Your Mom's Basement

November 13, 2008

HACKOWEEN Interview Part 3

YMB: Now that it's over, what is your fondest memory taken from working on this story?

DREW EDWARDS: I think seeing the art come in daily. While I liked writing it, it's not the favorite of everything I've ever penned. But the art team lifted it up into being something more than the sum of it's parts. I think it's the best looking story I've done by far. And I've worked with some really talented people so that's saying a lot.

BRIAN CROWLEY: Honestly, there's two. Tim's generous offer is first one and then Drew's excitement is two.
It's two different guys at very different points in their comic book careers and it was just awesome to be the liaison.
Another thing is that Erik Larsen offered use of Savage Dragon to Tim Seeley back when he did the very funny book "Lovebunny and Mr. Hell" and so Tim approached lending Drew the use of Cassie and Vlad as being a good guy the same way Erik Larsen was a good guy to Tim... which is a really awesome thing to do.

RUSSELL HILLMAN: It's been a blast all the way through - from thrashing out the initial draft with Drew to getting the final nod on the script, to getting all the art through from everyone. This has been a hard slog for everyone involved, but a worthwhile one.

SCOTT D. SIMMONS: I was part of a great team who all worked well together and were supportive and encouraging to each other. And just seeing the awesome pages coming in from David, and then sitting down and inking them was fun and a challenge. I just really enjoyed the whole experience. It's work but it's also fun; there are not many things you can say that about.

MARC LEWIS: Honestly, all of it. From the very beginning where Drew, Brian and I were sending page 3 back and forth to nail the correct look and mood for the book to now. It's been a blast.

BRIAN CROWLEY: Marc and Scott nailed everything and were both professional in handling critique and nailed deadlines each and every time.

DREW EDWARDS: At the risk of this turning into a massive love-in. I think everyone involved pushed themselves to do their a-letter best. And the results show. This thing is super slick and professional looking.

DAVID BALDEON: The fun of working with the characters, getting them to unsuspected places, discovering new ways to make them tell things only with their faces, their body language... Getting to know them and learn what they allow you to do. That has been the absolutely best of the project by far.

BRIAN CROWLEY: I just want to add that David is destined to be a comic superstar... his pages just kept blowing us away. His line, sense of guesture in the bodies and the emotion he conveys is phenomenal... David built a really solid foundation from Drew's script.

DREW EDWARDS: Oh yeah, David's amazing!

DAVID BALDEON: Wow, thanks guys.

DREW EDWARDS: While I am applauding everyone else though. I want to give some praise to two people whose work often isn't as clear cut as the art teams.

Russell...man...you've keep this thing a float more times than you can know.

I also want to thank Claire, the diva who maintains my site. She helped me deal with a lot of last second issues. A lot of which isn't even seen by the reader. And she did with bells on. So thank you.

And finally, Mr. Tim Seeley. The guru of gore himself. For allowing this whole thing.

There's my Oscar speech. Ha!

YMB: What do you think Hack/Slash fans will take from it?

DREW EDWARDS: For most of them it'll probably just be a quick, fun, read with their favorite characters in it. Beyond that, I can't even guess.

BRIAN CROWLEY: I think the Hack/Slash fans love the rollercoaster ride that is Hack/Slash. Cassie and Vlad get around... sometimes she's in a Star Wars like Hell dimension run by "Elvis," sometimes she in "Archie Land" sometimes she and Vlad fight lupine children and sometimes they clash with superheroes. Hack/Slash is fascinating because ANYTHING can happen... so running into the world of Solar City where anything goes... is awesome.

RUSSELL HILLMAN: Hopefully, enjoyment. Enjoyment and an interest in Halloween Man. I'll settle for enjoyment.

SCOTT D. SIMMONS: I hope they find it a fun romp with their favorite characters taking on crazy powered zombie characters and interacting with the Halloween Man crew, who are characters we hope they will also like. There's blood and guts, heroism and humor. I think they'll like it alot.

DAVID BALDEON: Hopefully, they'll enjoy the ride. I've just gone through the whole story (both parts) and its just non-stop fun, awesome, gross, heroic, intimate things happening all the time!. Hopefully that's what they´ll take from it.

MARC LEWIS: Many of the fans I've already talked to have liked the idea of this crossover. I think they'll take away the fun that Drew pours into his characters more than anything.

YMB: Do you think this will help Halloween Man crack the mainstream?

DREW EDWARDS: Naturally I hope it will. But we've been the "little engine that could" for so long that I'm not even doing stuff with that in mind. I'm just trying to do the best comic I can.

BRIAN CROWLEY: I hope so... I think that some of the other potential developments with DDP will really help. I think the work that Drew, Russell, Jesse and Nicola had done was just ready to burst out the gate and it's long overdue... this is a world ripe for animation, video games, and action figures and it seems inevitable.

RUSSELL HILLMAN: I hope so. We've worked so hard on this, I hope we get some recognition.

SCOTT SIMMONS: I hope it does get more exposure. Halloween Man is a project I whole-heartedly believe in and has become one of the few projects I have said that I would enjoy helping with for some time. I work on this project because I believe in it and the people who make it happen. I'll always support the Halloween Man projects and Drew as much as I can.

DAVID BALDEON: It should. I think it is a very good, exciting story that puts together two characters (or sets of characters) that fit surprisingly well. Drew has done a great job in presenting his characters to the mainstream public without the need to overexplain things, just giving them hints... "Hey guys, there's a lot more stuff like that in here, a lot of things have happened before and a lot are gonna happen from now on". I keep on remembering one of my favourite comic book moments, when I got my first Avengers issue. I read it and I knew only two or three of the characters in there. No idea about Wonder Man, about Yellowjacket, the Wasp, suddenly this Hawkeye guy phones them talking about some other Quicksilver guy... I had absolutely no idea what they were talking about. But you could see they had known each other for a long time, there was an underseen current there and that made me want to know more. I think there's the same kind of stuff here, on the Halloween Man side. A "this is only the tip of the iceberg, come in and see more" feeling. So storywise yeah, it should certainly help Halloween Man crack the mainstream.

MARC LEWIS: It will push the title more into the public eye.

YMB: Was that the main motive of everyone involved?

DREW EDWARDS: My only motive was fun. I did this because it was enjoyable to do. I'm certainly not getting rich off it. If anything I've lost money. But at the end of the day, you climb a mountain because it's there right?

BRIAN CROWLEY: My main motive was from the get go was to ask Tim for advice on Drew's behalf and when Tim was kind enough to offer use of Vlad and Cassie, my motive was then to make sure that Cassie and Vlad were treated right and look out for my friend. As the project moved forward and I took on more of a project management role in things... and my goal was to make sure that this baby was born smoothly.

RUSSELL HILLMAN: I just wanted to help everyone do their best and craft a story that people would like. That's what I'm here for.

SCOTT D. SIMMONS:
For myself, I got involved in the project because Drew asked me to, and I enjoyed working with him on the origin story.... and with David as the penciller, I knew it was going to be a great project. One of the reasons I left a certain job years ago was to be able to be involved in making comics, either for myself, or for others, and Halloween Man was one of the projects that I am lucky enough to have become involved in. It is a pleasure to work on.

DAVID BALDEON: I guess giving the character a shot at the mainstream was indeed a reason for most of us involved, but my principal one was just "Can I do that?". Hackoween is WAY different from what I've done so far, and certainly very different from my own personal projects. That kind of challenge by itself is enough to tackle the job. But it would be great if this meant some huge exposure for the Halloween Man bunch.

MARC LEWIS:
My main motive was to finally have a chance to work on Halloween Man.

YMB: Any closing thoughts on Hackoween?

DREW EDWARDS: The has been the wildest ride I've ever been on and I hope everyone sticks around for part two.

BRIAN CROWLEY: I still hate the name Hackoween... sorry Drew!
Seriously though, I think that Drew and Tim are two guys that I care a great deal about and any benefit that comes to the two of them as well as David, Scott, Marc and Russell is a huge bonus to the whole process. As cliche as it may sound... alot of hard work went into this and ultimately I think that comes through in the finished product.

DREW EDWARDS: You know, I know you and Russell hate the name. But it still makes me laugh every time I read it. So I can live with that. :D

RUSSELL HILLMAN: I've grown accustomed to it.

DREW EDWARDS: You should accept it's awesomeness and let it rock you like a hurricane! :D

RUSSELL HILLMAN: Wait 'til you see what happens next!

SCOTT D. SIMMONS:
I am so happy I was a part of the project. Thanks, Drew, David, Brian, Russell, and Marc! And special thanks to Nicola Scott for helping me get involved in Halloween Man, and also my wife and parents for their support and belief in me.

DAVID BALDEON: Stay for part two. I honestly think it is even cooler than part one!

MARC LEWIS: Go read it! Now! Um, why are still reading this article? Go to halloweenman.com then the comics section and click on Hackoween. Go on scoot.

Read the Hack/Slash & Halloween Man crossover "Hackoween" here.

Read the first part of the interview here.

Read the second part of the interview here.

Posted by YourMomsBasement at 12:00 PM

November 04, 2008

HACKOWEEN Interview Part 2

by the YMB Staff

YMB: Was it hard to nail down the voices of Tim's characters?

DREW EDWARDS: Very. Vlad more so than Cassie. I've known girls like Cassie, where is...Vlad is...well...Vlad. I was a fan of Hack/Slash prior to doing this, so that helped. But I made sure I had the ENTIRE run when I started doing this. I wanted to make sure it was right, since Tim trusted me with his characters.

YMB: If this is successful, would you do a sequel?

DREW EDWARDS: Oh hell yeah! I'd love to do another one. This time with Solomon and company in Cassie's world.

YMB: Have you built a relationship with Devil's Due from this?

DREW EDWARDS: Yes. Without giving away to much, we'll be saying A LOT more about this very soon. But the answer is a big, bold, steaming pile of yes.

YMB: Your favorite Halloween Man character?

DAVID BALDEON: I'm torn between Solomon Hitch the Halloween Man himself and Lucy. Sol is mad fun to draw, but Lucy is simply a pleasure. Aside of her being a hottie (which to me as a penciller is not that important), she as a character is in a place where a lot of different emotions and points of view have to be shown. Plus, intelligent characters are very fun to draw, the way they think through things, the way they analize... Can I call it a draw?

MARC LEWIS: I love Morlack! You know a guy is "Billy Bad Ass" when he feels perfectly safe and threatening in a pair of slippers and a bathrobe!

RUSSELL HILLMAN: Drew's put the spotlight onto Nicko a little more in some of the scripts I've read recently, and I'm becoming more and more fond of him, but I'd be lying if my answer was anything other than MAN-GOAT. Now and forever, The Power of a Man-Sized Goat is what I need.

DREW EDWARDS: Lucy. She's the heart of the comic.

SCOTT D. SIMMONS: Solomon is awesome in his appearance and character, such a great visual appeal to him... and I also like Lucy alot. It's like they are meant to be together, and you really can't separate the two. Lucy is based on Drew's wife, Jami, and he really writes her great, and you get a sense with his stories that he is really really in love with her.

BRIAN CROWLEY:I really dig Lucy and Morlack... I think both of them are quirky and interesting and I think Man-Goat is very lovable.

YMB: Your favorite Hack/Slash character?

DAVID BALDEON: No contest here, Cassie Hack herself. She is tough as nails, she is smart, she takes no crap from nobody... But is ready to be amazed and shocked and a bit overwhelmed by what she is going through in the strange world she is in during the crossover. I found that about her while drawing, and thought it made her a very likeable character, and absolutely made sense with what I've read of her. Hopefully, I'd have been able to translate that into the actual drawing. But yeah, she absolutely won me over.

