MARK WAID TALKS TO HIS POTTER'S FIELD TEAM

[MattBrady]

With Potter’s Field #1 debuting today, writer Mark Waid recently sat down to interview the rest of the book’s creative team, artist Paul Azaceta and colorist Nick Filardi, about the latest offering from BOOM! Studios. Azaceta and Filardi collaborated previously on Image Comics’ Grounded, written by Mark Sable, and they are once again bringing their “A” game. One day, they just may be talked about in the same breath as other creative pairings like Kirby/Sinnott, Byrne/Austin, Lennon/McCartney …or was that Lenin/Trotsky? Never mind. Without further ado, we give you the creative team behind Potter’s Field, as grilled by Mark MW:

Mark Waid: What is it about Potter’s Field that attracted you to the property? Was it the genre, the subject matter...what? Don't say "the genius of Mark Waid," because no one besides my mother will believe that.

Paul Azaceta: The genius of Mark Waid. There, I said it anyway. Besides that, it was definitely the genre. I've always loved noir stories, and getting a chance to do one with such a cool premise was something I couldn't pass up.

Nick Filardi: When Paul told me Mark Waid was the writer. I had read Mark's run on Fantastic Four when I was in college and loved it. Getting the chance to work with Paul again is just the icing on the cake.

MW: Likewise, I went nuts for both your work when I saw it. Nick knows how to tell a story with mood and color, and Paul is already one of the best collaborators I’ve ever had the pleasure of working with. Another question: what's your personal relationship with New York City? Love it? Loathe it? How did that inform your vision of the series?

PA: I've always lived within minutes of New York, so it's always been in my life one way or another. It could be the artist in me, but I love the city. Just aesthetically, it is such a fun place to draw. There's so much going on and so much diversity on any given block that it never gets boring. Throw in the differences of the boroughs, and I really feel like I'm never drawing the same thing twice. Getting to draw the bridge scene and the train scene were especially fun because I picked the locations myself.



NF: I love New York. I grew up in the woods of Connecticut, so being in any kind of city excites me. Living in Philadelphia, though, I get the best of both worlds. A lot of space in my apartment for very little rent, plus I can get to New York easily and on the cheap. I try to take advantage of that whenever I can. Being set in New York definitely made Potter’s Field that much more interesting to me. The first series I ever worked on was Ivan Brandon, Miles Gunter and Andy Macdonald's NYC Mech. I took that for the same reason. I am so East Coast it hurts.

MW: Who is your favorite of John Doe's agents? Halpert, the prison guard? Paxtin, the coroner? Or someone else? Me, I like Steinway, the infogeek, because I love the name "Steinway" for a morbidly obese guy.

PA: I really got to like Halpert in the series. I don't want to give anything away, but I guess I sympathized with his situation. The other one I'd love to draw more of is Detective Nissa Robbins. She's hot.

NF: I enjoyed Paxtin. The white coat / greenish tiled room was the most fun to color. Plus, something about a coroner healing John makes me chuckle. I draw and write a little bit, so a person being a coroner but dabbling in other professions under the same umbrella of medicine appeals to me.



MW: I nurtured myself with a lot of Ed McBain and Ellery Queen when it came time to write Potter’s Field. Who are your stylistic influences?

PA: Besides my constant influences (Alex Toth, Jorge Zaffino, J.P. Leon...), I think it actually came from movies. I remember sitting down with a few DVDs before getting into Potter’s Field so I could make sure I had the right mindset. Movies like Narc, Seven and Collateral are stylistically similar to what I wanted to bring to the series. Who am I kidding? Any chance to sit and watch those movies again. I also worked with Nick to bring some grittiness to it in the coloring, as well.

NF: I worked for Lee Loughridge's Studio Zylonol for about two years and learned a lot from him. Since then I've grown to really pull a lot from Matt Hollingsworth, Chris Ware and Dave Stewart. Those are the greats, the heavy hitters. I've just started coloring Powers and have been getting crits (criticism) from Bendis, and that guy knows his stuff. When I get crits back from him, they are pretty spot on and are forcing me to grow a bunch.



MW: Are you guys in for another mini next spring? 'Cause I am.

PA: I'm in for another few minis if you're up for it. Not to make this a lovefest, but if I could just add one thing: having been a fan of your work for years, I really didn't doubt I would like the scripts. But having worked on three of your scripts now I can honestly say that you make my job easy. They were clear and direct and loose in just the right parts to keep me on my toes. The whole time, I was just hoping I didn't screw them up. Hopefully, I didn't.

NF: I'm down for another mini. I currently have a million things on my plate. Currently I am working on Pirates Of Coney Island with Vasilis Lolos and Rick Spears, Godland with Joe Casey and Tom Scioli, Powers with Bendis and Oeming, and finally Mark Sable's new books Fearless drawn by PJ Holden, and Hazed drawn by Robbi Rodriguez. Most of the minis I'm working on now will be finished by February, so I'll be freed up.

MW: Nicely plugged, sir. And in that vein--Potter’s Field #1, on sale September 12. Join Paul and Nick and myself and be amazed at what those two guys can do.

[steven_eks]

This looks like a real gem--I'm going to enjoy reading this.

Eks

[Posco]

I'm not sure if I am too happy with the fact that the editor and writer of a series is the interviewer. From a journalistic viewpoint this is a no-no.

I am also unclear if thi is a press release of the company or a newsarama piece. It would be nice if this could be identified clearly in the future. For example:

The introduction states:

One day, they just may be talked about in the same breath as other creative pairings like Kirby/Sinnott, Byrne/Austin, Lennon/McCartney …or was that Lenin/Trotsky?

Is this the opinion of Matt Brady or part of the press release? My gess is that this is part of the press release but thi should be made clear.

[KraziJoe]

Where's Harry?

[BClayMoore]

Originally Posted by Posco

I'm not sure if I am too happy with the fact that the editor and writer of a series is the interviewer. From a journalistic viewpoint this is a no-no.

I am also unclear if thi is a press release of the company or a newsarama piece. It would be nice if this could be identified clearly in the future. For example:

The introduction states:

Is this the opinion of Matt Brady or part of the press release? My gess is that this is part of the press release but thi should be made clear.

So, what are you looking for here, tough, hard-hitting questions about a comic book simply designed to entertain you?

-BCM

[mpg]

Originally Posted by BClayMoore

So, what are you looking for here, tough, hard-hitting questions about a comic book simply designed to entertain you?

-BCM

no kidding..

nothing like ball busting indy creators for trying to drum up some buzz...

[ScottWegener]

I'm always on the fence when a member of the creative team asks the questions. On the one hand it can be overly self-promotional, but on the other hand they can talk about some really interesting stuff that another interviewer might not think to ask about.

Regardless, these guys all do phenomenal work independent of one another, so putting them together on a book can only equal: AWESOME.

[Sasori]

Read the first issue. Great job on all accounts. I'm in for this and hopefully more series. Congrats.

[Rob S.]

I read the first issue on the train this morning. And I'd just like to say: Thank you for punching Nancy Grace in the face.

(Oh, and great job all around. That too.)

[Oeming]

Paul Azeceta is one of my favorite artsts and Nick Filardi obviosly one of my favorite colorists, I cant wait to get my hands on these books.
M!