Posts Tagged Vertigo
Frank Marraffino on Haunted Tank
Posted by admin in comics, politics, sequential art on December 15, 2008
Frank Marraffino is the storyteller that Vertigo tapped to write its revival of DC’s 1960s to early 1980s Haunted Tank property. I was fortunate enough to catch up with Marraffino to talk about this new five-issue miniseries, set in modern-day Iraq. We also talked about some of his past work and influences.
Before starting the interview, here’s the core info on the Vertigo miniseries (the first issue of which went on sale on December 3): “The Haunted Tank is back in action, but this time it’s an M1 Abrams in modern-day Iraq! African American tank commander Jamal Stuart has his 21st century war ride in full battle rattle and is ready for anything – anything except the whistling-Dixie combat guru ghost who shows up uninvited!
Of course, this isn’t the first time the spirit of Confederate Civil War General J.E.B. Stuart has helped guide a tank. In times of war he makes himself available to assist his descendants in battle. Jamal Stuart, meet your forefather!”
My thanks to Marraffino for his time and Vertigo’s Pamela Mullin for facilitating the interview. Issue 2 hits the stands on January 7.
Tim O’Shea: War comics only seem to see in times of war. Not to say one is exploiting the war, but did you hesitate at embarking on a project like this?
Frank Marraffino: No, not at all. It just seemed like a pretty good story with plenty of complex dimensions worth exploring. Perhaps the fact that it addresses an ongoing war effort makes it a bit more relevant, but I think everyone hopes for relevance in their work. The Iraq War is a big important event that happens to contain all sorts of fascinating material. And you know, the earliest stories, epic poems, and ballads were all about war and warriors. One of humanity’s longest traditions is the telling of tales which celebrate the heroic spirit and memorialize fallen comrades. We’ve been weaving yarns about war for as long as we’ve had wars, and that’s a fairly long time. It’s part of what makes us who we are as a people.
Jason Aaron on Ghost Rider, Wolverine, Scalped and More
Posted by admin in Uncategorized, comics, sequential art, sports on December 1, 2008
Jason Aaron is a creator I had the pleasure of interviewing back in my SBC days. Back then, Aaron was just starting to get some well-deserved attention for his work. What struck me about that interview was just how savvy he was (and continues to be). Ghost Rider and Wolverine are two characters that typically fail to spark my interest, but not when Aaron’s writing them. Aaron is busy at Marvel writing the ongoing Ghost Rider series, the Wolverine: Manifest Destiny miniseries. We also discuss his recent stint on Black Panther and the ongoing Vertigo series, Scalped. Last but not least, just in time to spread some holiday cheer this week sees the release of Punisher MAX X-Mas Special.
Tim O’Shea: As the positive reaction to Ghost Rider has grown, how much were you surprised at the number of reactions that ran along the lines of “I’ve never found the character of interest…until now”?
Jason Aaron: It’s nice to know I’ve helped bring new readers to the fold, but Ghost Rider was already a fun character long before I came along, all the way back to when he was first written by Gary Friedrich.
O’Shea: Given how busy you are with your various writing assignments, what drives you to take on the GR letters column? (Don’t get me wrong, it makes for fun reading…)
Aaron: GHOST RIDER was my first big ongoing assignment for Marvel, and I figured a lot of the people who’d be reading the book would have never heard of me, so I thought the letters column provided a great opportunity to introduce myself to them. And yeah, it’s a blast. GHOST RIDER gets a lot of mail. In particular, we get a lot of letters from people who don’t read any comics other than GHOST RIDER. I don’t know what it is about the character, but it has a very broad appeal. From church folks to cons, we get letters from them all.
David Tischman on Greatest Hits
Posted by admin in Music, art, comics, pop culture, sequential art on November 17, 2008
When I first heard about David Tischman and Glenn Fabry’s Greatest Hits, a six-issue Vertigo miniseries that offers a mixture of pop culture and superheroes, I was intrigued by the concept: “Meet the Mates! They’re the greatest super team of all time, straight out of England and into our hearts: Crusader, The Solicitor, Vizier and Zipper. But who are the heroes behind the mania? How did they meet? And what’s next for The Mates?” After reading the first two issues, I was hooked and more than pleased when Vertigo’s Pamela Mullin arranged an email interview with Tischman about the project. I caught up with the writer of the series a few weeks ago. This week marks the release of the miniseries’ third issue in which: “Private lives and public expectations are tearing the Mates apart. Crusader reveals a hip, ’70s-style island HQ in hopes of keeping the heroes together. But it’s a call from space that rallies the team. Back in the present day, Nick and Ethel discover a 35-year-old secret hidden among the lunch boxes and action figures of the world’s biggest collection of Mates memorabilia.” My thanks to Mullin for her assistance and Tischman for his time.
Tim O’Shea: While the Beatles serve as an inspiration, did you fear using the most popular band ever as a springboard for the larger tale?
David Tischman: The Mates aren’t the Beatles. The Mates are the world’s greatest and best-loved super-team of all time. The Mates do occupy the same space in our pop-culture Hall of Fame that the Beatles have, but there was never any concern the two groups would be compared.