In the immortal words of that slowed-down Mary-Kate and Ashley Olson pizza-making video, when does a dream become a nightmare? This is the question addressed by justly celebrated young cartoonist Michael DeForge, in the context of your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man no less, in his cheerfully unauthorized, thoroughly unpleasant Spider-Man comic “Peter’s Muscle,” which you can now read online in its entirety at Jordan Crane’s webcomics portal What Things Do. Spinning out of the infamous (and in-continuity!) relationship between Aunt May and Doctor Octopus, the story finds the Wall-Crawler recounting a disturbing dream that starts with finding a face underneath a membranous sidewalk and somehow only gets more uncomfortably intimate from there. With any luck, a full-color edition of this strip will anchor a future Strange Tales installment, but for now, this will more than suffice.

‘Nuff said.

Previously: Wonder Woman I, Wonder Woman II, Wonder Woman III, Wolverine, Aquaman, Batman, Lois Lane, Kraven, Thor (with Nicholas Gurewitch), Rogue page 1/Rogue page 2

Did I miss any?

Laura Allred's studio

There’s a list of creators that in my estimation are not interviewed nearly enough, one such example is colorist Laura Allred. You can find several interviews with both Mike and Laura Allred together, but few rarely focus on Laura solely. So I recently crossed my fingers and shot off an email to Laura seeking to do an email interview. Much to my sheer delight, she was game for a discussion of her career as a colorist. Jamie S. Rich, long-time Allred associate and friend of Robot 6, was kind enough to share his perspective on Laura’s body of work, which helped me shape some of the topics covered in this exchange. Obviously, a huge thank you to Laura for giving so selflessly of her time. As someone who enjoyed Art Adams’ Monkeyman and O’Brien years ago, I plan to dig up my box with those issues, just to appreciate Laura’s work on it, given how highly she speaks of it in this interview.

Tim O’Shea: The life of a freelancer is never easy–and in your house, it’s extra challenging as both of you make a living either through one of the independent publishers or work through DC or Marvel. Granted at this point in your career, there is a certain brand and reputation that your work carries, still freelancing is a challenge even for successful folks as yourself. If you don’t mind me asking, how much has your faith served to buoy your spirits when the hardships of freelancing blindside you?

Laura Allred: It seems when we simply try to do our best in all our efforts, everything always seems to work out. We work hard, though Michael refuses to call it working, but we also try to make time for family and friends. So, I’ve found that my secret weapon for hardships is to just crack the whip and we get back on track. I’m only half kidding.

O’Shea: As a married couple, you understandably have a rapport with Mike that is stronger than any you share with other collaborators? When you first started coloring Mike’s art, how did you discuss his color desires for the pages, given that you two see color quite differently due to his colorblindness?

Allred: He started by showing me work he liked. A lot of European books from artists like Moebius and Daniel Torres. I took those influences and found inspirations of my own, and then it was just a matter of finding what we were both happy with. Now it’s mostly second nature. Instinctual.

O’Shea: When selecting to color the work of someone other than Mike, are there certain qualities you seek in the art to consider accepting the assignment?

Allred: It’s almost always been a friend or someone we both are fans of. So it’s easy to find what they are wanting as well as approaching them with what I’d like to try.

O’Shea: I’m always surprised at how some consumers of comics fail to understand the vital role colorists play in storytelling. Not to put you in the awkward position of bragging about yourself, but looking at the before and after of a page–do you see how much an artist’s work benefits or is bolstered by colors?

Allred: Absolutely! I’ve seen a good colorist make a mediocre artist look good. And a subpar colorist destroy a great artist’s work. We feel that the line art should stand on its own and the color should provide an extra dimension. Usually, the simpler the better.

O’Shea: Over the years of coloring art, how has technology helped to make your job either easier or more effective in terms of your technique?

Allred: Oh, it’s like cavemen getting electricity. There are no limits, which can be very tempting at overdoing something. But the time-saving is night and day. I used to water color photocopies of the line art and then have to draw a code on every single individual color. And then it would get sent off for someone else to do the separations. Now, I have cintiq where I color directly on a screen. Zap! It’s done.

O’Shea: With a project like The Golden Plates, how frustrating is it that while it was successful, as noted in this 2009 interview it was “not big enough to sustain us financially given the time needed to do it right. So, we simply have to find time to do it when we can. We’re confident once we manage an efficient schedule that it will pick up steam.” Are you closer to finding the time and managing an efficient schedule? Have you considered producing future installments online first and then publishing?

Allred: To be honest, every day feels less and less likely to complete it. I handle the finances, and we would have to win the lottery or have a bag of cash dropped regularly on our doorstep to complete it. Michael would need to immerse himself in it the way he did with the first three volumes and put off every other aspect of his career to do it right. We literally used up our savings to complete those first three volumes and I was the one who had to tell him he had to stop and find paying work immediately. He spent more time studying and referencing than he ever did actually drawing the book. He knew the kind of scrutiny it would have, as well as the level of respect he had for its audience. We both feel that, completed, it would be a work of such significance, if not curiosity, that would pay for itself over and over again and stay in print. We almost had our house completely paid off and had a nice nest egg from our Marvel Mutant money. To continue would have meant going in debt or looking for financing which we weren’t comfortable doing. But we’re extremely happy with what we did accomplish and haven’t ruled out the possibility of completing it someday.

O’Shea: When a collection like MADMAN ATOMICA! is released which covers a great deal of your respective work and includes “many now out-of-print one-shots, plus a huge pile of extras, pin-ups, and rarities”–what pieces out of the extras and rarities stand out some of your favorite?

Allred: I love it all. I just love the idea that almost 20 years of work is in two huge beautiful books.

O’Shea: In the past, you’ve expressed your admiration for the work of the Hernandez brothers. Given your respect for their work, how enjoyable was it to color Jaime Hernandez for Strange Tales?

Allred: Thrilling. Michael wouldn’t have started making his own comics if it wasn’t for them. He was so excited with the joy of creating in their work and that spilled over on me. In fact, their covers were classic examples of simple flat colors enhancing without distracting from the wonderful line art. A big influence on me. I just colored new Madman strips form all three, Jamie, Beto, and Mario, for the upcoming Madman 20th Anniversary Monster!

O’Shea: Among your other non-AAAPop collaborations, which rank among your favorite assignments?

Allred: LOVED coloring Art Adams’ Monkeyman & O’Brien comics! Love him and his wife Joyce too. He’s one of the funniest people I’ve ever met, and his work is as much fun to color as he is to listen to.

O’Shea: Speaking of non-AAAPop work, how do the collaborative dynamics change when you and Mike collaborate on iZombie, a series in which Chris Roberson is the writer?

Allred: Not at all. Except our dearest and oldest friend in the biz, Shelly Bond, throws in her two cents as my editor. I just have more people to please and make changes for in the process. But that rarely happens.

O’Shea: In this 2008 iFanboy interview with you, you noted of the printing process “We’ve never been completely satisfied with any printed work. We’re always looking for ways to make it better.” Do you think you will ever be completely satisfied with your printed work–and does the partial shift to digital comics make quality improvement of your work more or less challenging?

Allred: It’s easier, and we are both currently happier with the final result than ever. We’ve been playing with our process constantly. You can look through the books and see the changes. In fact, we tried at least three specific different ways in iZombie alone to make the colors more organic to Michael’s art work. You’ll see where the printing got quite “muddy” and then we had an epiphany and found the perfect recipe. So simple. It was in front of us all the time. Now I can model Michael’s figures in shadings to his specifications in layers and change and adjust them instantly until we are both happy. And now it prints almost exactly how we see it on the monitors. I think it was around iZombie 6 or 7 when everything finally clicked. And we’ve used the process since in the new Madman stories as well as a Rocketeer 8-pager for a new Rocketeer anthology series.

O’Shea: Given that his career ended long before it should have, not many folks can say they colored Seth Fisher’s art. What do you recall of working with him on Happydale?

