Jeff Parker: This Man, This MODOK (and More)

By Tim O'Shea

Some consumers dismiss an interview when they find out it was conducted via email. My interview medium always has been and more than likely always will be via email. And when the stars align (or I get lucky), the emails can go back and forth numerous times, leading to a fairly solid dialogue. That’s exactly what occurred with the following Q&A with storyteller Jeff Parker. We discussed his current work at Marvel (including the recently completed Agents of Atlas as well as X-Men: First Class) and his upcoming independent work—as well as a great deal of other subjects in between.

Tim O’Shea (TOS): You've noted on your blog that series artist Leonard Kirk really has amazed you with the attention to detail/efforts he's poured into visualizing your script (i.e. the way Ken [Gorilla Man] eats in one diner scene). Rather than asking who was your favorite character to write in Agents of Atlas (AOA), I merely am curious--is there any character you grew to appreciate more (than you did when you first wrote the character) after seeing how Kirk portrayed the character?

Jeff Parker (JP): Namora. Leonard brought her to life in a bigger way than I even imagined happening, and readers really respond to her. I think she and Gorilla Man are the characters that would have the easiest time appearing solo in other MU books.

TOS: Are there any plans for either Namora or Gorilla Man to appear in upcoming Marvel books? Any chance you and Kirk will be collaborating again in the near term?

JP: Oh yes. Gorilla Man will be popping up in issue 8 of X-Men: First Class. And Leonard is drawing an arc of Marvel Adventures: Avengers. So we really couldn't resist the temptation to bring them into the Adventuresverse this year. Of course, some aspects of the team will be a little cleaner- Venus will wear clothes and Gorilla Man will swear much less that issue.

TOS: While much has been made (and rightfully so) about Kirk's work, I wonder if you could discuss the amount of Tomm Coker's effort (a check of your blog reveals him trying to track down old Marvel Boy issues for reference, for example) that was clearly put into the covers. Also, any chance you two will collaborate again on a story (as you did in the Marvel western short story of earlier this year {A Man Called Hurricane})?

JP: I want to work with Tomm as much as I can. He directed a horror movie called CATACOMBS that will be out this year, and I'm guessing he'll get more directing opportunities after that. So I want to team up with him as much as possible. Man Called Hurricane turned out so beautiful, I never get tired of looking at it, ditto with the Atlas covers. He just showed me some pages from a story he's drawn for THE RIDE that are incredible. His compositions and the choices he makes are just daunting to me as an artist.

TOS: Given that your status at Marvel is ever increasingly on the upswing, what are the odds (and/or would you be interested) of having Marvel's Icon line publish the next Interman project?

JP: That's a good suggestion, Tim! I have no idea what the odds are, but I guess they would increase as development on the movie side proceeds. Which at the moment seems to be going well- New Line just renewed my option.

TOS: As a consumer, I've had my fill of gritty realism, so to have a creator of your ilk--one who can have tragic turns to his stories but still imbue the tale with wit--is refreshing. As a writer with an actual sense of humor (some writers mistakenly think they are funny), do you struggle with keeping a balance of drama and humor--making sure never go too far to either side?

JP: It's not a struggle really- to me the drama and humor play off each other naturally. The funny bits in Agents of Atlas make the tragic parts moreso, and vice versa. In the Adventures books I err on the side of light and funny much more, because those are all about putting your friendliest face out to the new readership.

TOS: Your X-Men: First Class series, by the nature of when it's set, has a lighter tone to it and I love your Marvel Adventures Avengers because it seems like a team of people that likes each other. And it got me to wonder, is there any Marvel character out there that's gotten "grittified" that you would like to take a stab at writing down the road and give the (for lack of a better term) "Jeff Parker treatment"?

JP: I'm not as anti- heavy-portrayal as people might think. I like dark stories with heavy characters; I just tend to not like that being done with characters who really weren't designed for it. Sometimes you can make it work, but for the most part it gets done haphazardly for pure shock value and doesn't contribute anything lasting and useful.

