interview
Robot 6 Q&A | Comedy writers unleash The Devastator humor anthology
The Devastator #2
After running a successful Kickstarter campaign, Geoffrey Golden and Amanda Meadows launched The Devastator earlier this year, a humor anthology that features a mix of prose and comics by a variety of contributors. Each issue focuses on a particular subject; the first issue lampooned cartoons like Fat Albert, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Inspector Gadget, while the second issue will take aim at science fiction when it comes out later this week.
Contributors to the anthology include a mix of humor writers, Hollywood folks and cartoonists — James Urbaniak of The Venture Bros. fame, Masterpiece Comics creator R. Sikoryak, Wondermark creator David Malki!, Antz co-writer Todd Alcott and Metalocalypse‘s Jon Schnepp, among many others. Per their site, “The Devastator publishes quarterly, which naturally means twice a year.”
I met Golden and Meadows at the Alternative Press Expo in October and caught back up with them this week to talk about the anthology.
JK: So to start off, introduce yourselves. What do you do in addition to the anthology?
Geoffrey: I’m Geoffrey Golden, co-founder and editor in chief of The Devastator. In addition, I’m a freelance writer/editor – I’ve written for Cracked, MadAtoms, National Lampoon and recently finished writing an animated movie for Lionsgate and Mondo Media (Happy Tree Friends).
Amanda: I’m Amanda Meadows, co-founder and managing editor of The Devastator. I too am a freelance writer/editor; I’ve written for College Humor, McSweeney’s, and worked at a publishing company for some time.
JK: What made you want to start publishing your own humor publication?
Geoffrey: Groupies.
- December 7, 2010 @ 11:00 AM by JK Parkin
Gorillas Riding Dinosaurs | Getting to know Kelly Sue DeConnick
When we were over at Newsarama, I used to do these creator profile pieces that were a lot of fun. They were fun for me at least, because I always came away from them with an insight into some of my favorite creators that I never got from the typical project-oriented interviews. I mean, where else are you going to learn about a writer’s work-out routine or an artist’s favorite shirt?
So, once a month I’d like to use this space for a different kind of look at the creators of the fun kinds of comics we usually talk about here. I hope you’ll dig it as much as I do.
Kelly Sue DeConnick
First up is Kelly Sue DeConnick who got started in the biz translating manga for VIZ and Tokyopop before doing some Image anthologies (most of which featured robots) and 30 Days of Night: Eben & Stella for IDW. Nowadays, of course, you’ll find her name all over Marvel comics in anthologies like Age of Heroes and Girl Comics and one-shots like Sif and Rescue. You may have also noticed that Osborn, her first mini-series for Marvel, just launched today.
Let’s get to know her:
Q: Who’s your personal hero?
A: Man. After far more deliberation that I really should cop to, I’m going to go with Laurenn McCubbin. There are about a bazillion ways to interpret “personal hero.” I’m going with the person from whom I think I have the most to learn, the person I wish I were more like.
Laurenn’s exceptionally courageous and open-minded, two areas where I think I could be improved. More impressive still, she has the extraordinary willingness to be wrong. Do you know what I mean by that? Laurenn is one of the few people you’ll ever meet who will go into an argument with you willing to change her mind. She doesn’t seem to have her ego wrapped up in any of that. You don’t really realize how rare that is until you meet someone like her. I think it’s tremendously evolved.
I suck at being wrong. I’m embarrassed by it.
Good thing it happens so very rarely.
Wah wah.
- November 17, 2010 @ 03:00 PM by Michael May
Comics A.M. | The comics Internet in two minutes
Kevin is out sick today, so I’m filling in on Comics A.M. … apologies for the lateness.
