COMIC WIDOWS CHAT
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at the FEAR OF WRITING CHATROOM
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CHAT WITH CHRISTPHER GOLDEN

PASSWORD: golden

The Fear of Writing Chatroom is happy to introduce this TUESDAY's chat guest, horror novelist and comic book writer, Christopher Golden. I will be interviewing Christopher and also taking questions from the room. To find out more about Christopher Golden, see his bio below. ~ Glenn Walker

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THIS WEEK’S PRIZE GIVEAWAY

The doorprize for this week's chat is a copy of our guest Christopher Golden's new paperback, "Justice League of America: Exterminators." This will be awarded to a lucky, random chatter halfway through the night's event.

And in the tradition of Fear of Writing Chats Past, don't forget to bring chocolate. Mmm… chocolate. :-)

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WHERE?

The Fear of Writing Chatroom at:

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Enter, then click on "Chatroom" on left-hand column. Then click on "Enter Chatroom" at bottom of page.

Choose a log in name for your self. Wednesday night's case-sensitive password is:

golden

It will take a moment to load, if you can not see entire screen, click on "Float."

If you are new to the Chat or having trouble logging in to the Chatroom please go to:

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WHEN?

Tuesday, August 17, 2004

Pacific Time................….7 PM

Mountain Time................8 PM

Central Time................…9 PM

Eastern Time...............….10 PM

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CHAT WITH CHRISTOPHER GOLDEN

Our chat guest Tuesday night is horror novelist and comic book writer, Christopher Golden. <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.christophergolden.com">http://www.christophergolden.com</a><!-- m -->

Christopher Golden is the award-winning, L.A. Times bestselling author of such novels as The Ferryman, Strangewood, The Gathering Dark, Of Saints and Shadows, Prowlers, and the Body of Evidence series of teen thrillers. Several of those have been listed among the Best Books for Young Readers by the American Library Association and the New York Public Library.

Golden has also written or co-written a great many books and comic books related to the TV series "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and "Angel," as well as the script for the Buffy the Vampire Slayer video game for Microsoft Xbox, which he co-wrote with frequent collaborator Tom Sniegoski.

His comic book work includes stories featuring such characters as Batman, Wolverine, Spider-Man, Dr. Fate, The Crow, and Hellboy, among many others. He has also penned prose novels featuring both Hellboy and the Justice League of America.

As a pop culture journalist, he was the editor of the Bram Stoker Award-winning book of criticism, "CUT!: Horror Writers on Horror Film," and co-author of both "Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The Watcher’s Guide" and "The Stephen King Universe."

Golden was born and raised in Massachusetts, where he still lives with his family. He graduated from Tufts University. There are more than six million copies of his books in print. At present he is at work on "The Boys Are Back in Town," a new novel for Bantam Books.

Come on out for a fun and informative evening with writer Christopher Golden.

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Please check the Calendar at Writers Chat:
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Wednesday, August 18, 2004 ~ 10:00 p.m. EST
Chat with writer and author of "Saving Emma," Cheryl Wright
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Password: writertowriter

SUNDAY, August 22, 2004 ~ 8:00 p.m. EST
Sunday Night Writers Chat with Audrey Shaffer
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Password: writerschat

Wednesday, August 25, 2004 ~ 10:00 p.m. EST
Chat with horror writer and author of "Mina's Journal," Kimberley Zagoren
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Password: nosfermina

TUESDAY, September 14, 2004 ~ 10 p.m. EST
Comic Widows Chat with Guest Todd Nauck
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Password: wildguard
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We look forward to chatting with you!

Glenn Walker - Moderator and Chatroom Manager
Milli Thornton - Host at Fear of Writing

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Yep. Yep yep yep yep yep......

Celebrities, Cosplay, and Goth Chicks Galore. Welcome to WWC 2004.

Now as I said, I bought my three day ticket some time ago and planned on attending at least two of the three days. Well I went all three and I gotta say...well....just read the lists.


