MARIO GULLY ON THE RETURN OF ANT @ BIG CITY COMICS

**MattBrady** · 10-04-2007, 09:08 AM

by Benjamin Ong Pang Kean

It all started in 1996 when Mario Gully (Marvel Illustrated: Treasure Island) was behind bars after being convicted of robbery. “I invented Ant in jail in 1996,” Gully told Newsarama in a 2003 interview. “I was convicted of robbery and sentenced to one year and probation. The event was a turning point in my life. I used to draw portraits and hot chicks on envelopes for commissary. One day around day #6 of 358, I was depressed about where my choices in life put me. I was looking out the barred window and a single ant crawled in from the outside of my window seal. I said to myself ‘Man, I wish I were an ant! Then I could crawl right out of this place and start my life all over!’ Well, I couldn't pull that one off, so I decided to make a homemade comic book about it. It got around and I had a little audience with my cellmates. Really built up my confidence about drawing. That's when I realized that one day I could be a comic book artist. I sent out my first submission from the county jail. I hope one day my story can be an inspiration to anybody out there who has a dream. You can do it if you want it bad enough. I was determined to do something positive with my life after that.”

When the first issues debuted in 2004, Ant featured variant covers by J. Scott Campbell and Joe Benitez, and Gully co-wrote with former Wolverine writer Matt Nixon. The first issue was a sold-out success.

It wasn’t too long before Image Comics publisher and co-founder Erik Larsen took notice. “There are a number of creators who have, over time, proven through hard work that they are "Image-worthy,” he said when it was announced that Ant was moving to the House of I in 2005.

“I saw Ant as a book that was very raw, very rough -- but one with a lot of potential. Mario Gully's work has improved over the years and he has grown a great deal as both a writer and an artist and it simply got to a point where he could no longer be ignored.

“That was what I responded to -- not so much what Ant was but rather what Ant could be. When I talked to Mario about the book, I came to him with a number of concerns and suggestions and Mario surprised me by rattling off a number of changes he wanted to make to his book and before I could say anything, he'd addressed them all. We were really seeing eye-to-eye on this.

“I expect that Ant is really going to turn some heads. Those already familiar with Ant will be surprised to see the new twists being injected into the title and Mario's art has taken a huge leap. He's really at a new level.

“At this point, what I'm looking to see is Ant get integrated into the Image Universe and that's a first step.”

And Gully’s character was shown to be operating in the same “universe” as other Image characters when Larsen’s Savage Dragon and Todd McFarlane’s Spawn appeared in the first few issues published by Image. In the first story arc, Gully’s character battled a great enemy of the the Savage Dragon and went head to head with Spawn in issue #3.

There was even a planned “1992” arc which was supposed to reveal just how Ant has been around in the Image Universe since its beginning.

But on June 21, in a post on the Image Comics message boards, Larsen publicly announced that Ant has been “cancelled.” Despite being a big supporter of the book since its move to Image, Larsen said that the split was a “mutual parting of the ways.”

“The book was chronically late and sales were in free-fall because of that,” he added. “The sales were so low that nobody was making any money on it and Mario has a family to feed so he had to take work elsewhere. We'd talked about doing a final issue here to wrap things up but it never came together. I even plotted out an ending and drew layouts in an effort to give the book some closure but with the book generating zero income and Mario working elsewhere--it just wasn't to be.

“Ah well.

“It was a book that I thought had potential--but without it coming out on a regular basis and without it improving--that potential could not be realized. We talked about numerous options to try and turn it around but all of them hinged on the book actually being worked on and that didn't seem likely to happen any time soon. Rather than drag it out over a few years and have it frustrate everybody--we decided to put a fork in it.

“It's done.

“I really did everything I could with this one. I lined up guest stars and drew cover sketches and helped find people to pitch in. I wanted this to work. I didn't think it was a strong book when it was at Arcana but Mario assured me that he could do the book and get it out monthly and that he was willing to listen and learn. I tried--really, I did--and I think it was a better book than it had been when it was at Image--but it was never as good as I thought it should be and a lot of my efforts were for naught.

“It was a pretty frustrating experience.

“If Ant continues, it will be with another publisher. I wish Mario and his family nothing but the best. There are no hard feelings here. He had to do what he had to do.

“So there you go.”

Ant #11 was the last issue under the Image banner.

