Living Wednesday to Wednesday #43: the Jim McCann Interview!

Welcome to the first Acme interview of the new year with Acme long-time friend, soon to be first-time visitor Jim McCann! Then check in below the interview for an exclusive preview of New Avengers: The Reunion #1!

 

For a while now, Jermaine and I have had a little voice in our collective ear, providing encouragement in the Marvel Way and dropping hints (sometimes excruciatingly so) of what was to come and what books to look forward to months in advance. Like a power step-up sub-station, we took those sweet nothings and kicked them up a notch, giving them a run through the ol' Acme hype machine, enabling us to insinuate, chide, and sometimes outright bully you all into picking up all of the right stuff. But, hey, that's what you pay us for. 

And more importantly, that's why Marvel pays Jim McCann. Since I met him two years ago at Baltimore Comic Con, Jim's enthusiasm for comics, blockbuster storytelling, and, well, enthusiasm for enthusiasm's sake has been something that I've aspired to in all of my blogs and dealings around the shop. Like an actor's director in the movies, he's a comic fan's comic fan.

And now he's a comic fan's comic writer, to all kinds of blown out, PR'ed, silly anticipation. 

I interviewed Jim on the busselling cusp of New York Comic Con, a scant four weeks before his sure-to-be triumphant appearance within our very own hallowed halls as part of Marvel March Madness!

Stephen Mayer: During the most recent installment of the Bendis Tapes, Brian Michael Bendis stated (joked?) that you had originally asked him to make Dazzler one of the Skrull sleeper agents that came off of the ship in the Savage Land. Is there any truth to that?

Jim McCann: I will admit that my initial suggestions was Dazzler. At the time she had this strange pink hair and had a mysterious return to Earth with no mention of her relationship with Longshot, their possible child, etc. So, she seemed like somone to be replaced. However, she was actively in another book and we didn't want to hijack New Excalibur's plans for her. Then someone (Mike Pasciullo, our VP of Marketing and Business Development) mentioned Mockingbird and I was like a dog with a bone -- I was NOT going to let that pass up.

SM: What issues or collections sold you on Dazzler so completely?

JM: As for Dazzler, it was Dazzler #38 that first caught my eye. I had seen Disco Dazzler, but was a little too young to get those issues on the stands. I remember loving her introduction in the Dark Phoenix Saga and turning down the X-Men (What!? That takes gumption), and the Dazzler the Movie graphic novel, but it was #38 in her solo series that sold me. Wolverine and Colossus were two favorites of mine and they were on the cover of that issue. It introduced her new costume and redefinited her powers. She kicked their butts and it was awesome. Like a Danger Room session in a motel. Who does that!? Dazzler, that's who! (Most of these issues, by the way, can be found in Essential Dazzler vol. 1 and the upcoming Essential Dazzler vol. 2!)

SM: Do you now have your dream Dazzler story waiting in the wings, or is there a concept that you can tell us about? 

JM: I do have a desire to write Dazzler, but I want it to come organically from the character and her development in Uncanny. I don't want to write her just "because I can." I want the RIGHT story for her.

SM: New Avengers: The Reunion is going to be released the Wednesday before your signing, featuring Ronin (the classic Hawkeye) and Mockingbird. What kind of background do you have with the characters? 

JM: I have a very deep rooted history with the characters. The Hawkeye mini and Marvel Team Up #95 (found in the Hawkeye Premiere Hardcover, also releasing March 4th) introduced Mockingbird and put the two characters together and it was magic for me! I loved Hawkeye as a character (for some reason I have always loved archers), and I love strong female characters and Mockingbird went toe-to-toe with Hawkeye from the moment they met. They hit it off and hit each other. They were adversaries and lovers, and were married in record time. Then they went on to co-found the West Coast Avengers. I was able to pick up that book from the beginning, so I was incredibly invested in them as characters and in their team.

SM: Will your story be making a fresh start as Clint and Bobbi attempt to figure out their relationship/partnership, or will the book be steeped in West Coast Avengers drama?

JM: I'm trying in New Avengers: The Reunion to tell a good Clint/Bobbi story. Of course there will be strong roots in their past, and events that happened to them while married and separated (a fascinating aspect of their relationship and one that was unique to them -- they were a REAL couple with real issues!). But Bobbi is a character that has been out of comics for 15 years to the readers now and Clint has gone through a lot, too.

So it is as much about reuniting these two characters to the readers as it is to each other.

SM: What's the tone or what do you hope will come of the series?

JM: As for the tone, it will surprise people. I think a lot of fans expect a lovey-dovey romance comic with hearts on the cover and cutesy poses. A) that has NEVER been these two, and B) that is NOT this story. They have a lot to work out internally and with each other. So that will instantly make this an emotional story. Bobbi has secrets she is keeping that will be revealed over the four issues and she is also dealing with her time on the Skrull world while she was captured. I did a lot of research into Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, so this will deal a lot with how that affects a person, their relationships, and how they cope in the world. 

