Interview conducted by A.K.
June 1, 2004
Hello and welcome to Volume 2 of the Title Bout Interview with the creators of the new Image Comics series, NYC MECH: writers Ivan Brandon and Miles Gunter, and “illustrator” Andy Macdonald. For those of you just joining us, the IRS finally caught up with me, so here I am doing infomercials… Check out Volume 1 to find out more!
NYC MECH is a new comic from Image comics; issue 1 is on the stands now, and issue 2 is allegedly out on June 7th, 2004. NYC MECH is a comic book set in modern day New York City, only one populated exclusively by robots.
But before we talk about comic books: For those of you who read Volume 1- you may be saying: “NYC MECH might be the greatest comic about New York robots ever, dude, but I knew that already since issue 1 is on the stands now and come June 7th, issue 2 will be too. But where are your winning tips for keno? You told us there’d be winning tips for keno!”
I have to come clean. I don’t have any winning tips for keno; in fact, I’ve never played keno before. I lied to you.
Hurt? Betrayed? Whatever. I don’t care. And here’s why: Isn’t it really the Washington Post’s fault? I said I’ve been playing Keno, and everyone just bit, man. Where’s the fact-checking? Where’s the investigative journalism? The Washington Post was just asleep at the wheel. This is how wars happen, because of you and your ass-face!
I think we’ve all learned a valuable lesson.
QUESTION: Let’s back-up and talk about New York City. I don’t live there. So why should I fucking care about New York City? Or look at it this way: I’d like to think I’m a pretty sophisticated guy. I at least know my Leonard Bernstein from my Leonard Part 6 (Leonard Bernstein’s the white guy, right?). What about people from Indiana? Alabama? Mississippi? Why should they care about your precious fucking New York City? Say I’m some white trash shitkicker living in Bumfuck, South Carolina. For me, isn’t New York City just where the unpatriotic queer communist crackhead abortion doctors live? Why should they want to read a comic about THAT?
MILES: Because its completely unlike the rest of the country. OKLAHOMA CITY MECH doesn't exactly roll off the tongue.
ANDY: NYC Mech readers get to take a peek at Gomorrah without the whole pillar of salt thing. It’s win-win all around.
QUESTION: On the other hand, I’ve heard that New York’s become Disney-fied in recent years? Theme restaurants and Carson Daly instead of titty bars and Scorsese. You can’t smoke in bars. You can’t punch old women anymore. You can’t snort blow off a man-whore’s ass anymore or kill Jody Foster’s pimp. According to reports, it’s become Lamesville, USA. Why should I care about New York if its slowly becoming Cincinnati?
ANDY: I’m pretty sure that you’re still ABLE to do all of those things in New York still, it’s just a little harder to find the right places. OR you can just let us bring them to you in NYC Mech. Honestly though, Cincinnati can’t be all that bad can it?
MILES: There's cheesy bullshit everywhere. But that's such a small part of the city. The number of places that look like French Connection far outweigh the Disney shit.
IVAN: Honestly the tiny radius of time square where this is even relevant doesn’t even make it into our day to day- it’s nothing like the places I spend my time. Post-Giuliani the city’s a lot more shady than it used to be… and I’m not saying that’s a good thing, just saying that it’s not the junior prom.
QUESTION: Here’s a quote from the interview you guys did with Newsarama. This is Miles talking: “One of my biggest pet peeves is when you have New York in comics and it’s obvious the writer doesn’t know the city. They’ll have a scene that takes place in an alley, but there’s virtually no alleys in Manhattan!” That’s cute and all, but is it anything more than mere surface details that other creators haven’t gotten. Is there a core truth to New York that other creators haven’t touched on? Also, aren’t there BOWLING alleys in Manhatten? Too busy showing off for Matt Brady to think outside the box? Are you just some sort of liar, Mister Smart-Mouth?
MILES: There's a lot of creators that have touched on New York truth: Will Eisner, Peter Kuper, David Mazzuchelli, Frank Miller, Art Spiegelmen, Paul Pope, John Romita JR and SR. This list goes on and on. There have been some monumental New York comics. We're just doing our own thing that speaks from our collective experience. And yeah, there are bowling alleys in Manhattan and they're a rip off.
IVAN: There’s something here you can’t get from Googling pictures. And I think a lot of what we want to do is express more of a situational reality to people who’ve never seen it.
QUESTION: The pitch got accepted in July. Issue 1 came out in May. I got a nasty case of the knob-rot in November. So… July to May- what were you doing in the meantime???
MILES: Feeding my keyboard blood.
ANDY: “Watching” a lot of porn.
QUESTION: How do you guys approach the whole “money” part of this thing? Is one of you Class Treasurer? Did you form an LLC or a Corporation to interface with Image? I recommend a LLC because you avoid double taxation, while preserving limited liability. How do you guys get health insurance? Does putting out an independent comic have tax implications? Obviously, you can’t use the 1040EZ form, you have to use the 1040 form because any sort of self-employment income requires a 1040, right?
MILES: No health insurance. I just do my best to avoid sickness or situations that could create permanent injury.
ANDY: Wait…we get money for this stuff?
QUESTION: You guys did a five-page comic for the Image website. Most creators just preview the book, but you guys did a little stand-alone piece. Why?
