``x Chicks in leather
with guns - and a solid plot ta boot! 
Writer: Devin Grayson with Greg Rucka
Artist: J. G. Jones and Scott Hampton
Trade Paperback
Marvel Knights 2001
$15.95
Now I’ll admit it. BLACK WIDOW wasn’t a “must have” because of the story. In actuality, I didn’t even consider it until I saw the nice little trade paperback sitting on the shelf: a tight little bundle of fantastic artwork by J. G. (MARVEL BOY) Jones and Scott (LUCIFER) Hampton.
I was instantly won over. I’ve seen these fellows’ work before but with WIDOW, they blew away every previous conception I had. It’s a damned pretty book with equally impressive stories.
The collection starts with a story by that batgirl Devin Grayson which shows Natasha Romanov (aka the Black Widow) hired by the US government to steal a deadly bio-toxin. The only problem is the Russians also sent in their Black Widow: Yelena Belova. Yelena is a graduate of the Russian Black Widow program - a smug "I've surpassed you at everything!” sort of girl. But Natasha says, “Oh yeah? Bring it on.” It’s all high kicks, bullets flying and splosions for the whole family.
Grayson shows off her talent for thinking, feeling characters, showing dramatic tension plus tons of action without the story losing integrity. Her scripting pulls few punches delivering a full blown spy thriller. Jones' women are beautiful; his thugs, ugly and oozing with stupidity. All this, coupled with his superb storytelling skills make for the best summer blockbuster flick you never saw.
Daredevil also makes a small appearance in this story, but I found Grayson’s DD to be a bit too dashing, too jocular for my taste. It makes him seem more useless than he really is.
Act Two of the book adds Greg (WHITEOUT) Rucka to the writing team and adds Hampton to the artistic side of the equation. I wouldn’t have thought that Grayson and Rucka would mix but they make a great team. Grayson once again shows her flair for interpersonal interaction and Rucka floods the script with spy lingo, completing the story.
This story puts Yelena and Natasha in a “Face-Off” type of situation. S.H.I.E.L.D. kidnaps Yelena and she wakes up with Natasha’s face. Her new mission: Kill Yelena Belova. Natasha, now with Yelena’s face, tries to find nukes stolen by her former boss.
On the whole the book is a great read. Grayson and Rucka do their best to upset Yelena’s world and still raise the stakes for Natasha. The stories move quickly and the loose ends are wrapped up in one sitting. And the lusch artwork makes it worth the price from the get-go.
RECOMMENDED for all who enjoy a good spytriller or just those who like pretty pictures.
``xEd Mathews``xruckus24@aol.com``xBLACK WIDOW``x1003298454,46357,Reviews``x``x``xReviewed by Brian Domingos``xBrian Domingos is a staff writer of PopImage. To him, everything is espionage. ``x
``x
Writer and Artist: Jordan Crane
Published by Red Ink, 2000
Original Graphic Novella
$8
There are so many comics today that vie far too hard for the viewer's attention by playing up the overblown, larger-than-life angle -- big illustrations, big ideas, very dynamic. They draw the eye, but they often go for the visual cheap thrill. Jordan Crane's THE LAST LONELY SATURDAY shows how absorbing a much subtler comic can be.
It is a little, squarebound comic about an elderly man who plans to spend his Saturday visiting his wife, or so we are initially led to believe. We soon discover that his plan is to spend his Saturday at his wife's grave, as she apparently died a while ago. A minimal enough plot, yet Crane is able to draw a full range of emotion through his simple and elegant storytelling skill.
As a matter of fact, THE LAST LONELY SATURDAY works partly because the plot is so understated. This allows Crane to emphasize the sheer emotion of the characters. As a result, expression through words becomes negligible. Which is probably why THE LAST LONELY SATURDAY is, largely, a "silent" comic.
The line used in the illustrations is organic and lush. As the plot allows the emotion to become more prominent, so too do the pictures themselves. Crane's characters, drawn in a very uncomplicated and almost elementary way, convey a wide range of facial expressions that easily capture a diverse spectrum of emotion. And the two-color (reddish brown and yellow) format in which it is printed gives the book a classic feel that does not overpower the other aspects of the story.
The story's layouts are genius in their lucidity. Panel to panel transitions are completely seamless and consistent. When something changes rather abruptly, it is because we are meant to notice it. There are several such panels where the border style shifts to a solid line to one that resembles the edge of a cloud, the reader automatically realizes that the panel is flashing back to a memory. Perhaps this has been done before, but in the context of the story, a minor detail like this impacts the reader right away. The reader can pick up on it, and continue absorbing the story. Just like that. Without pause.
The book is charming, something you can read over and over again, something that changes or evolves in meaning each time. Crane's work here encourages the reader to bring his or her own experiences to the fore when reading. Some readers may want more substance in a plot, criticizing the form-over-substance approach that many independent books take. I would still recommend THE LAST LONELY SATURDAY to those readers.
Recommended``xEd Mathews``xruckus24@aol.com``xTHE LAST LONELY SATURDAY``x1003298775,38966,Reviews``x``x``xReviewed by Paul Hanna``xPaul Hanna is Assistant Reviews Editor of PopImage.``x
``xRecently, I received a package from a Pepper Potts of the Stark Foundation containing a transcript of a long hidden telephone conversation. The pages revealed a fairly eye-opening account of one man's struggle with addiction... and another's struggle with the abyss before him.
