Life In Four Colors #35:
An interview with comic creator, writer,
and artist...Jim Valentino
I had the distinct pleasure to conduct an interview with the one guy who was responsible more so than anybody else in regards to introducing me to a comic company called Image Comics. Perhaps you heard of them. And if you have I'm sure you also heard of this gentleman as well. Mr. Jim Valentino.
Jim was one of the guys that decided to leave very successful books that they were working on in the 90's to form their own comic company. A company that allowed the creators of the characters that they came up with to retain absolute creator ownership and complete creative control.
Back when Image first burst onto the comic book scene they were very big news. They featured an incredible group of artists who also longed to write. It seemed everybody was buying up these books as they started to appear in comic shops everywhere.
But I was very hesitant. Everybody that knows me knows I'm a very loyal Marvel guy. I rarely even bought a D.C. book, and I didn't know how I felt about Image. Sure I admit I bought the first few issues of Spawn due to the fact I liked McFarlane's work on Amazing Spider-Man, Incredible Hulk, and later first few issues of the new Spider-Man title that seemed to die in more ways than one the moment that McFarlane left the title. But when it came to Spawn I lost interest in the book rather fast.
Then I discovered a book called ShadowHawk which grabbed my attention immediately because I had created a character by that name with a friend of mine. A matter of fact when I showed him the first issue of the first ShadowHawk limited series....he thought I sold him out!
But it wasn't just the name of the starring character of the book that got my attention, it was the creator as well. Of course ShadowHawk was created, written and drawn by Jim Valentino. While several of the Image stars were artists first who later went on to write books that they created...Valentino had been writing and drawing the stories he produced for quite a while. And I loved the stuff he had worked on in the past. This felt much less risky to me...so I bought this book. And with that ShadowHawk easily became my favorite Image character out of that initial wave books. Needless to say Jim Valentino easily became my favorite Image creator as well.
I was excited to hear that Jim would be making an appearance at Gem City Comic Con 2010 this coming weekend, Sunday April 11 th, in Dayton Ohio. And once again show founder , organizer, and promoter, Jesse Noble, gave me the opportunity to talk to Mr. Valentino prior to the show like past guests that have attended.
I admit (actually I already have) I was never really into Image Comics that much, other than Jim's work with the company, until here recently and there was a lot of things about the company that I did not know when I conducted the interview and Jim enlightened me with. I thought the interview turned out very well and was thrilled to have gotten a chance to speak with Jim and look forward to seeing him in person at the show.
G-Man: I have always been a fan of comic creators who can both write and draw, greats like Jim Steranko, John Byrne, Alan Davis, Jim Starlin, and Frank Miller. That is what attracted me to your work. Did you always want to do both, or did you start out first as just a writer or artist?
Jim Valentino: Although I've written for other artists and drawn for other writers I've always done both. I'm a storyteller and comics are my medium.
GM: Were you ever a fan of any of those creators?
JV: ALL of them and more besides; Robert Crumb, Vaughn Bode, Justin Green, all the newspaper and underground cartoonists, Walter Simonson, the list is quite long.
GM: The first story I ever read that you worked was What If (Vol.2) #5. Was this your first work for Marvel?
JV: No, the first work I did for them was in Savage Sword of Conan. I wrote a Red Sonja story and drew a King Kull story. My first What If was v.2 issue #3, in fact. Issue 5 was the first one I wrote and drew.
GM: A few years later you produced a second great What If story (issue # 41) and as in the first story you featured the Avengers. Your overall knowledge of Avengers history really impressed me (being a long time Avengers fan myself). Were you an Avengers fan before you broke into comics and how much say did you have in the stories that you wrote in What If? Did you get to pick the writing topics or were they assigned to you?
JV: I would propose story ideas to the editor who would give a green or red light on them. And, yes, I bought Avengers #1 off the stands when I was a kid. I was a huge fan of the Avengers ever since.
GM: You did two back to back fill in issues on the Silver Surfer series, as just the writer (issues #32 and #33...although...yes I did forget about issue # 32) and worked with two guys named Ron (Ron Frenz and Ron Lim). Why didn't you do the art on those two issues?
JV: I was asked to write a fill-in issue due to a scheduling conflict Starlin had. That turned into two back-to-back issues. I was very pleased with the work Frenz and Lim turned in on those issues.
GM: Did you know at that time that Jim Starlin would be taking over the writing chores on that book immediately after your second issue? How did you feel about that?
JV: Yeah, I knew. I thought it was great—as noted Jim was a very big influence on me. I've often credited him with bringing me back to super-hero comics. I knew he'd do a great job on the Surfer and he did.
GM: How did you get involved with working on the Guardians of the Galaxy series for Marvel? (in my opinion the best 90's series Marvel had going for them). Was that a book you always wanted to work on and did you pitch the original idea for the series?
JV: I pitched it to Tom DeFalco at Wondercon in 1989. I had prepared several pitches for characters that were in limbo and that one came at the 11 th hour. I saw them in an issue of the original Marvel Universe, when it was a comic. I remember asking Rob (Liefeld) what he thought of them, we were sharing a studio at the time as I recall. He said they looked great but they didn't really have a story other than the Badoon. About two days before the con I had an epiphany about what to do with them, typed it up and that was the one they accepted.
GM: Once again your passion and respect for what came before with these characters was obvious. Were you a fan of the earlier Guardians stuff?
JV: I was a fan of Steve Gerber, always...still am. So, again, I read his Guardians books starting with Marvel Two-In-One #5 and used the personalities he established for the characters as my starting point.
GM: What do you think of the current Guardians of the Galaxy? Do you read any of it?
JV: I've read it, yes. I even did an alternate cover for it. I think it's fine. They did exactly the right thing by creating a new continuity.