MILES: It was important that retailers and potential readers know what the book is gonna read like. And five-pagers are fun.
IVAN: The way the first issue is structured we thought doing an original piece that would highlight the feel of the book (rather than specific content) would benefit us more than giving away some of what we wanted readers to take in stride. It felt like a cooler way to go about it, giving readers an extra bit of story for free so that when they lay down their three bucks it would be an all-new experience.
ANDY: Another reason being that most previews on the Image site are the first five pages of the issue. The first five pages of NYC MECH #1 are part of setting up the vibe for the book and not as representative of the concept and the progression of the series as the preview is.
QUESTION: Tell me about your cover artists. For starters, issue one is by the great Dave Johnson. I’m excited by the artist on issue four’s cover, Bengal. So… Jesus, how did you get these guys??? People must ask Bengal for covers all the time, right? Have you noticed any response from retailers because of the people on the covers? Do they actually translate into sales?
IVAN: Basically, I just asked them all, and I guess they saw what we had in mind and were into it. Dave, for example was my ultimate goal for the first issue- I had visions of him covering the book way back before we ever even had an Image contract- it just seemed like an essential piece of the work. I remember when he finished he called me up that morning and just wanted to hear my reaction to all the fun he’d had putting it together. He’s mentioned being into a follow up and it makes me crazy (in a good way) to know that we’ve got that level backing us up. Kelsey is like family- it was inevitable he’d get involved and we always feel safe in his hands. His covers on Batman and H-E-R-O (which I think is in previews now) are outstanding and his issue 2 cover’s something nobody’d expect from him. Alex Maleev is a kindred spirit creatively -- he thrives on the same environments I work in and it just seemed natural he’d apply his NY eyes to the mix. Bengal... basically I had my eyes set on Bengal from the first time I saw his work, his sense of perspective and color are just… I don’t even know how to express the level he brings things to. I got in touch with him, and I would have begged him if he hadn’t shown interest from the start.
MILES: We only work with the best.
IVAN: Stuff I think the readers won’t have seen by the time this airs: a fully painted cover by Essad Ribic. Anyone who doesn’t know Essad’s work is about to get their eyes blown out of their head by his LOKI miniseries from marvel- fully painted interiors and probably the best painted book Marvel’s ever done. It is really just the most stunning thing to see, page after page and if they print it oversized the way Axel has threatened to do I will keep it under my pillow. Another enormous prize- the dearly departed Eric Canete is returning to comics to do cover work for NYC MECH and I think everyone will agree he’s just the perfect guy for it- really the ideal match between subject and artist. There are more, but if I spill it all now I lose the element of surprise…
ANDY: I’m not sure how the retailers respond to things like covers as it pertains to ordering/selling, but there has been a ton of good words from the respective artists’ fans.
QUESTION: Is there a good month to launch a comic in? Why May? Why not the summer months, a la summer movies? Did you have to figure out, like, “if we start in May, we’ll have a trade out by Christmas, a bank full of cash by Valentine’s Day, and a pipe full of crack by Easter” – is there some sort of calculus you do? And why would you want to smoke crack on Easter so badly? That’s blasphemy, sister! Or, is it? Consider: “Holy water” is “water blessed by [a] priest for the purpose of seeking from God a blessing on those who use it and protection from the powers of darkness.” Holy water, according to the movies anyway, kills vampires. How do you make crack? According to the Internet, it’s about mixing cocaine with various stuff in a water solvent. So, combining these two facts -- we could theoretically concoct crack which could kill vampires. Or, at the very least, get vampires really, really fucking high. My question for you: why the ass-shit would you want to get vampires high so badly??? Are you out of your fucking minds? THEY’RE VAMPIRES, SISTER!!! You just had to go and launch your book in May, didn’t you?
IVAN: it’s just a good time for new things- it’s SPRING. We feel like everyone’s open to a new love come April and May… didn’t you see Bambi?
MILES: We're trying to coordinate stories with the seasons. Issue 1 and 2 take place in the spring. Issues 3-6 during the summer.
QUESTION: Okay, let me try to summarize the other people working on the book- I always screw this up: The five-page preview is colored by Kelsey Shannon (BASTARD SAMURAI). The regular colorist's name is Lorenzo Ruggiero (with some work from Daniel Krall of ONE PLUS ONE fame in the first issue?); the book is lettered by Kristyn Ferretti. Right? Macdonald, Ruggiero, and Ferretti? God, it sounds like some sort of WASP nightmare. Most of the young folks go the black and white route because of cost. How did you assemble your team? How do you keep costs down?
ANDY: Serendipity and something terribly close to a mail-order bride system. Well, I can only speak for myself. It was kind of like THE DIRTY DOZEN: Lee Marvin challenging us to knife fights and shit. I don’t know what his problem with all the knife fighting was, but in the end he really showed us the true meaning of comics.
IVAN: Regular chores are split between Lorenzo Ruggierro and Fabio D’auria, who I met through Italian artist Giuseppe Camuncoli of VERTIGO POP: BANGKOK. Kristyn is an amazing designer, she did my website and NYCMECH.com and has brought life to the letters and overall design of the book in a way none of us could ever possibly have done on our own. We chose color because unfortunately there are still a lot of people who won’t read a book in black and white- and as amazing as Andy’s art is in that way it just seemed like the best way to go to reach the larger outlet of people we wanted to get this to. Cost doesn’t really come into it, because we really can’t be cutting corners anywhere if we want this done right, so we do whatever needs doing regardless of whether or not it’s easy on our wallets. We’d love down the road to do our equivalent of the BIG DAMNED HARD BOILED and give the readers a dose of Andy on his own without colors or any of our words.