PHONE CONVERSATION: STARK ENTERPRISES 8/17/99: 9:35 AM
SENTIENT ARMOR: CAH-MON...

Alan Moore, long known as one of comicdom's finest writers, joins with Eddie Campbell to produce this tale of Jack the Ripper.
Here, Moore builds a tale that stretches in ripples across time, as he attempts his own explanation of the Ripper murders. Not a three-dimensional pattern across Whitechapel, but rather a four-dimensional pattern across time, with the effects (and causes) of the Ripper murders travelling across the centuries, one man's plan to transcend his own mortality, at once an act of personal worship as well as an attempt to exalt himself and finally attain the face of God. Focusing, not from the point of view of the hunters, but of the Ripper himself, Moore analyzes the available information, chooses whom he believes to be the most likely Ripper, and projects the suspect's beliefs and motivations from what is known of his life. The result is an appallingly dark story, made even more horrific by the non-randomness, the callousness of the killings. Immensely erudite, a rationale is presented for the Ripper murders. Not simply a hack-and-slash murderer, lashing out mindlessly at any woman who crosses his path, but rather, an intricate plan, aimed at specific targets, for a specific purpose. | ![]() |

Moore takes a particular delight in parallels and double entendres, running through all his writing. In another of these, Gull is paired with Netley, an ignorant and unthinking man of the streets, a person conscious of nothing more than his desire to get ahead in life, a man very much of the earth, seeking higher knowledge only to aid him in this world. Netley's shallowness, ingratiatingly servile nature and alarming stupidity make him the perfect unthinking tool for Gull to use. | ![]() |
![]() | Inspector Abberline is a man thrown back into a brutalized, decomposing part of London that he loathes, but is forced back into, out of political necessity. | ![]() |
Notice Campbell's depiction of the explosive frustration on Abberline's face, as he is transferred back to Whitechapel, the seat of his contempt; and contrast this to the disgust on his face when he realizes the true game being played within the corridors of power that he had coveted (Chapter 13 pages 8-11) There's more than a small part of Abberline which empathizes with the denizens of Whitechapel; very much a man of the soil, it had been his home for fourteen years, and he knows it better than he understands the new realm of privilege that he has been drawn into. | ![]() |

In the astonishingly powerful Chapter 4, we first see the grand plan drawn out by Gull, and the forces surrounding him that he capitalizes on to fulfil his task. Here, we see Gull's chilling revelation of his ultimate goal, made even more terrifying by the look of complete satisfaction on his face. Gull's studies through Masonry have revealed to him the grand plan behind London's construction; the menacing constructions not only exalting the Deity but also stripping away the humanity from the little man; not bringing the man up to the level of the Deity, but rather stressing the difference between them, making man far more acutely aware of how very little a thing he is. Every little detail, from the grand to the mundane, from the overpowering dome of St. Paul's, to the simple horse-brasses mounted on every carriage in London, bears witness to the grand magic mounted in this city. | ![]() |

![]() | A Prince, bullied and controlled by his Imperial mother, denied any chance of his own happiness; |
![]() | The Empress herself, fearing revolution, living a cold and loveless existence; | ![]() |
A shopgirl, robbed of her very mind, a pawn tossed about the chessboard by forces beyond her control; | ![]() |
The prostitutes of London, cursed into an early life of despair, with little hope of improvement; | ![]() | ![]() |



Gull, himself, escaping a mortal Hell by an attempt to seize Heaven. | ![]() |
![]() ![]() ![]() | In another of Moore's mirrors, note Chapter 14, where Gull simultaneously plumbs the depths of madness, as he rises towards his ultimate goal, far above the common rut. This is Gull's final triumph ... escaping from the earthy surroundings, into the grander, larger design that surrounds him. Then further, outside even the three dimensions, into the larger fourth; and finally, into the face of God. And the power of that ascension casts ripples through time, as the strength of Gull's faith, the intensity of his belief, affects others in his wake. The completion of his grand achievement simultaneously hurls him into the heights of his final goal as well as into the depths of madness. He is swept up in the rapture that envelopes him, but rapidly losing all connection with his earthly life. As he has made use of the structures built around him over time, so too does he now create his own occult structure, one extending through time, and spreading its ripples down the years. And the strength of his creation influences other minds across the years, reflections and imitators, shadows of the original Ripper, sympathetic minds walking the path first traced by Gull; the grand design arising in shallower circles (first a century, then fifty years, then twenty-five and so on), moving through time towards a convergence. And Gull's ascension completes, his mind reaching eternity, finally escaping his earthen body. | ![]() ![]() ![]() |
The Collected Editions area is of growing importance at the Marvel offices these days. Thanks to staff such as Ben Abernathy you can look forward to a well designed collection to fit on your shelf. Ben took some time to speak with us about upcoming events in the special projects department at Marvel.
The people under me, especially Matty Ryan, also kick a lot of input and ideas. It tends to be a very democratic process. I like to gauge as many sources as possible when putting these together because my goal is really to put out a superior product.
