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Jim Zub, easily my most-interviewed creator, is on a tear lately. In addition to wonderful corporate-owned work like Figment, he more than stuck the landing on Skullkickers and he nailed the second arc of his new series Wayward. I talked to him about both beginnings, endings and everything in-between. When did you map out the overall story […]

It’s widely acknowledged is that a great letterer is one that you don’t notice. Marshall Dillon is often an exception to that rule. He made a big splash with his work on Skullkickers, a series with explosive action and silly sound effects.  Dillon has deepened his footprint in the comics industry on titles like Prince Valiant, the Thrilling Adventure Hour […]

Even though I was never quite in love with the considered-a-classic Samurai Jack TV show, I’ve been infatuated by Samurai Jack the comic book since before Issue 1. The stoic, solemn character interacting with a colorful world works, in my opinion, better in sequential form than it does on the screen. Writer Jim Zub is a big reason why. That’s why I was excited to talk to him yet again, this time about wrapping up his continuation of Samurai Jack with Andy Suriano and other artists.

Art by Andy Suriano.

You said you felt like you could write Samurai Jack forever. What makes the character and the series feel so endurable to you?

Genndy and his crew put together a really powerful alchemical mix of elements when they created Samurai Jack. It’s a genre melting pot, fusing martial arts, fantasy, science fiction, and just about any other type of genre fiction you can imagine. It can be downright silly at times but also surprisingly deep and philosophical. That incredibly broad range, all of it “in-play,” is a wonderful sandbox to play in. It continually generates new ideas and I don’t think I could ever run out.

How was the pre-established history of Samurai Jack a challenge?

Over four seasons the Samurai Jack animation crew tackled a slew of amazing iconic concepts, so a lot of my initial brainstorming would slam up against something that had already been done. At first that was intimidating but over time it became a blessing.

How was it a blessing?

It forced me to push further and come up with unexpected approaches to the stories. It also convinced me that the best way for us to continue Jack’s legacy was to keep moving forward, coming up with new characters and situations instead of only re-using bits from the show.

Art by Andy Suriano.

Given that he worked on the original animated series, what was your collaboration like with Andy Suriano?

It was a real dream come true. No matter what crazy stuff I came up with, Andy was always there ready to take it to the next level with his art and design. The wilder he got with it, the more I wanted to push things with the next issue. We fed off of each other’s excitement.

Andy didn’t use the line-free style of the cartoon, but he channeled the look and feel of the show while optimizing it for the comic page. It wasn’t about rigidly following a model sheet. Andy’s work is all about translating that motion and energy to the page.

Did it take getting used to working with somebody who had been involved with the property since almost the beginning?

I kept expecting Andy to tell me I was doing it wrong, that I was doing something too weird or that “Jack wouldn’t do that”, but that didn’t happen. We just hit the ground running and Andy was 110% supportive of my story ideas. It was genuinely one of the most enjoyable projects I’ve ever worked on and Andy was a huge part of the reason why.

Have you talked about doing other work together?

Yeah, absolutely. At Emerald City Comicon last year we actually talked about the fact that this would end at some point and we should do other stories together. I know he’s super busy with his animation day job and working on Cosmic Scoundrels, but I really do hope we get to build more awesome stories real soon.

An issue Jim did with guest artist Christine Larsen. Art by Andy Suriano.

How is your working relationship different with fill-in artists?

Carlos Guzman, our awesome Editor at IDW, handled most of the fill-in stuff. I would write ahead not knowing who would be doing those one or two part stories and he cast artists based on their strengths.

I pushed really hard to get Brittney Williams on for the two part Scotsman story because I’m crazy about her artwork and felt she’d be a perfect fit. She did a great job.

Sergio Quijada was a huge Jack fan who peppered us with fan art until we couldn’t help but bring him on board. I’m really glad he had the chance to do the two part “Master of Time” story.

Were you involved in the decision to give Suriano an issue to write and draw on his own?

