ROBERT KIRKMAN & IMAGE INTRODUCE THE WOLF-MAN ON FCBD

[MattBrady]

“The first hit is free. The next one, you have to pay for.”

For years – that marketing strategy has worked on the streets and alleys of cities, but in May – Image and Robert Kirkman are bringing it into the comic shop with a hairy new hero. The Astounding Wolf-Man will debut on May 5th as Image’s Free Comic Book Day title for 2007, serving as an introduction to a new creator-owned title from the creator.

We cornered Kirkman for some more information.

Newsarama: First off Robert, let’s start with the genesis of this project – setting this up a little, is this indeed what the title suggests…a wolf-man?

Robert Kirkman: Yes indeed it is. I've been wanting to do another creator-owned series for some time now. In 2006 I went from writing 5 or 6 scripts a month to only needing to write 4 every month. This was great because my wife and I had just welcomed our first child into the world and we had a lot going on. But after a month or so I found myself with some extra time on my hands. I've got to do something while my wife is breast-feeding, you know. So I figured the time was right to dip another toe into the world of creator-owned comics. The Astounding Wolf-Man is that toe.

NRAMA: You found extra time on your hands…and you opted to fill it – with more work?

RK: I think one of the reasons I can do so much is that all my projects are different in some way. Ultimate X-Men is a serious teen soap-opera superhero title and The Irredeemable Ant-Man is about the worst person in the world getting superpowers. Invincible is a coming-of-age superhero story and The Walking Dead is a depressing survival/horror drama. I like trying different stuff, it keeps things fresh. So for The Astounding Wolf-Man I was looking at Invincible and The Walking Dead... and I thought I'd kind of mesh the two into something cool. So we've got the all-out superhero action of Invincible meshed with the horror and dark drama of The Walking Dead. It's like peanut butter and jelly... only less messy.

NRAMA: And we can all count our blessings that brain fever didn’t overcome you, and you opted for an Invincible/Walking Dead crossover…

So – introduce us to your cast – who is he, and how does he get to be a wolf-man?

RK: The main character, Gary Hampton is bitten by a werewolf while on a family vacation--we'll learn there's more to it than that as the series goes on, but that's pretty much the starting point for the whole series. The book is going to be an exploration of this curse... this horrible thing that happens to him and how it affects him and his family. Gary has to learn how to use his curse, this evil thing, as a force for good--but being a werewolf is, by design, an evil thing... it will be a constant struggle for him throughout the series.



NRAMA: Who else is in the book?

RK: The main characters are the Hamptons: Gary, his wife Rebecca and their daughter Chloe... oh, and their butler Dunford. The Hamptons are a wealthy family. Gary is the CEO of a huge corporation he built from the ground up. He's never really had a lot of time for his family and he scheduled a vacation to hopefully remedy that at least a little bit... and that had to be ruined by a werewolf bite... talk about bad luck. I haven't written a filthy rich character yet, so I wanted to give that a shot. I think it makes for unique character interactions and I'm having a lot of fun with it so far.

NRAMA: Who's on the art?

RK: Jason Howard is on art - all of it. Jason is penciling, inking and coloring this baby. I figure if I get too far behind he can start writing it too. The man can do everything. I found Jason through Invincible. He did an excellent pin-up that I printed in some issue, I don't really remember. From there I stalked him online a bit, and found some of his sequential pages. He seemed to know what he was doing. Then a while back, Jim Valentino proposed this series at Image called The Pact, it was a four-issue mini featuring a team-up between Invincible, Firebreather, ShadowHawk and Zephr from Noble Causes. Each issue was to be written by the writer of the four individual series. So I got to write the Invincible issue. Jason Howard immediately came to mind as someone who would be perfect to do the issue... and he did an amazing job. In fact, The Pact #4 is one of my favorite things I've ever done... it's just a really fun comic. So afterwards, I really wanted to work with Jason again. But I was exclusive to Marvel and could only do Invincible and The Walking Dead... so things had to wait.



Around the time my Marvel contract was going to be ending Jason Howard did a new pin-up for me, this time of Science Dog (the character from Invincible). I'd been wanting to do a book about a superhero werewolf for a while and when I saw how he handled Science Dog, I knew Jason was the guy for the job. So with my contract with Marvel soon to expire, I contacted Jason and we starting kicking around ideas and sketches in our free time.

Not long after, Marvel started talking to me about renewing my contract... but by then I was really looking forward to doing The Astounding Wolf-Man. Luckily, Marvel Comics is cooler than cool and they put an exemption in my new contract, allowing me to do this book. I love working for Marvel, it really is a dream come true for me to be able to play in their sandbox and for them to allow me to do my Image projects on the side. That just goes to show how great a comic company they really are. I really do need to thank Joe Quesada, Dan Buckley and David Bogart--without them this series wouldn't be possible.

