| Off
the Record...
 At
one point recently, writer Robert Kirkman had 13 new
comics on the newsstand. Yes, 13 different titles in
a period of only four weeks. And with two of his series
being nominated for an Eisner award, apparently quantity
has not compromised quality. We caught up with Robert
in between his multiple deadlines and talked about his
new Marvel projects, whether he will reveal the origin
of The Walking Dead, and how he considers mature titles
as a bit of a stretch for him...
CBEtc: Do you go by Robert or do your friends call you
"Bob" or "Bobby"?
KIRKMAN: I go by Robert.
CBEtc: So, can I call you "Bobby"?
| 
"Spidey is going to be in a lot of issues,
but not all of them. I'll be using more and more
obscure characters as time goes on. I use a lot
of the Marvel characters in the first six issues.
More than just the main ones who are on covers.
It's going to be a lot of fun. "
|
KIRKMAN: No, please don't. It's a bit of an issue with
me. I just don't understand why people find it so hard
to call me "Robert," like it's such a pain
for them they have to shorten it to "Rob"
or change it to "Bob." It's not that hard
to say, yet I'm always correcting people, which makes
me look like a jerk. If my name was "Justin"
people wouldn't call me "Just." I went on
a rant about this in Invincible #6, where the character
"William" experiences similar troubles.
CBEtc: You used to publish your work through your Funk-O-Tron
imprint. Now, you’re selling 20,000 copies of
your own series through Image, and getting all kinds
of work with Marvel. You’ve been nominated for
an Eisner Award this year. Your work has been highlighted
as Wizard’s "Book of the Month," and
now, finally, spotlighted here at Comic Books, ETC!
Is it safe to say you’ve hit the "Big Time?"
KIRKMAN: Well, we're not quite up to 20,000 but we're
getting there. I don't know if I've hit the big time
or not. It certainly doesn't feel like it. I'm certainly
not about to become complacent and start resting. I
feel like there's still so much for me to accomplish.
When I take over Amazing Spider-Man, I will have hit
the big time.
CBEtc: Regarding the Eisner, Invincible was nominated
for Best New Series, but lost. Is it true what they
say about "just being nominated?" Is it an
honor?
KIRKMAN: The Walking Dead was also nominated and that
was quite an honor. To have my two current regular series
both be nominated was quite a shock. I knew I wasn't
going to win, never in a million years did it cross
my mind. Although, I thought for sure I'd lose to Sleeper
(no offense to Kyle Baker and the Plastic Man crew)...
I thought that was the best book on the ticket.
I was so stunned when Sleeper didn’t win I sort
of jumped in my seat at the awards ceremony. I got really
worried because I realized if anyone had been watching
me it would appear as though I was appalled that I didn't
win, so I felt kind of stupid. [Laughs]
| 
"The first 10 issues of the book are the
fake issues. Everything from that point on is
what the book is about... I'm having much more
fun now. I think it's a much stronger book than
it was before."
|
CBEtc: In Invincible, we are introduced to Mark Grayson,
the teenage son of a Superman-type hero, who just learned
he has developed powers, and has to learn how to deal
with them. A great "coming of age" story that
had the hero learning how to follow in his father's shadow
while struggling to become his own man. When I first started
reading Invincible, it had the feel of the old Stan Lee
/ Steve Ditko Spider-Man stories.
Then, with issue #12 & 13, his world crumbled and
the series altered dramatically (without giving too much
away). Despite these drastic changes of events and tone
of the book, at the core of the series, it is still about
Mark dealing with these vast life-altering changes. Is
that a common thread you hope to continue in Invincible?
KIRKMAN: Yeah, that's always been what Invincible
was about, it just took a while to build to that. It wouldn't
have had any impact if I'd done it earlier in the series.
I know a lot of people think I've changed to book drastically,
but that's always been the plan.
The first 10 issues of the book are the fake issues. Everything
from that point on is what the book is about. That's not
to say the book is going to be a downer from now on. Issue
15 was a pretty goofy issue and the series is always going
to be a combination of lighthearted super heroics and
high drama. And Nolan (the father) won't be gone from
the book forever... we're just giving him a bit of a break.