That was factored in early on. Before I was brought on board there was talk of Andy writing and drawing the whole series, so we wanted to make sure Andy could get a story idea he had percolating down on the page. The dialogue free “Caves of Crystal Calamity” story from issue 8 is also one I scripted based on Andy’s story idea.

The issue Andy wrote and drew on his own. Art by, naturally, Andy Suriano.

As a long-time fan of Samurai Jack, what did you think of Andy’s issue 18?

It was great! It felt weird reading a Samurai Jack comic I didn’t have a hand in, but that’s what made it so cool. Andy built a cool action set piece and just went wild with it.

Zub’s longest-running series, Skullkickers, is ending soon after 36 issues. Art by Edwin Huang and Misty Coats.

Samurai Jack is your second-longest work, behind Skullkickers, and your longest on a property that you don’t own. What did you take away from doing a more lengthy run?

It was really nice settling in with a concept, almost indulgently so at times. Weird little ideas I’d brainstorm had time to gestate and I didn’t feel like I had to cram everything in all at once. Almost every story idea I included in my original pitch for the series found its way to the printed page at some point during the run and a lot of other little details or in-jokes made it in there too.

Samurai Jack #20 is such a definitive way to go out. With such a strong ending, would you feel comfortable returning to the character, if given the chance?

Absolutely. “Mako the Scribe” is definitive in a lot of ways and delivers a possible ending to the series, but it’s also cast in the far flung future. Andy and I had a bunch of other story ideas bubbling around in our heads that would happen before that big ending.

When I finished writing the 5 part “Quest For the Broken Blade” story I thought I’d gone as big as I could go with Jack and possible threats he could face, but within a few weeks I came up with a new 5 part epic that would have originally been issues #21-25. If Cartoon Network or IDW ever want us to do that story as a mini-series, standalone graphic novel, or animation (Genndy – Call me! :) ) I’m there in a heartbeat.

An amazing series even for people who have never been to a Disney theme park. Art by John Tyler Christopher.

Between Samurai Jack and Figment, you’ve had a lot of success breathing new life into older concepts. Are there any other forgotten or ignored properties that you’d like to revitalize next?

That’s hard to say. Samurai Jack and Figment weren’t properties I sought out and yet they became near and dear to me during the pitching/writing process. I enjoy the challenge of digging in with something unexpected and finding aspects that resonate with me (and hopefully readers too).

What do you think you added to the character of Samurai Jack during your run?

That’s a really hard thing to answer because the show was already a modern classic before I ever came along. We did our damnedest to build on the amazing work done on the show and tell entertaining stories that pushed Jack to new limits. In the end our contribution is up to the fans and Genndy Tartakovsky to decide. I hope people look back on these stories fondly and that they have a really long shelf life.

What new lessons did you learn from the experience?

A lot of my previous comic work was dialogue and sound effect heavy. I was afraid of letting a panel fall silent, like I was somehow not doing my job properly if there wasn’t a bunch of text jammed in there. Working on Jack opened me up to the strength of silence. He’s the silent stoic center while everything else is loud and crazy all around him.

More than that though, working on Samurai Jack recharged my creative batteries. Right before the Jack gig came along I hit a real low point in my writing career. I was supposed to take over Birds of Prey for the New 52 and when that inexplicably crumbled I genuinely felt like I’d missed my big chance and wouldn’t be able to get out of that slump. Writing Samurai Jack reminded me that this crazy creative career is more than just one opportunity. Making work I’m proud of over the long haul is the true measure of success.

 The entire Samurai Jack series written by Jim Zub is available now. Find Jim on his website, Twitter and Tumblr.

MATT CHATS is a weekly interview series with a person of prominence and/or value in the comic book industry. Find its author, Matt O’Keefe, on Twitter and Tumblr. Email him with questions, comments, complaints, etc. at [email protected].