Can you suggest some of these characters you consider having gotten too gritty? I'd like to ponder that.

TOS: As much as Miller, Nocenti, Bendis and now Brubaker have given people great Daredevil stories--am I the only who misses the days when Daredevil would make a joke or two? And while I've not read Wolfman's approach toward Nightwing, the past several years have transformed Dick Grayson into a bitter fellow. And I had to "recuse" myself from The Trials of Shazam (so Billy Batson is now the Wizard-huh?-wha?-why?)--most likely because I loved Jerry Ordway's long run with the Marvel family. Oddly enough today my son and I were watching season 1 of Cartoon Network's Justice League and we saw the episode where Aquaman lost his hand. The cause for the loss in the cartoon (to save his son) was far better than PAD's original version (watch out for those piranha-infested pools!). That difference alone shows that there are nuances to grittiness. I know Ralph Dinby's 52 fate has not completely played out, but he's already much darker (and suddenly has a drinking problem) then when James Robinson played up the "Thin Man" element (it was even reported at one point that post-Starman, Robinson had considered a Ralph/Sue mini) that had been the main appeal to the characters for me. Finally, there's a moment in an issue of a Mark Waid-era (can't remember which run) Captain America, where Hawkeye/Clint was just hanging out with Cap and I thought to myself--"that's the Hawkeye that hung out with Two-Gun Kid--the Hawkeye I enjoyed reading." I can pinpoint Hawkeye's grittification to the original Henry Gyrich (Jim Shooter era) role in the Avengers. Granted, Hawkeye recently came back from the dead, so how he's going to be written is unclear. I realize that gritty and/or drastic change is often what sells, but still hold out hope for less grit in my comics reading.

JP: Daredevil has now been a dark book for as long as it was the jaunty jester hero, so I doubt we'll ever see him go back to that portrayal. And really, he kind of horns in (ooh, I am so clever) on Spider-Man's territory when he's like that. Though Karl Kesel depicted him very well that way a while back. Nightwing I haven't read much of, but it seems he gets beat up an awful lot.

Now you originally phrased the question only pertaining to Marvel characters, but now that we've broadened the field, I have to say Captain Marvel is the big sticking point for me. I don't think the Captain has been handled right since they've had the property, except for the stories drawn by Don Newton in World's Finest years ago. American publishers who are trying to figure out what kids like about Manga ignore this property which has the same pure-fun insane concepts and characters, and it all has a consistency that few hero adventure character books do. I'm speaking of the original Binder and Beck stories, of course. I wish I could invent a villain as good as Mr. Mind, and as a kid I loved Mr. Tawny (kid nothing, I still do). Even Ordway who was very respectful, tried to make things more realistic to bring the Captain into the DCU, and I don't think that's the way to do it. Just embrace the pipe dream aspect of the whole thing and do it earnestly, and you'll have an outstanding kids comic. I'm really looking forward to the Jeff Smith book, as you might suspect.

I keep warning people not to expect me to turn everything I touch to lightness and fun, though. I just go the way I think most interesting and entertaining. As for Hawkeye- he seemed to have a good time just recently with the Scarlet Witch, so at least he's returning in a nice way. I loved that the hero moment of that New Avengers story was him hitting a kid with an apple!

TOS: Were there other narrative devices considered for the X-Men: First Class, or did you settle upon the Bobby Drake's letter home element pretty early on?

JP: That one came to me right away, with the end of Bobby dropping the letter and it shattering. Bobby was the best candidate for giving the insider's view as the youngest and newest at the time. I could have written it from Cerebro's point of view, but that might have been a bit dry. Really the reason is I wanted the reader to imagine what it would be like to be a student at Xavier's School.

