Hey, everyone. "Moriarty" here with some Rumblings From The Lab.
This is strange. No... this practically defines strange.
When I was ten years old, I moved to Chattanooga, Tennessee with my parents and my sister. We lived in a neighborhood called Mountain Shadows, a hell of a nice place to grow up. Giant hills, huge yards, beautiful foliage. While I lived there, my best friend in the neighborhood was a guy named Bill Rosemann. He was one of the first cool geeks I ever met. He wasn't a STAR WARS freak like me, though. His thing was comic books. His room was a library of comics. He was the first guy I met who used backing boards and bags and who had things arranged alphabetically, divided into Marvel and DC and independent. He was the guy with the coolest dogs EVER, the guy whose older brother was exactly like Chet from WEIRD SCIENCE, the guy I saw pretty much every day for about five years. Like I said... my best friend at the time.
And then my parents moved, and I went with them, and at the age of 15, we lost touch. Happens all the time. I also lost touch with Chris Weller and Mark Whitaker and David Hames and Malik Hamid and all my friends from Chattanooga. And once it happens, you figure that's pretty much it. You're pretty much not going to see that person again, or talk to them, and those memories are all you have.
But then a moment like today arises, and I find myself writing an intro to an interview done by Grayhaven Magazine with the writer of a new comic called DEADLINE, a writer who turns out to be none other than... Bill Rosemann.
And, yeah, it's the same guy. We were first re-introduced last year by mutual friends in New York, and somehow, there's something really great about me being in a prime film geek job and Bill being in a prime comic geek job. It feels like all those wasted nights growing up, debating about STAR WARS and INDIANA JONES and THE NEW MUTANTS and TEEN TITANS and every other topic under the sun weren't so wasted after all. It feels right and proper that Bill is considered something of an authority on all things relating to the House of Ideas. And reading the attached interview and pitch... that makes me really proud to know the guy. It's been a long strange road to this moment, Bill, but I'm damn glad to see you here. Happy New Year to you and your wife, who I will have to meet one day, and congrats on the writing job. Can't wait to read the end result.
First we've got the pitch for the miniseries, then an original piece of Guy Davis art, and then an interview with Bill Rosemann.
DEADLINE
Chasing a killer story can be hazardous to your health
What if you were a reporter for the Daily Bugle?
And what if you hated your beat: covering the super-powered freaks known in media-speak as "The Capes?"
And what if -- against your better judgment -- you actually started to fall in love with one?
I hate Capes.
See, my dream was to be an investigative reporter, pounding the pavement like Ben Urich... even followed his footsteps straight to the Daily Bugle. But since I'm a newbie fresh out of journalism school, they're making me prove my chops by covering the worst beat of them all: the Capes, a.k.a. the resident freaks the world calls "superhuman".
The spandex, the petty feuds, that whole "secret identity" crap... it's like New York's their personal playground, and I have to make sense out of all the broken toys. I mean, how do you get a dockworker from Bayside to care about ó let alone understand ó unstable molecules?
But Betty Brant just gave me a tip (hey, us girls gotta stick together): in a week, a spot's opening up at the Crime Desk... but to grab it I have to land a hot story. Lucky for me, a scorcher is burning a bloody trail through the city. Seems a string of skels, dealers and low-level black capes are being found dead all over the city. And get this: a guy in the morgue thinks that they've been frightened to death. But that's not the weird part.
Word on the street is that Judge Michael "Black" Hart is the one doing it. Yeah, the hotshot who once specialized in putting away black capes, the hottie who hob-nobbed with Tony Stark and Janet van Dyne, the guy whose swanky apartment became a crime scene when cops responded to a domestic disturbance and found a pile of blow, all sorts of dirty documents with names like Wilson Fisk plastered all over them, and his very dead wife. They didn't find Hart, but they did find enough of his blood to make him either corpse #2 or suspect #1.
The next day every hood from Avenue C to Harlem bragged that they were the one that popped a dozen rounds into Hart... but now they're all running scared, because they say that the Judge is back, and that he's updated his résumé to jury and executioner. And I say the same thing, because last night... last night I saw him.