Friday Day 1
~~~~~~~~~~
The Good

1. The Crowd - Helps me remember I'm not the only fan in the city.
   
2. "The Batman" Trailer - Sweeeeet. Matsuda does it again as he brings a new take to a rejuvinated Batman franchise.
   
3. She Ra - Yeah! She Ra was there. What more needs to be said?
   
4. The Fan Films - World's Finest, Batman: Dead End, Grayson. Maaaan if you've never seen the Grayson trailer my heart weeps for you.
   
5. Celebrity - I met Mr Thursday Night, WWE Superstar Rob Van Dam. Again! Wasn't on the guest list as far as I know, but that didn't stop him from stopping by to say hi to a few of his buddies, putting me in the right place at the right time.

1. The Crowd - Sometimes I just hate people. I mean...they were everywhere! I left that place feeling cheap and used and like someone at least owed me a dinner.
   
2. The copious amounts of Anime - Not saying Anime's garbage...but I thought we were there for comics, ya know?
   
3. Time restraints - Had to leave early to go to work.
   
4. Freakin' Cosplayers - The one dressed up as Dark Phoenix was nice...some of the others, not so much.
   
5. Bunny Problems - 80 bucks for a Usagi Yojimbo statue? Seriously?

1. Black Bastard - I mean...why would you even name a comic this? Let alone make the main character look like Power Man with an afro?
   
2. The copious amounts of Anime Porn - Seriously people. There were children there.(Won't someone think of the children?)
   
3. Men in capes - Going in costume is one thing, Walking around in street clothes and a cape just seems kinda....fruity.
   
4. The Lines - If Thor and co. thought the lines Saturday were bad, they should have seen them Friday
   
5. Talentless - Hardly any big names were there Friday. Not to say the guys and gals in The Row didn't have talent....but I'm not going to stand in line for two hours, just for the privilege of standing in another line for a hour to get any of their autographs.

1. Thor, Chanty, Nova, and Silver. - Always nice to get a little face time with friends.
   
2. The cosplayers - Jack Sparrow, a supposed hot looking Scarlet Witch, faires, Fetts, Aragorn, and a host of others in Sci-Fi and comic garb
   
3. Shiny Objects - Weapons weapons and more weapons. I know of at least three booths that were all selling tools of carnage and bloodshed. To the general public no less!
   
4. The Signings - Mike Turner, Kev Smith, even Alex Ross all there, and all happy to sign. Ross didn't even have a limit. If you wanted him to sign 100 things, he'd do it. Now there's a man who appreciates his fans.
   
5. Artist Row - Not that I have a thing for artists....but I'll be damned If there weren't some hot chicks about. Always a plus when the artist brings his model along for show.

1. Time retraints - Had to leave early to go to work.
   
2. More freakin' Anime - Arrrggghhh!!!!
   
3. The other Cosplayers - A guy as a giant eyeball? GI Bro? Aragorn on a Cell Phone!?! Arrrgh!! I've been disenchanted!
   
4. Power Man - Seems like everywhere I went, there he was, mocking me. We all know I love Luke Cage, but Power Man pisses me off and it seems like every booth Chanty gravitated towards had a bust of him.
   
5. One Butt Cheek - Please people....no more half assed costumes. Wearing a mask and having "The Right hand of Doom" does NOT make thee Hellboy. Shmuck.

1. Black Batman - A black guy dressing up as Batman is fine by me. But a Fat black guy dressing up like Batman......
   
2. JL Unlimited - Got home just to find out that that my tape cut off the end of JLU.
   
3. Power Man Busts - Yeah...I hate him that much.
   
4. 2 Dollar Whores - Not that the women in Playboy are whores, far from it. I just couldn't think up a catchier title. Anyway, if you wanna sell Playboys at these things, fine. But have a small sign or something. Don't put 8 boxes out on display with eight signs reading "Playboys $2" where the kids can get to them.(Please please....think of the children!!)
   
5. Mighty Mouse Undies - I don't know about anyone else...but I'll be damned if I ever compare my Man Junk to a mouse.

1. "Batman Begins" Trailer - It was the first time I'd ever seen it, and it was good. As Chanty said, you don't even know it's for Batman until the end.
   
2. "Constantine" Trailer - Keanu may not be my fav actor, but this movie looks like it has promise.
   
3. No Time Restraints - Sweeeeeeet......
   
4. Cosplay Minis(Or whatever the plural of Mini is) - I normally don't do "cute", but even I had to smile at pint sized renditions of Flash and GL running about playing happily with each other.
   
5. Goth Chicks - ~Shrugs~ They just do it for me.

1. Impulse Buying - I think I spent more Sunday Morning than I did the other two days combined.
   
2. Deal-Be-Gone - Anyone attending for the first time Sunday was going to have a hell of a time finding a good comic as a great price. The Excellent ones were snatched up Friday morning, and the rest Saturday.
   