Allred: It may be the most difficult project I ever worked on. Seth was still getting his footing. The scans weren’t the best and being such a heavily detailed artist, it was extremely challenging. But the hardest jobs are often the most gratifying, and that was the case when working with Seth Fisher. So sad.

O’Shea: In the 2008 iFanboy interview, you spoke of your affinity for the art of The Wyeths (N.C., Andrew and Jamie). Could you explain if there are certain qualities about each artist that catch your interest, or is it the family’s body of work overall that earns your respect?

Allred: All wonderful, but it’s NC Wyeth that really excites me. His work feels timeless and dreamy. Lush, classic, graphic and artsy all at the same time.

O’Shea: Is there anything about your craft or projects that you’d like to discuss that I neglected to ask you about?

Allred: Nope.

Only that we always want to take every opportunity to encourage people to embrace and dig into the comic book medium as much as possible. There is always something new, special, and unique for anyone to discover.

Strange Tales Party

The Comic Book Legal Defense Fund and The Beat are hosting a party in New York Saturday night featuring a wide array of guests who worked on Marvel’s Strange Tales anthologies, with proceeds benefiting the CBLDF. You can find complete details after the jump or in the above flyer by Paul Maybury.

*****

Marvel Comics’ Strange Tales I and II are finally complete and collected! To celebrate this amazing assortment of alternative and independent cartoonists, the CBLDF and THE BEAT are hosting a party for contributors and fans! DON’T MISS OUT on this rare opportunity to meet this wide variety of creators, all in one fun spot!

Nick Bertozzi
Kate Beaton
Chris Chua
Jim Campbell
Jacob Chabot
Becky Cloonan
Toby Cypress
Nick Gurewitch
Tim Hamilton
Dean Haspiel
Jillian Tamaki
Paul Horneschemier
Benjamin Marra
Alex Robinson

7-9- pm. Saturday April 9th
The Mad Hatter
360 Third Ave (at 26th St.)
New York, NY 10016
(212) 696-2122

Just around the Corner from MoCCA

Copies of STRANGE TALES I and II will be available at the party, donations benefiting the CBLDF.

John Byrne's Next Men

Welcome once again to Food or Comics?, where every week we talk about what comics we’d buy based on certain spending limits — $15, $30 to spend and if we had extra money to spend on what we call the “Splurge” item. Check out Diamond’s release list for this week if you’d like to play along in our comments section.

Michael May

If I had $15:

There are a lot of great periodicals coming out this week, so I’d have some hard choices to make. With only $15, I’d concentrate first on those with the cheapest prices: the first issue of Dark Horse’s new Mighty Samson ($3.50), Atomic Robo and the Deadly Art of Science #2 ($3.50), and Mouse Guard: Black Axe #1 ($3.50). I’m already a huge fan of both Atomic Robo and Mouse Guard and – based on its concept and vague memories of stories I read as a kid – hope to become one of Mighty Samson too. I’d spend the last of my money on Northern Guard #1, because I’m a sucker for Canadian superheroes.

If I had $30:

I’d add Doc Macabre #1 ($3.99), John Byrne’s Next Men #1 ($3.99), and Strange Tales 2 #3 ($4.99). “Doc Macabre” is an awesome name and I love Steve Niles’ pulp stuff, I’ve been waiting 16 years for that Next Men issue, and the Strange Tales book has a Kate Beaton story in which the Avengers go to a carnival. I’d pay five bucks just for Beaton’s deal, but it’s also got a Thing tale by Harvey Pekar (and yes, Harvey Pekar is in the story).

Splurge:

Speaking of Steve Niles pulp: the Mystery Society collection ($19.99) comes out this week, as does Beau Smith’s Wynonna Earp: Yeti Wars ($17.99). Those should both be a lot of fun.

Graeme McMillan

Strange Tales II #3

I’m having the opposite reaction to Michael this week, with lots of more expensive items leaping out at me, but nothing seeming particularly urgent in the periodicals list. And so, if I had $15, I’d probably start with the second issue of IDW’s Dungeons & Dragons ($3.99) after loving the first so much, and then try out the debut of John Byrne’s reborn Next Men ($3.99), to see where his head’s at after all these years. I’d probably also pick up Marvel’s Strange Tales #3 ($4.99), because I’ve enjoyed enough of what’s come before, and really love Kate Beaton’s work… but that remaining $2.03…? That’ll remain up for grabs, I think.

If I had $30, I’d forget about Next Men #1 and put that money and some of the unused $2.03 towards Jason Little’s Motel Art Improvement Service hardcover from Dark Horse ($19.99). There’s something compelling about Little’s comics, which feel to me like a mix of Jessica Abel and Chris Ware, in some strange way. I only vaguely caught up with this as a webcomic, hoping to read it in print. And here it is!

As far as splurging goes, there’s an embarrassment of riches this week: Geoff Johns and Gary Frank’s better-than-Earth-One-even-if-delays-in-original-release-killed-momentum Superman Secret Origin HC ($29.99)? The second volume of Judge Dredd Complete Case Files ($19.99)? A new Yotsuba! ($10.99)? But nostalgia wins me over again: I’d go for DC’s Tales of The Green Lantern Corps Vol. 3 ($19.99), which begins collecting Steve Englehart and Joe Staton’s “The Green Lantern Corps” run from the late ’80s that I loved so much. John Stewart was always my favorite back then. Followed by the kinder, gentler Kilowog.

Brigid Alverson

If I had $15…

Atomic Robo: Deadly Art of Science #2

I have to confess, there aren’t too many books that leap out at me and demand my attention this week. One that I must see, however, is the second issue of Atomic Robo: Deadly Art of Science ($3.50). I really liked the first issue, and I want to see more. That leaves just enough for the ninth volume of Yotsuba&! ($10.99), and I’m grabbing that because it’s that rare book that is funny to adults as well as children.

If I had $30…

I don’t know too much about it, but NBM’s latest Nicolas de Crecy graphic novel, Salvatore: Transports of Love ($14.99) looks like the sort of thing I’d like. It’s a weird fantasy about a dog who works as an auto mechanic and moves his shop to a mountain peak… yeah. Well, it’s something to talk about at Christmas parties, anyway.

Splurge…

Two things, which together add up to less than 40 bucks: I liked Nathan Edmondson and Brett Weldele’s The Light, especially Weldele’s art, so I would like to pick up the trade ($16.99). And Fumi Yoshinaga’s Not Love But Delicious Foods Make Me So Happy! ($10.99) is sort of a foodie’s tour of Tokyo, with Yoshinaga and a friend sampling the signature dishes of various restaurants. I have no plans to go to Tokyo anytime soon, but the book looks like fun.

Chris Mautner

Big Questions #15

If I had $15:

The trade collection of Anders Nilsen’s Big Questions will be out next year, but I’m the impatient sort, so I’ll probably pick up the final issue, No. 15 ($7.95) this week. Nilsen earned his cred on books like Dogs & Water and Don’t Go Where I Can’t Follow, but Questions, which he’s been doing seemingly since before Dogs debuted, may prove to be a defining work.

I’ll also pick up the fifth issue of Highland Laddie ($3.99) though the next time they do one of these Boys spin-offs I might opt to wait for the trade …

If I had $30:

… as I did with Strange Tales. I’m anxious to see the third issue, but in this instance I’m holding off. Instead, I’ll pick up the ninth volume of Yotsuba&!, a book that never fails to charm just about every member of my family.

Splurge:

I already have a copy, but if you’re a Steve Ditko fan then your splurge item for the week should be Unexplored Worlds, the second volume in Fantagraphics and editor Blake Bell’s ongoing attempt to collect his pre-Code and pre-Spider-Man material. My splurge, however, is a $30 hardcover collection of Jodorowsky and Moebius’ Madwoman of the Sacred Heart. I know next to nothing about this book, but c’mon, it’s Jodorowsky and Moebius! The same folks who brought The Incal! How could it not be awesome? (please don’t answer that)

The third and final issue of Marvel’s Strange Tales II arrives in shops Dec. 8, and will feature stories by James Stokoe, Michael DeForge, Toby Cypress, Harvey Pekar and Ty Templeton, Nick Gurewitch with Kate Beaton, Eduardo Medeiros and Benjamin Marra, among others.

