—the equivalent of a pencil sketch an artist might do—to think out on paper my ideas for Frankenstein Mobster. —MW

The sky was bleeding. Lighting lanced the dark clouds like surgical knives and great torrents of rain sloshed over the city. The storm had raced in from the sea, surprising Monstros City residents with its intensity. Ronny Carse was drenched before he dove into the first taxi that stopped. He sluiced water from his coat sleeves as he told the driver, “Follow that car but don’t make it obvious!” The driver hunched over the steering wheel and mumbled, “Effry body in hurry.” Ronny examined the driver’s taxi license and muttered, “Not a damn mummy!” The license’s information stated, RAMU DRAKO (UNDEAD) CAB NO. 0000147-00-586 The driver ignored Ronny and diligently tailed the ominous black sedan saying, “Hate this rain, I’m growing mold.” Ronny looked out the window at the wet street and the people who were still scattering for shelter, “Yeah =snf= you ever hear of using an air freshener?” Soon they were at the waterfront. Ronny watched as the black sedan stopped at the Davy Jones Locker Bar & Grill to unload a dapper-looking man and two guards. The mummy asked, “Gimme a break. Who we watchin’?” Ronny snorted, “What’s a mummy care about crime in Monstros City?” The mummy answered, “Crime? Is what this is?” Another car pulled up to the bar. Ronny said, “I’m a reporter for the Tablet. We’re watching our local Mob Bosses have a night out. They got most of the money in town, but for some reason they can’t resist the culinary delights offered by a waterfront dive that depends on the strength of the alcohol to kill the germs in the food.” The watched car disgorged a short man and two more guards armed with golf umbrellas. Ronny pointed, “That’s Mel Haven—he’s running things on the south side since Pierce Franken got killed last week. The guy who went in ahead of him was Tom Garney. He took over from Stitches O’Neill after Stitches fell apart day-before-yesterday. There’s been a total shift in power in this city over the last month. The feds were in town and knocked off Twitch Randall, Hammer Grady, and Max Poe about three weeks ago.” Another car arrived and two men and four guards landed on the sidewalk. “There’s the pair that should interest a monster. You live in the Dead End don’t you?” The mummy turned his red eyes on Ronny. “Yeah, but we don’t like being called monsters.” “Yeah, yeah, you’re an ’Extraordinary’—but I’ll always call you a Monster because that sounds so much more charming to me and most of the other people in this city.” The Mummy glared at Ronny until the reporter said, “And I mean that in the best sense of the word. So the reason you should want to know about Ken and Carver Beal is that they pretty much run things in the Dead End since Twitch bought the 52 | WRITE NOW

farm. The Beal Twins are not good people, and they have an ’Extraordinary’ dislike for monsters.” The Mummy asked, “What they doing here?” “Why are the Nuevo Mobsters of Monstros City gathering at a waterfront dive at Mark’s cover to FM #1. midnight on Friday the 13th? [©2004 Mark Wheatley.] Well, my not-so-tightly wrapped friend, that is indeed the question. And the answer is: I don’t know. In fact, I don’t think I want to know because I’m a reporter and if I knew what was going on I might be tempted to do my job and tell this city all about it and that not only could lose me my job but also drastically curtail my long-term retirement plans.” The storm raged on. Lightning stabbed at the Davy Jones again and again. Even the mummy noticed it, “Place sure calls down the lightning.” Ronny considered that bit of information, “Hummm. Very observant. I count almost a dozen hits in the last few minutes. I’m no scientist, but I gotta believe any strikes over three would be very much against the odds.” The lightning sizzled out of the sky and caressed the complex array of rods and cables that had turned the roof of the Davy Jones into a pin cushion. The resulting electric charge raced along a cable and headed down to earth, seeking a ground. Like gold fire, the electric charge flashed down past the three floors of the building. Lightning was striking again and again. The power poured down the cable and flowed deep into the earth. In a damp, cavernous catacomb, hundreds of feet below the basement of the Davy Jones, the power crackled and hummed, dancing across the arcane equipment of a laboratory that was furnished in early “mad scientist.” Dr. Solva Quinn shifted her weight in her wheelchair, squinted through bottle-bottom glasses and smiled with approval. “Perfect. Everything is perfect, gentlemen!” The Mobsters and their guards were standing uncomfortably close together. The cluttered lab was not designed to accommodate an audience. Small pools of water were forming where the men stood. Ken Beal clearly thought this was a waste of his time. “I’m a busy man, Dr. Quinn.” Carver Beal added, “Do your trick, lady—we got monsters to fry.” Dr. Quinn regarded the Mobster twins calmly. “I’m sure you do. But I think you can spare a half an hour to watch me create life.” And that’s where I stopped. Right in the middle of the creation of life. I didn’t need to go further with it, because I had the tone I was looking for: the light touch on dark subject matter.

THE END

[ WHEATLEY continued from page 51.]

things halfway, I brought a number of my good and respected fellow creators into the project. I worked with Allan Gross, Pat McGreel, Dave Rawson, Damon Willis, Tim Sale, Marc Hempel, Peter Snjbear, Teddy Khristionson, P. Craig Russell, Rick Burchett and others to develop storylines, backgrounds, world history, and character designs for something I had named the Lightning Line. We churned out reams of paper, stacks of folders, video presentations, and mock comic books. I had meeting after meeting with the industry players. In the end it was all for nothing. By this point the industry was in obvious collapse and no one could now commit to such a massive project. Correction: it wasn’t all for nothing. We did get one thing out of it—about 70 fully-developed characters. And one of these characters was the Frankenstein Mobster. My original plan was to have Marc Hempel do the art on the series while I would write. Marc even did a sample page and some presentation art. It was beautiful stuff. My first drawing of the Frankenstein Mobster was a presentation piece that I based on Marc’s design. And all of this has been sitting in a drawer ever since, out of sight but not out of mind. As the years passed, I kept thinking of all the aborted characters and stories from the Lightning Line. We had offered support to each other during the creative process of the Lightning Line, but we had each developed ideas on our own. I’ve never seen much good come from true committee creations. So each of us felt a creative connection to our own sets of characters. Allan Gross pulled a number of his characters out of limbo for other projects. But out of them all, it was the Frankenstein Mobster who kept stirring my imagination. Meanwhile, there were other series to write, comic books to draw—I even spent time writing for television. Finally, it was Allan Gross who got tired of me always returning to the Frankenstein Mobster concepts in our conversations. He pretty much ordered me to get it out of my system, to tell the story. So in 1996 I read through the Lighting Line Frankenstein Mobster material. I was surprised how much about the character had changed in my mind in the intervening years. The stories and characters in my mental file cabinet were far more developed than what was actually on paper. I decided that I needed to start from scratch. I wrote a new history of Monstros City, the setting for the series. Then I began to develop the character of the cop who would become the Frankenstein Mobster. The Cop’s name was Terry Todd. Terry Todd was the best detective Monstros City ever saw. Maybe it was just because he wasn’t a very complicated man. But he was unable to be a hypocrite. A crime was a crime and if he knew of a crime in progress he would work to solve it, to stop it. It didn’t matter if his superiors on the force didn’t want him working a case, he just kept at it. But he wasn’t stupid and he knew better than to throw it into the faces of the corrupt officials who issued his paycheck. He always found a plausible way of having the crime “go away,” along with whoever was doing the dirty work. Word got around. Don’t mess with Terry Todd. In spite of the general level of corruption in the city government and police, Terry Todd was able to work surreptitiously to bring down the worst offenders in the mobs. And, for the most part he managed to walk the thin line of upholding the law and not pissing off the mobsters. But he finally picked the wrong case to investigate. Monsters were disappearing. They weren’t turning up dead or destroyed, they were just

vanishing. They still are. The problem is, not many humans in Monstros City care about monsters. This includes the “average” citizen. These people resent the invasion of their city by creatures they consider to be made up of the “lower orders.” The Mobs are blatantly anti-monster and this actually gains them support with that “average citizen.” In the case of the missing monsters, Todd just saw a crime that should be solved. More often than not, Todd found himself working cases in the Dead End of town simply because no one else would. And he believed the Monsters deserved the protection of the law. So, Todd was hot on the trail of a case that was taboo to the Mobs and unsupported by the public. It was only a matter of time before Todd turned up dead. And, as an unsettling touch, he was found in a dismembered state. The popular rumor is that ghouls got to him. The new mayor of Monstros City even used the case as an issue in his election campaign to show how the ghouls were getting out of hand. Back in the Lightning Line days, my original idea was to have Terry Todd brought back to life by a team of mad scientists so he could fight crime undercover as a Mobster. Monstros City didn’t yet have the needed background beyond a history of crime. On my second try at getting this series up and running, I knew more was needed. I needed to see how all the elements in my mental file cabinet would interact. I needed to play with them and see what kind of mood all this would create. What would the tone of the series be? How were the people who lived in this place dealing with all of this? So I just took what was running around in my head and

The first drawing of Frankenstein Mobster for the Lightning Line presentation. This version was based on Mark Hempel’s version of the character. Art by Mark Wheatley. [©2004 Mark Wheatley.] MARK WHEATLEY | 53

started writing. It was an exercise in seeing what would fall into place. I had no intention that what I wrote would ever be more than the written equivalent of a sketch and I never intended for it to see print as part of the series. In a sidebar accompanying this article is my first pass at Frankenstein Mobster. Some of the minor details are now out of date. But the amazing thing is just how much of this has remained untouched into the final version completed almost half a decade later. After the exercise detailed in the sidebar, I started to rethink

the visuals for Frankie (as I was now mentally calling him). My early sketches were inspired by my love for the concept drawings for the classic King Kong film and the lighting style of old black-and-white horror films. It was beginning to dawn on me that pencil rendering was going to be an important element of style for the series. Ultimately, I sculpted a head of Frankie and that made him live for me. From that moment on, I knew that the Frankenstein Mobster was trapped in a basic conflict that could drive any one of us over the edge. Here was the best cop in town, brought back to life by having parts of his body sewn together with the remains of three other guys—and each one of them a Mobster! When Frankie first comes to life, he finds that he contains four personalities that are at war. I’ve always subscribed to the idea that the only conflict worth writing about is the battle that goes on inside a character. In the case of the Frankenstein Mobster, I had created a character who came with not one conflicted personality, but four! By 1997, the Insight Studios website was pulling in record numbers of visitors to our newly-launched SunnyFundays.com where we featured on-line daily comic strips. Several of these strips were Lighting Line alumni. So it seemed appropriate that I began to develop Frankenstein Mobster for this new, cuttingedge medium. I drew 13 weeks of dailies before my responsibilities of running the publishing at Insight eclipsed my available time for drawing. Before I realized my time for drawing had evaporated, I put what I had written for Frankie and much of what I had drawn into a presentation folder that I showed to friends in the comics industry and in the film industry. The reaction was swift and overwhelming. I was suddenly fielding offers for film options—and I only had a handful of pages of art and a few pages of story. In spite of the pressure on me to create more, I had no time to do anything about it. Our publishing schedule was booming thanks to Frank Cho’s Liberty Meadows. It was a very difficult decision for me to select between keeping a successful publishing machine running or to take a run at making a major motion picture. Both publishing and motion picture making are unstable and often doomed enterprises. But I knew more about publishing than movie making, so Frankie went back into his grave, with my best intentions that I would resurrect him again at my first opportunity. For the next few years, while I designed books, planned marketing, and managed a growing staff, Frankie lived in my dreams and imagination. His world grew richer. His character became more real. His shallow origins as a pun were long past. Now I could list his favorite drinks and food. I knew his

One of the Frankenstein Mobster on-line daily strips that ran on a variety of web sites. This one features an appearance by Vampirella. [Frankenstein Mobster ©2004 Mark Wheatley; Vampirella ©2004 Harris Publications, Inc.] 54 | WRITE NOW

life. His family. His accomplishments. I knew what the world thinks of him. And I knew just as much about the other people who lived in Monstros City and who felt lost when Terry Todd died. The final important element for the series was the creation of Terry Todd’s daughter, Terri Todd. Terri’s mother left town under mysterious circumstances when Terri was a kid. Terry Todd was left on his own to raise his daughter. Jerry Ordway’s cover to Frankenstein Mobster He did it as if she #3 [©2004 Mark Wheatley.] was a son, taking her to ballgames, showing her the tricks of police work, expecting her to do a “man’s job.” In spite of her father’s equal treatment of the monsters, Terri grew up feeling ambivalent about the spooky people. She had decided it was somehow their doing that had driven her mother away. Later, when her dad was supposed to have been murdered by ghouls, she hardened against all the monsters. She went to a local community college, then graduated from the police academy. She joined the Monstros City police force and, less than a year after her dad was murdered, she has just made the rank of detective. Everyone expects Terri to live up to her dad’s reputation. But she believes she can find a way to work in the corrupt system rather than slapping “the hand that bribes” as her father had. But she also intends to find whoever murdered Terry Todd. And she’s getting no support from her Captain or the force, and lots of threats to stay away from the old case. It isn’t long before she discovers she is more like her Dad than she thought. With repeated requests from film companies for an option on Frankenstein Mobster coming in I decided to write a spec film script for the character. Between all my other responsibilities, it took about nine months to squeeze out the time to finish the project. When it was done, I was so enamored with what I had created, so excited by the visual potential of the setting and the characters, I knew I had to make the time somehow to write and draw the comic book series of Frankenstein Mobster. In 2001 I began a rewrite of the film script as seven issues of a comic book series. Late in the year, I started breakdowns for the first issue. By January I knew that I had to write a completely new first issue to better take advantage of the comic book form, and this became Frankenstein Mobster issue #0. Issue #0 now stands as a single story, a simple introduction to Terri Todd and my cast of supporting characters, characters so rich and brimming with life. It is a tour of a world of Mobsters and Monsters. And it firmly establishes the basic conflicts in the world of Monstros City. Along with my other responsibilities at Insight Studios, I

spent the year of 2002 drawing and lettering the first two issues. A trip to Europe early in the year gave me a great deal of inspiration for the architecture of Monstros City, and these influences made their way into the series from page one. 2003 and 2004 have been spent on the continuing issues, with quite a bit of the story arc done before the series was even solicited. I’m still creating the Frankenstein Mobster series. I think of new material for the series and the characters every day. I find myself hoping that, with this series, it will be a long time before I’m done. Fortunately, for a character who began life as a simple pun, who was killed by market changes and brought to life again and again by fate, the Frankenstein Mobster now looks to have a long life head of him. Frankie has shared quite a few stories with me that I want to share with all of you. There is the one about the “Three Ghouls And a Baby,” the “Roadside Ghost,” “The Patchwork Past,” the “Hell Busters,” the small but catastrophic conflicts of characters and the constant tales of spooks and beasties, crime and punishment—even such weighty issues as racial profiling and discrimination—so many stories now fill my imagination and my sketch books that I have little doubt that the Frankenstein Mobster will find more than a few more lives. Maybe he has a cat or two sewn up in him along with the three Mobsters and that Cop. That would give him at least a total of nine lives. HAVE FUN! — Mark Wheatley http://www.InsightStudiosGroup.com http://www.SunnyFundays.com.com http://www.FrankensteinMobster.com

THE END

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www.romitaman.com MARK WHEATLEY | 55

Mark Wheatley’s script, thumbnails and finished art for pages of Frankenstein Mobster #1.