3. Yuyu Hakusho - Why that undead bastard needs his own fighting game I'll never know.
   
4. Tanks!! - Playstation's "Killzone" is awesome. Great graphics, tight controls, and no discernable story from what little I played. I just wish those blasted tanks would quit shooting at me!!
   
5. Heroes No More - I know I played City of Heroes at some point while I was there Saturday (lost Thor and Chanty, tee hee), but come Sunday it was no where to be found. And I was just getting used to the idea of playing as a four foot three yellow chick with super speed I couldn't deactivate for the life of me.

1. Price tags - I thought with it being Sunday a lot of booths would slash their already rediculously low prices in hopse of moving some merchandise before leaving. But alas, they did not.(For the love of God, won't someone think of the children!?!?)
   
2. Athens 2004 - Why I even bothered with this game is beyond me.
   
3. Yuna - I know, I know...lay off the Cosplayers. Don't get me wrong...I like a good costume on the right person...but this chick... C'mon. Yuna's not blond. Sheesh. Nor did she hang out with a elf chick.(Who's costume was actually rather good)
   
4. Fan films - Not all of them, obviously, but I did happen across a showing of Punisher vs Wolverine. Eck.
   
5. Errrr... - Uuummmm..... That one guy. With the hat.

1. Being left behind not once, not twice, but Thrice by a pregnant Enchantress.
   
2. Running into a guy from work.(Wiggy..)
   
3. Running into a guy I knew growing up.
   
4. A clear variant Fathom bust.
   
5. Fathom's bust in general.
   
6. Tracking down and buying the Final Fantasy Tactics soundtrack.
   
7. Not being able to track down a single dealer/booth that sold shades.
   
8. The Wizard Wheel of Free stuff!!
   
9. Watching four different Mandalorians all walk about without some sort of deathmatch breaking out.
   
10. Miniature Chainsaws at the Evil Dead booth. (Finally!! Its about time someone started thinking of the children! )

From Wizard World Chicago, the new line-up of the Avengers...

[spoiler]
Captain America

Iron Man

Spider-Man

Luke Cage

Wolverine

Spider-Woman (Jessica Drew)

Sentry

Definitely these seven, among others.[/spoiler]

Not a joke, not an imaginary story, the new Avengers!

Glenn Walker

Just wanted to wish our resident computer expert, web designer, all around happy Scot a wonderful Birthday (Sunday August 15)

:bdaygift:



:bdaysprise:


Hope you have a wonderful one hon! :wink:

Anyone reading this Amazing arc right now?

I'm enjoying it, although the 2nd part had my jaw dropping and I was like 'woah' [spoiler]after Peter got the letter looked at and found out Gwen was pregnant. But, the conclusion I've come to is.... the kids aren't his...They're Harry's. Why else would Gwen have run off like she did? She and Peter were in love, she finds out she's pregnant and instead of telling him runs away? Yup, it just smacks of Harry here.[/spoiler]

If you aren't reading it, you should!

Posted 06/08/2004
Source Newsarama

Mike Wieringo -- One of the few new superhero artists to catch my eye in the 1990s was Mike Wieringo. His take on The Flash with writer Mark Waid was one of the highlights of the decade, and remains a prime example of how to do superhero funnybooks, with wit, energy and a surprise around every corner.

Waid and Wieringo have been back for some time now, reteamed on Marvel's Fantastic Four (despite the best efforts of Bill Jemas, who finally seemed to have done himself in trying to oust them from the book) and creating the most exciting and enjoyable run on the book since John Byrne's stellar 1980s effort. What both Byrne and Waid and Ringo's runs have in common is an obvious love and respect for the Lee and Kirby template without a slavish devotion to imitation.

I just re-read Waid and Wieringo's initial FF issues in the recently released Fantastic Four Vol. 1 hardcover, and man, that book is packed with fun superhero comics. If you're looking for an action-packed Marvel title with intelligence and gorgeous artwork, it's well worth your thirty bucks or so to pick it up. In the back you'll also find a bunch of Ringo sketches, and you can find tons more of those (and Ringo's blog, to boot!) at Mike's website. But before you head over there, check out his answers to the Five Questions. Thanks, Mike, for playing along! And thanks as always to Matt Brady for letting me and the 5Q call Newsarama home.

Alan David Doane: Your style seems so natural, and it looks like you have a genuine love of drawing; there's a joy that comes through that I see in few other superhero artists. Tell me how you became a comics artist.