When contacted by Newsarama, Gully revealed that he does have a new Ant series under a new publisher, Big City Comics. And it’s called Ant: Unleashed, written by Gully with art by Italian artist Marco Turini. Ant: Unleashed is solicited in October's Previews and the first issue is scheduled to hit stores in December. “I'm also happy to say that issues #1 and #2 are already done. This book is a bit darker then the previous Ant volumes, and it's really the Ant that I've always wanted to portray. This is my way of taking off the gloves and really going for it.

“It's not entirely a complete relaunch,” Gully continued. “But it's a brand new spin on Ant. This is the equivalent of an Ultimate Ant series. Like I said before, this is my total version of what I want Ant to be without the influences of even my own perception of what is P.C. or not in the comic market today. Love it or leave it type of thing.

Big City Comics was founded by Ant co-scripter Jeff Kaufman. So, why the move to another publisher? Did it have anything to do with the controversies surrounding issue #8 of the Image run which allegedly had too much of T&A for the publisher? “I'll be totally honest,” Gully said. “You know, I consider myself a ‘real dude.’ So, having said that, I'm not good at being diplomatic. I loved Image. Still do in many respects. It was my dream to be an Image creator. But, things didn't work out. I never felt part of that team. Erik did support the book whole-heartedly. And when I told him I was ending my run, he talked about me staying and maybe doing alternatives like put different artist on it but, I didn't want to go that route. Just too many things weren't working. Sure, my Ant run was plagued with problems. I had different creators working with me and there were many continuity issues. Also, Ant was late many times over I take full responsibility for that. But, myself and my team did the best we could with what we had. And what we had was and still is a top-selling indie female lead comic book. You get tired of guys telling you, you have a lot of potential when you are doing better than they are in the market. I encourage anyone to check out the top 300 books. Any of Ant's numbers from issues #1 - #11 and you will see what I mean. I dunno, I guess I'm cut from a different cloth than those guys in Cali but if you are late all the time and your book sales are actually lower than mine, don't preach to me unless you practice it. That's how I felt about it.”

According to Gully, he didn’t intend to launch a new Ant series as he was keeping himself busy with Marvel Illustrated: Treasure Island with the legendary Roy Thomas and another Marvel project, Marvel Adventures Hulk. “My plan was to literally go to Marvel and start fresh,” he said. “I could always tackle Ant another day. Then guys came out the woodwork wanting Ant. I was even getting some handsome cash offers to sell her out right. That made me want to keep Ant going. Then the fans would ask me to keep her going. So me and Jeff Kaufman were talking one day and the rest is history. Jeff is my friend. He has been there for me when things got tough. And he has never let me down. Not once. So it was only natural for me to relaunch a new Ant series under Big City. If he would have asked me, I would have worked out a deal with him for a buck. He's a friend.”

Other than Ant: Unleashed, Gully also another project with Big City called Totem. “I drew 2 issues of Totem. I probably won't be able to draw any future issues anytime soon. I'm just too busy now.

As for the premise? “A High School kid’s parents get killed in Columbia in a drug raid when he was a little boy. Well, they can't go to purgatory because it's now full! The Heavenly bodies decide who goes up and who goes down but the Totem powers that are bestowed on the children and how they use them. Ian is a good kid and how he uses his Totem powers will affect the outcome of his mother’s final destination. The book is written and created by Jeff Kaufman. I was just riding with him. Mind blowing stuff!

“Issue #1 [of Totem] comes out in November.”

J.D. Lombardi · 10-04-2007, 10:20 AM

Why does it always seem like people in the comic biz used to work as used car salesmen?

pop monkey · 10-04-2007, 10:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MattBrady

Quoting Mario:
Erik did support the book whole-heartedly. And when I told him I was ending my run, he talked about me staying and maybe doing alternatives like put different artist on it but, I didn't want to go that route. Just too many things weren't working."...
"...And what we had was and still is a top-selling indie female lead comic book. You get tired of guys telling you, you have a lot of potential when you are doing better than they are in the market. I encourage anyone to check out the top 300 books. Any of Ant's numbers from issues #1 - #11 and you will see what I mean. I dunno, I guess I'm cut from a different cloth than those guys in Cali but if you are late all the time and your book sales are actually lower than mine, don't preach to me unless you practice it. That's how I felt about it.”

You didn't want to bring a different artist onboard when Erik suggested it, but now that's what you've gone and done anyway?

