Marv Wolfman Interview

In the Revolution’s ongoing efforts to give our readers what they want, we are announcing another new feature. This is the first of our Revolutionary Interviews. The interviews will be appearing on an irregular basis for now. If this feature proves to be popular, we will add it as a regularly scheduled event.

Marv Wolfman was gracious enough to participate in our first interview. This was especially exciting for me. Among my favorite comics are many created/written by Marv. The list includes:

The Tomb of Dracula, Crisis on Infinite Earths, The Man Called Nova, The New Teen Titans, Nightwing, Cyborg, Deathstroke, Terra, Bullseye, Black Cat, Vigilante, and many others.

Marv is writing a new Vigilante series that will be starting this month. He took the time from his writing schedule to answer some questions for our readers

1. Your newest comic for DC, Vigilante, is due out on Dec. 24th. Knowing that most of DC Comics’ “new” launches, from Chase to the Atom have had trouble finding traction. It seems that good writing alone does not protect one from cancellation What things have you done to try to ensure a healthy run for the new Vigilante?

Marv: You can’t do anything to make people read a book other than do your very best, try to get the word out, and keep your fingers crossed. It’s partially why I do interviews like this. It isn’t DC’s new launches alone that don’t always find traction; many of their new titles are doing wonderfully. Marvel, Dark Horse, IDW, and all the others are having problems, too. Fortunately, DC has so many strong titles they can try to bring out new ones and support them for a while and hope the audience finds them.

But I can say DC is trying to help with Vigilante. It was their suggestion that Vig becomes part of the Titans/Election crossover. That means instead of being one title alone on the shelf, it’s now part of a group of stories. My job is to hopefully maximize the opportunity by not only working within this crossover format but still finding a strong and singular voice for my book.

I’m thrilled that Vig can now be advertised in a way that it might not have before. But as you say sometimes it doesn’t matter if the writing and the art (wonderfully done by Rick Leonardi) is great unless the readers give it a chance. It’s hard in this recession to get people to spend X-dollars more, but we can only do what we can do.

2. Having said a lot about Nightwing, from the creation of that part of Dick Grayson’s life to a recent, redefining time on the title, how do you feel about his possible, if temporary ascension to the wearer of the “cowl”?

Marv: I have purposely not asked anything about the Batman RIP story so I can read it as it goes along. All I know is what I need to know in order to guest star Nightwing in Vigilante #3, and I’m not going to say anything about that. You’ll have to wait. But you can see the cover for Vigilante #3 on the DC website.

3. Having had such a long, and notable career in the industry, and having written so much in that career (the run on Teen Titans alone is impressive) what keeps you excited about writing?

Marv: I love telling stories and I love what the current crop of writers is doing. I was bored in the 90s and I think comics for the most part got tired. But in the late 90s a new crew of writers came in and truly helped revitalize the industry, and in so doing revitalized me. I saw a new way of writing that I hadn’t done before and have been pushing myself since.

4. Do you read any comics? If so, which ones? What other kinds of material do you like to read?

Marv: I read a number of DC books by certain writers; Geoff Johns, Bill Willingham, Paul Dini, and Grant Morrison as well as others. I also read Daredevil and Captain America over at Marvel. beyond that a few other books here and there when they’re recommended to me by my local comics shop.

5. Do you have any thoughts you would like to share about the return of the multiverse?

Marv: Not really. I was the one who destroyed the Multiverse so I’m the very last person who can complain that it’s back. We do what we do in order to make things exciting. I ended the Multiverse because DC needed a major boost and we needed to call attention to its great list of characters. People now love DC again so bringing it back is fine if it keeps up the readers’ interest.

6. In the Night Force series, Baron Winters never left Wintersgate Manor. Were you planning on revealing the reason? If so, can you share it with our readers?

Marv: I had my reasons; they were part of the bible I wrote. But no, I won’t share them until I’m given the opportunity to do another series if that ever happens.

7. Do you have any closing comments for our readers about your new series?

Marv: I very much wanted to do a book like Vigilante for a long time and I’m thrilled to be getting the chance. I’ve worked out a very intricate back story to the character that I’ll hint at over time. I hope I can come up with solid stories people will like to read and I hope readers will give it a chance. That’s about it. Thanks.

Be on the lookout for Vigilante #1 which comes out December 24, 2008. The Revolution will be reviewing it.

2 thoughts on “Marv Wolfman Interview

  1. Excellent. Thanks for having Wolfman on the Revolution. Very nice work. He is one of my favorite creators, and it’s good to know he’s still doing work for DC. I’ll have to pick Vigilante up.

  2. "I hope I can come up with solid stories people will like to read and I hope readers will give it a chance"

    What Marv said, hit the nail right on the head. This is the only thing that will save Marvel & DC; not endless fake deaths and big events.

    Marv Wolfman is a true pro. I will definitely pick up Vig.

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