And thanks to our friends over at Marvel, we’re pleased to present two preview pages from the anthology today, featuring Stokoe’s Silver Surfer tale (who we alreayd know draws a jaw-dropping awesome Galactus), and DeForge’s Spider-Man, Jubilee and Iceman.

Check’em out after the jump.

*****

by James Stokoe

By Michael DeForge

For his contribution to the alt.superhero anthology Strange Tales II, artist Farel Dalrymple copied a page by John Buscema from How to Draw Comics the Marvel Way — adding in his own words and integrating it into his Spider-man/Silver Surfer story. Over on his blog, the artist puts the two pages side by side, so you can see how they line up. Be sure to check out the really nice commissions he added to that post as well.

Absolute All-Star Superman

If it’s Tuesday, it must be time for Food or Comics?, where every week some of the Robot 6 crew talk about what comics we’d buy if we were subject to certain spending limits — $15 and $30. We also talk about what we’d buy if we had extra money to spend on what we call our “Splurge” item. Check out Diamond’s release list to see what arrives in comic shops this week,then play along in our comments section.

Chris Mautner

I’m running behind and want to go vote, so I’ll try to make this quick:

If I had $15:

The Boys #48 ($3.99) and Godland #33 ($2.99) are the the two must buys for me this week, along with the 17th issue of Berlin ($4.95). It’s been awhile since Jason Lutes published a chapter in this now-decade-plus long serial set in pre-Nazi Germany. I’m just impressed that he’s still sticking to the serial pamphlet format while every other indie artist has abandoned it. Bully for you, Lutes.

If I had $30:

I’ve got it down between three books. I’d either pick up the new, 25th Little Lulu volume from Dark Horse, Burglar Proof Clubhouse ($14.99), the new book from British cartoonist Metaphrog, Louis: Night Salad ($14.99), the sample of which look lovely, or I’d set aside some of those pamphlets and get How to Understand Israel in 60 Days or Less by Sarah Glidden ($24.99). I read an advance copy of this awhile back and liked it enough to want to seek out the final copy, but I may hold off for now in favor of the Louis book. I’ll save my final decision for when I get to the comics shop.

Splurge:

The $100 Absolute All-Star Superman seems like an easy pick for this category and would be my first choice. For nostalgia’s sake if nothing else I might also take a look at the $50 Art of Jim Starlin: Life in Words and Pictures. Wonder if they have a tribute to his Gilgamesh II in there somewhere?

Michael May

If I had $15:

Strange Tales II #2

I’d spend it all on single issues starting with Strange Tales 2 #2 ($4.99), then adding Days Missing: Kestus #1 (3.95) because the first mini-series was excellent and hey, Phil Hester. I’d round out the pile with a couple of issues of comics I’ve been meaning to check out for a while, but haven’t gotten around to yet: Jonah Hex #61 ($2.99) and Avengers Academy #6 ($2.99). I’m confident that I’m going to enjoy Jonah Hex and I have hopes for Avengers Academy because it has Reptyl in it and I’m a fan of any superhero with the power to turn into different dinosaurs.

If I had $30:

I’d flip through Jonah Hex and Avengers Academy, put one of them back, and pick up BPRD, Volume 14: King of Fear ($17.99) instead. Having just finished a marathon reading of the entire series up to this point, I’m aching for the next installment.

Splurge:

There’s a lot to splurge on this week, but I’ve whittled the list down to four. Topping it is Xenozoic: The Complete Collection ($39.95) because I’ve been wanting to read Mark Schultz’s dinosaur stories since I first heard about them several years ago. I’m also enthusiastic about Good Neighbors, Volume 3: Kind ($16.99). I’m a big fan of Ted Naifeh’s art in general, but this dark fantasy series in particular. I’ve also been waiting impatiently for the first Kill Shakespeare collection ($19.99) to check out the Bard’s answer to Fables. And finally, though I have the original, paperback collection already, there’s enough new stuff in the Coffin 10th Anniversary hardcover that I’d like to get that too.

JK Parkin

If I had $15:

Batman & Robin #16

There’s a lot of books coming out this week that I considered, with many brand-new comics kicking off that have my curiosity piqued. Unfortunately, with so much stuff hitting shelves, it’s really hard to decide between something new and something I’m already familiar with (and have a better sense as to how much I’ll enjoy it). So for my first round here, I thought I’d go with the tried and true. Batman & Robin #16 ($3.99) leads the pack, as it wraps up Grant Morrison’s stellar run. Strange Tales 2 #2, which we previewed a few pages from last week, adds another $4.99 to my total. And then I’d round the week out with two books that end their run: Vertigo’s excellent Unknown Soldier #25 and Hawkeye & Mockingbird #6. I don’t know if a lot of people saw it, but Tom Brevoort noted a couple of weeks ago that after the Widowmaker mini-series wraps up, Hawkeye & Mockingbird won’t be coming back. “However, there will be a project following up on the events of ‘Widowmaker’ that will hopefully scratch your ‘Hawkeye & Mockingbird’ itch,” he said. Hopefully that means writer Jim McCann will still be involved with the characters.

If I had $30:

I’d add some new books to the stack, starting with Superboy #1 ($2.99). I’d also grab Generation Hope #1 ($3.99) and Captain America: Man Out of Time #1 ($3.99). And I’d round it out with the latest issue of Chaos War, although that would mean having to give up the third issue of Taskmaster … hell, I’ll just skip lunch for a few days and go for a double dose of Fred Van Lente.

I still feel like I’m leaving a lot on the shelf — Invincible #75, Amazing Spider-Man #647, etc. but that’s what trade waiting is for, right?

Splurge

Lots of big ticket items caught my eye this week as well. It’s getting closer and closer to the holiday season, and I can already see a few items that’ll be going on my wishlist. There’s Absolute All-Star Superman for $100, How to Understand Israel in 60 Days or Less ($24.99), PunisherMax: Kingpin ($19.99) and the Squadron Supreme Omnibus ($74.99), just to name a few. I’d go with the Israel book, as it’s the only one I don’t own in another form.

Brigid Alverson

Life with Archie #4

If I had $15…

I would spend $9.99 on the first volume of The Story of Saiunkoku, a historical drama manga that is getting good advance word-of-mouth, and $3.99 on the latest issue of Life with Archie, which is rapidly becoming my new crack.

If I had $30…

I’d skip the manga and get Scott Chantler’s Two Generals ($24.95) instead. I love a good historical graphic novel, and Chantler’s story, which is based on his grandfather’s experiences in World War II, looks fascinating. He’s accompanying it with a research blog where he presents his primary sources, including his grandfather’s diary. I’m in heaven.

And I’m still getting that Life with Archie.

Splurge item:

The Kill Shakespeare graphic novel ($19.99). I already have the floppies, so it’s a bit of a luxury, but I want to have this in a more permanent form, and I’m sure it will be lovely.

And I want to relive my childhood a bit with the latest Little Lulu collection from Dark Horse, Little Lulu: The Burglar-Proof Clubhouse and Other Stories ($14.99).

And finally, here’s a look at a page from Super-Tron creator Sheldon Vella‘s heavy-metal Ghost Rider tale that will be featured in the upcoming second issue of Strange Tales II. Check it out in all its glory after the jump.

The book lands in shops next week and includes contributions by, among others, Paul Hornschemeier, David Heatley, Scott Richardson and Jaime Hernandez (who did the cover).

*****

As promised, here’s another preview page from next week’s Strange Tales II #2, Marvel’s sequel to their indie/superhero mash-up anthology. This page features Colossus vs. Colossus (Colossi?) by Paul Hornschemeier (Mother, Come Home; The Three Paradoxes).