One I'm working on right now definitely has my fan boy stirred up: CAPTAIN BRITAIN! Working with Alan Moore and Alan Davis has been an INCREDIBLE experience! Alan (Moore) is the nicest guy you could ever meet, has been really supportive and helpful in the process. Alan (Davis) has always been one of my favorite artists (again, I can thank my older brother and those EXCALIBUR issues!) and he, too, is incredibly nice... I guess it's a British thing! The work these two gentlemen have done is amazing to contemplate and this particular work will wow new audiences for years to come... It's due out in December, so it's almost the anniversary of EARTH X... heh heh heh...
That's an interesting question. I don't think the Collected Editions Department here was created for that purpose, no, although it does bolster the print-to-order/no second printings mandate by getting the trades out quicker. I think the purpose is more getting the stories that people want to read in a more affordable and manageable form. It's all about money, man! I could see how some might interpret what we're doing as an extension of that mentality, but I'd like to think we're a little more than that.
I've heard the Essential program is by far the most profitable trade system Marvel has running right now. It's been a shock recently to see Essentials announcements like Howard the Duck, Fury & The Howling Commandos, and Ant-Man (Ant-Man?!?)... has the high profitability allowed Marvel to get more obscure with their collections?
One comic I will always remember having a huge impact on me is DAREDEVIL #250, "Boom." I can even recall the place where I bought it- the Plymouth Meeting Mall, and the comic I bought it with- TRANSFORMERS #36 (that godawful "Spacehikers" story, and Jose Delbo's first issue- but that's another story). Sure, it had Daredevil battling a supervillain, Bullet, but this was no simple hero-fights-a-new-bad-guy story. Bullet wasn't just a criminal, he was a government agent out to discredit environmentalists to help a chemical company win a lawsuit. Matt Murdock was trying to keep a law clinic together while working for the plaintiff on the same lawsuit. Plus, there was the story of Bullet's son, a kid obsessed with nuclear war.
Shooter thought this would add instant conflict to every comic produced, but those imposed panels are just tumorous growths in otherwise healthy, unconflicted stories. But, that said, he was often very brave... I remember I wanted Bill Sienkiewicz to do a series of "experimental" painted covers on the NEW MUTANTS, and he supported me on that, and in many other things I wanted to try. Anyway, since the staff was unified in their anger at his bully methods when it came to story, many days at the office were a kind of fun complicity of rebellion.
You wrote DAREDEVIL for a very long period of time, issue #236, not too long after Frank Miller's "Born Again" storyline, to issue #291, with very few breaks in between. It's rather amazing, especially when compared to today's superhero comics, how much social commentary and smarter-than-average themes you were able to cram into Daredevil, and pretty much every other superhero comic you've done. Reading "Boom" (DD #250) or "The Billion Dollar Ashtray" (DD #273) were rather eye-opening experiences at my age.
Bloody Mary was the extreme feminist, so much that it was as if she was annihilating herself. On the surface, Typhoid always related to men, had her attention on men. But really, it was a bunch of women in conversation with each other.EXT.PUMPKIN PATCH - HALLOWEEN NIGHT
SALLY
I can't BELIEVE you're doing this AGAIN!
LINUS
Quiet, Sally! You'll scare away the
Great Pumpkin!
SALLY
"The Great Pumpkin." "The Great
Pumpkin." There IS no Great Pumpkin!
It's just some strange ritual you go
through every year that oddly resembles a
subtle indictment of organized religion!
LINUS
NO! There IS a Great Pumpkin! And he's
going to fly forth from the pumpkin patch
and give toys to all the good little
children...with a little help from me!
SALLY
What do you mean? And what's with that
weird book you're holding, the "Nee-Kro
Mon-I-Khan"...?
LINUS
I found it on Amazon.com! According to
the site, it can summon forth ALL the
spirits of Halloween! Um, do you have
any goat's blood on you...?
SALLY
Ask Lucy.
LINUS
Oh, it'll probably work without it...now
to read the spell..."Dark forces beyond
the veil of reality...wizened spirits of
Astograth...executives of the NBC
television network...summon forth the
black-hearted spirit of All Hallow's Eve,
and let him give me candy and toys!"
(pause)
I added that last part myself.
SALLY
Look!
The sky SPLITS OPEN! Ancient spirits scream the SCREAMS OF
THE DAMNED! "Inside Schwartz" actually becomes WATCHABLE!
And from the sky comes...
LINUS
It's him! It's finally him! It's the
Great Pumpkin!
SALLY
I don't believe it! You were RIGHT!
GREAT PUMPKIN
HA HA HA! AFTER THESE COUNTLESS
MILLENNIA, THE DARK LORD SAMHAIN IS FREE
AT LAST!
LINUS
Great Pumpkin! Down here! I never gave
up on you! Could I have some Jolly
Ranchers?
GREAT PUMPKIN
FOOLISH BLANKETED MORTAL! DO YOU
COMPREHEND THE AWESOME POWERS YOU HAVE
UNLEASHED THIS NIGHT OF INFINITE TERROR?
LINUS
Um...what about a Snickers?
FHWOOOM! The Pumpkin INCINERATES Linus with a blast of
FLAME!
SALLY
AAAAAHHHH!
