A few weeks ago, writer Paul Jenkins — the man who you may remember as the creator of the Sentry at Marvel or the writer of the best Inhumans story since their inception — announced that he was going exclusive to BOOM! Studios and abandoning his past at Marvel and DC. Having penned some work for the New 52 and with Marvel planning reprints of his “Inhumans” book with Jae Lee as well as the return of the Sentry, it was an interesting move and perhaps a controversial one for Paul to announce it how he did, in public rather than privately. Perfectly content to pull back his portion of the curtain, Paul’s announcement was to the point and with no holds barred, and one that very much warranted discussion.
So discuss is what we did.
Read on as I chat with Paul about the decision, his piece, his exclusivity, his thoughts on the current world of comics and what the future holds for him at BOOM! Studios.
So the first thing that I’m curious of here is: on a general scale, how nervous were you in announcing your exclusivity in the way that you did? It seems like something you’d been thinking about for a while based on the piece.
Definitely something I had thought about for a while. You realize you are making a big decision, and since it may affect your future income it affects your family’s future income. But as I have mentioned in the Bleeding Cool interview, I feel it is time some of this stuff was said. Creators are being mistreated. It is not about just airing grievances publicly, it is about trying to initiate a debate that may help to change things. I think this is about 30% frustration, and about 70% a desire to do the right thing.
How did you find the reaction to your announcement? About as positive or negative as you expected, or more one than the other?
Very positive so far. I have seen a few accusations that I am being self-serving but what can I do about that? I have no history whatsoever of being vocal like this, nor going public with grievances. I hope we continue to talk about the issues raised and not whether or not I am a great/awful writer. I have seen the comics industry on a wonderful trajectory, and I have seen it headed for a collision with a large asteroid. At the moment, I feel we are headed for a collision.
You brought up an interesting question in your announcement in “Why make it public,” but I think that’s a question worth ruminating on. It seems now more than ever, creators are more willing to speak out against the things they dislike about the company-owned aspect of the comic industry thanks to the larger platform the internet provides. But in any other industry, I think this kind of behavior might be frowned upon, bringing grievances of this variety public. Given that the comic world is so much more of a shared community, do you think being able to announce something like you did in this fashion makes it easier to do so and have it be generally understood by the intended audience?
I want to reiterate something I have previously addressed: you will see that while I am somewhat frank about the DC experience, I am less so about Marvel. This is not to say that I have had no issues with Marvel over the time I have been there – it is simply because the editorial interference I saw while working on Dark Knight and Stormwatch cannot go unseen. It took a lot to go public, and the risk in it is all mine to assume. A simple wave of the hand and a “sayonara” may well have sufficed but I think it is becoming painfully obvious that there are a lot of creators struggling with what has happened at DC lately.
I have always believed anger is a choice – it’s one that we have to think about carefully, if we can. When we decide to be angry, we are deciding to deal with the fallout. I am married with two children, and this decision was not taken lightly. But in the end, I feel the loss of the industry that we deserve as fans, creators and publishers is only going to be halted if we begin to address the problem. Hey, I am also a realist. My resistance to the anti-creative environment that has developed lately will have little to no effect on the major publishers, and why should it? But I felt it needed to become part of our dialogue as we proceed.
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It may be a bit much to ask, but is there a particular instance that has recently soured you on Big Two editorial interference? Or is your change in heart more reflective of the freedom and joy you’ve found while working at BOOM!? I can’t help but notice how much you talk of character when someone you created is coming back from the dead soon (ie The Sentry in “Uncanny Avengers”).
I think the change in heart is primarily driven by the great time I have had recently at BOOM! I have had a lot of fun with Deathmatch, and I have also found some new friendships with a group of people who care about what they do. BOOM! Is driven by its internal culture, which is demonstrated by the support given to each other by their employees, from top to bottom. You know… the assistant editors enjoy the company of the Marketing people, etc. Since I am ready to be with these guys for a long time – and this commitment was not a difficult choice – I have decided to talk a little about some of the things I feel are setting us on the wrong path. I can look at BOOM! and say, “This is the way it is supposed to be.”
