MattBrady
08-25-2003, 07:00 AM
<a href="http://www.newsarama.com/sangiacomo/PJack1_rough.jpg" target="_blank"><img width="185" height="288" border="0" hspace="2" src="http://www.newsarama.com/sangiacomo/PJack1_rough_t.jpg" align="right" alt="Mitch Breitweiser's rough cover pencils for #1"></a><I>by Mike San Giacomo</I>
It’s late summer, the script for <b>Phantom Jack #1</b> has been approved and the art team is busy at work turning the words into pictures. There was an initial rush to get the first issue out in November, but the deadline zipped past so fast we barely had a look at it. My sense was that Marvel would prefer to see the book debut later anyway.
So December it is.
This means the cover and a good chunk of the interior needs to be done by the end of August in order to have it featured in the October <I>Previews</I> catalog from Diamond.
As of this writing, August 23, we’re still waiting for final approval on Mitch Breitweiser’s cover. Not concerned. No sir. We’re not concerned at all. I’m sure that approval is coming down the line any second now.
Of course, if the cover is rejected, or if changes are needed, it will be a bear to get it down before the Sept. 1 deadline. It’s possible that delay could push the comic’s release date to January.
We’re hoping not, since all our publicity has been touting a December date. I know this is a very small potato in Marvel’s big stew, but I trust that everything will be done in time. Some readers have asked for some detail about the first issue, fair question, especially since talking about issue two would not make sense without that groundwork.
Jack Baxter is a successful reporter at the fictitious New York Clarion newspaper. I used my newspaper, <I>The Plain Dealer of Cleveland</I> and a few of its characters, as nominal models. Time is very important to the series. The first issue opens with a scene in Baghdad from April, 2002, with Jack and his taxi-driver buddy, Aziz, talking about the search for weapons of mass destruction and strip clubs.
Like many people I met in Baghdad when I was there for the previous Bush’s war, Aziz is just a guy trying to get along. He does not care about politics and oil, he just wants to keep his family safe and happy.
The real Aziz, upon which the taxi driver was based, was much the same as his comic book counterpart. A situation similar to what happened in the book happened in real life, though without the dire consequences. I don’t want to reveal too much, but Aziz becomes an important character in Jack’s life.
After five pages, the scene shifts to April, 2003 in New York where we learn that Jack’s work in Baghdad won him a prestigious award, but that he’s not terribly happy about what the story cost him.
We learn that Jack has a talent that any reporter would kill for, the ability to turn invisible. Previous scripts showed Jack using his abilities to do everything from the sleazy, such as checking out pop stars in the shower, to facilitating the rescue of a kidnap victim. I hope to use this material in later story arcs, assuming there are later story arcs.
So Jack is a guy trying to figure out how to use his powers to benefit both himself and others. One thing he will never do is make jokes while fighting. He will not quip, “Ouch, that’ll leave a mark,” after being shot in the arm. In fact, if Jack does get shot or stabbed he will react like any normal person would: scream in pain and panic. It ain’t pretty, but it’s real.
He not Peter Parker, but neither is he Norman Osborne.
He’s not insane, which if examined logically both Parker and Osborne are, Jack is more like all of us. Plot seeds are planted in issue #1 with the introduction of Jack’s screw-up brother, Cassidy, who is with the Army Reserves in Iraq just before the ground war opens up. Cassidy is the reason for the whole plot, which gets moving in issue two.
Jack interacts with people at work, mentally dealing with his own guilt and indecision.
Making that inner-conflict clear was perhaps the biggest challenge. Too much thought made the work static, too little left the character’s motivations enigmatic. I think the final half of the first issue will establish Jack as an interesting character. He comes across a crime in progress in the park and has to decide whether or not to truly play the hero and risk his own safety.
As he moves on, Jack will use his very simple power of invisibility in some unusual, and creepy, ways. Every month I read Waid’s <b>Fantastic Four</b> I shudder that he has thought of those ways and Sue Richards will beat Jack to the punch. I’ve been lucky so far, but he has already thought up things for Sue to do that I could not have.
