The Children of the Grave Speak!
Bringing their critically-acclaimed Shooting Star Comics series CHILDREN OF THE GRAVE to IDW Publishing as a newly-revamped trade paperback, writer Tom Waltz and artist Casey Maloney took the time recently to interview each other about their pasts, the new COTG IDW tpb (man, that’s a lot of acronyms in a row) as well as what the future holds for the two comics creators.
Tom Waltz: So, Casey -- let's get right to the good stuff. How does it feel to have the chance to go a second round with the fantastic artwork you did for COTG for its initial printing at Shooting Star Comics, and what exactly are you doing differently to make the IDW trade paperback a must-have for old readers and new readers alike? C'mon, enquiring minds demand to know (not to mention paying customers...)
Casey Maloney: Well, Tom, if I had to choose one emotion to describe how I feel about the opportunity to actually go back and fix the little things that drive me crazy when I look back at the old books, it would be relief. It's a rarity for anyone to be able go back to their old work and apply new knowledge to it. We finished issue one, what was it, well over a year ago? I'm pleased to say I've come a long way since then and I think it will show in the trade paperback. I've already shrunk heads, deleted certain shadows and lines, and repositioned facial features in just the first five pages. Then there is the biggest addition, which is the gray scaling. I'm having a blast with that. It's a whole new world complete with howling wind, rocky terrain, frigid nights, and my completely overused mist and smoke effect. So if you purchased the Shooting Star books (and I know there are at least a few of you out there) you will be getting a brand new experience and a huge bang for your buck. If you're new to the book, you'll get something shiny and new that I'm trying to make comparable to the high quality you get from IDW and the other big boy publishers.
But now that I've hyped this up to a nearly impossible to reach height, I want to know what you're bringing to table Tom. What changes can we expect to see from the writer/letterer?
TW: Well, I'm not getting to have any fun like shrinking heads or creating weather patterns. Man, I knew I shoulda been an artist. (Laughs) But, seriously, like you I'm going back and fixing things that bugged me from the original printing, mostly with the lettering. Considering the fact that this was our first dive into the comics industry's wild waters, I think we both did a pretty decent job of putting the Shooting Star series together. I mean, your art was kick butt from the start (it's crazy good, now), and my letters were readable at least. But I've gotten a lot better with Adobe Illustrator (my lettering weapon of choice) since then, so I'm going back to clean up and condense quite a few of the word balloons. I'm hoping that I can maintain my text while being able to show off more of your artwork in each panel at the same time, especially with all the new gray scaling you've got going on. Speaking of your art changes, I was showing off some of the new pages to Brian K. Vaughan recently (how's that for dropping a name?), and he said he was knocked out by what you are doing for the IDW trade. Chris Ryall and the gang at IDW seem pretty darn happy, too, and I've no doubt that readers are going to be totally satisfied with the final product when they finally get a look at it. This is truly a Director's Cut.
Which leads me to my next question. We've gotten quite a bit of Hollywood attention for COTG since its initial release. While our creative agent (Jim Strader at Quattro Media) continues to diligently shop us to the different movie studios, have you given any thought into who you'd cast to play the characters you were so instrumental in designing?
CM: Ah, the casting game. I will use this chance to fess up to the fact that LT Drake took on the likeness of Bruce Willis very early in the book. I don't know how it happened but he crept in there without me realizing it until it too late. Of course, I don't mind that much because who else would be better to play a tough as nails leader in charge of a highly specialized and well-trained team given the task of taking on a small army, right? And for the record, I didn't see TEARS OF THE SUN, a movie in which Bruce Willis plays a character very similar to Drake (complete with his subordinates calling him "LT" and a face covered in large amounts of stubble), until after I finished CHILDREN OF THE GRAVE. I was shocked at how badly they ripped us off. (Laughs) As for Shiv, I've been going through the old HBO show OZ and I've always thought Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje would be perfect. I guess he's on LOST, too (as Mr. Eko) but I haven't seen any episodes of that show. And we'd cast Lil Pete from OZ as well. Kirk Acevedo, who plays Miguel Alvarez, would do well, I think. He may be a bit old, but I think he could pull it off. And for Assan? Hmm, I'll say Gary Oldman just because that guy can do anything.
While we're on the subject of making millions of dollars in Hollywood, I would like to know if you became rich, would you still write comics? If so, what would they be like with no fear of financial ruin if it didn't sell?
