Waiting For Tommy XXXVI
By Richard Johnston |
RICHARD:
And now it's over to DC. Rose And Thorn and Birds Of Prey.
What's with all the women, eh?
Hang
on, are *you* a woman?
GAIL:
I actually have the required female equipment, yes. That's
an interesting point, because I know that some female friends
of mine try to avoid working on girl-centric books for fear
of being typecast, and their fears are well-grounded. I'm
sort of fortunate because people mostly know me from Deadpool,
and he's every goofy male cliche (good and bad) wrapped up
in a red and black costume. But with these books, they were
just books I really wanted to do, so it's worth the risk.
Birds Of Prey features two of my all-time favourites and is
one of the few 'street-level' DC books that has a lot of elbow
room available for interpretation. And the editor, Lysa Hawkins
-- she and I just instantly formed a bond. She's really exceptional.
So I had to do it. She-BoP!
And Rose
and Thorn, there again, it's the challenge of doing something
completely new to me. There's no humour in the book, it's
actually pretty grim going. The subject matter of the fractured
psyche is enormously appealing to me. I like the damaged characters,
the ones with the histories that aren't (pardon me) rosey.
Mike Carlin is editing it, and he's been fantastic. Great
idea man, great at getting the best out of the creative team.
RICHARD:
Female equipment? Can I buy them in a hardware store? And
planning on anything starring the principal men of the DC
Universe?
GAIL:
Funny you should ask. Yes. I was recently asked to do something
big in the DCU. I'm extremely excited about it, but that's
all you get, you nosey Parker. And you can buy female equipment,
but it's expensive and you have to pass a battery of personality
tests.
RICHARD:
What else? Vertigo?
Wildstorm?
More Image?
MAX? Epic? CrossGen?
AiT/Planet Lar? Dreamwave?
Dark
Horse? (and realise that I'm including all these names
so the Dynamic Forces people can put loads of shilling hyperlinks
in.) [ED. Note: Done, Done, Done, Done, Done, and Done]
GAIL:
Not yet, maybe, no, no, no, no, no, and no. My workload right
now is very large indeed, if not quite Geoff
Johns-ish, but much of it can't be announced yet. I'm
going to say people will be very surprised. I can't wait to
yap about the upcoming stuff. After a couple of current assignments,
I'll be doing a creator-owned book, hopefully for Oni. And
as always, I do as much Bongo work as I possibly can. Great,
great company.
RICHARD:
And, bearing in mind what you said earlier, Gail, I'll leave
you with the observation that apparently it's a really bad
time in the industry for comics featuring Julia Sawalha off
of Absolutely Fabulous wandering around the place in her underwear.
Just thought you should know, in case you were trying to think
of ideas for Epic pitches.
GAIL:
That's very helpful. So you're not asking about Yabs?
RICHARD:
Well, I was going to link to it.
Why the return?
GAIL:
It sounds corny, but mostly just as a tiny thanks to people
who have been reading my stuff since Yabs started. It also
gives me a chance, like the past couple weeks, to promote
some books I like, some creators who may not be getting their
fair credit with online readers. And finally, because of the
weirdness of scheduling, even though I'm writing three books
a month plus assorted shorts, there's a small window where
there are no comics coming out with my name on them, so this
was just a goofy way to fill that space a bit. Columns are
difficult. How long have you been doing them, Rich?
RICHARD:
Ten years. I need a shoulder, Gail.
GAIL:
It's time to grow up, Rich. You had a good run, but no one
cares any more who vomited on whom. You should do a one-man
show! Rich Johnston IS Rich Johnston in: THE CRAP
I CAN'T TELL YOU! Actually, let me ask YOU a couple
questions, okay?
RICHARD:
Actually, I am doing that kind of show at Bristol, LIVE-ING
IN THE GUTTERS. But ask away, please. Just don't turn
Joe Quesada on me...
Pages:
1 | 2
| 3 Continued
Here...
 |
 |
 |
 |
