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AICN COMICS: Q&@ is our new semi-weekly interview column where some of your favorite @$$Holes interview comic bookdom’s biggest, brightest, newest, and oldest stars. Enjoy this latest in-depth interview filled with @$$y goodness and be sure to look for more AICN COMICS as we gaze into the future of comics every week with AICN COMICS: SPINNER RACK PREVIEWS every Monday and then join the rest of your favorite @$$Holes for their opinions on the weekly pull every Wednesday with AICN COMICS REVIEWS!
Q’s by Matt Adler!
@’s by The folks behind Marvel’s ONE MONTH TO LIVE Miniseries!
Hey folks, Matt Adler here with a mega-interview with the talented folks behind Marvel’s new mini-event ONE MONTH TO LIVE coming to shops all through September starting Wednesday September 1st! ONE MONTH TO LIVE tells the story of Dennis Sykes, an average Joe who, in classic Marvel tradition, gains superpowers through a bizarre accident. Unlike most superheroes, though, the accident gives him something else: one month to live. I spoke with the writing team (Stuart Moore, Rick Remender, John Ostrander, and Rob Williams) and editor Steve Wacker about the 5 issues that comprise Dennis’ story to learn more about where this intriguing premise may lead.
MATT ADLER (MA): Where did the idea for “One Month To Live” originate?
STEVE WACKER (SW): Over the past year I’ve had a couple people close to me die and that very human idea of what we’re meant to leave behind on this mudball has been consuming my thoughts. Then, early this year, as the Avengers office was cementing their Heroic Age plans, I kept coming back to the idea of how it must feel for someone living in the Marvel Universe to try and measure their own life against the Avengers. I mean, I get insecure around an assistant editor, so I can’t imagine trying to stand out next to people like Captain America, Ms. Marvel and Thor.JOHN OSTRANDER (JO): I’m assuming with our mighty editor, Steve Wacker. He called me and told me about the project and what part he wanted me to play and I said yes. Of course, yes.
MA: How was the creative team for this series assembled?
JO: The exclusive Steve Wacker patented method: put names up on the wall and throw darts at them blindfolded. Sometimes the method doesn’t work quite right. Originally, I was going to be an inker.MA: Who is Dennis Sykes?
Several core Marvel characters -- Daredevil and Spider-Man, for instance -- got their powers from accidents involving radioactive substances. The idea behind ONE MONTH TO LIVE is a simple variation on that: what if an ordinary man received powers in a similar way, but then learned his "origin" was also a death sentence? Everything else in the series plays out from there.
MA: The solicitation suggests that Dennis may not necessarily choose a heroic path; what's driving him upon discovering his impending demise? Is it too simple to classify him as a hero or villain?
RW: Dennis has to decide what he wants to be in a manner that’s reminiscent of classic Marvel origins like Spider-Man. Suddenly he has the ability to just walk into a bank and take all the money he wants. That’s got to be pretty tempting to a guy struggling to make ends meet for his family every month. It reminds me of Spidey choosing not to stop the mugger in his origin story. That’s a classic line in temptation - giving someone super powers out of the blue. They have to choose who they want to be on a scale that they have no way of preparing for. And in Dennis’ case, he could suddenly be one of the most powerful people in the whole Marvel universe. There’s a Billy Bragg lyric that goes “virtue never tested is no virtue at all.” Well, Dennis’ virtue is about to be tested.
MA: Accidental exposure to hazards (notably radiation and chemicals) that would be fatal in the real world has long been a source of superpowers in the Marvel Universe, and the idea has been played around with in other books, notably Warren Ellis' RUINS. What makes this a compelling aspect of the Marvel Universe to examine?
JO: I think it’s a deep-seated part of the Marvel mythos. The FF, Spider-man, and so many others are more or less normal people who suddenly acquire these powers. Even the X-Men, who are who and what they are by birth, don’t usually acquire their mutant powers until puberty. They have a “normal” youth, more or less. So all the heroes bring who they are as characters to what they become as heroes or villains. Some characters, heroes or villains, are defined by their powers. At Marvel, they defined by who they are as characters first. The same holds true for Dennis and the story is not simply about the powers and whether or not he lives or dies or becomes a hero or villain – it’s about who he becomes as a person.
But I want to stress something: This is not a downbeat series. In keeping with the Heroic Age, it's the story of an ordinary person trying to make his way in an incredibly stressful situation. I think we were all a little surprised at how uplifting the story became.
MA: It's been revealed that Dennis will encounter Spider-Man, the Fantastic Four, and the Avengers in the course of the series; what made these particular characters the most interesting to explore in this context?
