Comics Bulletin logo
Search
  • Columns
    Random
    • The Art of Darkness: How Video Games Can Learn From Maus

      Tim Lasiuta
      July 25, 2012
      Columns
    Recent
    • The Full Run: Usagi Yojimbo – The Wanderer’s Road Part 2

      Daniel Gehen
      December 4, 2020
    • The Full Run: Usagi Yojimbo – The Wanderer’s Road Part 1

      Daniel Gehen
      October 30, 2020
    • Comictober 2020: DRACULA MOTHERF**KER

      Daniel Gehen
      October 27, 2020
    • What Looks Good
    • Comics Bulletin Soapbox
    • The Full Run
    • Leading Question
    • Top 10
    • The Long-Form
    • Jumping On
    • Comics in Color
    • Slouches Towards Comics
  • Big Two
    Random
    • Review: Doomsday Clock #1

      Tim Lasiuta
      November 22, 2017
      Big Two, DC Comics
    Recent
    • Retro Review: Detective Comics #826 Remains a Holiday Classic

      Daniel Gehen
      December 3, 2020
    • Stan Lee

      nguyen ly
      November 7, 2020
    • Collecting Profile: Jack O’ Lantern

      nguyen ly
      October 31, 2020
    • DC Comics
    • Big Two Reviews
    • Marvel Comics
  • Indie
    Random
    • Magnetic Press launches monthly box/patreon program

      Tim Lasiuta
      November 23, 2015
      Indie, News
    Recent
    • Review: The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Cartoonist

      Daniel Gehen
      December 14, 2020
    • The Full Run: Usagi Yojimbo – The Wanderer’s Road Part 2

      Daniel Gehen
      December 4, 2020
    • 4.5

      TMNT: The Last Ronin #1 Lives Up to the Hype (Review)

      Daniel Gehen
      October 29, 2020
    • Reviews
    • Archie Comics
    • Boom! Studios
    • Dark Horse
    • IDW
    • Image
    • Oni Press
    • Valiant
  • Reviews
    Random
    • 3.5

      Review: 'Itty Bitty Hellboy' #1 is undeniably cute and colourful but a little too polished

      Tim Lasiuta
      August 30, 2013
      Reviews
    Recent
    • Review: The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Cartoonist

      Daniel Gehen
      December 14, 2020
    • Retro Review: Detective Comics #826 Remains a Holiday Classic

      Daniel Gehen
      December 3, 2020
    • 4.5

      TMNT: The Last Ronin #1 Lives Up to the Hype (Review)

      Daniel Gehen
      October 29, 2020
    • Singles Going Steady
    • Slugfest
    • Manga
      • Reviews
    • Small Press
      • Reviews
      • ICYMI
      • Tiny Pages Made of Ashes
  • Interviews
    Random
    • Janet K. Lee: Keeping Comics Dapper

      Tim Lasiuta
      September 9, 2011
      Interviews
    Recent
    • Interview: Jon Davis-Hunt Talks SHADOWMAN

      Daniel Gehen
      June 8, 2020
    • Interview: Becky Cloonan talks DARK AGNES and Her Personal Influences

      Mike Nickells
      March 4, 2020
    • Simon Roy

      Interview: Simon Roy on His Inspirations and Collaborations on PROTECTOR

      Mike Nickells
      January 29, 2020
    • Audio Interview
    • Video Interview
  • Classic Comics
    Random
    • The False Spring of "Kryptonite Nevermore!"

      Tim Lasiuta
      August 15, 2014
      Classic Comics Cavalcade, Columns
    Recent
    • Countdown to the King: Marvel’s Godzilla

      Daniel Gehen
      May 29, 2019
    • Honoring A Legend: Fantagraphics To Resurrect Tomi Ungerer Classics

      Daniel Gehen
      February 15, 2019
    • Reliving the Craziest Decade in Comics History: An interview with Jason Sacks

      Mark Stack
      January 2, 2019
    • Classic Comics Cavalcade
    • Classic Interviews
  • News
    Random
    • Exclusive Preview: MONIKA Vol. 1 by Guillem March and Thilde Barboni

      Tim Lasiuta
      February 29, 2016
      Previews
    Recent
    • 2020 Ringo Awards Winners Announced

      Daniel Gehen
      October 26, 2020
    • BAD IDEA Announces 2021 Publishing Slate

