The Trial of Colonel Sweeto and Other Stories

Article originally published 04/30/2008 at popculturezoo.com

by Wes Cowan

While I like the accessibility of web comics, there is just something delightfully visceral about print. The Trial of Colonel Sweeto and Other Stories is a collection of comic strips from The Perry Bible Fellowship is a wonder to behold, bright and colorful with a red ribbon bound to the spine. While the cover is reminiscent of the children’s board game Candy Land, the scene of a candy character about to be burned at the stake by a candy mob is a dead give away that something is not quite right.

It has been said that the line between madness and genius is narrow. Nicholas Gurewitch is erasing that line with The Perry Bible Fellowship. An important question remains… can this delicate balance of two minds produce something that is actually funny? After reading The Trial of Colonel Sweeto and Other Stories, I must admit that I am the type of person who ‘laughs on the inside’. Thankfully, The Perry Bible Fellowship makes me giggle like a school boy peeking at naughty pictures.

Artistically both adept and dynamic, Gurewitch is sheer genius. His parodies of other famous comics are stylistically precise, delivering punchlines that on many levels are hauntingly familiar. You always knew you wanted to see in these types of jokes in some of the more mainstream comic strips that have gotten tired and boring over the years. Ironically, Gurewitch’s own signature style usually involves wonderfully expressive ‘blank’ humanoid characters. The beauty (and once again, madness) is in the simplicity of these characters. They are not important… but the ideas and thoughts that they represent ring through loud and clear. These are not your father’s funny pages.

A bonus for those who buy the book is a section at the back called ‘Lost Strips’, including commentary by the author. Run, do not walk, and get this very funny and irreverent collection!

The Trial of Colonel Sweeto and Other Stories: A Collection of the Comic Strips of the Perry Bible Fellowship is available via the PBF website.

ECCC ‘08 - A Report From the ‘Mondo Marvel’ Panel

Article originally published 05/10/2008 at popculturezoo.com

Marvel Comics brought a few familiar faces to Seattle with their ‘Mondo Marvel’ panel at this year’s Emerald City Comic Con. Members of the current Marvel brain trust in attendance were Ed Brubaker (Captain America), Skottie Young (Cable & Deadpool), Robert Kirkman (Ultimate X-Men) and Jeff Parker (Agents of Atlas). The panel was moderated by Jennfier Grunwald, an associate editor with Marvel. This rambunctious group of comic gurus spent close to an hour trading barbs, sharing stories and fielding questions from a roomful of fans.

Robert Kirkman will be reviving the Golden Age character (and one of Stan Lee’s first creations), Destroyer for a five issue series under the Marvel Max line. The series, which does not currently have a release date, will begin with Destroyer learning that he has been diagnosed with a terminal disease and has only five days to live. The series will document these final five days as Destroyer embarks on a vendetta to kill all of his enemies before he dies. Artwork will be provided by Corey Walker (Invincible). Kirkman also squashed the rumors of a possible new Marvel crossover with his Image Comics creation ‘Invincible’. There is nothing new planned for a future crossover but he did mention that he would be open to one in the future if Marvel is on board.

Ed Brubaker spoke a bit about the decision to kill off Steve Rogers as a culmination of the ‘Civil War’ event. According to Brubaker, the death of Rogers was always one of the options that Marvel looked at when addressing the character. However, when faced with the choice of either forcing Cap into retirement, sending him to jail or killing him off, Brubaker felt that the latter (and ultimate) choice was the best one. “We wanted America to find Cap, and this seemed like the best way” he noted. According to Brubaker, the new Captain America (Bucky Barnes) will make an appearance in the current ‘Secret Invasion’ story arc. Not much information was shared, but Ed did tell fans that “There will be play… but not forced play.”

Not much new Marvel information was revealed at the panel as most of the 50 minutes was spent with the creators heckling each other and making fun of Skrulls. However, here are a few additional highlights from today’s ECCC ‘Mondo Marvel’ panel:

• Skottie Young addressed his involvement with the upcoming Marvel version of The Wizard of Oz, saying that it will be a faithful adaptation of the novel.
• When asked if the Ultimate Universe would be ending, all panel participants responded with a resounding “No!”
• Jeff Parker hinted that characters from his ‘Agents of Atlas’ book would be making an appearance in ‘Secret Invasion’.
• Ed Brubaker made the somewhat-ambiguous statement that he would like to see Uncanny X-Men “Put out a little more often.”

Towards the end of the panel, a fan asked the creators which Marvel character they would want a chance at writing. Ed Brubaker lamented that one of the characters he’d like a shot at is Destroyer, but Robert Kirkman already beat him to it. Brubaker also mentioned that he would love a chance at writing Patriot. Kirkman put Sleepwalker (for a second time) and Darkhawk on his list while Skottie Young said that Chamber from Gen X would be his pick. Jeff Parker rounded out the conversation by hinting that he is currently working on a project involving a character he has always wanted to write… though he couldn’t elaborate with any details.

ECCC ‘08 - Image Comics Panel Wrap-Up

Article originally published 05/11/2008 at popculturezoo.com

Image Comics gave fans a glimpse into the the coming months with their panel at this year’s Emerald City Comicon in Seattle, Washington. On hand were a few creators working on projects for Image comics, including Robert Kirkman (The Walking Dead), Richard Starkings (Elephantmen) and Jay Faerber (Dynamo 5). These creators discussed their history in comics including their influences and experiences with working on various titles for Image.

