Comics Bulletin logo
Search
  • Columns
    Random
    • 4.0

      Series Review: 'Edge of Spider-Verse' #1-5

      Chris Kiser
      October 22, 2014
      Columns, The Full Run
    Recent
    • Revisiting the Witchblade/Fathom/Tomb Raider Crossover

      Daniel Gehen
      February 8, 2021
    • 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
    • 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
    • Leading Questions: A Dying Medium Brings New Life in Wednesday Comics

      Chris Kiser
      May 12, 2016
      Big Two, Columns, DC Comics, Leading Question
    Recent
    • 3.0

      Review: X-MEN LEGENDS #1 Delivers A Dose of Nostalgia

      Daniel Gehen
      February 22, 2021
    • 4.5

      DCeased: Dead Planet #7 Presents a Hopeful Future (Review)

      Daniel Gehen
      January 22, 2021
    • Retro Review: Detective Comics #826 Remains a Holiday Classic

      Daniel Gehen
      December 3, 2020
    • DC Comics
    • Big Two Reviews
    • Marvel Comics
  • Indie
    Random
    • Review: 'The Fuhrer and the Tramp' is a Surprising, Fun Romp

      Chris Kiser
      September 4, 2018
      Indie, Reviews
    Recent
    • 4.0

      Review: Beast Wars #2 another chance to change the past

      Stephen Cook
      March 3, 2021
    • 4.5

      Review: THE LAST RONIN #2 Hurts So Good

      Daniel Gehen
      February 19, 2021
    • TIME BEFORE TIME—A HIGH STAKES TIME TRAVEL SCIENCE FICTION SERIES SET TO LAUNCH THIS MAY

      Daniel Gehen
      February 19, 2021
    • Reviews
    • Archie Comics
    • Boom! Studios
    • Dark Horse
    • IDW
    • Image
    • Oni Press
    • Valiant
  • Reviews
    Random
    • 3.0

      The Best American Comics 2010

      Chris Kiser
      February 2, 2011
      Reviews
    Recent
    • 3.0

      Review: X-MEN LEGENDS #1 Delivers A Dose of Nostalgia

      Daniel Gehen
      February 22, 2021
    • 4.5

      Review: THE LAST RONIN #2 Hurts So Good

      Daniel Gehen
      February 19, 2021
    • 2.3

      Review: SAVAGE #1 Needs Taming

      Daniel Gehen
      February 16, 2021
    • Singles Going Steady
    • Slugfest
    • Manga
      • Reviews
    • Small Press
      • Reviews
      • ICYMI
      • Tiny Pages Made of Ashes
  • Interviews
    Random
    • Rita Gorgoni: Putting the "Pieces" Together to Tell a Frightening Tale

      Chris Kiser
      August 27, 2009
      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
    • Small-Press Super-Heroes of the '80s: Nexus

      Chris Kiser
      October 24, 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
    • BOOM! Studios Announces YA Fantasy Series THE LAST WITCH

      Chris Kiser
      February 4, 2020
      Boom! Studios, News, Press Release
    Recent
    • TIME BEFORE TIME—A HIGH STAKES TIME TRAVEL SCIENCE FICTION SERIES SET TO LAUNCH THIS MAY

      Daniel Gehen
      February 19, 2021
    • Image Comics and TMP Announces SPAWN’S UNIVERSE

      Daniel Gehen
      February 18, 2021
    • SAVAGE DRAGON IS A FORCE TO BE RECKONED WITH THIS MAY

      Daniel Gehen
      February 17, 2021
    • Press Release
    • Kickstarter Spotlight
  • Books
    Random
    • Preview: 'An Unreliable History of Tattoos' from NoBrow Press

      Chris Kiser
      March 30, 2016
      Books, News, Previews
    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
  • Review: Beast Wars #2 another chance to change the past
  • Collecting Profile: Blue Beetle
  • Review: X-MEN LEGENDS #1 Delivers A Dose of Nostalgia
  • Collecting Profile: Kraven the Hunter
  • Review: THE LAST RONIN #2 Hurts So Good
  • TIME BEFORE TIME—A HIGH STAKES TIME TRAVEL SCIENCE FICTION SERIES SET TO LAUNCH THIS MAY
  • RSS Feed
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Google+
  • Contact Us
  • Write for us!
  • Visit Video Game Break!
Home
Interviews

Rich Johnston: Feeling Avengeful

Chris Kiser
March 1, 2012
Interviews

When it comes to snagging the hottest gossip and rumors in the world of comic books, there's really only one guy to go to. For the better part of the past two decades, Rich Johnston has been digging up the deepest secrets of the industry and putting them on public display. After many years of reporting his findings in a regular column for various online venues (including an earlier incarnation of this one, back when we were known as Silver Bullet Comic Books), Johnston founded his own site, Bleeding Cool, which has quickly become one of the most popular sources for comics news on the web.