TOS: In the back page of X-Men: First Class 1, you said you want to "look into what's so engaging and lasting about these characters". Given that as much as I enjoy Grant Morrison as a writer, I'm still annoyed at him for having a great character like Hank McCoy "evolve" to the point of using a litter box (sorry needed to vent for a second), I'd be curious to hear what you think makes these characters so engaging and lasting.

JP: Tim, it's good that you don't hold a grudge. They're engaging because they're prototypes for many modern Marvel heroes, occupying a kind of pioneer status. They've been around for 40 years, but still feel very modern. Back to Hank- I understand your disdain for the cat habits, but I do like the idea that this brilliant man likely faces a future where he grows ever more bestial. Remember, evolution isn't always a move towards sophistication and complexity!

TOS: In the realm of major comic events, there are few that have stupefied me as much as Avengers Dissembled. So I was pleasantly surprised to read your recent What If reworking of it. How much fun (or how hard) was it to play with such major chunks of Avengers history? After the cameo of Agatha Harkness' skull, I was half expecting you to toss Bova the half-cow/half-nanny into the mix.

JP: I really needed more room for the last part of the story when we- SPOILERS!- indict Captain America. It's just such a big even to distill down into a What If. I wanted to do a spread like they did in the original showing all the times Scarlet Witch was acting evil or crazy, but showing all the times Cap thought he saw Bucky.

And hey, Agatha was in the original story, in a Norman Bates' Mother fashion! You did catch who was really speaking in the captions during the skull scene, right? Skip to the last page...

TOS: In terms of Agatha--I like your use of Uatu as Edgar Bergen to Agatha's Charlie McCarthy. In terms of upcoming Marvel work--what are the odds you can sneak a Spidey-Mobile joke into the upcoming Fantastic Four/Spiderman series? And in all seriousness, what can you tell folks about the series-namely is it set in the current day or is it in the same vein as your X-Men mini?

JP: The odds... just got good! Are you daring me? Because I'll do it!

TOS: Yes I dare you, sir. Spidey always takes the brunt of the mocking, in my opinion, when in reality I think Johnny Storm is the person who gave it the goofy design worth mocking. See what you can do, please. And in all seriousness, what can you tell folks about the series-namely is it set in the current day or is it in the same vein as your X-Men mini?

JP: The miniseries is set in the present day but not right in current events. So you'll be seeing classic Spidey and FF, and it will probably just be understood that this is happening before the events in Civil War. It's worth stressing that it's MIKE WIERINGO DRAWING SPIDER-MAN AND THE FANTASTIC FOUR (use echo effect). The artist who as far as I'm concerned has done the definitive versions of those characters in recent years. And as far as lots of readers are concerned, I'm pretty sure! And yes, I did pinch myself when that project came through.

TOS: The fact that Wieringo is on board for this mini is a definite draw for many, including myself--but I'm curious as an artist yourself--what makes Wieringo such a great visual storyteller?

JP: I've seen Mike work firsthand a lot, so I can actually answer that. He researches the hell out of things he has to draw, for one. And he has great instincts for how to portray character, which is a product of having strong opinions on story. But I think his greatest strength is the ability to see things purely as a reader, and that's hard to do when you know the process so well. Mike knows what a Ben Grimm fan is hoping to see when the big guy goes into action, for example. And just because he can draw beautiful women, he doesn't feel the need to make sex objects out of all of them. What I really enjoy is when Mike gives into his most cartoony impulses, because he can really rival great animators in that mode. I love the way he draws animals too. I claim that he's our Juanjo Guarnido, and I'm right.

TOS: Have you been to a therapist to get to the root cause of your love for MODOK?

JP: All that would result is me converting that therapist into a MODOK fiend. How could one not be? He's got a brain blast, a hover chair, he's quite a looker...

TOS: Virgin Comics is seemingly going for a different consumer (than the standard DC/Marvel reader) with its comics. Do you hope that your involvement in Virgin might draw more consumers to your other work?