QUESTION: Do you get comped all the Image books now? Did you see Adam Pollina’s ROMP? It was about a lunatic with no arms beating up a woman; I think there was a midget in it too. Do you get PHANTOM JACK for free? If so, do you feel you were overcharged?
MILES: As of this moment, we don't get any comps. Haven't read ROMP but I want to.
IVAN: Likewise, if we can get comped, I won’t have to steal FLIGHT from an unsuspecting youngster.
QUESTION: Is there any dream merchandise you guys really want the book to someday generate? Me, I’d love to have my own action figures someday. Not of any characters or anything, just me in different articles of clothing. Like Ken Doll, only sexy, you know -- half-unbuttoned shirt, gold chains, chest hair, that sort of thing. If you ever see someone dressed up like a NYC MECH character at a comic convention, will you be proud or guilty?
IVAN: I would LOVE to see someone dressed as a robot at the next con. I have no advice to them as to how they’d go about it… as for merch- there were these amazing metal sculptures we saw recently that blew me away- I don’t go in for comics statues or busts or toys really but I would break that rule for a metal sculpt of NIKA.
MILES: Action figures would be nice. Maybe four finger rings, edible underwear, maybe our own bar.
ANDY: Yeah. That’s pretty much it. I think it’s a collective wish between Ivan, Miles and myself to see a Nika action figure at some point. As far as people dressing up like NYC MECH characters at conventions though, it’s hard to say. Maybe if it were Chris Ryall dressed up to look like one of the characters… I don’t know how he’ll pull it off, but I have faith.
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QUESTION: How important is Hollywood noticing the comic? SWORD OF DRACULA seems to have had a movie deal and videogame deal in the works before they even published the comic. I remember reading a San Diego Con Report by a guy talking about the Hollywood interest in his comic, and I don’t think I’ve ever seen the comic at that time or since. After comic conventions, indie comic publishers brag about the number of agents that approached them as if that meant any fucking thing at all; a table of 16-year-old girls in hot pants at Hamburger Hamlet on Beverly could win that competition any night of the week, believe me. There doesn’t seem to be any comic company or comic creator besides Alan Moore who has any hesitation at all with re: Hollywood, and yet arguably the most successful creator in comics Hollywood-wise is the very same Alan Moore.
MILES: One of our intentions from the get-go was to make a product that would be commercial and generate a lot of avenues for revenue. I've always admired Todd McFarlane and what he's accomplished. Part of me wants to create something huge like that so I can finance my decadent fantasies.
ANDY: Hollywood noticing the comic is cool. I pity the poor bastard that would have to translate it to something like live action and make it look right.
IVAN: We’ve had a lot of interest already for other media, but it doesn’t really influence us, as much as we’d love to see our work hit the screen in some way. Really the goal is to make good comics and the rest of that comes out of it we’ll be happy, but that’s not something to obsess over.
QUESTION: When designing the book, did any of you mention Hollywood? I think a fear comic critics might have with respect to Hollywood money is that, you know, comics will come out where the comic’s just “here’s a pitch that no one wanted.” Or -- you don’t see thought balloons or narration boxes much anymore; maybe critics worry that comics will become stylistically more dull, that the very possibilities that creators envision will become, I don’t know, unconsciously limited, by having to keep in mind a possible Hollywood deal at some point.
MILES: Yeah, it was in mind, but I don't think we tried to cater it to Hollywood. Sometimes I get bored with comics that try to recreate reality. Not to slight any of the incredible books that operate on this level, but I wish there were more books without humans. That's one of the advantages of comics. You can have anthropomorphic candy like in Evan Dorkin's brilliant The Island of Misfit Candy.
ANDY: I feel like just about everybody who puts a comic together these days has Hollywood somewhere in their head. I’m not involved in any parts of film/video production or anything, so past a certain point I start to feel like I’d be useless in the process. You can do a ton of things in comics that you’d never be able to do in a movie or in a standard book that’s just too fascinating.
IVAN: James Cameron needs a crane for his crane shots… I just need Andy MacDonald. We just focus on the comics.
QUESTION: Have you noticed there's a cereal called Reese's Puffs? It’s like Reese’s Cups for breakfast. CHOCOLATE and PEANUT BUTTER. For BREAKFAST! Am I alone here or is that just not right somehow?
MILES: Chocolate cereal never appealed to me. Visually it's too close to diarrhea.
ANDY: I’m probably the biggest fan of cold pizza for breakfast. I friggin’ LOVE cold pizza for breakfast. What kind of scruples are those? I’ll have to abstain from this one.
IVAN: Reeses Puffs is one of the most amazing experiences I’ve had. I’m a fucking freak for peanut butter in general and this is just crack for me, even though I try to stay away from it for fear of becoming an enormous gelatinous mass. Thanks for reminding me.