As his own writer and artist, Mark can modify script and art as he goes along, until he comes up with the total effect he’s looking for.

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e Manley 004 Danny Fingeroth & Mik All characters this page ©2

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An Animated Career

The YVETTE KAPLAN Interview Conducted by Danny Fingeroth December 19, 2003 / Transcribed by Steven Tice Edited by Danny Fingeroth / Copy-edited by Yvette Kaplan

vette Kaplan tells stories with animation. I think that makes her a writer. But in the world of animation, the collaborative process is such that things are not so clear cut, as this interview will show. Yvette’s titles over the years have included: artist, animator, animation director, producer and much more. She also teaches animation at the School of Visual Arts. Her credits list includes Beavis and Butthead, Doug, and Ice Age. All her work involves crafting scenes and bits into a bigger picture. Recently, Yvette has officially added the title “writer” to her resumé, as she develops her own concepts into animation. However you parse it out, she tells stories. And her stories of her life and career are well worth reading. So… read on… —DF DANNY FINGEROTH: I’m here with Yvette Kaplan, who is an animation director and writer... I think. A lot of my questions deal with defining what you do, so let’s say, to start, you’re an animation director. Is that correct? YVETTE KAPLAN: Yes, I’m an animation director, and a story consultant, story development person, show creator. Just overall animation consultant/director person. Producer. [laughter] Writing is part of what I do in every aspect of my work. Even years and years ago, when I was an animator, I say that I wrote. But I’ve never been a credited writer on anything. My writing input is through my directing. DF: Okay. What is an “animator”? Is that a specific description of a job title, or a general way of saying that you’re in animation? YK: An animator is the person who actually does the drawings. It’s a skill, it’s a craft, it’s a wonderful ability, to put life into drawings. The animator sits and does drawing after drawing after drawing, creating the movement, bringing that character to life. So the animator is the artist. The animator has the pencil, or the animator has the paint, the animator is the sculptor—if they’re working with stop-motion, and the animator is the person at the computer doing Toy Story or Ice Age. So the animator is the hands through which it actually becomes real. DF: And have you done that? YK: Yes. But years ago. When I went to college, I majored in animation. At five years old, I wanted to be an animator. Because I drew. That was when drawing was my whole life. And I created characters, and all I wanted was one day to see them move. So I went to the School of Visual Arts and majored in Animation. It was amazing, seeing my first character running around the screen. From that moment on, I was an animator. And I pursued working in New York, in the industry. And I animated for... it must have been about ten years. DF: So you were an artist first, and by inclination, as a kid. What were your favorite cartoons and influences as a kid and as a teenager?

58 | WRITE NOW

YK: Max Fleischer cartoons, definitely. Unlike most animators, it wasn’t Disney. At least, not that I’m not aware of. I’m sure the Disney TV series Wonderful World of Color influenced me tremendously. In fact, that’s where I might first have seen what an animator was. I’m sure it was the Disney show. But, for some reason—my family, we didn’t get to many movies—so I didn’t see an awful lot of Disney features until later. Weird. But I lived by TV. It was the old Max Fleischer Color Classics, the Betty Boop cartoons, Popeye, but really the Color Classics. Some odd, dark films. One’s called Greedy Humpty Dumpty. Then there was Dancing on the Moon. Oh, and Gulliver’s Travels. That was Fleischer’s wannabe Disney feature and it really hooked me. Probably if I had seen Snow White in the theaters, that would have been it for me. But the best I got was Gulliver, and I loved it. I saw that movie every time it was on. That was it. DF: The Hanna-Barbera stuff and the Jay Ward stuff, was that significant? YK: Oh, I watched everything. But I don’t think they were around in my formative years. It was entertainment, but by then my sensibilities were already locked into the kind of thing I wanted to do. Yes, I loved the Hanna-Barbera and Jay Ward material, but I never worked on that type of really gag-oriented cartoon. I’m known for comedy because of my association with Beavis and Butthead, but all my influences were more poetic or surreal, I’d say. DF: Was there anybody in your family, group of friends, the people you went to school with, who had similar interests? Or this is something that just came to you individually? YK: My mother drew when she was young, but she never did it in front of me. I was totally encouraged to do so, but it was really a way of survival for me. I was kind of a lonely kid, very inner-world oriented, when I was young. I didn’t come out into my own until maybe my pre-teen years. Then I was out and social as can be, but in my early years, especially four, five six, I would just sit and draw, draw, draw. I’d pretend that I made my friends on my pieces of paper. I wrote little stories. Little sequential art things. DF: This was in Brooklyn? YK: In Brooklyn, in my little apartment building, sitting at the coffee table cross-legged, drawing on loose leaf paper because that’s all we had. DF: Your parents encouraged your drawing? Discouraged it? YK: Encouraged. My father was my biggest fan. He used to play cards down in the park on the weekend, because we lived right next to a big park. That was my backyard. And he’d come

upstairs for lunch or something and see what I drew and go, “Ooh, ooh, ooh! I don’t believe it!” And he’d take all my drawings and run downstairs to show his friends. DF: That’s good positive reinforcement. YK: Definitely. DF: Was there an art club or animation club in school or anything like that? YK: No, but there were a couple of art teachers at Lafayette, my high school, that really did champion me, and they got me into an art course on the weekend, a scholarship to the Brooklyn Museum. It was an advertising graphics course. So that might have been a Yvette’s production notes for a scene from an episode of Beavis & Butthead, who really big part of my shift to thinking and were created, of course, by Mike Judge. [©2004 MTV Networks.] solving problems artistically, thinking in a YK: The whole school. So when he came to speak at my high different way, getting a little writing in there too, because it was school and he mentioned the word “animation,” that was it. I concept-oriented. There were two, Mr. Levitt and Mrs. Holden. I knew that was where I was going to go. And I got a full scholwant to thank them. David Levitt. I think he’s still there, a arship to SVA through the School Art League. I don’t know if wonderful guy. And Mrs. Holden was the head of the art it’s still around. It was a private group of patrons who took care department. And they did champion me. of young art students who couldn’t afford to go to school. It DF: Were you into comic books at all? was portfolio and need-based. I thank them too. YK: Yes! Betty and Veronica, Archie. I have an older brother, DF: When you were at SVA, was there anybody we would have thirteen years older. He moved out and got married when I was heard of who either were your teachers or your classmates seven. But he was a big comic collector, and there were some there? of his old Superman comics that were left in the apartment. YK: Tom Sito was a classmate. In fact, I just got a really nice Most of them were missing the front covers and a few pages. Christmas e-mail from him last night. And he’s from Brooklyn, I’d start in the middle of a story, because that’s all there was too! After SVA, he went off to L.A. and worked at Disney, for me. I read them over and over. That was it, he didn’t have animating on The Little Mermaid, Beauty and The Beast, any of the other characters, he was a Superman fan. Then I Aladdin. Then he was prominent in Story on Pocahontas, and started to buy the love comics, like Patsy and Hedy and Millie on Shrek at DreamWorks. And tons of other things. And he was the Model. I was constantly in the corner luncheonette looking co-director of Osmosis Jones. That’s the usual progression— through comics. I must have bought a comic every day. animator, story, director. Now I believe he just started his own But my favorite, once I discovered it, became this more company, with some other L.A. artists. obscure comic called Thirteen Going On Eighteen, done by DF: Was the animation department a boy’s club? John Stanley. It was the funniest thing, full of amazing comic YK: No. It was wonderful. I had great, inspiring teachers. timing in the panels, and I’d swear now that it taught me that, Everyone was as supportive as hell. No competition between timing, which is the heart of animation. I still have my the students. Everyone helped each other out. I’m still close collection. I still have my collection. Oh, and also Sugar and with a lot of the people. Spike, by Sheldon Mayer. I loved those. DF: You said the professional progression in the animation DF: So did you ever think of going into comics? Or was the business is usually... animation, the stuff that moved, always more appealing? YK: Animator, story, director. Job titles and duties are very YK: In college I did some comics, but animation was always the confusing, because there’re so many hands. Animated films thing. I’ve said many times that I let a five-year-old decide my are such compilations of different people’s work. So it’s very life. Somehow, making that statement in my own mind when I hard to prove who did what. A writer has a script, “this is my was five, and making it real by telling people, “I’m going to be script.” If your name is the main name on something, you an animator, I’m going to be an animator,” was important for pretty much assume you are responsible for it, but an animator me. I didn’t vary from that goal. is such a behind-the-scenes kind of part. But perhaps if I DF: Now, you said you went to SVA. Was that the only choice for explain in one little tiny moment, my transition from animator to you? Did you have other colleges you were thinking of, or other director, I think you’ll see how in some ways an animator is directions? always writing, because they’re always making decisions about YK: College in my family and in my group meant either Brooklyn characters. The decisions are moving-based, but they’re also College or, in my particular case, my brother went to the acting-based. That’s what’s always said: “an animator is an Fashion Institute of Technology so that was where I would have actor with a pencil.” gone, because that’s all I knew. But there was a college fair DF: And what about a director? Do your progression. one day at Lafayette, and representatives from different YK: I was an animator on the Nickelodeon show Doug. Before colleges came to speak, and one of them was David Rhodes, Doug was a show, a pilot was produced here in New York who spoke about the School of Visual Arts. He’s the chairman directed by Tony Eastman. Tony is a good friend of mine, and of the School of Visual Arts. Now he is. At the time, Silas the person I credit with being very responsible for my career. I Rhodes, his father was. But now David Rhodes is the wouldn’t have worked on Beavis if it wasn’t for him, I wouldn’t chairman. have worked on Doug. He always took me under his wing, and I DF: Of a department, or the whole school? YVETTE KAPLAN | 59

Script pages from the Beavis & Butthead episode “Manners Suck,” written by Kristofor Brown, directed by Yvette Kaplan. The sketches and notes on the script are done by Yvette to convey to the animation artists how she wants the scene to look. Beavis & Butthead created by Mike Judge. [©2004 MTV Networks.]

thank him. I was one of the key animators on this pilot. At the time, no one knew what Nickelodeon was. There was no cable then. It was the very start of the cable industry. And all I knew was that I was doing this work for a pilot, a “pilot” that would, if all went well, be turned into a show that would air on this new, fledgling network. Now, when I’d animate, I used to feel like I was being taken over by the creative spirit. This is very common. Just drawing, drawing, drawing, drawing. Papers everywhere, they’re just flying. You don’t stop to think, you don’t stop to evaluate. And it would come to me, the acting, the truth about what the scene should be, would come to me while I was drawing. And I think that’s how a writer creates, too. You just keep typing, it’s creating itself, characters are telling you what they should say. Well, the characters are telling me what they should do, how they should look when they’re in this moment. And there was a little teeny bit of business in the Doug pilot 60 | WRITE NOW

that I didn’t even think was anything special. The pilot’s called “Doug Can’t Dance.” He goes to a dance, it’s a costume dance, and he’s dressed as a slug. It’s really poignant. And the girl he loves, Patty Mayonnaise, is dressed as a daisy. So she’s this adorable thing and he’s this slug. But she really likes him. And he’s just standing there, transfixed, while the music’s playing. And she’s dancing really cute, shaking her butt, which I had fun drawing. And she says, “Come on, Doug, dance!” And he’s just flapping his hands a little, and he goes, “I am dancing.” “Move your feet, Doug, move your feet!” And I had him look down at his foot and lift it like he’d stepped in crap, like he’d never seen his foot before, and say, “Oh.” It seemed obvious to me, but it turned out the creator, Jim Jenkins, and the executives from Nickelodeon, really loved that moment. DF: That was not in the script, that moment? YK: No, none of those things are ever in the script. Or, if they are—and sometimes I’d get into trouble for this— I’d basically ignore them. I figured, that was my territory, what the acting was, not the writer’s territory. creative roles that I never even

knew about! To me, an action like that comes out of the reality of when you’re drawing. You wouldn’t tell an actor what kind of expression to use, should they smile there, should they turn their head there? No. All the script said was, “Doug looks awkward” or something. It didn’t say: “he looks at his feet,” or anything like that. DF: What you’re describing almost seems to be what a director would do in live action. YK: Yes. DF: So what does a director do in animation, if not that? YK: That is what a director does. DF: Please explain that a little further. YK: Okay. Tony Eastman directed it. He made all the cuts. I had a certain number of frames. A scene lasted a certain number of frames, and I had a shot. I had a medium-wide shot. I knew what was included in that shot. It wasn’t up to me as an animator, it was his decision. It’s up to the director how much to leave up to the animator. But when they started sending stuff overseas to be animated, the animation had to be more controlled. Animators in New York had to become directors, because they weren’t animating it anymore. I had to learn how to do it. When they offered it to me, my response was: “Well, I don’t know what you’re talking about!” I had never really been directed as an animator. So an animation director stages the scenes, times the cuts, and indicates exactly whatever movement happens within the frames given for a scene. For instance, with a character walking across a room. An animation director has to imagine the action without drawing it. They used to be able to just draw it. Now they’re pre-planning it, and giving guide drawings, and written information, “the character walks across happily to a pose here and there,” to then send overseas. So I would now write direction for the animator: “Doug lifts his foot and looks under it, puzzled.” And I time that. I’d say, “He lifts his foot in one second, and in part of that second he also looks down.” It becomes insane, the amount of planning and detail. DF: So, in a way, the director becomes like a co-writer, somehow. There’s a writing function in there. YK: I’ve always felt there was. And I’ve always been the biggest fan of writers. When I worked on Doug, I became very close with the writing staff, particularly two great guys: Ken Scarborough and Al Higgins, who’s a producer on Malcolm in the Middle now. It was my thrill that they used to love when I’d do one of their scripts, because I’d really get it. I’d go upstairs to meet with them and bounce ideas for their scripts off them. “I was thinking this, this for this scene. Did you mean that? What did you want for this?” So I actually was writing within the realms of my responsibilities. In some ways it freaked people out. I didn’t know that I was doing anything above and beyond what any other directors were doing. DF: It doesn’t sound like you were preemptively just going in and saying, “Oh, the script sucks. I’ll rewrite it.” It sounds like you wanted to be a collaborator with these people. YK: Yeah, yeah. At that time, it was very fluid, still, and warm and creative. DF: Have you done any cartoons where you’re officially the writer? YK: This is a real sad oversight for me, because all my life, in between drawing, I wrote constantly. I wrote plays, I wrote stories. In college, my teachers really loved my writing. I was always so happy in the interaction I had with the writers, making their words even better and adding things. I’d add

