TERRY MOORE ON ECHO, HIS MARVEL WORK, AND NORMAN ROCKWELL

[MattBrady]

by Vaneta Rogers

It may have been less than a year, but for fans of Terry Moore, it's been way too long.

On Monday night, Moore announced on his blog the new comic book series Echo, his return to self-publishing after ending an almost 14-year run as writer/artist on the award-winning series Strangers in Paradise in May.

Echo, which is scheduled to hit comics shops on March 5th, 2008, will be published in black and white, similar to Strangers in Paradise, and will debut with a silver foil cover on the first printing of the #1 issue, which Moore says is related to the tiny particles falling from the sky on the first issue's cover – something that looks like rain, but Moore says isn't.

Although Moore has an exclusive agreement with Marvel Comics and is slated to write both Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane and Runaways for the publisher beginning next year, his contract allows him to still pursue his self-published work. That exception to is contract is a relief for a lot of fans of his work on Strangers in Paradise, (known as "SiP" for short), many of whom aren't necessarily readers of mainstream comic books, but are attracted instead to the type of unique yet realistic characters and emotional resonance so prevalent in SiP and are anxious to read his follow-up to the series.

As the creator returned home to Texas from the opening of an exhibit of work by Moore and other comics artists at the Norman Rockwell Museum in Massachusetts, Newsarama tracked him down to talk about the new series. And in the midst of the conversation, we found out why he thinks the future is bright for comic books and graphic novels.

Newsarama: Let's just dive in and talk about Echo first. What can you tell us about it?

Terry Moore: I'm going to be a little coy for now. I'm going to try to reveal things a little more as we get closer and closer to the release date. But right now, I can tell you that Echo focuses on the story of Julie Martin. She's a young woman living alone in the California National Park, very close to the desert area, and she's out taking photographs in the desert. And something happens up there where she's just in the wrong place at the wrong time, and it totally changes her life.

In the story, there are things going on in her world that are huge, but the story is going to stay focused totally on Julie and how it affects her. That's kind of all I can dare say at the moment, really.

NRAMA: You made a comment on your blog about the first printing of the first cover being, what is it? A silver foil cover?

TM: Yeah. The first cover will be silver foil because it ties into the story and what happens in the story, as well as the title of the book itself, Echo. As you get into the story, you'll find that there is a reason for the title.

NRAMA: OK, because one of the questions I was going to ask is the meaning behind the title Echo. Is it related to the Greek god Echo? Or the more acoustic definition of reflected sound? Or just the idea of repetition? But it sounds like you're not ready to talk about that if it's revealed later in the story.

TM: Let's just put it in terms of there being an over-arcing theme – an echo theme – to the whole story.

And I was actually considering whether to name the book Echo or Echoes, in terms of thinking about the over-arcing theme. But I just thought Echo was simpler, so that's how I ended up with that.

NRAMA: Another thing you said about the silver foil cover is that it's related to the rain shown on that first cover. It looks like it's raining in your art, but you said that isn't rain after all?

TM: Yeah. That's not rain. It's not hail. So, what in the world is it?

NRAMA: I guess we'll find out. You know, the last time we talked was back in July when your Marvel contract was announced in San Diego. At that time, you were still tossing around the idea of a comic with the working title "Motor Girl." Is Echo a re-titled Motor Girl or did you end up going in a different direction?

TM: I went in a different direction because I was chatting about Motor Girl publicly, and then a couple other very respectable creators emailed me and said, "Hey, we've already got a ‘Motor Girl’ going on over here." And I looked at their website, and sure enough they did. So I thought, "OK, I need to back off." So I did. And I put Motor Girl in a drawer. And I sat down and came up with Echo from scratch.

NRAMA: From scratch? But we've talked before about you having more than one idea for a series. None of those panned out?

TM: It's funny that after SiP, I told people that I had drawers and drawers of ideas, and I thought I'd pick from those to do the next series. But when the time came and I looked through all those ideas and everything, none of them really kind of stirred me up. They'd been in the drawer for quite awhile, so now they no longer really spoke to me. So I thought that if I was going to do something else, I was going to have to come up with it today. Something that felt timely and appropriate for now -- not some idea I had five years ago.

NRAMA: You had also told me awhile back that you had a sci-fi idea, and when you described this image on the cover not being rain, I suspected you had pulled that sci-fi idea out. But Echo is completely new?

