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11/06/13 @ 3:41 pm EST
In another peer to peer interview from Dynamite Entertainment, Nancy Collins chats with Devin Grayson and Gail Simone about taking on Red Sonja as part of the new Legends Of Red Sonja series being released during the characters 40th anniversary.
First Devin Grayson:
NANCY COLLINS: What inspired you to give your Red Sonja story in LEGENDS OF RED SONJA #1 a nautical spin?
DEVIN GRAYSON: I haven’t played with magic much in my comics writing, but it’s been factoring heavily into some prose work I’m doing now–a YA novel series about a young ghost hunter and her friends, one of whom is a mage. So the chance to work with an artist who could bring some of those themes to life was irresistible. Magic in Sonja’s world—as shown so beautifully in your story– is dark, powerful, raw and dangerous…essentially a force of nature in and of itself. So I wanted something that would echo that visually, a setup in my story that would lead to people being visibly out of control of their environment, such as fire at sea. And the moment I seized on that, a whole mood and tone and antagonist for the story fell into place.
Or maybe I just watched that Science Friday “Where’s the Octopus?” video on YouTube too many times.
NC: Did you have an interest/background in heroic fantasy prior to being brought on the Legends of Red Sonja project?
DG: Not in my reading or writing life, but I’m an avid RPGer, and when you’re gaming—whether online or in traditional pencil and dice campaigns—you’re going to end up submerged in heroic fantasy. Most relevant to this project was the online game Age of Conan. I never actually played it, but before the game officially launched, the role playing crowd took over one of the Beta message boards to use for Conan-themed round robin story-telling. I was very active there, playing an Aquilonian guard, so Sonja’s world felt like a place I’d already lived.
NC: You’ve worked in the video game industry in the past. How does writing for games compare to writing comics?
DG: There are a lot of similarities. Both start as blank pages but grow up to be primarily visual media, both have a commitment to inviting the audience to identify with the characters in as immediate a way as possible and both are shaped by external story limitations—continuity in the case of comics and game mechanics in the case of video games. Both are also unusually social experiences for a writer. Unless you’re working with a partner, writing is usually a pretty solitary exercise. Being alone with a story is one of my favorite parts of the writing experience. But with both comics and video game scripts, you’re just a cog in the wheel, working as part of a team and relying on those other team members to bring your vision to life. I love finishing a manuscript and eventually getting to hold an actual book in my hands, but it’s a whole different kind of thrill to finish a script and eventually get to see the characters acting out the dialog.
NC: Do you have anything on deck for 2014 that your fans should keep an eye out for?
DG: In addition to the YA novel series I briefly mentioned –which won’t make its debut in 2014–I’m currently working on a radio play, which will, and a few other projects it’s too early to talk about. I’m really enjoying being back in comics though and, who knows, there may even be some more work with Dynamite in my future.
And now over to Gail Simone:
NC: What inspired you to propose an All-Woman jam to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Red Sonja?
GAIL SIMONE: I have to give a lot of credit for this to Dynamite and to Nick Barrucci. They are just fantastically open to ideas, and consequently, you don’t feel like the doors are all shut and locked before you even try to open them.
I had what I thought was a fun idea, to have all the covers of my run on the ongoing RED SONJA title be drawn by women, all my favorites, and it’s just worked out amazingly well…they all turned out beautiful. And it made this nifty little side statement, as well, that some of the very best artists in the business are female, AND could draw this sword and sorcery stuff beautifully.
It was such a success, it made me think of how fun it would be to invite a bunch of my writing heroes to try the same thing, women who had provided inspiration to me with the quality of their work.
It turned out to be one of the most fun and rewarding things I’ve ever been a part of, we were all collaborating immediately. And we brought back people like Devin Grayson, Tamora Pierce and yourself, Nancy, to comics, who have been gone for too long. And we got Mercedes Lackey’s and Meljean Brook’s first comics stories, and a-list artist Nicola Scott’s first scripting credit…it just makes me happy. I am proud to be in this company, even if I cheated and put myself in!