Mike Wieringo: I've been drawing for as long as I can remember. I was the proverbial kid who was always drawing in the margins of his notebook at every opportunity. Often at in-opportune times, as I was always being caught drawing when I should have been taking notes or practicing my handwriting or whatever it is that gradeschool kids are supposed to do in class. So when I was exposed to comics for the first time, it opened a whole new world for me and I immediately wanted to draw my own comics. Like most young kids I made up my own adventures about my favorite characters and also made up my own "knock off versions" of those characters. That grew into a serious desire to make a try at becoming a comic book artist.

I got a degree in illustration and started working on samples to take to shows after I graduated from college. I spent the summer of '91 working on those samples and went to the San Diego Comicon in 1991 and 1992. Fortunately after getting in various editors faces at that show and following up with more samples in the mail after I had established a connection with those editors, I got a call from Ruben Diaz, who was at the time Brian Augustyn's assistant editor at DC. They offered me some Justice League short stories that led into me being offered The Flash as an ongoing assignment. I did a Doc Savage miniseries for a small company before all that, but I don't want to bore people with a dry, detailed account of my various dips into comics art before getting regular work.

ADD: How did you get the initial Flash gig and what did you learn in your time on that book?

MW: As I said, I took my portfolio full of samples out to the Comicon in San Diego in '91 and '92 and stood in long (looooonnnnng) lines to show my wares to as many editorial folks as I could. It was pretty arduous, because it was -- I think -- at the height of the "boom" in comics sales, and I'd be willing to bet that for every 10 people there, 8 of them were there to show portfolios and try to get work in comics. One of the editors I met at San Diego was Neal Pozner, who was in charge of looking for new talent for DC at the time. He was a really stern and honest person -- but also very nurturing and encouraging (which, I suppose, were the qualities that made him right for his job). He was honest about what I needed to improve on, but over the course of a couple of years, he kept urging me to work up new samples and send them in. He would always respond quickly with handwritten notes -- and even got to the point of calling me occasionally to tell me that he was trying to get my work under the noses of the folks who could hand out the jobs. Ironically, just as I had gotten to the point where I was so discouraged because nothing substantial had come my way in a couple of years that I was about ready to give up my "quest," is when Ruben Diaz called after Neal had shoved my samples in his face.

My gig on The Flash was a crash course on what it's really like to work in the comics biz. The couple of Justice League Quarterly short stories I'd done before Flash had a rather open deadline -- but when I was thrown into the deep end of the pool with a monthly assignment, it was sink or swim. And there were many times when I thought I would end up sinking. It taught me that to work on a monthly assignment, I would have to virtually dedicate my life to sitting at the drawing table. The days of 40-hours-per-week at a "day job" were over -- it was 12-16 hour days 7 days per week to get the job done. It certainly was an eye opener. It also taught me that no matter how many different types of things that my imagination could think of to draw for myself or for samples, that a writer could always throw something in that was completely unexpected -- something I'd never had to draw or even thought about drawing. And I can still count on Mark Waid for that even to this day -- some 12 years later...!

ADD: You've drawn the straight-up superheroics of the Flash, the science-fiction-based Fantastic Four, and the fantasy of Tellos, among others. What do you think are your greatest strengths as an artist?

MW: I think that the greatest strength that I bring to the table is that I feel my work is open and accessible to people. I have, I suppose, a "friendly" style of drawing that people can connect with -- and could be described as an "all ages" kind of look. I've always wanted to be an actor, but I don't have the looks for it -- so I try to infuse my work with as much of the appropriate drama or comedy or tragedy that's called for without going over the top. And I concentrate on trying to depict natural body language with whatever's happening in the scene I'm drawing. I guess what it comes down to is that I'm very interested in characters over drawing action, locations or props. I think when it comes to science fiction, the techno-props are my weak point (which is ironic for someone who's working on a science based comic book) -- so I try to concentrate on the characters themselves to make up for my weaknesses.