And when I say must-read, I mean MUST READ, as it really lays out fundamental changes in how the industry is working for creator owned books.. A few days ago I noted how an old post on the economics of Jim Zub on Skullkickers, his Image comics, had gotten a second life on Facebook with it’s very low numbers on comics profits. In the comment, Zub promised an update, and he’s delivered with an analysis of his new book, Wayward. As you can see from the above graph, it’s a HUGE change, and it’s all due to the rise of Image Comics:

The Image model has always been about investing in yourself and reaping the benefits of that investment if sales are strong. I knew that going in with Skullkickers back in 2010 and, even when our sales were borderline unprofitable, I stuck with the series as a way to establish myself as a writer and show people our team could produce a high quality comic month after month. Now, four and a half years later, I’m seeing the benefits of that consistency and the growing creator-owned market with my new Image series called Wayward.

Zub enumerates a number of ways Wayward has surpassed Skullkickers, including his larger profile in the industry at large, and the material being more suited to today’s market: “Cute supernatural teenage girls (surrounded by cats) kicking the shit out of monsters on the street of Tokyo plays to a bigger audience than a bro-centric slapstick violent D&D tale, especially in 2014-2015.” While you should read the whole thing, one particular bullet point is worth highlighting:

• Retailer Outreach: I’ve also done a ton of retailer outreach over the past four years. Having well regarded work is wonderful but only if retailers feel confident they can sell the books. As we headed towards the launch of Wayward, the crew at Image and I did a lot of communicating with retailers about the series, showing them exclusive artwork and previews, doing everything we could to prove to them that this was a series they could confidently sell to their customers. That lead to several comic shop and convention-exclusive variant covers for Wayward #1, bolstering our launch numbers by thousands of copies while creating extra interest in the series.

While some may see the “variant method” as a danger sign, I think the numbers on these variants are still low enough on an individual basis to avoid threatening overall comics sales. It’s also CRUCIAL that today’s retailers are more open to diverse material. I don’t like to live in the past, but some of my 90s conversations with retailers begging them to consider selling Simpsons comics spring to mind. But you know it was a different world 20years ago. It’s a different world than it was even FOUR years ago. While Zub notes that neither he nor Wayward artist/co-creator Steve Cummings are rolling in dough, they have enough to pay the rest of the team, and for Cummings to work on the book full time. AND they have a war chest to help promote and keep the book on its successful sales trajectory.

Zub notes that the first Wayward trade paperback is coming out in March, so even his numbers post serves as a way to promote the next work.

Good sound tips all.

Above: the triptych cover for Wayward #6-8 by Cummings.

Jim Zub’s 2014 is picking up some real speed right now. Most well-known for his series Skullkickers with Edwin Huang and Misty Coats, which is soon heading towards the penultimate arc, he’s building up a head of stream to take him straight through into 2015. Alongside his creator-owned fantasy sword-swinging monster-kicking fighty fight series, he’s also now writing various projects for DC, Marvel, Dynamite and many others.

One of the most interesting things about Zub as a creator, and what first caught my attention, is his openness about his career and creative process. The extensive comic book tutorials on his website offer some brilliant advice on a range of topics, from publicity to building a creative team, and right through to the tricky stuff nobody else talks about – like, for instance money.

Which means there’s a lot to talk to him about! Ahead of issue #25 of Skullkickers – which you’ll get to see preview pages from below – he spoke to me about building Skullkickers, assembling the team, and how he’s managed to keep interest in the series so high.

Steve: Skullkickers started as two short stories in Image anthology collections. Why take it to an ongoing series? What about the characters or world made you want to continue on with their story?

Jim: Erik Larsen, who was publisher at Image when the Popgun anthology came out, really liked those two short stories. He was the one who asked if we wanted to do a full comic with the same characters.

I think the concept, two mercenary monster-mashers get themselves into capers and have to violently find a way out, lent itself to a continued adventure. It was open-ended and became a vehicle I could use to explore and poke fun at well worn fantasy storytelling tropes.

Steve: The original two shorts were with Chris Stevens, although for Skullkickers proper you’ve been working with Edwin Huang. How did you connect with him?

Jim: Chris and I did the Popgun stories and he was originally on board as the artist for the proposed 5 issue mini-series, but in order to work on the regular series with any regularity he’d need to stop doing freelance work for months at a time and financially that just wasn’t possible. Add in some other curveballs that were thrown into his life and it quickly became apparent that it wasn’t going to happen. I mothballed the Skullkickers first issue script and expected it would never be illustrated.