The panel was largely more of a casual discussion about the comics industry between the creators and fans. Kirkman, Starkings and Faerber spent most of the time chatting nostalgically about the history of the characters and stories that they have each brought to the Image universes. That said, we were able to glean a few bits new info on upcoming projects at Image from the panel, including the following:

Spawn
As has been previously rumored, it was confirmed that two Image founders would be returning to Spawn. No word yet on which two this would be, but it was promised that full details would be unveiled at San Diego Comic Con in July.

Dynamo 5
With the approach of issue 16, fans should expect a lineup change within the team.

Invincible
Invincible will be sporting a new costume soon to commemorate the series reaching 50 issues… though the change won’t be permanent according to Kirkman. on upcoming crossover issue of Noble Causes will feature an appearance by Robert Kirkman’s Invincible. Invincible will also be appearing in Savage Dragon… which prompted a joke by Kirkman that the character would eventually “End up in every Image comic.” In movie news, the film rights option for Invincible (which were previously acquired by Paramount) have expired. There is no additional news on the rights being renewed or picked up by another studio.

Wolf-Man
A ‘Monster Pile-Up’ issue featuring a number of Image Comics monster characters will be released in late July, likely in time for SDCC. The comic will include 4-5 page stories.

War Heroes
This new title from the team Mark Millar and Tony Harris will be what Millar would have wanted from Ultimates 3 had he stayed with the title at Marvel. War Heroes will include a number of alternate covers, including one (#3) that will be fan-designed as part of an Image Comics sponsored contest.

Battle Pope
The animated series which was based on Robert Kirkman’s first comic creation (which was subsequently reprinted by Image) will be distributed on DVD by Spike TV at this year’s San Diego Comic Con. No word yet on if the show will return with new episodes.

ECCC ‘08 - Catching Up With Robert Kirkman

Article originally published 05/19/2008 at popculturezoo.com

If Robert Kirkman knows one thing, its how to stay busy. These days the ‘Marvel Zombies’ scribe is firing on all cylinders with his comics being produced by both Image and Marvel. ‘Walking Dead’ and ‘Invincible’ are hitting issue #50, ‘Astonishing Wolf-Man’ is going monthly, he just finished up a successful run with ‘Ultimate X-Men’… and then there’s that little Killraven side-project with Rob Liefeld. Despite this multitude of projects, Kirkman was able to take a bit of time to make an appearance at the Emerald City Comic Con in Seattle, Washington. We caught up with him for a brief Q & A session about all the current happenings in Kirkmania.

PCZ: First off, let me say that I’m a huge fan of ‘Wolf-Man’. I picked up the Free Comic Book Day issue and saw your name on it and initially, I didn’t know what to think. The art seemed very… Saturday-morning-cartoonish. But I read the first few pages and was just blown away. How has the reception been to ‘Wolf-Man’?

RK: It’s been received very well. It was a Free Comic Book Day comic, there were hundreds of thousands of copies of (the first issue). So, the book has been very well received. I think it was issue one or two that had more fan mail than I’ve ever gotten for a series. I’m having a lot of fun doing the book. We’re going monthly starting with issue eight in July. We’re going to ramp up production and put it out more often.

PCZ: Are you looking to maybe add more monsters into the ‘Astounding Wolf-Man’ series? You’ve already included vampires and werewolves…

RK: I don’t know. I don’t think we’re going to include like, Frankenstein’s Monster… it’s not going to be like Van Helsing. But it is a universe where that kind of stuff exists and we’ll be showing more of it as we go on. It could be a lot of fun.

PCZ: So, Wolf-Man will be involved in the ‘Monster Pile-Up’ issue coming up this summer, right?

RK: Yeah, he’ll be in it. There will be a new story that takes place between issues seven and eight that will appear in the ‘Monster Pile-Up’, which is shipping in August.

“The first page shows the main character punching a hole through somebody’s head. Whenever that can be your first page, it’s a pretty good sign.”

- Robert Kirkman on the upcoming Marvel Max ‘Destroyer’ series

PCZ: With ‘Waking Dead’ and ‘Invincible’, which are two of your longest running books, there are quite a few changes happening right now. A number of characters in ‘Walking Dead’ have been killed, Invincible is getting a new costume… what’s driving all these changes?

RK: Well, you’ve got to shake things up… you’ve got to keep it fresh. People who read the book like the book for what it is. If you don’t change things then after a while things start to get kind of boring. You can’t just do the same things over and over and over again. So, when I reached issue 50 (for both books) I stepped back and took a look at things and said “what can I do that’s different?” But not too different, you know? Because I don’t want to drive people away by changing the book too much. The book is obviously working as it is or it wouldn’t have lasted as long as it has. But I don’t want to feel like I’m sitting on my ass, letting the book just sell itself. It’s hard to look at both books and decide what I can do now that’s still cool. Being able to have the books last that long and have that much back story does allow me to do things that I couldn’t do when I was starting out. I think that, going forward, both books after issue 50 will be much richer and have more depth. I’ve got some very cool stuff planned for both series so I’m really excited to see them last for as long as they have. I think we’ll make it to issue 100 pretty quickly.

PCZ: In the Marvel panel yesterday, you talked a bit about the upcoming Marvel Max series you are writing which features Destroyer. It sounds like you are bringing back one of Stan Lee’s first characters with this five-issue series.

RK: Yeah, according to Wikipedia he’s one of Stan’s first characters. I haven’t asked Stan though.

PCZ: Is this book something that you pitched or did Marvel come to you with the idea?