JP: I think it will. I don't really think the market is as segmented into camps as people would have you believe, it just seems that way because some fans are so vocal. I think there are a lot of people like myself who can enjoy a big Gail Simone superfight and then pick up Eddie Campbell's books without missing a beat. Much of what Virgin is doing at the moment would appeal to Vertigo readers as does Walk-In.

TOS: What is it about Walk-In that you believe would click with the typical Vertigo reader?

JP: It's a very off-center book that has a lot beneath the surface, and Vertigo readers often respond to that. It gives me a chance to put more real-life situations in the mix with fantastic ones.

TOS: What stage are you at with Underground, your graphic novel collaboration with Steve Lieber? Will you be publishing it through Octopus Press?

JP: We're on the first of four books with Underground, and hopefully will pick up steam soon. Lieber's been drowning in interesting projects lately, and when he does have time, I'm always under the deadline gun as well. So I've been staying about two pages ahead of him with script! We've talked a bit about it possibly being under Image. I just can't devote the time to publishing that the process demands.

TOS: With Underground, are you having to hold back or play elements down to not get too heavy-handed with the political/environmental element of the tale for fear of derailing the overall narrative?

JP: I think the ultimate message- well wait, I don't want to ruin that, and really I don't want people to think about themes at all, because theme-driven stories are heavy handed by nature. I never start with the intent to play up a theme, anyway. But it's mostly about the resourcefulness of the main character Wesley Fischer, and how normal circumstances can spiral into something dangerous, more than anything.

TOS: I'm truly appreciative of the fact you went to the trouble and time of producing the Alex Toth book (DEAR JOHN: The Alex Toth Doodle Book). With his passing last year, I think more folks became aware (as they already should have been) of Toth's talent, but your book helps to ensure (along with Toth's body of work, of course) he'll be brought to the attention of folks for years to come. It's been well over six months since the book was released, and I was curious if you had any reactions or stories about Toth that really impressed or struck you stemming from your work with the book?

JP: The nice thing was that I and especially his friend John Hitchcock got to hear lots of great anecdotes from people who knew Alex after the book came out. You know, the one that stands out at the moment was with cartoonist Sandy Jarrell. (Here's a site with his work, http://www.whamcomics.com/) Toth took something Sandy wrote in a letter wrong and got a little hard on him, so Sandy left him alone for awhile before writing back to mention that there was a misunderstanding. That was a fairly common experience, but soon after Sandy got three Dover books in the mail that Alex had ordered for him, with works by Winsor McKay and Lyonel Feininger. That among many things I've heard suggest that he really mellowed out in his last years. Sandy of course was very touched.

TOS: As a fellow who has spent the past several years making a name for himself and successfully getting more people to appreciate your work, what creators or projects do you wish more people were paying attention to (or more importantly--buying!)?

JP: Agh, there's so many. I hope now that Carla Speed McNeil is offering free single issues online, more readers discover Finder. Paul Tobin, who wrote Banana Sunday, is real talent and he's starting to write for Marvel. The aforementioned Sandy Jarrell is another artist I think that bigger companies would be happy to work with.

TOS: Thanks for mentioning Finder--I still think it a damn shame that more people did not become aware of her work (though many did, I'm happy to add) when she worked on Greg Rucka's Queen and Country. And we are in total agreement on Sandy, given that Johanna Draper Carlson got me to look at some Destined Love pages a few years back and I'm bewildered as to why he's not working with one of the major companies at present. If Marvel does more Romance work in the near to long-term, they'd do well to get him onboard. I interviewed Colleen Coover awhile back when Banana Sunday was still in process and not yet at Oni, so I'm glad to see that its success has benefited both her and Root Nibot/Paul Tobin.

JP: Colleen is a major talent, that's for sure. Now that she's joined Mercury Studio, we get wowed by her work on a daily basis. I'd also like to predict greatness for Leland Purvis, who drew Suspended in Language for GT Labs and is now working on a project for First Second. He's a very interesting cartoonist.

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