MARC LEWIS: Vlad, or more appropriately Cassie's responses to Vlad. They're like Penn & Teller except one doesn't talk much...wait that doesn't work :D

DREW EDWARDS: Vlad. Ironically, the harder of the two to write.

RUSSELL HILLMAN: I've just been rereading all my Hack/Slash back issues, and I've got to say Vlad. Cassie is deep and complex, and I especially love when she lets that show, but Vlad's speech patterns and reactions to common things make him an unexpected joy in so many moments.

SCOTT D. SIMMONS: Cassie. Her look is very cool, her attitude is cool .... and she is the more emotional of her and Vlad, which means she comes off as a deeper character with alot of past issues and mental stability things that can be brought up and built upon. I really enjoy reading tragic characters in fiction, because they are the most flawed and interesting.

BRIAN CROWLEY:Cassie and Lisa... Lisa is the sweet girl we've all known. Cassie is so rough around the edges that you have to love her.

YMB: Was this any different than working on a more straightforward storyline?

DAVID BALDEON: Not really. At the end of the day, it comes to the fact that things happen and you have to tell them in a manner it is understood by the reader. Maybe the timing is a bit different because there's a lot of comedy in there, but all in all it is simply one story to tell. Of course there are "technical" differences, but they're just that: technique, mechanism.

MARC LEWIS: No. My job as colorist is to set the mood. The script almost always tells you the type of mood you're to bring.

DREW EDWARDS: Speaking only for myself, yes it was. Because for one, you have to make it an "event" without leaning to hard on what everyone thinks an "event comic" is. Plus I was writing Tim's characters, which of course was a new challenge.

RUSSELL HILLMAN: We probably went through more drafts on this than most other scripts, trying to get the characters to line up perfectly. On top of that, Cassie and Vlad are Tim's toys, and we have to give them back to him in the same condition they were in when we borrowed them - whereas with the regular Halloween Man cast, I can suggest that Drew put them through all kinds of crap.

SCOTT D. SIMMONS: Not really. Some of my favorite comics are crossovers.

BRIAN CROWLEY:I think it was. Certainly figuring out how to work characters as reality based as Vlad and Cassie into Solar City.

YMB: Seems like this has a lot of parody elements. Is that a good thing? Bad thing?

DAVID BALDEON: Not necessarily bad, nor good. I'm a believer of Things Done Properly, and I'd go with a well crafted parody rather than with a clumsy serious drama any day of the week. I really think comedy (and inside that there's parody) is a tremendously serious thing, and in no way a lesser genre. So as long as the parody is well and honestly handled, as is the case, it's great.

MARC LEWIS: Oh, it's such a GOOD thing! There were many times that I would bust out laughing while working on this!

DREW EDWARDS: Good thing. Easily, a good thing. For one, it's a very light layer of parody and it's done out of love rather than malice. Which I think is where all the best spoofs come from.
And secondly, the goofiness of it, is part of what makes it different. Like I've said elsewhere, this is like is Mel Brooks and Michael Bay teamed up to make a splatter movie.

RUSSELL HILLMAN: It's loving parody, mixed in with a healthy amount of tribute and homage, and Halloween man has a long tradition of all of those. Like Doctor Who, Halloween Man is best when its roots are showing.

SCOTT D. SIMMONS: I think it's part of the overall charm of the story. Halloween Man stories usually poke fun at traditional archetypes and elements of either movies and comics or both. I think it makes the whole things really fun and tongue-in-cheek, while still allowing the core of the story to be these two characters from different universes mixing it up with each other and then later on helping each other out. The whole crossing of universes sort of calls for the parody in a way.

BRIAN CROWLEY:It fits well with the satiric elements of both franchises... I think in retrospect some trimming could have been done... but the best steaks have a bit of fat on them.

YMB: What are the stylistic differences between Hack/Slash and Halloween Man?

DAVID BALDEON: Tough one... They obviously come from the same type of background and influences. I'd say they have the same kind of difference that the Coen Bros. and Sam Raimi have. Both come from the same place, but the Coens add a certain pinch of dark, brooding humour whereas Raimi chooses Tex Avery. And both end up being awesomely cool.

MARC LEWIS: Hack/Slash has always seemed darker in tone to me than Halloween Man. Halloween Man, at its heart, is a love story. (at least that's my opinion)

DREW EDWARDS: Well, for one my characters are a little older. Cassie and Vlad, to me...read like they're barely out of their teenaged years. Solomon and company are a bit older and are more in that adult place. I mean they're both "young" characters but when you how they interact, Solomon certainly takes on the "older brother" role.

As far as the two comics themselves go, Hack/Slash almost totally references 70's and 80's slasher films. Whereas with Halloween Man you have elements of Hammer, Universal, 50's sci-horror, silver age comics, etc. I mean we look at the slasher genre too, but I don't think we're as deeply rooted in that as Tim's world. Halloween Man has that retro-cool thing going on.

Having said all that, I think Halloween Man is the sort of thing most Hack/Slash fans would enjoy if they gave it a chance.

RUSSELL HILLMAN: The world of Hack/Slash skews a lot closer to our world than Halloween Man does - or at least, on the surface. I'm going to take David's Coens/Raimi idea and go one step geekier - Halloween Man is the Robert Rodriguez to Hack/Slash's Tarantino. Some of the influences are the same, but Halloween Man is a couple of steps further away from the real world.

(Of course, that comparison makes this story either Grindhouse or From Dusk 'Til Dawn, which I'd be quite happy with... or possibly half of Four Rooms. Oh. )

SCOTT D. SIMMONS: Halloween Man may be a little more light-hearted, and Hack/Slash more dark. As far as the story goes, it seems to me (from what I have read), Cassie hunts monsters because she feels it's her mission and duty, and Solomon seems to have most of the time been dragged or forced into the situations. Sort of the reluctant hero, yet honorable and heroic.

BRIAN CROWLEY:Primarily the fact that Hack/Slash is very much set in "reality" where as Halloween Man is set deeply in a really wonderful and rich fantasy world. Halloween Man is day glo... Hack/Slash leans towards almost noir.

YMB: How are they the same?

DAVID BALDEON: That's half answered in the previous question. They come from the same place in a way. Maybe saying they're brothers might be too much, but they certainly are cousins. So there's the family likeness.

MARC LEWIS: Um, I'd like to use my lifeline and pass this one to Drew.

DREW EDWARDS: Well, they're both cut from the same cloth at the end of the day. They play on the concepts of the genre. And hardcore fans will pick up on all of the references. Like I said, Hack/Slash fans should find a lot to enjoy.

SCOTT D. SIMMONS:
Both Cassie and Solomon are tragic characters. Neither of the two characters asked for the horrible things that happened to them and now they are sort of still finding their purpose and place in the world.

BRIAN CROWLEY:Both have characters with troubled origins that are fighting a monster within. Both are loners with a surrogete support system built around them.

YMB: Would you like to work on a straight Hack/Slash story?

DAVID BALDEON: Hell yeah!

MARC LEWIS: LOVE TO!

DREW EDWARDS: No. I wouldn't want to step on Tim's toes. It's his baby. Cassie and Vlad are wonderful characters though.

RUSSELL HILLMAN: You mean, how many people would I kill to be involved? I'd say at least a dozen.

SCOTT D. SIMMONS: I would enjoy working on Cassie again, yeah. Both Vlad and her are visually appealing characters.

BRIAN CROWLEY:I have worked on straight Hack/Slash stories as a letterer... someday I'd love to write or illustrate a oneshot.

YMB: Hack/Slash is slated to be a movie from Rogue Pictures. Any thoughts on casting?

DAVID BALDEON: I know there's a lot of talk about Megan Fox (Tim, if you're reading this: I'm an experienced storyboarded and would be glad to be involved in that one if needed... That's probably the closest I'll ever get to be to Megan Fox!). Megan is a great choice, but my personal model to draw Cass has been Sharleen Spiteri, the lead singer for Texas. And I'd go with Tim Robbins for Vlad.

MARC LEWIS: Two words: Ellen Page. She would be perfect for Cassie.

DREW EDWARDS: Cassie should be played by an unknown. I know a lot of people keep saying Megan Fox and I see that. But Fox looks a tad to "cheerleadery." Cassie needs to seem like she could kick your ass and can't think of any young actresses that can pull off that hat trick.

(Don't kill me Tim.)

SCOTT D. SIMMONS: I suppose Megan Fox (Transformers), Anne Hathaway (Get Smart), and Jennifer Morrison (House) would be my top picks for Cassie right now. I know they may be older than Cassie, but there's this show called Smallville.... Actors and actresses can believably play younger people within about 10 years.

BRIAN CROWLEY:Megan Fox, Megan Fox, Megan Fox as Cassie. She's interested and it seems like perfect casting... Her or Kat Dennings as Cassie. Michael Clarke Duncan as Vlad would be awesome.
Or Kane Hodder or some big dude with a voice over by a better actor.

RUSSELL HILLMAN: There needs to be some. It would make the movie a lot more interesting.

Megan Fox would work very nicely as Cassie. Ellen Page has the look, and could pull it off, as does Kat Dennings. If I've got to add a name that the others haven't already mentioned though, I'd go for Gemma Arterton, although she'd have to go back to her St Trinian's look.

I don't see many complaints about that one, though..
For Vlad, it depends just how deep into the prosthetics thing they decide to go, and how big they want him to be.

Knowing that David's Cassie is based on Sharleen Spiteri just makes me love her all the more. Him too.

BRIAN CROWLEY: Gemma who?

RUSSELL HILLMAN: Arterton.

BRIAN CROWLEY: she'd be great!

YMB: What other comic book/movie properties would you like to see crossing over with Halloween Man?

DAVID BALDEON: Needless to say, I'd LOVE to see (and draw) an Army of Darkness/Halloween Man crossover!

MARC LEWIS: Army of Darkness would make for a fun mix. Marvel Zombies would be wonderfully ironic!

DREW EDWARDS: My dream is Jason vs. Solomon. I even have a story line dreamed up. Another good one would be Hellboy I suppose.
You could easily do a Fantastic Four crossover where they team up to take out the Marvel Zombies.

But I'll go out of left field and say Dr. Who. Solomon fighting Daleks would kick ass.

RUSSELL HILLMAN: Anyone that's interested. Hopefully at some point we'll be in the position to do other properties the favour that Tim has done us. For existing properties, hmmm. The obvious choices are things like Hellboy, Supernatural or Buffy/Angel, and I'd love to mix Halloween Man in with the cast of Middleman sometime, but for a leftfield choice, how about something like Blue Monday?

SCOTT D. SIMMONS: I think Doom Patrol would be a good fit, and frankly, because I love both, I'd like dibs on being part of drawing it. Doom Patrol has the mad scientist, the Frankenstein guy in a robot body, the "Invisible Man" motif, and the 50-foot woman. I mean, c'mon... the series to me (as Arnold Drake and Bruno did it) always came off as a homage to the old monster movies.... and things like monster movies are what inspired Drew to create Solomon Hitch. Seems perfect.

BRIAN CROWLEY:I think that Hellboy, Angel, Buffy, Xombie and many others from Marvel or DC would work well.
Drew and Tim both love Savage Dragon and I think that would be awesome.

YMB: Favorite horror comics?

DAVID BALDEON: Hands down, Robert Kirkman's The Walkind Dead

MARC LEWIS: Halloween Man of course.

RUSSELL HILLMAN: As the token Englishman, I have to say Hellblazer and Moore's Swamp Thing at this stage. Some of the Wildstorm Friday the 13th books were pretty good, and there's this little known book you might have heard of called Hack/Slash?

DREW EDWARDS: Modern or old?
I love old EC stuff and Marvel's bronze age monster comics.
Now days I groove to Loaded Bible, Black Forrest, and Wicked West.