There I was humpin' the trail down in Alphabet City when one bad turn took me down the wrong alley at an even worse time. I was about to get smoked by some black cape calling himself Third Rail when the Judge melted out of the shadows. His skin smooth and pale, giving off mist like dry ice. And his eyes? I'd swear they were opals. Out of his trench coat these - these tentacles of smoke -- they snaked out, pulling Third Rail away. And I've never heard a man scream like that.
Then the Judge slipped back into the night, but not before looking at me straight in the face. And I saw... pain? Loneliness? Something raw. Something that told me that maybe he's the one that needs saving. Something that tells me that he's as confused by all the spiritual stuff as I was.
Or maybe I imagined it. Maybe I saw what I wanted to see. Betty's thinks I'm breaking rule #1: never get involved with a cape. But that's crazy, right? I mean how do you get involved with an urban myth? How do you fall for a ghost?
So that's where I am. Seven days from my last chance. Seven days with nothing but a laptop on its last legs, a failing attempt to quit smoking, and a friend who thinks I want to swap spit with Casper.
See? Told you I hate Capes.
An Interview with 'Deadline' Creator, Bill Rosemann
Marketing Communications Maestro, Bill Rosemann, has been with Marvel Comics for close to ten years now. The man used to getting the word out about Marvel's projects finds himself on the other side of the fence, as writer of a new series set to debut this Spring, Deadline. Illustrated by the one and only Guy Davis, Deadline focuses on rookie Daily Bugle reporter, Katherine Farrell, who is responsible for covering the superhuman beat, a job she can't stand. We were able to talk to Bill about his career at Marvel and more importantly, the debut of Deadline.
GHM: What can you tell us about Deadline?
BR: What's it really like to be a reporter for the Daily Bugle? And what's it like to cover the superhuman beat... especially if you think they're a bunch of immature brats? Ya see, Katherine "Kat" Farrell hates "The Capes". They wear silly costumes. They have "feuds". They run around destroying public property when real heroes are sacrificing their lives to help others. But, hey, Kat's a rookie reporter, so it's the beat she's stuck with. That is, unless she can nail a big story and move up the ladder to the City Crime Desk. Trouble is, the story she stumbles on just may end her career... not to mention her life!
As for the nitty gritty, it's a four-issue monthly mini-series that hits the first week of April. It's got covers by Greg Horn (Elektra cover artist), a major new character designed by our very own EIC Joe Quesada... and it's got pencils by the master of pulp noir, Guy Davis (The Marquis, Nevermen, and Sandman Mystery Theatre)!
GHM: Does it take place in the current Marvel Universe, is it a MAX title or what?
BR: Joe Quesada specifically asked that some of the characters that are introduced in this story stick around in the Marvel U... so it's a mainline Marvel book. And believe me, it's an honor to place characters on the same stage as Spider-Man and Daredevil!
As for it's rating, since it's a street-level book starring adults that talk like, well, adults it may have a MarvelPG+ rating.
GHM: When does the first issue come out?
BR: April 3rd is the big day! Same day that some other huge Marvel books go on sale, so hopefully that will bring foot traffic in comics shops and hopefully they'll give Deadline a try!
GHM: Can we expect to see any cameos by more recognizable figures in the Marvel Universe?
BR: If you're a Spider-Man fan, like I am, then you're going to see plenty of friendly faces. Folks like Ben Urich, Robbie Robertson, Betty Brant, and good ol' J. Jonah Jameson all feature prominently in Kat's world. And since it's her job to cover The Capes, we'll also see plenty of cameos by Manhattan's superhuman population, but from a "person on the street" view.
But what I hope people will find more interesting is the level of society that the mere existence of The Capes has created. For example, you know about The Bar With No Name (the dive where super-villains go to knock back a few), but where do costumed creeps go when they break an arm fighting Thor? After all, it's not like they can just waltz into an emergency room. And where does someone with super-tough skin go to get a tattoo? It's questions like that that I'm interested in, and it's this world that Kat prowls in her hunt for the story.
GHM: Where did you get the inspiration for Deadline?