Viz Media
Publishers | Viz Senior Vice President and General Manager Alvin Lu discusses the state of the company after the layoffs that occurred in May, as well as the overall manga market. “We continue to get great support from our retail partners. They do see that these very popular series continue to do well. They are getting up there in the 40s and 50s of the volume count, and there is the challenge of bringing in newer readers, to catch them up. I was looking though a calendar from several years ago when we were looking at Bleach Vol. 5 or something. That is a conversation we’ve been having with the bookstores, and they’re being very responsive on how to work with us, to continue to drive the category. They’ve been very supportive of helping us launch new series as well. So it’s a balancing act of getting the space to launch new series while nurturing the more mature series that continue to enjoy a loyal readership.” [ICv2]
Events | Brian Heater from the Daily Cross Hatch and Sarah Morean from Blog Chicka Blog Blog have declared Aug. 28 “International Read Comics in Public” Day. They’ve started a blog that features, as you might guess, people reading comics in public. [Daily Cross Hatch]
- August 11, 2010 @ 10:26 AM by JK Parkin
Interview: J. Torres updates Jinx
The original Jinx gang, as visualized by Fernando Ruiz
One of the more intriguing pieces of news to come out of Comic-Con was that the Archie folks are bringing back the venerable cute-kid comic Li’l Jinx, but with an older Jinx and a fresh new look. Even better, the comic is being written by J. Torres (Alison Dare, Lola: A Ghost Story). The series will go direct to digital in four 22-page issues and then see print as a trade paperback.
Not only did J. take time to talk to me about the new comic, but the Archie folks provided some exclusive character sketches of the new, more grown-up versions of Jinx and her friends. Hit the jump for comics and conversation.
- August 4, 2010 @ 12:30 PM by Brigid Alverson
Tobin and Coover catch the Gingerbread Girl
Gingerbread Girl
During their panel at Comic-Con International last month, Top Shelf Productions highlighted several projects they’ll publish next year, including Gingerbread Girl, a new graphic novel by the husband-and-wife team of writer Paul Tobin and artist Colleen Coover.
The duo, probably best known for their respective work at Marvel right now, took the time to answer a few of my questions about the new project, how they collaborate and what else they’re working on.
JK: What’s Gingerbread Girl about?
Paul: At heart, it’s a strange bird of a character study focused on the main character, Annah, with a changing group of narrators (including a boyfriend, a girlfriend, a magician, a pigeon, a thug, a store clerk, a doctor, an English bulldog, and many more) searching for the truth behind our “Gingerbread Girl,” who believes that her mad scientist father extracted a part of her brain (the Penfield Homunculus) and used it to create a sister for Annah.
- August 3, 2010 @ 01:00 PM by JK Parkin
SDCC ’10 | A womanly chat with Vanessa Davis
Make Me A Woman
One of the more notable indie books debuting at the San Diego show this week is Vanessa Davis‘ latest book, Make Me A Woman, published by Drawn & Quarterly.
Ever since she made made her debut in anthologies like True Porn and Kramer’s Ergot, Davis’ work has exuded a warmth, humor, and sense of style that few of her compatriots can match, a fact only underscored by her 2005 book, Spaniel Rage, published by the late, lamented Buenaventura Press.
It’s been far too long since we’ve had a new book from her, but Make Me A Woman is thankfully worth the wait. Lest the title fool you into thinking the book is some saucy romp, let me be quick to dash some cold water on your overheated imagination. Mostly containing stories originally serialized in Tablet magazine, as well as some sketchbook strips and other material, the book explores how her relationship towards her family, friends, religion and self-image has changed as she’s matured. Along the way she talks about her experiences at fat camp, her feelings towards Robert Crumb’s Genesis adaptation and why she’d still like a present for Hanukkah.
I chatted with Davis over email last week about her new book and how she broke into comics. It was a genuine pleasure and I hope I don’t have to wait another five years for the opportunity to talk about her work with her again.
- July 23, 2010 @ 02:00 PM by Chris Mautner
SDCC ’10 | AiT’s Elvis Van Helsing pits slackers vs. vampires
Elvis Van Helsing
Elvis Yang’s life couldn’t be lamer. He’s in his sixth year of college, doesn’t have a girlfriend, lives in his parents’ basement, he’s flat broke and worst of all, his best friend Randy just kicked his ass in Wii Bowling. But everything for Elvis is about to change, including his last name.