RK: That started with my editor who worked with me on ‘Ant-Man’. He said had read ‘Brit’ and said “Brit is a real kickass book about an old man. Would you like to something else about an old man kicking ass?” I thought about it… and I said “yeah, I do!” Mainly, to work with Cory Walker again, because he had done some issues of ‘Ant-Man’ and I was looking forward to working with him again… it would be fun. So, I came up with some really cool ideas for it and I brainstormed a lot with Cory… we’ve got a lot of cool stuff planned. It’s going to be a really dark, dramatic series. It’s about a superhero at the end of his life. He’s in his 90’s and finds out that his heart is about to fail. So his villains aren’t left to take over the world when he’s gone, he decides that he’s going to hunt them all down and murder them. So, it’s five issues of him hunting these villains… when he’s 90. But he’s still got his superpowers.

PCZ: A lot of your books focus on some of the more hard-core, visceral themes in comics. Is this something that drew you to working within the Marvel Max line? Would you be interested in tackling other characters within Marvel Max?

RK: Yeah, I like the Max line and I wouldn’t be opposed to doing more books. The things that we’re going to be able to do in ‘Destroyer’ are going to shock a lot of people, so I like that aspect of it. The first page shows the main character punching a hole through somebody’s head. Whenever that can be your first page, it’s a pretty good sign. It’s pretty exciting stuff.

PCZ: Do you have any updated information about the ‘Killraven’ book you are doing with Rob Liefeld?

RK: Yeah, totally. He’s knee-deep into it. He’s pretty much done with the first three issues. We’re going to be moving forward now. Jeph Loeb was I guess a little bit late with his ‘Onslaught Reborn’ script, so we started issues one and two while he was working on that, so we’ve got a good amount of lead time. Hopefully it will come out around the end of the year.

PCZ: Do have more ‘Marvel Zombies’ planned, or is that line done for now?

RK: It’s possible but I think we’re going to let it rest for a while. Series two definitely had an open ending, so maybe someday. But right now there are no plans.

We’d like to thank Robert Kirkman for taking a few moments at this year’s Emerald City Comic Con in Seattle, WA to chat with us. For updates on all of Kirkman’s projects, ramblings and musings, check out his Kirkmania website.

ECCC ‘08 - Interview With Rick Remender

Article originally published 05/25/2008 at popculturezoo.com

co-written with Ian Southworth

An alcoholic Texas spaceman. The last of the superheroes in a world in which the supervillains have prevailed. Zombie porn. These are but a few of the concepts that have been born from the fertile mind of writer/artist Rick Remender. At this year’s Emerald City ComiCon we sat down with this innovative creative and had a little chat.

PCZ: How has the convention season been going for you?

RR: Great! This is a really great show. Its my third year doing Seattle (ECCC) and I wouldn’t miss it. Its a great event.

PCZ: You announced at the Dark Horse panel yesterday that there are some new changes with End League.

RR: Yeah, Eric Canete and Naomi Baker are taking over as the art team and I couldn’t be more excited about it. They’ll start with issue five and we’ll be going monthly from that point. Eric is leaving his job as art director for Ben 10 to do the book, so we’ve got one of the most talented guys in the world coming on. We’re looking to move forward with the book on a regular basis.

PCZ: Fear Agent also looks to be changing with the addition of Tony Moore.

RR: Right. Tony’s first issue is about done and its great. We’re doing sort of a sci-fi western thing with it. We’re trying to incorporate some of the things we love about Sergio Leone, the spaghetti western, things like that. That will start I believe in June, which is Fear Agent month at Dark Horse. So, we’ve got a lot of promotional things going on at the same time. There’s a sketch variant cover. The Tales of the Fear Agent trade just came out, which is a collection of shorts and one-shots, with a brand new cover by Eric Powell.. we’re pretty proud of that.

PCZ: How has the move been to Dark Horse? You spent a bit of time working with Image previously.

RR: It’s been great. It was a smooth transition and everyone has been great.

PCZ: What was the reason for the move over to Dark Horse?

RR: It was a number of things. Mostly, it came down to after market and secondary media stuff that Mike (Righardson) was going to be involved with. It was simpler just to have him control the property.

PCZ: You are still working with Image on Crawl Space though. What is up next with that?

RR: We’re doing Army of Frankenstein next. It is basically the first ten minutes of the Terminator film, but instead of robots its of Frankenstein monsters. Its World War I trench-warfare with armies of Frankensteins. As the humans are wiped out, Igor robots burrow up from underground, collect the body parts and go back to the lair of Frankenstein to create more soldiers.

PCZ: That’s gotta be demoralizing.

RR: (laughs) Yeah, it is. As humanity is eroded away there are more and more Frankensteins and they are taking over the earth.

PCZ: Your work is so high-concept. Where are these ideas coming from?

RR: I don’t know, it’s mostly stuff from a visual place. As an artist I think about what I would like to see. Comic books are such a visual art form. I feel that if you don’t have something that’s visually enticing to people, something captivating and interesting or something that they recognize but maybe haven’t seen before… if you don’t tap into that then you get lost. Its the same in film, its the same in entertainment in general. I think that it starts with iconic visuals and sort of from there it develops. I wanted to do an army of Frankenstein monsters and so Keiron and I sat down and started batting around ideas and decided “Wow! That would work!” Usually with Fear Agent, it starts from a stance of… this is an aesthetic that I want to work in, here’s the style of character, what would be the best way to handle it?

PCZ: You have a history in animation. Have you ever wanted to return to doing artwork?