TM: This is completely new. The sci-fi story that I had, when I go back and look at it, it seems very Robert Heinlein to me now. Kind of like a cross between Heinlein and Lucas. And you know, those are masters, but they're past masters. And I thought, well, with this structure of the story, I've read it in other places in other ways, so maybe what I can do someday is pull the things I like about those other stories and incorporate them into new fresh ideas. But as far as pulling them out of the drawer and typing them up? I didn't want to do it.

NRAMA: So you sat down with a blank page, so to speak.

TM: Yep. I had a Come to Jesus Meeting, as we say here. [laughs]

NRAMA: [laughs] Is that what they say in Texas?

TM: Yeah. That's what you do in the Bible belt. "We need a Come to Jesus Meeting here." So I just cleared my head and spent a couple weeks just thinking about, "What kind of stories do I like now?" And this is what I came up with.

NRAMA: OK, you're talking about the "kind of stories I like now," and obviously Echo fits that description. So can you answer, in general terms if necessary, what kind of stories do you like now?

TM: Wow. Um....

NRAMA: A little stumped on that one, huh?

TM: [laughs] Yeah! I've yet to verbalize this. I don't have this answer down yet. You're getting me fresh. Are you sure you don't want to talk about where Katchoo came from? I have that answer down pat!

NRAMA: [laughs] No automatic answers allowed!

TM: Now, I tend to like stories that are smart. I expect for the plot to be smart. I want the characters to think for themselves and not just do something because it's convenient for the story. So I tend to be attracted towards stories that engage our minds, and make me think and give me a fresh new way of looking at maybe even something familiar.

The thing about Echo is that I am just focusing on the woman living in today's America and dealing with an extraordinary set of circumstances. One day her life is routine, not going so well, and the next day, all of the sudden – Boom... it's unbelievable what is going on. And I'm just going to focus on her and how she handles it.

NRAMA: While SiP definitely doesn't fit into a genre, it's often labeled as a drama, although you certainly had a lot of action in there from time to time. Do you think that readers who were attracted to that type of story will also be attracted to the story told in Echo?

TM: I think so. Honestly, I think so. And I certainly hope so. And I think what I'm going to do is just write the type of story I do best. I really can't target a certain type of reader and go after them. It just doesn't work that way, for me. I have to write the type of story I like. And I hope that after 14 years on Strangers in Paradise, I've developed a style of writing that feels natural to me. And I want to bring everything I've learned to Echo and make it the best book I've ever done.

NRAMA: It's hard not to notice, hearing the description of the new series, that you're concentrating on a female protagonist again. Sure, Strangers in Paradise had David, but the comic really concentrated mostly on Katchoo and Francine. What is it about you and female lead characters? With Echo, you decided to go down that road again. Why?

TM: [laughs] Again, that's just me doing what I do naturally. If you ask me to make a sketch, almost every single time, I'm going to sit down and draw a woman. I don't know. That's just what comes out of me naturally. I can certainly sit down and write a story about a four-star general. A guy with a family and all that. But I don't know – that leads me down a different path of internalization. What I really like to write about is how we're dealing with our days. And I think that the women in today's world have an extraordinary set of circumstances to deal with. In very many ways, their lives are much more complicated than men, and I find that fascinating. It's a mystery to me that I love to try to play with like a puzzle. I don't think I'll ever solve it, but it is intriguing to me.

NRAMA: Ahhh... us mysterious women.

TM: Yes! You know, the truth is, I keep looking at this puzzle that I will never fully comprehend. And that's the bottom line in all my work.

NRAMA: And yet I really think most women who read your work think you've done a pretty good job figuring us out.

TM: The day I think that, I am toast. [laughs]

NRAMA: OK, then you haven't figured us out at all! Keep working at that puzzle, Terry!

TM: OK, that's better.

NRAMA: You mentioned before that everyone asks about where you got the idea for Katchoo. I've seen the answer to that one – you had a couple people somewhat in mind when you started, but after awhile realized that there are a lot of different people wrapped up in the character. While you're still fresh on the creation of Julie Martin, do you have anyone on which you're basing the character?

TM: Well... I was kind of thinking she was you.

NRAMA: [laughs] OK...

TM: [laughs] Let's just go with that.

NRAMA: [laughs] Are you saying she represents "everywoman?" I guess the question is really meant to nail down this character a little more for your fans. If not one person, then a general "type" of woman?