SCOTT D. SIMMONS: Other than these two, no.
I read a Swamp Thing when I was a kid, and Superman/Aliens (cool art by Kevin Nowlan), but I don't think I really have anything in my collection that qualifies as a straight-up horror comic.

BRIAN CROWLEY:Hellboy, BPRD... beyond that it varies.

YMB: Where would you like to see Halloween Man in five years?

DAVID BALDEON: That's easy. On print, side to side with all the previously mentioned titles and playing the outsider, mad fun part in the horror comics universe.

MARC LEWIS: Published by a major publisher and I wouldn't complain if I was still coloring it.

DREW EDWARDS: On toys ,lunch boxes, and on Adult Swim of course.

RUSSELL HILLMAN: Over the last five years, the quality Drew's writing has come on in leaps and bounds (there's a wealth of incredible scripts that most people have yet to see that will blow you away), so I'd like to see that reflected in audience size. Over the next five years, I'd like to see us in print regularly from a name publisher, at the very least in talks for a trip to the big or even small screen. By that time, I'd like to have the full cast in action figure form on my shelf, and I'd like Drew to be making the money he so rightly deserves for all the work he's put into this book over the years.

I'd like some money too, please.

SCOTT D. SIMMONS: With a ongoing printed series, toyline, and a big-budget movie in the works. An animated DVD would be cool to see.

BRIAN CROWLEY:Animated series, Action figures, movie in the works, maybe a sucessful DDP series bookending Hack/Slash.

YMB: Would you like to plug any other projects you have going on?

DAVID BALDEON: Not ready yet.

MARC LEWIS: No.

DREW EDWARDS: Well, next weekend I'm hosting 24 Hour Comic Day at Cheesecake and Crime here in Vegas. Join the insanity.

RUSSELL HILLMAN: Just this one for now.

SCOTT D. SIMMONS: Oh yeah. I have a great comic called WANNABEZ that I have been doing with Brant W. Fowler. I am the penciler and inker, and Brant is the creator, writer and letterer. It's a humor and action book about people who think they've been granted superpowers by radioactivity from a meteor shower in New England. They see strings of coincidences as proof of powers and they run around dressed up in outfits trying to fight crime. The underlying theme is about believing in yourself and being more than you are. Our website is www.wannabez.com and among plenty to see there, we have a bunch of pictures up from our booth at Mid-Ohio Con where Wannabez #0 debuted. We have been getting the issues out to some retailers, and look to hopefully have issue #1 out by Christmas.

Other than that, people can also check out my website www.scottdmsimmons.com for more information on other projects like Global Comic Jam, Deadly Cinema, and things that will be coming up very soon for my own creations in December.... and of course, WANNABEZ and HALLOWEEN MAN!

BRIAN CROWLEY:I've done some work in the Halloween Man trade that should be coming from DDP soon. I did lettering and pinup in Loaded Bible that's in that trade that everyone should grab and then I'm doing work for Tom Stillwell's Honor Brigade and a book we're working on together called "Underneath" which is top secret, and then hopefully in mid 2009 "Hamster Rage" will begin at HamsterRage.com, weekly webcomic deal.

YMB: Do you you think comics will survive the current economic crisis?

DAVID BALDEON: I do. They've been caught in a better place than they were 5 or 10 years ago. They're going to suffer, like eveyone else, but they'll come through.

MARC LEWIS: I actually think we'll see an influx of consumers. When times get hard people tend to retreat into entertainment.

DREW EDWARDS: If we can get prices down, I think the economic crisis could end up be fairly good for comics. They're still a relatively cheap form of entertainment after all. Now, more than ever people need escapism.

RUSSELL HILLMAN: Not all of them. Titles will die, maybe even some of the smaller publishers will go down, but comics overall will survive. They've lasted so long and through so much, I'm pretty damn sure they're unkillable.

SCOTT D. SIMMONS: Seeing how they got a big boost early on with the superhero boom in the 30's and 40's when the Depression was going on, I'd say yes. Comics are by and large still "cheap entertainment" (man, I mean look at the cost of going to the movies!), and sequential storytelling has been around since paintings on cave walls. The days of Image-style market speculation are long gone, but the serious collectors, the fans, and the kids will always be there looking for a floppy, a trade, or a webcomic to help them healthfully escape the real world for a bit.

BRIAN CROWLEY:I don't know... it's going to be really bad and I think several companies are going to fall to it, if it gets any worse. I'm willing to bet aside from the big four (DC,Marvel, Dark Horse, Image) only 5 other "big" companies at best remain by March. I really hope I'm wrong, but the tremors are just starting.

YMB: How do online comics like Halloween Man factor into that?

DAVID BALDEON: Heavily. The web has changed everything and will continue to do so. Printed comics will go on existing, of course, but the chance to publish and promote comic books for almost nothing is going to help the industry (and the indies, and the authors, and pretty much everyone else involved) a lot. Web comics will probably be one of the few that can see this crisis as a chance to grow, improve, expand and claim for a position of honor in the bussiness.

MARC LEWIS: I honestly don't know.

DREW EDWARDS: Well, they're free for one. You can't beat that. I think you'll see more stuff like Zuda over the next few things. The big boys will start to see the value in it and we'll no longer be the ghetto of the industry. But it's going to be a slow process.

RUSSELL HILLMAN: Again, not everything will make it. Those most likely to make it are those where the creators put their heart and soul in, and where you can see and feel that on every page - and going on that, Halloween Man will last forever.

SCOTT D. SIMMONS: Right now, Halloween Man comics are free to view.... so it isn't a factor. Even if someone can't view at home, they can see it at a library, a friend's house, or well... haha, work when the boss isn't looking. Don't get in trouble!

BRIAN CROWLEY:I don't know. They say Entertainment thrives in recessions and down economies... but how that would affect a webcomic... I just don't know...
Paper publishing is going to be dead soon as a whole with the exception of books... at least by 2012. So hopefully that will work out for Halloween Man as they have homefield advantage with HM on the web... and certainly with Hack/Slash as they've done this crossover and that really sexy Suicide Girls crossover online. I mean Cassie as a Suicide Girl was HOT!

YMB: Who do you see Halloween Man or Cassie Hack voting for?

DAVID BALDEON: Jonathon 'The Impaler' Sharkey, of the The Vampires, Witches, and Pagans Party.

MARC LEWIS: Um, Phone a Friend please.

DREW EDWARDS: Solomon is an independent and Cassie doesn't vote.

RUSSELL HILLMAN: They will follow their hearts, and vote for the candidate that they feel represents their interests, that will best serve their country, as everyone should. However, one of the key elements of a secret ballot is that it's a secret, so I'm afraid I can't tell you who it will be.

Of course, it also depends who is running in their respective universes. I know IDW has the rights to Obama and McCain - would they be up for a crossover?

DREW EDWARDS: Halloween Man vs. Sarah Palin has a nice ring to it. Now that's really scary.

SCOTT D. SIMMONS: The only comics characters that ever really seemed to have it clear and out in the open were Green Arrow and Hawkman... maybe even Hal Jordan. I think only Drew and Tim could tell you for sure about Cassie and Solomon.

BRIAN CROWLEY:Solomon is in "Texas" but Solar City seems progressive so I think even though the conservatives have him surrounded the HM gang votes Obama.
I don't think Cassie or Vlad vote... but if they did vote, they're liberal and would both vote Obama.

DREW EDWARDS: Well, the world Halloween Man takes place is very much an alternate reality. So Obama and McCain might not even be running there. Also, keep in mind they'd be coming off of 8 years of Vincent Price as President, not Dubya.

Read the Hack/Slash & Halloween Man crossover "Hackoween" here.

Read the first part of the interview here.

Posted by YourMomsBasement at 12:00 PM

October 28, 2008

HACKOWEEN Interview Part 1

by the YMB Staff

YMB: Tell us about Halloween Man.

DREW EDWARDS (writer, creator of Halloween Man): Halloween Man is a digital/web comic I've been doing since I was 18. It's not perfect, but it's a lot of fun. If heroic zombies, sexy mad scientists, talking goats, and foul mouthed wizards seem like your idea of a good time. Then you've probably found your new favorite comic. And...get this..wait for it.....it's a love story.

I think it's the sort of thing that a lot of Hack/Slash fans would end up digging on.

YMB: What made you want to write a crossover with Hack/Slash?

DREW EDWARDS: Mostly for the fun of it. You don't do something like this because you're trying to reinvent the wheel. You do it because it makes for tasty "junk food." The character fit well together. Once it was purposed to me, it seemed like a very natural thing to do. I mean it doesn't seem out of left field like say....Halloween Man vs. Tiny Titans.

YMB: How much involvement did Tim Seeley have with the writing process?

DREW EDWARDS: He was pretty cool about giving everyone their breathing room. Early on he gave me firm list of "Don't do THIS" and then he checked in from time to time. But over all, he was very hands off. Which was actually scarier than if he had been breathing down my neck the whole time. I felt like I had to do right by his creations.

YMB: When did you first get involved with Halloween Man?

DAVID BALDEON (artist): I think it was three years ago more or less I started posting some of my pencils in the Millarworld forums. Drew contacted me to pencil a 12 page story called Duel, a madly fun Halloweenman gig complete with zombies and headless riders. Then I got the chance to give my version of Halloweenman's origin in a remake version of the original story (I proudly shared credits with the very talented Nicola Scott).

RUSSELL HILLMAN (editor): About five years ago. Drew had written the Halloween Man Christmas story faster Santa Claus! Kill! Kill!, and was assembling an art team. I read the script out of curiosity, and loved it. Drew types as fast as he speaks, which can be pretty fast at times, so it was filled with typos. I offered to look it over, and Drew accepted. I filed down some of the rough edges and made a few suggestions. Drew liked what I'd done, and sent me a few more scripts to polish. Five years later, I'm still here.

BRIAN CROWLEY (letters): in 2004 I did a rough pinup and talked to Drew about doing some stuff for Halloween Man that never materialized because I moved onto working for DDP and that took up a huge amount of my time. That and I'm kinda slow.

MARC LEWIS (colorist): Through email conversations with Nicola Scott who happened to be doing a three page short entitled "Necromantic" (at least that's what the pages were titled). Unfortunately, (for the story) I got another gig. I had also got to know Drew through the Millarworld.tv forums as just about everyone else.

SCOTT D. SIMMONS (inker): One of my favorite artists, Nicola Scott, sent out a ComicSpace bulletin asking for an inker to help her with a project where she was the penciler. I sent her a message volunteering enthusiastically and showing samples, and soon I was inking two pages for her, and she came back to have me do two more. This was for the re-telling of the Halloween Man origin, aka "Zombie in a Black Leather Jacket (Revisited)". When she got snapped up by DC, the story had to be finished up by a new penciler, and I was brought on board fully by Drew to work on inking those pencils. The new penciler was of course, David Baldeon, and they were looking for an inker who wouldn't leave out the details of his line work. Not only was I faithful to his work, but I tried to add texture and little details that he really seemed to like.

YMB: How did you get involved with the crossover?

DREW EDWARDS: It's all Brian's fault! Brian is the one who got Tim and I talking. The whole kind of grew out of that. Personally, prior to this happening I never would have imagined doing it. Halloween Man is just this little DIY comic and Hack/Slash is a pretty big deal.

DAVID BALDEON: Drew e-mailed me offering me the gig and the rest is history!

MARC LEWIS: Drew and I had been emailing for a while about doing something. When I sent him my latest batch of comic samples he put me on the crossover.

RUSSELL HILLMAN: Drew emailed me as soon as Tim gave him the OK, and I was in from the get-go.