INTRO: Comic books have recently discovered teenage girls. Hot, nasty teenage girls. For years, the boring old men who run comics have told us that both kids and girls just don’t want to read comics, and have instead decided to focus on the lucrative boring, old men market. Now, however, thanks to the manga, teenage girls are reading comics in record numbers, and comics have to struggle to reach that audience. And I’ve been thinking about how we could reach out to teenage girls in this interview, how we can talk in a way that they might care about. So I’d like to ask you some questions about hit teen sensation ONE TREE HILL.
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QUESTION: Which cheerleader do you want to see Chad Michael Murray aka “Lucas Scott” end up with: the sexually hyperactive ditzy/alcoholic bimbo Brooke or the sexually hyperactive sensitive artist/webcam-exhibitionist bimbo Peyton? Or that weird ho-bag college girl he sex-ed on that carousel? More importantly, don’t you think it’d be creepy to make babies on a carousel, what with all the wooden horses staring at you, silently judging you?
IVAN: I like horses.
MILES: Never watched ONE TREE HILL. But on an unrelated note I think actress Gina Gatto is an absolute vision. Its a crime that this woman doesn’t have her own show. I’d love to write something for her.
ANDY: I’ve never seen the show, but: End up with? For the long haul? NO on the alky. Nothing against alcoholics (and no offense Ivan), but: if she never sobers up, it’s gonna get really ugly, and if she does sober up she’ll probably start looking around at her life, have one of those introspection things and start wondering why she’s with this (I’m just assuming here) whiny loser nerd who’s been sneaking around with the webcam girl. Go with crazy. You know you got crazy when you go with crazy so in a weird way you won’t be surprised when freaky shit happens..
QUESTION: Are we really supposed to believe that half-brother Nathan Scott isn’t going to break poor Haley’s heart? He’s a bad boy, and he just lacks a family structure which has provided him with enough positive role models to have a relationship with a sensitive girl like Haley, even if he does get emancipated minor status. Or do you think people can change?
MILES: Sounds like the show could use some splatter gore.
ANDY: I think, NO …and…um, NO.
IVAN: Uh…yes?
QUESTION: What would you like to say to the millions of teen girls who tune in to ONE TREE HILL to get them to buy your robot comic book?
MILES: NYC MECH will teach you a lot about boys.
ANDY: Accessorize! Girl, this book will TOTALLY go with that bag.
IVAN: I love you.
QUESTION: Speaking of things teen girls love, how about that Chris Ryall? Let’s just stop this interview nonsense for a second and acknowledge the magic there. Also: Is NYC MECH going to be, like, you know, awesome and shit?
IVAN: Chris Ryall is married now. Basically, he’s dead to me. NYC MECH, on the other hand…is single and looking for my kind of party.
QUESTION: I’m not qualified to ask questions, but let's walk through the making of an issue art-wise for the kids out there what like to draw. Let's start with designing the characters. Costume ideas, clothes, fashion -- how do you decide on clothes?
ANDY: For the most part, it's a group effort. We'll all kind of throw ideas or details at something and put it together in character sketches. In the first story arc, Miles had a specific idea (and the picture of his friend that I worked from) of what Troy would look like, and Ivan had Nika nailed down so those guys came into being pretty quickly. Alex, his girlfriend and Goss came from their respective attitudes and behaviors. Again Ivan and Miles had them so well fleshed out as personalities that I could already "see" them as I read their interplay in the script.
QUESTION: Then, do you do that thumbnailing stuff? Do you thumbnail out the whole issue first or do you thumbnail a page at a time?
ANDY: I thumbnail just about EVERYTHING. I used to draw almost exclusively on post-its for about a year or so at this job that had them all over the place, so I'm kind of comfortable drawing stuff in the thumbnail size. To know where I'm going and keep things in mind, I like to thumbnail a whole issue [or two] at a time before really getting to work on the actual pages. There's some nerve-racking in the layout stage for me. Composition of the page makes or breaks everything for me, so I really go through the minefield trying to get it down before I start with everything else. Usually, I'm even more of a surly bastard during this stage, but I love it just the same.
QUESTION: Do you have to do a lot of perspective stuff with vanishing points and horizon lines and the quadratic formula and whatever the fuck? I can't even pretend to understand that stuff.
ANDY: Where applicable I use the perspective points and quadratics and the horizons and the manifest destinies and the jingle bells and all that good stuff. I love perspective. The fundamentals are so basic but applying them in interesting ways are the mental gymnastics.
QUESTION: Inking -- you use pens? Sigma Microns? Pitt Brush Pens? Or do you use Brushes? Or have you ever done that crazy toothbrush splatter ink thing? How does that work?? Those toothbrush guys are awesome. I wish I used a toothbrush on my teeth let alone in my occupation.
ANDY: I try to make the jump from thumbnail to inked page as short as possible with REALLY loose pencils. As a result, I've probably had more than a reasonable amount of pages that at about a quarter of the way through, the whole thing goes south and that incarnation of the page is screwed. Then just start over and keep firing. Love the Microns. They work for the mechanical stuff like lucky charms. I try to use the brush as much as possible. I love what can be done with the brush used correctly on a page. I try to use the toothbrush twice a day. They say that maybe three times a day is good. After every meal? Yeah. But who has that kind of time? Three times a week is good, right?
