MELTDOWN: READYING THE TRADE

[MattBrady]

by Ryan McLelland

Image Comics Meltdown was one of the best books of the year. Period. Writer David Schwartz and artist Sean Wang introduced us to Cal – a superhero who has just found out that his powers are killing him. Months ago I had said about that book, “Not since Kurt Busiek’s Astro City has a comic brought so much impact into the comic book world and Meltdown never aims to please – it just hits you with raw emotion and an unyielding realism that will force comic book readers to look up en masse. The unyielding power of Meltdown leaves the reader thirsting for more…a solid 6 star comic in a 5 star world.”

Meltdown was released and it not only lived up to the expectations, it surpassed them, which is surprising, given its rather unique story. As I wrote last October:

The story of Cal, short for Caliente (the Spanish word for hot and a nod to Cal’s fire superpowers), is told in two parts. In the present Cal has been labeled as a madman as, with his death sentence already handed to him, he decides to go after all the supervillians he’s fought and try to take them down for good. No more handing over to the police, no more prisoners, he’s a man on a mission and his latest is his arch nemesis Maelstrom. However, being his arch nemesis, Maelstrom is no easy push over and their fight, starting in his Maelstrom’s lush office, lands on the street where pedestrians can only watch as the two superpowered humans unleash havoc on themselves in what should be the final battle if not for both of them, at least for one.

Since the series was released I’ve read the duo prestige-format issues perhaps a dozen times and couldn’t wait until the trade was released.

The wait is over. The Meltdown TPB hits comic book stores on July 5th – hitting bookstores, Amazon, and other online retailers in August. Guess it’s good to buy your books at the comic store, huh?

I sat down once again with the brilliant David Schwartz to find out what’s new and exciting in the Meltdown TPB.

“We wanted to give the direct market a special exclusive advance window as a way of thanking them for all the support they've shown to Meltdown,” Schwartz said. “After all, comic shops are the lifeblood of our industry, and we wanted to do our (admittedly small) part to pitch in and show our appreciation.”

I asked David to look back on Meltdown and ponder if the series held up from his original vision to what we actually got on shelves. “While I’m never 100% satisfied with my work, Sean (Wang) and I really labored over page, every detail, and I’m really incredibly pleased with how it all turned out,” replied Schwartz. “Yes, Meltdown has definitely changed tremendously over the course of it’s gestation, in both large and small ways, but I think those changes were all for the better.”

He continued, “In fact, one of the things I’m most excited about in the TPB is that we’ve got a pretty extensive Creators Commentary section in the book, where we walk through the series, discussing the choices that went into each page, and offering up deleted scenes, alternate endings, and more surprises along the way. So, readers will be able to see some of the other courses we considered along the way, and to judge for themselves whether we made the right creative choices.”

I knew that I went nuts for the series as did many critics so I asked Schwartz his thoughts on the reaction to the book.

“I’ve been really blown away by the reaction to the series,” he answered. “We sent out review copies very early on; literally months before the first issue hit the stands. It was a risky gamble, because if the early reviews were negative it would’ve killed our all-important first-week sales. So, I was incredibly relieved when the reviews were all so overwhelmingly positive. I had to double-check to make sure that they were actually talking about our Meltdown and not just doing a retrospective on Havok & Wolverine: Meltdown.”

“But, while the reviews have certainly been wonderful, what’s really thrilled me the most are the e-mails we’ve gotten from readers and the reader reactions we’ve gotten at signings. I’ve really been touched by the fans explaining how much Meltdown has mattered to them, how much it’s affected them, and how it’s inspired them to make positive changes in their lives. Of course, it puts a ton of pressure on my next project, but that's a great kind of pressure to have!”

While the Meltdown series was the ending point for the main character I asked Schwartz if there would be a return to the Meltdown world to see the earlier adventures of Cal. “We’ve gotten a LOT of requests from readers for a return… and it’s something I’m seriously considering,” Schwartz said. “I’m not sure yet whether it would focus on Cal’s early days, or on some of the other characters we’ve introduced, but it’s definitely something I’d be interested in exploring.

Luckily there are plenty of new additions in the TPB to whet everyone’s appetite. I asked Schwartz what we could expect and he replied, “We really wanted to make this TPB a spectacular package, the comic book equivalent of a movie’s platinum edition DVD release. Sean and I are both big fans of “behind the scenes” bonus materials, and we made a very conscious decision to give as thorough a look behind the scenes as we possibly could.”

