YEAR OF THE ELEPHANT(MEN): TALKING TO RICHARD STARKINGS

[MattBrady]

by Benjamin Ong Pang Kean

Forget about the Chinese lunar calendar. As far as Richard Starkings is concerned, 2007 is going to be the year of the Elephantmen.

That’s right. With a monthly ongoing series already creating lots of buzz in and outside of North America, and a whole load of special projects in the works, fans of Hip Flask are going to have a banner year.

We sat down with Starkings for a chat about his plans for the new year.

Newsarama: Exciting year for you and your creation this year! Despite the Chinese Lunar calendar showing that it's the Year of the Pig, for you, it's the Year of the Elephant(men), right?

Richard Starkings: Well, the past year has actually been a very exciting year -- we're very, very proud of the fact that Ladrönn won the Best Painter Eisner for his beautiful work on Hip Flask: Mystery City -- and everything we're doing in 2007 is a result of the causes we made with the launch of the Elephantmen monthly series at Image Comics in July. So far, thanks to the amazing energy and ability of our regular artist, Moritat, we've put out an issue of Elephantmen every month, and, all being well, we'll be keeping up the pace this year as well, with at least four special projects in addition to the regular series.

NRAMA: Ah, yes, special projects… Can you give us some more information on things like Hip Flask: Concrete Jungle…?

RS: Hip Flask: Concrete Jungle is the second oversized hardcover in the Hip Flask series, its cover-to-cover Ladrönn and collects Hip Flask #2 & #3, with a special gallery of graphics-free covers from Elephantmen #0-#7. My publishing imprint, Active Images, published the first hardcover, Unnatural Selection, in conjunction with three European publishers in 2003, but this time round I'm extremely happy to be continuing the Hip Flask series at Image. Eric Stephenson, Erik Larsen, Joe Keatinge, Allen Hui and Drew Gill at Image are an absolute breeze to work with, and Comicraft's Secret Weapon, John 'JG' Roshell and I have our plates full putting the books together so not having to worry about the publishing and printing side is a huge relief to us. Ladrönn whipped up a jaw-droppingly awesome cover for the new hardcover which is just too good to use only once, so expect to see the image as a poster later in the year!

NRAMA: Speaking of the partnerships with other European publishers, are there plans to repackage it for European markets? After all, it's very European in its look and feel...

RS: There have already been French, Spanish, German and Italian editions of the first Hip Flask hardcover, but I think Ladrönn's slow progress on Hip Flask has impacted its success in the European market – at least in the short term. As soon as the Elephantmen series is collected and the Hip Flask series is complete, I think there will be renewed interest, but a number of European publishers who have expressed interest in the material are waiting for Ladrönn to finish the mini series before committing.

NRAMA: Just how well has the response been to Elephantmen thus far in North America? Issue #1 sold out of its 16K first printing. And before that, 26K copies of Unnatural Selection achieved sell-out status and is currently available as the repackaged Elephantmen #0...



RS: Response has been incredible! Aside from selling out of #1, Diamond is already very low on copies of issues #2 and #4, and the reprint of the first issue has been flying out of the door. I couldn't be happier. In anticipation of the books selling out, we're currently putting together a hardcover collection of issues #1-#7 (the #0 issue will not be included) for publication in March or April.

NRAMA: Story-wise, for the benefit of those who missed out on the first few issues of Elephantmen, can you whip up a brief "Story So Far..."?

RS: The Elephantmen are the survivors of genetic engineering experiments and indoctrination by Doctor Kazushi Nikken and MAPPO, a sinister organization which sought to create suprahuman weapons of mass destruction. Freed and rehabilitated by the United Nations, the Elephantmen now live amongst men. The Elephantmen series is set in Los Angeles about two hundred years from now, two years before the events depicted in the Hip Flask mini series. The first six or seven issues focus in on Hieronymous "Hip" Flask himself, his fellow Information Agent, Ebony Hide, good girl Skycab driver, Miki, Obadiah Horn, the most celebrated Elephantmen of them all, his consort Sahara, ganglord Serengheti and a little girl by the name of Savannah. Some -- or all -- of these characters may -- or may not -- be concerned with the whereabouts of a mysterious African totem which is currently in the possession of Hip. Because the first three Elephantmen featured two stories and guest artists in each issue, casual readers may have mistaken Elephantmen for an anthology series, which it is not. We've worked hard to make sure that the first five or six issues of the series are extremely accessible to new readers, and judging by the overwhelmingly positive reviews we've been receiving, I think we've succeeded. By the end of issue #7 readers will see more clearly where the series is heading although that's not to say we won't be doing any more character spotlight issues like issue #4 or #6.

NRAMA: January’s Elephantmen #6 will have a story drawn by David Hine (Silent War, Civil War: X-Men, Son of M, Strange Embraces), right?