QUESTION: You know what i can never figure out is the ERASING. How do you erase that much pencil. Your hands just must get covered in fucking ... what do you even call that shit? Pencil Sharpnel? Graphite Turds? You don't just sit there with a fucking eraser, do you? Wouldn't that just hurt your hands? Make Ivan do the erasing.
ANDY: Pretty much Ivan erases on a limited basis right now. He goes overboard and tries to erase the pre-inked pages, the hair off the dog, the finish off the furniture. If you don't distract him with a sandwich he'll go nuts and erase the tiles off the kitchen floor. So I usually end up erasing what few pencil marks I actually make on the page. Doesn't end up being all THAT much.
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QUESTION: What's it like to draw a comic? Tiring? When you're done with an issue, are you just drained? Does sitting there for all those hours drawing, when you're done -- do you just want to break a table in two with the side of your hands or do something crazy physical like climbing a building like that Human Fly asshole? What an asshole, that guy is. Human Fly- Human Asshole, I says. Too good for elevators, you show-y son of a bitch? And wasn't the Human Fly, like, the name of that one Archie superhero, the Shield's college roommate or something? That's trademark infringement, brother. Do your legs ever fall asleep because you're just sitting there? Or do your eyes ever get really, really dry?
ANDY: I was thinking about getting a shotgun and just firing rounds into the ceiling whenever I finish a page, regardless if I like it or not. But, I feel like doing that all the time anyway. Physically, it's a pain in that it's NOT that demanding. Pretty much anyone in this computer age can understand the price of sitting at a desk for hours and hours. The legs falling asleep and the eyes drying up or glossing over after hours and hours happens constantly. It's kind of a pain in the ass because you just want to press on and keep moving. I do try to get some sort of extended daily exercise though. Trying to stay in enough shape to DO stuff though without feeling like I need an O2 tank or some sort of surgery. I'm not sure about Archie comics so much, but I was thinking earlier today that there hasn't really been any sort of follow up on that PUNISHER MEETS ARCHIE comics, so the obvious choice is JUGHEAD WAR MACHINE. I'm kind of demanding it. Now.
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QUESTION: We have to talk about Jim Valentino. We’re here to schlep this comic, but what kind of sham of an interview would this be if we didn’t cover this stuff? First, tell me about your dealings with Valentino. You guys truly seemed to like that guy.
IVAN: Jim was great to us. He was as excited about the book as we were, just really on the same page. I’m glad we had him on our side. Thanks Jim, if you’re reading this…
MILES: I have deep respect and gratitude for Mr. Valentino. He gave me a shot on BASTARD SAMURAI when I’d pretty much given up on comics. His enthusiastic response to NYC MECH is a highlight of my career. We're bummed he's not Prez anymore but life is about adaptation to change.
ANDY: I’ve never actually met Jim. During the pitch session, Miles and Ivan locked me in a pretzel stand cupboard. But aside from all that, I do really admire the integrity and commitment to diversity that he’s displayed as publisher though, and am extremely proud that NYC MECH was able to be a product of that.
QUESTION: So, he got removed as President of Image a little while back, replaced by Erik Larsen. Let me start by asking -- you pitch your comic to Image because you have a certain concept in your head of what an Image comic is. Now, that’s changing. When you heard the news, was it like … was it brown-pants time? I’d have lost it. I feel no shame in saying it would have been brown-pants time for me.
MILES: No, not at all. If anything, these recent announcements just make us want to kick ass even more. I've got several projects I'm developing for Image.
ANDY: It felt kind of weird for about a half an hour or so. Mostly just from watching all the reactionary fires burn their way around different message boards. People kind of went nuts for a little while and it was weird to see. Image is a company and companies change stuff up all the time. I guess that’s just business. I think that if Jim or Eric came out and said something like: “We don’t want anyone to make any money off the production of Image books at all ever, so we’re going to burn any and all profits and throw the ashes in the ocean but you are now legally bound to keep creating books for us to also burn.” I would’ve kind of been nervous. A little.
IVAN: Honestly at that point we were so far into the deal that there wasn’t any time to worry -- I was obsessing over color and ads, and I just plodded forward.
QUESTION: Let’s look at a quote from Erik Larsen: “Jim came from very much the alternative camp of the world of comics and I'm much more from the mainstream, funny book, end of things. The thought was that if I was in charge and running the ship that perhaps some of those avenues can be opened up a bit more.” So…do you feel like your comic fits in with that mandate? If you pitched Image today, would NYC MECH exist? Would you still have pitched Image first? Did any of that make you feel uneasy? And let’s just note that the first book he’s apparently picked up is the FLIGHT anthology, which I’m excited about, so… so far, so good.
MILES: If we pitched today? Who knows? Who cares? I know of a lot of people doing great projects at Image this year.
IVAN: I don’t think more mainstream means superheros necessarily, so I totally
think we fit in to that mix. It sounds very much like our goals, to sort of cross the indy and mainstream markets into something more modern and successful.
ANDY: Image would’ve always been the first choice. From what I’ve seen from a few folks that have received the “go” since Eric Larsen has been in the hotseat, Image is still coming strong with the fresh, new and diverse books.