BR: I've always been fascinated with the idea of being a reporter for a big city paper. When I was a kid, I didn't want to be Superman, I wanted to be Clark Kent. For me, some of the most compelling scenes in Peter Parker's life were not when he was swinging above the streets as Spider-Man, but while he was running through the frenzied halls of the Daily Bugle. So I just took that idea and ran with it, exploring what it would really be like to be a reporter in a town over-run by strange beings in latex.
On top of that, I've always dug gothic romances like those in Wuthering Heights and even Interview With The Vampire; plus the dark visions of movie directors such as Tim Burton. So I just let all those influences pour through my fingers, and Deadline came out.
GHM: Who do you consider influences for your work?
BR: You may not see them directly, but things that influenced me, that percolate in my mind, are there in Deadline: movies like His Girl Friday and City of Lost Children, TV shows like NYPD Blue and The Prisoner. Books like The Alienist and Catcher in the Rye. But most importantly, I'm inspired by New York City itself. After admiring it from afar, I've lived in the Big Apple since 1993, soaking up its energy and character every day. If anything has influenced me the most it's the style, the grit, and the heart of Manhattan and its people.
GHM: You're working within the Marvel Universe, but chose to focus on 'real' people as opposed to the super beings that we're used to seeing, What was it that made you want to do this type of story?
BR: As I said, New York City has always fascinated me as a place of ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances. To me, it's the struggle of everyday people that make for great, heart-wrenching drama. Plus, while the Marvel Universe has traditionally been more grounded, populated with more complex characters. I always was fond of the street-level stories, the tales that looked at these crazy, brightly garbed gods through the eyes of a mere mortal. And whether I read fiction or non-fiction, I've predominantly drifted towards the back alleys of cities, where the desperate and broken people live. So when it comes to comic books, I'm interested in exploring this "real" side of the Marvel Universe.
GHM: This isn't your first project for Marvel though, right? What other stories do you have under your belt?
BR: The last thing I was asked to write was the back cover copy for HEROES, which was an honor to even be involved in such an amazing project. As for comic stories, I scripted over a Chris Claremont plot in last year's Peter Parker: Spider-Man Annual. That was a rewarding challenge, because while it wasn't my story, I got to talk in the voice of Peter... and, dude, I got to write Spider-Man! Before that there was a short story that ran in a couple issues of Captain America that revealed the WWII meeting between Nick Fury and Baron Blood. In both stories I wrote in a first person voice in captions, which is my favorite way to write. I enjoy using the character's actual voice to climb inside their heads and have them talk directly with the reader. On top of that there's all the writing I do for Marvel, like the monthly catalog, our ads... and I'm really good friends with Your Man @ Marvel, who writes that thrice weekly column at Marvel.com!
GHM: How long have you been working for Marvel now?
BR: I started writing for Marvel Age, The House's own hype mag, back in 1993. Then I came on as assistant copywriter in '94 and swam my way up the channel, always trying to build a bridge between Editorial and Marketing. See, I hate when Sales & Marketing lead the product, when it should clearly be the other way around. So while it's my job to talk to the public about our comics, I always try and do so from a creator/reader point of view, stressing the strengths of the project itself, not gimmicks or hype.
So the answer, after that diatribe on the potential evils of Marketing, is that I've been in The House for nearly nine years. In that time I've gotten to meet so many cool and talented people that it's not even funny. After working in New York's public relations and book publishing worlds, I can tell you that the comic book field is one of the greatest industries going.
GHM: With your position at Marvel, you've been working with creators and editors and the press in getting the word out about Marvel projects. What's it like to have to do it for yourself this time?
BR: I tell ya, it's a dangerous tightrope to walk. On one hand, I want to spread the word of what I'm working on. On the other, I know that I have to keep the spotlight on the big stuff that's coming in April like Captain America #1, Black Widow: Pale Little Spider #1 and the always hot X, Spider, and Ultimate titles.
Plus, writing Deadline is strictly freelance gig, so any extra promotion I give it I do on my own clock. I can't betray Marvel's trust in me to do my job and promote the big books.
But despite that balancing act, I have to say it's really fun talking at length with all the reporters I've gotten to know over the years... and hey, if I can swing the spotlight on Guy Davis, one of my all-time favorite artist, then that's the icing on the cake!