TW: Hey, you don't need a million dollars to risk financial ruin in comics -- I think financial ruin is a given in this industry, no matter how much capital you start with. (Laughs) Wow, if I had a million bucks, would I still write? Yeah, I'm sure I would. I know this'll sound like a corny, cliché writer answer, but I don't think I'd be able to stop if I wanted to. There are too many stories and characters bouncing around in my head that need to get out, and since a lobotomy is out of the question (I don't think my insurance covers that procedure), writing will continue to be the outlet, whether I'm rich or poor. The difference would be, with a million smackeroos in my pocket, I might be able to do the writing on a shiny new laptop while I sip a fancy margarita next to my Olympic-sized pool. Heck, who am I fooling? I live in San Diego -- if I get a million dollars, it MIGHT put a small dent in my current mortgage. That, or I could fill up my car with one tank of gas and have enough change leftover (maybe) for a cup of 7-11 coffee. (Laughs)
Okay, my next question will bring us back to your artwork. I'm no art expert by any means, but even I can see that your style is a combination of different influences. How would you describe your style, and who are the artists that have inspired you the most?
CM: How would I describe my art style, hmm? How about fan-freaking-tastic?! (Laughs) I kid, I kid . . . or do I? If you want me to seriously answer, I can't. I can't really look at my drawings and see the whole. I just pick at all the parts of my drawings without seeing the whole thing. I can say that sometimes I feel like my drawings are cartoony but trying to be realistic. I guess that could be a description of a lot of comic book art, though. But the cartoony-ness could be the result of my influences, which seem to be mostly manga these days. While I definitely don't want to replicate a manga look, I do admire manga artists' (I know there's a word for them but I completely forgot it just now) ability to express so much emotion and storytelling in so few lines and yet they can stuff an insane amount of technical details in backgrounds, environments, and mechanical drawings. I hope no one hates me for praising manga. I know there are a lot of haters out there. The manga inspiration doesn't stop there, either. Kentaro Miura's BERSERK series played a huge part in the gore and gray scaling of CHILDREN OF THE GRAVE. And another book that really got me started thinking about how awesome gray scaling could be was Image’s THE WALKING DEAD. Tony Moore really opened my eyes to the fact that gray scaling adds at least as much pop as colors do and sometimes more in the case of a zombie book. Mr. Moore instantly became one of my favorite artists once I started that series.
But you could also say that real life is the greatest influence in anyone's work and with that in mind, what I want to know (and what I want everyone else to know) is what sort of influence does your military background have on your writing of a military book?
TW: I think the most significant influence my military background has on my writing (other than I know how to use the f-word in many, many remarkable ways) is the fact that my stories tend to be very character-driven. Which, I suppose, is only natural as the military is filled with all kinds of fascinating characters. This is not to say that I'm incapable of plot creation. On the contrary, I think there is a definite plot (theme may be a better word) at the heart of CHILDREN OF THE GRAVE. But, in my humble opinion, the plot would be nothing without the characters who play it out. I'm very proud of the "people" I created for COTG, moreso because they are all indicative of folks I've known in my real life... especially folks from my years in the Marines and the National Guard. I think it's sad that our news reports in the States tend to paint a "faceless" portrait of our fighting forces, when the reality is that the military is made up of thousands upon thousands of unique individuals, each with their own story. I hope that through my fiction writing, I'm able to convey that reality. Heck, in COTG I even tried my darndest to show that the "bad guys" are more than what they seem -- that they have a past, too, and that they started out in diapers just like the rest of us. The suicide-bomber explosive underwear came later.
Okay, my next question goes back to what I mentioned above -- the theme of COTG. I know (at least I think I do) what I was trying to "say" with CHILDREN OF THE GRAVE, but I've often wondered what you, the artist, thought COTG was all about? What, if anything, did the story of COTG mean to you?
CM: We artists don't think that deep, man. Well, at least us commercial artists don't. We just think about big pecs, both male and female. Haven't you figured that out by now? I mean, after all those emails you get from me rambling on about bulging pecs…? But I'll try to answer your question, even if it fries my brain. I would say CHILDREN OF THE GRAVE's main theme would be redemption. Everyone in the story, both "bad" and "good," have their reasons that drive them. Sometimes these reasons are right, but usually they're wrong. This doesn't make them bad people, just lost. They all deserve a second chance at finding themselves and the right reasons for living their lives. Right? Right? You have to tell me if I'm barking up the right tree here, Mr. Author.
As long as we're clarifying things here, there is one piece of the story that's a sticky subject. I've heard discussions and jokes over it and I was wondering if you could finally answer the question: Are the CHILDREN OF THE GRAVE zombies or ghosts? Now is your chance to finally put the debate to rest or you could just be cryptic and let the debate rage on because that is usually the more fun thing to do. The world needs it's mysteries, you know...?