BRIAN CROWLEY: I was kinda the one who got the ball rolling. I was working at Devil's Due as the Staff Letterer and then eventually become the Graphic Designer and Tim Seeley and I were chatting at the Patrick Brower's Christmas party (Owner of the awesome Challenger's Comic Shop in Chicago) and I mentioned to him something about Halloween Man. Long story short, Tim offered to let Drew use Cassie and Vlad in a crossover. Anyone who knows Tim Seeley shouldn't be surprised by this, he's one of the most gracious and generous guys I know. He likes sharing ideas and letting others play with his toys because every three seconds he's thinking up something brand new.
So then with the crossover in getting things geared up I've taken on a Project Manager/ Art Director role and liasoned with DDP to get us setup with an FTP and a few other exciting things that hopefully we'll discuss at a later date. Thankfully with this book, my days as a letterer end for good.

SCOTT D. SIMMONS: It was an honor to be asked by Drew to be the inker on Hackoween. I guess he was pleased with the Zombie pages I'd done with David, that he asked me to do it. In the meantime, while we waited through the whole process and for David's pages, Drew had me inking "God of Machines" and also got me hooked up as a penciler and inker for a project involving his lovely wife Jami Deadly. So, by keeping me around, I guess I don't suck, haha.

It's amazing to see David's pages roll in, and think "I get to ink this beautiful piece of art!" I am humbled and amazed by this experience, and working with these talented people and these great characters is just alot of fun.

YMB: Had you read Hack/Slash before you got involved with this?

DREW EDWARDS: Certainly. I really respect what Tim has done with it. I also have to say that I love...love....LOVE Loaded Bible as well. Which has Jesus kicking vampire ass in a "Mad Max" type world.

SCOTT D. SIMMONS: I was familiar with the character of Cassie Hack, and was excited about being able to work a project involving her. It seemed like a really fun crossover. It totally makes sense to see these characters lay into each other based on what they are used to expecting in their own universes. And it's a crossover that a casual reader can come into a understand who either Cassie or Solomon are.

MARC LEWIS: No, I hadn't and to be honest I still haven't. Sorry, Tim. My LCS is 30 minutes away and they don't carry the book.

DAVID BALDEON: I have to be honest and say no. As far as I recall, there has been no spanish edition of Hach/Slash, so I had no real notion of it until not long before begginig with the crossover. Once I got into it, of course, I have read quite a big deal of it. Real fun read, by the way. I kept on thinking that pairing this two characters was an excellent idea... and I was pencilling it!

RUSSELL HILLMAN: I had heard about it, and the idea of the final girl fighting back against slashers interested me, but for some reason I hadn't picked it up. As soon as Drew told me he'd had the nod to start working on the crossover, I hit up my LCS for research materials, and had to kick myself for not picking it up sooner - this book is great! Cassie and Vlad are awesome characters, and in the time I've been reading, the book has gone from strength to strength.

There are probably a bunch of people out there like me, and hopefully this will persuade them to pick up Hack/Slash too.

BRIAN CROWLEY: Since I was working at DDP, I had. Prior to working at DDP, I had noticed it on the rack and assumed it was a Buffy knockoff... which I think some cynical fans do. But man, once you crack open the books though you realize that it's a much, much different take than Buffy but equally as good in quality and execution. Then you talk to Tim and realize that he's never watched Buffy and that he and Whedon have this bizzare hivemind of genuinely similar ideas but with Hack/Slash they have the bizzare Tim Seeley twist. The stuff he puts Cassie and Vlad through in the ongoing series is just gut wrenching... I mean what other heroine gets two of her toes ripped off in the first issue? Or Vlad hooking up before Cassie to save her from the demon world Nef? And friggin Pooch? I mean I watched Tim draw Pooch. The boy just ain't right.

YMB: Favorite horror movies?

DAVID BALDEON: I'm a Carpenter guy. The Thing, The Fog, Halloween... Love the storytelling. Aside from Master Carpenter, I'd go with the classics: Whale's Frankenstein, Night of the Living Dead, Hellraiser, The Fly, Alien... I had too much fun with The Evil Dead to consider it horror but I guess it counts... The Shining! Way too many to count, I guess. I just can't name only three of them.

MARC LEWIS: Alien. That movie scarred me for life. I'm obsessed with it. Cabin Fever was truly a creepy, disgusting movie. Honestly, the slasher flicks never scared me.

RUSSELL HILLMAN: The original Halloween, Rosemary's Baby, Psycho, Freddy vs Jason, the original Dawn of the Dead, Gremlins, the original The Wicker Man, Jaws, Evil Dead 2, American Werewolf in London... so many more.

SCOTT D. SIMMONS: I like a variety of films and maybe tend to lean most towards sci-fi and fantasy... so Aliens, Gremlins, and Nightmare on Elm Street parts 3, 4 and 5 really appeal to me in the "horror" genre. Gremlins is a yearly tradition to watch, and my wife and I enjoyed watching The Shining too. Other than those, the Alfred Hitchcock movies are great classics, as I grew up watching older movies. And I was lucky enough a few years back to see a special showing of Vincent Price's The House of Wax in 3-D, in an old style movie theatre, complete with a live organ/piano player... which was a really cool experience.

DREW EDWARDS: I just want to say that I'm digging the Joe Dante/Gremlins love here.

RUSSELL HILLMAN: That's because Gremlins is a great movie.

A Hackoween crew movie marathon would be a great night in.

DREW EDWARDS: Next Halloween we'll do that. LOL

But we'll have to add the Howling for more Dante love.

DREW EDWARDS: This is such a loaded question with me. I probably name off a different list depending my mood. Today I'll go with:

Brides of Dracula, Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives, the Invisible Man, Mad Love, Halloween, An American Werewolf in London, Jaws, Texas Chainsaw Massacre part 2, the Old Dark House, and Night of the Living Dead.

BRIAN CROWLEY: I tend to like humor with my horror so Evil Dead 2 and Army of Darkness rank high, as well as Hellboy, Ghostbusters, Fright Night, Lake Placid, Gremlins, and Shaun of the Dead rank high.

But here's my dark horse pick... Demon Knight.

RUSSELL HILLMAN: Yeah, Demon Knight is great.

BRIAN CROWLEY: Loaded Bible is awesome...

Drew... no Hammer horror love?

DREW EDWARDS: Brides of Dracula is Hammer horror my friend. It's by Terence Fisher, who is probably one of my favorite directors.

And it has the ultra yummy Yvonne Monlaur in it! Hubba hubba!

Read the Hack/Slash & Halloween Man crossover "Hackoween" here.

Posted by EdContradictory at 12:00 PM

May 21, 2008

Dear Penthouse, I mean, DC

Dude. HE DREW THE TONGUES.

The cover for Titans #5 by Ian Churchill:

Really, DC? Was this necessary?

You know, when actors are simulating make-out sessions in movies, we never see the tongues. You know where we do see the tongues? Porn.

JUDD WINNICK IS LEADING YOU DOWN A DARK AND STICKY PATH, DC. Come towards the light.

(And of course, the very day I notice this, Hollywood Tuna posts a picture of Joss Stone doing a lesbian makeout scene for some indie movie with some tongue clearly evident in one of the pics. But don't be fooled, DC. That's an INDIE flick. It's "art." Or that's what I've been told to say if I want to keep wearing my beret.)

Posted by Eugene at 01:00 PM

May 08, 2008

Dear DC: Superman Prime was a big oopsie of an idea

Dear DC:

Superboyman-Prime was a humdinger of a bad idea. Hoo boy, was it ever a stinker. I hate to lay it out to you like that, but there it is. Sometimes, the band-aid has got to come right off.

A Superman counterpart who is selfish, whiny, evil, and self-motivated? Really, DC? What the Didio were you thinking?

Look DC, there are characters you can turn evil and there are characters you can't. People bought into Tony Stark acting like a big ol' dick and getting Captain America killed, but dude, Iron Man ain't Superman. (By the by, the failure the first time Marvel turned Iron Man evil was strictly due to the leather jackets the Avengers wore at the time. I can prove this with pie charts and venn diagrams, but that's a different topic for a different day. And did Marvel try to turn Captain America evil? Well, did they? Of course not, DC. Shame on you.)

You could have gotten away with it if you turned a Batman counterpart evil. The guy saw his own parents gunned down in cold blood right in front of him. Bound to fuck a kid right up. So if you wanted to turn a counterpart of his evil, I'd be right on board with that idea. Hell, Batman created the Brother Eye satellite and that turned into a big ol' batch of steaming evil, right? Plus, the guy's a control freak. He's the jealous husband wearing the wife beater who keeps his wife on an allowance of $2 per week. A Batman from a parallel universe going nuts isn't an awful idea.

But Superman? Really? Who thought this was a good idea? Superman is the Big Blue Boy Scout. He's the hero that inspires other heroes in the DCU. He doesn't lie to his mother, steal from his boss, or cheat on his wife. He's truth, justice, and the freakin' American way. He's more than just a hero, he's a goddamn ideal. He should be incorruptible. And what do you guys go and do? You take a counterpart of his and turn him into this . . . imbecile on the right (image courtesy of our friend Tommy at SayItBackwards, one of the best comics-related blogs out there; Tommy kind of likes the idea of an evil Superman, and HE'S WRONG, but he still has a top-notch blog).

I'm cool with the black costume, DC. I'm even willing to live with the second grade dialogue. Really. Personally, I think "Kill you to death!" should be made into t-shirts. You'd make a mint. So seriously, I don't hold any of that against you, baby. But what ever possessed you to do the unthinkable and corrupt Superman?

Okay, sure, this is not our Superman. This is the Superman of Earth-Prime. Thing is, you always implied to the reader that the Superboyman from Earth-Prime was going to grow up to be pretty close to our Superman. That's right, you did. Don't go saying you didn't. I know what you said. Are you calling me a liar? Are you calling me a liar? I didn't think so.

And our Superman CANNOT BE CORRUPTED. He cannot be driven insane, he cannot lose hope, and he cannot be so despondent at the state of the universe that he decides, "Oh well. Fuck it. Gonna blow that sumbitch up an' start over." He should always persevere. Always. He doesn't scar his own chest and he doesn't maim magical imps from the fifth dimension with his heat vision.

Superman is an ideal. You don't turn an ideal evil DC, you just don't. I don't want to hear it about Ultraman, either. He was evil from the get go. That was the whole point of the character. He wasn't ever going to be the Superman that we know, and thus, was never corrupted. So don't even go there with me.

So fix it, DC. Please. I'm beggin' ya. We've been through a lot together, haven't we? Come on, baby. Don't be like that. We can make this work.

I don't know who this Paperghost dude is, but I'm guessing he made the image on the right and he's got the right idea.

Posted by Eugene at 10:30 PM

April 24, 2008

Rescued By Nerds

YourMomsBasement is proud to present RescuedByNerds!

What exactly is RescuedByNerds? Well, it's a new sister-site to YMB that focuses on long-form content. From now on, RBN will be your source for the interviews, reviews and columns you've come to love with a regular rotating cast of writers. Meanwhile, YMB has moved to a group-blog format that will continue its personality-driven commentary, parodies, and satire.

RBN is made up of Mike Collins, Ash, Erin, RichB and everyone's favorite crazy uncle, Larry Young. RBN kicks off this week with exclusive NYComicon coverage. Drop by and let them know what you think. If anyone is interested in writing for RBN, or contributing in any other capacity, please drop Mike a note.

Posted by YourMomsBasement at 12:00 PM

April 11, 2008

Check Out These Webcomics...

Here are some other webcomics YMB enjoys...

High Moon
In His Likeness
Wondermark
Toothpaste For Dinner
Tom the Dancing Bug
OnlineComics.net

Posted by EdContradictory at 09:00 AM

April 09, 2008

Voices Of Fandom

According to the most recent Mighty Marvel Mailer, "Ultimates #4 has been pushed back to 6/11 and #5 to 8/6."