SM: Spider-Man's a natural because he's the friendly neighborhood Everyman of the Marvel Universe. The other characters pretty much told us whether or not they wanted to be involved in the story. My installment was originally planned to feature a different set of characters, but the FF fit into the plot much more naturally.
MA: What's the structure of the series? How was it decided which writer would tackle which character?
SM: I think Steve Wacker chose me for the big cosmic chapter 'cause he knows I'm a big sci-fi nerd.
RR: Stephen and I created the cast and the basic outline from a basic 3 act structure but everyone involved came together and wrote the story. I was scheduled to do the first and final chapters and the rest fell into place on our first conference call. People gravitated towards one idea more than another and everyone found something they were excited to write. But we all broke down the real meat of it together.
MA: Can you tell us a bit about the collaborative process amongst the writers?
RW: As I understand it – and Rick and Steve Wacker can confirm this – the original pitch was from Rick, after discussions with Steve, then myself, Stuart Moore and John Ostrander were brought in to flesh out the individual chapters. We started with a conference call where everyone bounced ideas around and then it became a writer’s room via email. Everyone’s been enormously cool about this project, taking on ideas from all sides. Issue two may be written be me but there’s ideas in it that have come from the team, and similarly one of my ideas may turn up in the other scripts. I’ve really enjoyed the process. There’s been no ego, just people committed to delivering a very powerful story.One thing I noticed after the fact was: I think we were all very good about cautioning each other whenever one of us was about to take an easy way out, emotionally, with the characters. A story like this has the potential to fall into melodrama or cliche, and it was important to all of us that Dennis's story be told honestly. Hopefully, working together, we've pulled that off.
MA: Andrea Mutti and Koi Turnbull have been listed as two of the artists working on this series; what can you tell us about their contributions? Have any other artists signed on to the series?
JO: The artist on my issue is Graham Nolan, an old friend and collaborator with whom I really happy to be working with again. Graham’s a wonderful artist and there’s a lot of character stuff in it that Graham will excel at. And, since we’re in the Savage Land for part of the issue, there are also dinosaurs. And mercs. And Wolverine. (snikt!) I’ve already seen a lot of the pencils and they’re looking great.
MA: What other projects do you guys have coming up?
JO: The STAR WARS series I’ve been writing over at Dark Horse, STAR WARS LEGACY, is winding up but we’ve been given a six issue miniseries, STAR WARS LEGACY: WAR, with which to really bring the series to a close. Six issues of Force-induced mayhem and there’s no guarantee any of the characters will be alive at the end of it. Starting in December.RR: UNCANNY X-FORCE launches in October with masters of art science Jerome Opeña and Dean White. The last arc of FEAR AGENT (Dark Horse) is currently under way with Mike Hawthorne, Tony Moore and John Lucas. I’ve got the last few issues of PUNISHER’s Franken-Castle arc with Tony Moore and Dan Brereton, then some more PUNISHER stuff. LAST DAYS OF AMERICAN CRIME (Radical) with Greg Tocchini is wrapping up. I served as lead writer on Epic/PCF’s new video game BULLETSTORM and that ships in February.
RW: I have SHADOWLAND: GHOST RIDER coming soon, with amazing art by Clayton Crain, a Son Of Satan story in the TOMB OF TERROR horror anthology drawn by Pablo Pappino, and a couple of other Marvel projects that haven’t been solicited yet. My ROBOCOP series is continuing with Dynamite and I’m a regular contributor to 2000AD and the JUDGE DREDD MEGAZINE in the UK. Myself and the crazily talented D’isreali have a new ten-part LOW LIFE series starting in 2000AD #1700 in a few weeks. You can see previews on my blog.
MA: Thanks for taking the time to answer these questions. Here are the writing / art teams for each issue of ONE MONTH TO LIVE.


OMTL #1 W: Rick Remender A: Andrea Mutti
OMTL #2 W: Rob Williams A: Shawn Moll, Koi Turnbull
OMTL #3 W: Stuart Moore A: Shane White
OMTL #4 W: John Ostrander A: Graham Nolan
OMTL #5 W: Rick Remender A: Jamie McKelvie
Look for ONE MONTH TO LIVE in September from Marvel.
Matt Adler is a writer/journalist, currently writing for AICN among other outlets. He’s been reading comics for 20 years, writing about them for 7, and spends way, way, too much time thinking about them, which means he really has no choice but to figure out how to make a living out of them. He welcomes all feedback.OMTL #2 W: Rob Williams A: Shawn Moll, Koi Turnbull
OMTL #3 W: Stuart Moore A: Shane White
OMTL #4 W: John Ostrander A: Graham Nolan
OMTL #5 W: Rick Remender A: Jamie McKelvie