Cut to about a year and a half later. Edwin was getting ready to graduate from art school and he’d contacted the UDON studio, where I was working as a Project Manager, looking for a job. There weren’t any positions available but I liked the quality of his samples so he and I stayed in touch. I recommended that he have more sequential samples in his portfolio and, when he asked if he could work from one of my scripts, I passed him the script for Skullkickers #1. Within a few pages I could see that he’s be a great fit and thankfully he felt the same way. He finished up issue #1 and I re-pitched it to Eric Stephenson, who gave it the green light.

Steve: What about his art drew your attention? Were you looking for something particular for Skullkickers?

Jim: Edwin’s style is clean and crisp with clear storytelling and great expressions. It’s cartoonish where it needs to be without slipping into something too exaggerated or loose. Even when he’s drawing grim and violent stuff there’s a playful quality to it that reminds me of Mike Wieringo or Paul Smith.

Steve: Misty Coats has been colouring the series since the start, and has become a firm part of the creative team. Did you invite her to the series, or was she recommended by Edwin? 

Jim: Misty was recommended to me by colorist Christina Strain. We had line art all done for issue #1 and I knew that Christina knew all kinds of colorists who were just getting their start. I showed her the line art and explained the colorful-animated look I wanted for the series and she suggested Misty. The first two pages of issue #1 are actually Misty’s sample pages. They were perfect.

Steve: As the series has gone on, how do you feel that the style of the comic has changed? Do you think that, as you’ve all grown closer as a creative team, you’ve experimented more?

Jim: When I’m in the midst of working on an issue it kind of feels like it’s always looked the same, but when I refer back to earlier issues and compare I’m amazed at how far we’ve come. There’s a far greater understanding of how we all work well together – the humor, the art, the lettering, all of it. I’m not afraid to try weird things and the rest of the team trusts that there’s a method to the madness, which is very encouraging.

With work for hire I always send a completed script whereas with Skullkickers I’ll sometimes just send Edwin a handful of pages to work on as I squeeze in some Skullkickers writing time inbetween other projects. He’s an absolute pro and just rolls with it.

Steve: Although obviously it’s great that Skullkickers has continued on for such a long time, does it also get harder to promote and talk about the series, the longer it continues? Have you found that attention starts to fall off a little over time, and PR becomes more important?

Jim: Absolutely and it’s something that’s really hard to explain to people. Getting readers to stay excited and committed to a longer running series can be quite difficult. There’s an understandable obsession with the ‘new’ thing –new series, relaunches, the latest announcements. We’re all guilty of jumping to the new shiny thing and taking older stuff for granted. That’s the kind of thing we mocked with our 5 new #1’s in 5 months thing last year (Uncanny Skullkickers, Savage Skullkickers, etc.), but it’s become bizarrely prophetic since then.

Our newest solicit for Skullkickers #27 kind of sums it all up:

“Not a new #1 - Not a reboot - Not a paradigm-shifting crossover event… and yet, still totally worth picking up and reading, we promise!”

Steve: How did that relaunch/rebranding idea come about – and did it actually prove to give the series a boost in sales?

Jim: Like a lot of the jokes in Skullkickers that relaunch/adjective thing happened because I wanted to take something real and exaggerate it to a ridiculous degree. The sheer number of first issues that were being announced at the time, with the DC New 52 and Marvel Now at the forefront, was mind-boggling. It felt like every bit of promotional press was being sucked up by those first issues and that a bunch of wonderful long running series weren’t getting any attention at all.

I love that books like The Walking Dead, Invincible, and Savage Dragon have been able to continue doing what they do issue after issue, arc after arc. Artists like Ryan Ottley should be lauded for their commitment and consistency, but that’s just not how the attention span of the industry seems to work.

