Talking with Tim

Chris Giarrusso (better known by many as Chris G) is the latest in a series of interviews spinning out of this past September’s Baltimore Comic-Con. Giarrusso is the artist behind the popular take on Marvel characters as children, Mini Marvels. He’s also known for his earlier work for Image, G-Man. We talked a little bit of both in this email interview.

Tim O’Shea: My first question actually comes from your biggest fan in the O’Shea home, my 9-year-old son, Colin. He asks: “How did he come up with the Mini Marvels?”

Chris Giarrusso: I was a big fan of newspaper comic strips growing up, and many of the classics comic strips featured casts of kid characters, like Charles Schulz’s “Peanuts” and Bill Watterson’s “Calvin and Hobbes” for example. I thought it would be neat to do a sort of Charlie Brown meets Marvel Super Heroes hybrid.

O’Shea: If I understood correctly, the first printing of the Mini Marvels digest sold out. Did the strong performance of the digest take you or Marvel management by surprise, or were you guys expecting it to do that well?

Giarrusso: Marvel was on the fence with the decision of whether or not to publish it at all in the first place because they didn’t think it would do well. Marvel was very surprised that it sold out in under a month.

O’Shea: From the Mini Marvels Skrull story that’s been going on in parallel with Secret Invasion, has there been one or two scenes that you really enjoyed developed that you enjoyed doing more than others?

Giarrusso: That has been my favorite story to work on so far, so it’s hard to single out one or two scenes.

O’Shea: While you write a majority of the Mini Marvel stories, a few of them were written by Sean McKeever and Marc Sumerak. What did you learn about approaching these mini characters after seeing them written by others?

Giarrusso: It’s hard to pinpoint specifics, but it showed me there’s more ways to open up the Mini Marvels world than I’d previously considered. They opened my eyes a bit.

O’Shea: You run a Mini Marvels site from your own website, rather than Marvel’s website. How did Marvel legal and management allow you to do this–are there certain guidelines and restrictions that come with that?

Giarrusso: I asked Marvel for permission, and they gave me legal documented written permission to post the Mini Marvels material that is currently found on my site. I am currently restricted to the material that is there, and so far I have not received permission to post any more than that.

O’Shea: A visit to your website reveals some DC sketchs–is there any chance you would ever consider doing work for their Johnny DC line–or are you strictly a Marvel man for the time being?

Giarrusso: I approached the folks at Johnny DC and they were not interested in working with me. So it’s Marvel and Image for now.

O’Shea: Has your Mini Marvel work brought increased exposure to your creator-owned and/or other non-Marvel work?

Giarrusso: Yes, more people have been buying the G-MAN comic (published by Image Comics) lately. G-MAN features an all-new cast of kid super heroes written and drawn by me in the Mini Marvel style.

O’Shea: Does Marvel editorial ever completely shoot down a story idea you have, or is it more of a give and take revision process, where you typically can revise your initial idea to meet their needs as well?

Giarrusso: It’s give and take. Sometimes they shoot down my ideas, and sometimes they ask me to parody a specific story or ask me to use specific characters. And there’s always revisions along the way.

O’Shea: As folks like Colleen Coover start seeing their work pop in Marvel books, do you think your Mini Marvel work somewhat opened the door to Marvel publishing a style like that.

Giarrusso: I think if anyone opened the door, it was Chris Eliopoulos with his FRANKLIN RICHARDS comics. Before Chris E. came along, Marvel had already closed the door on me. Chris E’s success led to Marvel giving me a second chance, as well as Colleen Coover’s work and the new Super Hero Squad stuff.

O’Shea: Why do you prefer to go by Chris G, rather than Chris Giarrusso? Is it more of a marketing, you got tired of people misspelling your name kind of deal? If your profile continues to rise as it has, might you start using the Giarrusso name more?

Giarrusso: I thought “Chris G” worked better as part of a website name (chrisgcomics.com), so the website name was definitely more of a marketing choice, especially since people do have a difficult time spelling and pronouncing “Giarrusso”. But I will continue to sign and list my full name in the books.

O’Shea: Have you ever consider teaming up with Fred Hembeck on a project, or has something like that already occurred?

Giarrusso: I’m a fan of Fred and would be open to a team-up, but so far nothing like that has happened.

O’Shea: What’s on the creative horizon ahead?

Giarrusso: At the moment I’m working on more 4-page back-up installments in the WOLVERINE AND POWER PACK mini series, a 5-page story that will appear in THOR #600, and another chapter in the Mini Marvel World War Hulk storyline that will appear in an upcoming issue of WHAT IF.

The G-MAN one-shot was just re-solicited by Image Comics to be on sale in January.

There’s also a second volume of Mini Marvels due out in February, MINI MARVELS: SECRET INVASION, which should contain pretty much everything that wasn’t found in the first volume.