RR: The last thing I did was the Last Christmas with Gerry (Duggan) and Brian (Posehn) which came out a couple years back. I pencilled that and Hillary (Barta) inked it. Its currently being developed for a film, they’ve written the screenplay. That was the last thing I drew and then the writing just took off at such a pace that I derailed myself. You never know what’s going to happen. I was in a situation where I was writing stuff and storyboarding at EA and writing a game at EA… the comic book stuff exploded. On the writing end, I just haven’t had time to draw. My stuff is fairly Wally Wood and Will Elder inspired cartooning anyway, so its not necessarily in vogue with the what the majority of comic fans want. There’s the cult group that really enjoy the oldies and stuff… so I do it for myself now more than anything else. Most of my time is spent making other bastards draw my silly ideas.

PCZ: Now that your working with Dark Horse, have you thought about trying to work with another of their properties? Something that already exists, like Hellboy for example…

RR: Yeah. Eric Powell and I have put together a treatment for a Fear Agent/Goon crossover that we’ll get to at some point. We’ve got a Fear Agent/Aliens thing that we’ve been talking about forever and just need to put together. At this point my career is perfect, you know? I’ve got three or four creator-owned things between Image, Dark Horse and IDW. And then I’ve got a book with Marvel and DC. Everybody has been great. Its like that Simpsons episode where, before Maggie was born, Homer is walking around praying to God and saying “Don’t change a thing!” Its nice in that I’ve finally got all my ducks in a row and I get to work on plenty of creator-owned (projects) while also working in the sandboxes of the characters I grew up with as a kid. The stuff that comes up at this point… I can’t really do anything else. I’m just sort of… whole.

PCZ: It must be cool to be in that position, where you’re content with everything you are working on.

RR: Yeah, and overbooked! I’m really grateful for it.

PCZ: Will you be attending other con’s this season?

RR: I’m doing San Diego but I won’t be setting up. I’ll just be doing signings with Image and Dark Horse, maybe Marvel and DC as well since I’ll have a number of books out. It makes more sense with a show like that, which has become more of a media-centric star-fuckfest, where people want to get a Nick Cage signature. Its not a comic show. Its better just to go there and do some signings and hang out with friends, treat it as a bit of a vacation. I did New York, which is a great show. I did Wonder-Con, which is always a great show. I think that the medium shows are now the ones to do for comics. I hit Heroes Con the last couple of years but I’m not sure if I’m making that this year. I think Heroes, New York, Seattle, San Fransisco… those are the four that I’ll always try and make room for. And then San Diego and Chicago on the side, if its possible.

Thanks to Mr. Remender for taking the time out of his busy convention schedule to chat with us! You can learn more about his projects, both past and present, at RickRemender.com!

ECCC ‘08 - Interview With Tim Sale

Article originally published 06/7/2008 at popculturezoo.com

If you are a fan of comics, you know Tim Sale. If you are a fan of the television show Heroes, you know Tim Sale. For more than a decade, Sale has been part of the creative force behind some of the most widely-acclaimed comic books, including Batman: The Long Halloween, Superman For All Seasons and Daredevil: Yellow. Already a mainstay among comic fans, Sale was introduced to the rest of the world in 2006 as the artist who generated the clairvoyant paintings for the character Isaac Mendez on the CBS series Heroes. Since then, he has become a very busy man. We were able to sit down with Tim Sale at this year’s Emerald City ComiCon and ask a few questions about his work on Heroes, the effects of comics on mainstream media and his storied partnership with writer Jeph Loeb.

PCZ: You spoke a bit in your panel about the impact that your work on Heroes has had on your career, as well as introducing you to a different medium in television. Is that something that satisfied a creative need to work outside of comics?

TS: Well, I didn’t get involved with Heroes because I needed more ways to express myself outside of comics. So, I guess the answer is yes. I kind of fell into it and I don’t really have any ambitions to go further, which does not mean that I wouldn’t enjoy whatever might come up. I’m not pursuing it and Heroes was not done because I pursued it and wasn’t fulfilled somehow in comics.

PCZ: That was more of a product of Jeph Loeb coming to you with the project, right?

TS: Yeah… to have fun. That’s really what it was. I thought I’d be good for it and it turned out that they thought I’d be good for it too. So, that’s always really nice when that happens. I do get offers, not necessarily from TV, but for advertising or something where I’m clearly not a fit. Where I don’t know why they came to me, its not any fun… that kind of thing.

PCZ: Do you think that your work with Heroes has made both your stuff and comics in general more accessible to a larger audience of people who wouldn’t normally open a comic book or walk into a comic shop?

TS: I don’t have a sense of that. In the same way that I don’t really have a sense that if somebody likes the Spider-Man movie, they’re going to run down to their local comic book store and see what’s going on… which may or may not be a good thing. For me personally, its been great but I’m not really sure about a broader scale.

PCZ: You made the comment in your panel that comics are kind of an isolated industry. That if someone is raised with comics, the books become easier and more accessible than if they weren’t.

TS: I think that was referring to my interest and the way that I like to do comics. It’s partly because I’m interested in reaching people that do not grow up in that insulated comic book reading world. I remember when my parents first started reading my work, God bless them… they had no other reason to than that I was their son, they didn’t know to go from right to left and top to bottom. If you don’t know that basic thing, and they are very literate people, it was like “What are those balloons, which balloon do I read next?” If the layout of the page is crazy and full of stuff, it ends up to be too much work for people. So, ironically the stuff that is often praised with an amazing sense of energy just turns most people off. It’s too much. And that’s more what I was talking about, not that the industry was isolated, because increasingly it’s not.

PCZ: With the recent success of comic-based movies, or even comic themes finding their way into television shows like Heroes, it seems like the line that divided comics from the rest of the entertainment industry has been blurred, if not completely erased.

TS: That’s true, although I think it mostly goes from comics to other media. It doesn’t feed back to comics very much.