Check it out after the jump, then be back at 11 a.m. Pacific for one more!

*****

Courtesy of our friends at Marvel Comics, we’ve got not one, not two, but three exclusive looks at next week’s Strange Tales II #2. First up, after the jump, check out a page from a Power Pack/Wolverine team-up story by David Heatley (My Brain Is Hanging Upside Down). Then come back at 9 a.m. Pacific for another one!

*****

House of Mystery Halloween Annual #2

If it’s Tuesday, it must be time for Food or Comics?, where every week some of the Robot 6 crew talk about what comics we’d buy if we were subject to certain spending limits — $15 and $30, as well as if we had extra money to spend on what we call our “Splurge” item. Check out Diamond’s release list to see what arrives in comic shops this week,then play along in our comments section.

JK Parkin

If I had $15 to spend:

Strange Tales 2 #1 ($4.99)
House of Mystery Halloween Annual #2 ($4.99)

Two $5 anthologies that should be well worth the asking price. Strange Tales II, the sequel to Marvel’s indie cartoonist anthology from last year, features new stories by Rafael Grampa, Kate Beaton, Frank Santoro, Dash Shaw, Jeff Lemire, Kevin Huizenga, Jhonen Vasquez and many more. House of Mystery Halloween Annual #2, meanwhile, features stories by folks like Mike Kaluta, Jill Thompson, Chris Roberson, Mike Allred, Matthew Sturges and Peter Milligan. Most notably, it has a new “Lucifer” story by Mike Carey and Peter Gross, which is the big draw for me personally.

Update: I received an advanced copy of this in the mail tonight, and saw that the Madame Xanadu story isn’t actually by Mike Kaluta and Jill Thompson, as was noted in the above-linked CBR story. No, the Madame Xanadu story is actually by Matt Wagner and Brandon Graham. And it is pretty awesome.

Warlord of Mars #1 ($1)

Dynamite offers a cheap introductory issue to their new series about Edward Rice Burroughs’ character John Carter, the Confederate soldier who ended up on Mars. The book is by Arvid Nelson and Stephen Sadowski, and you can’t go wrong with the cover price.

Thor #616 ($3.99)

The second issue of Matt Fraction’s run; this is the comic a lot of people have been waiting for him to tackle for quite awhile, myself included, and his first issue didn’t disappoint.

If I had $30

I had a hard time deciding on my second round this week, as there were several new comics I’d want to check out — Superior, Knight & Squire — but I decided to go with the trade paperback of Guerrillas ($14.99). Originally published by Image, Oni collects the series by Brahm Revel about a group of simian soldiers fighting in the Vietnam War. It’s not the kind of concept I’d typically be drawn to or, honestly, expect to be any good, but the series is pretty excellent. I’m glad to see Oni pick it up and allow Revel to finish it up.

Splurge

I’m about halfway through Sickness in the Family ($19.99), the latest Vertigo Crime book, and so far I’m really enjoying it. So I’d make it my splurge item this week, with a tip of the hat to the Celadore trade paper back ($14.99), which collects the Zuda series.

Chris Mautner

Strange Tales, Volume 2

If I had $15:

There’s a number of good comics coming out this week, including the fourth issue of Casanova ($3.99), the fifth issue of Batman: Return of Bruce Wayne ($3.99) and the first issue of Strange Tales II ($4.99). I’m a bit tempted to wait until for the trade collection with Strange Tales, but I know in my heart I won’t be able to wait to see what folks like Kate Beaton, Frank Santoro, Dash Shaw and others do with Marvel’s classic cast of characters.

If I had $30:

I already own a copy, but if you’re looking for just one good book to buy, let me point you toward Make Me A Woman, a delightful collection of comics by the wonderful Vanessa Davis. She writes and draws with charm and good humor about her life and times, particularly as it pertains to her Jewish heritage and upbringing. If you need further persuasion, you can read an interview I did with Davis here.

Another recommendation is Peter Bagge’s Everybody is Stupid Except for Me & Other Astute Observations, which Fantagraphics is re-releasing. I reviewed the book when it first came out here.

Splurge:

IDW has been doing a bang-up job with their Bloom County collections, so I’ll be sure to add Vol. 3 ($39.99) to my Amazon wish list. I’m also eager to check out Dick Briefer’s Frankenstein ($21.99), also from IDW, but this time focusing on a lesser known artist, one beloved by serious Golden Age collectors, but few others. I haven’t read much Briefer and I’m curious to see what his work reads like in bulk.

Michael May

Knight & Squire #1

If I had $15:

I don’t know if it’s DC’s announcement about cheaper comics coming, but I’m suddenly interested in single issues again and I’d blow my $15 on those. Knight & Squire #1 ($2.99) sure looks like fun, as does Tiny Titans/Little Archie #1 ($2.99). I’m a Tiny Titans fan now and loved Little Archie in younger days, so this could be the coolest thing since Archie vs. The Punisher. Rounding out my bag would be Marvel’s Strange Tales 2 #1 ($4.99) and Dynamite’s Warlord of Mars #1 ($1.00). I’m a big John Carter fan.

If I had $30:

I’d add Dark Horse’s Turok: Son of Stone #1 ($3.50) to the pile. It would be the first Turok comic I’ve ever bought, because I was obviously stupid in younger days. Also, I’ve been wanting to try Campfire’s comics adaptations of classic lit and Invisible Man ($9.99) seems like a good place to start.

Splurge:

I don’t know if I’d keep it for myself or generously give it to my dad, but Bloom County Complete Library, Volume 3 ($39.99) would go home with me from the store. As would Dick Briefer’s Frankenstein ($21.99), but that one’s definitely staying at my house. I’ve been wanting to read those stories for a few years now.

With the release of the anthology 5 in 2007 and his first solo work Mesmo Delivery in 2008, American comics audiences got their first real taste of what Grampá could do. Vertigo hired him to contribute to a milestone issue of Hellblazer; Marvel, with a milestone issue of Daredevil; Dark Horse reprinted the sold-out Mesmo Delivery, which goes for over $125 new at Amazon. Recently Marvel put him as the lead feature in the second volume of Strange Tales, and Dark Horse contracted him for his second standalone graphic novel.

His work evokes easy comparisons to Geoff Darrow, but deeper analysis shows an appreciation for detail, not for detail’s sake, but to add flavor and weight to the scene he depicts in a panel, a pin-up or a cover. Rather than just drawing to tell you where someone is and what they’re doing, Rafael’s illustrative line adds texture, tone, mood and atmosphere — and that’s before a colorist touches the page. Although well-known by some in the industry, by and large the mainstream comics public doesn’t know the full scope of what the artist is — or could be. Maybe this interview will help.

Poster for 'Furry Water & The Sons of the Insurrection'

Chris Arrant: Hey, Rafael – let’s start with an easy one, what are you working on today?

Rafael Grampá: Hey, Chris, nice to talk with you again. Now I’m still working on Furry Water & the Sons of the Insurrection. I said still because I’m working on it since 2009. During this period, I’ve been working very slowly on it because of some adjustments on the project and, at the same time, trying to reorganize my life. We’d announced the project to release in 2010 but we decided to get more time to make Furry Water, and we’re looking forward to releasing it for next year. The most exciting thing about having all this time to produce the series is that all of our crazy and megalomaniac scenes and ideas will be in the project. Furry Water, this post-Apocalyptic saga, is set 70 years after the “Furry Water” plague hit. Against this backdrop, we meet the Nobunagas, a family of outlaws who have a family obligation to re-start the insurrection against an “optimist-oppressive” regime. At the same time, four brothers and a sister are searching for the fifth “lost” brother, who may or may not exist. It’s a violent poetry about brotherhood, honor and faith.

Arrant: Can you tell us particular about the page you’re working on today, or if you’re jumping around to multiple pages, or what not?