Debuting at Comic-Con International next week is Elvis Van Helsing, written by Steve Kriozere and Mark A. Altman, with art by Jason Baroody and Zach Matheny. You can check out a trailer here. The book will hit comic shops later this fall.
Kriozere and Altman have previously worked together on a comic called The Unknowns and the television show Castle. Between them they’ve also worked on several other TV shows and movies, including Sliders, V.I.P., NCIS, DOA: Dead or Alive, The Specials and the William Shatner comedy Free Enterprise. Both were kind enough to share some more details on the book with me.
In addition, you can meet them next week at the AiT/PlanetLar booth (#2001) in San Diego to sign the book at the following times:
- Thursday 1-2 p.m.
- Friday 1-2 p.m.
- Saturday 11 a.m.-noon
- Sunday 1-2 p.m.
My thanks for their time, and to Larry Young for setting it up.
JK: When I first heard the title Elvis Van Helsing, the image that immediately sprang to mind was one of Elvis Presley fighting vampires. Can you talk a little bit about your “Elvis,” who he is and how he ends up fighting creatures of the night?
Steve: Our Elvis is a clueless slacker who’s decided to stay in college well past his graduation expiration date. He’s not dumb, he’s actually very, very smart, he just hasn’t found his true calling in life and finds things easier if he just stays in college to avoid taking on any sort of responsibility. So when Elvis finally does find out his true calling and secret family lineage — that he’s the sole surviving heir to the Van Helsing monster hunting family and, like it or not, must battle creatures of the night — it’s a bit much for him.
Mark: What he said…
- July 14, 2010 @ 02:53 PM by JK Parkin
Dark Horse’s dollar store: David Land on low-price entry comics
Hellboy: Start at the beginning for just a buck
Dark Horse’s dollar comics, debuting in August, are a wallet-friendly way to kill some time while you wait for the recession to end. The comics are first issues of established series (or story arcs within series), including Hellboy, Usagi Yojimbo, Umbrella Academy and The Goon.
The idea piqued my curiosity, so I fired off some questions to editor Dave Land about the new/old line. Here’s our mini-chat:
Brigid: Is this the first time you have tried something like this — low-priced introductory issues?
Dave: We’ve done low-priced first issues before, but we’ve never done a whole line of low-priced reprints before.
Brigid: How did you select the comics to be reprinted?
Dave: Mainly it was based on finding popular titles that played an important part in helping to define Dark Horse. There’s a good mix of different types of material covered by the 1 for 1 program — from creator owned titles like Sin City to licensed properties like Star Wars and even to classic reprint comics like Magnus, Robot Fighter.
- June 25, 2010 @ 10:00 AM by Brigid Alverson
Video of the Day | Erik Colan interviews his dad, Gene
Some good news — according to Clifford Meth, artist Gene Colan has recovered from his injuries, though he’s still living at a hospital/recovery facility in New York because “going home means his wife will have to leave.”
But he’s well enough to leave the facility, as you’ll see in the above video, where his son Erik takes him back to the area where he grew up and talks to him about his early life.
- June 8, 2010 @ 12:30 PM by JK Parkin
In Search of Lost ‘Time’: An interview with Dan Nadel
Art in Time
Having introduced the comics-reading public to such obscure or long-forgotten creators as Herbert Crowley, Fletcher Hanks and Walter Quermann in his seminal book Art Out of Time, editor and publisher Dan Nadel opted to try something a little different for his sequel, the recently published Art in Time.
While the new book, like its predecessor, does feature a number of barely-known or long-forgotten golden age and underground cartoonists (Sam Glanzman, John Thompson), it also offers a new look at some familiar and in some cases already well regarded figures, in the hopes of either giving scholars and fans a chance to reconsider their artistic abilities (as in the case of Mort Meskin and Pat Boyette) or re-examine their work in a new light via previously unregarded material (John Stanley, Archie artist Harry Lucey, Wonder Woman artist H.G. Peter)
I had the opportunity to talk with Nadel over email about the book and its rather specific goals recently. Though he was in the midst of celebrating all things Jack Kirbyish at the Fumetto Festival in Lucerne, Switzerland, he was kind enough to take the time to offer some thoughtful, considered responses to my flailing questions, for which I am ever grateful.