“So, we’ve got lots of great behind the scenes stuff, like pages ripped from Sean’s sketchbook, showing the initial series design work. A very cool, rare look at Chris Bachalo’s process, with his thumbnail, pencils and inks for our issue 1 cover. (We have) a look behind the scenes of Greg Horn’s process as well, as we get to see one of his original penciled cover concepts for the series

“(There’s) the afore-mentioned Creators Commentary section, which is similar to a DVD commentary track. I love those on DVDs, but I don’t recall ever seeing anything similar in the comics world, so we’re pretty interested to see what readers think. And, we’ve got a pretty widely varied array of cool pin-ups from very talented folks like Josh Howard (Dead @ 17), Micah Gunnell (Soulfire), Dan Hipp (The Amazing Joy Buzzards), Mark Haven Britt (Full Color), Robbi Rodriguez (Hero Camp), and Joelle Jones (12 Reasons Why I Love Here). They’re all indie comics artists, and I’m very proud that we’re able to include so many of our fellow indie comic creators in the TPB.”

There’s also an introduction by some guy named Robert Kirkman. “As far as Kirkman goes, he’s one of my favorite writers out there. Invincible is a tremendous amount of fun, and The Walking Dead is positively chilling. So, we were completely geeked to hear that he loved Meltdown and was interested in writing our foreword for the book. He wrote a great, and very funny, intro to the book, offering us many more compliments than we probably deserved.”

If you missed Meltdown the first time now is the best chance to pick up the best series of 2006-2007 when the Meltdown TPB hits comic stores this week.

Click here for a 20 page preview from the first issue of Meltdown.

[DennyColt]

This was a fantastic read. It would be wrong for David Schwarts not to become a "superstar" writer sometime soon.
And since I have to say it, first first post.

[kamikazi]

I skipped this the first time around because, if I remember correctly, it had a steep cover price, but I will definitely check it out now.

[Rob Helmerichs]

The trade does NOT ship this week...

[D.B.Schwartz]

Originally Posted by Rob Helmerichs

The trade does NOT ship this week...

That's correct. We ran into some printing issues that delayed it slightly. It ships to the direct market next week, and should be in stores on the 18th.

Once it hits stores, everyone should feel free to drop me a line to let me know what they think! I'm theflare@sbcglobal.net.

- DBS

[Arvandor]

Highly recommended, especially the second half. The ending was quite powerful, one of the few comics to get a true emotional reaction out of me.

I enjoyed it a lot. Buy it

[dmarvp]

I loved this story, and will do all that I can to get the trade ( I live far far away from US ).

Too bad that I will have to wait until August to buy it online.

Anyway, does anyone know how much this trade is gonna cost ?

[Nas-Vell]

I seem to recall the title of this story, but I'm usually quite weary of Image titles, because (on some rare occasions) they remind me of what Image used to be like, as opposed to what they've become in the last few years.
The premise behind this series is very intriguing. I'm always interested in a good comic story, and judging by the reviews, this may be one worthy of that label. I'll definitely check out the trade soon as we get one in. And if we don't, I'll make sure I order one.

I mean, most recent trade orders on older series I missed out on earlier are turning out to be very, very, very good: Stars & S.T.R.I.P.E. vol.1 and Green Arrow: Sounds of Violence; Longbow Hunters; Archer's Quest were all great.

[Knowbrainer]

Originally Posted by Nas-Vell

I seem to recall the title of this story, but I'm usually quite weary of Image titles, because (on some rare occasions) they remind me of what Image used to be like, as opposed to what they've become in the last few years.
The premise behind this series is very intriguing. I'm always interested in a good comic story, and judging by the reviews, this may be one worthy of that label. I'll definitely check out the trade soon as we get one in. And if we don't, I'll make sure I order one.

I mean, most recent trade orders on older series I missed out on earlier are turning out to be very, very, very good: Stars & S.T.R.I.P.E. vol.1 and Green Arrow: Sounds of Violence; Longbow Hunters; Archer's Quest were all great.

This is DEFINITELY something you should check out. I know what you mean about Image stuff; there's alot out there currently. So much so, the gems tend to get overlooked. Meltdown's one of them and I'm glad I had the forethought to preorder both issues through Previews.

I'm with DennyColt: it would be an injustice if David Schwartz doesn't make it big sometime soon.

[Dilutral]

I loved the series it was written perfectly and the art fit everyscene with ist slitely difernet styles
I would love it if this series comes back like a pheonix!!!