NC: Did you have an interest in heroic fantasy prior to landing the monthly RED SONJA gig?
GS: Oh, yeah, absolutely. I often see people who object to the blood or flesh in this genre, particularly in the Robert E. Howard-inspired stuff, but really, I like it. It feels very primal, very ill-mannered. It’s not like the Tolkien stuff that I also love, it’s sweatier and lustier. But you can tell very sophisticated stories with the genre, heartbreaking and heart-soaring stuff. I love it.
C: How does it feel being the first woman to write for Red Sonja in the 21st century?
GS: Is that actually true? I believe one of my other heroes, the great Jen Van Meter, did a Sonja one-shot just a couple years back.
But as ONE of the first, what can I say, it’s one of those joyful things that happen that could never be predicted. I always loved Sonja, now I get to do ferocious things with her.
NC: What up-coming comics and special appearances can your fans look forward to in 2014?
GS: A lot, and some things I can’t mention yet, but the hugely successful Kickstarter graphic novel I did with co-creator and artist Jim Calafiore, LEAVING MEGALOPOLIS, is finally out to backers, and I am thrilled about that. I’m writing the TOMB RAIDER comic for Dark Horse, which has all the good history and travel stuff I love so much. I’m writing BATGIRL and THE MOVEMENT for DC Comics, both very close to my heart.
And of course the LEGENDS OF RED SONJA anthology and the ongoing Sonja monthly title for Dynamite. There may be a few surprises, as well, it’s been a year of big changes for me.
As for appearances, yikes, my convention calendar is mostly filled up until 2015, but very few have been announced yet, so I have to keep mum about that.
Legends Of Red Sonja #1 goes on sale November 6th and features a cover by Jay Anacleto and interior art by Jack Jadson, Noah Salonga and Carla “Speed” McNeil.
Nancy A. Collins is the author of numerous novels, short stories, and comic books, including DC Comics’ Swamp Thing. A recipient of the Horror Writers Association’s Bram Stoker Award, The British Fantasy Society’s Icarus Award, as well as a nominee for the International Horror Guild, John W. Campbell, James Tiptree, Eisner & World Fantasy Awards, her works include Sunglasses After Dark, Lynch: A Gothik Western, and Knuckles And Tales. Legends of Red Sonja #1 marks her return to comics, and her newest novel is Magic And Loss, the 3rd book in the Golgotham series, scheduled to be released November 5th.
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05/03/24 @ 10:02 pm EST
Daytime Emmy-winner Mike Manning (This is Us, Days of Our Lives) and Olivia Blue (Theater is Dead, Animal Kingdom) will star in alien adventure film Unexpected Treasures, directed by John Paul Ungaretti, and written by Ungaretti and Christina Heller. The film’s cast is rounded out with AnnaMaria DeMara (Lost in Space, Lucifer), Jay Whittaker (The Orville, Let’s Go to Prison), Michael Dunn (Bosch, NCIS), Lauren Han (Beef, Extracurricular), and Rex Edhlund. Production for the film recently wrapped in Joshua Tree, CA. The script was inspired by the many extra-terrestrial-related stories and folklore of the Joshua Tree community and desert area. In the film, a wild alien encounter restores a local resident’s faith in humanity. Blue stars as the local resident, while Manning stars as the alien. (via Deadline) 05/03/24 @ 10:03 pm EST
Ali Afshar’s ESX Entertainment is entering into the horror space with the feature The Necklace starring sisters Madeleine & Violet McGraw, each of whom have garnered widespread acclaim for gripping performances in M3GAN and 2021’s The Black Phone respectively. Cameras will roll this summer. The screenplay was written specifically with the McGraw sisters in mind by Afshar collaborator John Ducey (A Hollywood Christmas, That’s Amor). The pic is being directed by Chilean filmmaker Juan Pablo Arias Muñoz, who helmed Pumpkinhole and HBO’s Perry Mason. Said Afshar, “Madeleine and Violet are among the brightest lights of this generation of young actors, and an absolute joy to work with. Each brings a unique energy to the screen and, together, they are absolutely electrifying to watch. I couldn’t be more thrilled to team up with these enormously gifted young actors to bring this fresh and terrifying story to the big screen and plunge audiences into the dark and chilling world of The Necklace.” (via Deadline) 05/03/24 @ 10:03 pm EST
