Ron Marz has been a comic book writer for many years, with a long list of credits at Marvel, DC, Dark Horse, Top Cow and just about every other comics company there is. His career has notably included a long run on Green Lantern.
In recent years some of his best work has been for Top Cow, where hes been writing the companys flagship comic Witchblade. He transformed the tile from a comic that was known in its early years for T&A into a complex superhero fantasy story that has led to Marz writing a series of miniseries (First Born, and Artifacts) and ongoing series (Magdalena) for the company.
Marz is leaving the series with issue #150, and is busy writing a Green Lantern one shot and the Voodoo series coming from DC this fall. His big project this summer though is Shinku, a bloody horror story set in Japan that involves samurai and vampires, and is just as cool as it sounds.
ALEX DUEBEN: Youve been interested in Japanese culture and the medieval period for many years as weve seen in books like Samurai and The Path. What is it about the culture and that period that you find so interesting?
RON MARZ:I think first and foremost the period is so visually striking that its a natural fit for a visual medium like comics. Also, the nature of all drama is really conflict, and thats a period and a culture that had nearly constant conflict. Plus people with swords, you know?
AD: After thinking about this for a time, Samurai and vampires seem very different but both see themselves as superior to everyone else. They make their own rules. They are a law unto themselves. Its not a culture or ideological clash. I thought that was interesting.
RM: Thats really where a large part of the inspiration for the Shinku series came from, that sense of superiority, of a segment of the society holding itself above the rest. I was very intrigued by the similarities, especially the aspect of not abiding by the rules that apply to others.
AD: When you had this idea, did you consider just making it a period story? Or to your mind was it always set in the present and then flashing back?
RM: I think because Ive done a number of stories set in the classical samurai period, I wanted Shinku to have those elements, but to contrast those elements with a contemporary time frame. I wanted to examine how something as structured as a samurai clan hierarchy would survive down through the centuries.
AD: Now you mentioned at one point that the initial idea was for the book to be in black and white with red - which would have been really awesome. What was the thinking behind doing the book in full color?
RM: Truthfully, the suggestion to go full color came from Eric Stephenson, Images publisher. He felt like theres still a stigma attached to black and white material in the marketplace, and the book would have a better chance of survival if we went full color. In hindsight, the color work that Mike Atiyeh is doing has turned into one of the hallmarks of the series. Virtually everybody has heaped deserved praise on Mikes work
AD: Some people might not be aware of just what it means to put out a creator owned book through Image because everyone involved is working for free. Which isnt easy for a writer, but its a lot harder and more time-consuming for an artist. Talk a little about whats involved, how many people it takes to assemble a comic and why youre releasing the book as a series of miniseries ala Hellboy.
RM: Shinku is intended to be an ongoing, assuming we have the sales to sustain it, but well be taking a month or two off between story arcs to get caught up and make a couple of bucks doing work-for-hire projects. The reality is that doing a creator-owned book means working for free for months on end, and then hoping the tough market embraces the book enough that theres at least a little profit to go around. As you said, its toughest on the artists, particularly Lee Moder, who has the most time-consuming job on the team. That said, everybody who has contributed to the book -- Lee, Matthew Waite, Mike Atiyeh, Troy Petri and Phil Smith have gone above and beyond on a regular basis. All of these guys are my friends and all of them take great pride in their work, so theres never an instance of good enough with them. Everybody wants everything to be perfect. Im very thankful for all of them.
AD: Shinku is a dark fantasy/horror book not a superhero or superhero-ish tale. Was that important? I ask in part because Witchblade for example often felt like it could have been more fantasy/horror.
RM: Shinku is very much the book we wanted it to be. Thats one of the liberating aspects of doing creator-owned material: you tell your story in exactly the way you want to tell it. Ive certainly written my share of superheroes in my career, but Im forever preaching about the need for more genre diversification in comics. For so many people in America, when you say comics, its immediately translated into superheroes in their minds. Superheroes are great, but thats not the only kind of story you can tell in comics. Comics are a storytelling medium, not a genre.
AD: I did want to ask about the recent announcement that youre leaving Witchblade at #150. Youve been writing since issue #80 and while you didnt create her, I think its fair to say that shes your character as much as any character you dont own can possibly be. What made this the time to leave?
RM: There were a number of factors, including how full my schedule is with things like Shinku, Magdalena and finishing up Artifacts. Stjepan Sejic and I are leaving Witchblade together, and moving over to a new project at Top Cow, a project I think makes sense for us, and that were both excited about. I think were both proud of what weve done on Witchblade, but the chance to start something else from scratch is pretty alluring.