GREAT PUMPKIN
I GROW WEARY OF YOU IRRITATING YET ODDLY
PRECOCIOUS MORTALS! I SHALL FIND OTHER
REALMS IN WHICH TO WREAK HAVOC!
INT.FAMILY CIRCUS - DAY
PRIEST
So why did you call me, Mr. Keane?
DAD
I think...I think my daughter may be
possessed.
PRIEST
What makes you say that?
BLAAAAARG! A wave of GREEN PUKE is hurled on them!
PRIEST
AAAAAAAAHHHHHH! Who did that?!
DOLLY
(tied to a bed; giggling
insanely)
Not Me...Not Me...Not Me...
DAD
Dolly! Put down that crucifix NOW!
INT.DILBERT - DAY
DILBERT
(roaming the office halls with
a shotgun)
Heh heh heh...need more toner...need more
toner....
POINTY-HAIRED BOSS
Dilbert! Stop that! Lunch break was
over ten minutes ago! You can shoot
people when you're OFF the clock!
INT.LITTLE NEMO IN SLUMBERLAND - DAY
LITTLE NEMO
Oh! Um! What a funny dream I had! I
dreamt that there was a horribly burned
child-molester with razor fingers coming
after...AAAAHHHH!
FREDDY KRUEGER
Sweet dreams, kiddie. Hey, wasn't this
strip cancelled like a hundred years ago?
INT.FUNKY WINKERBEAN - DAY
LES
Oh no! I'm being EVICTED!
LISA
Oh no! I have CANCER! Again!
FUNKY
Oh no! I'm about to fall off the WAGON!
DAMN YOU GREAT PUMPKIN!!!
GREAT PUMPKIN
ACTUALLY, I HAVEN'T DONE ANYTHING TO YOU.
YOUR STRIP IS ALWAYS THIS DEPRESSING.
FUNKY
Oh, right. Got any Scotch?
INT.PEANUTS - DAY
CHARLIEBROWN and the GANG are TRICK-OR-TREATING!
CHARLIE BROWN
Why do people always give me nothing but
rocks?! I mean, I'm wearing a COSTUME!
Do they just automatically hate me for no
rational reason?
LUCY
Your life is so oddly existental.
SuddenlySALLY runs up!
SALLY
HELP! HELP! IT'S THE GREAT PUMPKIN!
LUCY
Good grief. Not this again.
CHARLIE BROWN
Sally, there's no such--
GREAT PUMPKIN
HA HA! DIE, PREMATURELY BALD MORTAL!
ZAPPPPP!!!! A BLAST knocks the Pumpkin away from the Peanuts
gang!
CHARLIE BROWN
Who did that?
JASON FOX
Oh, hey there. I'm Jason from "Fox
Trot." My prodigious supergenius has
enabled me to construct anti-pumpkin
weaponry to take down this demonic force!
LUCY
You know, this sort of thing never
happened to Calvin and Hobbes.
JASON FOX
Bad news though -- I can't hold the
Pumpkin off forever! If we're going to
take him out, we need to put out the
magic candle inside his pumpkin-head! If
only we had something we could kick up
there, like a football...
Everyonelooks at Charlie Brown.
CHARLIE BROWN
Ohhhhhhh no!
JASON FOX
Come on!
CHARLIE BROWN
(sighs)
Look, I'll kick it...but Lucy, you're
going to have to hold it still this time!
The fate of the world is in the balance!
You CANNOT pull away the football!
LUCY
Charlie Brown! Of COURSE I'm not going
to pull it away! Don't be such a
blockhead! Now go on and kick it!
Sheputs the football down...Charlie Brown gears up, runs...
GREAT PUMPKIN
HA HA HA! I WILL DESTROY YOU ALL!
CHARLIE BROWN
(to himself)
Okay, this is it...got to do this...can't
miss...can't miss...
INT.FLAMING PITS OF TARTARUS - FIVE MINUTES LATER
SCHRODER
Lucy, you couldn't let him kick the
stupid ball just ONCE?
LUCY
Okay, I'm just going to admit it -- I
think I have a problem.
CHARLIE BROWN
WOW! This place is GREAT! For once, I
don't have to worry about being rejected
by the little red-haired girl, losing
baseball games, getting a kite stuck in a
tree or everything else in my life going
wrong, because I KNOW it will! I'm...I'm
HOME!
SALLY
Good grief.
FADEOUT.
THE END.
``xEd Mathews``xruckus24@aol.com``xSTARVED FOR ATTENTION: THE GREAT PUMPKIN RETURNS``x1004506471,55949,Industrial``x``x``xby Zack Smith``xZACK SMITH (zacharymsmith@hotmail.com) would like to wish everyone a happy Halloween! And special thanks to Kelley Jones for the Pumpkin art! Go read THE CRUSADES, which is a hella-creepy book, and one you should be reading! And extra special thanks to Marc McKenzie for that sweet coloring job! YAY MARC!``x
``xLocal boys make big, come on the scene with new Original Graphic Novel.