I think now more than ever, even if a company doesn’t agree in their practices, the average fan seem more apt to side with creators over characters as seen at DC recently, even if some will always prefer Batman over who is writing him. Do you think there’s anything that can ever be done to truly change this aspect of how we as fans of the medium consume comics? Is there any kind of future not dominated by the greater properties?
God, I hope so. I guess I was never particularly enamored of the “big” characters, and that has probably not worked in my favor. I am just as happy writing Kazar or Inhumans as writing Batman or Spider-Man. Look, Iron Man wasn’t much of anything in the public perception until the first film blew up. The characters are not the key – the creators are the key.
Assuming nothing changes in the relation between creator and company, do you think that there is any positive that can still come from a company-owned situation in terms of comics? What do you think it would take to bring comics back to where they were in the Marvel Knights days without a company going bankrupt?
It will take a miracle, probably. The biggest entertainment companies in the world now dictate how the books are to be published. And let’s be honest, why should they care too much about the publishing side of it when comics are worth about 1/1000th of the value of the intellectual property? I don’t have much of an issue if a business is run in the way that works best for that company. But I do have a major issue if individuals within a company misbehave, and if they mistreat others. I loathe the concept that it is all “just business” as someone is sticking a bayonet into your ribs. Business does not have to be a euphemism for corporate sanctioned bullying.
Looking towards your work at BOOM!, what do you hope to do to truly push the entire medium into a place you’d like to see it in?
I hope, perhaps, that we can look at other types of comic book and move away from characters that we follow out of habit or misplaced loyalty. I want to write any number of fun and interesting books with the BOOM! guys helping me forward. I want to see more comics for younger audiences, and more comics that will entertain a larger female demographic. I’d like to get into writing some of those types of book, such as Fairy Quest. I hope comics can be successful depicting horror and romance and drama, and not have to always follow a so-called “commercial” pattern. And I would like more killer robot monkeys in comics.
We’re certainly in the Age of the Creator-Owned, given the amount of positive press and attention non-Big Two books are getting these days. Would you agree with this thought, and do you think this is a positive reflection of where comics are heading or just a temporary status change?
Continued belowAfter 25+ years in this business, I hope this is finally a sign that the readership is evolving, and that the retailers are also becoming more willing to take a chance with other books. There are lots of gems, such as Chew and Mind the Gap – not to mention such beautiful kids books such as Owly and Herobear. We need to promote these types of books more, I think.
I noticed you mentioning books like “Sentry” and “Inhumans” as things you’d like to make similar books to, but between “Deathmatch” and “Fairy Quest” I’d say you’re tackling very different genres here. Is there anything in particular you’d like to do from a genre perspective now while you’re at BOOM!?
Comics for a younger audience, most definitely. I think Fairy Quest can fall into that category, yet is enjoyed by an All Ages audience, really. All Ages material is my next goal, though I am going to be doing a kind of horror/comedy title next with BOOM!
I also noticed you mentioned you would be building worlds in your announcement. Did you mean that in the grand sense of a shared BOOM! Universe, or something more individualized? Seeing as a shared universe is something BOOM! has experimented in but does not currently have.
I want to build on the Deathmatch world, so that we have more stories with those characters that survive (Hint: there won’t be many, if any). I don’t feel we have mutually decided to build a shared universe yet but if that happens, I hope creators will always feel they can do whatever they want to with the characters. Ross will probably shoot me now.
Can you tease some of the projects that you’re looking to bring to light at BOOM!?
Yup. We are working on a second Fairy Quest book right now. I also have the new apocalyptic/dark comedy title, which will be announced shortly. There is a lot to come, so stay tuned. I am excited and reenergized.
So, personally – as not just a writer but also someone reading comics, what is it that you want to see from the medium across the board?
An adherence to story, not event. And more killer robot monkeys.