Grampá: Sure. I’m working on an action scene that a militia is trying to enter inside the dirty hospital room where the Nobunagas are crying because of their matriarch’s death. It’s a very difficult scene because I’m working with a camera movement in a corridor, traveling out, and I’m showing the reaction of all the soldiers. I want some really human feelings here, like bold and fear. I won’t tell what happens after, but the sequence is totally awesome! And if you know my work, you can imagine how much details it would have.

Arrant: Before you became so embroiled with comics I read you had a graphic design job. Do you still do that, and can you tell us about your work before comics?

Illustration for motion graphic piece by Grampa prior to comics work

Grampá: Yes, I used to be a concept designer and director of motion graphics, but I don’t do it anymore. Today I’m just a comic book creator, and I thing it is an amazing upgrade in my career. Even if I wanted, couldn’t work with another thing because the way I want to do comics requires a lot of dedication and I couldn’t share it with any other media right now. Comics are the most difficult and fun thing that I’ve ever done, and it’s enough for now. Matt Fraction used to work at a motion graphic studio as well, writing the script for the animations, and we already collaborated on a job together during this period, like 2005. I love to have this motion graphics and design background and it is very important on work in comics today.

Arrant: What was the one big thing that made you jump from the job of concept designer/motion graphics director into the freelance work of comic art? Was it one job, or a big gig, or what?

Grampá: The big thing was that I always wanted to be a comic book creator to tell my own stories, and I was not making this at the motion graphic studio that I used to work. I realized that I was just working for another guy’s dream, not mine. So I decided to leave my job and start my first comic book, which was Mesmo Delivery. I saved some money and I self-published the first 2,000 copies of Mesmo Delivery, with the distribution of AdHouse Books. It was very expensive for me, but it was an investment on my own dream. And it worked!

Arrant: The first time I saw your work was on a short strip in Terra Major’s Gunned Down anthology from years and years ago. Do you have any other early comics work out there that people may not know about?

Grampá: That short story for the Gunned Down anthology was my first pages as a comic book creator.

OK, maybe I did a little bit of other stuff. … I  did some test pages for superheroes comics that I never sent to anybody, and already worked on a short story for a Brazilian small press that made kids comics, in the ’90s, but I don’t consider it as my own comics. Also, in the ’90s, I tried to create my own characters but I did just some comic strips and single pages and never published it. So, Gunned Down‘s pages were my really first publication as a comic book creator. Before the launch of Mesmo Delivery I also made the anthology 5 and because of that I have an Eisner Award here at my studio.

Arrant: For an American like me, your heavily detailed work reminds me of Geof Darrow and some classic BD illustrators – but I’m probably missing a whole range of influences. How did your style develop into what it is today?

Grampá: When somebody just discovers my work it is very normal to compare it with Geof Darrow’s. And, yes, it happens a lot more in the USA because you are very familiar with his work. It is a great honor for me, I love Darrow’s work; it’s totally amazing. I will never do the awesome things that he does, but I have to say that he is not this huge influence for my work, not like the way people thinks he is. I always obsess over details — even in my early design and freelance illustration works, before I became a cartoonist. If you mix this obsession with Walt Disney, E. C. Segar, Angeli e Laerte (two very well-known and amazing Brazilian cartoonists), Moebius, R. Crumb, Jeff Smith, Jamie Hewlett, Katsuhiro Otomo, Patrice Killoffer and so many other artists, designers, musicians and movie directors that influence my day, you will have me.

Arrant: Since you jumped into the scene, both Marvel and DC have taken notice of you – and you’ve done pieces for DC’s Hellblazer, Marvel’s Daredevil and you did the cover and story to the second Strange Tales anthology from Marvel. Were these superhero comics a big part of your adolescence. If not, what do you consider your favorite comics?

Rafael Grampa's work area

Grampá: I was crazy about superheroes when I was a kid, for sure. In my adolescence I discovered awesome Brazilian cartoonists like Angeli and Laerte e Glauco, who influenced me a lot. At the same period I discovered Moebius, Liberatore, Max, Katsuhiro Otomo and a lot of other Japanese and European artists that influence me even to this day.

When Marvel invited me to do that Daredevil pin up, I didn’t expect that the fans would dig it as much as they did. Daredevil was one of my preferred characters when I was a teen, like the characters I re-designed for the Strange Tales cover, and it was really amazing to put my vision on those characters. The original art of Strange Tales is already on my wall, to celebrate the first time I drew the characters that turned my childhood into magic. About the story I’ve made to the Strange Tales 2 anthology, it is the main story of Vol.2, a love tale with a lot of wrestling violence starring Wolverine. I also wrote the script and I hope the fans like it as I like it.

Arrant: Right now you’re working on Furry Water, but do you have any other projects on the periphery?

Grampá: I already have another project after Furry Water but I’ll start it just when I get Furry Water done, of course. It’s a horror graphic novel, a story that I’ve wanted to tell since 2001. My girl fell in love with me when I told her this story. It’s also a love story, and she’s been with me since I told it to her, so I believe it’s a really great story [laughs]. But only now do I  have the skills that the story needs to do it right.

Well, I certainly never thought I’d get to see what Ivan Brunetti‘s Nova would look like, but there you have it: This overpoweringly adorable cover for Strange Tales II #3 comes from the pen of the altcomix lifer himself. Those of you who are unfamiliar with Brunetti’s career might think otherwise, but anyone who’s read Haw! can tell you that this is the best evidence yet that Disney isn’t overseeing Marvel’s hiring decisions.

(via Flog!)

Silver Surfer by Frank Santoro

Our own Sean T. Collins interviewed Cold Heat creator Frank Santoro about his story in the upcoming sequel to Marvel’s Strange Tales anthology for Marvel.com, and with it came the above artwork. As you can see, Santoro did an airbrushed Silver Surfer story, which is included in the book’s first issue, due in shops Oct. 6.

Photographed by Seth Kushner

This has been a year of ups and downs for Dean Haspiel.

He’s riding high after last week’s win at the Creative Arts Emmy Awards. He, along with the crew of the HBO series Bored To Death, won for outstanding main title design, and Haspiel returned to his native New York City to continue the promotional blitz for his upcoming graphic novel Cuba: My Revolution with artist and family friend Inverna Lockpez. He just had a short feature published in Marvel’s Deadpool #1000 and has more work on the way for the House of Ideas. But this was also the year his friend and longtime collaborator Harvey Pekar passed away.

Throughout it all, Haspiel has become one of the strongest independent voices of comics (or “comix,” as he would say). His years of networking and socializing in the New York City comics scene came to fruition in 2006 with the inception of the ACT-I-VATE collective, resulting in several series making the jump from web to print in IDW Publishing’s ACT-I-VATE Primer. He continues to be a driving force in webcomics, with the third installment of his semi-autobiographical series Street Code just out from Zuda‘s newly transplanted home on Apple’s mobile-phone platform.

Today, he has a girlfriend, a studio full of friends dubbed DEEP6, a Sept. 15 signing at Midtown Comics, and new work appearing later this month in the second season of Bored To Death. On a recent morning, I talked to Dean by phone before he rode his bike to his nearby studio.

Chris Arrant: Let’s start with an easy one, Dean – What are you working on today?

Dean Haspiel: Today I’m going to the studio to work on the final page of Street Code. It’s a semi-auto-bio comic about the transition of moving between Manhattan and Brooklyn. While it takes place during a certain era in my life – around when I turned 30 to recent events – the latitude of semi-auto-bio allows me to crunch time and tell certain kinds of stories. The themes of Street Code are about my avatar, Jack, and how he interacts with his new neighbors, and how they interact wit him. I use stories that have happened to me. Street Code recently transitioned from being a Zuda webcomic to being on the ComiXology and the DC Digital app.

