Earlier today, we jumped on a conference call with none other than writer Mark Millar, the man who is looking to build a new shared universe of comics at Image. On the call, which was primarily focused on his collaboration with Goran Parlov, titled “Starlight”, a little bit of everything about his new world was discussed, including some insight into the world building going on in the Millarworld.
Up first, Millar was asked by ComicVine about whether or not this book was inspired by previous serials, or if there were any serials or films that made him want to write the book in particular.
Millar started by sharing that all of them really led him here, especially considering his unusual childhood in which he was interested in things that people a generation ahead of him were into.
“I grew up with Buster Crabbe serials that only a handful of people like me have on DVD. Bad special effects, bad cliffhangers…I grew up loving that stuff as much as I loved Superman or Batman.” Millar shared.
“It always seemed like a big deal to me, and it took me a while to realize nobody else was into it. I used to make the costumes and go out and play with the stuff, and nobody else was into it at all, they were into Battlestar Galactica and Star Wars or whatever was around at the moment. So yeah, it’s something that has been germinating for a while.”
After that, I jumped in with a question about Goran Parlov, one of the best artists in the industry, asking about what made him such a perfect collaborator for this book. Little did I know, Parlov is really the only partner he ever considered.
“It’s funny that you say that, because sometimes an artist pops up in your head, and you can’t imagine doing a project without the person. Kick-Ass was like that with John Romita, Jr.” Millar led with. “Nobody captured that slightly scuzzy, Mean Streets New York vibe like Romita.”
“Similarly, I could always see a European style for Starlight,” he said. “I thought having a real Moebius vibe, and there’s something about Goran’s work that kind of reminded me of Moebius even though the most obvious influence when you look at his work was Alex Toth.”
“What’s really nice is when an artist gives you a page back that is a thousand times better than what was in your head,” he said, before adding “I’m so unbelievably lucky with the guys I work with generally.”
“It’s such a shame to vandalize it with my dialogue.”
Up next, Newarama asked about Millar often working with archetypes, such as Superman like characters or Batman like characters, and the appeal to Millar of working with those near but not quite approximations of characters.
“It’s funny because it’s a legacy that runs back 5,000 years. You can trace Hermes and Mercury right up to The Flash. You can trace Batman to The Shadow, even Spider-Man can be kind of looked at as a combination of Superman and Batman. A lot of those things are interrelated.”
He feels like he’s just continuing that idea to today’s comics.
“I think it’s an update of that tradition. It’s something people don’t do as much anymore, but they did a lot until the time of Stan Lee, and I think Stan was almost the last guy to do it.”
Comicvine asked if he was going to continue on the tone from classic sci-fi serials, or if Millar had other ideas.
“I actually want to keep it reasonably…I wouldn’t say all-ages because that makes it seem like it is just for children. I’d like it to be…I think classic is the word I’d like to use,” he said. “I think it definitely has a different tone than what people have come to expect from my stuff.”
He wants it to be an homage to old serials, but not entirely dependent on those ideas.
Continued belowNewsarama asks Millar about what’s new about this character in Starlight, and what is Millar hoping to add to the genre. Millar said he’s eager to bring this type of hero back, as sci-fi heroes haven’t been popular since he was a toddler. He emphasized that Star Wars changed everything, replacing square jawed heroes with scoundrels like Han Solo and atypical heroes like Luke.
“I love the idea of having these amazing space adventures when you’re young, but then what happens when you get home afterwards and nothing will ever be as interesting again.” It’s something he hasn’t seen in these types of stories before, and I for one am fully in support of.
Millar likes the idea of a gateway, entry-level book that introduces readers to this world.
“It felt very self contained, but when you read the books afterwards, you realize they all fit together,” he said, adding “Then you start to see these little clues, and the whole thing just starts spreading out over the other titles.”
That’s nine new titles coming our way over three years, by the way, and Millar emphasizes that this is the book that will start building that universe.
Batting cleanup, or at least closing the interview, I asked about the shared universe, why he wanted to try his hand at creating his own, and what makes him think he’ll succeed where others haven’t.
He said he thinks that the biggest mistake others make is that they have too many writers on them from the start, having seven or eight voices at launch.
“I think what made Marvel Universe work at the beginning was that Stan was pretty much writing them all, giving them a certain cohesiveness.”
He also said he thinks that the fact his books work as standalone stories or together sets them apart, not requiring you to read other books to understand one, saying that Stan Lee did very well with that in separating books like X-Men and Fantastic Four. He really is looking to learn from that.
The reason why though is simple. “I just thought it’d be fun, and I realized the stories did click together.” He said that when he sat down and looked at them, it didn’t seem forced, and that they fit together rather seamlessly.
“I used to tell people that I love Jaws and I love The Godfather, but I don’t need to feel they exist in the same universe, but then I realized it would be kind of awesome!”
Millar’s enthusiasm for the project was palpable throughout the call, and if I wasn’t excited already (I was), this would have changed my mind. “Starlight” is set to arrive March 5th, with the final order cutoff date being next Monday, the 10th. I highly recommend you telling your shop that you’d like to preorder this book, if only for the pictures that are sure to be pretty.
Just a secret between you and me, but this book? It’s excellent. Don’t tell anyone though, but it’s going to be a hell of a thing when it arrives. Don’t believe me? Take a look at the preview below of issue #1.