business for the secondary characters to do. Like, when you watch The Simpsons, you see the main action, but then there’s always something else going on, too. I can’t swear that the writers don’t specify some of that secondary stuff, but I know that that’s often an animator thing, that’s a story person thing. That’s adding business that lifts the whole level of the cartoon and makes it more alive, that secondary action. Mostly writers don’t write, “While this is happening, this other thing is also happening.” DF: When you say “story person” as opposed to “writer,” isn’t one definition of “writer” a “story person”? When you say to me, “I’m not a writer, I just do stories,” I’m thinking, “what’s the difference?” The terminology can really be confusing. YK: When I say “story,” I mean “storyboard.” The person who’s drawing, visualizing what the writer wrote is the storyboard person. And through his or her interpretation, it keeps getting richer and richer, hopefully. DF: Among the things you’ve done, and on very high profile projects, you’ve been—as it says in your resumé—a director, creative consultant, animation director, supervising director, coproducer, designer, development person, and head of story. And those all seem to have, again, so much overlap. Are those different ways of saying the same thing, just at a different level of supervisory responsibility or pay, or they really so distinct? YK: I wish it was easier to explain, because I gotta say, even my agents sometimes have a hard time figuring out where I belong. DF: Is your situation common in the industry? I have a feeling it probably is. Or would other people have more narrowly defined experience and resumés? YK: From my experience, there are people who have more narrowly defined resumés, and it’s clearer where they belong. I gotta tell you, it’s odd that you’re interviewing me for a writing magazine, because I think at the heart of it, that’s the core of everything I’ve done professionally. But I drew as a kid. So I went into drawing. But it was the thinking, it was the conceiving, it was the emotion, it was the attitude... it was the writing that, as much as I could imbue my writing into something that was already written—that was what I loved. And I just stopped a step short of actually going for that. DF: Let me just list some of the things that Yvette has worked on, which I’m sure I’ll put at the front of the interview. Doug, Daria, Magic School Bus, Cyberchase, Beavis and Butthead do America, Beavis and Butthead the regular series, MTV Downtown, Between the Lions for public television, and I guess the most well known thing you’ve done is Ice Age, where you were Head of Story. So, you have a lot of high profile projects in your resumé. What would you say was your “big break,” and what led you to be Head of Story on Ice Age? And, of course, what the heck does that job title mean? YK: That’s two different questions. [laughs] Head of Story means I oversaw the storyboarding of the movie, the visualization of the script, helping to grow it scene by scene into a complete and satisfying whole. I worked with a wonderful team of artists. My big break, though, and I’ll never question the truth of this, was Beavis. DF: Which seems like the biggest boy’s club of all. YK: You would think… I don’t know, maybe it tapped into my Bensonhurst roots and my love of bad boys, although Mike Judge is anything but a “bad boy.” He’s the most gracious, supportive, generous person to work with. DF: How’d you meet him? YVETTE KAPLAN | 61

YK: I was actually called in temporarily to help put in order the direction of the first season. By “put in order,” I mean keep it on budget, keep it limited, because there were limitations for that first season. It was a small group, every animator in New York worked on it, basically. [laughs] It was a very small industry then. I was on a hiatus from Doug, because on a show, every time the season ends, everyone’s laid off for a few months. I was called in, I was asked if I wanted first to animate this new potential show for MTV, that Tony Eastman, again, was storyboarding. He had shown me some of what he was doing, and it was so nasty, I thought, “Oh, my God!” So I figured, “Maybe for just a short time.” Then finally they called and wanted me to direct, because they needed someone to kind of pull it together. And I had been directing on Doug for three seasons at that point. DF: And you hadn’t directed before Doug? YK: I never directed in this way, making these notations on exposure sheets to send to Korea. DF: So somebody there made the leap of faith, “Yvette can do the directing”? YK: Because of the foot animation. DF: Ah, so the foot was your foot in the door. [laughter] Sorry, I couldn’t resist! Then they called you for Beavis... YK: Yeah. There was no MTV Animation studio then. It was brand new. It hadn’t started yet. The first season of Beavis was done at J.J. Sedelmaier’s studio in White Plains, New York, and J.J. is a friend of mine. So between Tony and J.J., I was there. And J.J. prefaced giving me the work by showing me the prototype, which was Mike Judge’s “Frog Baseball.” And I was all set to be offended, because I’d heard what it was supposed to be. I was ready for anything. I was holding on for dear life. And he leaves me in this room and runs this thing. And I just couldn’t believe my eyes. It just woke up some kind of repressed, sick part of me or something. I thought it was the most charming thing I’d ever seen. It seemed incredibly innocent, it was funny as hell, this pastel, colored-pencil kind of airy, simple-looking film about these two really nasty boys. I bonded with those two characters. Then I met Mike, and it was just immediate rapport. I understood him. I respected him so much. He was coming from a different place than anyone I had ever met, really. I feel that the moment that we really bonded was one of the first episodes I took home to direct. I knew from when I met him he was very soft-spoken, very thoughtful. You’d think from the cartoons that he would be this hyper guy. But he’s a really warm, gracious Texan, and a very thoughtful guy. He listens to everything that anyone says, and he really observes. He’s the most perceptive, observant person. That’s why he’s a writer. He’s always taking things in. And he would listen to my ideas, and he’d say, “What did you just say?” It was amazing to me that he gave me that level of respect. He trusted that I had something to say, to offer. DF: That’s great to click like that. YK: It was amazing. He understands his characters. He is a creator, he is a visionary. And he knew that I understood his characters and would give them the same amount of care he would. I never do anything in a cartoon for no reason. I have to have major reasons to do it. If I’m going to animate it, I have to believe it. If I’m gonna direct it, I have to believe it. If I’m going to write it, whatever. And because we shared those attitudes, I got his trust, and it was a wonderful thing. I worked very closely with him all through the Beavis series, and we collabo62 | WRITE NOW

rated on the movie, which was a major thrill. DF: Your credit on the movie is...? YK: My credit on the movie was “animation director.” DF: Now, how would that be different from just “director?” YK: Well, Mike was the director in every sense of how you direct a live action movie, and he was the co-writer, with Joe Stillman, credited with writing the movie. Mike cast it, directed all the voices, it was Mike’s overall vision. I was in charge of the studio and the artists and making sure that everything was done to his liking. So in some ways I was a co-director, because I was in the studio working with the artists. DF: So the job that you and the sub-directors do on a feature would be the storyboards, which look like a comic book, almost, correct? YK: Right. DF: As animation director you have to have a far-ranging concept of visualization of the finished product, I would imagine. YK: Oh, totally! I see it all, totally. And then also, I would direct my sequence directors and check everything. But I had people that I worked with through the whole series. They were amazing. They knew it backwards and forwards. DF: This seems almost like music, in the sense that you need a combination of technical and creative skills. YK: Very good! Yeah, it is like music, because it’s all about timing. And when Beavis ended, it was a real hard thing for me, when Mike decided he didn’t want to do the show anymore. I would have been happy to spend the rest of my life working on Beavis and Butthead, I’m not ashamed to say it. I loved those guys, and my working relationship with Mike and the whole studio. I’m still incredibly close with everybody from the studio who’s still around New York. A lot of people went of to L.A. and are doing really well, ’cause they’re talented guys. DF: And how did this all lead to Ice Age? Did they hire you for that based on the Beavis work? YK: Yes. But the Beavis feature was based on an existing property that was already a hit show. We didn’t have to be worried that it wouldn’t be well-received. We had a fan base. And it was low-budget. So here I go off to Ice Age, which is a big film, CG, major release, Fox’s first animated film with Blue Sky, which is based in White Plains. And it’s very, very different in features. In TV, the script is God. You’ve got tight deadlines so you can’t start rethinking things. But on Ice Age, an original story, we were given the script and basically asked to come up with other ways that the scenes could happen. “Rethink the introduction, rethink this, rethink that...” That’s what a story department is on a feature, in effect, second writers. We’re writing new scenes in visual form. That’s one reason why features take so much longer. DF: Ice Age was in CG. Had you ever worked in CG before? YK: No, but it didn’t matter for me and my department. We were still storyboarding on paper. It’s just the next step was to put it in a three-dimensional environment. That opened up more possibilities. We could board some amazing, panoramic camera move and know that it could get done, where in 2-D you couldn’t do that. DF: And since you had celebrity voices—Ray Romano, Dennis Leary, and so on—I would imagine, you had to try to imbue the characters with the stars’ personalities? YK: Not really their personalities, but with their voice performance. But yes, that totally changes the writing, too. We had early storyboard scenes, before the voices were cast, that were kind of floundering, not really knowing who the characters

that Nickelodeon will reconsider were. That’s why we try to find who and put both of our shows on the the character is. Before that, even air! [laughter] We’d love to work though it’s written, it’s not really with them. fleshed out. So story people write The experience opened up my and draw, and then the writers whole life, really. It brought me come back in and look at what the back to the person I was when I story people do. It’s back and first got into the industry. It forth. It’s being written and brought me back to that creative rewritten, both visually and with spirit. And I made a vow to myself words. The ideal is a really organic that I would trust myself and keep connection between the two. going and put out my ideas, be But that, I think, brought me to a that writer. You know, that show point where I realized I really had with my partner, we would have more of a knack for writing than I been writers, executive producers, had thought. Rethinking sequence it would have been our vision. I’d order, character arcs. I really loved still be delighted to be the person that. The movie, I’m so proud of it. behind the person with the vision, I’m proud of my participation, I’m but I’m also going to trust myself proud of what I did, I’m proud of to be the one with the vision. So what everybody did. But I think it I’m going to continue that. just whetted my appetite for And this is really probably the wanting to be a little more responbiggest thing. I’ve recently sible for that end, rather than a optioned a children’s book. I want little piece of it. to have it made into a feature. DF: So now, since you’ve gotten a After that new confidence from taste for more hands-on concept creating the Nick show, I was ready and character development and for the next step, and the next writing, I know you’re about to leave step was pulling out this children’s for California to pitch stuff, to A timing sheet for an episode of Cyberchase. It specifies exactly book that I’ve kept a secret— develop stuff. how many frames an action will take. because it was my own very little YK: Actually, really, I’m taking [©2004 Educational Broadcasting Corporation.] private thing—for fourteen years, meetings, job-oriented meetings, my favorite children’s book that I used to read to my son still looking for a director position, show runner, whatever, Randall. It’s a beautiful tale of redemption called the Legend of really, so I can have an income, so that I can continue to the Flying Hot Dog, by a wonderful writer named Celeste White. develop. I have this year started—I’ve been evolving to this It’s not about a hot dog, it’s about a creature that appears, point—and this past year, I created my first show, with a when he’s flying, to look like a hot dog with wings. I’ve always partner. Actually, a live-action show. seen it as a feature. I’ve always felt in my heart that I would do DF: I was going to ask you if you had any desire to do live-action. it some day. Right now I’m having some developmental artwork YK: I have had the desire to do it, but again, feeling like I don’t done, and am looking for the right writer to attach to the know how, how do I break in. For some people, it’s not hard to project. make the crossover at all, so we’ll see when I get there. DF: When you look for work these days, do you do the looking, or DF: Is there a prejudice against animation people in the live does your agent? What is the role of an agent? Do you need action world? one? How did you get yours? YK: For writers, no. The writers cross over immediately. And I YK: I actually was just waiting for a plane that was delayed and do hear more and more about some top animation directors, was sitting, wasting time with the other people who were like the directors of top Disney films, making the transition to delayed. And the woman I started talking to asked me what I live action. did. It was a shuttle from San Francisco to L.A., or vice versa. I DF: Can you tell us anything in general about this project you’re was doing post-production on the Beavis movie. I told her what pitching? I did, and she said, “Oh my God! My best friend is an YK: My partner and I, who had pitched something previously to animation agent!” [laughs] So that’s how. I really didn’t search Nick Jr., were invited to come up with a show specifically her out, and it turns out she’s the biggest animation agent, geared to them. So we said, “Yeah!” My partner, and the star Ellen Goldsmith-Vein from the Gotham Group. They’ve been of our show, is Barry Lubin, who created and performs as fantastic. I’ll make their job a lot easier if and when I move to Grandma the Clown in the Big Apple Circus. He’s a brilliant L.A. physical comedian. And I’ve always loved physical comedy. I’m DF: So, any advice for people who would want to break into a big Jerry Lewis fan. As is Mike Judge, by the way. Anyway, this animation? is another really wonderful partnership. We understand each YK: One of the other things that I do is I teach at the School of other. Together we really, I think, have created magic with this Visual Arts. I’ve met so many committed, hard-working little show. students and I think that what you need to do is be true to And Nick loved it, although due to various circumstances the yourself, but be willing to step back and take direction. You show wasn’t greenlit. But they still really want to work with us, can’t do everything at once. It’s very different than when I and we are now developing another show for them. I’m hoping YVETTE KAPLAN | 63

started, because there really was a factory set-up then, there was animation being done in New York. You could learn by being an assistant to an animator, there were a lot of entry levels. Now there’re no real entry levels. Probably the only thing is revision of storyboards. Even in L.A., all the animation is done overseas. I don’t know how many of your readers want to go into animation, but they should learn Maya, they gotta learn the computer. DF: Did the computer change everything in animation? YK: Everything. That’s not to say that 2-D isn’t still viable. The huge reaction audiences have to the Triplets of Belleville by Sylvain Chomet, has shown that. It’s 2-D, it’s silent. So if you’re a creator, just make your films. Keep drawing. But think about your audience, don’t just indulge yourself. That’s what I find with a lot of young filmmakers, they’re not really thinking about the audience. It’s all about communicating clearly. And be a team player. Sometimes animation is an art, sometimes it’s a product. And you should know the distinction, understand the distinction in what you’re doing. Be willing to work hard, be willing to take direction, don’t be a prima donna. And I say that from being one a little too often. I wish I hadn’t been. Do the work that’s needed of you. Know your own strengths. Not everybody’s a creator. It’s totally fine to be the best damned layout artist anyone’s ever seen, or the best background painter, art director, lighting designer for CG, texture mapper, model builder. There are so many places that you can make a difference. Be an animator. You don’t have to be the creator. Not everybody is the storyteller, not everybody’s going to be the director. And if you want to be and you can, then all my blessings. DF: Is there still much of a TV-commercial animation business in New York? YK: Yeah! In fact, it seems to be bigger than ever, from what I hear. There’re a few studios doing really well, like Hornet, Inc. and Curious Pictures. It seems like something that I’ve taken 25 years to learn: if you want to go into TV or features, go to L.A., but commercials seem to be here in New York. DF: How have new technologies like Flash animation affected the business? YK: Well, on the upside, because of the simplicity of some of these productions, it’s opened up a whole new world, in New York that I know of, of tiny studios, little groups, two people, one guy at a computer, they’re producing things. Then larger,