RS: Dave and I have known each other since the mid-eighties when we worked together with Kev Hopgood on Zoids for Marvel UK, and he inked The Sleeze Brothers for me when I was promoted to editor there. In 2003 I convinced him to let me collect and publish his staggeringly brilliant black and white Tundra UK comic, Strange Embrace, which he'd written and illustrated in the early 90's (now named as one of the Top 100 Graphic Novels You Have To Read by Paul Gravett in his book Graphic Novels). I gave a copy of the Strange Embrace trade to Joe Quesada and, following an invitation from Joe to submit ideas to Marvel in the US, Dave rapidly became one of Marvel's hottest new writers.



But this was all wrong! This was not what I had hoped for and secretly planned! I wanted Dave to continue work on the sequel to Strange Embrace for which he'd submitted an outline to Vertigo a whole decade ago! I wanted him to finish the sequel for the most selfish of reasons -- because I wanted to read it, dammit! So when Dave came to the San Diego Con last year talking about never drawing ever again, I knew I had to do something fast... so late at night in the bar at the Hyatt when his ability to make rational decisions was somewhat impaired, I persuaded him to commit to drawing an eight page strip for Elephantmen, while he still had pencils in the house and before the ink dried in his well! To sweeten the deal I promised him no more than three panels on a page and cold hard cash! He probably thought I would never follow through but in fact the script I wrote for him was written long before I wrote the script for Elephantmen #1, and contains revelations about Hip, Sahara and the mysterious aforementioned African totem. If you've read Strange Embrace -- hell, if you've been to Dave's house -- you know that he's pretty familiar with African totems so slipping one into his story was a no-brainer! The story appears in issue #6, colored by Flanimals and Afterlife artist and former Comicraftsman, Rob Steen. Rob has also been coloring Dave's original Strange Embrace series on the side for the past couple of years, and the results will be available from Image starting monthly in May. Anyways, hot on the heels of his Elephantmen gig, Dave's recently started talking about a new creator owned project and I can exclusively reveal to you that he will be writing and drawing this new series. Actually that's a lie, but with a bit of luck it'll get back to Dave and he'll think twice about packing the pens away!

NRAMA: Coming up is also the long-awaited story by Joe Kelly (Superman/Batman Annual #1) and Chris Bachalo (X-Men)…

RS: Well now there's a tale inside a tale inside a tale. Toward the end of the 90's, shortly after DC swallowed WildStorm whole, Chris Bachalo started talking to me about his Cliffhanger series, Steampunk. It sounded exciting and Chris was looking for something extra special as far as the lettering was concerned... but WildStorm wanted to pinch pennies and have the book lettered inhouse. I'd enjoyed working with Chris on Witching Hour (my favorite Jeph Loeb script ever) and had become good friends with then X-Men writer Joe Kelly as well. So I made them a deal -- I'd letter Steampunk for them and I wouldn't charge WildStorm so much as a gooseberry... but they'd have to create a special Hip Flask story for me in return. Chris and Joe were totally up for it, and Joe actually turned in the script for what would become known as Captain Stoneheart & the Truth Fairy in November of 2001!

Understandably, Chris's artwork for the story took considerably longer, as he had to fit in a page here and there in between his other gigs, such as Captain America and Uncanny X-Men -- perhaps you've heard of them. Having waited two years for Ladrönn to finish his (Eisner award-winning) work on Hip Flask: Mystery City, waiting five years for Chris to complete Stoneheart wasn't as difficult as you might think. And, boy, was it worth the wait. Chris originally committed to a 20 page story but, rather than cut sequences from Joe's script, he added an extra nine pages at no extra charge! Liquid!'s Aron Lusen -- whose work over Salvador Larocca's pencils on X-Treme X-Men was just mind-blowing -- has taken Chris's pencils and colored them up a treat. It's an unusual story for Elephantmen, a Brothers Grimm style fairy story, and if you're wondering how it fits into the continuity you'll just have to pick up issue #7 to find out -- it's 40 pages with no ads and a variant cover by Chris for the usual monthly price of $2.99!

NRAMA: What else is there for 2007?

RS: Early on in the Elephantmen run, Image's Joe Keatinge was checking out the www.hipflask.com website and asked us why we didn't put together a book collecting all the various Hip Flask pinups and development material that's been created for various Comicraft ads and books over the years. Way back in 2001 our friends over at Comic Box in France put out a special Hip Flask supplement called Pilote, so JG and I cracked our heads together and figured out a way of putting together an Elephantmen Pilot issue. It'll be a special 64 page book featuring art by Ian Churchill, Brian Bolland, Joe Madureira, Todd McFarlane, Chris Bachalo, Greg Capullo, Ben Templesmith and many others, all behind a special cover by Ladrönn. We're also talking with Image about posters, prints and postcards, so it really will be the Year of the Elephant for us -- expect our tables at the various conventions this year to be heaving with goodies!