QUESTION: Now, it seems like no one told any of the Image creators that the change was happening until they read it on the Internet. There was this Newsarama story basically blaming POWERS or something crazy like that. It sort of seemed like the POWERS team was understandably not happy about that or disputed that story or whatever. It sort of seemed that no one had told them what was happening. When did you talk to Image about what had happened? Has there been any change in tone?
MILES: Nothing's changed for us. Image continues to fully support NYC Mech. They believe in what we're doing and that's enough for me.
IVAN: We have exactly the same relationship with Image that we’ve had since last year.
QUESTION: Then, as we were preparing this interview, POWERS and KABUKI moved to Marvel. Does this affect things for you somehow? Or newcomers in general, do you think? ICON seems expressly set up for existing Marvel talent, but… is it better because now you have more options or is it worse because now people have less of an incentive to take a chance on you because you can run off later? And ICON? What kind of name is that? Does ICON stand for anything? …I Can Own Nugent? Does Ted Nugent know? Ted Nugent's armed, you know? Armed with ROCK AND ROLL, that is. Well, and also guns, apparently. What's your favorite Ted Nugent song? "Wang Dang Sweet Poontang" or a more obvious "Cat Scratch Fever?"
ANDY: Nuge..? Well, I dare not speaketh his name for fear of incurring his wrath. I don’t think it’s had a direct effect on the books that Image prints or plans to print. Not yet at least.
IVAN: I don’t really see the ICON thing affecting us at all, good or bad. As a friend, I hope it works out well for David and Mike and Brian and that’s about the extent of my thought process on the move.
QUESTION: Jim Valentino was “voted” out as President. There are four of the original six founders left at Image, including Valentino, so the decision was made by Erik Larsen, Todd McFarlane and Marc Silvestri? I’m not really sure what to make of Silvestri or McFarlane anymore -- Silvestri’s been MIA for years now until his recent NEW X-MEN arc and McFarlane does more lawsuits than comics. I like Erik Larsen, and Erik Larsen’s been responsible for some good people getting published by Image over the years. But do you sense that he’s in charge or have Silvestri-Mcfarlane held a coup? Do you have any reason to believe that TOP COW or whoever is “really” running things behind the scenes? Does Jim McLauchlin ever call you up at three in the morning and giggle “YOU WILL FAAAIL” basically?
MILES: My read was that the partner's wanted to try something new. It wasn't necessarily that things were bad. At their core, these guys are artists. They recognize the importance of change. I think it’s only natural that Image should change.
IVAN: But Jim McLauchlin DOES call us up and giggle. At least I think it’s him.
QUESTION: Let’s back up and talk about the comic book audience. How do I put this…who’s the audience for this comic? Do you feel they’re out there?
MILES: The audience for NYC MECH is not solely the comic audience. The audience is anyone and everyone on the planet.
ANDY: It’s pretty open to just about everyone. People will probably say that about any sort of property I suppose, as success is dependant on as large an audience as possible, but we do kind of cover a mixing of genres that might appeal to each.
IVAN: I don’t think our work would alienate the mainstream guys so much as surprise them. Look at DANGER GIRL or HELLBOY… people are open to other things if you do them right.
QUESTION: The hype on things has gotten pretty loud. Joss Whedon on X-MEN! Chuck Austen on SUPERMAN! Sergio Aragones on YOUR MOM! Etc., etc. Bryan Singer isn’t writing all of shit, he’s just slapping his name onto something by the looks of it, and yet the hype’s been incredible. What’s it like to be launching a book when everyone’s too busy talking about C-list famous people doing 1983 X-MEN pastiches? How do you think you can reach people in that sort of environment?
IVAN: I love it. Elevates the game and makes the crowd thirsty for more comics. If Marvel can elevate the number of people in the store than that’s good for us.
MILES: I employ techniques that would attract the CIA so I'd rather not say.
ANDY: I’ve been watching “Lean on Me” over and over again and I think that if Joe Clark can get through to that school, then, well, we might just have a shot.
QUESTION: Your book seems to have drugs and sex and violence in it. I like that stuff, but … as of the writing of this interview, the #1 movie in the country is about Jesus, they just gave a bunch of Oscars to a movie about elves, people are really mad about having seen a female breast on television, and apparently the most dangerous criminal in our country is an overzealous homemaker who’s way too into arts and crafts. (NOTE: Uh, this interview was written a while ago). Is there an audience for grown-up fun anymore?
MILES: Hell yes, there's an audience. Many of them frequent this website. The reason those fascists are so vocal is because they are dying out and they don't know what to do.
IVAN: There’s absolutely an audience- mature themed content sells at an all time high and if you look at HBO programming for example, you’ll see an exceptional push towards breaking down those barriers, moving away from the saccharine and more towards something people recognize.
MILES: I try not to have too many worries. There are eastern techniques for clearing the mind you know. TAP INTO YOUR HERITAGE!!!! YOU MUST NOT FORGET WHO YOU ARE!!!!
QUESTION: Let’s go the other way- what do you tell the more snobby type reading this interview, saying to themselves “Oh, these cretins can’t just write about New York head-on, they have to throw in infantile robots. Do you think you’re clever? Why I’m so mad I could write a letter to Salon.com!” What do you say to the hardcore “Mini-Comics are for Sell-Outs!” crowd?
IVAN: I love you.