I think the most important thing, about my interview with freshman creators Marc Bryant and Malcolm 'Mal' Jones is that Marc was late getting there. It's true. Mal, in his dorm room at art school, apologized for him twice before he showed up too. Where was Marc, you might ask? Out at the movies, with his wife. And to me, that really is the most important thing about the interview. Marc and Mal have lives, interests, and influences outside of the comics industry. It's that freshness that's so readily apparent in their new graphic novel, OVERTIME. They're comic fans, sure. But Malcolm draws from a wide variety of artistic influences, from classical to commercial. And despite having read maybe ten different stories that Marc has written, not one even flirted with superheroes. They're two very unique, very fresh voices, and OVERTIME is bound to be a very auspicious debut. I'm proud to bring you this interview with two friends and to show you how two PopImage kids made good.
POPIMAGE: First off, please introduce yourselves.
Marc Bryant: I'm Marc Bryant, writer and co-creator of OVERTIME.
Mal Jones: I'm Mal Jones, artist on OVERTIME
Marc Bryant:
and co-creator.
Mal Jones:
and co-creator!
Marc Bryant: Damn straight
POPIMAGE: That's interesting that you credit Malcolm with co-creation. Originally, you had started OVERTIME with a different artist hadn't you Marc?
Marc Bryant: Yeah, a very talented guy named Sherard Jackson. He did some of the design with me, when it was still an illustrated prose story at OPI8. Now, though, its gone through so many changes, it's as much Mal's show as it is mine. With Sherard's blessing, I might add.
Mal Jones: Sherard's stuff is so lovely.
POPIMAGE: Mal, how was it for you coming into a project which had begun with a separate artist?
Mal Jones: I had no problem with it, honestly. By the time Marc and I started working together on Overtime, we had already worked together on a few shorts (Afterbirth at NextComics and Date Night which will be in Cyberosia's Revolving Hammer). So we were vibing really well and Overtime had moved from prose to sequential art and was really becoming a new beast.
Marc Bryant: Mal took to it like a fish to water. He really knew what the story needed from day one.
POPIMAGE: Tell the nice readers a little bit about how you work together. Is it full script to artwork, or a little bit of give and take?
Marc Bryant: That's part of the miracle of the internet-we both chat a LOT during the day, so I'd send bits and pieces of what some people might call 'full scripts' then we'd riff on that until we had a scene or page that we were both pleased with. I can't believe I just said 'miracle of the internet'.
Mal Jones: Yeah, Marc sends me bits and I doodle out lay outs, send them to him, he adapts the scripts, I adapt my pages. It was an evolutionary style of creation.
Marc Bryant: At this point, between what we've done, and what we're working on, we have our own little 'virtual studio'.
Mal Jones: I would say Marc and I talked for at LEAST an hour a day during Overtime's creation. It was always changing and shifting. I have piles of unused pages and sketches.
Marc Bryant: At least an hour. Usually a lot more.
POPIMAGE: Mal, you've got a really unique graphic style. Was it a challenge adapting to what Marc was looking for on Overtime?
Marc Bryant: Hahaha
Mal Jones: Hahaha
DAMN CROWD SCENES!
Marc Bryant: See, you're getting ahead of yourself again. :-)
Mal Jones: Honestly? Yes, it was hard. Overtime was my first "major" project. It had scenes where I had to draw 100's of people. Scenes where I had to evoke mood and tone in just a few panels of talking heads. Marc was INCREDIBLY patient with me. I was truly learning on the job.
Marc Bryant: And I'm pretty 'hands off' with artists in most cases. I left him to his own devices a LOT, which may have actually been frustrating for him at times.
POPIMAGE: Marc, this will be your first big project too, won't it?
Marc Bryant: Yes. By a long shot. Not the first feature length story I've written, but the first published.
POPIMAGE: Any sense of nervousness involved in the project for either of you? This is your first shot at really putting yourself out there, one would imagine it would be a little frightening.
Marc Bryant: Not as much nervousness as I would think. I was much more nervous pitching the book, than I am seeing it published. I always figured that would be the other way around.
Mal Jones: I feel the same as Marc. I mean, it's going out there in to the world like it should. It's not a story that is meant to be hidden away in the corners of closets. It should be in shelves, in homes. That's why we made it. It's just going out to where it belongs.
POPIMAGE: So what WAS the pitch process like, guys? Long and involved, and how did you end up with Cyberosia?
Marc Bryant: I met Scott Brown, ironically enough, when I was an editor at...Pop Image! We kept in touch, and met at the SDCC in 2000. He became interested in OT when it was still at opi8. When Mal and I hooked up after Sherard moved on to other projects, Scott and Kristen REALLY got interested in it. We pitched it at San Diego this past summer and now we're just a few months from seeing it published. The pitch process was relatively painless. Cyberosia know exactly what they're looking for in a book, and part of what they want is a book that is very true to the creators' vision.
Mal Jones: Painless?? The suspense was KILLING me! I'm so impatient
Marc Bryant: Well, you're young yet
You don't know long pitch process yet junior ;-)
Mal Jones: For me the pitch process was just part of the natural progress so you could say it took 8 months to pitch the book if you wanted. Marc and I hooked up in January, got to work, finished the book in the summer, pitched it at San Diego, and bam... one year after we started we will have a book in our hands.
Marc Bryant: Pretty good turnover rate for an OGN, even a shorter one, in this day and age I'd say.
POPIMAGE: Recently there was a post at the WEF where a creator was discouraged about pitching his project, as it didn't seem to be what the industry wanted. Yours is a science-fiction, original graphic novel. Not exactly a genre or form that's setting the world on fire. Was that a concern?