PCZ: Not yet at least.

TS: Well, I’d be surprised if it did. Marvel is doing much more than DC but it’s still a very insulated world, what they do. The most that either company looks to bring movies or other pop culture stuff back into comics is with tie-ins, stuff like that… which usually blow. But, the other way around, the movies and TV (industry) has discovered all this talent who are dying to be in movies… just really talented writers. They are influenced by the art. I’m told that The Long Halloween has influenced the recent (director Christopher) Nolan Batman movie. Its not as though Jeph and I are involved in the movies or that there is something from those movies that would affect us. Really, pretty much 99% of it goes from comics to movies. What is true, and I absolutely agree with you, is what has been blurred is the stigma that has made movie and TV people not be interested in comics. They realize its a gold mine, both in terms of talent and in terms of money.

PCZ: Yeah, and I was speaking more towards talent rather than money, though money is always a part of it. With the amount of talent in the comic industry, both with the artists and writers, its amazing how much of it is influencing mainstream entertainment. I think it is pretty great that guys like you and your work have been able to get the type of wide-scale exposure that comes with being involved in a film or television project.

TS: My thing (with Heroes) is very… there’s nothing else like it, which is why I sort of fell into it. It’s nothing I created, but to my knowledge there’s no other show that involves art driving the plot, or movies where the art drove the plot. But it’s cool.

PCZ: You have mentioned in the past that you aren’t certain if your artwork from Heroes will ever be released commercially by the studios.

TS: I know I have no control over it and it hasn’t happened yet. I don’t get it. That’s money on the table.

PCZ: Will some of your Heroes pieces be in the new edition of Tim Sale: Black and White?

TS: There is some Heroes work in there. We’re trying to downplay it a little bit. I’m not putting out a book and saying “Hey, this is Heroes art!” There is some Heroes work in there but there’s also some Marvel and DC work in it as well. There is no ‘Art of Heroes’ book…

PCZ: It seems like that would be a no-brainer.

TS: Yeah, I don’t get it. There is a fair amount of merchandise but not beyond the level of like, coffee mugs and t-shirts. Not taking advantage of the uniqueness (of the show). There was that really cool hardcover book (Heroes Volume 1) that collected all the web comics. My art was in that as well.

PCZ: Apparently you are going to be doing the cover of this year’s San Diego Comic Con exclusive Heroes comic?

TS: I just learned that yesterday. I don’t know it officially… Richard Starkings told me in the panel.

PCZ: It has been confirmed that you will have new artwork in the upcoming season of Heroes. Are you hoping to continue your relationship with the show long-term or are you taking more of a wait-and-see approach?

TS: Well, I’d like it to be long-term but it is absolutely wait-and-see. I’m part of the crew… I kind of do what they tell me to do.

PCZ: How much of your artwork for Heroes influences how a particular scene in the show is constructed?

TS: No, its the other way around. Its in the script first absolutely and then I do what they tell me to do. There is some interpretation if the script isn’t really that detailed. Because, they aren’t writing a comic script that is describing every detail of the scene. Its mostly dialog and brief bits of description of the action. That’s a TV and movie script. So, something that is written as “character is flying around a wall” needs more information. What wall and where? What time of day is it? What is the character wearing? That type of stuff.

PCZ: Your newest project with Jeph Loeb is Captain America: White. What first brought you and Jeph together and what has the process been like working with him over your many projects?

TS: Well, that’s a very big question. We met at San Diego Comic Con around 1988. But, we were put together by Barbara Randall, who was the editor of DC. She had been working with Jeph to try and find an artist for Challengers of the Unknown. Jeph had been hired by Jeanette Kahn, who was the president and head of DC at the time, and she wanted to reach out to movies and television. To try and get people involved and begin what’s happening now… way back then. She knew that Jeph was involved in the very early stages of a Flash movie that was turned into a Flash television show. Anyway, he was decided that he was going to be the writer on Challengers in reviving that title.

PCZ: That was a good book.

TS: (laughs) Well, thank you. Diplomatically, I choose not to debate you on that. So, that’s how (Jeph and I) met. I took a portfolio to San Diego and showed it to a bunch of people… Matt Wagner, Diana Schutz, Bob Schreck and Barbara Randall. And from that one Con, I really had my career. They’re working with me focused on Bob, Diana and Matt. I did some early stuff for Dark Horse, some Grendel and some other odd jobs for them. I met Jeph through that. We kind of hammered away at each other for a while about what was the best way to work together. It took a while. He’s a really funny, interesting, smart man. We got along great, we’re very different but we got along really well. That made it easer for us to figure things out. It was always a very close working relationship. He wouldn’t just send me a script and not answer the phone… which is pretty common (in the industry).

PCZ: Do the two of you work together to decide which characters to work on?

TS: Yeah, we talk about it. One of us will ask “What do you want to do next?” But its always a combination of creative and financial concerns for both of us. What makes sense at the time… should it be once a month? Is there a movie coming out about the character? That kind of thing. We wouldn’t do it just to do it.

PCZ: Are there any characters that you haven’t done yet that you would like to tackle?

TS: Not really. I’m always happy to go back to Batman and Superman. I’d kind of like to try Spiderman again because I feel like I never really got it before. Characters like that. I love the Hulk, that was a lot of fun to do. Through that I had thought about doing Iron Man but now he’s blowing up. I loved drawing Iron Man in the tin can. But I don’t really think that way. If something seems to make sense at one point, then I’ll work on it. I’ve sort of done all the iconic characters, so there aren’t many left. I’ve got a couple original ideas that I’d like to work on, more creator-owned.