MILES: If you don't like the art then fuck off.
QUESTION: How do you promote the comic? Who coordinates the interviews between you and whoever? Who gets them to begin with? Who decided that Newsarama gets the first interview, and not Pulse? Did Newsarama bribe you? If so, with chocolate bars or with marbles?
IVAN: Most of the interviewers approached us, so really it was first come first serve. The best promotion so far has been sitting at a booth at a convention, where the reactions we’ve gotten are just flooring. The book has been selling at an insane pace and I think people really like to meet us in person and fawn over Andy’s original art.
ANDY: I think that Newsarama may have been the first to get to us about an interview after Image sent around the press release. Other than that, it’s been a combination of us contacting some folks and vice versa. We haven’t excluded or specially included anyone, it’s just a matter of having to time to get in contact I think.
MILES: We’ve hired a publicist team to help us promote the book outside of the direct market channels. It’s important that we create a solid readership in the city.
QUESTION: I've noticed that the Comic Book Resources interview identified you as follows: "NYC Mech debuts April 14th from Image Comics and features the talents of Ivan Brandon ("Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines"), Miles Gunter ("Bastard Samurai") and artist Andy MacDonald ("Kid Gilgamesh")." The fuck is a Kid Gilgamesh??? You can only put real comics in parentheses, not mini-comics or imaginary comics, otherwise you desecrate the prestige of the paragraph punctuation. Was "Andy Macdonald (A Life of Quiet Desperation and Little Accomplishment on Par with Terminator 3 Comics)" ever considered? Also, why does that interview feature a bizarre discussion of BLADE RUNNER?? I thought you told me the comic was inspired by the NEVERENDING STORY 2. I thought your exact words are "We got the license to Atreyu and that fucked up flying drug-dog thing, and we are ever so going to kick out the jams." The comic book audience wants to know: why no jams?
MILES: I guess some people get their frame of reference by comparisons. I'm proud to say I've never seen NEVERENDING STORY 2.
IVAN: Kid Gilgamesh is a three-foot-tall mythological boxer who drinks cold milk and hates bunnies. He starred in a short piece Andy and I did for MORE FUND COMICS. It was a benefit book for the CBLDF.
ANDY: Kid Gilgamesh, BITCH. If you have to ask, you probably can’t afford it. ACT LIKE YA KNOW!
QUESTION: What's the worst part about promoting the comic? Did Ninth Art ask for payola? I hear they ask for payola. Are they like urchins? I hear they're like urchins. Did you ever just want to start e-screaming at Jen Contino Daniel Way-style? I hadn't read any of his comics yet, but I liked the Daniel Way flip-out; seems like that "motherfucker" got kind of badly treated. But gosh, it must be ass promoting a comic. True?
IVAN: Promoting comics is no longer ass. Ass is now the new ass.
MILES: The worst part? Being forced to eat a chicken fried steak sandwich at gunpoint.
ANDY: The worst part? The worst part is waking up shirtless, missing a sock, with a massive hangover, a terrier dog sleeping on your face and .the hope that somebody thought you were just ‘acting’ like you drank a liter of Johnny Walker Red the night before. Wait… no, that’s not the worst part at all. Huh, I guess I don’t know then.
QUESTION: I know Mike Oeming’s done arm-wrestling promotions to sell his comics. Ed Brubaker has also done arm-wrestling promotions to sell his comics. I’ve met the three of you, and frankly none of you have the upper-body strength. Are your comic book careers doomed? Also, that Comic Book Pro Forum, as you may know- I am OBSESSED with the Comic Book Pro Forum. What goes on? Do pro’s ever badmouth the people on the NEWSARAMA boards by name? Is it like a Mirror Mirror Universe NEWSARAMA board, like all the Newsarama posters only with goatees and a sense of self-satisfaction because someone published their IRON MAN story once? This is basically how I imagine it.
IVAN: The Comics Pro Forum is not anywhere near as exciting as people tend to think it is.
MILES: I could probably be talked into participating in a nitrous oxide competition with fans. Maybe something DOUBLE DARE style but with whippets?
QUESTION: Do you ever look at the people who are a little TOO good at self-promotion and just think "Is this my future: pretending to be cool for half-wits until I get desperate enough to write ULTIMATE AUNT JEMIMA?” The current “in trend” in promoting comics seems to be to lie a lot. What’s next for you guys? Sunglasses and pierced tongues, basically? Is the reality of promoting a comic these days acting like some sort of pathetic obnoxious larger-than-life huckster to make fans feel "cool by proxy" if they buy your half-witted wholly unremarkable superhero comics tarted up with poorly executed, poorly disguised ideas you've stolen from movies?
MILES: I don't really care. I'm happy to be making comics. If other people can make comics and make a living then more power to them. And people with pierced tongues are totally gonna chip the fuck out of their teeth.
IVAN: Studies show their teeth are just fine. It’s people who wear sunglasses at the conventions that are in danger.
ANDY: Who acts cool? Are they really acting cool? Or are do they seem cool because you’ve deemed them cool so they feel as though they need to ‘fit the bill’? Maybe YOU’RE cool and you haven’t even looked to find out? What about THAT?