As his nose for sizzling tidbits has garnered Johnston a fair degree of infamy amongst comics publishers, it has also earned him several opportunities to gain a foothold in the business of comics creation. He's written some notable parody books, such as Watchmensch and Civil Wardrobe, and his serial "The Many Murders of Miss Cranbourne" is currently unfolding within the pages of Dark Horse Presents. In April, Johnston will return to the realm of spoof and satire with The Avengefuls, a series of one-shots for BOOM! Studios that aims to lampoon a certain similarly-titled major motion picture due for release around the same time.

We recently pinned Johnston down in the midst of his busy schedule to grill him on that project, as well as to get his perspective on what it's like to straddle the line between journalist and creator.


Chris Kiser for Comics Bulletin: What was the genesis of The Avengefuls? I mean, obviously it's a parody of The Avengers timed to coincide with the upcoming movie, but how did it come about as a project you're writing for BOOM! Studios?

Rich Johnston: Ross Richie [CEO and co-founder of BOOM!] phoned me up. He wanted to publish parody comics based on the Marvel movies but his go-to guy Keith Giffen was unavailable. So Chip Mosher [former BOOM! marketing director] recommended me. They offered me money, I said yes. It was that easy.

Rich Johnston Interview - The Avengefuls

CB: We've got four one-shots in the series, each with a pretty hilarious title that ought to catch readers' attentions on their own. Just in case that's not enough of a draw, though, what else can you tell us about the premise of each book?

Johnston: I'm basically taking aspects of the movies and playing them up for silliness' sake, then mixing in digs at all sorts of aspects of society. So Iron Muslim also parodies comics like Holy Terror by supposing an Iron Man from "the other side," Scienthorlogy takes the god of thunder and makes him a very different deity indeed, Captain American Idol sees the Captain singing and dancing his way across war-torn Europe and The Avengefuls finds a way for them all to work together.

CB: How interconnected are the books, plot-wise? Should we be looking at this as a four-issue miniseries or a set of isolated one-shots? Or something in-between?

Johnston: Every issue ties in to one another, but they can also totally be read in their own right. Naturally I'd love you to read all of them, but if you just buy Iron Muslim, you should be happy enough.

CB: I think it's pretty easy to look at the solicits for The Avengefuls and think, "Oh, that looks like a pretty funny superhero parody," but the fact that two out of the three major character concepts center around religious themes stands out to me. Is there an element of satire at play here, as opposed to simply humor for humor's sake?

Johnston: Oh, absolutely, and I wouldn't have it any other way. Just as Watchmensch satirized the history of the comics industry, and Civil Wardrobe did the same for the tendency of comics to continually redesign and relaunch themselves to ludicrous degrees, so also these books reflect Hollywood, comics and the wider society at large. So, yes, Scienthorlogy takes on much of the Scientology myths and relationships with the media, in a Kirby fashion, while Iron Muslim looks at the way books like Holy Terror and The Infidel try to shape superhero narrative.

Rich Johnston Interview - Iron Muslim

CB: I can see how the character of Thor, being an ancient deity himself, would be a natural fit for taking a jab at the modern religiosity of Scientology, but the inspiration behind Iron Muslim seems a lot less obvious. What is it about Iron Man that made him a suitable vehicle for commenting on Frank Miller comics, the War on Terror and all that?

Johnston: The movie set Iron Man very clearly as an American who comes to the Middle East where he is transformed. It's very much a post 9-11 movie. The comic gave me the opportunity to switch that and in so doing, look at how certain people have portrayed Muslims in comics and in movies and play with those portrayals further.

CB: Would you say you're targeting specific portrayals, such as those in Holy Terror and The Infidel as you mentioned, or a vibe that's present (albeit in less extreme fashion) throughout the superhero genre at large?

Johnston: Oh, there's one scene which is a direct take on Holy Terror, with the artist drawing in the Miller style. The vibe is more common in Hollywood as a whole however, if a little more generic, over the last thirty years.