TM: She's a mix of people. She's a type of girl that I've probably known my whole life. I never really draw one-to-one for characters. But the thing about coming up with Julie was that I needed a girl who was totally different from Francine and Katchoo and Casey or any of the other women I had written before. And because I had spent so much time on those characters, it was exciting and liberating to pick up a brand new character who is interesting enough to carry a book by herself. So it's an awful lot of fun to have that freedom, thinking, "OK, I can write about anybody I want now. Who would I really like to spend a little time exploring?" And Julie won out that, kind of, contest, if you will. She's definitely got a set of character traits that I haven't explored yet. She's a new character for me.

NRAMA: So, she's not, like, a female version of Freddie, or similar to anyone else from SiP.

TM: Right. She's not Katchoo part two.

NRAMA: Does this story take place within the same universe as Strangers in Paradise? And is there any chance of a cameo by an SiP character or news story showing up? Like something in Echo would take place when something in, for example, Issue #24 of SiP is taking place at the same time?

TM: You know, I'm open to that idea. I like the idea that you could take my stories and they do all live on the same planet and in the same time. I like that idea. But it would be wrong for me to say, "Oh yeah, I'm going to start doing crossovers between my own titles." I would never consider that. But yeah, I suppose it's not a trip to think that while SiP's story is going on in Texas, Julie's story is happening in California.

NRAMA: Alright, let's bring everyone up to speed on your Marvel work. I know you wrote about it on your blog recently, but what can you tell us about the status of your work on Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane and Runaways?

TM: On Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane, Adrian [Alphona] emailed us all the story roughs of the first issue this morning. And they look fantastic. They're so fun and he brings so much life to the story. This is going to be a really fun book, and the more I get into it, the more excited I get about it. And I think the first issue is a very fun script that really kind of fits the pace for the issues to come. Adrian is going to be a fantastic artist on this book.

On Runaways, I have just completed a third draft of the first issue, and we're really nailing it down and getting it dialed in. Whereas in Mary Jane, I just slipped right into the groove, on Runaways, I've had to really go to school, because it's a fairly complicated set-up and Brian Vaughan put such a strong stamp on his creation. It's taken me a number of months to feel less and less like a babysitter and more like, "OK, I feel one with these characters." But I've come up with a very fun story and I'm glad to get started on it.

NRAMA: And you just got back from Massachusetts, where you attended the opening for the exhibit at the Norman Rockwell Museum called LitGraphic: The World of the Graphic Novel. Your art is on display as part of the exhibit along with many of your peers. How was that experience?

TM: What an incredible honor it is to be in the Norman Rockwell Museum. Robyn and I went up there for the exhibition. It was a very nice ceremony and graphic novelist Peter Kuper did the opening talk, and he was very funny. And what was most interesting, I think, for me was to hear the museum people – these people who are keeping their finger on the pulse of art today – hearing them share what they see from their side of the fence and their point of view about what graphic novels are and how they're finding a place in the art world. Because when you're talking to people like that, you're talking to art historians, and they're setting the stage for how this is going to go down in history. And it's wonderful to see that the comic book format is not something that will disappear into American trivia but will blossom into something that will end up hanging in museums and galleries.

NRAMA: That's their perception? It's that positive?

TM: Yes. That's their perception; that's their take on it. And the Norman Rockwell Museum is an major museum in the America art scene, and a number of the other major museums in the country have inquired about the exhibit going on tour. So after it finishes its time at the Rockwell Museum – I think it's through May or April – it's probably going to go on the road and be on the road for awhile at other museums around the country.

NRAMA: On the subject of illustrators like Norman Rockwell, you and I had talked before about your belief that illustrators of comic books right now are the top illustrators in America, much the way the illustrators for magazines were once the country's top illustrators. And same with comic book writers of today being the best American short story writers, much like those who once wrote short stories for magazines. Do you still feel that way?

TM: Absolutely. The simple question is, where else are they going to go? There is nowhere else for them to work as far as serving the public. Certainly, good illustrators can make a living behind the scenes in Hollywood or in advertising. But I'm talking about in terms of enriching the lives of the public and telling stories and giving them lasting images that help mirror the times. And I think that those sort of public figure illustrators are currently working in comics. You talk about people like Alex Ross or Adam Hughes – any of these guys. If they had been born back in 1920, they would be among the top magazine illustrators.