And please don't even try and gain the upper ground over Erik as far as work ethic and integrity goes. He had nothing but nice things to say about you and your work, and you're going to underhandedly slam him like that? Erik's done more real comic work than you'll ever do. He's written, pencilled and inked over 132 issues of SAVAGE DRAGON after a long run on Marvel's SPIDEY books and others. Sure, SAVAGE DRAGON is a bit behind lately, but he's got a lot on his plate, in case you haven't noticed -- like trying to keep books like yours on schedule and making money as part of his job as president of Image comics. ANT certainly didn't outsell SAVAGE DRAGON at my shop, but if it does elsewhere, I'd blame that squarely on the T&A factor, rather than some level of creative triumph.

J.D. Lombardi · 10-04-2007, 10:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pop monkey

ANT certainly didn't outsell SAVAGE DRAGON at my shop, but if it does elsewhere, I'd blame that squarely on the T&A factor, rather than some level of creative triumph.

Awesome post....but that above quote is my favorite because there are a lot of "hot" or "buzz" books that really, only have that same thing going for it.

Chris · 10-04-2007, 10:45 AM

The reason I stopped buying ANT? I completely lost interest when she was immersed in the Image Universe. Couple that with the fact that it rarely came out, it just wasn't worth the hassle anymore.

Chris

Greg O · 10-04-2007, 10:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mario Gully

"he talked about me staying and maybe doing alternatives like put different artist on it but, I didn't want to go that route. ”

So just to be clear Mario, you didn't want to take Larsen's advice and go that route, but that's exactly what you're doing?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mario Gully

" I dunno, I guess I'm cut from a different cloth than those guys in Cali but if you are late all the time and your book sales are actually lower than mine, don't preach to me unless you practice it. That's how I felt about it ”

You certainly are 'cut from a different cloth' Mario, Larsen's wasn't a convicted thief for starters. Unless you're talking about some one else in 'Cali whose books are late and sell lower than yours etc. etc.

Maybe when you've three decades experience in the field, your work has sold millions of copies, you've had a #1 book, co -founded one of the largest indy publishers in the country, turned out 135 issues of your own book and are respected by your peers and actually PRACTICE WHAT YOU PREACH, you can afford to diss Larsen.

But when your promoting your book DOING EXACTLY what you say Larsen suggested you really come across as a tool.

Greg

jephyork · 10-04-2007, 10:57 AM

The grammar, spelling and punctuation in those preview pages are god-awful.

Hey Big City Comics! Hire a freaking proofreader!

-Jeph!

wmshakes124 · 10-04-2007, 11:18 AM

Other than the fact that he spells plumber "p-l-u-m-m-e-r", what are you referring to?

Quote:

Originally Posted by jephyork

The grammar, spelling and punctuation in those preview pages are god-awful.

Hey Big City Comics! Hire a freaking proofreader!

-Jeph!

pop monkey · 10-04-2007, 11:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Greg O

You certainly are 'cut from a different cloth' Mario, Larsen's wasn't a convicted thief for starters. Greg

Alright, let's not go throwing THAT in the guy's face. That's an unrelated issue and his criminal past has nothing to do with his attitude towards Image, Erik, etc.

Daxamite · 10-04-2007, 11:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Greg O

You certainly are 'cut from a different cloth' Mario, Larsen's wasn't a convicted thief for starters. Unless you're talking about some one else in 'Cali whose books are late and sell lower than yours etc. etc.

Greg

Dude, just to be clear... Shoving that in a guys face when his debt to society has been paid, definitely shows what cloth you're cut from.

Dax

NightRiver · 10-04-2007, 11:39 AM

When is the Ant movie starring Vida Guerra coming out?

Greg O · 10-04-2007, 11:40 AM

It's fair comment; Mario brings up his criminal past in the interview.

It's not as if I'm saying he's obviously cut from a different cloth to Larsen in that he goes round aggressively threatening other creators (as reported in LITG and acknowledged by Mario) or anything

Mario's an a real class act as this interview illustrates, he doesn't need any slack cut (from a different cloth or elsewhere).

Greg

chrissama200 · 10-04-2007, 11:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wmshakes124

Other than the fact that he spells plumber "p-l-u-m-m-e-r", what are you referring to?

On the bottom of the second interior page, I assume the guy in red means to say "it" instead of "is." I could probably find more, too, but the story didn't appeal to me enough to warrant a second glance.

Mario Gully · 10-04-2007, 11:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Greg O

So just to be clear Mario, you didn't want to take Larsen's advice and go that route, but that's exactly what you're doing?