relatively new studios, and by large I mean like twenty people, like Noodlesoup and Augenblick Studios in Brooklyn, who are doing really well. On the downside, the budgets are lower, there are tighter schedules and smaller staffs. DF: Your son is an animator? YK: No, he’s not an animator. He’s a live-action filmmaker. And an artist, and comics artist, too. He’s drawn comics his whole life, and he still does. He loves doing comics because he’s able to put everything into his comics that it would have been prohibitive for him to put in a film at this stage in his life, budget-wise. DF: Does he do superhero stuff? YK: No, no. Dark stuff. Frank Miller is a big influence on him. Years ago he was influenced by Todd McFarlane, but not for a while. He loves Sandman comics. DF: He’s in SVA now, you said? YK: Yeah. He would be able to tell you better what his big comic influences are. I just know he loves Frank Miller. And he loved Sam Kieth’s The Maxx. I did, too. My son’s a wonderful storyteller and screenwriter, and he describes himself— especially since starting school, but I know that he’s always been like this—as being on fire creatively, he just can’t stop. DF: That bodes well. Are there any courses, books, programs you’d recommend to people wanting to break in and learn about the animation field? YK: Actually, something that’s brand new. Allan Neuwirth, who is an animation writer and producer, just wrote a wonderful book called Making Toons. He has interviews with different people in the animation field, all from that germ of inspiration point of view, and I found that very, very inspiring. And another new one, by Howard Beckerman, who was my instructor at SVA, and one of the best people in the world, is a real nuts and bolts book. It’s called Animation, The Whole Story, and it is. And then there’s The Animator’s Survival Kit by Richard Williams, probably the most amazing animation book ever. Richard Williams was the director of animation for Who Framed Roger Rabbit. In general, he’s more of an animator than he is a director/storyteller, but his approach to animation is what I’ve been talking about all through. It’s about getting at the heart of the character, really understanding it. So he’s very inspiring for an animator. Everything you need to know is in here. Also, any John Canemaker books, especially the incredibly inspiring, Paper Dreams. For a writer, story person, animator, this will explain everything about story. It’s about the storyboarding process. Wonderful, beautiful, coffee-table book, with tons of information and beautiful art. DF: And courses, I imagine you’d recommend your own course at SVA. I guess if you move to the West Coast, you won’t be teaching at SVA, but you’ll probably be teaching somewhere. YK: I come and go at SVA anyway, and they’re used to it. I had a wonderful year this year, with great students. I love them. DF: Do you recommend that program in general, or any other programs? YK: Oh, yeah. It’s probably the biggest animation department in the city. DF: Well, I guess that’s it. Yvette’s got to go see her Mom in Bensonhurst and then catch the plane to L.A. No matter how big you become, you have to go see Mom in Bensonhurst. Let that be a lesson to everybody out there. [Yvette laughs] Thanks, Yvette. This was great. YK: Thank you, Danny, it was a pleasure, you giving me the opportunity to do this.

THE END

COMICS INTO FILM: A Cautionary Tale by LEE NORDLING W

hy is Hollywood paying attention to such comics as American Splendor, Ghost World and Road To Perdition, when they don’t have any costumed creators. To clarify, this means that there is a weeding-out characters with unique abilities or a penchant for fighting process that begins with whatever gets submitted, and ends crime? None of these were concept-driven or well-known with whatever gets released. Everything else gets weeded out properties that fit the public perception of a “comic book for one reason or another. So, if you’re a production company movie,” so why did Hollywood choose to adapt them into films? looking for a studio to “green light” a project, you put as many Let’s start by demolishing some stereotypes that usually end properties as you can handle into the pipeline, thereby up with newspaper, magazine and television writers putting increasing your odds for getting something released. “pow” and “bam” into their reviews. Yes, people win the lottery with one ticket, but the odds are If you asked most non-comics fans to name some films and ten times better with ten tickets. TV shows that were adapted from comic books, they might And double-yes, it’s important for a production company to mention Superman, Batman, Men In Black, X-Men, Spider-Man, have passion for the properties they control, but getting Daredevil, Hulk, and any number of sequels and live-action and something made is still a numbers game. animated superhero TV series based on Marvel and DC Comics Let’s explore those properties that don’t get made “for one characters. reason or another.” These people might also guess The Matrix, Darkman, When the studios had writers, actors, and directors (and Robocop and Star Wars, and, of course, none of these was everybody else) under contract, there were no legal issues adapted from a comic. about who controlled what. What is it about this last group of films that reinforce a They controlled it all, and could do whatever they wanted with stereotypical expectation of comics? Each is in the it, and did. superhero/heroic fantasy genre and involves good vs. evil With the collapse of the studio contract system, that all storytelling, and for decades the general public has confused changed, and decades later, with the rise of the Hollywood this genre with the comics medium, and treated the two package deal, it changed even more, and perhaps for good. synonymously. The package deal works like this: A “comic book movie” is now understood to be a film that’s Someone—could be an actor, director, writer, or producer— simpleminded and filled with action, but this pejorative doesn’t has a concept, treatment, or script that they like. Their goal is accurately define the content of a comic book, nor is now to put together the right combination of talent to get this Hollywood’s tendency toward simple storytelling the reason property set up at a studio. This combination of talent, along they’ve pounced on the comic book industry for editorial source with whatever they decide they want to do, is “the package.” material. Each person attached to the property has likely contributed If it were true, why would they continue to make such films and shows as American Splendor, Ghost World, Road To Perdition, From Hell, Blade, Bulletproof Monk, Judge Dredd, Jeremiah, The Crow, Josie and the Pussycats, The Mask, The Rocketeer, Swamp Thing, Sabrina the Teenage Witch, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, League of Extraordinary Gentlemen and Hellboy? There are several reasons, some fairly obvious, some not so obvious at all. First, let’s tackle the obvious ones. Comics and film share the trait of being visual storytelling media, so it’s easier for production and studio executives to see how the story will unfold. Comics make an easy-to-read sales tool, and, since Hollywood executives have a notoriously short amount of time to read, comics make a convenient alternative to a 300-page novel. Now, let’s move on to the reasons that are not so obvious, and may provide additional insight into Hollywood’s decisionmaking process. It’s important to understand that making movies is a American Splendor, a recent non-superhero comics-to-film success. Paul Giamatti numbers game, for studios, production companies, and embodies Harvey Pekar. [©2004 New Line Productions, Inc.]

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come out, until it’s been attempted. This is the major reason so many films based on comics properties or novels end up so crappy. Because of their costs, movies and TV are the two media where you can’t easily afford to rethink all your decisions and go back to the keyboard to start over. So, if a studio is concerned about how well the adaptation from one medium to the other is going to be handled, and you don’t already control a property as popular as Spider-Man, then what kind of comics property is Hollywood more likely to be interested in? Properties are divided into four basic categories: • Concept-driven • Execution-driven • Character-driven • Market-driven. The potential for the success of your property is driven by at least An example of a comic where the title is the concept. Art from one of these. Some exceptional Cowboys & Aliens. Written by Fred Van Lente with art by Ian properties will have elements from Richardson. [© & TM Platinum Studios, LLC.] two or more of these categories, but most new concepts will only have one or two. Now let’s move on to comics, why they’re perceived as Concept-driven. This idea, upon concept, is immediately bankable, and what advantage they may have over a bunch of compelling or evokes a similar response from numerous movie stars, screenwriters, directors and producers sitting people, and it can usually be stated in a few words or with a around and figuring out what kind of package they can put title. together. For example: “This is a story about a psychiatrist who works Let’s say you’re a producer, and you control the rights to a with a boy who claims to see ghosts, only for the psychiatrist comic. You still have to put a package together for the studios, to discover that he’s one of the ghosts the boy sees.” Another and everybody still gets their same two cents worth about how example, where the title is the concept, is the upcoming the film should be developed, and it could still take the same Platinum Studios production, Cowboys & Aliens. With each of number of months or years to find a studio that’s interested in these, a film executive “gets it,” so, even if the initial attempt bankrolling this particular package, but if the deal falls apart, to flesh it out doesn’t meet expectations, people aren’t likely to and the pie crumbles around it, there’s still one piece of the lose faith in the initial cool concept, (though the screenwriter is pie remaining. likely to be looking for different work). The comic. Execution-driven. This is the antithesis of the concept-driven With the comic in hand, you, the producer can begin again, project. The success of execution-driven projects is based making certain that any new participants in the package are solely by how well familiar, complex, or esoteric material is only familiar with the comic, and not any incarnation of the handled. Examples of this are American Splendor, Ghost comic that was ever developed. World, and Road To Perdition. It takes vision and the right Controlling an original intellectual property, such as a comic, combination of talent to shepherd an execution-driven project is like having disaster insurance for unforeseen events, and into becoming a successful adaptation. don’t we all want that? Character-driven. These are properties created around a character or group of characters, where the interaction between Now that we’ve established why the comics medium makes the characters in the environment produces a wide range of an attractive sales tool, what concerns might a studio have potential for stories, as opposed to one quintessential story. about a comic that it’s interested in acquiring? Because of the periodical nature of their titles, most superBasically, there’s always a concern about how well a story heroes fall into this category, as do Judge Dredd, Jeremiah, The can be adapted from one medium to another. Story structure Crow, Josie and the Pussycats, The Rocketeer, Swamp Thing, paradigms in comics and movies/TV are different, storytelling Sabrina the Teenage Witch, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and tools are different, and the manner in which they’re perceived Hellboy. Since Hollywood’s needs are for a quintessential story by the two audiences/markets—reading vs. watching—is about one protagonist or group of protagonists—at least for a different. pilot or first film—that means the tough part of adapting one of It’s true for novels, and it’s true for comics. these properties into a film is finding that quintessential story. Any translation can lose the power of the original piece, and And if it can’t be found, then it has to be created, which usually there’s no way to determine how well something’s going to

their own two cents worth about what form the story should take, and each owns a piece of that pie. There’s one thing about this pie, though. It can be divided, but it can’t be separated. Nobody can take their twenty percent of the pie and go home without ruining the other eighty percent. And I mean ruining it for good. Literally, that’s how the pie crumbles. Getting a film set up, in the best of circumstances, is a complicated business, which is why you often read how long it takes for some films to get made, sometimes years. And often, they never get set up at all, all too often, in fact. That’s the big downside to the Hollywood package system. Too much time, effort, and energy goes down the drain. The upside is that participants get a much bigger slice of that pie than they ever would have in the old studio system.

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involves altering the origin, so the first act of the adaptation melds better with the second and third acts. The best example of a solution to this problem was making the Joker the man who killed Bruce Wayne’s parents in Batman. The problem with altering origin stories is that too much change can alienate the original fan base. The reason most character-driven properties get adapted into films or TV shows is that they also fall into the next category. Market-driven. These properties were successfully produced in other media, and have carved out a place in the popular culture. Comics such as Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, SpiderMan, and Hulk were already established in the public consciousness before they were adapted into TV shows and films. From a marketing perspective, this makes them no different than Charlie’s Angels, Harry Potter, or Lord of the Rings, all of which got made because of their previous track records and penetration into the culture. This helped studio executives anchor their decisions to give the filmmakers hundreds of millions of dollars to make their films. So, even though superhero and fantasy films are getting made, it’s not because the genres are perceived as being hot by the studios. They’re not. It remains a struggle by production companies and directors to get them made. Superheroes, sf, and fantasy tend to be extremely expensive to produce, and producing something just because it’s a genremate of Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, and X-Men is a potentially career-ending decision for some poor executive. For this reason, you need a bigger hook than a character with extraordinary powers or a fantasy epic with elves and fairies to get Hollywood’s attention. Likely, either of these would need to have strong/unique concept-driven elements to be considered for adaptation into the film medium. The same holds true for adaptations of books. Check how many of the great fantasy and sf novels still haven’t been adapted into film, and aren’t likely to be in the near future. Why not? Because, if they’re not mired in some form of development hell, they’re likely execution-driven properties that require the right combination of talent to successfully pull off the adaptation. Superhero, sf, and fantasy stories get adapted into film because of their unique story hooks or their previous successes in other media, not simply because of their genres. In fact, the conceptual elements of inside-the-box/traditional superheroes, sf, and fantasy that largely appeal to its fans don’t necessarily appeal to a mainstream audience, and this begs the question: How are the comic-book-shop comics readers and movie audience similar? Essentially, they’re not. The former is a niche-market reader, and the latter is a mainstream audience. This doesn’t mean some successful niche-market properties can’t be successful with a mainstream audience, but material specifically tailored to the comics reader doesn’t generally translate well. Reasons for this are complicated, but essentially, the comicsindustry interest in continuity, as well as in some pretty wild cross-genre mixing—X-Files meets Lord of the Rings and Buffy the Vampire Slayer—often make the properties inaccessible to an audience that can only have so much information thrown at it in up to two hours of running time. If you’re wondering how to straddle the editorial line between what makes sense as a film and what will appeal to the tradi-

tional comics reader, you don’t. If—and that’s a big if—you decide to write a comic that will have an opportunity to be adapted into a film, then you must produce a story that will appeal to the film market. Its potential appeal to the comics market must remain secondary. If you can appeal to both markets, that’s swell, but never set out to serve two masters, or you’ll be everybody’s wishbone. Here’s a complication: any number of comics could be created and successfully adapted into films, but most Ghost World by Daniel Clowes. An example of them are in genres that of an execution-driven project. don’t have a strong, [©2004 Daniel Clowes.] commercial foothold in the comics specialty shop market. This means, for the foreseeable future, the comic book publishers that pay page rates are not likely to be interested in publishing these stories. In contrast, other, smaller comics publishers are looking to increase profitability by gaining control of the film and TV licensing rights of the books they publish, so they can broker the properties to production companies and studios. For this reason, they’ve become more flexible about what they’re interested in publishing. Here’s another potential complication: Should a publisher publish your book, with the intended goal of also brokering the rights to Hollywood, then you now have a partner for the duration of the contract, and what you have in writing between you defines the nature of who controls what. There are a wide variety of contracts and publishing options out there, and you should consult with other creators and a lawyer to determine which deal best fits your needs. When a production company or studio wants to acquire the rights to your comic, it’s important to know how you really need to be involved in the adaptation. If you are working in the film industry, you will likely try to attach yourself as the screenwriter, but studios—not production companies, studios—are reluctant to let any creator adapt their own work, even when they work inside the film industry. The reason is because if the adaptation fails, the project loses momentum, and that path leads to the infamous development hell. However, if you’re a screenwriter with legitimate credits and a proven track record in film, that’s another story, and they’d be more likely open their arms to you. With film industry experience, you might also try to attach yourself as a producer, even though smaller production companies are known for not proceeding with films that have too many producers attached. Still, this may be one of the few ways to shepherd an adaptation, without being the screenwriter and/or director. The downside to creators trying to attach themselves in these ways is that a studio would have to want the property [ NORDLING continues on page 69.] LEE NORDLING | 67