The particular story I’m working on now is called “Beef with Tomato,” which is my love letter to New York City and a slight homage to Charles Bukowski’s Ham On Rye. This will end up being the sixth “issue” of Street Code on the digital app but, fingers crossed, if the transition to digital is popular for Street Code then it’s possible it could yield more stories in the future.

Then what I’m working on next is a backup feature to Marvel’s upcoming Spider-Girl #1 – written by Paul Tobin, who’s writing the regular series as well. And it features a young version of Spider-Girl before she became Spider-Girl; her father was a reporter, and she goes with him on a visit to the Baxter Building to interview Sue Storm. It gives me a chance to draw the lumpy version of the Thing. It’s a wink at the old Stan Lee/Jack Kirby stories. It’s probably why I got hired, because Marvel is paying attention to how much I love Kirby and old Marvel comics.

It’s not too retro … It’s not me getting my Mad Men on and drawing Sue Storm as January Jones, but it will be a lot of fun.

Arrant: Are you doing just the first issue, or is this an ongoing backup?

Haspiel: This is just for the first issue; who knows if I’ll get another gig. It’s possible that, by the end of the year, I’ll have scored another long-form gig.

And coming in December we’ll finally see the release of the Woodgod story I did for Marvel in Strange Tales #3. My Woodgod story is my Marvel Two-in-One homage; it features the Celestials and the Thing.

I finished my art for the original graphic novel Cuba: My Revolution last December, and I reunited with Jonathan Ames to do some things for the second season of Bored To Death, which starts Sept. 26. It was a lot of work. Jonathan and I cobbled together some of the artwork for Season 2 and designed a Super-Ray minicomic to promote the show at the current comic cons. At San Diego, they hired people to dress up as Zack’s Super-Ray character to pass out the minicomic. I was also passing them out at my table at last weekend’s con in Baltimore, and I’ll also have them at SPX and the New York Comic-Con.

Arrant: That’s a lot, but like you said you’re wrapping up – or have already wrapped up – most of these. What’s your big project in the future you’d like to work on?

Haspiel: I’m always trying to pitch my next big book. I’m used to working on one major project throughout the year, and then fitting in smaller projects, like things on ACT-I-VATE or the Deadpool story I just did for Marvel. I love those challenges, but I also like the security of having a 120- to 140-page graphic novel to work on throughout the year while taking these small jobs. But I don’t have that large job right now. I’ve been pitching some long-form stories, and collaborating with different writers I like to work with. The trajectory I’m aiming for is to be able to write more. I hope that’ll happen at some point.

Super Ray minicomic for HBO series 'Bored To Death'

Arrant: After all the work you’ve done at Vertigo with other writers while also writing your own stories in a smaller clip, the next step for you is your own graphic novel there writing and drawing.

Haspiel: Yeah, I have my ideas. I made my hay doing memoirs and semi-auto-bio comix, but my passion is doing superheroes, psychedelic romance and science-fiction noir.

Arrant: I know we’re jumping around here, but how was your first day back at work after winning an Emmy for the title design on Bored To Death?

Haspiel: I got in at 1 a.m. off the flight back from California, placed my Emmy on my dresser, caught about six hours sleep then had to finish a gig inking a cover of an upcoming series at Marvel. I went right back to work.

Arrant: So no rest, huh?

Haspiel: Not much, but this is the kind of work I’ve been itching to do. Right now I’m doing what I can do the best I can so editors will shine a light on me and see where I stand at Marvel. This is what I think: There are segments of the superhero books that are “blockbuster” comics; the regular titles are ones where I wouldn’t necessarily fit with in terms of the ideology or the look or feel of it. But there are also titles, like the ones Nathan Cosby edits, and the ones Paul Tobin writes, that are more cartoony and allow for a Silver Age feel. As long as they keep producing those comics, I’ll have a potential place there professionally.

But at the same time, you don’t need to be working at Marvel or DC to make a living in comics. For me, it’s a choice and a desire to work on franchise comics because that’s what I grew up reading.

Arrant: I understand what you’re saying about those “blockbuster” comics, the top-tier books. I’d hate to see you try to alter your style to fit into that mold.

Haspiel: Don’t take me wrong, I don’t think there’s a house style, per se, but there’s a perception amongst editors of what the audience wants. There seems to be a polarization between the comics I grew up with, the comics I draw and like, and then the comics today that are the neo-realistic Hollywood blockbusters of comics.

I will tell you this, though – one guy I really admire because he dances between cartoony and stylized is Stuart Immonen.

Arrant: Yeah, I’m interviewing him later this week for Robot 6.

Haspiel: He’s great. I wish I had half his talent. That guy really creates a great balance; I see him as an artist at the crossroads, acknowledging the tradition of Marvel Comics in the older style, while also standing shoulder-to-shoulder with what’s currently being published in the franchise.

Arrant: Did you see the recent book he and Kathryn [Immonen] did at Top Shelf, Moving Pictures?

Haspiel: It’s beautiful. He’s a master storyteller and draftsman. He gets it.

Arrant: Jumping back to Bored to Death before we descend into more comics, what exactly did you do for the new season? Did you do new title credits?

Haspiel: The title credits are the same. This time I did more artwork for the Ray Hueston character played by Zack Galifianakis. In Season 2 we get to see more of his life, his studio and art table – and that’s my artwork he’s doing. And a particular comic book he draws in the show, we see some of that. The season is going to be eight episodes, and in the season finale it culminates in a comic convention in which I make a cameo, as well as other Brooklynite cartoonists.

Arrant: Has that been filmed yet?

Haspiel: Yeah, it’s already been shot, but I don’t know what’s going to make it out of the editing room and into the final scene. It was shot at the Brooklyn Lyceum where King Con is held.

Cuba: My Revolution (DC/Vertigo)

Arrant: From King Con to Cuba, your next big release is Cuba: My Revolution from Vertigo. I just received a press copy, and although I haven’t read it yet, I keep coming back to your artwork and José’s [Villarrubia] colors. How do you normally handle things with a colorist?

Haspiel: Well, the major works I’ve done have been in black & white  — The Quitter and The Alcoholic. For those toned works, I trusted Lee Loughridge to know what to do. I see pages as they come in and give notes on a few alterations, but basically it’s just a matter of adding a couple greytones to help shape some of the pages. With José and Cuba: My Revolution, he’s a master artist and painter himself. I handpicked him because I love what he does. He comes from outside of comics, and teaches art in Baltimore. So with him on board, so much more has been added to this project. Plus I wanted someone Spanish to help me realize this view of Cuba. Although he’s from Madrid, Spain, and not Cuba proper, he adds that Spanish flavor to the book.

I knew going in I wanted a limited color palette because I love the simple two-color treatment like I did on Billy Dogma, which I felt was needed for this. I don’t like to use color as color but as a tone. I knew that if I could get José on-board to color it as adding tones, and get him to bring his A-game, explore and experiment with the limited gamut, then this would look great. Our aim was to evoke an era from the late 50s and early 60s; I wanted this to look like a cross between a Preston Sturges film and I Love Lucy, even though the content of the book is very severe and dramatic.  Most of the book is black and white with gray tones, but the introduction of the passionate color of red gives you a multitude of variations: pink, salmon, blood, communism, romance and revolution. I knew that when we settled on this color scheme I was excited what José was going to do with it.

Arrant: So how would the coloring process work?

Haspiel: José would do a first pass on a page, then me, the writer, Inverna Lockpez, and editor, Joan Hilty, would make notes and send it back to José to finally arrive at what is published. With a limited palette, you may not believe it but it’s harder to decide what to assign colors to. Orchestrating the color palette, choosing the paper stock, as well as the design of the book, all came together into something I’m very proud of. I’ve described the book as something you might find if you dug a shovel into the sand of Cuba; when you pull out that dirt, you’ll find Cuba: My Revolution. That dirt gives you a sense of time and place you couldn’t otherwise document.

Arrant: Did you go, or at least think about, trying to make it in to Cuba for research on the book?