Mal Jones: Hell no. A story is a story. At least from my point of view :-)
Marc Bryant: I have to agree, and really, OT is a crime comic, disguised as a sci-fi piece. We've really tried to present it as such to. As far it being an OGN, I think people like AiT/PlanetLar and Top Shelf are seeing to it that OGN's DO start a fire. At least a small one.
Mal Jones: OGN's are such a great format. They look nice on bookshelves, stand up to time better then floppies. And OT's sci-fi elements are simply a setting for it to be a good crime story, akin to the type of thing one would see on Law and Order or Homicide. So the genre worries were pretty much non-existent to me.
POPIMAGE: Can you discuss some of your individual influences? Was there anything that specifically influenced this project?
Marc Bryant: The work of people like Brian Bendis and Ed Brubaker has had a big influence on the mystery aspect of the story, at least from my perspective. I'm a big fan of shows like Homicide as well. Originally, years ago when I had the idea, it was like a road story/romance set in the present day except for the fact that everyone was immortal, it was a bit of a slice of life type thing. That idea didn't really have legs on it.
Mal Jones: I still like that idea.
Marc Bryant: Though, and little by little, it evolved into what it is now. I honestly don't remember WHAT my influences were at the start.
Mal Jones: My influences range from Monet and Manet, the impressionist school of painting, to Dave McKean and Bill Sienkiewicz.
POPIMAGE: Were there any significant changes made to the story between it's inception at OPI8 and the Original Graphic Novel coming in January?
Mal Jones: Yeah, Marc had to deal with my fine art lovin' artistic stylin'! :-)
Marc Bryant: Not really. I was in the process of writing it, as it 'aired' at OPI8. There were a couple changes (as far as the opening), and I made significant changes to Cafferty's character, but otherwise we finished up with the story I set out to tell.
POPIMAGE: You didn't find any difference between telling the story as illustrated prose and comic format?
Marc Bryant: Well, I haven't really written much prose, but that's what Chad wanted, so I was adapting my scripting style to prose from the beginning. The transition was very smooth.
POPIMAGE: Okay. I asked this question of Warren Ellis, and I'm asking it of you. What's more important to you, creating, or creating comics?
Marc Bryant: Ultimately, its creating. But if I have my say, comics will always be where I do the most work.
Mal Jones: Creating. To me creating is essential to my life. If it is in comics, then that's awesome. If I'm creating websites, awesome. If I'm making paintings, awesome. However, that said, comics as a form is intriguing and such a challenge that I don't think I'll ever not be trying to work in them.
POPIMAGE: Marc, what's the allure of comics to you?
Marc Bryant: I really did learn to read on comics. Its so hard to say what it is that attracts me to the art form, other than sentimentality. But it is such a fresh medium, and the possibilities are endless. Its been said time and again that you have a limitless special effects budget doing comics, and that's so true. You have a better shot of getting your own ideas in front of an audience, however small, than in any other medium really. I love comics. What else can I say?
POPIMAGE: You've mentioned that you worked very closely on the net, chatting back and forth. A lot of creative teams find the internet an obstacle in their communication, difficult to really feel out the other partner. Did any of these problems plague you?
Marc Bryant: In no way whatsoever. This book couldn't have been done without the internet. Its how we met, it's how we worked together, and it played a huge part in selling the book to Cyberosia.
Mal Jones: Nah, not that I've noticed. I mean, Marc may be sitting in his castle in the backwoods of Tennessee with a shotgun for all I know ready to blow my head off for what I did to his book. But that's the price of the internet, right? Seriously, no. Without the internet, OVERTIME would not exist at all.
POPIMAGE: How DID you hook up anyway? I don't think you mentioned how Mal came to be working on the project.
Mal Jones: I honestly have no idea how we hooked up.
Marc Bryant: The best I can recall, we met in the WEF chat one night, started talking, and then exchanged AIM screen names. The whole thing went from there. We knew each other's names from the WEF anyway.
Mal Jones: It was definitely through the Warren Ellis Forum, yeah. We did Date Night and then Afterbirth, and just putzed around with a couple of projects, and suddenly we started talking about Overtime and it just came together.
POPIMAGE: What have you got coming up? Anything you can discuss?
Marc Bryant: We have a short story, DATE NIGHT, in the upcoming anthology from CYBEROSIA, REVOLVING HAMMER. I have an article in the PopImage collection from Cyberosia. I also have a short strip in the works for NextComics, a couple of projects with Mike Norton, of THE WAITING PLACE fame, and Mal and I are already starting on another OGN. The working title is HAIL SUSAN.
Mal Jones: Well, as a pair we have Date Night, a short in Cyberosia's REVOLVING HAMMER, and I did the art for another short called MOMENT OF SILENCE written by Scott O. Brown that will be in it as well. Other than that I have some things that I'm writing and drawing myself that aren't worth mentioning more then that, and HAIL SUSAN with Marc. All that plus graduating from the University of Maryland means I've got a full plate.
POPIMAGE: Speaking of OGN's, why was it important to you that OVERTIME be in this format?
Marc Bryant: The main reason for me, was for it to have more appeal to non-comics readers, and to give a longer shelf life than if it was a serialized miniseries.