Jack’s actions have consequences and make for a twist at the end which sets up the motivation for the rest of the series. I opted to not put a “thought-track” in Jack’s fight sequence, trusting that Mitch and colorist Jaime Jones could convey the emotions in words.
Besides, in the few fight-or-flight situations I’ve found myself in, I did not have much interior dialogue. I either reacted with very dangerous dispassionate disbelief, what happens when reporters forget that if someone is shooting in their direction they can just as easily be hit as anyone. That means I stood there like an idiot.
In the other cases, I ran like a rabbit.
But I never joked, mentally or otherwise, until I was safely back at the office.
I hope I didn’t say too much to spoil anything.
Wolf Bigelow, Jack’s buddy, is based on a reporter at the <I>Plain Dealer</I> who recently retired. He was a funny guy, arrogant but not mean-spirited, fiercely loyal to his friends and his newspaper.
His only problem was that he talked the same way to everyone and some times forgot himself.
For the last five years of his career, when he would get angry or felt like he was getting the runaround, he would tell people in a very loud voice just how he felt. It was always the same, “I’ve been a reporter at this God-damn newspaper for 35 years and I’ve seen it all, so don’t try to lay any bullshit on me.”
I think if I said that to a source I would be hauled into the publisher’s office for a spanking, but this guy had been doing it for so long he got away with it.
I yearn for the days of colorful reporters and editors and have peopled my comic with them. These days we are so politically correct that the maniac zeal is gone from the industry. So what about <b>Phantom Jack #2</b>?
Next week, I promise.
<center><a href="http://www.newsarama.com/sangiacomo/PhantomJack-logo.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.newsarama.com/sangiacomo/PhantomJack-logo_t.jpg" width="500" height="157" border="0" hspace="2"></a></center>
<I>Mike Sangiacomo, a freelance writer for Newsarama and other sources, was invited to share his experiences with pitching to Epic by Newsarama's editor, Matt Brady, in the interest of keeping readers well informed. Brady advises Newsarama readers that he is aware of the inherent conflict of interest presented by journalists working for a publisher they cover. Sangiacomo's regular column Journey Into Comics has and will continue to be found in the Opinion/Editorial section of Newsarama. Brady has not, nor does he plan to pitch to Epic himself. </I>
It’s late summer, the script for <b>Phantom Jack #1</b> has been approved and the art team is busy at work turning the words into pictures. There was an initial rush to get the first issue out in November, but the deadline zipped past so fast we barely had a look at it. My sense was that Marvel would prefer to see the book debut later anyway.
So December it is.
This means the cover and a good chunk of the interior needs to be done by the end of August in order to have it featured in the October <I>Previews</I> catalog from Diamond.
As of this writing, August 23, we’re still waiting for final approval on Mitch Breitweiser’s cover. Not concerned. No sir. We’re not concerned at all. I’m sure that approval is coming down the line any second now.
Of course, if the cover is rejected, or if changes are needed, it will be a bear to get it down before the Sept. 1 deadline. It’s possible that delay could push the comic’s release date to January.
We’re hoping not, since all our publicity has been touting a December date. I know this is a very small potato in Marvel’s big stew, but I trust that everything will be done in time. Some readers have asked for some detail about the first issue, fair question, especially since talking about issue two would not make sense without that groundwork.
Jack Baxter is a successful reporter at the fictitious New York Clarion newspaper. I used my newspaper, <I>The Plain Dealer of Cleveland</I> and a few of its characters, as nominal models. Time is very important to the series. The first issue opens with a scene in Baghdad from April, 2002, with Jack and his taxi-driver buddy, Aziz, talking about the search for weapons of mass destruction and strip clubs.
Like many people I met in Baghdad when I was there for the previous Bush’s war, Aziz is just a guy trying to get along. He does not care about politics and oil, he just wants to keep his family safe and happy.
The real Aziz, upon which the taxi driver was based, was much the same as his comic book counterpart. A situation similar to what happened in the book happened in real life, though without the dire consequences. I don’t want to reveal too much, but Aziz becomes an important character in Jack’s life.