The Maze Runner is back at the starting line. 20th Century Studios is rebooting the sci-fi action adventure franchise, which ran as a trilogy from 2014 to 2018. The Disney arm is in negotiations to tap Jack Paglen, perhaps best known for writing the Johnny Depp-starring sci-fi movie Transcendence, to pen the script for a new installment. Ellen Goldsmith-Vein and Lee Stollman of Gotham Group and Wyck Godfrey and Marty Bowen of Temple Hill, who produced the original trilogy, are back to produce this one. Wes Ball, who directed the original trilogy, will also be involved as a producer. THR is reporting that the reboot is not a redo of the story nor is it a direct sequel to the original trilogy, which starred Dylan O’Brien and Kaya Scodelario. The hope is to make a sort of continuation of the story yet also return to the elements that made the first movie connect with its audience. (The original movie, made by 20th Century Fox in the years leading up to its acquisition by Disney, also proved to be an unexpected moneymaker, generating $348 million worldwide but costing only $35 million to make.) 05/03/24 @ 2:09 pm EST
Oscar nominee Hugh Jackman (Les Misérables) and Emmy winner Jodie Comer (Killing Eve) are attached to star in a new movie, The Death Of Robin Hood. Pig and A Quiet Place: Day One director Michael Sarnoski is writer-director on the project, which will be among the hot titles on sale at this month’s Cannes market via WME Independent. Arrival and The Prestige producer Aaron Ryder is among the producing team. The film is a darker reimagining of the classic Robin Hood tale. Set of its time, the film will see the title character grappling with his past after a life of crime and murder, a battleworn loner who finds himself gravely injured and in the hands of a mysterious woman who offers him a chance at salvation. Production is due to begin in February 2025. (via Deadline) 05/03/24 @ 2:03 pm EST
Andrew Garfield and Claire Foy will lead the film adaptation of Enid Blyton’s children’s classic The Magic Faraway Tree. The story from the author, based on her The Faraway Tree series of novels for children, follows Polly and Tim and their children Beth, Joe and Fran — a modern family who find themselves forced to relocate to the remote English countryside. Two-time Academy Award-nominee Andrew Garfield (Tick, Tick…BOOM!, Hacksaw Ridge) will play Tim and two-time Emmy Award-winner Claire Foy (All of Us Strangers, The Crown) will take on the role of Polly. Screenwriter Simon Farnaby, British star of Wonka and Paddington 2, said: “To have two actors of the quality of Andrew Garfield and Claire Foy is a dream for any screenwriter.” (via The Hollywood Reporter) 05/02/24 @ 10:59 pm EST
Jennifer Zhang (Fetish, Charon) is set to direct sci-fi feature length anthology, Trüebadour. Also written by Zhang, the film stars Gina Su (Autopilot, Blue, Transpo), and Daphne Qin Wu (The Angry Black Girl and Her Monster, Beacon) serves as cinematographer. Based on the sci-fi short Autopilot, Trüebadour follows an enigmatic engineering prodigy who introduces the bombastic founder of a tech start-up to an innovative “storytelling” device that scans its wearer to generate an original work of fiction. No one at the company is prepared for the unsettling stories their minds inspire, nor the disturbing consequences of using the device. (via Deadline) 05/02/24 @ 10:51 pm EST