PCZ: Are the creator-owned projects something that you are hoping to produce more of long-term?

TS: Yeah, it just really makes sense. I’m not comfortable writing, so that’s been a big hurdle for me. I’m still hammering away at my own self and trying to figure that out. There’s something called The Killing Floor that I want to do. I’ve had it in my head for a long time. Its a noir series of stories that is tragic and romantic. I love drawing that stuff.

We’d like to thank Mr. Sale for taking time out of a very busy convention schedule to talk with us. You can chat with Tim over on the message boards at his official site.

A Chat With ‘Wondermark’ Creator David Malki

Article originally published 07/4/2008 at popculturezoo.com

Eighteenth century Victorian illustrations meets a commentary on today’s society with a hit of pop culture references? Welcome to the world of Wondermark. In his timely-yet-nostalgic universe, webcomic creator David Malki revives a lost art form while incorporating a hilarious juxtaposition of 20th century dialog with old-world imagery. Malki’s work has been a hit among webcomic fans for years and now he joins forces with Dark Horse Comics to release Wondermark strips in published form. His new hardcover collection, Beards of Our Forefathers, hit stores this week. We caught up with David Malki at this year’s Emerald City ComiCon in Seattle, WA and asked him a few questions about making the leap from webcomics to the printed page.

PCZ: Tell us a bit about Wondermark. It originally began as a webcomic and now you are working with Dark Horse, correct?

DM: Yeah, Wondermark is primarily a webcomic. The concept of the strip is that it is created entirely from illustrations from 19th century books. I have a collection of old periodicals and advertisements from the late 1800’s. I will scan the images of those engravings and wood-cuts and turn them into comic strips by adding dialog. Sometimes I’ll also rearrange the images to create humorous situations. Its very much a contemporary/pop-culture flavored strip but with the aesthetic of the late Victorian era.

PCZ: What inspired you to create this kind of comic?

DM: I’ve always been a fan of the style of illustration that you no longer see anymore. With these old engravers and wood-cut artisans, it used to be that was how you would get illustrations in magazines. That’s all there was if you wanted to make an illustration into a printed image. Once the images became cheap to reproduce, this entire art form was lost. There was no more need for it. Its the lost art that I am really attracted to. Bringing back the aesthetic. There’s a big resurgence of new-Victorian and steampunk themes right now. You don’t see work of this level of beauty and intricacy right now and if I can reintroduce that to a new audience then I’m happy to do that. And also, I just like to make comics. Those (artists), their work is more beautiful than anything I could come up with on my own.

PCZ: What types of topics do you like to cover with Wondermark?

DM: The subject matter of the comics themselves is very contemporary. Some of it is pop culture, sometimes its political, other times its just absurd relationship humor. The flavor of it is modern-day. The dialog is very modern. Stuff like “Hey man, what’s going on?” and “What’s up, yo?” If you cover up the dialog, it looks like an old-timey thing but if you read it then it becomes a modern-day thing. Sort of a clash of cultures and eras. It is a stand-alone gag strip. There’s no stories, no characters… its just a different joke every day.

PCZ: How did you become involved with Dark Horse Comics?

DM: Well, Dark Horse is starting to publish more webcomic collections in print. With Penny Arcade and Perry Bible Fellowship, it’s become very popular. The success of PBF in general has opened the door to new webcomic collections such as mine. So, Dark Horse approached me knowing that Wondermark was starting to get kind of popular and I was looking for a publisher. My strip was printed in The Onion, so it has a fair amount of an audience behind it. Again, because of the success of PBF, I think that some of the people at Dark Horse and other publishers are realizing that there is a big untapped audience of webcomics that are looking to see their favorite stuff in print.

PCZ: How long have you been creating webcomics?

DM: Around five years.

PCZ: Has your work been limited just to Wondermark?

DM: Well, yeah. I started publishing Wondermark on the web before I knew what webcomics were. Before I knew that there was such a thing as a webcomic community or a typical way to do things. The fact that other people were doing it as well, and making a living at it, it never entered my mind for years. I only gradually came to that realization over time. I think it was Scott McCloud’s Reinventing Comics, and I’m sure I’m not the only one to say this, that really opened the door to other distribution models I can now take advantage of. So I figured, why not? I’ll give it a try.

PCZ: Has your relationship with Dark Horse opened your work to a new fan-base? Maybe a readership that wouldn’t have otherwise found your comics on the web?

DM: Well, I’m hoping it will! I did one eight page story for their MySpace.com ‘Dark Horse Presents’. I don’t know exactly how many people have been turned on to my work from there, I hope there are some. I’m more excited about the book that I am doing with them which comes out in July. It is a hardcover collection of strips. That will be in book stores and comic shops, places hopefully where people will find it who are not familiar with the website already. I think it is important for a comic to have both a good print presence and a good web presence. The web presence allows you to connect with the passionate fans and the print presence allows you to connect with the people who didn’t know who you were because they’re going to stumble across your stuff in a book store. So far, I’ve been doing good on the web-front and this is going to be my first foray into book stores and comic shops. I’m hoping this will really open some doors to people who are finding it at random.

PCZ: Are you hoping to eventually collect in print the entire run of Wondermark?

DM: I’ve self-published a collection of the first 100 strips. There are over 400 strips on the website right now. The Dark Horse book will pick up where the first one left off and publish another 120 or so strips. Ideally, I’d like us to do more and collect portions of it periodically.

We’d like to thank David Malki for taking the time to chat with us in Seattle. Look for Beards of Our Forefathers in stores now, or pick up a copy online. Of course, you can find new Wondermark strips posted regularly at wondermark.com.