AD: I remember when I picked up a couple of the trades a few years back, and having never read the comic before, what struck me after reading them was that it was a superhero book where things changed. There is no status quo. Obviously Top Cow was very willing and interested in doing this but I was curious about the freedom that this offered and how much you enjoyed that aspect of the book.
RM: The majority of comics, especially superhero comics, are more about the illusion of change than actual change. Obviously, thats understandable, particularly when you consider so many of the characters have become worldwide, multi-million dollar franchises. For something like Witchblade, which has been around for 15 years, I think we stayed true to the core, while trying to evolve the characters and concepts, so theres a feeling of forward motion. The amount of freedom Top Cow gives me is great, because it allows me to tell stories that matter and have lasting consequences. I feel like stories about becoming are always more interesting than stories about being. The journey of becoming a hero is usually more interesting than the story of maintaining the status quo and being the hero.
AD: You are still writing another series for Top Cow, Magdalena, whos not as well known to casual readers. Could you talk a little about the character and the series and what people can expect when picking it up?
RM: Magdalena was actually the book I asked to write for Top Cow before they suggested I take over Witchblade. In a lot of ways, I think Magdalena is among the best concepts that Top Cow has in its universe. Theres one Magdalena in each generation, someone descended from the bloodline of Christ and Mary Magdalene, who essentially serves as the Catholic Churchs monster hunter and enforcer. So youve got ready-made stories about a woman with this great costume, and the Spear of Destiny, fighting monsters. The added wrinkle is that the current Magdalena isnt terribly trusting of her Vatican masters, so theres an additional layer of tension.
AD: It was just announced that youre working for DC writing Voodoo. I have a vague memory of reading an Alan Moore written miniseries about the character but otherwise...nothing. How did you get the gig? Who is she? What can we expect?
RM: How I got the gig is fairly simple the phone rang one day and DC offered me the gig. The who part of it is a little more complicated, because thats part of the mystery of the series, and I dont want to give away too much. I can say that the Voodoo character who is being introduced into the relaunched DC Universe will have a lot of similarities to the original Wildstorm character, but there are some new elements as well. The series provides an outsiders perspective on the new DCU and its heroes for story-driven reasons. The short version is that the series is a sexy spy thriller set in a superhero universe, and I think its going to surprise people.
In recent years some of his best work has been for Top Cow, where hes been writing the companys flagship comic Witchblade. He transformed the tile from a comic that was known in its early years for T&A into a complex superhero fantasy story that has led to Marz writing a series of miniseries (First Born, and Artifacts) and ongoing series (Magdalena) for the company.
Marz is leaving the series with issue #150, and is busy writing a Green Lantern one shot and the Voodoo series coming from DC this fall. His big project this summer though is Shinku, a bloody horror story set in Japan that involves samurai and vampires, and is just as cool as it sounds.
ALEX DUEBEN: Youve been interested in Japanese culture and the medieval period for many years as weve seen in books like Samurai and The Path. What is it about the culture and that period that you find so interesting?
RON MARZ:I think first and foremost the period is so visually striking that its a natural fit for a visual medium like comics. Also, the nature of all drama is really conflict, and thats a period and a culture that had nearly constant conflict. Plus people with swords, you know?
AD: After thinking about this for a time, Samurai and vampires seem very different but both see themselves as superior to everyone else. They make their own rules. They are a law unto themselves. Its not a culture or ideological clash. I thought that was interesting.
RM: Thats really where a large part of the inspiration for the Shinku series came from, that sense of superiority, of a segment of the society holding itself above the rest. I was very intrigued by the similarities, especially the aspect of not abiding by the rules that apply to others.
AD: When you had this idea, did you consider just making it a period story? Or to your mind was it always set in the present and then flashing back?
RM: I think because Ive done a number of stories set in the classical samurai period, I wanted Shinku to have those elements, but to contrast those elements with a contemporary time frame. I wanted to examine how something as structured as a samurai clan hierarchy would survive down through the centuries.
AD: Now you mentioned at one point that the initial idea was for the book to be in black and white with red - which would have been really awesome. What was the thinking behind doing the book in full color?