Skullkickers is a funny book and I felt like we could poke holes in relaunch-itis by pushing it to an extreme. I figured we’d get some interest and mild amusement, but I didn’t anticipate that we’d almost double our sales for a few months and be a talking point in the whole relaunch culture. That was unexpected. Our print sales settled back down over time, but I could instantly see why publishers get so tempted by that shiny red ‘first issue’ button. It’s Pavlovian. Readers and retailers respond.

Steve: Do you think that comics can even be pitched as lasting for, say, fifty issues anymore? Do you think we’re heading (as companies like Marvel seem to be considering) into a place where stories last for a set run, maybe 12 or so issues, and then wrap up the storyline?

Jim: Skullkickers wasn’t pitched as a long run and I doubt many stories are or should be, to be honest. I think it’s good to plan a story that could work in a shorter run but has potential to go further and delve deeper if the market responds well to it. Better that than expecting a massive run and having to truncate it awkwardly when it doesn’t work out.

Superheroes function as a perpetual license extension of the characters and concepts, so they defy standard storytelling expectations or most finite runs, but I think this is where creator-owned comics work so well as a singular vision of those creators. The length of the comic is built for the story, whatever that may be. I love that John Layman can say “Chew will be 60 issues” once it launches successfully – and then carry that out.

Steve: How soon into starting the series did you plan out your ‘exit plan’, so to speak? At what point did you decide how the story would end?

Jim: When sales numbers came in for issue #3 Eric Stephenson asked if we wanted to make the series ongoing. At that point I sat down and planned out the bigger story framework, with six arcs as my ‘ideal’ length. When I wrote issue 4 I started foreshadowing future storylines and we’ve rolled it out from there. Although I wrote other comics before it, Skullkickers really feels like the start of my comic writing career. I’m really happy we’re going to see that 6 arc master plan through.

Steve: How do you think the comic market responds to comedic titles, at present? It seems like recently there’s been a visible movement towards comedic titles like Quantum & Woody, Deadpool, Harley Quinn and so forth.

Jim: It shouldn’t surprise anyone that people want to enjoy their escapist entertainment and that stories that bring a smile to their face have great value. That I even have to explain this to people is kind of ridiculous. People like being happy – Full stop. Bringing joy to an audience is not something to be ashamed of.

Marvel’s capitalized on this very well with their movies. Each and every one of the Marvel Studio films is a crowd-pleaser with a strong mix of action and humor. When people leave the movie theatre they’re smiling and are quick to recommend them to others.

Thankfully comics seem to be finally shaking off the “we’re serious, dammit, so please take us seriously” shtick. You get reflected back what you give. The industry tried serious grim self-loathing for the last 25 years and that’s what it got back in return.

I have serious stories in me but, by and large, I want to read joyous energetic adventure and that’s what I tend to put into my work. Call me crazy, but I want to write raccoons with laser machine guns more than brooding navel gazers with blackened seeds of hate in their heart.

Steve: Issue #25 of Skullkickers is out this March, heading towards the penultimate story arc for the series. As you start to wrap up the overall story, what can readers expect from the next few issues?

Jim: In our third story arc we delved into Rex’s past and showed where his golden gun came from. This story arc, A Dozen Cousins and a Crumpled Crown, will show more background on Rolf, our pint-sized murder machine. Expect lots of dwarves – dwarven problem solving, dwarven history, and dwarven justice.

All of the seemingly random and ridiculous threads we’ve put out in the first four story arcs are starting to tie together in weird and wonderful ways. If you’ve been reading from the beginning you’ll see larger patterns emerging, but the current story is still fun and accessible. It’s still all about frantic fantasy fun.

Steve: While Skullkickers may be wrapping up shortly, you have a number of new projects coming up – you’re writing Samurai Jack for IDW, you have an Amanda Waller one-shot at DC Comics. How do you balance your various projects against each other?

Jim: Probably the most valuable thing I learned while working at UDON was how to gauge my own productivity and how to break larger tasks down into smaller more manageable tasks I could schedule around.