A View from the Trenches

The Double-Edged Sword of Hollywood’s Love of Comics by AARON SEVERSON

One of the most important reasons Hollywood considers comics bankable as a source for films is also the simplest— market while they decide what to do with it. and has the most potential to become a pitfall as well as an The key here is the term “optioned” rather than “purchased” advantage. or “acquired.” In the days of the old studio system, the studios Consider the position of the studio executive hearing a pitch routinely bought the film rights to novels and plays outright, for a film. Most pitches are original concepts with no life often for substantial sums. Today they typically buy (for a outside the limbo of potential movie projects. There is a finite nominal fee) the option to acquire the rights rather than buying number of places to take a movie pitch, and if the execs at all the rights up front. An option agreement gives a studio “the of those venues say no, the pitch is dead. In the terminology of exclusive and irrevocable option to purchase and acquire all of Hollywood, it’s “been shopped,” and its potential is exhausted. the rights in and to the property,” which the studio does not In most cases it will die without the general public ever even have to do until shortly before the project actually goes into hearing of it. The executive, then, knows that he or she is in a production... if it ever does. position of power: they can make or break your idea. During the option period (which may be a few months or a If your pitch is based on a published intellectual property like few years) the project is passed from desk to desk as the a comic book, however, that balance of power changes. Now studio decides whether to commit the millions of dollars the executive is looking at something that’s already out before necessary to actually produce a major motion picture. The the public, even if it’s an independent comic with a readership studio may spend a few dollars on story outlines or concept that barely hits four digits. The actual sales figures are not that artwork or other preliminary exercises (a process generically important: many of the most successful comics-to-film adaptaknown as “development”), but still not exercise their option to tions have been based on fairly obscure comics (e.g., Men in purchase the rights. In many cases Black, The Crow, The Mask). Studios the project fails to find the necessary buy rights to prose novels all the time, support and enthusiasm to get the and the readership for a novel that’s production go-ahead. Then it not on the New York Times best-seller languishes in “development hell” list is not that much bigger than that until the option period expires and for an independent comic. the rights revert to the creator, who The important thing is that it’s out by this time is often frustrated and there where someone else might buy disillusioned. it. It may end up on some other So yes, Hollywood loves comics. executive’s desk six months or six But the bottom line is that that enthuyears from now and end up as the siasm is only one factor in a complex next Men in Black. It’s easier (and business, and it doesn’t make a often safer) for executives to say no comics-based project a sure thing. If to a project than to say yes, but you’re a creator going through this everyone in Hollywood knows the process, remember that patience is stories of the people who passed on essential—and don’t start spending properties that became lucrative the purchase price shown in your franchises, and nobody wants to be contract until you get the check! the butt of future jokes. So how is that a double-edged Aaron Severson is a creative sword? Just because a studio may be executive at Platinum Studios motivated to option something out of (www.platinumstudios.com), where he fear that someone else will, that acts as liaison between Platinum’s doesn’t mean that they have the comic book department (headed by faintest idea what to do with a project. Executive Editor Lee Nordling) and How often do you hear that a studio Platinum’s development arm, evaluhas optioned a comic... and then Love Bytes, from Platinum’s Macroverse, is a romantic ating comics properties for potential nothing ever comes of it? Often, the comedy about a love triangle between a man, a woman, and a computer. Written by Joshua Elder and Randy Fairman. feature film and television adaptation. reason is that the studio optioned it Art by L. Frank Weber. preemptively. They’re taking it off the [LOVE BYTES is TM & © Platinum Studios, LLC.] 68 | WRITE NOW

[ NORDLING continued from page 67.]

pretty badly to go this far for a creator, and you’re more likely to blow the deal by demanding producer credit than not. Some creators insist on creative control from beginning to end, because they don’t want to have happen to their baby what they saw happen to (INSERT NAME OF REVILED COMICSTO-FILM MOVIE HERE). These people should never even think about having their work adapted for film until they write something that ends up as big as the Harry Potter series of novels. This level of creator control in film or TV only comes with enormous proven financial success. Some creators simply want to be kept in the loop. Some don’t care; just give ’em the check. Some see this as the first rung in the ladder of their Hollywood writing career. Why is it important to figure this out ahead of time, before giving up the rights? It would be nice if American Splendor, Road To Perdition, and Ghost World were typical examples of faithful adaptations, but they’re not. More typical are the adaptations of League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Daredevil, and From Hell, where the finished films appear to be the result of filmmakers choosing only two of the colors from a bag of M&Ms (that represented the original stories) and throwing away the rest. Commercially, some of the most successful adaptations have been radical reinterpretations of the properties, The Mask being a prime example. So, if you don’t like how the adaptation is proceeding, can’t you just put on the brakes and say, “Hey, wait, guys—this isn’t what I had in mind. I take it back.” Um… no. There are no take-backs with movie studios. Too much time, energy, money and momentum is at stake. When a studio exercises an option and purchases the rights to your comic, it will be purchasing all rights, specified by the contract, forever, and that’s the nature of the film business. If you don’t like it, then it’s not a business for you to consider (and think how much time, energy and aggravation I just saved you). As previously noted, unless you have extraordinary power, you will almost certainly have to give up all licensing rights to your comic when it’s sold to a major studio. “But—but—but—” you stutter. “Can’t I continue publishing stories about my character?” This is why I wrote that it’s important to know what you want, before giving up any rights. Sure, you can continue publishing, if you get it in the contract, and this isn’t really that much of an obstacle. Sure, you can write the first draft of the screenplay, if you get it in the contract. And sure, you can get the director to salute you every morning when you walk on the set, if you get it in the contract. Whether you can get what you want in writing is a different issue, and don’t get your hopes too high on these last two points. However, if it’s really important to you, get it in writing, get everything that’s important to you in writing. The key is, know what you want, know what you need, know the difference between the two, and also understand what is reasonable, so you won’t wonder what happened if it doesn’t work out. So, how do you know what’s reasonable? There are a lot of creators out there who will give you advice, based on their own experiences. You should listen to their

advice, and take into account what’s important to them. No doubt, what’s important to you as you read this will change when you become more aware of the wide range of options that are available. If you don’t have legal representation, you can ask other creators for referrals to their lawyers, and you should find out more than their names and numbers. Find out the nature of their experience, especially whether they specialize in the enterLeague of Extraordinary Gentlemen: tainment industry or An adaptation which only held on to some not. Find out their of the concepts of the original comic. rates. Find out how [©2004 Fox.] well they explain things. If you’ve spent months and years developing a property, then you should spend some money to protect that investment of time. (Personally, I recommend you contact Jean Marc L’Officier at jean-marc@hollywoodcomics.com, and not just because he’s a pal, which he is, or because I work with him, which I do, but because he’s great at explaining your rights, what kind of deals are reasonable, what aren’t, and the nature of the trade-offs between the two.) What does any of this mean to you, a creator, who’s interested in having your comic book adapted into film? Well, it depends where your priorities lie, and I recommend knowing up front whether film-and-comics are the tail-and-thedog, or visa versa. In other words, to you, which wags which? Know the answer to this, and you’ll know how to apply any of what I’ve described above. Lee Nordling is Executive Editor of the Platinum Studios Comic Book Department, and author of “Your Career In the Comics.” Aaron Severson, Creative Executive at Platinum Studios (see his sidebar), and Scott Mitchell Rosenberg, Chairman of Platinum Studios, contributed valuable insights into the workings of the entertainment industry to this article. Thanks to them both!

For more information about Platinum Studios, their films, TV shows, and comics publishing program, check out their website at platinumstudios.com. If you’re interested in submitting concept proposals for comics, please follow the directions on the “submissions” portion of their site, and, while you’re there, read Lee Nordling’s three articles on “What It Takes To Sell Your Pitch.”

THE END

LEE NORDLING | 69

DEPARTMENT

Comic 101:

Dennis O’Neil’s Notes for Comics Writing and Editing Class continued

Classes 7 and 8

• No need to make up time lost by others to meet deadlines, etc. • Need not write in few-page segments as artist delivers them.

We’ve been presenting some of Dennis O’Neil’s notes for his comics writing and editing classes, which he’s presented at DC Comics and the School of Visual Arts, among other places. They were originally intended as Denny’s cues to himself. Here are his notes for two more classes, lightly edited by Dennis and myself, so that the principles are easily comprehensible to others. —DF

CLASS #7 SCRIPTS TWO MAIN METHODS OF COMICS SCRIPT PRESENTATION: • Full script method. • Write and/or discuss plot with editor. • Write (and rewrite) script. Writer’s job ends there. • “Marvel” (plot first) style. • Plot discussion. • Write plot. • Plot to penciler. • Pencils to writer. • Dialogue and balloon placement done by writer. • Variations on scripting styles include: • “Doug Moench” style: • Panel-by-panel plot breakdown or extremely detailed plot—can include some dialogue. • Another variation: • First do a full script. • Then rewrite after seeing art.

• Advantages to plot-first. • Writer can then cover any artist’s story point omissions in copy. • Even in full script, artists sometimes omit. • Writer can be inspired by something in art. • Penciler’s storytelling skills may be greater than writer’s.

SCRIPT PREPARATION • Spelling, punctuation, etc are extremely important. • Sloppy manuscript possible sign of writer’s carelessness— does not inspire confidence in an editor. • Clear language often helps clarify thought. • Editor may infer language reflects workings of writer’s mind. • Editors don’t have time/patience to make corrections. • Chuck Dixon: “My job is to make editor’s job as easy as possible.” • Common errors writers make: • More than one action per panel. • Modifiers in shot descriptions: • beware adverbs—”softly,” “quickly,” etc. How is artist to interpret instructions like that? • Modifiers in dialogue: • How does a letterer indicate “softly?” (Capitals or diminished letters are among the techniques they can use, but they must be indicated by the writer.) • Lack of information re: kind of shot. Medium, closeup, etc.

• Advantages of full script. • Writer controls pacing, etc. • Pacing/timing last thing a storyteller learns. • Many artists not concerned with it, more concerned with beauty of each panel. • Writer can be sure all plot elements are present. • Many writers complain about artists leaving out plot points. • Writer can improve on original idea. Second thoughts lead to plot improvements. • Writer not dependent on penciler. 70 | WRITE NOW

• Calling for too many panels per page. • Be aware of total amount of information on page—verbal and visual. Don’t overload reader.

• Why do we need suspense? • Keeps the readers turning the pages. It keeps them interested. • Involves readers with characters. • Involves readers with story.

Transitions

• SUSPENSE IS ANOTHER TOOL. FOR ENTERTAINING

• Don’t cut from interior to interior without transitional caption. • “Meanwhile, back at the ranch...” • But if you do, do exterior establishing shot asap. • Preferred method: cinema’s “establishing shot.” • Because action may be taking place in a big building, it need not be big shot. • Strengthen transition with copy. • Caption or continuing dialogue—dialogue that starts in one panel but finishes in another, indicating the speaker is inside a given setting.

• Tension: integral part of suspense. • Definitions: • the act of stretching or straining. • the state of being stretched or strained. • mental or emotional strain; intense, suppressed suspense, anxiety, or excitement. • a strained relationship between individuals, groups, nations, etc. • IN FICTION: tension is the combination of pacing, drama and plot.

Flashbacks • Nothing more confusing than an unclear flashback. • Indicating flashback is generally the artist’s job, but err on side of too much instruction to the artist, such as. • Scalloped borders. • Rounded borders. • Coloring. • Bleeds.

General script preparation guidelines: • ALWAYS ERR ON THE SIDE OF CLARITY. • TRAIN YOURSELF TO THINK IN “COMICS-ESE” (narration through static images and restrictions on amount of visual and verbal information a page will accommodate). • Learn basic stuff—grammar, spelling, etc. • If unsure about it: • Strunk and White manual. • Have friend, lover, relative check it. • Computer programs. • Follow editor’s instructions. They will supersede anything else you know or think you know. • Some editors will reject bad stuff out-of-hand. Won’t give you a chance to redo it. • If not clear what the editor wants, ask him or her.

CLASS #8 SUSPENSE • Definition: State or condition of mental uncertainty or excitement, as in awaiting decision or outcome, usually accompanied by a degree of apprehension or anxiety.

• Difference between suspense and surprise. • Suspense = Reader knows facts, characters don’t. • Builds up emotion. Catharsis when resolved. • Surprise = Audience doesn’t know facts characters don’t. Over quickly. Audience feels cheated.

• HOW hero will accomplish something—very pertinent to comics. It’s where much of comics series suspense comes in. • Reader knows hero will survive, etc. So make the journey fun. • Scott Meredith (writers’ agent): Get your good guy in jeopardy. Put him in a situation where it looks like he won’t get out of it. • Death trap - how hero will escape. • Will he escape in time to accomplish something else, e.g. save innocent party? • How will hero outwit villain? • Columbo • James Bond • IF DOING A SERIES, GOOD TO LET HERO FAIL SOMETIMES—SO READERS CAN’T BE CERTAIN OF OUTCOME. • WAYS TO DO THIS: • LET HERO WIN WAR BUT LOSE BATTLE. • Meredith: The good guy wins • but doesn’t get the girl • but loses everything else in the process wins • but is terribly wounded in some way • there are several variations on this same basic theme.

THE END DENNIS O’NEIL | 71

“But What Does Danny Think?”

In Defense of Marvel Style Editorial by Danny Fingeroth, Editor-in-Chief

very time you turn around these days, the so-called “Marvel style” of comics scripting is getting dissed. Despite being acknowledged as the method of creation of some of the great comics masterpieces of the past 40 years, M-style has fallen out of favor. Worse, it’s often vilified. Marvel style scripting, also known as “plot-first” scripting, has probably existed as long as there have been comics. It’s a method of working that involves a writer giving the artist a story synopsis which the penciler breaks down into pages and panels, interpreting (a.k.a. telling) the writer’s story. The supposed opposite of Marvel style is called “full script.” (Almost seems to imply that there’s something missing in other methods, doesn’t it?) This sounds like what it is. The writer will write a script that describes the art that he or she wants in each and every panel, and will also give the captions, dialogue, sound effects, or even (perish the thought) the thought balloons that are to go in that panel. Many comics writers today, perhaps because of the ubiquity of screenwriting computer programs, write their comics stories in screenplay format, modified to the page and panel needs of comics. And there are certainly lots of terrific stories that have and still do come from this method of writing. But in the process, the rep of the good ol’ Marvel style method has been battered and beaten like an old punching bag. It’s not enough for Mr. Hot Writer to extol the virtues of full script. He invariably has to take a stab at plot-first. Full script advocates always say that the method gives them more control, that they can pace the story, they know what’s going on in each panel, they don’t “exploit” the penciler by making him or her do the writer’s job. And besides, they often look at the story after it’s penciled, so if the artist screwed up they can catch it, or if he did something really cool, they can make use of it. I guess it doesn’t hurt that you get your entire page rate up front and (once upon a time) you even got a piece of the penciler’s royalties. (Anybody out there remember royalties?) I dunno. I’ve worked both ways. For most of my career, since it was spent at Marvel, I naturally worked in that style. You write the plot as if it were a short story you were telling, or something you were recounting to friends in a letter, with the friends in this case being the editor and the penciler. Then the writer gets copies of the pencils in and, kind of like doing a puzzle, puts the appropriate words with the pictures, indicating balloon, caption, and sound effect placement. It’s magical. Really. There’s nothing like getting that artwork back and having to think about it in a different way. It’s as if the artist is telling you the story now. Except, if you’re lucky, he’s added stuff to it—nuances, angles, emphasis, silver-clad surfers—that you never would have thought of. It’s truly a collaboration, in the best sense of the word. It’s how most everybody at Marvel worked, and for a time how a lot of DC people worked.