But hey, fanboys and fangirls. It's all good. What's a couple more months? Isn't the quality of Joe Mad's art more important than his being on time? Won't it be worth the wait?

...well, you're entitled to your opinion.

Posted by Goody at 07:57 AM

April 08, 2008

Can YOU answer 22 questions about YOUR #3?

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Posted by EdContradictory at 07:30 AM

April 07, 2008

Notes From the Attic #1

I WOULD BUY YOUR BOOK IF...

An occasional series of marketing suggestions to the creators of today's comics.

I WOULD BUY MOON KNIGHT IF...

The title character shouted his own name when going into battle:

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Posted by Mr. Farrell at 11:03 AM

March 20, 2008

Interview with Tomas Giorello

by Julian Solis

Tomas, to start the interview, tell us a little about yourself. You’re no newbie artist and you’ve done a large amount of work on Star Wars comics and trading cards for Wizards of the Coast. How did you originally start working for these companies?

Thanks to the generosity of people like Ron Marz, in the case of Dark Horse or Anthony Waters and Darrell Richie in the case of Wizards.

Ron knew me through samples I did for Crossgen and introduced me at a convention to his Dark Horse friends and that’s where the Star Wars experience came from.

I met Anthony and Darrell in San Diego and within ten minutes of talking they took me to the Wizards booth and introduced me to the trading card editor.

How did the switch from Star Wars to Conan happen?

The Conan editor, assistant editor back then, had his office next to the Star Wars editor and saw pages of mine for their series as they arrived, it seems he liked them and when he took over the book and with Nord leaving the series, he proposed me to continue with it.

What was the most attractive aspect of working on this book?

First of all because this was none other than Conan and exactly the opposite of Star Wars.

I had already been working on covers and stories for four years with the rigorousness of actor likenesses, the exhausting work of starships, weapons, etc. and it seemed like a great opportunity to not only handle a book, but to let loose and to do something a little more intense and to my liking.

With Star Wars, even if I enjoyed it greatly, I was more limited. All that documentation work and technology can sometimes “harden” your style a bit, which is exactly what happened to me.

On Conan, on the other hand, I can be looser and more chaotic. I think I’ve advanced more on this Conan period that I have in the past few years.

Were you a fan of the character, be it in comics, the original stories or movies?

Yes, completely. Not so much on the printed page, even if I’ve read a lot of the stories, but mostly on the art side. Seeing monsters like Buscema, Adams and Alcala - among others – blew my mind when I was young and I still enjoy it today. Besides, I obviously watched the movies a thousand times.

Regarding the art style of the comic, how much of the same look that Cary Nord established for the book do you intend to keep and how much do you plan on distancing from it?

It’s not something on which I really plan on, I’m not that conscious of those things even if I do notice them. I would like to maintain certain pre-established lines because I think they are really useful and to keep my style at the same time. But if tomorrow comes and they don’t fit anymore I wouldn’t hesitate in changing everything.

I think it’s more about the work looking coherent with itself and for it to flow, that’s what concerns me, specially now on the first few tries, but I can’t deny that I’m a bit darker and more obsessive than Nord; we’ll see where this takes me in the future.

How would you describe your style on the Conan book?

As I mentioned, I’m a bit more detailed and darker. I like the idea of a savage Conan, laconic but with brains.

I hope to be able to express that and the violence that accompanies him everywhere.

When drawing the characters and the world of Conan, do you use reference from previous artists?

Of course, it would be a crime not to, but at the same time I think it would be very poor of me to limit myself to that. I think it has more to do with certain things that put you in the mood or that help you not stray from the essence of the character to re-interpret them later in my own way instead of copying poses or images from others.

I think that’s the correct way of using reference unless, of course, it’s a job like Star Wars, where the characters and other elements have to be exact.

How would you describe the new Conan book, compared to the one that is ending?

I think it will be more intense, Conan is a little more seasoned in that part of his life, he’s growing up and gaining experience. He’s definitely leaving behind being a young daredevil to become a very dangerous man. This could be called his mercenary phase.

These days it’s rare for writers and artists to stay on a book for long. Do you have a goal in mind as to how long you’d like to be working on Conan?

A LONG TIME! (laughs) I think that I’d like to, at least, take the character from stage of his life to the next one (which includes a lot of time and effort), just like Nord did by showing us a teenaged Conan looking for adventure and to prove his worth to another one turned into a thief.

Do you have any more art books planned for the moment?

No, not for now. I’d love to sit down to paint and sketch a thousand different things that pop into my head. The publication of Women and Monsters that came out here had some of my older work and I’d like to show the kind of things that I can do nowadays, things that don’t necessarily have to be reflected on the stories on which I’m working at the moment because they may have nothing to do with the aesthetic that I’m required of at that moment. But well, I’ll eventually have the time…!

Posted by YourMomsBasement at 12:00 PM

March 06, 2008

Interview with Tim Truman

by Julian Solis

To start, tell us a little about the relaunch. Why is now the right time to do it?

It seemed a new way to refocus attention on the book. the Conan title has always been one of Dark Horse's best seller, and remains so. However, there are a lot of titles out there and from time to time you have to wave a flag in the air to draw some attention, especially when you have so many exciting things in the works. For one thing, the book has a more elaborate, powerful look to it, via a new artist, Tomas Giorrelo. As people are seeing in the last four issues of the current Conan title, Tomas' visual realizations of Conan and his era are very dynamic and incredibly detailed-- a great combination of modern comics drive and Frazetta-style classic fantasy illustration.

But the main thing we want to draw attention to is that Conan is entering a new phase of his career, which is in accordance with Robert E. Howard's own outline of his life. REH divided Conan's life into very distinct, chronological periods. Occasional "filler" stories aside, the main arcs in the Conan title told the story of the first phase-- the earliest wanderings of Conan, the post-teen aged thief, fresh from the Cimmerian hills. Conan the Cimmerian moves us into the second phase that Howard's chronicled, when Conan became a mercenary and, later, a pirate. So the new title is a great way of marking that second era in Conan's life, on his long road to kingship.

You've said that the book will be more focused on following Conan as he matures and moves from one adventure to the next and with fewer stand alone stories. Do you have a specific point in his life that you are aiming for or looking forward to reaching?

TT: In the Conan title, readers have seen our youthful hero take some pretty hard knocks, physically and emotionally. He's been betrayed by some people he cared about, and that betrayal lead to the grisly death of his partner, Nestor the Gunderman. Nestor was one of the few true friends Conan has ever made, and REH indicates in Rogues in the House that Nestor's death made an impact on Conan-- so much so that he hunted down and murdered the priest whose schemes had led to Nestor's execution.

In any case, I've been trying to lay some very careful threads that lead to events that come to a climax in the last four issues of the Conan title (#'s 47-50)-- our adaptation of the unfinished Howard tale, Hand of Nergal. I guarantee that for those who've been following the book, issue #50 will be a gut-wrenching read, where all the various threads finally come together. Things happen that make Conan yearn to return home. His first encounter with "civilization" has left a bitter taste in his mouth. He wants to get back home to people whose ways and values he can understand. It's a natural response, I think. He's a mountain boy. Growing up in rural Appalachia, I knew a lot of people who would return home to the hills after venturing into the outside world. It's a thing that kids do. Some venture out again. Some decide to stay. We know that Conan decided to leave Cimmeria again. Why?

Conan the Cimmerian will mainly cover what I suppose one could call the transitional period of Conan's long career-- moving out of his early years as a thief and vagabond and into his early days as a mercenary in the Hyborean lands of Koth and Corinthia. But first, he makes a return to his homeland, the gray, mountainous country of Cimmeria. This is in accordance with information that Conan's creator, Robert E. Howard, left us in a letter he wrote to some fans in the 1930's, just before his death.

This left me with a question: what made him return home? By merely mentioning it as part of Conan's career chronology, REH obviously considered it to be a matter of at least passing significance. Considering that Conan makes the journey right before he turned to a new page in his overall career, I thought it provided an excellent way to do a tale that would dig deeper into the Cimmerian's head.

Doing so also gives us a chance to explore the life of another character who has always intrigued me: that of Conan's grandfather, Connacht. Howard tells us that it was Connacht's tales that inspired Conan to venture outside of Cimmeria. Connacht had also left the hills, years before, and had adventured in the lands to the east and south. However, Connacht when returned to Cimmeria he never left again. This presented a question that I couldn't resist: why did Conan and Connacht arrive at these different decisions? Contrasting the lives of the two men and the exploring possible reasons for the choices they made presented a challenge that I couldn't resist.

The Connacht tales will be told in "flashback" sequences drawn by the great Richard Corben-- one of my favorite artists. The first arc is seven issues long. Issues #1 and #2 feature lengthy Corben sequences, to get things going and set the mood. The Corben sequences in issues #3-7 are shorter-- 6-8 pages each. The Connacht sequences work in tandem with the main storyline. As Conan wanders through Cimmeria, he thinks back on the tales that Connacht told him and draws new lessons from them.

Both Richard and Tomas are doing amazing work. They really bring the Hyborian era alive, in a very fresh way.

Do you have a specific period for which you are commited to the book or are you on it for the long run? Could we maybe see you a few years down the line wrapping up Conan the Cimmerian #50 to launch Conan the King #1 a few months later?

Oh, no, it wouldn't come that quickly. Conan's overall saga would take years to tell. In addition to the "official", finished Conan stories that I try to pick up on those suggestions and use them as linking threads between the tales, and use them as the basis of new tales. In most cases, any "original" stories that I write will be directly related to events that Howard might mention in some obscure paragraphs buried within larger Conan tales, or questions that might arise when, in accordance with the chronology we're using, we try to bridge one of Howard's original stories with the next. Even though Howard wrote the original tales "out of order", time-line wise, he seems to have had a pretty precise overview of his character's life. Still, there are a few contradictions here and there that have to be worked out. It's a pretty daunting task, but also a lot of fun. Frankly, I find it pretty similar to the research I did for the real-life historical books I did, Wilderness (the fourth printing of which is available through Timothy's website, http://www.timothytruman.com) and Straight Up to See the Sky.

As far as my own commitment goes, I'll like to be around for as long as Dark Horse will have me. They seem to be quite pleased with what I've been doing, and now that we have Tomas Giorello on board as our regular artist we'll be moving full speed ahead, balls to the blade.

We know Richard Corben's classic work, and have gotten a taste of Giorello's work in the current Conan title. Besides the issue of the Rogues in the House arc that Tomas did, readers really see him unleashed in Conan 47-50. Is your approach to working with him different than working with Cary Nord or Paul Lee?

Quite. Though each of them are really fine adventure artists, it's hard to think of four artists whose work methods and techniques are so dissimilar. I loved working with all of them, though.

To be quite honest, I inherited poor Cary when he was at the end of his tether. He'd spent about three years on the book and was getting the itch to move on to something else. Though I love his incredible drawing abilities, Cary's lateness really made things incredibly difficult at times. We'd just get a story going and then would have to interrupt it, which effected the narrative drive that I wanted to establish. God bless him, though-- he was on the book for a long time and he'd put a lot of sweat into the pages that he did. There are panels in the final issue of the Rogues in the House that are among the best drawings that I've ever seen anyone do, anywhere.

Paul Lee's a really illustrator, and I really hope to work with him again. A total pro. His work was less prosaic than Cary's, but it had a realistic, almost cinematic edge to it. When I'd write for him I'd have to keep his penchant for realism in mind, and in the scripts I'd be a little more detailed when describing the more fantasy-oriented stuff that I wanted thrown in there.