TW: Zombies or ghosts, eh? Hmmm... I'll have to go with whichever answer will get us the most sales, my friend. (Laughs) Actually, that's a great question. Personally, when I wrote the story, I imagined the children to be haunted spirits who are trapped between this world and the next, seeking the answer (perhaps "resolution" is a better way to say it) that will allow them to continue their journey into the Great Beyond. They are lost souls trying to find their way out of the dark -- which is probably the best way to describe the living characters in the story, as well. Truth is, I got the idea for the story from the awesome Black Sabbath song “Children of the Grave”. Obviously Ozzy Osbourne sang the tune, but I think bass player-extraordinaire Geezer Butler wrote it. The song is a warning to children that, since the adults of the world are screwing things up so badly, it is up to them -- the kids -- to take a stand and fix things for themselves, otherwise they are simply "children of the grave." The concept really resonated with me... the idea of children being the last and only hope for children. I transferred the theme to COTG, giving the dead children of genocide the chance to achieve both revenge as well as resolution. But it's more than that, I think, because if the story reveals anything to readers, I hope it's that the living can sometimes be more "dead" than the... well, the dead. Which begs the question -- are the soldiers and terrorists in the story really nothing more than zombies themselves? Then there's that chicken or the egg question... but I digress. Ultimately, for me, COTG is a ghost story in the vein of Dickens’ A CHRISTMAS CAROL (only with machine guns and grenades). Every character in the story has a haunted past that is consuming them, a cold and lonely present that they need to deal with, and a future that, depending on whatever path they choose, can be either glorious or gory. The children are there to help the process along, even though they too are caught in a desolate limbo of their own. Wow... that sounds like a deep story, man. Think I'll buy me a copy when it comes out. (Laughs)
Okay, Mr. Maloney... my last question to you is this: What would be your dream comics' drawing job?
CM: My dream job, eh? Well, that would have to be doing what I'm doing now and earning enough money to live comfortably. I'm not trying to sound greedy or anything because I love what I'm doing, but it's definitely a labor of love right now. There's nothing better than doing creator-owned stuff. It's so satisfying to create a whole cast of characters and steer their destinies whichever way you see fit. I'm sure you know what I'm talking about, Tom, since as a writer you are the one who actually shapes the character's lives and such. Bwa ha ha! Such a power trip! Of course, that's not saying I wouldn't love working in the mainstream as well. I've always been a Marvel boy since that's what I was raised on. Sinking my claws into some X-MEN or something sounds inviting. Then there's ol' Bats. I know you're a gushing fanboy of BATMAN and with good reason. The dude's a badass and would be a delight to illustrate. But after all that's said and done, I would always come back to doing my own stuff if possible. Who knows what the future holds, though?
Maybe you do, Tom. Let's finish this up with my final question: What's next?
TW: Next? Fame, fortune, loose women and high-powered friends, of course. (Laughs) We better edit that loose women part before my lovely wife sees it. Next, eh? Well, you and I have our next big project in the works as you know -- our sci-fi/military drama THE LAST FALL, which will be our first official project from our newly formed creative studio Studio Eye Five. Man, I’m excited as hell about that, especially if we find a publisher! I’m also working on a yet-to-be-named book for Platinum Studios, and I know you’re drawing a book for them, as well. I continue to write for the superhero prose magazine CYBER AGE ADVENTURES (www.ihero.net), and I’m hoping to take some of my characters from that venture and convert them into comics format. I’m hoping you’ll be drawing some of those, but with all you’ve got going on, I’ll also be hunting for another artist to help out, so any aspiring artists looking to collaborate, feel free to send your sequential and pin-up samples to me at tom@ihero.net. There won’t be much pay up front (if any), but there should be plenty of exposure – I’m already talking to a number of publishers about this, so it’s gonna land somewhere eventually, so get me those samples soon! Oh, I’m also trying to convince Joe Quesada at Marvel that he really needs to let me write an ULTIMATE CAPTAIN AMERICA mini-series I have developed. I’m not holding my breath, but you never know. And, taking nothing away from the fine work Scott Ciencin has done on the title, I’m bound and determined to get Chris Ryall to let me do some writing on SILENT HILL. I want that so badly – I’m such a SILENT HILL freakazoid. C’mon, Chris, pretty pleeeeeeeeeease…?
Okay, that’s enough begging for now. Thanks to everyone for taking the time to check out our interview and we truly hope you plan to give the CHILDREN OF THE GRAVE trade paperback a chance. Besides our story, the thing is going to be chock full of extras, including pin-up guest artwork, an extra 8-page sequential story from Casey and me, a kick-butt introduction by Beau Smith, and beautiful new cover art by Dan Brereton. All in all, a lot of bang for you buck, if I do say so myself. As always, we truly appreciate your time, consideration and support! Thanks!!!
Children of the Grave TPB
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