How did Art in Time develop and did it change at all in conception as you worked on it?
The first idea was actually to take well known artists like Kirby, Ditko, Everett, et al and show their lesser known work. This became a little less interesting as the reprint boom took hold. By less interesting I mean not necessary. I tend to think of books as being necessary or not necessary. And then, when necessary, as being well done and useful, or badly done and destructive. Anyhow, as an outgrowth of my publishing activities, and as a kind of strategy of moving away from any perceptions about Art Out of Time, I began to look at adventure comics a lot, particularly crime stuff like Pete Morisi and Harry Lucey. And then I thought of the underground stuff I like and realized (again — maybe I’d forgotten? I don’t know.) that what drives my “scholarly” (or whatever) interests was pretty much the same as what drives my publishing interest, i.e. in my head CF and Bill Everett are pretty much on the same playing field. So I latched onto the broad idea of “genre” comics and then went a little micro and focused on an idea of “adventure” that can include gumshoes and psychonauts and utopians. Then I really dug in and had some fun.
- May 14, 2010 @ 01:00 PM by Chris Mautner
Kirkman wants to wean Loeb from the “fat corporate teat”
Invincible
In an interview with Mike Malve from Atomic Comics in Arizona, Image’s Robert Kirkman discusses upcoming Invincible stories and also throws down the gauntlet, so to speak, for writer Jeph Loeb.
In reference to the challenge Kirkman made to Todd McFarlane a few years ago to start drawing again, which resulted in the comic Haunt, Atomic Comics asked Kirkman if there were any other creators out there who he wanted to “challenge to push their limits.” Kirkman responded:
What’s that Bendis guy done lately? All kidding aside, I’d love to see Jeph Loeb try his hand at an original creator-owned book. Millar has proven that when top-flight talent take the plunge it has the potential for massive success, and Loeb does the most commercial books out there with only the highest caliber of artists. I’d buy a creator-owned book by him in droves and I know he would excel at it. But sadly, I think he’s too comfortable on that fat corporate teat. Still, I hold out hope. Don’t you know that guy, Malve? Tell Loeb how many copies you could sell of his own Kick Ass. I don’t even care if he does it at Icon–I just want to read it.
- April 7, 2010 @ 10:30 AM by JK Parkin
A short interview with Matt Thorn
A Drunken Dream
Like a number of online alt-comix pundits, the announcement earlier this month that Fantagraphics was going into the manga-publishing business both intrigued and delighted me. So much so that I took it upon myself to email manga scholar and translator Matt Thorn, who is serving as the editor for this line (if such a term can be used) of books. I sent him a list of questions, which (due to his understandably busy schedule) he was only recently able to reply to:
Four years is a long time to sit on a project like this. Why was there such a long gestation period?
It simply took that long to go from Dirk Deppey and me proposing the line to Gary Groth, to going through the process of acquiring rights, and doing all the other things we needed to do before we could make the announcement.
- March 23, 2010 @ 01:45 PM by Chris Mautner
What’s a Grickle? An interview with Graham Annable
Big Book of Grickle
Graham Annable has been publishing his comics for so long — easily a decade or more now — that it’s seems striking that his unique brand of pitch-black comedy, his prolific production rate or his ability to move back and forth between animation and printed work (he has a day job as a storyboard artist at Laika Entertainment) with such seeming effortlessness hasn’t won him more accolades.
Dark Horse is attempting to rectify that situation with their release of the Book of Grickle, a hand-selected “best of” that features a number of short stories originally published in the now out-of-print books Annable did way back when for (I’m guessing defunct) Alternative Comics.
Annable took time out from his busy schedule to conduct an email interview with me and talk about the new book, how he fell into comics and where the word “Grickle” came from anyway.
Q. I wanted to start off by asking you how this particular collection came to be? Did Dark Horse contact you or were you shopping around for someone to publish this book?