Haspiel: I would have loved to go to Cuba during the making of the book, but I never figured out a way to do it. I would like for it to be translated into Spanish; that was one of my first notes towards the publisher. I’m excited to see what the reaction will be to Cubans, but also a little scared. If you’ve ever met a Cuban who has lived in Castro’s Cuba, the ideology there polarizes people. It’s a very black-and-white subject for Cubans from Cuba, and while some people believe in Castro’s ideology and fight for it, others are vehemently against it. I know you haven’t read the book yet, but the majority of it is in support of Castro’s Cuba from the eyes of the protagonist because she buys into the ideas at an early age, joins the militia and becomes a surgeon. But slowly, with evidence from family and friends beginning to leave, she herself is betrayed by the regime and is tortured by sharing the ideology. With most of her friends and family gone, she’s the last one to break and leave. It’s about the story of Sonya, this woman who, when she finally emerges as an artist, can’t express herself freely in her own home and country and has to leave and come to America to tell her story. It took Inverna a long while to tell her story – a good fifty years.

Arrant: And this project came about from you knowing Inverna and pitching it to Vertigo. I’ve always known you as one of those people who knows everyone. You gave a film producer the idea to do a movie based on Harvey Pekar’s work, you created the personal webcomics collective ACT-I-VATE.com, wrangled your Gowanus, Brooklyn, studio DEEP6, and you’ve been close with Jonathan Ames in comics and now with the HBO show. I know working on comics can be a solitary experience sometimes, but how does the socializing part of things affect you?

Haspiel: For Harvey’s American Splendor film, it all started when I was an assistant to Ted Hope. While I was working at his house, I uncovered a script for American Splendor written years and years ago, as well as – believe this – a script for “Ed the Happy Clown” from Chester Brown’s Yummy Fur. I told Ted, “Wow man, I didn’t realize you had these things!” I had just finished a comic with Harvey and I told Ted how cool an American Splendor film would be. Ted liked the idea, so I talked to Harvey about it. Harvey was initially hesitant about it because he’d heard this kind of story before and how it backfired, but Harvey said he’d talk to Ted. So Ted and Harvey talked, and a year and a half later this amazing movie came out. It was an award-winning, incredibly innovative film.

I also just saw a rough cut of James Gunn’s upcoming film Super, produced by Ted Hope, starring Rainn Wilson, Kevin Bacon and Liv Tyler; that’s another low-budget film coming out to watch for. The only way I can describe it is that it’s like a cross between Taxi Driver and Dan Clowes.

For ACT-I-VATE, it all started out by just talking to people. It seemed to scratch a certain itch that I couldn’t find elsewhere. That kind of thing sometimes gets me in trouble, in terms of not making my own work because I’m matching people up and helping getting balls rolling. Plus there’s the fact that since we live in a world of artists, writers and creators, we spend 50 percent of the day branding ourselves with social networking and such. Today, you can’t rely on a publisher to market you; it’s actually gotten harder to market because of the Internet. I spend at least 50 percent of my day hyping, and cobbling together things for other people. Maybe these concentrated efforts will yield me a position as an editor or organizer of a publishing imprint. I only have so many stories in me that I want to show and tell in comics, and my attention gets distracted by working with other truly talented people who create wonderful content, perpetuating the comics form, and doing other kinds of storytelling.

Arrant: Do you think the socializing and networking helps you when you sit down to do comics?

Haspiel: Absolutely. Of course. I know people who can’t or won’t do it, and that’s fine. Maybe it’s a focus issue or they can’t deal with distraction; I respect that. But I can’t move a pencil eight hours in a row; I’m getting older. Drawing is my least-favorite part of making comics. I enjoy doing layouts, conjuring ideas and working on dialogue. It’s the actual execution and craft of comics that’s the doldrums for me. To make it fun, I work around like-minded people like the crew at DEEP6. Sure there’ll be lulls and the ebbs and flows, fights and such –- it has its pros and cons like any office environment. Then you remind yourself you’re sitting among a bunch of folks doing what you love, and although we sure can complain like the best of them, it’s a fantastic thing to be able to spend each day writing and drawing comics. That’s what I like to do, and that’s what we do. I’ve become unemployable otherwise.

But, in this day and age, I wouldn’t know how to get a job outside of the comics and film industries. Sure, I sit at my art table eating a peanut butter and jelly sandwich a lot more than I’d like to. I work until midnight most nights, six days a week, and there’s an irony to that. Sometimes I look out the window and wish I was at the beach, or could stop and watch a movie and eat dinner with my girlfriend. I guess I let my ego get in the way, because I think I’m creating a testament to my life here. I draw other people’s stories, too, because I believe I’m a good collaborator and I like working with people, but I would also like to experience life more, outside of my work, so, when I do write and draw, I can report my life and allow for hindsight to be expressed like how I do with my work on Street Code and Billy Dogma, both very emotional auto-bio comix.

Arrant: What’s it like having these avatars of you floating around: Billy in Billy Dogma, Jack in Street Code and Ray in Bored to Death?

Haspiel: The character in Bored to Death is only very loosely based on me; I don’t consider it to be me at all. There are some background story elements we share to help fill out the character – but Zack and Jonathan have fully realized the Ray Hueston character on their own.

But on the subject of avatars, I think that if you buy into the concept of “write what you know,” then I can’t help but include variations of myself. I think my personal works are like variations on those Russian dolls where they are different-sized versions of the exact same thing.

Arrant: Does it ever sneak into your non-auto-bio comix?

Haspiel: I just wrote and drew a story for Deadpool #1000, and I put a version of myself, a conflict I know very well, in that job. In the Woodgod tale for Strange Tales v2 #3, that’s all me. It’s rare that I get to write franchise characters but, ultimately, I write what I know. In Cuba: My Revolution, I cast myself as one of Sonya’s torturers. The writer, Inverna, was having emotional trouble embracing her story as visualized, as it dug up buried memories. So, in a weird and bizarre solution to help counteract her troubles, I elected to cast myself as one of the torturers to be there for her. In a twisted way I was protecting her. Comforting her.

Arrant: Do you find yourself drawn to franchise characters like the Thing and Woodgod because you see yourself in there somewhere?

Haspiel: Definitely. I love the Thing. He’s a tragic monster. Not that I’m walking around like Ben Grimm, but there’s also a bit of romance in his depiction that I respond to. Even though he’s sold as “the ever-loving blue-eyed Thing,” I understand his main story to be that of a tragic, creature romance comic. We all hurt, feel pain, and that’s one of the universal things we can latch onto – our vulnerability. One of the reasons Jonathan Ames has been so successful is that he understands you have to be vulnerable to tell a powerful story; it’s about showing that you’re vulnerable, or you become vulnerable. There’s nothing you can do when you’re standing before a knight in shining armor; the heroes I like to tackle are the flawed ones, the one who have problems, who make mistakes and learn. We all make mistakes, and we’re always learning.

Arrant: Do you mind if we talk about Harvey and his passing?

Haspiel: Sure, it’s okay.

Arrant: Now that some time has passed since Harvey Pekar’s death, are you at peace with it? Do you ever forget he’s gone and want to give him a call, or expect a phone call from him?

Haspiel: Yeah, I can’t believe he’s dead – bottom line.

I don’t even know how to answer. I hope he’s at peace. Not that he lived an especially hard life, but he lived a small life, a common life, and was somehow able to exploit that artistically, which was great; not many people can do that. Yet, if you want to learn about Harvey Pekar, it’s all out there in his comics. You know, I think maybe his death was poetic. Sometimes people will die and it seems like they were taken away far too soon. Yeah, seventy is a young age to die at, but I think it’s okay. And it’s a shame he didn’t get to tell his last story – you don’t get to do that with autobiography. That’s his wife’s job, or maybe his many collaborators.

Harvey Pekar was a consistent, like a smoke signal, observing what was around him and reporting on it. Because of the storytelling medium he worked in, the oracle of Harvey Pekar will always be around for us to read and ponder.