QUESTION: I think the reason I compulsively read interviews is that sometimes people will shout-out stuff they’re into, and I know when I was a kid trying to find stuff to be into, that would help me a lot. I don’t want to ask you about your “influences” because I’m not even sure anyone understands what that word MEANS anymore, you know? So just “shout-out” whatever. Let me get the ball rolling with the comic book PRISON FUNNIES and the British TV show SPACED.
MILES: The WHIP-SHEEP AND GOAT JUDGEMENT 7-inch on Wantage USA. This is the only release by this incredible fucking band. Unfortunately the drummer was killed in a horrible boating accident and as far as I know the band is done. It's a real shame because they really fuckin’ rock. You can order it off their Web site.
ANDY: MOS DEF: Black on Both Sides – one of the best albums I’ve ever owned. JUCIFER is a live show that has assuredly changed my life. BERNINI sculptures. LOVE Bernini sculptures. Buffalo Wings. I’m going to shout-out Buffalo Wings becase I will eat the HELL out of some Buffalo Wings.
IVAN: Cool comics you may not have heard of: TEENAGERS FROM MARS, INFINITE KUNG-FU, STREET ANGEL, THE GYPSY LOUNGE, HYSTERIA…(I know I’m forgetting tons right now…)
QUESTION: Let’s look into the future. Let’s say its six months from now. You guys are all busy and overwhelmed by the amount of work you have to do just getting the book out. Poor Andy Macdonald’s going bald, and complains about his ulcers. Ivan’s taken to driving by the high school so he can look at the barely legal girls, relive his lost youth. Miles has been horribly raped and murdered by swarthy pirates off the coast of Thailand; closed-casket funeral. The future. You’ll be busy making the book; how do you think you’re going to keep generating fresh interest in it? What do you think it’ll be like?
IVAN: We’ll just write stories about Pirate rapists. With ulcers. It’s all about mirroring your environment. Where I live there’s no end of inspiration.
MILES: Well we're already busy and overwhelmed so I imagine we'll be even moreso in six months.
ANDY: The abstract part of the brain that opens up when you don’t sleep has helped me a bit in the past. Between now and then the door to that part of my brain will more than likely be ripped off its hinges and run through a chipper, so maybe I’ll get lucky and insanity will be misinterpreted as some sort of ingenuity.
QUESTION: As much as I’d like to be daring with format, good interviews usually end with an affirmation of a “Yay with Comics” attitude that binds the reader to the interview-ee emotionally. For example, a recent interview with Mike Allred ended with a paragraph where Allred says in part “I just love so much what I'm doing right now.” So let’s just rip off Mike Allred because I’m totally, completely out of ideas. Let’s just jack Mike Allred completely; feel free to plagiarize his answers completely. Just… dude, say something pithy. I don’t care what. For whoever’s still reading -- make them love you. Seduce them. Ply them with cheap poetry about comic book glory.
MILES: Buy our book so I can spend more time galavanting around Europe.
ANDY: “Easy to own!” “Only ONE easy payment of $2.95” “Stop, Drop and Roll” “If you like stuff, then this thing is for you!” Oh, I got a MILLION of em’.
QUESTION: How much cooler am I than the other people who interviewed you? Without naming any names, I hear I’m a million times more awesome than that Matt Brady guy. Or…was there ever a point at the interview where you thought, “Fuck I wish this fucking guy would shut the fucking pie-hole? Do you think you’re clever? Whose idea was this stupid fucking interview anyway? Man, as soon as I get a gig on NEW WARRIORS Volume 4, I am dropping these other two fucking yahoos!” If so, what was that point? If not, without naming any names, I hear I’m more handsome than Matt Brady, too; true?
MILES: Never seen Matt Brady. But the ladies should know that A.K. is a real catch.
ANDY: Yeah, if nothing else, Ladies, if you’re still with us… look, I don’t use the word “dreamy” every day, or for just anything, but…well, y’know…
IVAN: Was there a NEW WARRIORS volume 3?
QUESTION: True or False question: What’s your favorite color? True or false.
MILES: I never understood the concept of favorite anything.
ANDY: Not even “Favorite Album Made by Van Halen in the year of 1984”? I don’t want to press the issue here, but c’mon. “Van Halen”? “1984”?
[Editor’s note: VAN HALEN’s 1984 was actually recorded and released in 1983.]
MILES: NO.
IVAN: False.
QUESTION: Who gives their child chocolate and peanut butter for breakfast? For the love of Christ, what do these people think they’re doing???
IVAN: Dear Reeses, someone is trying to kill me. Please send as many free products as possible.
MILES: It's better than eating dog for breakfast.
ANDY: Whoa…wait…What kind of dog?
And on that note, we’re done.
Below is the cover to look for at your comic book store. It’s possible your local retailer may not have ordered this comic book enough, but if you give them these order codes- ISSUE 1: FEB041332 ISSUE 2: MAR041404 - they should be able to order you up a copy … however they do that.
And with that, once again I should thank Ivan, Miles and Andy for the answers. And thanks for reading- I hope you like the comic. And thanks to Chris Ryall for hosting all this. Bye Again.
IVAN: I love you.
A.K. will return in THE TITLE BOUT INTERVIEW: JOHN ASHCROFT. Check out Ivan's site here or go converse with the entire team at the NYC MECH Forum. NYC MECH #1 is available in stores now.
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