Mal Jones: As a fast paced crime story, it has this pacing, this structure, that just works as one solid read. The OGN is also viewed in a COMPLETELY different light by non comic readers.
POPIMAGE: What have you read recently that's really turned your crank?
Mal Jones: Well sitting on my desk right now is NON #5 from Highwater Books, SLOW JAMS from David Choe, ELEKTRA: ASSASSIN, and the DEADENDERS trade paperback.
Marc Bryant: I've gotten into a lot more 'indie' comics lately-PISTOLWHIP and MEPHISTO and the EMPTY BOX kicked my homesick ass. I also really liked Brian Ralph's CAVE-IN and Scott Mills' BIG CLAY POT. I'm also loving everything by Brian Azzarello, most of Bendis' work, COUSCOUS EXPRESS, and, surprise surprise the whole CROSSGEN line.
Mal Jones: Indie books eh, Marc? You've been hanging with me too much.
Marc Bryant: Please, I was reading comics when you were an itch in your daddy's rosy palm.
POPIMAGE: Crossgen, really? What do you like about it?
Mal Jones: I always enjoy the WAITING PLACE, the AiT/PlanetLAR series... my tastes are VERY wide so it's hard to really pick what I like a lot. Plus I haven't gotten new books in ages, so...
Marc Bryant: I like the fact that the CG books are first and foremost about the STORY, not the creators, not a franchise, not the company. About telling a good story. And the production values are top notch.
POPIMAGE: Interesting. OVERTIME is sci-fi/crime. What kinds of genres are you interested in working in? Anything in particular?
Mal Jones: Quirky Slice of Life. Anything really. EXCEPT superheroes.... at least not ones that wear tights. It's not that I'm this big ANTI superhero guy... I just don't enjoy drawing the damn things.
Marc Bryant: Right now, I'm leaning towards stories that fall outside of your usual genres. I'm interested in stuff like the Cohen Brothers do, or Wes (RUSHMORE) Anderson. Quirky, funny character stories, with a lot of suspense, and a lot of heart. Though I'm not above the occasional car chase. ;-)
POPIMAGE: Hypothetical: Marvel Comics comes to you tomorrow and asks you if you're interested in working with them. What would the answer be?
Mal Jones: Sure, why not, right? Marvel, no matter what anyone says about them, is a beast in the world of Comic Making. If they were willing to let me loose on one of their properties I would be too curious to say no.
Marc Bryant: My answer would be a resounding yes. The Marvel characters mean a lot to me, on a sentimental level, and I couldn't pass up my shot to make my mark on them, however insignificant. Plus, doing a Marvel book would put my name out there and help me build a following in a way most independent projects never could. If I could bring 20,000 people to something like OVERTIME by writing SPIDER-MAN, I would in a second.
Mal Jones: Of course, I'm going to do my best to bring 20,000 people to Overtime anyway, of course. I mean, come on, Jim Mahfood is doing the Fantastic Four! That's just smooth
POPIMAGE: What do you think is the most important challenge facing the industry today?
Marc Bryant: Getting new readers, which ideally means creating books that can hold their own against other mediums, and creating the means to promote those books.
Mal Jones: The perception the "mainstream" has upon on comics. I mean, that's the problem right there... the fact that I have to refer to those that don't read comics as the mainstream. Comics are making headway in that area, but they still have a long way to go I think.
Marc Bryant: Can I add here, that Mal and I like working together so much, that we've formed an official partnership? It's called Overtime Comics, naturally enough, and we'll be launching the site soon. We intend to always be working on something. It's not a publishing venture, but its a creative partnership, that will inform and support everything we do creatively-together, separately, or with other creators.
POPIMAGE: What would be your dream project?
Marc Bryant: My dream project would be a feature length graphic novel, something like FROM HELL, published and distributed in the mainstream book trade, in hardcover and in color. Owned by myself and my collaborator of course.
Mal Jones: I don't have one, honestly. Any project that forces me to learn and adapt and grow as an artist is a "dream" to me. I'm not in comics for the money, heh. I'm in it for the craft.
PopImage would like to thank Marc and Mal for consenting to this interview. Just a reminder to check out their comparitively inexpensive Original Graphic Novel OVERTIME in January. For more on the series, please visit http://www.overtimecomics.com or the publisher's website at http://www.cyberosia.com .