CB: I'm sure that Iron Muslim, simply given the subject matter on its surface, is destined to be the most "controversial" of the four books, but I can't imagine you're playing with kid gloves in the others. Captain American Idol seems like it could be a pretty biting send-up of mass entertainment media. Am I on target there?

Johnston: That's the attempt — something about the difference from the thirties and forties, where men gained the respect of their country by going to war, while today they get it by dancing on ice. I'm not sure which is more admirable, frankly.

The most controversial however will probably be The Avengefuls, and that's just down to the plot…

CB: That's quite the tease, I have to say! Anything you're willing to disclose about it?

Johnston: It is called Avengefuls. It is a comic book.

I've learned over twenty years that the only way to keep a secret is not to tell anyone. But if you find a copy of Civil Wardrobe, you might get a clue.

Rich Johnston Interview - Captain American Idol

CB: Well, I suppose that if anyone would know about the leakiness of secrets, it would be the chief muckraker from Bleeding Cool! How has your role as a journalist who (often quite aggressively) covers the comics industry impacted your own creative efforts in the medium?

Johnston: I've never had any serious intent to write comics. I've just generally taken opportunities when they have been presented to me.

CB: I think because so many comics fans have the desire to break into the industry as creators themselves, they assume someone in your posit
ion would have the same motives. The webcomic The Gutters, in fact,
just did a strip that rather unflatteringly portrayed you as bashing publishers to their faces while simultaneously pining for jobs with them. What's your response to that perception being out there? Is it a distraction to your work?

Johnston: My intent has always been to work in advertising. And for fifteen years, that's what I did. I was really rather good at it. Then I got hit by the recession and fell into Bleeding Cool. Last year, I gave up the part time advertising job I was doing to go full time on Bleeding Cool. If it ever ends, I'll go back to advertising, if the market has recovered by then.

I thought the Gutters strip was funny. But I think starting a comics industry gossip column or website to get work writing or drawing comics is a very bad idea indeed.

CB: It seems that it would be fairly counterproductive to that end, for sure! Even so, you've had quite a few of those writing opportunities materialize for you as of late. Has your increasing visibility as a creator posed challenges for what you're doing on Bleeding Cool? Specifically, I would imagine that it might place you under a higher degree of scrutiny — people drawing the conclusion that, because you have a book coming out for BOOM!, for instance, you're more prone to "go easy" on them while you're still playing hardball with Marvel and DC.

Johnston: I've never seen a conflict of interest that I haven't run towards with manic laughter. As it stands, I don't seem to have had any problems. Indeed, I've now got Ross Richie to answer my enquiries after he blanked me for ages. I also hope people know me better than that. I love to bite the hand that feeds me. How else will I get any nutrition?

Rich Johnston Interview - Scienthorlogy

CB: It's interesting how a lot of your comics work has overlapped quite neatly with your life as a journalist. As Rich Johnston the comics reporter, you're often taking the industry to task for its various foibles, and in comics like Watchmensch or The Avengefuls, you're doing the same thing, only via a different delivery system. Have you noticed a difference between the response you get from folks regarding the comics versus reaction to the web articles?

Johnston: They say you should write what you know. I'm not really one for measuring reader reaction. To be honest, I'm usually writing for an audience of one. I don't notice a difference, certainly.

CB: How about reactions from the subjects you cover? Such as, Marvel's reaction to The Avengefuls versus a Bleeding Cool piece about the company.

Johnston: Haven't heard a peep.

I know Dave Gibbons liked Watchmensch, though. But it wasn't really targeted at him.

CB: Nice talking with you, Rich. Thanks for the insights!


The Avengefuls #1 will be released on April 11.

Chris KiserRich Johnston

Share On:
Tweet
Production Diary Volume Five
Pornhounds #2

About The Author

<a href="http://comicsbulletin.com/byline/chris-kiser/" rel="tag">Chris Kiser</a>
Chris Kiser

Raised on a steady diet of Super Powers action figures and Adam West Batman reruns, Chris Kiser now writes for Comics Bulletin. He once reviewed every tie-in to a major DC Comics summer event and survived to tell the tale. Ask him about it on Twitter, where he can be found as @Chris_Kiser!

Related Posts

  • 3.5

    Singles Going Steady 5/28/2013: Comics By, For and About People on Drugs

    David Fairbanks
    May 29, 2013
  • Top 10 Comic Book Debuts of 2012

    Chris Kiser, Danny Djeljosevic, David Fairbanks, Nick Boisson, Nick Hanover, Shawn Hill
    January 8, 2013

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