I've completed all the plots for the Corben sections of the new title and have dialoged three. At the time he started the sequences, Richard needed the script for the first installment rather quickly and so I just did it "plot" style (or"Marvel-style", as it's sometimes called: plot first, artist draws from plot, then the writer writes captions and dialog to the finished art.) Since Corben is such a sterling, experienced storyteller, we felt real comfortable doing it that way. Cary, Paul and Tomas are a bit less experienced, so the editors always like me to do complete finished scripts for them, like movie scripts. However, I really like working "plot" method. It's a more playful way of working together and it gives the artist more of a chance to add more of their own personality into the overall storytelling and composition.

As or Tomas Giorello, while he'd done some comics work before, but he's done far more work as an illustrator. So, at least for now, I give him pretty detailed full scripts-- descriptions of "camera" angles, special effects and such that I might leave to the imagination of someone who'd been doing comics for years. However, the boy is catching on quick! He makes these huge leaps with every scene he draws. His art for #48 and #49 were miles ahead of the work he did for #47. Right now, I'm waiting anxiously to see what he's cooking up for the series closer, the double-sized issue #50.

(A bit of side-trivia: It's weird, but with Conan 47-50 and the Conan the Cimmerian #0 16-page special, readers are seeing his most recent work. For reasons that are far more complicated than readers would want me to get into, the two sequences he did for Conan the Cimmerian #1 and #2 are actually earlier work, done at a time when the Corben sequences were being prepared for the regular Conan title.)

What are some Robert E. Howard adaptations that we will see in the new series?

As described above, the first arc, "Cimmeria" is mainly an original tale inspired by Robert E. Howard's poem of the same title, and information that REH gave us in letters.

After that, we move apace through the chronology that we've been relying on (inspired by the one developed by Conan scholar Dale Rippke). The order of the next three Howard adaptations would be "Shadows in the Moonlight", followed by "Black Colossus" and "Queen of the Black Coast" . In between, there will be short prequel episodes, to set up the tales, expand on various hints that Howard might imply and show Conan transitioning to the locations of the tales.

Your love for Conan, even before writing the book, is well documented. How is your approach different when it comes to the process of writing him as opposed to writing characters that may be nothing more than just a job?

Well, to be honest, I've seldom done work that's been "just a job." I've been lucky enough to be able to regulate my career so that I basically do special projects or long term projects that really, really interest me. I've turned down a lot of offers over the years simply because I didn't think I could get into the material.

Writing the Conan books is different only because the Howard stories were among my earliest, most important influences. So I approach the work with a special reverence and hope to get it right. I pretend that Howard himself is being given the adaptations for his approval.

It obvious that different characters appeal to different audiences around the world. Superman and Batman, for example, are huge in America whereas Asterix, Tin Tin or The Metabaron are huge in Europe. Conan seems to have successfully reached out to a global audience and endured in people's minds for the past 75 years. Why do you think it is that makes this character so enduring and appealing?

You know, I get asked that question a whole lot.

My stock answer is that Conan is the alpha dog. Everyone wants to be the alpha dog. Conan shows the way.

Other than that, I must admit that looking for answer to that very question is one of the most interesting things about working on the book. Discovering it would be like finding the Philosophers Stone of adventure writing.

Other than working on Conan, you recently went back to one of your most famous characters - Grimjack - along with John Ostrander, the original writer of the book. How would you describe that experience?

It's been great-- first with the Grimjack: Killer Instinct miniseries and graphic novel from IDW and now as an online comic and eventual graphic novel for Comixmix. Grimjack: The Manx Cat (To see all episodes of The Manx Cat for free, go to: http://www.comicmix.com/title/grimjack-the-manx-cat/ ). Working with John-- and drawing Grimjack-- is ways great. I'm particularly excited about some episodes that are coming up, featuring some characters that John and I have been talking about for the last few years, St. John of Knives and his partner, St. Dryden-- the Goblyns. They are two renegade priests of a religion called the Church of Ephemeral Salvation who lived in an earlier era of Grimjack's multi-dimensional stomping grounds, Cynosure. Or perhaps "incarnation" is a better word than "era", given the nature of Cynosure. Anyway, they are demon-hunters-- enemies of monsters, vampires, killers and kings.

Apart from your work in comics, you have also had a side project for a while: Odin the Wanderer. Based on Nordic myths and as a book that will appeal to both children and adults, it sounds like a very interesting and unusual piece of work. How is that project progressing?

I've been doing a lot of thinking about it lately. Sort of itching to get back to it. I haven't been able to work on it for a while, given my workload on Grimjack and Conan. However, after I finish Grimjack I hope to take a break and get back into it. I might develop Odin as a graphic novel rather than as an illustrated prose story. Or something that's a combination of both.

Between Grimjack and Conan, I'm sort of reaching a blood 'n' guts saturation point of late. It would be great to kick back and do something that's a little different-- and Odin is certainly different. So, unless something comes up that I just can't refuse, I'll either be doing Odin or something with a humorous angle to it. I love doing adventure material-- it's certainly what I've built my career on. However, Odin would give me a chance to explore some full color techniques I developed for book and CD illustration, as well as some some storytelling and compositional possibilities that have been on my mind for the last few years.

I've also been thinking about doing a wild humor piece, science fiction stuff but really broadly drawn. I've been wanting to work with my son, Ben, who is a great writer, so he might be writing something for me.

We'll see what happens. First, I have to finish the Grimjack episodes.

Posted by YourMomsBasement at 12:00 PM

January 30, 2008

Brian Wood Announces ‘Public Domain’ Rights Reversion and Free Download

BROOKLYN, NEW YORK – January 30, 2008 -- Brian Wood announces the immediate and full reversion of publishing and other media rights for the Channel Zero designbook Public Domain.

First published in 2002 by AIT/Planet Lar, Public Domain is a collection of extras generated in 1996-98 during the creation of Wood’s first graphic novel Channel Zero. Consisting of unused pages, character designs, short stories, photography, and illustration, Public Domain is 145 pages of black and white artwork that is now available as a free PDF download here: www.brianwood.com/downloads

“This book is low res, rough and grainy, created mostly with ink, a photocopier, and a glue stick”, Brian Wood said. “I love it, it’s a look back to my time in art school before I owned a computer and I made mini comics and zines by hand. I’m a big process junkie so I was happy to assemble this material in the first place, and even happier now to make it widely available online.”

Channel Zero and Channel Zero: Jennie One (with artist Becky Cloonan) is still in print and orderable via your local comic book shop and through online shops.

Brian Wood is currently writing DMZ and Northlanders for DC/Vertigo, The New York Four for DC/Minx and Local for Oni Press. He can be found at www.brianwood.com.

Posted by YourMomsBasement at 12:00 PM

January 23, 2008

Mysterious Monks!

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Posted by YourMomsBasement at 12:00 PM

January 16, 2008

Interview with Duane Swierczynski

by Mike Collins

How did you go from editing Philly’s City Paper to becoming a novelist and now comic book writer?

The first two happened more or less simultaneously. I sold The Wheelman to St. Martin’s in August 2004, and a month later, I was offered the City Paper job. When good things happen, they tend to happen in double-barrel assaults.

The comic thing happened thanks to Ed Brubaker. A year ago I sent him an email telling him how much I dug Criminal, and it turned out that he’d read The Wheelman the week before. Ed introduced me to Warren Simons and Axel Alonso at Marvel. I sent them some of my books, and after a few weeks of thinking This will never happen, This will never happen, I was pitching ideas and receiving my first assignment.

Does working as an editor influence your fiction writing?

Oh yeah. The job forces you to pay attention to story structure and tightening language—the news hole is only so big. But this job has also exposed me to a ton of stories, pieces of which usually end up in the novels (and now, comics). David Simon, the creator of the HBO series The Wire, calls this process “stealing life.” I like that a lot.

I’d like to start out with The Blonde. What influences went into this?

The most obvious inspiration was the classic noir D.O.A. (Not the Meg Ryan remake, by the way.) But it’s also very much my version of a Cornell Woolrich “headlong through the night” story, where a cast of characters is racing against a deadline. Usually, at dawn.

The book starts out with a bang and the action doesn't stop until the final page. Was it hard structuring a story that takes place across one night?

Actually, I like restrictions—especially with time. The Wheelman takes place over one long weekend. The Blonde is one night. My next one, Severance Package, is pretty much three hours on a Saturday morning. Ultimately, I hope to write my magnum opus: a thriller that takes place in just 38 seconds.

Delving into spoiler territory for people who haven't yet read the book, The Blonde character is infected with an experimental nanotech tracking device set to explode if she gets more than ten feet from someone. It's quite a bombshell from an otherwise straight noirish story. Why did you want to add in a science fiction element?

I don’t think it’s all that science fiction-ish. I’m sure right now there’s somebody out there, funded by the Pentagon, working on something similar. In fact, I’ll bet someone is watching me type these words RIGHT NOW…

What kind of research, if any, did you do for the technological aspect of the book?

Not much beyond Wikipedia and a few pieces from New Scientist, to be honest. I suck at science.

Aside from Kelly White, The Blonde, the book features a seemingly indestructible government agent named Kowalski. How much fun was he to write?

Kowalski’s a blast to write, because he’s smart, tough, and more than a little nuts. He’s kind of my Polish Punisher. I’m eager to bring him back in another book.

Philadelphia itself is largely a character in your books. As a born and raised Philadelphian myself I still feel the inexplicable siren song to return home. Do you plan to continue using Philly as the main setting in your future novels?

Yes, unless the story begs to be set elsewhere. I have a love/hate relationship with my city (as do most Philadelphians, I think), so it’s fun to slap it around and brag about it at the same time.

I was going to toss in a question about the Eagles, but after this latest loss to the Giants I am just too bitter...is the city bordering on suicide watch?

I’m not exactly a sports guy, so I think I’d be confused if I woke up one morning and thousands of people had killed themselves overnight.

(Hey, that’s not a bad idea for a novel…)

Severance Package is your next book due out in late May. Is "Battle Royale meets Office Space" a fair description?

That’s pretty dead-on. It’s about a boss who wakes up one morning and decides to kill his employees, one by one. (I think we’ve all worked for bosses capable of this.) I’m really excited about the extras with this one—St. Martin’s went above and beyond. Tomm Coker illustrated the cover, and Dennis Calero contributed eight illustrations for the interior. All of the art is just amazing.

Moving over to comics, how did you end up writing for Marvel Comics, and how did a guy who's only written a few comics so far land the plum assignment of relaunching Cable's new monthly spinning out of Messiah Complex?

A combination of luck, timing, and a series of incriminating photos of Axel Alonso.

But really, Axel’s completely to blame. He’s great at pairing writers with their ideal material, and he had me at hello with Cable. Exactly why will become clear when the series begins this March.

You've done a Moon Knight annual, an issue of Punisher and now the upcoming Cable. Do you have any other comic projects lined up?

I do—including a one-shot featuring a wildly-popular Marvel character—but I can’t spill just yet.

Axel Alonso has a reputation for finding and developing new talent. How does it feel working with him?

I’ve never met a better story man. Axel knows how to pinpoint the logic flaws in your story as well as helping you amp up the key moments. What’s been great is that I live fairly close to New York, so it’s easy to pop in once and a month and bat around ideas with Axel. A lot of the (hopefully) surprises in Cable were cooked up over a few frosty pints around the corner from the Marvel offices.

Understanding that Messiah Complex still has a long way to go, what can you tell us about your take on Cable? What kind of stories are you looking forward to telling?

Cable’s kind of a spiritual soldier/superhero. There’s something priestly about him, yet at the same time, there’s something John Rambo about him. It’s a neat contradiction. (Then again, my best friend from high school is a Catholic priest who loves to shoots guns on weekends. So I kind of get it.)

As for what to expect: I love telling stories were the main character is screwed. From page one of issue #1, Cable’s in it up to his neck—kind of literally. From the beginning, Axel stressed the importance of making the rules of the game very clear. So once you understand Cable’s predicament, you’ll be primed for the arcs to follow.

