Atomic Comics - So coming this week is Dynamo 5 #0. Why a 0 issue?
Jay Faerber - One of the disadvantages of doing creator-owned work is that it can be tough to get people to pick up the book once it's been going for awhile. Marvel and DC are able to create new jumping-on points all the time by renumbering their books or turning over the creative team (or both). I'm no fan of renumbering, and I didn't feel like replacing myself (or anyone else on the creative team, for that matter) so we came up with a zero issue as a way to provide a cheap, easy way for people to sample the book. Issue zero is 99 cents, has ten pages of story and a two-page text piece which recaps the series thus far. But the story itself is designed to be accessible to new readers. Obviously, we strive to make EVERY story accessible to new readers, but this one is particularly accessible.
AC - For someone who has not read Dynamo 5 before, what's a one sentence pitch to get them to read it?
JF - Following Captain Dynamo's murder, his widow learns he's been unfaithful and rounds up five of his illegitimate children (each of whom have inherited one of his many super-powers) and trains them to protect Tower City.
AC - I know this is a little off topic but I really love Gemini. I just thought you should know that. Got any more of that coming down the line?
JF - Thanks! There are still two more issues of Gemini in the works. It's slow-going, but they WILL see the light of day.
AC - You started your career working with the Big Boys at DC and Marvel but now you have gotten to the point that many wanna-be creators dream about, which is writing you own characters for a major company. What was the transition like?
JF - It was sort of a long, slow transition when I think about it. For a lot of the time I was still doing work-for-hire while I worked on Noble Causes, my first creator-owned series. But then it got to the point where I found myself focusing exclusively on my creator-owned books. Lately I've been branching out again. I've got a Marvel Digital Comic coming out that ties into War of Kings, and there's some stuff in the works at DC, too.
But my heart is really with my own creations (as it should be). When I first broke into comics, I had no ambitions to create my own characters. I really just wanted to work on the characters I grew up reading. But it's one of those be-careful-what-you-wish-for situations, you know? It never quite lived up to what I wanted it to be in my head -- partly because I was too green as a writer.
AC - I assume you prefer to work with your own creations but did you enjoy working on books like Generation X and New Warriors?
JF - I had a lot of fun, yeah. This ties back into my previous answer because New Warriors is a book I loved as a fan, and really wanted the chance to write. And I got that chance in my second year in the business. The book only lasted 10 issues before it was cancelled, so that was a huge disappointment. But it also means I'll probably never get the chance to write that series again, since I had my chance and it didn't work. And it's unfortunate that my chance came so early in my career. I'm a far better writer than I was then. But still, I had a lot of fun on New Warriors, and all my Marvel and DC work.
AC - I hit your website - nice preview spreads btw - but when I clicked to buy stuff it didn't take me to www.atomiccomics.com - what up with that?
JF - Uh oh ... this interview suddenly got uncomfortable. The website's a "work in progress" and needs to be updated (with a link to Atomic Comics, of course).
AC - How was it working with Harris Comics? They've been around forever with the iconic Vampirella, but never really get any significant recognition.
JF - I had a lot of fun at Harris. I was originally hired by Maureen McTigue, who was an editor of mine at DC before she went to work at Harris. She's no longer there, but she did a lot of good things at the company. Their current editor Bon Alimagno is a great guy with some strong ideas for both the Vampirella character and their company as a whole.
AC - Dynamo 5, Gemini, Nobel Causes. What else is on the horizon for Jay Faerber?
JF - Well, Noble Causes is ending with issue #40, and sometime later this year (or in early 2010) I hope be launching a new Image series with Yildiray Cinar, who's been drawing Noble Causes for awhile. I've got a new Image crime mini-series in development, as well as some stuff in the works at Marvel and DC. 2009 is going to be a very fun year!
AC - You kinda look like Elvis Costello; a pair of horn rims and you'll be good to go!
JF - Um... thanks?
AC - If you could write a Team-Up with one of your own characters and any other character in the comic world, what would it be? Would they save the universe from an apocalyptic villain named Urgon The Grand Harbinger of Doom?
JF - I'd team up Dynamo 5 with the New Teen Titans and that is the exact villain they'd fight. Have you been looking at my notes!?!