Today on Multiversity Comics Presents, we talk with long-time comic creator Jimmy Palmiotti.
Coming in February, Palmiotti has a graphic novel coming out from Image Comics titled Queen Crab. This was a title he wrote and created with artist Artiz Eiguren, and I’ve read it and can say it’s a damn solid book that everyone should check out. I talk with Palmiotti about how this project came together, how he decided to take it on without a co-writer and a whole lot more.
Also, don’t forget he’s co-writing All-Star Western every month from DC and he has the first issue of The Ray with Justin Gray and Jamal Igle coming out this Wednesday. Don’t miss it, folks.
Thanks to Jimmy, and check it out after the jump.
For those that aren’t familiar with the project, what can you tell us about Queen Crab, and better yet, why should everyone buy it?
Well, this is a story about a girl who has en a pretty passive person her whole life and on her wedding night, her new husband attempts to murder her . After this event, her life is changed and she has to deal with a pretty unusual change as well. The story is a little bit of science fiction, romance and a study of characters put into situations that borderline strange. If you enjoy David Lynch type of films, you would enjoy the book. Beyond that, the book is beautifully illustrated, a hardcover and I think a lot of fun and something you wont be able to shake after you read it.
Queen Crab is a very personal, intimate story about one character with quite the sci-fi twist. How did the idea for this book come together?
I wanted to write some stories that were not superhero or western based and it became a pet project of mine every time I had some downtime between gigs. I was fascinated with the idea of life changes and have always enjoyed stories that get a bit extraordinary in parts. I always have Amanda’s support with my projects and I told her my idea one night and she loved it…simple as that.
In your career previously, you’ve typically had a co-writer on comic writing projects — most of the time Justin Gray — but on Queen Crab you took this project solo. Why did you decide to take this one on your own?
It was more of a personal story that I wanted to tell, and I had it all mapped out in my head. Asking Justin to co-write this one wouldn’t have worked as smoothly as it usually does because of that. Once in a while its fun to work alone…but honestly, working with Justin has been some of the most fun I have had in comics.
This was both a successful Kickstarter project and will be an Image Comics release in February. How did those two aspects work together to help this effort become a reality?
I started writing the book and then started to look around for artists before I had a dime of funding. I found Artiz’s work and loved it and started sending him script and checks…and paid him a little at a time…which wasn’t much. As I learned about the KICKSTARTER campaigns, I realized it might be time to give it a shot and see if I could fund the rest of the book…and it worked out just fine.
Ginger goes through quite the personal journey in Queen Crab, and the ending itself is very open ended. Is it possible we’ll be seeing more from Ginger in the future, or was this a one and done graphic novel experience?
I thought when I first did this, it would be a done in one with an endless amount of possibilities for the reader to explore, but if the book is well received and actually ordered, I would love to do more, for sure.
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Your artist on this project is Artiz Eiguren, someone I’d never heard of but someone who struck me as a pretty talented and unique visual voice in his own right, especially when it comes to handling the more emotional aspect of the story. How’d you hook up with him and how did you know he was the right guy for this project?
One of the art agents I deal with in Spain was showcasing a bunch of his artists and Artiz’s work hit me right away as something I could apply t the story…I didn’t want a spectacular comic book look , I needed someone that understood pace and expression and was able to create mood within their art. I got really lucky having him on board. I will be doing more with him soon.
According to your Kickstarter page, you’ll be adding two pages to the existing version because your editor Amanda Conner said it needed it. Why the addition to the previously final copy?
Amanda pointed out to me that she felt a section of the story felt too open…that she really felt the reader needed a little more story in the middle of the book and I agreed…especially after I saw the final product after the pages added. I trust Amanda’s storytelling skills since she is one of the best storytellers I know. Sometimes a project can become “too close” and a writer misses a section that would clarify things that are running around his or her head.
Now that you have pretty much wrapped up your first solo writing experience, I’m curious as to how that was versus your usual co-writing efforts? Is it something you’re going to pursue again in the future?
Well, my first writing experience came years ago while writing a run of Deadpool, then Painkiller Jane, Beautiful Killer, New West, and so on…all the way up the recent Deathstroke flashpoint mini series, but I always have something else in the works. I will continue to mix it up best I can and keep experimenting with different genres for as long as the audience will have me.