It was cool to plan the series this way, because this is usually my m.o. when I write crime thrillers: start with someone in a really effed-up situation, then watch the character squirm until the very last page.

We know you weren't writing Cable back in the day, but we have a challenge for you regardless: Can you justify the pouches he used to sport? What would you say he was carrying in them? The many, many pouches. . .

I’m not sure what he used to keep in there, but now it’s probably baby wipes. Maybe a little diaper rash cream. And if he’s like any fathers I know, little airport-sized bottles of bourbon.

You have Ariel Olivetti as your artist on Cable. What's that relationship been like?

Really great. I can’t tell you how happy I was that Ariel came on board. I’ve been a fan of his since picking up Punisher War Journal #1 more than a year ago.

As for the working relationship: There is the language barrier thing—though Ariel’s English kicks the ass of my Spanish any day of the week. But mostly, it’s been me learning how to communicating an image to an artist, which is not necessarily the same thing as communicating an image to a reader. I try to be specific as possible without ruining Ariel’s fun.

How much interaction do you have with the other X-title writers? The X-Men have historically been difficult to manage in that there are so many books with a lot of the same characters appearing in them. Has it been a challenge so far?

At first it was a matter of getting up to speed with the seismic events of “Messiah CompleX”—I started plotting Cable while knowing just the bare bones of the story, not the finer details.

Going forward, I’m definitely going to be comparing notes with my fellow X-writers…

Can you say yet who the villains in the book will be?

I can’t—I don’t want to ruin it for you! But there’s a huge clue somewhere toward the last third of “Messiah CompleX.”

Are you on Cable for an arc or two, or are you planning on being on the book for an extended run?

I’m in it for the long haul. Axel, the boys in the X-Office (Nick Lowe, Will Panzo) and I have kicked around ideas for at least the next two years.

What can readers expect from your first issue?

Let’s see: Knives. Grenades. Beer. Bullets. Time travel. And at least one really, really messy diaper change.

For people unfamiliar with you or not a fan of Cable’s previous series, what would you say to get them to give either your novels or Cable a shot?

Argh, Mike. I’m so, so bad at the hard sell. I hate talking anybody into anything. I only lasted three days in a telemarketing job. I kept wanting to apologize.

But I will say that if you’re even the least bit curious, Cable #1’s a great place to jump into the post-“Messiah CompleX” world. And if you like fast-paced stories with plenty of violence and dark humor, my books might be worth a glance.

(Feel so dirty now. Need to shower…)

Posted by YourMomsBasement at 12:00 PM

January 07, 2008

There's Something About Harry

YMB knows that everyone is desperate to know what One More Day has changed in the life of Peter Parker, but what about the other guy? The one whose life was changed beyond just a marriage never happening, the guy who was dead before this all started?

YMB posed ten "yes or no" questions to Marvel Executive Editor Tom Brevoort to find out what we could about what has (and hasn't) changed for Harry Osborn. (We wanted to make sure we hit the important points: Harry's marriage and kid and his relationships with dad and Peter, so there's a bit of overlap here and there, but we think we covered all the bases.)

But first Mr. Brevoort had a quick disclaimer for the upcoming Brand New Day stories...

Quickie disclaimer: there are a couple of questions in here whose answers can best be found within the pages of the BRAND NEW DAY series of stories in AMAZING SPIDER-MAN in the weeks and months to come. So for those questions, I'd ask that you all sit tight, the answers will reveal themselves--but we do have them worked out, and you'll enjoy them a lot more reading them in stories.

1. Is Harry Osborn married to Liz Allen?
He was, yes.

2. If not, were they together as a couple at one point?
Yes.

3. If they were together as a couple, did they live with Peter Parker and Mary Jane Watson in the same building at one point?
They lived in the same building with Peter at the very least--I'm hesitant to say too much about the Peter/Mary Jane relationship that might tip our hand to what's coming up in AMAZING. So on part of this question, the answer is wait and see.

4. Does Normie Osborn still exist?
Yes.

5. Did Liz ever run Oscorp when Harry or Norman Osborn were not around?
Yes.

6. Does Harry know his father was/is the Green Goblin?
Wait and see.

7. Was Harry ever the Green Goblin?
Yes.

8. Are Harry and Norman on good speaking terms?
Wait and see.

9. Were Peter and Harry roommates once?
Yes.

10. Does Harry know that Peter is Spider-Man?
Wait and see.

So, we know that Peter and Harry were still roommates. We know Harry was the Green Goblin. And we got hints about two of the bigger issues fans were wondering post-OMD. First, Peter and MJ did not make a deal with the devil that wiped Normie Osborn out of existence. So that's good. And second, people are wondering if Peter and MJ weren't married, did they at least live together at one point? And while we got a "wait and see" on that, we do now know that at least Peter still lived in the same building as the Osborns at a time when in previous continuity he was married. So... maybe they did. Guess we'll wait and see...

Posted by YourMomsBasement at 09:00 AM

November 17, 2007

LIVE BLOG: Pint o' Joe from Dublin Comic Con

Opens the floor to questions.

Marvel West does movies and video games might not have answers to those questions.

What comic should people be reading but aren't reading for Secret Invasion?

8 month story. New and Mighty Avengers. Might do tie-in miniseries. Creator summit in December.

Would guess there will be a Frontline. Strong possibility.

There are plans for more New Universal. No Larocca, new penciller. Ellis has two scripts in. April/May-ish 2008.

Invaders April/May. Will run concurrently with Secret Invasion.

Weekly comics? Bagley doing it at DC post latest crisis? Spider-Man thrice monthly. There were talks about a weekly book like a Marvel Comics Presents. Big undertaking, many variables. Probably not at Marvel, though.

More new characters? Don't seem to sell well in superhero books. Particularly with solo titles. Runaways has worked. Difficult to launch new characters.

Lateness of comics? Professionalism? Worth waiting for? Doesn't seem to be getting better. As a fan, can't stand it. Are lessons being learned? Marketing gets overzealous. News leaks, and ccompanies jump the gun. Hitch has six issues of F4 done so that book will run straight through. With One More Day, they thought they were far enough ahead but it didn't work out. Not making excuses but sometimes life gets in the way.

Not sure what happened to the lost Kirby/Lee F4 issue. Coming out soon. But doesn't know the annswer to that.

Rich Johnston said Marvel might pursue publishing ROM now that license ran out? Yes. Marvel (and Bendis) are interested. Hasbro even put G.I. Joe license up recently.

Next films? Iron Man, Hulk, Punisher 2 with Newman from Seinfeld as Microchip, Wolverine, rumors of Edgar Wright doing Antman. Rumor of Black Widow with Rebecca Romijn.

Is New Warriors ongoing now? Not sure. Thinks so. Outlining issues up to 18, he thinks.

Trying to get some older guys to come back for some things. No definite plans right now.

Bendis is doing Daredevil: The End. With some of the past artists returning.

Announcements: Two first time announcements. Including a new project from an Irish writer.

Sequel to Marvels? Three issues ready or so. Want it all done before soliciting.

X-Factor continuing, some roster changes post-Messiah Complex.

Variant cover to Messiah Complex. X-Men 205. Cyclops and glowing guy. Nezno?

Finch's cover to New X-Men 44. Finch covers link up.

Variant Cassiday cover to Astonishing 24, Kitty and Lockheed.

Last regular issue then Giant Sized.

Astonishing will be more closely tied to other titles post Messiah Complex.

Adj-less X-Men ending. X-Men Legacy launching. Scott Eaton main artist. Flashbacks iin each issue by a different artist. First one John Romita Jr.

Garth Ennis project for Marvel. War is Hell. Cassiday doing covers. Chayakin doing art. Sketch shown of cover. Phantom Eagle in first arc. Hardcore. MAX title, possibly.

Loners in Marvel X-Mas Special. Loners doing Secret Santa.

Avengers Fairy tales #1 in Spring. Captain America as Peter Pan, frozen in ice, Scarlet Witch as Wendy, Wasp as Tinkerbell. Four issue miniseries. Issue 2 is Wizard of Oz with She-Hulk, then Alice in Wonderland. Issue four, Tony Stark as Gephetto and Vision as Pinocchio.

Punisher Fairy Tales?

New NYX series, female creative team, writer from outside of comics.

Messiah Complex no delays. All planned out meticulously.

Next big event? Planning to focus on title books. But editorial can get pressured to create another event to increase sales.

Variant covers back? Weren't those supposed to stop? Marvel's gotten worse recently 1 in 25, DC 1 in 10. CB loves Variant covers so he's the wrong person to ask. But maybe marketing won out in the argument.

Had idea to do glow in the dark cover that would reveal skrulls for Secret Invasion.

2 fill in art issues for Thor, main artist's staying on it.

One More Day late due to artwork was ahead for issues one and two. Issue three is done. Cranking along on issue 4.

Halo licensing keeps requesting art changes. Patterns on boots, gun details.

After Marvel Zombies 2, probably going on hiatus.

Marvel Apes, Marvel pirates, Marvel vampires all been discussed.

Online subscription service. Doesn't know if you will be able to download it ever. Comics still feeling out online distribution. Royalties?

Bryan Singer and Ultimate X-Men? Larocca and Kirkman are team for the foreseeable future. Michael Turner still slated for an Ultimate project after Soulfire.

Posted by YourMomsBasement at 11:57 AM

November 14, 2007

America's Next Captain America!

AMERICA'S NEXT CAPTAIN AMERICA!

After his stunning death in Captain America #25 (until they retcon it), the minds of fandom immediately turned to wondering when and how his replacement would come. Like Azrael to Batman, like Kyle Rayner to Hal Jordan, like those other four dudes to Superman, like Ben Reilly to Peter...er... Comic book fanboys knew it would just be a matter of time before someone new picked up the shield. (until they retcon it)

It was no foregone conclusion as to who would next wear the mantle of Captain America. Thousands of characters applied, both comic and otherwise. We here at Your Mom's Basement managed to get an inside look at the top ten of the many, many contenders to pick up the shield, and we bring you excerpts from their interviews.

NUMBER 10: RICK JONES! (circa 1963)

Con: poor dental care.

Why I should be the Next Captain America, by Rick Jones. Whoa, sorry! I felt like I was back in high school again for a second there. Or grade school, maybe. This is squaresville, dad. Hey, I don't think I'm the cat for this canary, if you dig where I'm coming from. Sure, I was Bucky for a little bit. That was just because ol' Cap needed me to help him shake the cobwebs up a little bit. Yeah, he had me sling the shield once or twice, but that was just for kicks! I killed a squirrel by accident. Boy, was Cap ever sore!

Listen buddy, Cap was Cap. You're not replacing him anytime soon, not unless the real Bucky comes back with a metal arm or something. And like that's gonna happen. I'll DIE before I even think about replacing Cap! So I gotta go splitsville, the Hulk is calling.

NUMBER 9: Georges Batroc!

Con: Is America ready for a Captain America with a mustache?

Batroc ze Lepair! Oui oui? Non? Non?! Zut alors! Pourquoi Batroc ze Lepair est non le new Capitain Les Estats-Unis? C'est possible Batroc, he would make, how you say...ze most formidable new Capitain Les Estats-Unis! Il est tres beau! Il est tres skeeled wit' ze savate, ze French form of les kickboxing! Batroc's moustache est magnifique! Who is you to say zat hees moustache is not the moustache of a Capitain of America? You Americans, so close-minded non? I weep at your pathetic...je ne sais quoi.

NUMBER 8: MATT SALINGER! (star of the Captain America made-for-TV movie)

Con: NERRRRRDS

Hi! I'm Matt Salinger, you might remember me as Burke from Revenge of the Nerds or from my many appearances on television or when I played the role... of Steve Rogers, Captain America.