      Daniel Gehen
      September 29, 2020
    • A Full Replay of NCSFest 2020 is now Available

      Daniel Gehen
      September 15, 2020
    • Press Release
    • Kickstarter Spotlight
  • Books
    Random
    • Jason Shiga and His Deliciously Demented 'Demon'

      Tim Lasiuta
      May 9, 2017
      Books
    Recent
    • Collecting Profile: Disney Frozen

      CB Staff
      November 22, 2019
    • Collecting Profile: NFL Superpro

      CB Staff
      August 31, 2019
    • “THE BEST OF WITZEND” is a Wonderful Celebration of Artistic Freedom

      Daniel Gehen
      September 15, 2018
    • Review: ‘Machete Squad’ is a Disappointing Afghan Memoir

      Jason Sacks
      July 31, 2018
    • Review: ‘Out of Nothing’ is the Antidote to Our Sick Times

      Jason Sacks
      July 23, 2018
    • Review: ‘Bizarre Romance’ Shows Rough Edges in the Early Days of a New Marriage

      Jason Sacks
      July 10, 2018
What's New
  • Collecting Profile: Batwoman
  • Collecting Profile: Daredevil
  • Collecting Profile: Floronic Man
  • Review of Cheetah in Wonder Woman 1984
  • Review: The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Cartoonist
  • Collecting Profile: Transformers
  • RSS Feed
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Google+
  • Contact Us
  • Write for us!
  • Visit Video Game Break!
Home
Interviews

Jeff Mariotte: Explaining Presidential Material

Tim Lasiuta
November 8, 2011
Interviews

Comic books aren’t just for kids anymore. Now, they’re for voters too!

IDW Publishing has unleashed Jeff Mariotte, Andy Helfer, and Tom Morgan loose on the leading presidential candidates, Barack Obama and John McCain. Each have their own Presidential Material issues out on stands currently with Mariotte heading up the Obama project. Jeff, with his already hectic writing and publicity tour schedule, managed to slow down long enough to answer my questions.

Tim Lasiuta: Jeff, You have just come off a whirlwind tour celebrating your work on Presidential Material? I thought that writers were supposed to be hidden in the background, not prime time guests. What are your impressions of a week of ‘fame’?

Jeff Mariotte: My “fame” has been kind of spread out this summer. After the Presidential Material books were announced at Comic-Con in July, I appeared on CNN and Fox News Channel, and was interviewed by major newspapers and the Associated Press, so the stories went all around the world. Then things settled down again until the release of the comics in October, which happened to coincide with the release of my novel River Runs Red. I had already planned a small tour for River Runs Red, and then the Presidential tour got booked right in the middle of it. So I really was doing a kind of whirlwind, coast-to-coast blitz for a week or so. It has slacked off again now, but I still have a couple of events before I’m all done.

I’m not recognized on the streets or anything, although by this point I think the Obama cover art might be if it could grow legs and walk around. The attention has mostly been on the book, which is only fitting and appropriate. Really, the thing I learned from all the attention is how strong and fit Senators Obama and McCain must be, to do this same sort of thing non-stop for almost two years. I couldn’t survive it, yet they seem to be doing fine.

TL: Having read the biography (to this point), of Barack Obama, firstly, how did you approach such a time and fact sensitive assignment?

JM: Obviously we had a fairly short deadline, since IDW wanted the books out as much before the election as possible, but we wanted to make sure they could include as much of the primaries as possible (and in the case of my book, Hillary Clinton was still in the race when I started it, so we had to wait long enough to be sure Obama would win the nomination). I had been following the primaries pretty closely anyway, but had to dig much deeper to do the book. I read Obama’s own books, and many, many newspaper and magazine articles. Every fact that appears in the biography was double or triple-sourced by me, and then again so my editor can assure readers assured that the book is accurate. Andy Helfer went through a similar process for the McCain book, which is equally factual.

TL: Other than printed and video matter, did you have contact with Mr. Obama? What is your impression of him as a potential leader?

JM: I didn’t have any contact with Senator Obama or the campaign. That was intentional; I didn’t want the perception to exist that the book was in any way vetted, approved, or influenced by the campaign. I wanted to present the man’s life story as it happened, warts and all, and in the heat of a presidential campaign there might have been pushback against the idea of including Obama’s early drug use, his relationships with Jeremiah Wright, Tony Rezko, and William Ayers, and other controversial episodes from his life.