Exclusive Interview With ‘Allison’ Creator Juan2.0

Article originally published 10/27/2008 at popculturezoo.com

A career in comics has been the dream of many a Spidey underoo-clad youngster. Like many of those who imagined their futures laid out in the monthly exploits of Doc Ock, Cap and Batman, Juan2.0 grew up with the certainty that he too would one day see his creations become a tangible reality. With the recent release of his creator-owned book Allision, Juan2.0 is now realizing the fulfillment of those dreams. In the first issue of this comic, Allison is thrown into an unfamiliar and fantastical world, with only a robotic rabbit to save her from what can only be described as an altogether surreal and frightening fate. We caught up with Juan2.0 and asked him to talk about his journey in comics so far and what is in store with Allison as she ventures deeper down the rabbit hole.

PCZ: Give me a history on the genesis of your artwork and how Allison came to be.

Juan2.0: I’ve always known that I wanted to be a comic book artist since I was five years old. My father and I went to the local grocery store for something or other and I happened across a spinner rack full of comic books. I remember he bought me an issue of Spectacular Spider-Man and Merc issue 5. That is what began my whole love/hate relationship with comic books and wanting to do this for a career choice. After I got those first two issues, I read and collected every comic book I could get my hands on.

I remember one time, when I was around 11, my mom had surprised me with a bunch of comics that she had bought from a local comic shop to help me pass the time on a bus field trip we were taking. In that stack, was Amazing Spider-Man issue 318 and 319 where Spidey fights the Scorpion and the Rhino. I was in awe as I flipped through those books. I had never seen anyone draw comics like that before and Todd McFarlane changed my life that day. He made me want to draw… and draw I did. After that, every chance I got, I would spend hours in my room with a pencil and printer paper trying to draw my own comic books. I mostly did it for fun… just something to do to pass the time away while growing up on a farm out in the middle of nowhere.

But at sixteen, I decided that after collecting comics and trying to learn to draw them for so many years, I was done. I don’t know why it happened, but I woke up one day, packed all my comic book boxes in the car, drove to the nearest comic shop and sold all of them for ten cents a book. I gave them away for next to nothing because I didn’t want anything to do with drawing or comics for as long as I lived. And I was serious too… I didn’t pick up a pencil again from then on until after I had turned 18 years old.

What changed my mind when I was 18 was this. My then girlfriend at the time had come over to my parents house to see me and while she was there, she saw some of my old drawings in my room. She said they were great and asked if I had anymore. I told her that I didn’t draw anymore and that those were just old ones I still had and I switched the subject to something else. I didn’t think anything of it… and then a week or so later, we went to a Dairy Queen for lunch and she’d brought up the comic thing again. I think I mentioned something about there being a local shop still in town, so we decided to check it out and see what they had to offer.

“I had never seen a drawing or a comic book done as beautifully as that before. Michael Turner changed my life that day.”

I hadn’t been in a comic book shop since I sold all those books and I went in not really expecting much to have changed, which it hadn’t. Spider-Man and Superman were still doing their thing. Batman was still around… everything was pretty much the same. But as I was walking down the aisle looking at the new release shelf, my eyes happened upon a copy of Witchblade issue 8 by Michael Turner. There was only one copy left and the shot of Sara on the cover with the Witchblade wrapped around her naked body blew me away. I had never seen a drawing or a comic book done as beautifully as that before. Michael Turner changed my life that day. I was back to drawing and buying comics full force again. I would spend countless hours staying up late into the mornings trying to learn to draw like him. I bought every comic book of his I could get my hands on. Just looking at his art was breathtaking and I couldn’t get enough of it. The fever was back with a vengeance and I knew from that day on that no matter what happened in this life, I would never again give up my dream of illustrating comic books for a living. This is what I was meant to do, it’s always what I was meant to do. I could just feel it in my heart and I’ve always believed that if you follow your heart it will never lead you wrong. I’ve been doing so ever since that day.

As for Allison, she didn’t come along until around 2004 or 2005. At the time I had been doing several eBay commissions to keep money flowing into my pockets for food and bills and a guy had approached me about doing my own full comic book series. He was willing to pay for the majority of the production fees while I focused on the art aspects of the endeavor. But without going into detail, things just didn’t work out. At that time in my life, I just wasn’t ready. Allison just wasn’t what I pictured her as being and as time passed, she died and was buried in the past and I moved on with my life.

Then in 2007, when I was completely fed up with my artwork and just about to throw in the towel and give up for good again, I called my mama one night and talked to her about how I was feeling. My heart wasn’t in anything that I was producing and every day I felt like a failure. But all she said was that it had to be my choice on what I wanted to do with my life and my art. Either I could stick with it and make it somehow or I could give up and get a different job working for a company somewhere. I told her that all I wanted to do was be a comic book artist, but that no matter what I did when it came to my artwork it just wasn’t good enough. None of it was ever good enough in my eyes. I would draw for eight hours a day and then at the end of the day, rip up everything that I had done. It was a vicious cycle and one that went on for a very long time. Eventually, a good friend, Adrian Sularyo, pointed me in a different direction with my artwork. He introduced me to the world of Ashley Wood and after that, my life and Allison’s were changed forever.

All I could think about from then on was Allison. How I needed to bring her to life and that now was the time. Not tomorrow, not next month, not next year… but NOW. So I got to work on reviving her. It’s been a very slow process. It’s taken me almost a year to get issue one out, but at the time I started doing this, I had no clue what I was doing or even how I wanted Allison’s book to look. None whatsoever. So it’s been a long nine months of trial and error and learning from my mistakes one step at a time.