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Then the screenplay formatting bug struck. I’m tellin’ ya—it was the software. It made everybody with 200 bucks and a Macintosh a screenwriter. And if they couldn’t write movies, dammit, they were gonna make their comics into movies! They were directors, as well as writers! Auteurs! They demanded control! Final cut! But you know what? In comics, the editor has final cut. The editor is in effect the director. (I’m talking mainstream superhero fare here. And even there, I know there are a million exceptions. But bear with me here.) When you’re the editor of a franchise character, you have to have final cut. You are the company’s guardian of that character. You are, as a Japanese visitor to Marvel once called me when I was Spider-Man Group Editor, “Dr. Spider-Man.” And as I’ve mentioned in this magazine about a thousand times before, comics are not movies! You can use the best movie writing software on the market, but still, THEY AIN’T MOVIES! They’re comics. And when you have even a middling pairing of writer and penciler, there’s a (’90s buzzword alert!) synergy in the work that is a joy to behold as creator and as reader. And you just don’t get that in that same way with full script. Why am I so adamant? Well, I was seduced to the dark side for a while. Much of my recent comics work has been for editors who insisted on full script. Fine and dandy. Happy to oblige. I want control as much as the next guy. I will write the panel descriptions and imagine how it will be drawn and I will then immediately write the dialogue to go along with how I imagine the art will look. I AM IN CONTROL! Guess what? Control, as so often in life, is an illusion here, too. And in some ways, the more you expect that a story will be drawn to your specifications, the more likely you are to be disappointed in the results, especially if your artist isn’t particularly concerned with the story you want to tell, full script or no. Recently, artist Bob Hall and I have been working on a “topsecret creator-owned project.” As many of you know, Bob is a fine writer himself, but we agreed that he would “just” draw the project and I would be the writer. (Not to say that Bob doesn’t contribute lots of great ideas. He sure does.) I decided to do it Marvel style. I was fairly controlling about it—there’s a new paragraph where I imagine each new panel will be—but Bob knows he has freedom to mess with the pacing. And while I suggest dialogue here and there in the plot, it sure isn’t anywhere near what the final dialogue is like. I’m having a ball. Seeing how Bob interprets my plot inspires me to write better dialogue. And there’s a sense of freedom to the whole job that’s just plain fun. Draw! magazine EIC Mike Manley and I are in the process of figuring out which method we’re going to use to do the upcoming crossover between our magazines

stories we all know and love where we create a new character have, of course, been done full and chronicle her first adventure. script. But you don’t hear I have my suspicions what we’ll anybody going around bashing end up doing, but you might find it full script. interesting to see what we do When I started at Marvel, (and why) in the crossover. (I most writers there wrote plot wasn’t intending to do a plug for first. I think a lot of writers at DC the crossover here, honest, but it did, too, especially ones who just seemed like such a natural began their careers at Marvel. In spot for one…) any case, some people wrote The “advantages” of full script Marvel style, some full script. It aren’t always what they’re cracked really was a matter of what the up to be. This was brought home writer, penciler, and editor was to me at a session of the Writing comfortable with. Fine. Different Comics and Graphic Novels class I strokes. teach at New York University. I But recently, I just detect, as I have my students write full script speak to people or read interstyle for the simple reason that views, a contempt for Marvel most of them are not artists. It style. “Writers who use it are wouldn’t be fair for me to expect lazy,” say its detractors. “They them to have artist friends or to just want to write art instructions come up with the dough to pay an like: ’Phlegm Guy and Dr. experienced professional to draw BadMan fight for five pages. At their stories. So I have them do the end, Phlegm Guy has won full script so they can get the and the crisis is over. You figure sense of how a page and a story out the petty story details and I’ll are structured. add the balloons.’” I exaggerate One student had written an to make a point, but you see intriguing story about Bruce what I mean. Wayne’s days as a young man Stan Lee and Jack Kirby‚s Fantastic Four #48, the beginning of I’m not saying Marvel style before he became Batman. He “The Galactus Trilogy.” Done Marvel-style. Inks by Joe Sinnott. scripting should be done badly had a friend who was willing to [©2004 Marvel Characters, Inc.] any more than I advocate full draw the story for him. So one scripts be done badly. I just don’t night, my student brought in his understand the bashing Marvel style gets these days. Is it friend’s art. At first glance, the page looked great. The friend more of the industry’s throwing-the-baby-out-with-the-bathwater was a skilled artist. thinking that seems to reason that, if something was popular Unfortunately, the friend was interested—whether he himself to do ten or twenty years ago, it must be wrong? realized it or not—in other things than the story the full-script I know there are many writers who write a full script and then was trying to tell. The page took important actions and made go over the art when it comes in and modify their scripts to them into sliver panels, some of which the writer had indeed accommodate any surprises—for the better or the worse—in called for. However, the largest panel on the page was focused the pencils. They say it’s the best of both worlds, and maybe it on a beautifully rendered tray and pitcher of water that had no is. The downside of that method seems to me to be that story significance. I guess the artist really dug crystal pitchers. neither the writer nor the penciler would be able to feel they’d I explained to my student that his friend wasn’t doing him any finished a job until they had the printed comic in their hands. favors in doing this art for free if they intended to shop this Full script folks: why don’t you try giving up the illusion of story around as a sample. control once in a while? See how it feels. Maybe you can do I bring this up not to diss my student or his friend, both of full script for some artists but not for others, depending on whom are quite talented, but just to point up that the their storytelling skills. You know, some artists even prefer presumed control and precision that comes from full-scripting working Marvel-style. They like being able to add that extra can be illusory. measure of creativity to their work. (Of course, they might like it On a purely creative, storytelling level, the Marvel style so much that they decide to write their own stories, and you’re method of comics-making that Stan Lee popularized in the out of a gig, but that’s another story.) 1960s, with artists such as Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko, John Writers should use whichever method works for them and Romita Sr., John Buscema, Don Heck and others, resulted in the other members of their creative teams. But why does an explosion of creativity that’s never been equaled in anyone have to take the attitude that one style is intrinsically mainstream comics. It essentially created a mode of action“better” than another? adventure storytelling that’s become dominant to this day, not just in comics, but in movies and TV, as well. So why is the Agree? Disagree? Couldn’t give a rat’s ass? Let me know at: style’s rep taking such a beating today? Because the practiWriteNowDF@aol.com or by snail mail: Danny Fingeroth/ tioners aren’t Lee and Kirby? Well, modern full script folks Write Now c/o TwoMorrows, 10407 Bedfordtown Drive, aren’t John Broome and Gil Kane. Doesn’t mean full script Raleigh, NC 27614. should be abandoned. And, sure, I know that a ton of great

THE END

DANNY FINGEROTH | 73

Feedback Letters from our readers Seems like DFWN #6’s In Depth look at Powers was just what you WRITE NOW! readers had been looking for. Let’s hear what some of you had to say about it… Danny, A few months ago, I started pursuing my childhood dream of becoming a comics script writer. For starters, I readjust about every book I could find on the subject. Around the same time, I found and read your magazine. I have to say, it’s just about everything an aspiring comics writer could hope for in a dedicated magazine. The Nuts and Bolts In Depth cover story in WRITE NOW #6, featuring a behind-the-scenes look at Powers #19, was phenomenal. It was extremely informative to see Bendis’ full script alongside each final published comics page. A panel-bypanel comparison of the script and the final product was more instructive than anything I’ve read to date. The accompanying interviews with Bendis and Oeming were also wonderful. It was interesting to see how this particular team works to produce one of the best books in the business. Kudos, too, for the practical info you provide on the business side of things. The interviews with Diana Schutz and Scott

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The TwoMorrows Two-Fer! Prepay for two ads in Alter Ego, DRAW!, Write Now!, Back Issue, or any combination and these discounts apply: TWO FULL-PAGE ADS: $500 ($100 savings) TWO HALF-PAGE ADS: $300 ($50 savings) TWO QUARTER-PAGE ADS: $175 ($25 savings) BULK AD PACKAGES AVAILABLE! PLEASE INQUIRE! The above rates are for black-&-white ads, supplied on-disk (TIF, EPS, or Quark Xpress files acceptable) or as cameraready art. Typesetting service available at 20% mark-up. Due to our already low ad rates, no agency discounts apply. Sorry, display ads are not available for the Jack Kirby Collector. Send ad copy and check or money order (US funds) payable to: TwoMorrows Publishing 10407 Bedfordtown Drive Raleigh, NC 27614 PHONE: 919/449-0344 FAX: 919/449-0327 E-mail: twomorrow@aol.com 74 | WRITE NOW

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Mitchell Rosenberg, in particular, contained very helpful tips from very different, but equally valuable perspectives. One thing I’d love to see is a general feature on how comic books are made and sold, covering writing, penciling, marketing, distribution, and any other phases of the process I’ve left out. DFWN provides an amazing balance of the creative and business sides of writing and publishing comic books. I’m off to order the back issues I’ve missed, and to subscribe so that I never miss it again. Keep up the great work on the greatest comic book magazine I’ve ever seen. Dwyer Kinburn Via the Internet Wow! Thanks, Dwyer. And if you’re interested in seeing how comic books are made, then you’ll want to be here next issue, when we present the first half of WRITE NOW’s unprecedented crossover with sister TwoMorrows publication DRAW MAGAZINE! DRAW E-I-C Mike Manley and yours truly (we were the original creative team on Marvel’s long-running Darkhawk series) will be co-creating a new character right before your very eyes! The process starts in WRITE NOW #8 and continues in DRAW #9, climaxing in a full-color comic featuring our new character that will be an insert in DRAW! Danny: I must tell you that I have greatly enjoyed reading every issue of WRITE NOW. More information and special features are added with each successive issue. This is an excellent direction for an already terrific magazine. I wanted to commend you on issue #6’s excellent interview with the Powers team of Bendis and Oeming.. Your excellent interviewing skills managed to elicit new bits of information from both of these great creators, even though they are both some of the most-interviewed creators in the comics industry. The Mark Waid interview was wonderful as well. Waid can always be counted on to provide a candid and humorous take on his career as a comics writer. Your Nuts & Bolts features are a terrific portion of the magazine. Don’t hesitate to interview authors who write primarily in prose fiction (or non-fiction, for that matter), since their comments are just as interesting to those of us interested in learning more about their process of writing. DFWN really provides helpful information about the craft. The highlight of the issue, for me at least, was the wonderful essay by Michael Uslan on the creation of his graphic novel, Batman: Detective #27. This was a terrific read, as is the graphic novel itself. Congratulations on another fantastic issue. I look forward to the next issue and those that follow. Take care. Jay Wilson Via the Internet Thanks, Jay. Hope you enjoyed this issue! And if you like Nuts & Bolts, then you certainly won’t want to miss next issue. (And, you interview lovers, we have some great ones for you next issue, too.) Now it’s your turn. Tell me what you thought of this issue! You can send your comments to me via e-mail at WriteNowDF@aol.com or via regular mail, to: Danny Fingeroth, Write Now! c/o TwoMorrows, 10407 Bedfordtown Drive, Raleigh, NC 27614. Can’t wait to hear from you!

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MODERN MASTERS SERIES Edited by ERIC NOLEN-WEATHINGTON

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MR. MONSTER, VOLUME ZERO • 12 Tales of Mr. Monster, with 30 ALL-NEW pages by MICHAEL T. GILBERT! • Collects hard-to-find stories & the lost NEWSPAPER STRIP! • New 8-page FULL-COLOR STORY by KEITH GIFFEN & MICHAEL T. GILBERT! (136-pg. Paperback) $14 US

NO OUR TE AD D N EW B ELORE SS W!

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Edited by MICHAEL EURY (former DC and Dark Horse editor/writer and author of books on CAPTAIN ACTION and DICK GIORDANO), BACK ISSUE celebrates comic books of the 1970s, 1980s, and today through recurring (and rotating) departments.

#1: DC VS. MARVEL! PÉREZ COVER! PRO 2 PRO INTERVIEW: A dialogue between GEORGE PÉREZ and MARV WOLFMAN (moderated by ANDY MANGELS), accompanied by rare Pérez artwork! GREATEST STORIES NEVER TOLD: The original JLA/AVENGERS crossover, with unseen PÉREZ art! ROUGH STUFF: JACK KIRBY’S ’70s and ’80s DC and Marvel PENCILED artwork, direct from his files! BEYOND CAPES: An evaluation of DC’s and Marvel’s TARZAN series with artwork by JOE KUBERT and JOHN BUSCEMA, and interviews with KUBERT, CARMINE INFANTINO, and ROY THOMAS! OFF MY CHEST: Our guest editorial this issue is by former DC editorial director CARMINE INFANTINO, recalling DC’s 1970s’ battle plan to challenge Marvel’s market dominance!

#2: TOTALLY ’80S! HUGHES COVER! PRO 2 PRO INTERVIEWS: ADAM HUGHES and MIKE BARR, plus MATT WAGNER and DIANA SCHUTZ, with Hughes & Wagner art! GREATEST STORIES NEVER TOLD: STEVE RUDE’s Space Ghost vs. Herculoids, plus ARTHUR ADAMS art! BEYOND CAPES: BRUCE JONES’ Twisted Tales and Alien Worlds series, with art by DAVE STEVENS! OFF MY CHEST: MIKE BARR on the DC Implosion! Art by STEVE DITKO, JIM APARO, & JOE KUBERT! ROUGH STUFF: Pencil art by ADAM HUGHES!

#3 (MARCH): LAUGHING MATTERS! BOLLAND COVER! BRING ON THE BAD GUYS: The Joker’s history, with DENNY O’NEIL, NEAL ADAMS, STEVE ENGLEHART, MARSHALL ROGERS, JIM STARLIN, & BRIAN BOLLAND! PRO 2 PRO INTERVIEW: KEITH GIFFEN, J.M. DeMATTEIS, and KEVIN MAGUIRE on their JUSTICE LEAGUE series, with art by Maguire and Giffen! GREATEST STORIES NEVER TOLD: The story behind two never-seen PLASTIC MAN movies, plus Arnold Schwarzenegger as SGT. ROCK! ROUGH STUFF: Pencil artwork and rare sketches by SERGIO ARAGONÉS, MIKE MANLEY, RAMONA FRADON, SCOTT SHAW!, JACK KIRBY and others—plus a look at KYLE BAKER’s new PLASTIC MAN series! OFF MY CHEST: MARK EVANIER tells you why writing “funny” books is harder than it looks!