NRAMA: Fair enough, so, since this is still a little ways off, how about you just tease out the first issue and arc…

RK: The first issue deals with Gary figuring out exactly what happened to him while he was on vacation--from there we get to watch Gary learn to use his new "powers" and begin to come into his own as a superhero. I know Werewolves are nothing new to comics, but I don't think anyone will expect where this series is going. This isn't just a werewolf existing along-side superheroes, this is an honest to god, costume-wearing, lair-having superhero who also happens to be a werewolf. It's similar to Invincible but it's going to be much darker with lots of supernatural, scary elements thrown in for good measure.

The best part about the whole thing, though, is that Image has gotten behind this book 100% and made it their Free Comic Book Day offering for 2007. So for anyone who thinks they might be interested in this series, they can try the first issue absolutely free! And for that I must thank Eric Stephenson and Erik Larsen for their continued support in my little career.

NRAMA: So – the first hit’s free, and then…

RK: You got it – we’re shipping the first issue of the series to stores for Free Comic Book Day absolutely free and then starting with the second issue people will have to pay for it.

[Ace]

It's definitely cool of Marvel to let him do THREE books outside of their umbrella.

[darrik]

Robert, you are awsome.

That is all.

[Jack Burton]

Cooooool. I'm in!

[C.B.Cebulski]

Jason Howard is a fantastic artist and a great guy. Robert Kirkman is an ASSHAT... but I still love him. You could but these guys on ANYTHING and I'd give it a look.

I'll be first in line for this book when it comes out.

Congrats, Robert!!

-C.B.

[Punchy]

Cool

Cool concept.

Cool creative team

Cool price point.

Just cool.

[s*p rules]

Definitely be trying this, especially for free.

[ThorEl3]

I am so In for this!

[michaelman9]

penciling, inking and coloring a montly book? I know the art is not incredably detailed, but taht is really impressive.

[CyclopsScott]

Rather surprised this isn't even an ICON thing, as its creator-owned, but it makes a GREAT FCBD book! I LOVE the all-new ones like Liberty Girl 0, Ballad Of Sleeping Beauty 1, etc, so I'm all over this

Scott

[RedRonin]

Sounds fun and it's free. What's not to like?

[Tom Daylight]

I'm not keen on that infinite% inflation from the first issue to the second.

[scottmdavis]

way too expensive.. sorry Image. lower your cdn cover price and I may try it out.

[tim seeley]

This looks fun as hell. As kids my brothers and I all made up werewolf and vampire superheroes. I had Drax, and my bro Brad had a werewolf that got turned into stone like the Thing. His name? ROCKHOUND!!!!

TIM

[Clem]

For f*cks sake. Does Kirkman wanna make up my ENTIRE pull list? cos it's heading that way...

[skaly]

Originally Posted by Ace

It's definitely cool of Marvel to let him do THREE books outside of their umbrella.

Yeah, especially since he's exclusive to them.

Hey, wait a minute......

[IllKidd]

Man, I was hoping for a series about Marv...

[xdemon]

I will definately give this a try.

[Gamma Duck]

This strikes me as Werewolf By Night, Invincible style.

Or, in other words, my new favorite book.

[Rawkingbird]

Dammit, I'm buying this. Sounds great, looks great.

But dammit Kirkman, can't you just do a Science Dog ongoing?

[idkidd]

Can the Free Comic Book Day be printed on glossy paper this year? I'm thinking last year wasn't (I could be wrong though).

This looks great!

Is Josh Howard a co-owner?

[nyhardcore]

That's awesome! It's great to see a creator step up and do this to support Free Comic Book Day and the business in general. Now people will have a reason to actually look forward to and participate in FCD, rather than waiting for some reprint of the latest X-book or whatever other junk the big two will crap out. If Marvel, DC and the rest would follow suit, FCD could really be a boon to the industry.

[Cmdr_Y]

Originally Posted by idkidd

Can the Free Comic Book Day be printed on glossy paper this year? I'm thinking last year wasn't (I could be wrong though).

This looks great!

Is Josh Howard a co-owner?

JASON Howard. I dunno. From the article it seems like he's on as the artist. Though if the rumors are true, Robert takes GOOD care of his artists. I wouldn't worry about Jason.

I'm looking forward to the book though I'm disappointed that we won't see Battle Pope continue with new issues. I blame Val.

[Manny]

Jason Howard is probably the coolest guy I've ever met at conventions and in comics. IMO.
He is one of those guys who has paid his due with his own projects and sitting in artists alleys all over the country at comic conventions for years.

Congrats Jason! You deserve this. You lucky dog you.

[deadjacket]

For all those in the UK.... aquestion i posed on Kirkman's Image Forum

the book looks fantastic and it's great that it's free...

but what happens if your shop doesn't take part in FCBD?

a lot of shops (and particularly one big chain) in the UK don't take part in FCBD as the shipping (air freight / DHL) has to be fully paid by them.

I couldn't get hold of the 2006 image FCBD book at all, the 2005 book was impossible to find in this part of the UK. And it took me weeks to find the 2004 FCBD book.

Am I gonna have to start with issue 2 ?

it could affect quite a big readership outside the states