NRAMA: For fans of the monthly Elephantmen ongoing series, what’s coming up in 2007?

RS: Hip and Horn will be crossing each other's paths again next year, and this may -- or may not -- have something to do with the marriage of Horn to Sahara. Miki's back in #10, and we'll be seeing a lot more of her, she's one of my favorite characters and has been very popular with readers. We'll also be introducing Vanity -- from the Hip Flask mini series -- into Elephantmen in an upcoming issue, and we'll see The Silencer in action in a short story illustrated by Chris Burnham, currently working with Joe Casey on the Nixon’s Pals graphic novel for Image. Thrills! Spills! Chills! More than that I cannot say without giving too much away.

NRAMA: Finally, when will the long-awaited next chapter of Mystery City hit the stands?

RS: Ladrönn has promised me that Hip Flask: Ouroborous will be front and center this year. I'm hoping it'll be in stores before the year's out!

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ELEPHANTMEN #4 & #3 PREVIEW

ELEPHANTMEN #2 PREVIEW

BACK FOR MORE FLASK: STARKINGS ON HIP FLASK – THE BIG HERE & THE LONG NOW

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ELEPHANTMEN #1 - THE FULL ISSUE

[Hobowatcher]

Mr. Starkings, why no more flip covers?

I love this series to death, and the flip covers were one of the reasons. Please, bring them back.

Also I want a graphics free poster of the first issue. It's one of the few I'd actually frame.

Edit: I can't wait for everything that's planned. I loved this ever since I picke up the Hip issues a couple of years ago. Please, don't stop.

[Ye Olde Iowa]

Seriously, this seems way awesome and all, but I have no idea what is going on with these stories. How many books are there? What has been reprinted where? Where should I start? Somebody help me, please!

[Hobowatcher]

Hip Flask: Unnatural Selection is an origin issue about the development of the Elephantmen and where they stand today in their world.

Hip Flask: Elephantmen deals with Serengheti and his envy with Horn. It takes place in LA.

Elephantmen the series is a continuation of the previous two stories. You should try to pick it up starting with the first issue. You don't have to, as they are all stand alone tales, but each one has bits and pieces dealing with the overall plot surrounding Obadiah Horn and his various dealings. Some back up tales deal with this as well (Henry Flint's leads into the following issue, and Hine's seems to provide some crucial back story), and some are nice little character pieces. This series is mainly about fleshing out various characters and their universe.

Hip Flask: Mystery City deals with a mysterious death after a failed time travel experiment. This is a side story that just tells a story and has nothing to do with the Elephantment series.

I hope I got everything right.

[Ye Olde Iowa]

Originally Posted by Hobowatcher

Hip Flask: Unnatural Selection is an origin issue about the development of the Elephantmen and where they stand today in their world.

Hip Flask: Elephantmen deals with Serengheti and his envy with Horn. It takes place in LA.

Elephantmen the series is a continuation of the previous two stories. You should try to pick it up starting with the first issue. You don't have to, as they are all stand alone tales, but each one has bits and pieces dealing with the overall plot surrounding Obadiah Horn and his various dealings. Some back up tales deal with this as well (Henry Flint's leads into the following issue, and Hine's seems to provide some crucial back story), and some are nice little character pieces. This series is mainly about fleshing out various characters and their universe.

Hip Flask: Mystery City deals with a mysterious death after a failed time travel experiment. This is a side story that just tells a story and has nothing to do with the Elephantment series.

I hope I got everything right.

Nice. I wish I would have read up on Elephantmen/Hip Flask before today, considering my local shop had a 50% off all back issues sale yesterday. I'll have to check out what they have tomorrow when I pick up my new issues for the week. Thanks for all the info!

[Webmaster JG]

Yes, it can be confusing for the newcomer. Heck, even for us sometimes.

Here's what's been published so far:

Hip Flask: Unnatural Selection (#1 of 5) by Starkings, Casey & Ladronn
reprinted in the oversized Unnatural Selection hardcover, and again as Elephantmen #0

Hip Flask: Elephantmen (#2 of 5) by Starkings, Casey & Ladronn
Hip Flask: Mystery City (#3 of 5) by Starkings & Ladronn
to be collected in the oversized Concrete Jungle hardcover

Elephantmen #1-5 by Starkings & Moritat, with guest artists Henry Flint (#2) and Tom Scioli (#3). These monthly stories predate events in the miniseries.

If your comic shop is out, all of the above are available at our online store Comicrazy.

Whew!

JG

[innocentboy]

definitely a dope article to read.
glad Elephantmen is getting it's much due props.
respect.