I'm having much more fun now. I think it's a much stronger
book than it was before.
CBEtc: You have
said recently that you didn’t know a year ago if
any of your creator- owned series would ever make it to
10 issues in today’s market. Did you start Invincible
with the intention of reaching this dramatic change in
direction, or did these stories develop over time?
KIRKMAN: It was always the plan from the very beginning,
but I had originally planned to do what I did in issue
7 in issue 12 or later, and then do what I did in 12 as
issue 25. I moved it forward in hopes that the book would
last long enough to get to it. I actually
thought the series might be ending at issue 13, but thankfully
sales started going up on issue 11 and haven't stopped.
So, yeah... things were very touch and go for a while.
The book is very stable now, though.
| 
"...it's about normal people like you and
me running around trying to survive, not scientists
or soldiers. Our characters would never find out
what's going on. They're not going to Washington
or conducting experiments. They're building fences,
growing food, and trying to survive. That seems
more interesting to me."
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CBEtc: In Invincible, U.S. Government official
Cecil Stedman has tremendous power, including being
able to manipulate the buying trends of the public.
Is this one of your secret powers? And why you have
literally 13 different titles on the new comic rack
right now?
KIRKMAN: Oh, it's not 13 is it? I've just been a busy
little bee this year, I guess. No super powers involved,
unless you count the ability to kiss a lot of ass. I
work a lot so it's easy for me to do a lot of books.
It's not uncommon for me to work 16 or 18 hours a day,
six days a week. I'm married but my wife is going to
school right now so I've got a lot of free time on my
hands. I am trying to cut back, though. I don't want
people to get sick of me. I'll be down to four books
a month soon and I hope to stay there. I haven't watched
a DVD in months and I'd really like to be able to sit
around and do nothing for at least one day next year.
CBEtc: Let’s talk about your hottest and most
successful creation to date, The Walking Dead. Everyone
I have recommended this title to has loved it. Even
with my lame pitch of "it sounds like I’m
describing 28 Days Later but it’s so much better."
I’ve converted non- horror types, non-black and
white types and super hero-only types. And all have
literally thanked me. For those few who haven’t
heard about it, how would you describe this series?
KIRKMAN: It's the zombie movie that never ends. Simply
put, we follow Rick Grimes, a small-town cop, his family
and a few other survivors as they try to live and rebuild
their lives in this world inhabited by zombies. It's
more of a survival book than a horror book, and it's
got tons of talking head pages. Kids love those these
days.
CBEtc: You have said your dream is to see The Walking
Dead go at least 75 issues. With this being more of
a character-driven story and less of a zombie horror
splatter piece, a long series seems extremely possible.
Why 75 issues? How far have you thought ahead?
KIRKMAN: I'm plotted up through issue #18 right know
and I know what I'd like to do for nearly fifty issues.
This stuff is EASY to write. I'd love to do 300 issues
if I could. Although I'd be happy to just make it to
75... or 100.
| 
"...I pitched [Mutant 2099] months ago and
that's why they approached me about these [Marvel
Knights 2099] one-shots. I was just trying to
do cool little one issue stories that would hopefully
leave people wanting for more."
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CBEtc: Is it true you have no intention of ever revealing
what happened to bring the dead back to life?
KIRKMAN: It’s true. I don't.
CBEtc:
Why?
KIRKMAN: As strange as this sounds, you can have dead
people up and walking around all day long, and depending
on how you portray it, you can have a believable relatable
story that people identify with. If you then explain how
they're up and walking around, any logical explanation
comes off as either stupid or too sci-fi and, in my opinion,
takes away from the believability of the series.
Also, in this book, it's about normal people like you
and me running around trying to survive, not scientists
or soldiers. Our characters would never find out what's
going on. They're not going to Washington or conducting
experiments. They're building fences, growing food, and
trying to survive. That seems more interesting to me.