IN MAY: #4: MARVEL MILESTONES! BYRNE COVER! • PRO2PRO INTERVIEWS: JOHN BYRNE and CHRIS CLAREMONT on WOLVERINE & THE X-MEN, and WALTER SIMONSON and JOE CASEY on the 20th anniversary of Walter’s run on THOR! • GREATEST STORIES NEVER TOLD: Wolverine’s creator LEN WEIN on the TEEN WOLVERINE you never saw! Plus, unseen Wolverine art by DAVE COCKRUM! • ROUGH STUFF: Wolverine’s 30th anniversary is celebrated with pencil artwork by JOHN BUSCEMA, JIM LEE, ADAM HUGHES, ROB LIEFELD, MARC SILVESTRI, & others! • PLUS: Special features highlighting the PUNISHER’s 30th birthday and the 20th anniversary of SECRET WARS!

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BACK ISSUES

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DRAW! (edited by MIKE MANLEY) is the professional “How-To” magazine on comics, cartooning, & animation. Each issue features in-depth interviews & step-by-step demos from top comics pros on all aspects of graphic storytelling. NOTE: Contains nudity for purposes of figure drawing. Intended for Mature Readers.

#7: BRERETON & BLEVINS DRAW #2: (116 pgs.) “HowTo” demos & interviews with TARTAKOVSKY, GENNDY KLAUS JANSON, JERRY ORDWAY, BRET BLEVINS, PHIL HESTER, ANDE PARKS, STEVE CONLEY, more! $8 US

DRAW #3: (80 pgs.) “How-To” demos & interviews with DICK GIORDANO, BRET BLEVINS, CHRIS BAILEY, MIKE MANLEY, new column by PAUL RIVOCHE, reviews of art supplies, more! $8 US

DRAW #4: (92 pgs.) “How-To” demos & interviews with ERIK LARSEN, KEVIN NOWLAN, DAVE COOPER, BRET BLEVINS, new column by PAUL RIVOCHE, color section, more! $8 US

DRAW #5: (88 pgs.) “How-To” demos & interviews with BRIAN BENDIS & MIKE OEMING, MIKE WIERINGO, MARK McKENNA, BRET BLEVINS, PAUL RIVOCHE, color section, more! $8 US

DRAW #6: (96 pgs.) “How-To” demos & interviews with BILL WRAY, STEPHEN DeSTEFANO, CELIA CALLE, MIKE MANLEY, BRET BLEVINS, ANDE PARKS, section, product color reviews, and more! $8 US

• Interview, cover, and demo with DAN BRERETON! • ZACH TRENHOLM on doing CARICATURES! • DRAWING IN ADOBE ILLUSTRATOR step-by-step demo by ALBERTO RUIZ! • The power of sketching by BRET BLEVINS! • Designing with light & shadow by PAUL RIVOCHE! • Plus reviews of the best art supplies, links & more! (96 pages) $8 US

WRITE NOW! (edited by DANNY FINGEROTH), the mag for writers of comics, animation, & sci-fi, puts you in the minds of today’s top writers and editors. Each issue features writing tips from pros on both sides of the desk, interviews, sample scripts, reviews, and more.

WN #1: (88 pgs.) MARK BAGLEY cover & interview, BRIAN BENDIS & STAN LEE interviews, JOE QUESADA on what editors really want, TOM DeFALCO, J.M. DeMATTEIS, more! $8 US

WN #2: (96 pgs.) ERIK LARSEN cover & interview, STAN BERKOWITZ on the Justice League cartoon, TODD ALCOTT on Samurai Jack, LEE NORDLING, ANNE D. BERNSTEIN, & more! $8 US

WN #3: (80 pgs.) DEODATO JR. Hulk cover, intvs. & articles by BRUCE JONES, AXEL ALONSO, JIMMY PALMIOTTI, KURT BUSIEK, FABIAN NICIEZA, STEVEN GRANT, DENNY O’NEIL, more! $8 US

WN #4: (80 pgs.) Interviews and lessons with WARREN ELLIS, HOWARD CHAYKIN, PAUL DINI, BOB SCHRECK, DIANA SCHUTZ, JOEY CAVALIERI, STEVEN GRANT, DENNY O’NEIL, more! $8 US

WN #5: (80 pgs.) Interviews and lessons by WILL EISNER, J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI, BOB SCHRECK, FABIAN NICIEZA, PAUL DINI, JOEY CAVALIERI, DIANA SCHUTZ, DENNY O’NEIL, more! $8 US

#6: BENDIS & OEMING! • BRIAN BENDIS and MICHAEL AVON OEMING give an in-depth look at the making of POWERS! • MARK WAID on writing FANTASTIC FOUR! • BOB SCHRECK’s interview continues from #5! • DIANA SCHUTZ, SCOTT M. ROSENBERG, & more! (84 pages) $8 US

COMICOLOGY (edited by BRIAN SANER LAMKEN), the highlyacclaimed magazine about modern comics, recently ended its fourissue run, but back issues are available, featuring never-seen art & interviews.

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BACK ISSUE!

#4: THE “ALLBRIAN” ISSUE! CC #2: (100 pgs.) MIKE ALLRED interview & portfolio, 60 years of THE SPIRIT, 25 years of the X-MEN, PAUL GRIST interview, FORTY WINKS, new color ALLRED & GRIST covers, & more! $8 US

CC #3: (100 pgs.) CARLOS PACHECO interview & portfolio, ANDI WATSON interview, a look at what comics predicted the future would be like, new color PACHECO & WATSON covers, & more! $8 US

Interviews with BRIAN BOLLAND (plus a massive sketchbook), BRIAN AZZARELLO, BRIAN MICHAEL BENDIS, and BRIAN CLOPPER! (116 pages, final issue) $8 US

Six-issues: $30 Standard, $48 First Class (Canada: $60, Elsewhere: $66 Surface, $90 Airmail).

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JACK KIRBY COLLECTOR

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THE

BACK ISSUES

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Complete your JACK KIRBY COLLECTOR collection with our COLLECTED VOLUMES and BACK ISSUES!

The KIRBY COLLECTOR (edited by JOHN MORROW) celebrates the life & career of the “King” of comics through interviews with Kirby & his contemporaries, feature articles, & rare & unseen Kirby artwork. Now in tabloid format, the magazine showcases Kirby’s art at even larger size.

E! Y! IN MA IN JUN G G N N I I M M CO CO

COLLECTED KIRBY COLLECTOR, VOL. ONE: (240 pgs.) Reprints TJKC #1-9, plus over 30 pieces of never before published Kirby art! $29 US

COLLECTED KIRBY COLLECTOR, VOL. TWO: (160 pgs.) Reprints TJKC #10-12, plus over 30 pieces of never before published Kirby art! $22 US

COLLECTED KIRBY COLLECTOR, VOL. THREE: (176 pgs.) Reprints TJKC #13-15, plus over 30 pieces of never before published Kirby art! $24 US

E OLUM NEW V IN JULY! G COMIN CAPTAIN VICTORY: GRAPHITE COLLECTED KIRBY COLLECTOR, VOL. FOUR: (240 pgs.) Reprints TJKC #16-19, plus over 30 pieces of never before published Kirby art! $29 US

EDITION (52 pgs.) Kirby’s 1975 Graphic Novel in original pencil form. Unseen art, screenplay, more! Proceeds go to preserving the 5000-page Kirby Archives! $8 US

THE JACK KIRBY CHECKLIST: (100-Pages) Lists all his published comics in detail, plus portfolios, unpublished work; it even cross-references reprints! A must-have for eBay shoppers! $7 US

TJKC #20: (68 pgs.) KIRBY’S WOMEN! Interviews with KIRBY, DAVE STEVENS, & LISA KIRBY, unused 10-page story, romance comics, Jack’s original CAPTAIN VICTORY screenplay, more! $8 US

TJKC #21: (68 pgs.) KIRBY, GIL KANE, & BRUCE TIMM intvs., FAILURE TO COMMUNICATE (LEE dialogue vs. KIRBY notes), SILVER STAR screenplay, TOPPS COMICS, unpublished art, more! $8 US

TJKC #22: (68 pgs.) VILLAINS! KIRBY, STEVE RUDE, & MIKE MIGNOLA interviews, FF #49 pencils, FAILURE TO COMMUNICATE, KOBRA, ATLAS MONSTERS! Kirby/Stevens cover. $8 US

TJKC #23: (68 pgs.) Interviews with KIRBY, DENNY O’NEIL & TRACY KIRBY, more FF #49 pencils, FAILURE TO COMMUNICATE, unused 10page SOUL LOVE story, more! $8 US

TJKC #24: (68 pgs.) BATTLES! KIRBY’S original art fight, JIM SHOOTER interview, NEW GODS #6 (“Glory Boat”) pencils, FAILURE TO COMMUNICATE, more! Kirby/ Mignola cover. $8 US

TJKC #25: (100 pgs.) SIMON & KIRBY! KIRBY, SIMON, & JOHN SEVERIN interviews, CAPTAIN AMERICA pencils, unused BOY EXPLORERS story, history of MAINLINE COMICS, more! $8 US

TJKC #26: (72 pgs.) GODS! COLOR NEW GODS concept drawings, KIRBY & WALTER SIMONSON interviews, FAILURE TO COMMUNICATE, BIBLE INFLUENCES, THOR, MR. MIRACLE, more! $8 US

TJKC #27: (72 pages) KIRBY INFLUENCE Part One! KIRBY and ALEX ROSS interviews, KIRBY FAMILY Roundtable, all-star lineup of pros discuss Kirby’s influence on them! Kirby / Timm cover. $8 US

TJKC #29: (68 pgs.) ’70s MARVEL! Interviews with KIRBY, KEITH GIFFEN & RICH BUCKLER, ’70s COVER GALLERY in pencil, FAILURE TO COMMUNICATE, & more! Kirby/Janson cover. $8 US

TJKC #30: (68 pgs.) ’80s WORK! Interviews with ALAN MOORE & Kirby Estate’s ROBERT KATZ, HUNGER DOGS, SUPER POWERS, SILVER STAR, ANIMATION work, more! $8 US

TJKC #31: (84 pgs.) TABLOID FORMAT! Wraparound KIRBY/ ADAMS cover, KURT BUSIEK & LADRONN interviews, new MARK EVANIER column, favorite 2-PAGE SPREADS, 2001 Treasury, more! $13 US

TJKC #32: (84 pgs.) TABLOID! KIRBY interview, new MARK EVANIER column, plus Kirby’s Least Known Work: DAYS OF THE MOB #2, THE HORDE, BLACK HOLE, SOUL LOVE, PRISONER, more! $13 US

TJKC #33: (84 pgs.) TABLOID ALL-FANTASTIC FOUR issue! MARK EVANIER column, miniinterviews with everyone who worked on FF after Kirby, STAN LEE interview, 40 pgs. of FF PENCILS, more! $13 US

TJKC #34: (84 pgs.) TABLOID! JOE SIMON & CARMINE INFANTINO interviews, MARK EVANIER column, unknown 1950s concepts, CAPTAIN AMERICA pencils, KIRBY/ TOTH cover, more! $13 US

TJKC #35: (84 pgs.) TABLOID! GREAT ESCAPES with MISTER MIRACLE, comparing KIRBY & HOUDINI, Kirby Tribute Panel with EVANIER, EISNER, BUSCEMA, ROMITA, ROYER, & JOHNNY CARSON! $13 US

TJKC #36: (84 pgs.) TABLOID ALL-THOR issue! MARK EVANIER column, SINNOTT & ROMITA JR. interviews, unseen KIRBY INTV., ART GALLERY, FAILURE TO COMMUNICATE, more! $13 US

TJKC #37: (84 pgs.) TABLOID HOW TO DRAW THE KIRBY WAY issue! MARK EVANIER column, MIKE ROYER on inking, KIRBY interview, ART GALLERY, analysis of Kirby’s art techniques, more! $13 US

TJKC #38: (84 pgs.) TABLOID KIRBY: STORYTELLER! MARK EVANIER column, JOE SINNOTT on inking, SWIPES, talks with JACK DAVIS, PAUL GULACY, HERNANDEZ BROS., ART GALLERY, more! $13 US

TJKC #39: (84 pgs.) TABLOID FAN FAVORITES! EVANIER column, INHUMANS, HULK, SILVER SURFER, tribute panel with ROMITA, AYERS, LEVITZ, McFARLANE, TRIMPE, ART GALLERY, more! $13 US

TJKC #40: (84 pgs.) TABLOID “WORLD THAT’S COMING!” EVANIER column, KAMANDI, OMAC, tribute panel with CHABON, PINI, GOLDBERG, BUSCEMA, LIEBER, LEE, ART GALLERY, more! $13 US

1 ST SERIES BACK ISSUES!

#7: MARVEL IN THE 1970S

#9: THE CHARLTON COMICS STORY

#11: ALEX TOTH & SHELLY MAYER

#14: WALLY WOOD & TOWER COMICS

#20: THE ROMITAS & THE KUBERTS

• A new PAUL GULACY COVER, to complement his NEW INTERVIEW on MASTER OF KUNG-FU! • JOHN BYRNE interview about his first days working Marvel style! • Interview with other 1970s Marvel stalwarts, including DOUG MOENCH, ROY THOMAS, JIM STARLIN, STEVE ENGLEHART, DAN ADKINS, JIM MOONEY, STEVE GERBER, RICH BUCKLER, and others! • A look at the SECRET ORIGINS OF THE DIRECT MARKET for comics!

• New DICK GIORDANO COVER featuring the CHARLTON ACTION HEROES! • Little-known historical overview of CHARLTON’S HISTORY! • Interviews with DICK GIORDANO, JOE GILL, DENNIS O’NEIL, ROY THOMAS, PETE MORISI, JIM APARO, SAM GLANZMAN, FRANK McLAUGHLIN, STEVE SKEATES, and others who worked for Charlton in the 1960s! • ALAN MOORE on WATCHMEN’S CONNECTION TO CHARLTON!

• In-depth ALEX TOTH INTERVIEW, including a Q&A about how he approaches his art! • TOTH CHECKLIST, plus top pros paying TRIBUTE TO ALEX! • Flip-side tribute to SHELDON MAYER, with examinations of his work on SUGAR & SPIKE and SCRIBBLY! • Interviews with MAYER’S SON & DAUGHTER, the real-life inspiration for Sugar & Spike! • UNSEEN ART by both TOTH and MAYER!

• Rare WALLACE WOOD interview conducted by SHEL DORF! • Plenty of unseen WOOD ART! • An in-depth look at the rise and fall of TOWER COMICS! • Interviews with DAN ADKINS, LEN BROWN, STEVE SKEATES, GEORGE TUSKA, BILL PEARSON, RUSS JONES, and other Tower Comics alumni! • A thorough TOWER COMICS CHECKLIST! • The 1980s THUNDER AGENTS REVIVAL, and more!