A. I had chatted with Diana Schutz at numerous conventions over the years and we always talked about me doing something with Dark Horse. But what that specifically was I could never quite envision for myself. About a year ago I was struck with the notion that I’d love to do a collection of my past work along with some self published stories that a lot of people hadn’t seen. The first Grickle book had been out of print for nearly 5 years already and the timing seemed right. I immediately thought of Diana and Dark Horse and pitched the idea to her. Diana was stoked on it and everything kind of fell into place after that.
- March 9, 2010 @ 01:00 PM by Chris Mautner
Talking to Ross Campbell about Shadoweyes
Shadoweyes
Ross Campbell has made a name for himself in the comics world through projects like the gothic Wet Moon, his graphic novel series published by Oni Press; The Abandoned, his zombie OEL manga for Tokyopop; and Water Baby, his book for DC’s short-lived Minx imprint, among others. He also drew a short yet stunning story in the first issue of Vertigo’s House of Mystery; I still remember the flies.
Now he’s hard at work on the first volume of Shadoweyes, the story of a young girl who wakes up from a coma to find she’s become a superhuman creature. It’s Campbell’s take on superheroes and is scheduled to be published by SLG Publishing in June. He was kind enough to talk to me about the project and share some artwork; in addition, if you come back tomorrow, I’ll give you a sneak preview of the first nine pages of the book.
Update: And here’s the preview!
JK: So what exactly is Shadoweyes about?
Ross: The story takes place in a futuristic dystopian city called Dranac, which is in the middle of a barren wasteland, and in which both crime and the law have run rampant into a melting pot of crumminess. The main character is moody teen Scout Montana, who is an aspiring vigilante. She wants to take the next step beyond the home-brewed neighborhood watch group she’s a part of, so with her friend Kyisha’s help she comes up with the codename Shadoweyes and prepares to go out and hit the streets. But on her first attempt, a mugger hits Scout in the head with a brick and knocks her into a coma. When Scout awakens, she suddenly metamorphosizes into a blue, lizard-like, androgynous superhuman creature, and immediately takes advantage of it and goes out and kicks ass. But, of course, things don’t really work out as planned and Scout finds it more and more difficult to change back into her human form…
- February 23, 2010 @ 04:00 PM by JK Parkin
Twitter, rings and other things: An interview with Tom Brevoort
Tom Brevoort
One of the most recognizable, and longest-serving, editors at Marvel, Tom Brevoort recently celebrated his 20th anniversary at the company with a promotion to Vice President – Executive Editor. In his two decades with the Direct Market’s biggest publisher, Brevoort survived the swinging ax of Marvel’s bankruptcy, became known for his encyclopedic knowledge of Marvel history, and was once seen as the leading traditionalist at a “Nu-Marvel” dominated by editors like Marvel Knights’ Joe Quesada and former Vertigo editor Axel Alonso. In recent years he’s become the pointman for Marvel as we know it, helming such era-defining titles as Civil War, New Avengers, and the current event comic Siege.
But he’s also taken on a secondary role, that of superhero comics’ most outspoken editorial voice. On his long-running Marvel.com blog and his frequently updated Twitter account, Brevoort has discussed a variety of issues, particularly the competition between Marvel and DC, with attention-getting candor. I myself have frequently covered his commentary on everything from race and gender in superhero comics to the Blackest Night power-ring promotion, and the ensuing comment threads reveal a comics community passionate about what he’s saying, both pro and con. Rather than continue to cannibalize Brevoort’s existing outlets, I decided to go straight to the source.
I spoke with Brevoort about both sides of his career. We tackled his role as a vocal industry insider: his blog and Twitter, his persona and reader reaction to it, the increasingly thin divide between pro and fan, and even a little mythbusting regarding Marvel’s controversial book swap initiative. And we spoke about his editorial role: His place at the forefront of the event-comic era, the rise of the Avengers as superhero comics’ biggest franchise, the struggle of smaller books in the face of line-wide mania, what Marvel does best, and what Marvel does badly.
- February 11, 2010 @ 09:15 AM by Sean T. Collins