CBEtc: The main character in The Walking Dead
is named Rick. Which is also my name. We both are married
and have a son. We both hate zombies. Coincidence? Or,
are you stalking me?
KIRKMAN: [Laughs] I'm stalking you.
CBEtc:
Explain how you’ve gone from doing mostly your own
creations for Image to working at Marvel.
KIRKMAN: Remember when I was talking about kissing a lot
of ass?
CBEtc: Recently, you had five Marvel Knights 2099
one shots hitting the shelves: Daredevil, Punisher, Mutant,
Black Panther and Inhumans. Are these related to the 2099
on-going series back in the 1990's?
KIRKMAN: No, they're unrelated.
CBEtc: The MK 2099 stories all seem to have a twist
to them. The new Daredevil is the grandson of Wilson Fisk,
a.k.a. The Kingpin. The new Punisher is the grandson of
Frank Castle and Elektra. The character introduced in
Mutant is learning under Reed Richard’s living brain
in Thing’s body, etc. To top it off, the stories
all end in ways you don’t expect. Since you were
dealing only in one shots, were you trying to go for stories
that would "wow" the reader off the bat?
| 
"I may have gone a bit too far with it actually.
I knew I was following four years of dark Marvel
Knights Cap so I wanted to turn the 'wackometer'
up to 11 just to give people a quick change of
pace. I did have fun though. Using all the villains
was a blast."
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KIRKMAN: I tried, but I don't know how well I succeeded.
Every book was meant to set up a subplot in the proposed
"MUTANT 2099" series. I pitched that series
months ago and that's why they approached me about these
one-shots. I was just trying to do cool little one issue
stories that would hopefully leave people wanting for
more.
CBEtc: Well, from what several customers have told
us, they would like to see more. Has Marvel approached
you about doing more Marvel Knights 2099 stories?
KIRKMAN: Not yet, but they're keeping me busy with
other stuff.
CBEtc: In Captain America, you had the duty of taking
the series out of the gritty Marvel Knights line and
back into more of an adventure type series, with Cap
fighting classic super villains like Hydra, Batroc,
Red Skull, Serpent Society and more. Was this a fun
gig for you?
KIRKMAN: Oh, yeah. I really enjoyed doing crazy, wacky
Cap stories. I may have gone a bit too far with it actually.
[Laughs]. I knew I was following four years of dark
Marvel Knights Cap so I wanted to turn the wackometer
up to 11 just to give people a quick change of pace.
Had I been following something else, I would have done
something different. I did have fun though. Using all
the villains was a blast.
CBEtc: Your next project for Marvel is the new
Marvel Team Up series launching in November. Will this
series have Spider-Man as its main star, like the old
series? What’s the first story arc about?
KIRKMAN: Spidey is going to be in a lot of issues, but
not all of them. I'll be using more and more obscure
characters as time goes on. It's going to be a lot of
fun. The first story arc deals with Paul Patterson,
and young mutant boy who attends Peter Parker's school
and this crazy Marvel Universe-spanning adventure he
sort of falls into. I use a lot of the Marvel characters
in the first six issues. More than just the main ones
who are on covers.
CBEtc: Is Marvel Team Up a dream job, considering you
have the entire Marvel Universe to play with?
| 
"I lean much more towards the light, clean
stuff. The mature, crude stuff is always a stretch
for me. It's so messed up that I started my career
with Battle Pope. You wouldn't even believe it."
|
KIRKMAN: Yeah, of course. So far they've pretty much
let me do what I wanted to. It's a dream come true.
I can write Spider-Man whenever I want now.
CBEtc: What characters will we be seeing in Team Up,
if you have anything to say about it?
KIRKMAN: Spider-Man, Wolverine, Doctor Strange,
The Fantastic Four, The Hulk, Iron Man, X-23, Black
Widow, Captain America, Cardiac, Moon Knight, Punisher,
Blade, Damage Control, Nova, and others. Those are all
confirmed too. They're giving me a lot of leeway.
CBEtc: What was your first published comic work?
KIRKMAN: Battle Pope #1 published by my company,
Funk-O-Tron.