ADD: When you and Mark Waid left Fantastic Four during the Jemas era, it seemed like yet another case of a corporate comics company screwing its creators; but Marvel reversed its decision and the pair of you somehow remained on the book. In my opinion it got even better after that incident. How do you look back on that time, and what lessons do you think the industry and your fellow creators should take from it?

MW: I got pretty angry over the whole situation at first when Bill Jemas decided to go in a completely different direction with Fantastic Four last year. But after thinking about it for a while, I realized that the characters belong to Marvel -- and at the time, Bill Jemas was Marvel, essentially -- and so whatever he wanted was what was going to happen. And I don't think that the internet furor that happened in the wake of Mark's removal had much effect on our return. I think it was more that with the success that Marvel has been having in Hollywood and all the money and added attention/scrutiny that it's bringing to the company, Bill Jemas's "risk taking" style of helming the company made the higher ups uncomfortable and they removed Jemas from his position of power and started guiding the company back in a more conservative direction. The kinds of stories that Mark and I were doing fall into the "mainstream superhero" mode, and so I think it made sense to continue in that vein-- so they brought us back.

I look back at that time as simply an odd one for me. It was kind of fun having a 4 month "vacation" from the grind of drawing comics ever day all day long -- but on the other hand, it was an unpaid "vacation." I don't think that there's much the industry can learn from the situation -- but I think that creators should learn and plan their careers keeping in mind that the neither Marvel nor DC have our best interests in mind. They're in the business of making money, and they will do whatever they feel is necessary to do that without regard to any individual creator. So it behooves everyone in the creative community to make themselves as independent from the whims of the majors as they can. It's not something that I can say that I've done myself, unfortunately. But after working full time as a comic book artist for around 12 years, I've seen too many creators getting tossed to the side at the drop of a hat. It could be anything -- an editor's whim, a change in editorial teams - who usually bring in their own favorites to a book they're taking over, an artist's style simply falling out of favor -- no longer "hot," a creator having fewer and fewer editorial connections to the point that they're "frozen out" of the business...it's any number of reasons. So ALL creators should do what they can to build their own financial legacy to carry them into the future. It's the only way to feel safe in such a volatile situation as we find ourselves in - especially in the present market.

Now if I'll just take my own advice....!

ADD: Your work at Marvel and DC has been for the most part strongly grounded in the traditions of those two comics companies. Are you content working in that mode? If you were to branch off into other areas, say more creator-owned stuff, what would you see yourself attempting in the future?

MW: I would love to explore as many avenues and types of stories that my creative energies and abilities would allow me to. I'd love to work in any number of genres and story concepts. I'm very interested in doing western, romance, comedy, historical fiction and many others. Comic books are in incredible medium that are open to so much -- there's just so many possibilities in comics. I think that the creative burst of projects that happened in the 1980s with the emergence of publishers like Eclipse, First, Comico, and many others that fell by the wayside is a glimpse of the kind of things that were possible in comics -- a hint of the possibilities that for the most part have gone sadly unfulfilled. There are some exciting small publishers that are carrying on the torch, like Fantagraphics, Drawn and Quarterly, Oni, Top Shelf and others -- but unfortunately the present market isn't all that friendly to the material they offer. It's virtually a superhero monopoly in what sells these days. It would be wonderful if a wider variety of material excited the remaining comics fans these days like the X-Men, Spider-Man and the Ultimate.

Alan David Doane is a broadcast journalist of nearly two decades and has written about comics online since 1999. He is the founder and editor-in-chief of Comic Book Galaxy, and he has also written for The Comics Journal. His Five Questions feature appears monthly at Newsarama.com

Posted 08-06-2004
Source The Pulse
By JENNIFER M. CONTINO