On an ongoing series you’re always multi-tasking – Issues are being planned, solicits are dine up, scripts are written, pages are being drawn, coloring and lettering is being proofed. It’s a constant barrage of material on 3-4 issues at the same time and it’s never boring. I enjoy the process and, more often than not, I enjoy having a lot of different projects on the go at once.

Steve: A repeated mantra in comics is “it’s not hard to get into comics – it’s hard to STAY in comics.” Is it difficult to keep a sense of momentum, as a creator?

Jim: I think you go through little personal booms and busts, definitely. You can get neurotic about whether or not you’re doing it “right”, whatever that means, and where things might be a year from now, 3 years, 5 years. All of that just distracts you from doing the best job you can in the here and now. I try to just focus on making my current writing the best it can be and hope that readers, retailers, and editors enjoy what I’m doing enough to keep asking for more.

If creators want to be visible and stay in the business they need to keep creating and that’s easier than ever. Digital outlets, conventions, and publishers of all sizes coupled with professional quality art/publishing tools at our fingertips gives almost anyone the ability to create and get in the ring.

Steve: What else do you have coming up over the next year? Do you have any further creator-owned projects in the works, at all?

Jim: Honestly, it’s pretty nutso right now, in a good way.

If you total up the projects that have already been announced with projects that haven’t been revealed yet I have 7 different comics I’m working on with 6 publishers – Marvel, DC, Image, Dark Horse, IDW, and Dynamite. I’m excited to show people a greater range to my work.

At least one of those is a new creator-owned series that I think that’ll turn heads when it’s revealed in a couple months.

2014 is incredibly exciting so far and I can’t wait until people see what’s coming up.

I hope that if people are enjoying Skullkickers, Samurai Jack, or Pathfinder they’ll check in with other comics I’m working on as they’re announced and released.

The best way to keep up on what I’m doing is through my website: www.jimzub.com. In addition to announcements and interviews I’ve got tutorials about writing, pitching, and working in comics that people may find helpful.

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Many thanks to Jim for his time! Skullkickers returns after a hiatus this March with issue #25 – the final order date being March 3rd. As mentioned, you can find out more about Jim on his website – or follow him on Twitter!

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Frequent collaborators on mysteriously short-lived Image projects, Jim Zub and Edwin Huang have been announced as the creative team for a new issue #1 from Image in June, Dark Skullkickers Dark #1. And that’s not a typo – the extra Dark is there for a reason.

And that reason is because the comic is dark.

This is, of course, the most recent ‘relaunching’ from the Skullkickers team, who have spent the last few months designating each new issue of Skullkickers as a different #1 relaunch. Each time they relaunch, they add a different adjective in front, like ‘Mighty’ or ‘Savage’, poking fun (but also emphasising) the bizarre importance that the comics market puts on relaunches and short-term storytelling.

Next month will probably see Trinity of Sin: Skullkickers announced. In a fun press release (and you know there’s nothing I find more entertaining than a press release, guys!), Zub quotes Image’s PR and Marketing Director Jennifer De Guzman thus:

It’s a pale reflection of the industry’s need to spin rebooted series through endless hype, turning the crazed hamster wheel of entertainment promotion until it’s fallen apart. Good-bye, integrity.

This whole thing – which has generated consistently higher sales for the series – is a pointed criticism aimed at all the comic book websites which value a quick spike in internet traffic over covering important or worthwhile news stories. Here’s the variant cover for the issue!

Where was I? Ah yes, comic sites which are obsessed with printing press releases and quoting verbatim rather than writing something new or useful for readers. Here’s a quote from Zub about the subject:

Fun comic books are a thing of days past. In order to grab a modern audience I’ve dipped into the darkness of my own heart and spilled my blood upon the pages of this sequential masterpiece. Oh yeah, there’s beer in it too.

(The first issue of Dark Skullkickers Dark will be out in June.)

TweetUncanny is such a strange word to use to describe a comic, much less a range of different comics which tend to feature characters who aren’t unexpectedly familiar – they’re the X-Men and Avengers, they’ve been around for decades. Which is why it’s nice to see that the Skullkickers creative team of Jim Zub and [...]