CBEtc: Speaking of Battle Pope, you’ve been known
for your violent scenes and, um, "colorful"
language in some of your mature audience titles like
Battle Pope, The Walking Dead and Brit. Is it difficult
to write an all-ages series like Jubilee for Marvel?
KIRKMAN: No, I lean much more towards the
light, clean stuff. The mature, crude stuff is always
a stretch for me. It's so messed up that I started my
career with Battle Pope. You wouldn't even believe it.
CBEtc: What type of reader would like Jubilee?
KIRKMAN: Hopefully anyone under 18. Mostly girls.
But I do put stuff in there to entertain my core Invincible
audience... so hopefully most people like it. But it
is a little lighter and more all ages... and it features
girls hanging out in the mall a lot.
CBEtc: Is it more fun sitting down and plotting
a series and creating characters? Or do you enjoy scripting
the dialogue and bringing the characters to life?
KIRKMAN: Plotting and creating by far. Scripting and
dialogue is the hard part. I could sit around and create
characters and plot stories all day... as a matter of
fact, that's what I did with most of my free time when
I was in high school.
CBEtc: What did you do before you broke into the
comics industry?
KIRKMAN: I was the purchasing agent at a lighting distributor.
I made sure builders had enough light sockets to buy
from our store. Basically, I sat behind a desk and ran
my publishing company... at least for the last year
I was there. I've been full time since 2001, though.
I don't remember what it was like to wake up and have
to be somewhere other than on the other side of my house
in the morning.
Okay, now is the time for the "2099"
portion of our interview. It has nothing to do with
your recent Marvel specials. This is where we ask you
20 questions in 99 seconds. It’s basically an
"either/or" type of response, but you can
answer whatever first pops into your head.
Suspense or Adventure: Adventure
Late night or early day: Early Day
Big screen or rent: Big Screen
Plot or Script: Script
Jubilee 2099 or Diamondback 2099: Jubilee
Play with toy or keep in box: Play with it
Crossovers or One-shots: One-shots
Star Wars or Star Trek: Star Trek
Fly or drive: Fly
Dawn of the Dead or Shaun of the Dead: Shaun
of the Dead
First Print or TPB: TPB
South Park or Simpsons: Simpsons
Cell phone or E-mail: Cell Phone
Senior Citizen Sex (Brit) or Fish Sex (Invincible):
Senior Citizen Sex. Check out Brit, SuperPatriot, Battle
Pope and The Walking Dead.
Sleep in or make deadline: Make Deadline
Squeeze in the middle or at the end: Wha? Toothpaste?
Oh, at the end.
Captain America or SuperPatriot: SuperPatriot.
I've just had more time with the guy.
World Series or Super Bowl: Super Bowl
Trapped in a room with nit-picking fanboys or flesh-eating
zombies: Nit-picking Fanboys... if one bites you,
you don't turn into one of them.
Buffy or Vampirella: Buffy... I guess.
WRITING CREDITS
The Walking Dead #1- Current
Invincible #1- Current
Marvel Team Up #1- Current
Jubilee #1- Current
Marvel Knights 2099 (5 one shot specials)
Captain America (Vol.4) #29-32
Super Patriot: War on Terror #1-4
Savage Dragon: God War #1-4
Brit Red White Black & Blue One Shot
Spider-Man Unlimited #4
Noble Causes Extended Family One Shot #2
X-Men Unlimited #2
Reaper One Shot
Brit Cold Death One Shot
Tales of the Realm #1-5
Capes #1-3
Brit One Shot
Masters Of The Universe Icons Of Evil: Trap Jaw
Masters Of The Universe Icons of Evil: Beast Man
Masters of the Universe Icons of Evil: Tri Klops
Masters of the Universe Icons of Evil: Mer-Man
Cloudfall One Shot
Space Ace: Defender of the Universe #1-3
Super Patriot: America’s Fighting Force #1-4
Tech Jacket #1-6
Battle Pope #1-13 (consecutive mini-series)
Battle Pope Presents: Saint Michael 1-3
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