Originally known for his self-published spy graphic novel, Interman, and Marvel Comics’ critically-acclaimed superhero miniseries Agents of Atlas, writer Jeff Parker now seems to be the go-to guy for Marvel’s more youthful titles. After writing both The Avengers and Fantastic Four for the kid-oriented Marvel Adventures imprint, he’s now at the helm of X-Men: First Class, an ongoing series about the adventures of the original X-Men team. Parker talked with PWCW about viral marketing, keeping comics fun, and his upcoming projects at Marvel and beyond.
PW Comics Week: What were you doing before you became a comics writer?
Jeff Parker: I was drawing. I worked mostly as an artist since the mid 90's, drawing comics, then storyboards for animation and live-action. I always wanted to write as well, but it was easier (that's relative by the way, my use of the word "easy") to get drawing work because an editor can tell very quickly if they can use you on a project. After my [spy] graphic novel The Interman came out — on my own dime — publishers started trusting me to write as well.
PWCW: A lot of your work—Marvel Adventures, X-Men: First Class—seems oriented towards younger readers, which is somewhat uncommon in comics today. Is that something you sought out?
JP: That's what [senior editor] Mark Paniccia at Marvel first asked me to do, the main focus being that they needed creators who could write books that were friendly to new readers not familiar with character continuity. I'd been flapping my gums for ages about how there needed to be more books kids could read, but that had nothing to do with me working on them. Mark read a story called "Ape Company" on my website, a ten-page stand alone, and realized I could probably do these done-in-one superhero stories as well.
PWCW:X-Men: First Class was successful enough that it went from a miniseries to an ongoing series, and I've talked to some fans who say it's the only X-book they read. What about it do you think struck a chord with readers when another X-title could have easily seemed superfluous? Do people... like fun again?
JP: There's plenty of fun in the other X-books too—I think what First Class readers are responding to is a lack of convolution. They don't want to have to keep a score card handy to track the countless permutations of the X-Men. But I should add, that's exactly what much of the X-fanbase loves about [X-books]. And yeah, I guess the lack of agony helps us.
PWCW: During your Agents of Atlas series in 2006-2007, you did a bit of viral marketing via the “Temple of Atlas” blog on the Marvel site. How did that come about? Do you see that as a precursor to the more extensive viral marketing that Marvel is doing now with things like Secret Invasion?
JP: Possibly, I need to ask them about that. As for more extensive... go back and read through what we did and see which one had more work behind it! We gave players a whole pulp novella online and two months of puzzles to solve, and had to coordinate with a dozen websites. And by “we” I mean “me.” Thankfully a lot of cool website owners were generous with their time and help in planting clues and codes, and we had some really smart people playing and reading along. Not a full-on Alternate Reality Game in the sense of [the Halo 2 viral marketing campaign] I Love Bees, but we stuck to the form of one. I stayed in character and never put anything referring to it on my own website.
PWCW: What's the status on your 1602 project [a series in which Marvel heroes are reinterpreted and set in Elizabethan times] at Marvel?
JP: It is back on! Our artist Olivier Peru was sadly struck with the recent death of his brother Stephane, which is the worst and most profound setback he could have had. Stephane was going to color the series too. Normally a large publisher like Marvel would be forced to go to a new artist to keep production moving, but Dan Buckley approved us to wait until Olivier could catch up on his other obligations and get started on 1602: The Web Complete this Summer. That Dan and Marvel would do that is really impressive to me.
PWCW: You've also done some work for Virgin Comics on Dave Stewart’s Walk-In and Guy Ritchie’s Gamekeeper that seems like a bit of a departure for you. How has that been different than your work at Marvel?
JP: I can have characters swear and shoot each other in the face and have sex and stuff. It's not that I want that to happen in say, Marvel Adventures Avengers or anything, but it's nice to be able to do very different stories. Generally, I don't care to see superheroes done that way. But I like it in sci-fi, suspense and other genres where it feels more natural.
PWCW: Finally, when's the next Interman coming out?
JP: That's a good question. If developments (which as usual, I can't talk about—I should have taken a vow of silence) proceed, I may have to devote more time to working on Volume 2 soon. At the moment I'm just trying to make sure none of the artists I work with are waiting on script.