GHM: Speaking of Guy Davis, How did you manage to swing such a big name for your first big project?
BR: I tell ya, it's like a first-time director saying, "The name on the top of my wish list to star in this movie is Robert DeNiro"... and then DeNiro signs up! I give all credit to Sr. Editor Tom Brevoort and Assistant Editors Marc Sumerak and Jeff Youngquist in landing Guy. Tom and I talked about how he would be perfect for the project, Joe Quesada said how great it would be to have Guy here, and the next thing you know, Guy's drawing his first series for Marvel!
From the outset, he's the artist I dreamed of drawing this story, and it's his artwork that I see in my mind as I write out each scene. To have him onboard is both terribly exciting and incredibly humbling. When I get pages back from Guy I think two things: 1. I can't believe Guy Davis is drawing something I wrote and 2: I can't believe how much Guy improves what I wrote!
I've bought just about everything Guy has ever done since I discovered his work in Sandman Mystery Theatre, so to be working with him on a professional basis is simply mind-blowing. And not only is he supremely talented, but he's such a nice guy... and such a workhorse! Did you know that he thumbnails every page of every issue before he pencils it. And then he asks me what I want changed. And I'm like: "Holy shit, Guy Davis is asking me if I like what he drew!"
GHM: Guy is known for his sweeping panels and incredible cityscapes, evident in such work as Baker Street and The Marquis. Is he just going nuts with New York?
BR: You better believe it. And after showing you the gleaming spires, he's hopping down into the gutters and putting a microscope at what really goes on in the city that never sleeps. In fact, just wait until issue #3, when I give him... well, let's just say he's going to draw New York City in ways you've never seen before.
GHM: Do you take a different approach in writing something like Deadline, where the characters are your own, as opposed to your previous stories where you were working in someone else's playground, so to speak?
BR: I can definitely do more with characters that I created, because, let's face it, they're characters that I created. By that I mean, while Marvel now owns them, it's not like they're the big guns that people have been following for decades. See, with characters like Nick Fury or Spider-Man, while you can put them through the wringer, they have to be in one piece in the end for another creator to play with. The challenge then, is to make these new characters interesting and compelling, so that the readers will want to read more about them; to make readers care what I or anyone else does with them.
GHM: Based on the type of story Deadline is, with its more 'real world' view of super heroes, the inevitable comparisons will be made to books like Powers or Alias. How does Deadline stand out from those books?
BR: Stand out? Heck, I'm just honored that it's standing next to books like that. Will people see similarities in the Deadline and Powers? If I do my job right than I suppose they might. Both deal with non-powered characters dealing with a city full of superhumans. But while Powers is a crime book with characters trying to solve mysteries and make arrests, Deadline is about a character trying to solve a mystery and land a story, which I think readers will find are two different things. That said, Bendis is a god, and I think Powers and Alias are two of the best books going today, and it would be great if readers of those comics check out Deadline. The way I see it, there's room on the racks for many riffs on similar subjects, as long as they're good. It's like TV. There's NYPD Blue, there's Law & Order, there's CSI. All different looks at similar subjects. And people watch all three because they like what they see. And with Guy Davis supplying visuals, I know people will like what they see in Deadline.
GHM: Though this is a limited series, have you laid a foundation for more Deadlines' in the future?
BR: While some characters are radically changed by the end of the fourth issue, the story of Kat is definitely ready to go on. In fact, you could say that this is just the first chapter in her story. But as to whether it will continue? That's in the hands of the readers. If they want more, I'm ready. Guy told me he'd be happy to sign back on... and I've got a killer second act bouncing around my head.
GHM: Finally, why should people check out this mini-series?
BR: It all comes down to what they want out of their comics. If you like fast-talking, street-level crime books, Deadline could be for you. Or you like looking at superhumans through mortal eyes. Or if you want to follow the adventures of a strong female protagonist. Or if you're hungry for The House Of Ideas to introduce all-new characters. Or if you're a fan of Guy Davis's art... not to mention sweet, sweet covers by Greg Horn.
So if any of those things sound intriguing, lift up the police tape, step into the darkness, and join the fun.