Who is the mysterious Timebroker and just why do the Exiles appear to jump through hoops for the Timebroker? Writer Tony Bedard is going to be examining the Exiles relationship with the Timebroker and so much more in upcoming months. Bedard's planning shorter arcs and other things to get new and keep existing readers interested in their adventures. Ego the Living Planet, Kulan Gath, and many more surprises await these heroes in upcoming issues. With artists Mizuki Sakakibara and Jim Calafiore, Bedard has lots on tap to keep things interesting in the Exiles world.

THE PULSE: Most people don't really associate you immediately with superheroes. A lot of people know you from your work with Vertigo and then CrossGen. How big a fan of the superhero genre are you?
BEDARD: I’ve loved superheroes ever since I started reading comics, back when I was fifteen. They’re the modern-day equivalent of the Greek myths I enjoyed as a kid. I’ve certainly never sought to avoid doing superhero books. Like a lot of people, I wish the American comics market wasn’t so completely dominated by capes and tights, but that doesn’t mean a superhero tale automatically has less merit than any other genre. It’s all in the telling.

THE PULSE: Which superhero comics are your favorites?
BEDARD: I’ve always been more focused on creators instead of characters. So the short answer is whichever superhero comics happen to be written by Alan Moore, Garth Ennis, Mark Waid, Warren Ellis, Brian Bendis, etc, etc. I’ve loved the cosmic ones like Mike Baron’s NEXUS and Simonson’s THOR, and the more “street-level” heroes like Miller’s DAREDEVIL, or Owsley’s POWER MAN & IRON FIST. Hell, I’ll read “Forbush-Man” if the tale’s told well. In fact, sometimes the very best books happen when a writer taps the potential of the silliest heroes, as Moore did with MARVELMAN. Of course, the superhero genre reached a zenith back in ’86 with WATCHMEN and DARK KNIGHT that I don’t think we’ve ever managed to top. Still, there are some damn good books out there these days. Guys like Brian Vaughan and Judd Winick make me feel like hanging up my powerbook on a monthly basis. And there are up-and-comers like Dan Slott to look out for, too. His ARKHAM ASYLUM and SHE-HULK are awesome reads!

THE PULSE: How do you think the comics industry has changed since you first began working in it?
BEDARD: I got into the business at Valiant Comics in 1992, just as the speculator bubble was building and story quality was taking a nosedive everywhere. Of course, I didn’t know any better and I thought sales would just keep going up and up. Cut to 1995 and I’m getting laid off as Valiant and the rest of the industry implodes. That was probably a good initial experience, because I never took an audience for granted again. These days, as our readership threatens to evaporate completely, you have to really earn a following. So it’s ironic that at a time when the future of comics might look as bleak as ever, we’re putting out the highest quality stories. It’s a new Golden Age for today’s reader, and the Big Two publishers are really competing to outdo each other on a story basis, rather than who can do the splashiest chromium cover. If we can find some way to break through to a wider audience, we have, by and large, the best content to hook them in years.

Another big change is that comics have become geared toward movie development. That is, you might not turn a profit selling in comic stores, but you can cash in if your property is optioned for film. This focus on developing film properties leads to some strange publishing decisions, but I’m just glad there still is a way to make a buck in comics.

THE PULSE: What do you think are going to be some of the upcoming trends in comics?
BEDARD: Chromium covers? Characters with weird ammo belts strapped to their thighs? I honestly don’t know. One thing’s for sure – it ain’t Sigils! You can point to technological changes in lettering and coloring, production and printing, or you can follow the pendulum as it swings from Marvel to DC and back, but that stuff’s impossible to predict. The core of what we do is timeless – the rules for storytelling and drama are basically the same no matter what you’re writing. The one upcoming trend I’m most hopeful about is that more people will read my stuff and say with satisfaction, “Well…that didn’t suck!”

THE PULSE: What did you know about the Exiles before agreeing to write the series?
BEDARD: Just that they jumped from one alternate reality to the next, saving the world from all kinds of cosmic menaces. I knew that anything goes in that kind of series, so it was a terrific chance to tell no-holds-barred stories. Then I read through the Judd Winick/Mike McKone issues and I thought “Damn, I am never gonna be able to top this!” If you haven’t read those, you should. They’re outstanding. So now I have to live up to that standard. Challenges are good…right? >gulp<

THE PULSE: Who are the Exiles? If someone is just jumping on board with your work on the series, what can you tell him/her about the Exiles to bring each up to date, so to speak?