My impression of him as a potential leader grew immensely when I read his books, particularly The Audacity of Hope, which is issues-oriented and which explains the process by which he arrives at his views on various issues. He really is a man who thinks things through, who solicits advice from a wide range of people with differing viewpoints, who examines the facts before making up his mind. I think he has sound judgment and the ability to work with people from every different background and holding every possible point of view.

TL: The books weren’t announced that long ago, when did this project begin and how did you get the assignment? Tom Morgan did a marvelous job on the art.

JM: I got the assignment in late April, I think, or early May. They were announced at Comic-Con at the end of July, and I was already long finished by that point. I had about six weeks to do all the research and the script, and Tom, of course, had a little longer to do the art. You’re right he was terrific.

TL: This is not your most recent published work, your CSI: Miami novel hit stands in September, Tales of Zorro in August, River Runs Red, and Spider Man: Requiem in October, and only part of an impressive decade plus long career. You have written westerns, suspense, short stories, and now political commentary. How did your career begin? Who was influential in your life that inspired you?

JM: My first published short story came out in a science fiction anthology in 1988, but from then until the early 90s my only published writing was a little bit of journalism. My big break came when Jim Lee hired me to write some trading cards for him, in the early days of Image Comics and his Image studio, WildStorm Productions. After that I became a staffer for the company, but was also allowed to write comics, more and more as time went on. My first novel was a tie-in based on the WildStorm superhero team Gen13–it was collaboration with Christopher Golden, and we had both written Gen13 comics prior to that. Chris also introduced me to his Buffy novel editor, who invited me to do some work in that line and the Angel novel line, and that’s what really launched my prose career. That same editor bought my first original novels, the teen horror quartet Witch Season.

So obviously those people were very important to my career. In terms of literary inspirations, I’d have to include people like Roy Rogers (not a literary figure, but the first comics I remember reading were Roy Rogers comics, and I never got over my love of Western comics after that), Wallace Stegner, William Goldman, Denny O’Neil, Stephen King, Ross Macdonald… it’s a pretty long list.

TL: Which format appeals to you more as a writer/creator?

JM: I love writing novels and comics, for very different reasons. Comics are a collaborative medium, and it’s always thrilling to see a good artist bring your ideas to life in a way you couldn’t have quite imagined. But they’re also necessarily short and largely external–it’s hard to get deeply into the heads of your characters. Novels allow for a broader canvas with deeper dimensions.

TL: Much of your creative output has been using licensed or others’ characters. CSI, Angel, Conan, and your Tales of Zorro compilation story for Moonstone. Is your creative approach different when you are dealing with someone else’s “child’?

JM: Not terribly. Whether I’m writing about my characters or someone else’s, the important thing is to be consistent about the characters as they’re established. If I wrote a novel in which a dedicated peacenik suddenly turns into an Ultimate Fighter at a crucial moment, nobody would believe it. By the same token, I wouldn’t write a Zorro story in which Zorro becomes a serial killer. Obviously in the case of licensed fiction, I don’t get to invent the main characters or the world they inhabit, and that’s different, but the requirements of storytelling are the same, the respect for the characters is the same, and the attention to style, plot, pace, etc. doesn’t change.

TL: With Zorro, the ho
nor of being in the same book as folks like Guy Williams Jr, Isabel Allendes, and some accomplished novelists is quite an achievement. The Lone Ranger, Green Hornet, Spiderman (new storyline), and even the Phantom have been re-imagined or in the process thereof. What are your thoughts on “updated” classic characters? Are there lines we should not cross?

JM: My answer to this is pretty much the same as the last answer. As long as those characters, all of which are beloved by millions of fans, are handled with the respect they deserve, then there’s nothing wrong with telling new stories about them. I think that helps keep them alive for new generations of fans.

Having the lead story in a Zorro anthology was a great honor, and almost as big a thrill as getting to hold one of the swords Guy Williams (the “real” screen Zorro, as far as I’m concerned) used on his TV show, at Comic-Con 2007.

TL: As a western fan, your Desperadoes projects have always appealed to me. What led to your development of the series? It seems that the franchise, after three episodes, still has mileage left in it. Is there still a western or two left in you? What else is percolating in your computer?