SM: Can you talk about your artist, David Lopez, and what he's brought to the project? How about cover artist Jo Chen?

JM: How can I NOT talk about David Lopez and Jo Chen? First off, I am so lucky to have BOTH of these artists.

David is coming to us off a very successful and long run on Catwoman. He was editor Jeanine Schaefer's suggestion and I cannot thank her enough. David brings action, expression, energy, and emotion to this. The scripts call for multiple things to be happening. On the surface, these two may be fighting AIM in one scene physically, but they are also fighting in a battle of wills at the same time, and then Bobbi is fighting to not have a PTSD flashback throw her off. Complex, and yet David nails it perfectly. He gets the emotion and motivations behind the characters. The first thing he does when he reads the script is see if there are any unanswered questions in the issue, and what secrets are being kept that issue, so he knows what's going on in their heads. And then he draws it beautifully.

And then the issue gets Jo freaking Chen covers!? Jo has been a huge favorite of mine since the first Runaways cover, so to have her here is fantastic. We wanted to have a film noir meets Mr. & Mrs. Smith action feel, and I think she nails that. There is romantic tension and action to her covers. The subtle choices she makes in her palate are very deliberate and convey a certain feeling, one that prepares you for what you are about to read within the issue itself. 

SM: We've been discussing co-writing around the store pretty much non-stop since Bendis and Brian Reed worked together on Spider-woman Origin. Now it's commonplace with teams like Fraction and Brubaker on Iron Fist, Abnett and Lanning on the Annihilation books, and Kyle and Yost on X-Force. What was your process working with Brian Reed on What If? House of M?

JM: I brought him coffee and washed his feet while he churned out pages of gold.

Seriously, I learned so much working with Brian. He taught me about less being more, how to not try and cram too much or too many characters, even if the scope of the story could be huge, it's more powerful when seen through the eyes of just a few characters.

Brian and I were asked to co-write the What If story due to odd occurances that found him with a What If and a concept that got kiboshed by editorial and me with a concept and no What If to write. They asked if we would mind working together and it was fantastic. We e-mailed basic ideas and then talked on the phone for hours one night. We outlined the sections we thought we each felt more comfortable writing and I THOUGHT that was how it would be scripted, but Brian had a surprise for me. He (wisely) said that the only way I would learn was to get not just my feet wet, but to dive into the pool, so he had me write the entire first draft. I slaved for a day over this intricate 6 page opening scene that called for crazy visuals and a huge amount of info being thrown at the reader, and I thought it was a thing of beauty. I wrote the rest of the script, sent it off and waited. About 36 hours later, I got revisions and a note that said not to freak out when I started reading the script, but that he had completely re-written the first 6 pages! I was like, "Wha-huh?!?" But then I read them and they were so clean and tight and got the point across so much better and easier. It was a great lesson, and one of many that he helped me learn along the way.

I think co-writing is a valuable tool and also fun and helpful. When you're stuck, you can call up your co-writer and say "HEEEELLLLPPPP!!!!" as opposed to screaming it in your apartment and wondering why your cats don't come and re-write you.

SM: You've been a marketing wiz at Marvel for years now (and the man flowing us vital information that's kept us one step ahead of the pack). What were some of your business responsibilities or specific campaigns that you worked on that our customers would be familiar with? Will you be stepping away from that aspect of Marvel operations now that you're getting further into the creative side of things?

JM: I have been VERY lucky to be with Marvel almost 5 years now, most of that in the marketing/PR side, trying to get the word out to retailers and fans alike. My first event was House of M (I assistant edited the Young Gun sketchbook that had a lot of designs from Olivier [Coipel] in there). I was then a part of almost every retreat from that point forward, so I have had a hand in every event, milestone issue, and major storyline ever since, in that I have sat in awe while the writers and editors came up with amazing concepts and stories and when the time was right I would start spreading news of how awesome this would be and even better than the LAST thing we did! I do the conventions and mainstream marketing and now I am incredibly lucky again in that they are letting me pursue my passion of writing. I will continue to do both as long as they have me.

I have always seen my job to be: get the fans as excited about our books as I am. I still do that today and I hope that fans respond and get excited, especially about NEW AVENGERS: THE REUNION!

Jim McCann has been one of the most public faces of Marvel Comics for the last half decade, pimping earth-shaking events like House of M, Civil War, World War Hulk, and Secret Invasion to the world at large.  Lately, he's begun taking matters into his own hands, making his writing debut on the What If? House of M one-shot and scribing the highly anticipated New Avengers: The Reunion. He can be found on Bendis' Jinxworld Message Board as Jim @ Marvel.