PCZ: What inspired you to create your first published work in the form of a comic book instead of another medium?

Juan2.0: I love comic books. I’m very passionate about them and seeing as how I’ve studied them and how they are created for several years of my life, it was just natural that I should choose to bring Allison to life in that form over anything else.

PCZ: The book seems to be drawn on a number of inspirations, both through the art and storytelling. What artists or writers most influenced your work with Allison?

Juan2.0: Hands down, Ashley Wood and Lewis Carroll.

Ashley Wood is one hell of a great teacher. I’ve learned so much from him in such a short time period about what art is and what it can be. Gone are my days of perfectionism with pencils only. Life is so much better now. I feel like I have freedom with my art again and everyone who has come into contact with my artwork lately is really reacting to it, so I guess I must be doing something right.

But I’m not just an Ashley Wood clone either. I draw my influences and inspirations from a wide variety of others… I’ve always had this belief that you can learn something from every new piece of art you encounter, even if it’s what not to do. Art is everywhere, so I’m constantly studying new ideas and techniques to bring into my own work from every piece of art I encounter. Hell, just the other day I was studying a postcard that had come into the place I work. I really liked the design work on the lettering and image placement so I scribbled out a rough sketch on a post it note and brought it home to hodge-podge it with my other ideas for Allison.

As for writers, I chose Lewis Carroll because I’ve always loved his work on Alice in Wonderland, which obviously plays a major influence with my Allison book. But again my influences are far reaching, I never draw from just one pool. I read new books (actual books, not comic books) on an almost weekly basis and a lot of my storytelling comes from always wanting to be a writer as much as I’ve always wanted to become an artist. More of which you will all see in my Snippets art book coming out later this month. It’s more of a storybook than anything and really gives me a chance to improve upon my writing skills. If you like stories that deal with the end of civilization as we know it and zombies… definitely check it out.

PCZ: If you were to draw comparisons, what will this series most closely resemble once you are completed with it?

Juan2.0: It would closely resemble nothing. I don’t want my book to be like anything else out there on the stands… nor like anything else that has ever been offered. Allison is a hodge-podge of a lot of different things and I can’t think of anything else out there today that she is even remotely like. She’s very unique in her own right. A lot of people will read the first issue and think, ” Yeah, this is kind of like Allison in Wonderland”, but once they get farther into it they’ll see that it is much, much more than that. Not everything is as it appears and everything in Allison’s world has double or triple meanings to it. Keep that in mind as you follow her journey.

PCZ: This first book ends with a number of unanswered questions. Who is Allison? Where is she? Why is the android rabbit trying to help her? Why is she the only one who doesn’t seem to know what’s going on? Without giving too much away, tell us what we can expect from the next few issues.

Juan2.0: Probably more unanswered questions. Right now with the first few issues, I’m laying out the groundwork for what is to come. You’ll see and read a lot of things that you won’t understand in the first few issues. This might put some people off, but I am a fan of not spoon feeding people when it comes to storytelling. I’ve always felt the best books/movies are the ones where you get a tidbit here and there and by the end you’ve figured out exactly why such and such happened when and where it did. It’s all part of the bigger picture, the one that you don’t see or realize until later on through the story.

Allison is a hodge-podge of a lot of different things and I can’t think of anything else out there today that she is even remotely like.

In this next issue, you’ll get to meet the Nit Nam. A very evil character in the Allison world… one that is going to do some serious damage to our heroine.

PCZ: Why did you decide to create this story with four panels per page? Was this a stylistic choice (to separate it from more mainstream comics) or did the story naturally lend itself to this larger canvas?

Juan2.0: All of my favorite artists over the years have used the basic formula of 3 - 5 panels per page, so I guess subconsciously I just followed suit. I tend to like the larger panels. I’m not a fan of the claustrophobic pages some artists do with a million tiny panels on the page. In fact, I absolutely hate having to draw tiny panels. I need room when I work.

PCZ: Describe the process of self-publishing this book. What were some of the challenges you faced and how will this affect the way you publish future issues?

Juan2.0: Self-publishing this book has been a great challenge for me. Going into it, I honestly had no clue what I was doing. I had to teach myself everything from the coloring, to the lettering, the art style, layouts, design work… everything. It’s all been months and months of trial and error. Would I do it over again if given the chance? You bet your ass I would! Nothing beats good old fashioned trial and error to teach you what to do and what not to do. When you make a mistake on your own without anyone else giving you a helping hand, it’s a mistake that you will never forget and I, being the hardheaded stubborn mule that I am, tend to make many mistakes, but I learn from each and every one of them…so in that aspect my future issues should go a lot smoother. They always say your hardest challenge is getting through the first issue, because that’s where you learn your biggest mistakes from… and they are definitely right about that.

PCZ: What advice can you offer to artists or writers who are looking for a venue to publish their work?

Juan2.0: Honestly, I don’t know. With me, I just set out with the goal to get Allison off the ground this year and now that it’s finally happening, all the sleepless nights full of hard work (blood, sweat and tears) has been worth it. I guess the best advice I can give anyone is to just get out there and do it. There is all kinds of online publishing companies out there nowadays to get your work printed. You just have to be willing to put in the hard work and dedication to see things through no matter what the cost. If you don’t believe in yourself and your work, how can you expect anyone else to?

Thanks to Juan2.0 for taking the time to share answer our questions about Allison and how she came to be. You can pick up your own copy of Allison #1 over at Juan’s Original Art. Also, you can follow Juan2.0’s exploits on his blog as he gives readers a behind-the-scenes look at Allison, Insomniac and his other works-in-progress.