You certainly are 'cut from a different cloth' Mario, Larsen's wasn't a convicted thief for starters. Unless you're talking about some one else in 'Cali whose books are late and sell lower than yours etc. etc.

Maybe when you've three decades experience in the field, your work has sold millions of copies, you've had a #1 book, co -founded one of the largest indy publishers in the country, turned out 135 issues of your own book and are respected by your peers and actually PRACTICE WHAT YOU PREACH, you can afford to diss Larsen.

But when your promoting your book DOING EXACTLY what you say Larsen suggested you really come across as a tool.

Greg

First of all Greg, let me explain something to you. I respect Erik, I really do. I respect
anybody that has been in this biz as long as he has and has, and has done the amazing things he has done. But you know what? Erik said some things about me on his forum that wasn't cool. Was it called for? I dunno. Did I deserve it? Yeah, probably.
But I'm pretty sick of guys taking shots at other creators in this biz and the small guys
take it an smile. I don't care if you been in this biz for a hundred years, That don''t
give you a license to publicly discredit another creator. This is how I feed my family.
and what I said was true. We all have busy lives. We all work very hard at this stuff
and it usually isn't worth the time, money or sweat we pour into it. But we do it
because we love comics.

There have been many creators that have left Image for whatever reason. It happens. But,
I thought that Image was founded on the basis that creators could come there and do their
book the way they want to do it. Isn't that the reason why those guys jumped from Marvel
so many years ago? That's what I really appreciated about the whole Image thing. At some
point-- along the way, I felt like that wasn't the situation for me. In the end, I lost my desire
to keep fighting up hill and it reflected in the work I did.

As far as me taking Erik's advice on different artist. That's not the whole story. If I would
have followed the plan that Erik had, I would have almost nothing to do with the book. Different artist and writers would have jumped on Ant and it would have just benefited me only by having her in the market. I didn't care for that plan. What creator would? I would rather have a horrible book that I'm involved with, then a great book that I'm not either penciling or writing. After all, it's my book. Big City pays guys weekly. So I didn't want a artist doing a book for me and going through the money issues I went through with back-end pay.

I know you guys are gonna bash me. It's a expected to some extent. Honestly, I'm a bit
used to it. But at the end of the day I try to do what's right for Mario. Some people don't
like that. That's cool. But, I'm the guy that has to live with it.

Oh, BTW. Big City does have an good editor. The preview pages wasn't edited yet.

Gawd knows I need one. I'm a HURRIBLE SPEllEYER!

Daxamite · 10-04-2007, 11:53 AM

Hey Mario,

You and the Big City guys rock in my book! Good Luck with Ant Unleashed, and with the BCC launch in November!

Dax

Skinshark · 10-04-2007, 11:56 AM

Wow...you went and pulled a Travis Charest...you dissappear for a while and come back a full-fledged illustrator.

Beautiful work man, major improvements all around.

Kudos to you sir!

=s=

Drewr15 · 10-04-2007, 12:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chris

The reason I stopped buying ANT? I completely lost interest when she was immersed in the Image Universe. Couple that with the fact that it rarely came out, it just wasn't worth the hassle anymore.

Chris

I have to agree about the first part. I loved the book, and then Image got it and had to shove everyone of their heroes down your throat and I was done by issue 4.

Indy books are almost always late so the time didn't bother me, it was the Image verse that did.

Greg O · 10-04-2007, 12:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mario Gully

But you know what? Erik said some things about me on his forum (link above) that wasn't cool. Was it called for? I dunno. Did I deserve it? Yeah, probably.
But I'm pretty sick of guys taking shots at other creators in this biz and the small guys
take it an smile. I don't care if you been in this biz for a hundred years, That don''t
give you a license to publicly discredit another creator.

I just checked your link. Everything Larsen says in the thread is reprinted in the article above.

So what comment exactly "wasn't cool" and you feel justified you taking shots at him? That he did everything he could lining up guest appearances for your book. That he workd on it plotting and doing layouts for free or that he had no hard feelings and wished you the best?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mario Gully

I don't care if you been in this biz for a hundred years, That don''t
give you a license to publicly discredit another creator.

And your 'practice what you preach' and 'lateness and sales' comments directed at Larsen were what exactly?

Why don't you try practicing what you preach for a change.

Greg

mrhelm · 10-04-2007, 12:11 PM

I'm glad the book is back; indy superheroes make me happy good or bad. Not sure if I'm going to buy it again or not, but congratulations to Mario for getting back on track, despite his Marvel commitments.