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JOE CASEY: COMICS, DRUGS & CORN FLAKES Introduction   When you originally contacted Marvel with the desire to work on the Avengers what did you have in mind? Tom Brevoort suggested the Year One angle, but was there another idea you wanted to take a go at? Sure. The monthly book. But that slot was filled, so Tom and I got together and figured out that the time was right for this particular project. I knew I didn't want to go for a strict "Year One"-angle, basically because I don't think I know how to do that. Certainly, I wouldn't be able to top something seminal like BATMAN: YEAR ONE. I just knew I wanted to spend time with these characters that had meant so much to me as a kid. Creating a 'Behind The Scenes' series, how far reaching do you plan to go into the Avengers mythos? I know you have a fondness for George Perez's first run on the book, could writing a story behind the story be a continuing theme with certain books? I have an intense fondness for all things AVENGERS. When it comes to superhero comicbooks, it's where I get my geek on most of all. Some of my favourite writers did phenomenal work on the book, and to be able to contribute to that body of work, to contribute to that continuity even in the most miniscule of ways, is really an honour. Hopefully, I'm digging deeply into the characters involved, exploring their relationships in ways that the original comics were rarely afforded. In the Sixties, characterization was presented in broad strokes. Stan Lee pioneered the idea that superheroes didn't have to be depicted as one-dimensional, cardboard cut out characters. He gave them an added dimension of realism, although still very stylized. With EMH, I'm trying to take it a step further. I wanted to write these characters - Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, Giant-Man, Hawkeye, Jarvis, etc. - as well as any diehard fan who feels like they know these characters so well.  Actually, the exploration behind the early events of the Marvel Universe is nothing new. Kurt Busiek and Alex Ross did it back with MARVELS. I think these kind of stories - when done right - are really love letters to the characters. And I don't think we can have too many of those.Yes, but Marvels was an outsiders view at a variety of events over a long period of time whereas you're putting the reader inside this circle of action which takes effect based on the old Avengers stories themselves. Right, but that was always the best thing about AVENGERS when I was a kid. It was like a window into the fraternity of superheroes to see how they really acted and interacted with each other "behind closed doors", so to speak. Here I am repeating myself, but the way I wrote EMH was in a style that I call the "David Michelinie-meets-Aaron Sorkin"-style, which suits the Avengers quite nicely.  Speaking of which, retelling old stories has been retried over and over again, were there any rules or restrictions you set for yourself so as not to interfere with the 'classic' stories? We weren't trying to reinvent the wheel with EMH. If anything, it's a celebration of those classic stories in the sense that we're hoping to contribute an added dimension to the early events of the Marvel Universe, and enhancing what's already been established. It's all a question of context. Obviously, the ideas given to us by Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko and Don Heck will forever stand the test of time. But there's a reason why the SPIDER-MAN films are set in the present day and not set back in the early Sixties. To connect with a wide audience, the context has to be right. The world you present has to be the world that's right outside their window. That was always the appeal of Marvel Comics... the realism. We're just respecting that ideal. You've mentioned that one of the appeals of Kirby's work on these characters in the past was his ability to have long fight scenes that remained interesting, though since then there's been more and more emphasis on action whereas back in the day characters could fight and engage in conversations at the same time. Have you tried to mix the classic talk, think and fight method of the past with the more silent and deadly wide screen action of the present?  