Louis Leterrier, director of Fast X and several Transporter action movies, has been tapped to direct and produce the sci-fi horror film 11817, based on a script by Matthew Robinson. The genre pic produced by Leterrier’s Carrousel Studios, Rocket Science, Thank You Studios, Chernin Entertainment and 3 Arts Entertainment is now casting. Rocket Science will fully finance, handle foreign sales and introduce the film in Cannes, while CAA Media Finance will handle a North American sale. In 11817, inexplicable forces trap a family of four inside their house indefinitely. As both modern luxuries and life-or-death essentials begin to run out, the family must learn how to be resourceful to survive and outsmart who – or what – is keeping them trapped. (via THR) 05/02/24 @ 10:39 pm EST
Paul Walter Hauser will be making his Marvel debut with a role in The Fantastic Four, The Hollywood Reporter is confirming. No character details are available, but he joins a cast that includes Pedro Pascal as Reed Richards/Mr. Fantastic, Vanessa Kirby as Sue Storm/The Invisible Woman, Joseph Quinn as Johnny Storm/The Human Torch, Ebon Moss-Bachrach as Ben Grimm/The Thing and Julia Garner as the Silver Surfer. The feature has a July 25, 2025 release date and hails from WandaVision director Matt Shakman, with Eric Pearson writing the latest draft of the script. It centers on the characters created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby for the comic book that launched the Marvel Comics universe in 1961. 05/02/24 @ 11:25 am EST
Todd McFarlane Productions and Image Comics will bring fan-favorite "Baby-Spawn" character 'Spawny' back to shelves in an action-packed, five-issue miniseries, Spawn Kills Every Spawn launching in July. Written by John Layman (Chew) and illustrated by Rob “Sketchcraft” Duenas, with colors by Robert Nugent, this bold story brings a hilarious-yet-deadly twist to the world of Spawn. In Spawn Kills Every Spawn, the character baby of ‘Spawny’ attends Spawn-Con, a convention filled with various Spawns from across the Spawn Universe. Unfortunately for Spawny, he discovers that he’s not even close to being the most popular Hellspawn. Instead, he’s the least liked among that group. To battle his identity crisis, Spawny decides to take drastic action: KILL THEM ALL! What follows is a darkly comedic, action-packed adventure that explores the insanity of a convention full of Hellspawn, and the lengths one very sensitive Spawn will go to in his quest to gain fame and recognition. “From the very outset of our first miniseries starring our adorable little maniac, fans have been bugging me to bring him back once again for another series of mayhem," said Todd McFarlane, creator of Spawn and President at Image Comics. "This time around, the wonderful art by Rob puts so much detail into the pages, I think readers will be going back through each book to find all the visual Easter Eggs he has planted within the story. And Jon Layman has brought his own sense of absurd cuteness to this story so that you are both shocked and smiling at what is unfolding in front of you. The overwhelming support for this tiny, little character has been quite surprising to me.” This new addition to the Spawn Universe is perfect for the life-long SPAWN fan, as well as new readers—make sure to grab your copy and join Spawny as he goes on a killing spree like no other! Spawn Kills Every Spawn #1 will be available at comic book shops on Wednesday, July 24, for the retail price of $2.99. The Final Order Cutoff deadline for comic shop retailers is Monday, July 1: Cover A by Duenas - Lunar Code 0524IM237 Cover B by McFarlane - Lunar Code 0524IM801 Spawn Kills Every Spawn is also available across many digital platforms, including Amazon Kindle, Apple Books, and Google Play.    
... 05/02/24 @ 11:26 am EST
The final season of Netflix’s Cobra Kai will be released in three parts with the first premiering on July 18 followed by Part 2 on November 28. The final installment is more of a mystery as the streamer is only teasing it will drop in 2025. The season picks up with Cobra Kai eliminated from the Valley as senseis and students decide if and how they will compete in the Sekai Taikai — the world championships of karate, according to the official description. (via Deadline) Check out the date announcement and teaser: https://youtu.be/WPUGgxf3tx8 |