• Special FATHERS & SONS ISSUE! • Career-spanning interviews with and art by JOHN ROMITA SR. and JOHN ROMITA JR.! • Flip-side interviews and art with JOE, ADAM, and ANDY KUBERT! • Chats with the wives: VIRGINIA ROMITA and MURIEL KUBERT! • Colossal collection of some of the finest KUBERT AND ROMITA ART ever presented! • Two NEW COLOR COVERS, pairing the respective FATHER & SON TEAMS!

(132 pages) $9 US

(116 pages) $9 US

READ EXCERPTS AND ORDER ONLINE AT: www.twomorrows.com

CBA #10: (116 pgs.) WALTER CBA #12: (116 pgs.) CHARL- CBA #13: (116 pgs.) MARVEL CBA #15: (116 pgs.) LOVE & CBA #16: (132 pgs.) ’70s CBA #17: (116 pgs.) ARTHUR CBA #18: (116 pgs.) COSMIC SIMONSON, plus WOMEN OF TON COMICS OF THE 1970s! HORROR OF THE 1970s! Art/ ROCKETEERS! Art by & intvs. ATLAS/SEABOARD COMICS! ADAMS & CO.! ART ADAMS COMICS OF THE ’70s! Art by THE COMICS! RAMONA Rare art/intvs. with STATON, interviews with WOLFMAN, with DAVE STEVENS, LOS Art by & interviews with interview & gallery, remem- & intvs. with JIM STARLIN, FRADON, MARIE SEVERIN, BYRNE, NEWTON, SUTTON, COLAN, PALMER, THOMAS, BROS. HERNANDEZ, MATT ERNIE CÓLON, CHAYKIN, bering GRAY MORROW, ALAN WEISS, ENGLEHART, TRINA ROBBINS, JOHN ZECK, NICK CUTI, a NEW E- ISABELLA, PERLIN, TRIMPE, WAGNER, DEAN MOTTER, ROVIN, AMENDOLA, HAMA, GEORGE ROUSSOS, GEORGE AL MILGROM, LEIALOHA, WORKMAN, new SIMONSON MAN strip, new STATON MARCOS, a new COLAN/ new STEVENS/HERNANDEZ new CÓLON & KUPPERBERG EVANS, new ART ADAMS ’60s Bullpen reunion, new covers, more! $9 US cover, & more! $9 US cover, more! $9 US PALMER cover, more! $9 US cover, more! $9 US STARLIN cover, more! $9 US cover, more! $9 US

CBA #19: (116 pgs.) HARVEY CBA #21: (116 pgs.) THE ART CBA #22: (116 pgs.) GOLD CBA #23: (116 pgs.) MIKE CBA #24: (116 pgs.) COMICS CBA #25: (116 pgs.) ALAN COMICS! Art by & intvs. with OF ADAM HUGHES! Art, KEY COMICS! Art by & intvs. MIGNOLA SPOTLIGHT, plus OF NATIONAL LAMPOON with MOORE’S ABC COMICS with SIMON & KIRBY, WALLY interview & checklist with with RUSS MANNING, WALLY JILL THOMPSON: Sandman to GAHAN WILSON, BODÉ, NEAL MOORE, KEVIN NOWLAN, WOOD, AL WILLIAMSON, GIL HUGHES, plus a day in the life WOOD, JESSE SANTOS, Scary Godmother! Mignola ADAMS, FRANK SPRINGER, GENE HA, RICK VEITCH, J.H. KANE, SID JACOBSON, FRED of ALEX ROSS, JOHN BUSCE- MARK EVANIER, DON GLUT, INTERVIEW & ART GALLERY, ALAN KUPPERBERG, BOBBY WILLIAMS, SCOTT DUNBIER, RHOADES, MITCH O’CONNELL MA tribute, new HUGHES new BRUCE TIMM cover, extensive CHECKLIST, new LONDON, MICHAEL GROSS, JIM BAIKIE, and NOWLAN & cover, more! $9 US cover, more! $9 US more! $9 US cover, & more! $9 US more! $9 US WILLIAMS covers! $9 US

See why the first series of COMIC BOOK ARTIST is the 2000-2002 Eisner Award winner for BEST COMICSRELATED MAGAZINE! Edited by Jon B. Cooke, it features indepth articles, interviews, and unseen art. Back issues are going fast, and are ONLY AVAILABLE FROM TWOMORROWS!

Prices include US Postage. Outside the US, Per Item Add $2 Canada, Elsewhere: $3 Surface, $7 Airmail.

Edited by ROY THOMAS ALTER EGO, the greatest ’zine of the ’60s, is back and all-new, focusing on Golden & Silver Age comics and creators with articles, interviews, and unseen art. Each issue includes an FCA (Fawcett Collectors of America) section, Mr. Monster, and more!

AE #2: (100 pgs.) All-new! EISNER “SPIRIT” story, KANE, FOX & SCHWARTZ on The Atom, L. LIEBER & JACK BURNLEY intvs., KANIGHER, FCA, new color BURNLEY & KANE covers, more! $8 US

AE #3: (100 pgs.) ALEX ROSS cover & interview, JERRY ORDWAY, BILL EVERETT, CARL BURGOS, Giant FAWCETT (FCA) section with C.C. BECK, MARC SWAYZE, & more! $8 US

AE #4: (100 pgs.) 60 years of HAWKMAN & FLASH! ROY THOMAS remembers GIL KANE, intvs. with KUBERT, MOLDOFF, LAMPERT, FOX, FCA with BECK & SWAYZE, KUBERT covers, more! $8 US

AE #5: (100 pgs.) JSA issue! Intvs. with SHELLY MAYER, GIL KANE, MART NODELL, GEORGE ROUSSOS, FCA with BECK & SWAYZE, NEW INFANTINO / ORDWAY wraparound cover, more! $8 US

AE #6: (100 pgs.) GENE COLAN intv., how-to books by STAN LEE & KANIGHER, ALLSTAR SQUADRON, MAC RABOY section, FCA with BECK & SWAYZE, COLAN & RABOY covers, more! $8 US

AE #7: (100 pgs.) Companion issue to the ALL-STAR COMPANION! J. SCHWARTZ intv., JLA-JSA teamups, MAC RABOY, FCA with BECK & SWAYZE, BUCKLER & BECK covers, more! $8 US

AE #8: (100 pgs.) Bio of WALLY WOOD, ADKINS & PEARSON intvs., KUBERT intv., FCA w/ BECK, SWAYZE, & ORDWAY, MR. MONSTER, WOOD & KUBERT covers, more! $8 US

AE #9: (100 pgs.) JOHN ROMITA intv. & gallery, plus ROY THOMAS’ dream projects! FCA with BECK, SWAYZE, & TUSKA, MR. MONSTER, ROMITA & DICK GIORDANO covers! $8 US

AE #10: (100 pgs) CARMINE INFANTINO intv. & art, neverseen FLASH story, VIN SULLIVAN & MAGAZINE ENTERPRISES, FRED GUARDINEER, AYERS, FCA, MR. MONSTER, more! $8 US

AE #11: (100 pgs) Interviews with SYD SHORES, MICKEY SPILLANE, VINCE FAGO, MAGAZINE ENTERPRISES Part Two, FCA with BECK, SWAYZE, DON NEWTON, MR. MONSTER, more! $8 US

AE #12: (100 pgs) GILL FOX on QUALITY COMICS, neverseen PAUL REINMAN Green Lantern art, origins of ALLSTAR SQUADRON, FCA, MR. MONSTER on WALLY WOOD, more! $8 US

AE #13 (100 pgs.) TITANS OF TIMELY/MARVEL Part Two! JOE SIMON & MURPHY ANDERSON covers, Silver Age AVENGERS section (with BUSCEMA, HECK, TUSKA, & THOMAS) & more! $8 US

AE #14 (100 pgs.) JSA FROM THE ’40s TO THE ’80s! MIKE NASSER & MICHAEL T. GILBERT covers, intvs. with ORDWAY & LEE ELIAS, neverseen 1940s JSA pgs., ’70s JSA, & more! $8 US

AE #15 (108 pgs.) JOHN BUSCEMA TRIBUTE ISSUE! BUSCEMA covers & interview, unseen art, ROY THOMAS on their collaborations, plus salute to KURT SCHAFFENBERGER, & more! $8 US

AE #16: (108 pgs.) COLAN, BUSCEMA, ROMITA, SEVERIN interviews, ALEX ROSS on Shazam!, OTTO & JACK BINDER, KURTZMAN, new ROSS & FRADON/SEVERIN covers, more! $8 US

AE #17: (108 pgs.) LOU FINE overview & art, ARNOLD DRAKE & MURPHY ANDERSON interviews, plus EISNER, CRANDALL, DAVIS & EVANS’ non-EC action comics, FCA, LOU FINE cover, more! $8 US

AE #18: (108 pgs.) STAN GOLDBERG interview & art, plus KIRBY, DITKO, HECK, ROMITA, BUSCEMA, EVERETT, WALLY WOOD’S Flash Gordon, FCA, KIRBY & SWAYZE covers, more! $8 US

AE #19: (108 pgs.) DICK SPRANG interview & art, JERRY ROBINSON on FRED RAY, BOB KANE, CARMINE INFANTINO, ALEX TOTH, WALLY WOOD, FCA, SPRANG & RAY covers, more! $8 US

AE #20: (108 pgs.) TIMELY/ MARVEL focus, INVADERS overview with KIRBY, KANE, ROBBINS, BOB DESCHAMPS intv., panel with FINGER, BINDER, FOX, & WEISINGER, FCA, rare art, more! $8 US

AE #21: (108 pgs.) IGER STUDIO with art by EISNER, FINE, MESKIN, ANDERSON, CRANDALL, CARDY, EVANS, “SHEENA” section, THOMAS on the JSA, FCA, DAVE STEVENS cover, more! $8 US

AE #22: (108 pgs.) EVERETT & KUBERT interviewed by GIL KANE & NEAL ADAMS, ROY THOMAS on Sub-Mariner, COLAN, BUSCEMA, SEVERIN, WOOD, FCA, BECK & EVERETT covers, more! $8 US

AE #23: (108 pgs.) Two unseen Golden Age WONDER WOMAN stories examined, BOB FUJITANI intv. Archie/ MLJ’s JOHN ROSENBERGER & VICTOR GORELICK intv., FCA, rare art, more! $8 US

AE #24: (108 pgs.) NEW X-MEN intvs. with STAN LEE, COCKRUM, CLAREMONT, WEIN, DRAKE, SHOOTER, THOMAS, MORT MESKIN profiled, FCA, covers by COCKRUM & MESKIN! $8 US

AE #25: (108 pgs.) JACK COLE & PLASTIC MAN! Brother DICK COLE interviewed, Cole celebrated by ALEX TOTH, THOMAS on All-Star Squadron #1, JERRY BAILS tribute, FCA, cover by TOTH! $8 US

AE #26: (108 pgs.) JOE SINNOTT interview, KIRBY and BUSCEMA art, IRWIN DONENFELD, Superman art by SHUSTER, BORING, SWAN, FCA, Mr. MONSTER, covers by SINNOTT & BORING! $8 US

AE #27: #20:(108 (108pgs.) pgs.) VINTIMELY/ SULLIMARVEL focus,“Lost” INVADERS VAN interview, KIRBY overview with KIRBY, KANE, HULK covers, the 1948 NY ROBBINS, DESCHAMPS CON, “GreatBOB Unknown” artists, intv., panel FCA, withALEX FINGER, KURTZMAN, TOTH, BINDER, FOX, & WEISINGER, MR. MONSTER, covers by FCA, rare art, more! $8 $8 US US BURNLEY & KIRBY!

AE #28: (108 pgs.) JOE MANEELY spotlight, scarce Marvel art by EVERETT, SEVERIN, DITKO, ROMITA, extra-size FCA, LEE AMES intv., covers by MANEELY & DON NEWTON! $8 US

AE #29: (108 pgs.) FRANK BRUNNER intv., EVERETT’s Venus, Classics Illustrated adapting Lovecraft, LEE/KIRBY/ DITKO prototypes, ALEX TOTH, FCA with GENE COLAN, BRUNNER cover! $8 US

AE #30: (108 pgs.) SILVER AGE JLA special, ALEX ROSS on the JLA, MIKE SEKOWSKY, DICK DILLIN, GOLDEN AGE SIMON & KIRBY scripters speak, FRENCH HEROES, ROSS & RUDE covers! $8 US

AE #31: (108 pgs.) DICK AYERS intv., HARLAN ELLISON’S Marvel work (with Bullpen artists), LEE/KIRBY/ DITKO prototypes, Christmas cards from cartoonists, AYERS & RAY covers! $8 US

ALTER EGO SUBSCRIPTIONS! GI ! MIN O C MAY AE #32: (108 pgs.) Golden Age TIMELY ARTISTS intv., MART NODELL, MIKE GOLD on the Silver Age, art by SIMON & KIRBY, SWAN, INFANTINO, KANE, GIORDANO & GIL KANE covers! $8 US

AE #33: (108 pgs.) MIKE SEKOWSKY tribute, intvs. with wife PAT SEKOWSKY and Golden Age inker VALERIE BARCLAY, art by ANDERSON, ANDRU & ESPOSITO, INFANTINO, FRENZ covers! $8 US

AE #34: (108 pgs.) QUALITY COMICS, intvs. with ALEX KOTZKY, CHUCK CUIDERA, DICK ARNOLD, TOTH, KURTZMAN, art by FINE, EISNER, COLE, CRANDALL and NICHOLAS covers! $8 US

AE #35: #20: (108 (108pgs.) pgs.)STAN TIMELY/ LEE, MARVEL focus,DICK INVADERS JOHN ROMITA, AYERS, overview with KIRBY, KANE, ROY THOMAS, & AL JAFFEE ROBBINS, BOB DESCHAMPS on the 1940s & 1950s Golden intv., FINGER, Age at panel Timely/with Marvel, FCA, BINDER, FOX, & ROMITA WEISINGER, MR. MONSTER, and $8 US FCA, rarecovers! art, more! $8 US JAFFEE

AE #36: (108 pgs.) JOE SIMON intv. & cover, GOLDEN AGE HEROES of Canada, ROY THOMAS, MICHAEL T. GILBERT on MR. MONSTER’S ORIGINS, FCA, ALEX TOTH, and more! $8 US

GI MINNE! O C JU

AE #37: (108 pgs.) WAYNE BORING cover, SY BARRY intv., Superman’s “K-Metal” story, FCA with C.C. BECK, MARC SWAYZE, DON NEWTON, and Shazam!/Isis!, MR. MONSTER, and more! $8 US

Twelve issues: $60 Standard, $96 First Class (Canada: $120, Elsewhere: $132 Surface, $180 Airmail). FOR SIX-ISSUE SUBS, CUT THE PRICE IN HALF!

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