JM: There have actually been five Desperadoes projects–four miniseries (with artists John Cassaday, John Severin, Jeremy Haun and Alberto Dose) and a one-shot with John Lucas. In 2009, we’ll see an Omnibus edition collecting all of those in one book, and a miniseries that crosses over the Desperadoes gang with Frank Timmons, the hero of the Graveslinger horror/Western miniseries I wrote with Shannon Eric Denton last year. I also have a new series coming from WildStorm that I’m not supposed to talk about yet, I’m writing the comic book adaptation of the next Terminator movie, Terminator: Salvation, and I have an original graphic novel called Zombie Cop coming from Image Comics/Shadowline in January, as well as some other projects still looking for homes. In prose, Cold Black Hearts, the third novel in my loose supernatural thriller border trilogy (after Missing White Girl and River Runs Red) comes out in May 2009, and I’m working on some other novel projects for various publishers. There’s also a new prose novella in the Zombie Cop book, set in the same horrific zombie-infested world, a Western short story on the way, another short story for Moonstone, and another horror short story about which I’m also very excited, but which I’m also supposed to keep quiet about. So I have plenty of stuff on the way, and plenty to keep me busy.

TL: With the success of Presidential Material, how do you see this in raising your profile and drawing attention to the fact that comic book writers can be so tuned into what is happening today, that comics become relevant to readers everywhere?

JM: I don’t know how much it has done for my personal profile–as I said above, most of the attention has been on the book, which is as it should be. Barack Obama is the star of that story, not me. But the success of both the Obama and McCain books will, I hope, persuade people that comics are not just an entertainment medium but a tool for teaching and a way to address serious subjects.

TL: Obama or McCain?

JM: Well, as I write this, most of the voters haven’t weighed in yet. I support Obama, and I’m pretty confident that he’s going to win. But it ain’t over till it’s over, so we’ll just have to see how my predictive abilities are.

Editor’s Note: No matter who you support, please go out and do your civic duty and vote. People in other countries would kill to be able to vote, so don’t waste it. Comics Bulletin does not endorse either candidate, the editor still isn’t 100% sure who he is voting for.

Jeff MariotteTim Lasiuta

Share On:
Tweet
Mark Schultz: Respect for the Past
Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes Vol. 3

About The Author

<a href="http://comicsbulletin.com/byline/tim-lasiuta/" rel="tag">Tim Lasiuta</a>
Tim Lasiuta

Tim Lasiuta is a writer for Comics Bulletin.

Related Posts

  • Breaking Down the Barriers with Art Spiegelman

    Tim Lasiuta
    November 9, 2008
  • David Tischman's Greatest Hits

    Tim Lasiuta
    September 21, 2008

Latest Interviews

  • Interview: Jon Davis-Hunt Talks SHADOWMAN

    Daniel Gehen
    June 8, 2020
  • Interview: Becky Cloonan talks DARK AGNES and Her Personal Influences

    Mike Nickells
    March 4, 2020
  • Simon Roy

    Interview: Simon Roy on His Inspirations and Collaborations on PROTECTOR

    Mike Nickells
    January 29, 2020
  • Interview: V.E. Schwab on revisiting Red London in The Steel Prince

    Stephen Cook
    March 13, 2019
  • Interview: David Foster Wallace and Hellblazer, words on Wyrd with writer Curt Pires

    Stephen Cook
    February 27, 2019
  • “The Night Has Teeth” An Interview with Sarah deLaine, Artist of Image Comics’ “Little Girls”

    Jason Sacks
    February 26, 2019
  • Interview: Caitlin Kittredge talks the future of Witchblade

    Daniel Gehen
    February 12, 2019
  • Interview: Andy Nakatani and the Future of Weekly Shonen Jump

    Daniel Gehen
    December 19, 2018
  • INTERVIEW: Todd Matthy talks robots, princesses, and bridging the divide with storytelling

    Stephen Cook
    September 13, 2018
  • INTERVIEW: Gallaher & Ellis discuss THE ONLY LIVING GIRL

    Daniel Gehen, Thea Srinivasan
    September 7, 2018
RSSTwitterFacebookgoogleplusinstagramtumblr

Comics Bulletin is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for website owners to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com, audible.com, and any other website that may be affiliated with Amazon Service LLC Associates Program. As an Amazon Associate, Comics Bulletin earns from qualifying purchases.

All content on this site (c) 2018 The Respective Copyright Holders