After five pages, the scene shifts to April, 2003 in New York where we learn that Jack’s work in Baghdad won him a prestigious award, but that he’s not terribly happy about what the story cost him.
We learn that Jack has a talent that any reporter would kill for, the ability to turn invisible. Previous scripts showed Jack using his abilities to do everything from the sleazy, such as checking out pop stars in the shower, to facilitating the rescue of a kidnap victim. I hope to use this material in later story arcs, assuming there are later story arcs.
So Jack is a guy trying to figure out how to use his powers to benefit both himself and others. One thing he will never do is make jokes while fighting. He will not quip, “Ouch, that’ll leave a mark,” after being shot in the arm. In fact, if Jack does get shot or stabbed he will react like any normal person would: scream in pain and panic. It ain’t pretty, but it’s real.
He not Peter Parker, but neither is he Norman Osborne.
He’s not insane, which if examined logically both Parker and Osborne are, Jack is more like all of us. Plot seeds are planted in issue #1 with the introduction of Jack’s screw-up brother, Cassidy, who is with the Army Reserves in Iraq just before the ground war opens up. Cassidy is the reason for the whole plot, which gets moving in issue two.
Jack interacts with people at work, mentally dealing with his own guilt and indecision.
Making that inner-conflict clear was perhaps the biggest challenge. Too much thought made the work static, too little left the character’s motivations enigmatic. I think the final half of the first issue will establish Jack as an interesting character. He comes across a crime in progress in the park and has to decide whether or not to truly play the hero and risk his own safety.
As he moves on, Jack will use his very simple power of invisibility in some unusual, and creepy, ways. Every month I read Waid’s <b>Fantastic Four</b> I shudder that he has thought of those ways and Sue Richards will beat Jack to the punch. I’ve been lucky so far, but he has already thought up things for Sue to do that I could not have.
Jack’s actions have consequences and make for a twist at the end which sets up the motivation for the rest of the series. I opted to not put a “thought-track” in Jack’s fight sequence, trusting that Mitch and colorist Jaime Jones could convey the emotions in words.
Besides, in the few fight-or-flight situations I’ve found myself in, I did not have much interior dialogue. I either reacted with very dangerous dispassionate disbelief, what happens when reporters forget that if someone is shooting in their direction they can just as easily be hit as anyone. That means I stood there like an idiot.
In the other cases, I ran like a rabbit.
But I never joked, mentally or otherwise, until I was safely back at the office.
I hope I didn’t say too much to spoil anything.
Wolf Bigelow, Jack’s buddy, is based on a reporter at the <I>Plain Dealer</I> who recently retired. He was a funny guy, arrogant but not mean-spirited, fiercely loyal to his friends and his newspaper.
His only problem was that he talked the same way to everyone and some times forgot himself.
For the last five years of his career, when he would get angry or felt like he was getting the runaround, he would tell people in a very loud voice just how he felt. It was always the same, “I’ve been a reporter at this God-damn newspaper for 35 years and I’ve seen it all, so don’t try to lay any bullshit on me.”
I think if I said that to a source I would be hauled into the publisher’s office for a spanking, but this guy had been doing it for so long he got away with it.
I yearn for the days of colorful reporters and editors and have peopled my comic with them. These days we are so politically correct that the maniac zeal is gone from the industry. So what about <b>Phantom Jack #2</b>?
Next week, I promise.
<center><a href="http://www.newsarama.com/sangiacomo/PhantomJack-logo.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.newsarama.com/sangiacomo/PhantomJack-logo_t.jpg" width="500" height="157" border="0" hspace="2"></a></center>
<I>Mike Sangiacomo, a freelance writer for Newsarama and other sources, was invited to share his experiences with pitching to Epic by Newsarama's editor, Matt Brady, in the interest of keeping readers well informed. Brady advises Newsarama readers that he is aware of the inherent conflict of interest presented by journalists working for a publisher they cover. Sangiacomo's regular column Journey Into Comics has and will continue to be found in the Opinion/Editorial section of Newsarama. Brady has not, nor does he plan to pitch to Epic himself. </I>