GM: Is there ever any truth behind the rumor that Anthos, the deity that Yondu worshipped, was going to be revealed to have been Thanos in a future storyline that you never got around to writing? There did seem to be an occasional tip of the hat to Jim Starlin's Warlock/Thanos material such as the events that climaxed in issues # 15 of the series.
JV: There were a LOT of tips of the hat to Jim's Warlock series, which was one of my favorites; The Universal Church of Truth, the Matriarch, Black knights, Grand inquisitor, the Protege was a Warlock entity. As for the Thanos/Anthos thing—a reader called that to our attention and we loved it! I knew that I would do something with it at some future point, but I don't think I'd figured out what.
GM: A colleague of mine claimed their was a website where you posted all the story ideas you would have worked on if you never left the Guardians of the Galaxy, up to issue #50. Is there any truth to that and if so could you share a link to that site?
JV: The thread is on my message board (probably a couple of pages back) at www.imagecomics.com
GM: If you had not left that book, and Marvel altogether to help form Image Comics would issue #50 have been your last issue on the series or would you have continued to have work on the book for longer if possible?
JV: I had the book plotted up to issue 51, actually—the final issue being the coda. My plan was to leave—but I kept a side door open. The fact is that I loved the book so much and new ideas were constantly presenting themselves to me so I doubt I would have left.
GM: While the other comic creators that worked with you to form Image Comics were all launching ongoing series you launched multiple limited series. Why did you decide to go that route?
JV: I knew that with all of the other responsibilities the formation of Image placed on me that I would never be able to keep a monthly schedule. A series of minis seemed the best solution for keeping up with my other duties and putting the book out in a timely manner, which is what I did.
GM: Was ShadowHawk a name of a character you were originally planning to use while working on the Guardians?
JV: Yes, when Starhawk turned to the dark side I suggested we change his name to Shadowhawk to reflect his new personality. DeFalco told me that he didn't want to change Starhawk's name, but he liked the name Shadowhawk and suggested I create a new character with that name...so, I did!
GM: ShadowHawk was my favorite Image character when the company was launched, partially because I loved his method of dealing with street crime and partially because you kept Shadow Hawk's real identity from the readers. Do you recall any readers correctly guessing Shadow-Hawk's identity prior to the reveal in Shadow Hawk II?
JV: Several people guessed. Only one or two actually deduced it from the clues given.
GM: From the moment you created ShadowHawk were your original plans to kill the character off?
JV: Once the AIDS angle came into play, which was very early on in his genesis, I knew that he had to die.
GM: How much are you involved, if at all, with the book that Image is releasing soon that will feature the return of Paul Johnstone, the original ShadowHawk?
JV: Totally involved, it's my character, I own ShadowHawk—it would be impossible and illegal for anyone else to do the book without my consent and involvement. I'm working very closely with my editor, Kristen Simon, writer Dan Wickline, artist Tone Rodriguez and colorist Frank Bravo on the series. Plus I'm drawing a back-up feature with Steve Niles writing.
GM: I read a book last year entitled Dear Dracula from your Silverline imprint. What else can we expect from that company?
JV: Dear Dracula was from my Silverline Books imprint which I developed to create comics/storybooks for kids. We have over a dozen books in various formats aimed at specific age groups. You can find more information at www.silvelinebooks.com. Our latest project is called Fractured Fables. This will be a 160 page anthology wherein we take familiar fairy tales and nursery rhymes and turn them on their ear, make them funny. It will feature an all-star cast of creators including Terry Moore, Jill Thompson, Mike Allred, Bryan Talbot, Peter David, Ben Templesmith, Ted McKeever, Doug TenNaple, Phil Hester and a host more. The larger hardcover book will be released this summer in time for the San Diego Comic-Con plus there will be a smaller comic book version with five of the stories for Free Comic Book Day, so I hope everyone checks it out.
GM: Any future plans for Marvel or Image Comics?
JV: Well, you know, I co-own Image Comics, so it's a pretty good bet that it's where you'll see pretty much everything from me. If I do an occasional piece for Marvel, DC or whomever it will only be because the project interests me and won't consume a lot of my time. I have a publishing company to run.
GM: Any other current projects or plans you would like to bring up?
JV: Well, there's Fractured Fables, the new ShadowHawk series, Image United and all of the Shadowline titles for which I serve as publisher; Shuddertown by Nick Spencer and Adam Geen, Fade To Black by Jeff Mariotte and Danielle Serra, Meta 4 by Ted McKeever, Lady Robotika by the Simpson's Bill Morrison and the Go-Gos Jane Wiedlin, continuing Cowboy Ninja Viking by AJ Lieberman and Riley Russo, the return of Bomb Queen by Jimmie Robinson and a whole bunch more stuff I'm not ready to talk about yet. And that's not to mention the charity work I do for the Hero Initiative which I'm proud to serve on the Board of Directors for.
I'm a pretty busy guy these days.
A busy guy, and very interesting guy. While getting ready to do this interview a re-read a lot of Jim's past work including a large chunk of the Guardians stuff, the Silver Surfer fill-ins, What If #5, and all the ShadowHawk book that made up the first three limited series. I enjoyed the stuff just as much and in some cases even more than when I first read it. Great work. Great guy. But don't just take my word for it....stop by and meet him yourself in just a few days at Gem City!
Until next time....see you in the funny papers!
Bill Gladman - Bill is a writer and illustrator and currently working on several different projects including the first issue of an ongoing comic book series (Prodigy), an illustrated fantasy novel (The Book of Noheim), and the first of four illustrated science fiction/fantasy novels (Jack the Rabbit, Living Legend of the Purple Plains) as well as a light-hearted on going mini-comic (Three Wise Men). Bill also pens a column for Comic Related and will be doing a mix of regional convention coverage.
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