To be perfectly honest, I understand the approaches that have come before (especially in the original comics) and I think I've got a pretty good grasp on the storytelling approaches that are currently in vogue. But these days, when I sit down to write, I make a concentrated effort not to follow whatever trend may be happening at the time. I'm sure there's always going to be a sales risk involved in my methodology, but I gotta' be me. I've followed a fad or two in the past and for whatever reason, my work always suffered. You actually began this project before Avengers Disassembled, one character that takes a role in both lines, a favourite of yours, was featured rather prominently in the Disassembled line. How did you feel about seeing that? Did you want to go back and try and feature him more in the pages of Earths Mightiest Heroes? Well, practically the entire series was written before I knew anything about this "Disassembled" stuff or what it involved. I assume you're being cagey about Hawkeye and the fact that he was served up as an offering to the Gods of Shock Sales. Of course, I'm not sure if the fact that it was such a pathetically staged death is supposed to piss me off or simply reassure me that he'll be back in no time. Obviously, I'm still reeling from the deep, personal loss... and this is just from browsing a shelf copy.  With Tony Stark as leader, is there an ulterior method behind wanting to create the team? A sense of fear? Trying to control such powerful weapons under the banner of a name, or more specifically, an organization? Actually, it wasn't clear exactly who was leading the Avengers at the beginning. That's part of the character conflict in EMH. And the way I see it, it's not about fear or control. It's about simple, pure heroism. The desire to protect the weak without expecting reward. I'm all for the occasional hero deconstruction but these are characters that I believe in. And I wanted to write them as characters that inspire belief, but without sacrificing their humanity. Iron Man/Tony Stark is certainly using his executive talents to help organize this thing... they are the tools at his disposal. And his whole motivation is creating the circumstances for the Avengers to operate openly, without interference. Before the Avengers, Captain America's experiences were those of a secret soldier who for the most part operated in a lone wolf capacity, and then Bucky showed up. Was taking leadership of the Avengers partly a way for Cap to atone for the guilt he felt over Bucky's death? Well, that might be true to a certain extent, but a bigger element of EMH is when Captain America discovers that the man responsible for Bucky's death is still alive and kicking. I don't think we've ever seen a Captain America like this before, obsessed with revenge to the point of distraction. I'm actually playing it as Batman-level obsession and it really gives an arc to the character, a circumstance that he has to rise above.  Were you ever tempted to have a scene with Cap seeing Fox News for the first time after being revived? Believe me, something very similar occurs in the second issue of EMH. Personally, I don't think Cap would've appreciated Kerry being attacked on the validity of his war record. Although you're main focus in writing this series is to appeal to hardcore fans, what can new readers look foreword to? That's a good question. And I really don't know what the answer is. I'm such a diehard fan that I probably wear blinders when it comes to the Avengers. And this was a case where I wasn't afraid to play to the strictly continuity-minded out there. It's an audience that I've never really tried to speak to before. That Kurt Busiek-Mark Waid kind of crowd that feels a strong kinship with those writers, not just for the quality of their work, but for their fan-level connection to the material. I guess I feel like I've just been able to get back in touch with that side of myself, getting to work on the more "classic" Marvel heroes.  You'll be doing a similar treatment on another Marvel property following the end of Earths Mightiest Heroes, can you tell us a little about that? It's true, I've been pegged to take another venerable Marvel franchise and tell a story of its earliest days. I really can't say more at this point, mainly because I've just started writing it and I don't want to let the air out of the balloon. I can tell you that we snagged a tremendous artist, one of my absolute favourites, and this will be his first work for Marvel. More than anything, I'm psyched to be working with this guy, but the subject matter and the characters we're dealing with is pretty cool, too. Stay tuned, though. I think everyone will be pleasantly surprised and hopefully excited when Marvel decides to let the cat out of the bag. But I can tell you this much... seeing this particular artist tackle these particular characters at this particular point in their history is going to be a blast to see. Introduction
 Jonathan Ellis is Co-Editor in Chief of PopImage  PopImage Forum - Discuss this message at the PopImage forum. E-Mail Us - Send us an e-mail commenting on this article. Man Of Action - Creative Collective of Joe Casey, Joe Kelley, Duncan Rouleau & Steve Seagle Marvel.com - Publishers of Avengers: Earths Mightiest Heroes Wildstorm.com - Publishers of The Intimates Aftermath.com - Publishers of Infantry AiT/PlanetLar.com - Publishers of forthcoming Joe Casey OGN's Comic Book Resources - Home to The Basements Tapes Industrial Archive - Read past Industrial articles |