And it’s encouraging to me that his stories encourage you to tell your own story. It was Harvey Pekar’s work that I read as a teenager that showed me that comics didn’t have to be just superheroes or genre-oriented work. He convinced me of that.

Arrant: Where do you see yourself in five years, Dean?

Haspiel: Well, there’s the cynical part of me that sees it one way and then there’s where I hope I’ll be. Where I hope to see myself in five years is writing and drawing my own stories, my own comic books, and also working in television and movies. I’d like to create a show, and write and possibly direct it. That’s what I’d like to do. In my early years, I went to SUNY Purchase to study filmmaking. I love music, and sound. I don’t get to do that in comics, and I’m not satisfied by animation except for PIXAR. I think what they do is brilliant, but I’m not interested in working in that medium. For me, its either static images like comics or working with live actors in film.

Arrant: Have you taken any steps towards these film ambitions?

Jonathan Ames, Stephanie Davis, Vanja Cernjul, Dean Haspiel, Jennifer Ferguson

Haspiel: I’m working up a couple of screenplays I wrote years ago, dusting them off and pitching them as graphic novels. But I’d love for them to go their original intended direction and become films. I’ve always thought in terms of movies; a ninety-minute/two-hour story, but because I’ve been working with Jonathan Ames on Bored to Death I’m rethinking that. There are some great shows out there – Breaking Bad, Mad Men, Lost, Battlestar Galactica, Deadwood, 30 Rock. I’m really looking forward to The Walking Dead TV series. I think television has become a great way to tell a story. With movies you tell one story and it’s finished, but with television it’s episodic and you’re given the latitude to advance characters and situations and story arcs. You’d think that I’d have a good grasp with episodic storytelling since I work in comics, but with television the minute you start dealing with real money it’s a whole new ballgame. The great thing about comics is that you can truly experiment with new ideas on a page, and because there’s no budget on what you can draw on a page, it can do pretty much anything. It doesn’t cost that much to produce and print a comic – but that’s kind of a crime, because in comics there are many creators out there coming up with fantastic ideas and trying out new things, to only get poached by other more expensive mediums that pay better. And you know, it’s tough to make a buck in comics even when you’re at your most successful.

Look at me, I won an Emmy and I have a book coming out that people are excited about that could entice the literary crowd and be made into a movie. It might also tickle the fancy of superhero readers – you never know – because fans are hungry for a wide range of stories. But with all that, I don’t have health insurance; I eat cheap; I live small. It’s not to say I’m a great storyteller that deserves more because there are a lot of great storytellers out there in my same situation. Jack Kirby alone came up with half the ideas being done today in our culture. Comics have become some kind of IP farm for savvier businessmen to reap.

Strange Tales II #2

It isn’t often you’ll find a link from the Fantagraphics blog to Marvel.com, but the two seem to intersect squarely at Marvel’s Strange Tales II project. We’ve seen Rafael Grampa’s cover to the first issue, which was revealed back when the project was announced, and now Marvel has revealed the cover to issue #2, by Jaime Hernandez — who also has a story in that issue. Watch for it in November.

Woodgod by Dean Haspiel

With the announcement that a Strange Tales sequel is in the works from Marvel, some of the creators are starting to talk about their contributions. We already heard from Gene Yang and Rafael Grampá, who are respectively working on tales starring Frog Man and Wolverine. And now Dean Haspiel reveals he’s bringing Woodgod out of the moth balls for a new story.

“I performed a creative séance and summoned the spirit of Jack Kirby, whose only association to Woodgod was his cover contribution to the origin issue,” Haspiel writes on his LiveJournal. “Perhaps foolishly, I decided to attempt the impossible and make Woodgod honorable. My personal challenge was to banish Woodgod from the bad character idea drawer, pay homage to my favorite Marvel anthology, MARVEL TWO-IN-ONE [which featured my favorite Marvel character, The Thing], and high-five Jack Kirby. This fall, Marvel will publish the results and fans will decide if I prevailed.”

Frog Man by Gene Yang

With the announcement in San Diego that Strange Tales II is definitely on the way from Marvel, some of the creators are starting to talk about their contributions. Over on his blog, Eisner winner Gene Luen Yang says he’ll be working on a Frog Man story.

“When I was in fifth grade, my friend Jeremy figured out that we could get our parents to drop us off at the library, sneak out of the library, walk about 20 minutes to a comic book store, buy comics, sneak back into the library, and then check out big books to hide our comics in so we could bring them home,” Yang wrote. “On my first such outing, I bought Marvel Team-Up #131, featuring Spider-man and the Fabulous Frog-man. It was Frog-man’s second adventure ever. Jeremy and I actually got into a fight over that book. I found the only copy in the store, but he really wanted it because he had Marvel Team-Up #121, which had Frog-man’s first adventure ever. Luckily, our friendship survived.”

And Rafael Grampá, who is providing the cover, says he’ll be doing a Wolverine story.

“Marvel invited me to create the main story of the second volume of this amazing project in Nov 2009,” he wrote on his blog. “Jody Leheup, Strange Tales editor, said that I could choose any Marvel character to make the story. I thought a lot and I choose Wolverine. But, wait, don’t judge my decision before read the story. I promise for all the fans that my vision of Wolverine is totally different! My story is about the Wolverine that I would like to read. Wolverine was my favorite super hero when a was a kid, so it was my chance to put my hands on him and make something different. I also wrote the script and it was really important to me, because I really want to show my writer skills a little more before release my new series with Dark Horse Comics, FURRY WATER and The Sons of The Insurrection.”

He adds that he’ll have some news on Furry Water, whcih was announced at last year’s Comic-Con, soon.

Strange Tales II #1 by Rafael Grampa

Strange days indeed! At today’s Mondo Marvel panel at the San Diego Comic-Con, Marvel officially announced the October launch Strange Tales II. Like the original Strange Tales anthology, the sequel will be three giant-sized issues’ worth of alternative, underground, indie, and web cartoonists putting their stamp on Marvel’s characters. The line-up this time around includes Alex Robinson, Dash Shaw, David Heatley, Dean Haspiel, Edu Medeiros, Farel Dalrymple, Frank Santoro, Gene Yang, Gilbert Hernandez, Harvey Pekar, Jaime Hernandez, Jeff Lemire, Jeffrey Brown, Jhonen Vasquez, Jillian Tamaki, Jon Vermilyea, Kate Beaton, Nick Gurewitch, Paul Hornschemeier, Paul Maybury, Rafael Grampa (that’s his cover above), Shannon Wheeler, Terry Moore, Tim Hamilton, Tony Millionaire, and the proverbial “and more.”

UPDATE: Just added to the roster: Benjamin Marra, Sheldon Vella, and Ty Templeton. Dang!

The project has been rumored pretty much since the first issue of Strange Tales I hit stands, with many of its contributors enthusiastically leaking news of its creation and posting images on their websites. Heck, Santoro even scanned his Spider-Man-branded paycheck for his Silver Surfer contribution.

Over at Marvel.com I interviewed editor Jody LeHeup about the project. [UPDATE: Link added. Thanks, Ben Morse!] LeHeup gives the scoop on a few of the first volume’s more controversial pieces from Jim Rugg, Brian Maruca, Max Cannon, and Peter Bagge, and in my favorite part of the interview he talks about the book’s impact on traditional Marvel readers:

Actually I’ve read several responses from fans of Marvel comics who weren’t necessarily fans of “indie” comics that really got a lot out of the book. So much so that some wonder why we don’t have more stories like this as backups in our more traditional issues. And many have expressed a desire to check out more works by the creators in question. So while I doubt we were successful in broadening the horizons of every Marvel fan, the answer is a definite yes, and in my mind, that makes this book a win.

Please put me on the record as a vote for altcomix backups in mainstream Marvel books. “Avengers, by Brian Michael Bendis, John Romita Jr., and Gilbert Hernandez”? Sure, I’ll eat it!