RM: Truthfully, the suggestion to go full color came from Eric Stephenson, Images publisher. He felt like theres still a stigma attached to black and white material in the marketplace, and the book would have a better chance of survival if we went full color. In hindsight, the color work that Mike Atiyeh is doing has turned into one of the hallmarks of the series. Virtually everybody has heaped deserved praise on Mikes work
AD: Some people might not be aware of just what it means to put out a creator owned book through Image because everyone involved is working for free. Which isnt easy for a writer, but its a lot harder and more time-consuming for an artist. Talk a little about whats involved, how many people it takes to assemble a comic and why youre releasing the book as a series of miniseries ala Hellboy.
RM: Shinku is intended to be an ongoing, assuming we have the sales to sustain it, but well be taking a month or two off between story arcs to get caught up and make a couple of bucks doing work-for-hire projects. The reality is that doing a creator-owned book means working for free for months on end, and then hoping the tough market embraces the book enough that theres at least a little profit to go around. As you said, its toughest on the artists, particularly Lee Moder, who has the most time-consuming job on the team. That said, everybody who has contributed to the book -- Lee, Matthew Waite, Mike Atiyeh, Troy Petri and Phil Smith have gone above and beyond on a regular basis. All of these guys are my friends and all of them take great pride in their work, so theres never an instance of good enough with them. Everybody wants everything to be perfect. Im very thankful for all of them.
AD: Shinku is a dark fantasy/horror book not a superhero or superhero-ish tale. Was that important? I ask in part because Witchblade for example often felt like it could have been more fantasy/horror.
RM: Shinku is very much the book we wanted it to be. Thats one of the liberating aspects of doing creator-owned material: you tell your story in exactly the way you want to tell it. Ive certainly written my share of superheroes in my career, but Im forever preaching about the need for more genre diversification in comics. For so many people in America, when you say comics, its immediately translated into superheroes in their minds. Superheroes are great, but thats not the only kind of story you can tell in comics. Comics are a storytelling medium, not a genre.
AD: I did want to ask about the recent announcement that youre leaving Witchblade at #150. Youve been writing since issue #80 and while you didnt create her, I think its fair to say that shes your character as much as any character you dont own can possibly be. What made this the time to leave?
RM: There were a number of factors, including how full my schedule is with things like Shinku, Magdalena and finishing up Artifacts. Stjepan Sejic and I are leaving Witchblade together, and moving over to a new project at Top Cow, a project I think makes sense for us, and that were both excited about. I think were both proud of what weve done on Witchblade, but the chance to start something else from scratch is pretty alluring.
AD: I remember when I picked up a couple of the trades a few years back, and having never read the comic before, what struck me after reading them was that it was a superhero book where things changed. There is no status quo. Obviously Top Cow was very willing and interested in doing this but I was curious about the freedom that this offered and how much you enjoyed that aspect of the book.
RM: The majority of comics, especially superhero comics, are more about the illusion of change than actual change. Obviously, thats understandable, particularly when you consider so many of the characters have become worldwide, multi-million dollar franchises. For something like Witchblade, which has been around for 15 years, I think we stayed true to the core, while trying to evolve the characters and concepts, so theres a feeling of forward motion. The amount of freedom Top Cow gives me is great, because it allows me to tell stories that matter and have lasting consequences. I feel like stories about becoming are always more interesting than stories about being. The journey of becoming a hero is usually more interesting than the story of maintaining the status quo and being the hero.
AD: You are still writing another series for Top Cow, Magdalena, whos not as well known to casual readers. Could you talk a little about the character and the series and what people can expect when picking it up?
RM: Magdalena was actually the book I asked to write for Top Cow before they suggested I take over Witchblade. In a lot of ways, I think Magdalena is among the best concepts that Top Cow has in its universe. Theres one Magdalena in each generation, someone descended from the bloodline of Christ and Mary Magdalene, who essentially serves as the Catholic Churchs monster hunter and enforcer. So youve got ready-made stories about a woman with this great costume, and the Spear of Destiny, fighting monsters. The added wrinkle is that the current Magdalena isnt terribly trusting of her Vatican masters, so theres an additional layer of tension.
AD: It was just announced that youre working for DC writing Voodoo. I have a vague memory of reading an Alan Moore written miniseries about the character but otherwise...nothing. How did you get the gig? Who is she? What can we expect?
RM: How I got the gig is fairly simple the phone rang one day and DC offered me the gig. The who part of it is a little more complicated, because thats part of the mystery of the series, and I dont want to give away too much. I can say that the Voodoo character who is being introduced into the relaunched DC Universe will have a lot of similarities to the original Wildstorm character, but there are some new elements as well. The series provides an outsiders perspective on the new DCU and its heroes for story-driven reasons. The short version is that the series is a sexy spy thriller set in a superhero universe, and I think its going to surprise people.