And you might remember my dad, reclusive author JD Salinger, who penned us up the classic novel The Catcher in the Rye. So I think I'm uniquely qualified to understand American legends who disappear when their country needs them most.

When Captain America threw his mighty shield, I was there. When Cap stood firm against totalitarians, facists and phonies, I was there. When Captain America got drunk and cheated on mom, who was there to pick up the pieces?

No, it wasn't Reb Brown.

Remember, when you think about America, Salinger is as American as it gets.

NUMBER 7: PETER FONDA! (as 'Captain America' from the film Easy Rider)

Con: The drug test.

Oh wow. The colors. The colors man. The red and the white and the big blue, blue. You gotta love the colors man. I'm not really digging the chainlink...chain...aww, what's it called? Chainmail? Yeah, the chainmail. I'm not digging the chainmail, man. It feels like...heavy. It's constricting me. I'm gonna take this off, man. Live free or die, man!

Whoa, sorry I...I'm not ready for this. But see, I got the helmet! All painted up in that red, blue and blue. And blue...man, I should be Captain America because I AM Captain America! Not just because of that movie I did. I've seen this country far and wide man, I've seen every facet of this big bluetiful American Diamond we call Earth America. I'll fight injustice on my hog, just cruising through the backroads of this big nation of ours with me and my helmet and a whole lot of really good acid. What do you mean Cap doesn't do drugs, man? I am Captain America, and I'm ON a whole lotta drugs.

Blue. Aw man, wow.

NUMBER 6: MODOK!

Con: that ain't smoke

I, MODOK am best suited to become America's Next Captain America because I have changed my name to MODOC! As in 'Modified Organism Designed Only for to be Captain America!' APPROVE me or suffer my wrath!

The question of whether or not I can sling his mighty shield is moot! MOOT! My supreme mental powers is what shall cause criminals to yield, not this red white and blue discus! My stubby arms are irrelevant!

...and I shall need larger wings for my cowl! LARGER! Like unto the wings of an American Bald Eagle! I shall sever them myself, to show how TRULY I long to be the next Captain America!

NUMBER 5: AXEL "ACCESS" ASHER!

Con: complicated publication rights sue to the shared ownership with DC, complications due to his unabashed sucking
Why I should be the next Captain America: well, guess where I've been for the past ten years since my last appearance in the classic DC Vs. Marvel: All Access. You'll never guess. Go on. Guess. Why aren't you guessing?

Hey, screw you! I've been practicing for days with my very own training shield! Nobody can sling a shield like me! Except for the original Cap and maybe USAgent...oh, he is applying too. I didn't know that. I thought he was in Canada? Well listen, I get that maybe I'm not qualified to be the next Captain America. But with my contacts in the Distinguished Competition I can make all sorts of crossovers happen for you guys at the House of Ideas. BIG crossovers. If you want a slice of that big inter-company crossover cheddar, you come and talk to Access.

NUMBER 4: WOLVERIIIIINE!

Pro: he's the best there is at what he does

You wanna sell comics? Well I'm the best there is at what I do, and what I do is sell comic books. I'm in three or four monthly comics as is, what's another one? Alright scrubs, listen up, 'cause I don't want to have to waste more time jawin' with you than I have to. The ol' Canucklehead is going to be the new Captain America 'cause I'm the best there is at what I do. And what I do...isn't very pretty. If you need anymore reason than that, I got six adamantium ones for you right here. What? Come on now. I'm barely Canadian anyway.

NUMBER 3: BRIAN MICHAEL BENDIS!

Con: is not a fictional character like Batroc or Matt Salinger are

Yeah, I think I should be Cap.
Really.
(No, really.)
Why?
I have always - always - believed in what this country stands for.
YOU KNOW THAT!
And I have intimate knowledge and respect for the Avengers, and the great teams that have defended this country (except Tigra. I guess there's always Tigra. Fleabag.).

In short --
(too late)
-- I'm your number one candidate for Cap.

NUMBER 2: USAGENT!

Pro: ..............has good teeth.

Yeah, so I think my prior job experience speaks for itself. So you know the suit will fit me at least! A ha...ha. So I've been Captain America twice now (I am counting my time as a New Invader, thank you) and served with distinction. What? ...well yes, I suppose I do define 'distinction' with wholesale manslaughter and abuse of force. What are you getting at?

Listen buddy, my parents were killed! Right before my eyes! Wouldn't you go a little...I will NOT calm down! Do you wanna GO? What, are you gonna cry? Do you want me to make you cry? All right, let's finish this thing. I said shut up! ...well I meant to say it. So I can throw the shield just about as well as Rogers did, but I have a lot of trouble getting it to actually, y'know. Bounce back to me. All the time. Sometimes it does, then it ends up...what? Do you want me to snap your clavicle?

NUMBER 1: THE WINTER SOLDIER!

Pro: has been handled for the most part entirely by Ed Brubaker, Brubaker being entirely awesome

Maybe I don't even wanna be the next Captain America. Ever think about that?

Posted by YourMomsBasement at 08:34 AM

October 31, 2007

Working Stiffs: An Interview with the Halloween Man Creative Team

Texan Drew Edwards blended his love of comic books, horror movies, and psychobilly music and created Halloween Man, a hero to freaks everywhere.

Born on October 31st, every important event in Solomon Hitch's life happened on Halloween... Even his death. Reborn as a super-powered zombie and fueled by the power of the horror movie sequel, Solomon now protects the citizens of Solar City, Texas from otherworldly monsters as… Halloween Man!

Joined by his love, super-scientist and fashionable woman-about-town Lucy Chaplin, his randy sidekick Man-Goat, the bookish best friend Nickodemis and streetwise wizard Morlack, they fight a tireless crusade against evil in all its forms.

Halloween Man is a cult hit comic on the web and some of his greatest adventures will soon be collected in book form with the publication of Halloween Man: Superdeformed.

YourMomsBasement talked with some members of the HM creative team, including Nicola "Birds of Prey" Scott, about their involvement with the series.

So, how did you all start working on the Halloween Man comic and in what capacity?

JESSE FARRELL (colorist and letterer): My addictions had dragged me right into the gutter of human existence: the gutter. So starved was I for that elusive high that I was actually melting down and drinking crayons (a trick I'd learned in my youth to blank out the pain of grade school), I discovered a tattered, black and white ashcan edition of Halloween Man floating by me in the brackish streetwater. I lifted it to my reddened eyes; my fingerprints had left colorful impressions on the cheap newsprint. Soon, I found myself coloring pages, which I submitted to Drew Edwards (or rather his team of agents at Halloween Man Industries, LLC). Well, my story might have ended there had those good people not rescued me from oblivion.

Halloween Man saved my life. Halloween Man taught me to read.

RUSSELL HILLMAN (editor): Hi. I'm Russell Hillman, Editor.

I'm pretty sure that all three of us came on around the same time, or at least for the same story - it was late 2003, and Drew was trying to scare up some artists for his Christmas jam story, Faster Santa Claus! Kill! Kill! and had posted the script in the creative forum over at Millarworld. I was reading through the script, and two thoughts sprang to mind. The first one was "This guy is GOOD!", and the second was "Apart from his typing."

(Knowing Drew as I do now, I can tell you that he types about as fast as he speaks - which at times can be very fast indeed - and he comes up with new ideas even faster, so it's no wonder that his scripts are occasionally heavy on the typos.)

I offered Drew my assistance, and he accepted, so I went through the script and smoothed out a couple of the rough edges. Drew liked what I'd done, and asked me to take a look at another couple of scripts, and things snowballed from there.

As for what I do now - well, I often dismiss my contribution as minimal. My standard line is that Drew writes "A man enters the room" and I change it to "A man in a hat enters the room," but there's a lot more to it than that. I act as a sounding board when he's sketching out the plot, I cast a careful eye over the scripts, making suggestions for dialogue and visuals wherever they occur to me - but I don't want to suggest I'm anything approaching a co-writer. This is the house that Drew built, I'm just there to clean the windows (and occasionally suggest repositioning some of the furniture ).

I'm also one of the biggest fans of this book out there - the main reason I do this is so that I can read the stories before anyone else. Oh, and I'm a bigger fan of Man-Goat than anyone on the planet, probably even more than Drew. I can prove this with some kind of science.

NICOLA SCOTT (penciller): Yeah, like Russell said, I think we all entered Halloween Man Land on the same story, the X-mas jam. There were quite a few artists contributing pages, just one or two, and I seem to remember having pages 1 and 4. I was the first to finish, and Drew was happy with what I'd added, so he asked me to draw the epilogue, a last minute addition.

A few weeks later Drew asked if I'd be interested in drawing a three part story, Villain/ Icons/ Hero, and while working on that the opportunity came up to get a short HM story published and I ended up drawing that too. It was that series of events that kinda galvanized us as the core group. Obviously Drew writes faster than I can draw so the are many many stories penciled by other artists but over the years we've managed to build a pretty big body of work together.

You see tons of online comic collaborations that fizzle out after just a little bit of time. What is it about Halloween Man that made you guys want to commit to it? What engenders such loyalty? The characters? The concept? Drew himself?

RUSSELL: For me, it's a combination of all of those things. I knew Drew from the boards before I got involved, but that wouldn't have kept me around if I hadn't liked the characters... and they wouldn't have kept me around if they weren't in good, well-written scripts.

There are times when I'm reading one of those scripts, and I come across a scene or a character or a line of dialogue that almost feels like it was written for me. I stick around because I'm a fan, pure and simple.

JESSE: Drew has compelling personal style; onetime when my work was late he had a couple of "cowpokes" come over and "explain" what the "dead" in "deadline" really means to uppity Yankees like myself.

NICOLA: To start with, for me, it was definitely the characters. I didn't quite get it at the beginning but I knew I loved it. By the time Drew asked me to do the three part story, he and I had been communicating a lot more and were really starting to click. I'd also started chatting and flirting late nights with Jesse and it just seemed that we were all pretty jazzed about what we were working on and where it might go.

It was during that prep time for Villian/Icons/Hero that I went back to all the work previous artists had done and started really trying to define all the characters for myself. I was having so much fun and we were all really starting to gel.

So, let's get into the characters a little bit. Who's your favorite? And which character do you feel you made the greatest contribution to?

JESSE: Who's my favorite character? I've always been partial to Popeye.

RUSSELL: I make absolutely no secret of the fact that my favourite character is Ron Rollins, Man-Goat. When I read through a first draft of a script, I will actually cheer if he says his catch-phrase "The Power of a Man-Sized Goat!" - I honestly am that easily pleased.

Now Ron isn't the most admirable of guys - he'll drink you under the table, fight someone else over the table and then shag the barmaid on the table - but he's a stand-up guy and he's got Solomon's back. While I'm not like him in any way, he appeals to the most basic blokeish part of my brain. The main thing to me is - he's fun. He's Hercules meets Volstagg, with Ben Grimm's sense of humour and Ralph Dibny's sense of shameless self-promotion.

I don't know that I've made a greater contribution to any one character, just little moments here and there. I know that I've helped Drew develop more of a back story for Ron, but that's for a couple of upcoming projects. There's a story where we get to meet another of Ron's relatives (we've briefley met his father, Lord Pan), and something I'm actually writing myself (with much assistance from Drew) - THE SECRET ORIGIN OF MAN-GOAT.

NICOLA: For me, I suppose it should be Lucy but I actually had a slower time getting her right than any of the others.

It's actually Halloween Man himself, Solomon. After reading through some previous stories, and the scripts I was about to start on at the time, I starting to think of Sol as quite sexy, despite his disfigurement and undeadedness. He has a hard as nails facade and a soft gooey center. There was that brooding, swarthy quality that drives girls wild so I just drew him sexy. In fact I think that would be my greatest contribution. He's not Uba, just your ever