NRAMA: Much like Norman Rockwell was in his time…

TM: Yes. He and Andy Warhol were the last two famous American artists, and I think I can pretty much say that block statement. You would be hard pressed to find a person on the street who you could stop and say, "Name a famous American artist who is still alive." I don't think the average American can do it. The popular American illustrators come from whatever medium the public is enjoying at the time. And the magazine industry is dead, so it's going to have to come from comics. It certainly can't come from media like movies or websites, yet. But I think comic books can play that role. And as the graphic novel becomes more mainstream in American literature and as we take over bigger and bigger spaces in the bookstores like Barnes & Noble, I think there will be a growing awareness among the public about the graphic novelists and who the players are and who the talents are.

NRAMA: You talk about the future as if you're pretty confident about that. You see graphic novels becoming more mainstream than they are today and being moved toward the front of bookstores?

TM: I see it happening the same way people used to say, "You know, someday oil is going to be $50 a barrel. Someday the Dow is going to hit 15,000." And the fact that it had never happened before meant people debated it, but it was coming. From what I've seen -- I've been out on the road almost non-stop over the last five years -- where we are now and where we were five years ago is just an incredible distance. Things have really changed in the last five years. If you went to the B.E.A. [Book Expo of America], or if you go to one of the big library conventions, and if you had a graphic novel five years ago, you might as well have been walking around with, I don't know, a rock in your pocket. But now, when you go to these shows, the whole buzz is graphic novels. It's the buzz of the show. And they're all trying to figure out who the creators are, who's who, what's what, how does it work -- it's a brand new world and they're embracing it.

And because the book industry is always struggling with sales, they're going to go after anything that looks hot and exciting and new. And right now, graphic novels fit the bill. I think if we just continue to turn out good books, books that are winning, you know, like Time Book of the Year and all that kind of stuff; we're certainly cranking out some good stuff as an industry. I think it's going to just get better. I don't think we've seen the limit of what we can accomplish yet, as far as an industry and graphic novels.

NRAMA: It's obvious that your fans think you're among those cranking out the good stuff. And as we head toward the release of your first issue of Echo, is there anything else you want to tell them about the series?

TM: Well, just that it's consuming my life. I'm very obsessed with it, and that's a good sign. I'll get on one thing and start fleshing out every little detail of it and really pour myself into it. Otherwise it just won't work. And when I looked at the other story ideas I had, I wasn't able to plug in. With Echo, I'm really plugged in. And I have a great feeling about it, just like when I started SiP. So I'm very excited about it.

Because I'm already doing the book right now and I'm living in that world, it's very strange not to be able to talk about it completely. [laughs] But I'm looking at the pages to #1 right now, laid out on my drawing table, and it's like I'm looking at your Christmas presents, and I haven't given them to you yet. But I think you're going to like them.

[#O.N.E]

GOod thing he's got a lot of time to get Runaways squared away.

[<sage>]

Once I get through my current stack of books at work I'm putting the SiP pocket books on hold, I'm really eager to get into them before Runaways and Spidey Loves MJ. I'm tremendously excited about his work at Marvel, especially after this interview its so clear that Moore has real excitement and respect for the characters in both books and the creators who came before him. Btw, another great interview Vaneta, but that goes without out saying these days doesn't it?

[80Pork]

I'm looking forward to all three projects!! I'm sure each one is gonna be extremely awesome. I need to get all of the SiP trades, too.

[Duke Jupiter]

As big a fan as I was of SiP, well, I gotta be onboard for Terry's new project.

- DJ

[FredH]

...dammit, I'd eagerly buy a cross between Heinlein and Lucas.

Drat.

[NedPepper]

I can't wait for Echo, and I can't wait to see Terry doing mainstream Marvel work. Again, by letting someone like Terry Moore play with the characters at Marvel, you're taking them in directions and from a viewpoint that goes beyond the traditional Marvel style storytelling.

And that's an important thing for the continual growth of this super hero medium and Marvel in particular.

[skinnyboy23]

Show us the Mary Jane cover Terry!!!

[J.D. Lombardi]

I'll be on this one the second it comes out in March. Terry is one of the nicest guys in the biz...as well as an incredibly talented cartoonist.

[Tiger Meat]

SiP was one of the most ambitious and beautiful projects ever to grace our sacred little medium. All us super-geek hero worshippers should seriously take note to the genius of character development Terry Moore has to offer us. You can really feel Strangers in Paradise once you start reading it.

But what's this?! In addition to taking over writing on one of my favorite Marvel books, Runaways (sorry guys, Whedon's run has sucked my @$$!) and on a book I always wanted to like Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane (or SMLMJ as we'll all be calling it once its awesome), we are treated to an all new creator-owned series!

YES! YES! YES!