3 Simple Questions II
Deadly Reunion
Hello and welcome to the greatest sequel ever! We have twice as many explosions, three times the budget, and fifteen times as many Chuck Norris references. The Chuck Norris reference of course is the title of this sequel, which shares a resemblance to the title of Norris's classic movie "Walker Texas Ranger III: Deadly Reunion." Walker III, as I lovingly refer to it, is Norris's most underrated work, and the 3.5/10 score that IMDB gives it is an insult. Now that I'm done promoting the all powerful Chuck Norris, I'm going to get back to the matter at hand. I caught up with 3 new comic book creators, and one who was around for our very first "3 Simple Questions" feature. The three newbies are Jamal Igle, Jeff Parker, and Ethan "The Body" Van Sciver. Our veteran happens to be Eric Shanower! So to get an idea of who exactly these people are, scroll down a bit, and read on!
Jamal Igle: Jamal Igle has been around the comic book industry for quite some time. He pencilled a critically acclaimed run on Firestorm, and is also the current artist on Nightwing. Mr. Igle is also a newlywed, so the fact that he was able to find time in his schedule to participte is fantastic!
Jeff Parker: This guy does it all. Not only is he an artist, but he is also the writer of X-Men: First Class, Spider-Man/Fantastic Four, and Marvel Adventures Avengers.
Ethan Van Sciver: Van Sciver is one of the most popular artists in all of comics. He reinvigorated Hal Jordan with Green Lantern: Rebirth. Then he turned Jordan's fellow Green Lantern Kyle Rayner into the most badass villain in the galaxy in the Sinestro Corps One Shot Special. Next up, well, it doesn't even matter what's next, because no matter what it is people will be all over it!
Eric Shanower: Shanower is the Eisner award winning writer/artist of Age of Bronze, which tells his interpretation of the Trojan War.
So, now that we’re done with introductions, let’s see the questions, and the answers...........
1) What's your fondest memory from your time as a comic book pro, or from reading comics in general?
Jamal Igle: I guess my fondest memories go back to the beginning of my career. I was an intern at DC Comics when I was in High School. For an aspiring comic book creator that was Mecca. I felt like I had climbed the Himilayas and was training with some mysterious sect of martial art monks (Editors Note: They were led by the ultra martial arts monk: Chuck Norris). I got to meet so many creators, Kevin Maguire, Mike Mignola, Mark Badger, Keith Giffen, Curt Swan, Marc DeMatteis, Mark Waid, Mike Gold, etc. It's were I learned the most about comics and how they were done.
Jeff Parker: Really from pre-pro days: at a comics convention while I was still in school and showing pages to artists. Al Williamson invited be to come sit behind the table with him so he could give me some pointers on my art, and I got to hang out with him for about an hour. I was probably waffling about whether I would ever seriously pursue comics as a career, and that day cemented it for me, it meant so much.
Eric Shanower: I have lots of fond memories and I'm not sure I can really rank them or single one out as a favorite. I'll say that spending eleven days at the site of Troy and the surrounding area is my favorite.
Ethan Van Sciver: When my first comic book, Hall of Heroes' CYBERFROG #1 was about to be published, I took a Greyhound bus from New Jersey to Indiana to hang out with the other HoH creators, (we'd become friends over the phone) and do a couple of signings at the Elkhart County Fair and a local comic shop. Nobody came to see us, so we walked around like missionaries, handing out free copies to strangers. It was a lot of fun. There's nothing like having your first comic published. I read it a hundred times on the way back home.
2) If you were given the chance to write the death of Captain America, how would you off him?
Jamal Igle: That's tough, because Brubaker did such a great job writing that scene. If it were me I probably would have done something similar but I would have done it as the climax of Civil War# 7.
Jeff Parker: Auto-erotic asphyxiation. Cap deserved that.
Eric Shanower: I would have George W. Bush knife him in a fit of rage and childishness as a symbol of what Bush has done to the USA.
Ethan Van Sciver: I would have frozen him in another block of ice, and then had Galactus step on him. As you can guess, I'm not a writer. I leave things like this to the pros
3) Which character out their do you think has been given the short end of the stick when it comes to how they're utilized?
Jamal Igle: I think Jason Todd has some potential as a character to be a real berakout character. He's the one former Robin that they could spin in a whole new direction.
Jeff Parker: The Phantom Stranger. He's really cool, why does he have to host other people's stories when his are probably better?
Eric Shanower: Barney Google. He hasn't appeared for decades in the strip that's named after him.
Ethan Van Sciver: Plastic Man. Without a doubt.