``xEd Mathews``xruckus24@aol.com``xINTERVIEW: MARC BRYANT AND MAL JONES``x1004506971,92880,Industrial``x``x``xConducted by Christopher Butcher``xChristopher Butcher is Assistant Editor of PopImage.``x ``x
FELON #1FELON is the second release from Top Cow’s new Minotaur imprint and follows the newly released Cassiday, out of prison and going after what is owed to her. She’s a con woman of obvious skill and Rucka does a great job of showing us this. My beef with FELON is that it stinks of a Top Cow book. The art work, while tightly following Rucka’s pacing seems very ‘1997’ in its composition. The storytelling is sloppy at times, leaving you with indiscernible panels at times. The colouring doesn’t help too much either as it carries the TC ‘House’ tinge to it. It’s earthy and muddy and draws a very heavy feel to it. I doubt I’d pick up another issue, but it might work for HardCore fans of Rucka’s crime work. (BD)
FOUR WOMEN #1 I’ve never really been a fan of Sam Keith’s work, but I usually find him interesting enough to at least give everything a shot. FOUR WOMEN is his most recent work since last year’s ZERO GIRL, also published by Wildstorm. FW follows, you guessed it, Four Women on the way to a reception and is narrated by one of the Women, Donna, as she explains the story to a now-anonymous outside person. The story is mostly the women sharing stories and talking in the car ride as they head to their predetermined destination. The thing is, though, it’s really quite boring. I actually put the book down a few times only to come back to it later because I couldn’t take it in one sitting. I had a lot of trouble getting into the characters. The issue ends with a horrific tragedy framed with panicked dialogue and subtle artwork. I just didn’t care terribly much. (BD)
NOBLE CAUSES #1Jay Faerber has finally made his way into the realm of creator-owned books with NOBLE CAUSES, a soap opera-esque book about a dysfunctional family of super-heroes immersed in the public eye. I respect Jay as a creator for his integrity and professionalism, and I generally enjoy his work so I thought I’d give him the much deserved shot. The script comes across as a bit trite at times, but he’s doing something new and finding his niche. He’s taken a big step and one in the right direction. The book is structured in two different parts; one with the main story and the second with a small back story that fills in obvious blanks. The characters are pretty straightforward and the artwork is cartoony with a tinge of flash to it. As the series progresses this could turn into a top-notch book. I’m enjoying it so far. (BD)
JOKER: THE LAST LAUGH #1There's been a lot of flack about this crossover around the internet; frankly, I've never been so into comics that I cared enough. I bought the first issue to check it out and my purchasing it or any other will be based on its quality. As much as I've enjoyed Joker in movies and a few comics (THE KILLING JOKEis essential reading for any comic fan in my opinion); I'm not a huge fan. So convincing me to read a mini series about a near-death Joker who is looking to go out with a bang is an uphill battle. Writers Dixon and Beatty are still a long way from the top with me.
While there is a nice B-plot with Nightwing and Oracle on a well-scripted date, the actual story of Joker turning everyone else into joker-type people really doesn't enthuse me. Pete Wood's art is nice for the regular humans, but not nearly menacing enough for the Joker - a character I've found best depicted as a mix of cartoonish elements and horrific undertones. But cover artist Brian Bolland has it down; this story would have benefited from his work in the interior art. All in all, there isn't much to get worked up here one way or another. And I'm not going to buy issue two. (MS)
ICEMAN: ICONS #1Iceman's a interesting character to me; one I found myself a fan of for no reason I can place. Puns about his coolness aside, he's usually a well-written minor character; plenty of funny lines, but not much to him when you get down to it. I suppose this comic, if it has a purpose besides just selling more books to X-MEN fans, is to add some substance to the character.
Interestingly, we find this character already with more background than I realized; this issue follows Iceman's trip to Hong Kong to visit a son he's fathered with a woman there. I must admit this is far from anything I would have expected for an Iceman mini, and the end result is fairly satisfying. Still, the book follows the rather unpleasant recent trend of starting mini-series with an issue that sets up everything, with little of anything aside from exposition, then throws the reader an exciting last page to get you to buy the next issue. Yeah, it makes you want to read issue two, but I paid money to get a good story now, not in a month. So while I am intrigued by the last page of ICEMAN, I wish that the rest of the pages had had that much energy to them.
I did enjoy the art by Karl Kerschl, whose work I am unfamiliar with. His slightly manga-influenced style (jeez, is every artist right now "slightly manga influenced?") works well with the book's tone and is well complimented by a clear and clean coloring style. (MS)
DOOM PATROL #1The cover of DOOM PATROL #1 volume whatever (three at least, I think) is a close-up of good old Robotman with a disgusted look on his face, the reflections of the rest of a new team shining on his forehead. A thought bubble reads, "We're doomed." Prophetic words indeed. I don't know how long this book can last in this state.
While I've read and admired Grant Morrison's early run on the book (collected in the trade CRAWLING FROM THE WRECKAGE), I've never been so attached to it that I couldn't imagine reading and enjoying a new version of the team. And John Arcudi is a writer whose work has really worked for me on a few occasions. Here, we get a new team, including old Cliff Steele, who wind up together after a few twists of fate. Along the way there is humor (none of it as funny as any issue of BARRY WEEN for example), and a little bit of rather lame super-hero action. I don't quite know what I was wanting out of this book, other than to be reasonably entertained. And I was not. It all felt rather tame and weak. I have little invested in these new characters, and there was little reason given why I should start caring about them. Art by newcomer Tan Eng Huat is not particularly exciting, but it does match the tone of the book well. If this book is to survive, I think it needs to get bigger and smarter, and give us a reason why we should care about these goofy characters who aren't all that funny. (MS)
``xEd Mathews``xruckus24@aol.com``xFIRST IMPRESSIONS``x1004507673,12327,Reviews``x``x``xAll reviews this time by Brian Domingos (BD) and Matt Singer (MS). ``xFIRST IMPRESSIONS runs every other week at PopImage.com. All artwork copyright it's respective owners and creators, used for purposes of review. ``x ``xReality, dream, god, redemption, love, tragedy, universal truths, Sinatra and more. You can't chat with J.M. DeMatteis without mentioning these.