BEDARD: The Exiles are six mutants who have been plucked out of their respective alternate realities by a being called the Timebroker. Their mission is to fix parallel universes that are somehow flawed – to “mend the broken links in the chains of Time.” So a typical Exiles adventure has our heroes appear on some version of Earth about to be devoured by Galactus, or conquered by Dr Doom or some such menace, and it’s up to the Exiles to prevent these tragedies. Every so often, one of the Exiles is killed and replaced by a new alternate-reality Marvel hero. Currently, the Exiles are Blink (teleporter from the Age of Apocalypse universe), Mimic (who can reproduce the powers of other mutants), Morph (wisecracking shapeshifter), Sasquatch (a female version of the ALPHA FLIGHT character), Namora (a female version of Prince Namor the Submariner), and Beak (from Grant Morrison’s NEW X-MEN).

THE PULSE: Who is the mysterious Timebroker and just why do the Exiles go on missions for the Timebroker?
BEDARD: The Timebroker claims to be a manifestation of their collective subconscious -- an expression of the Multiverse’s need to be repaired -- so he’s really not a living being at all. But there’s a lot of mystery surrounding this, and we’ll soon learn more about the true nature of the Timebroker in my upcoming issues. As for why our heroes carry out his missions, it’s because they’ve been told that their own “home realities” have been altered to their detriment. Should Morph decide not to cooperate, he’ll be returned to a reality where he’s just a sentient liquid in a test tube. Mimic will return to a cell on Death Row, Blink would return to a reality where she was never born…you get the idea. So they don’t really have much choice but to carry out the impossible missions given to them by the Timebroker. It kinda sucks to be an Exile. It’s interesting, but it sucks.

THE PULSE: You seem to be focusing on a lot of classic X-Men characters and villains - at least with the plans you told me for the upcoming issues. What is it about those characters that intrigued you as a creator?
BEDARD: UNCANNY X-MEN was the first superhero series that really hooked me. Actually, I got into comics reading SECRET WARS, which piqued my interest in the X-Men. At the time, Paul Smith was the X-Men artist, and I couldn’t get enough of his stuff. I went back and discovered the Byrne and Cockrum books, and that sealed it. So I got to enjoy a lot of those classic X-Men tales as they came out, or soon after they did. Now, the thing about EXILES is that it is a book in the X-MEN family, featuring mutants, so it naturally draws upon the classic X-Men lore. When Judd wrote the book, he revisited such high points as the death of Phoenix, the Sentinels, the Mojo stories, and so on. I’m just following in that vein. On the other hand, I am just as interested in the rest of the Marvel canon, so I’m doing a lot of Fantastic Four and Avengers-related stuff as well. But I’ll always be one of those readers who wishes Kitty and Colossus had worked things out and views guys like Gambit and Bishop as Johnny-come-latelies.

THE PULSE: How much research are you doing into the world of the X-Men, Exiles, and related characters and how much of this is just your memories from reading the original comics when you were younger?
BEDARD: A lot of my upcoming storylines pick up on my favorite tales from when I was new to comics. We have a couple of issues featuring Ego the Living Planet, whom I loved in Byrne’s FANTASTIC FOUR, and another storyline picking up on the time Kulan Gath transformed Manhattan into a medieval kingdom in UNCANNY X-MEN #191. So I’m definitely drawing upon fond memories there. But I stopped avidly following the X-MEN around issue 210, so I have lots of gaps to fill. I’ve been buying up a lot of back-issues to figure out the Age of Apocalypse or who the heck Gambit is, for example. Some of those are pretty interesting, and some make me want to eat a bullet, but I have to know what’s come before. It’s tricky, because you can read a bunch of really bad issues to find out about a certain character and it can kill your enthusiasm for that character. I guess the trick is just to identify the core traits of that character and then try to forget you ever suffered through ten issues of the Clone Saga, or Heroes Reborn or whatever.

THE PULSE: What are some of the things you think sets this team of heroes apart from the X-Men or The Avengers or, even, The Invaders? What makes them so special?
BEDARD: The Exiles pretty much have to save the universe every time out. Theirs is a very heavy burden, indeed. And there’s no guarantees that they’ll all survive any given adventure. The possibilities are wide open in this series, which is very exciting. They are carrying out a mission of cosmic significance, taking on the very worst villains the Marvel Universe can throw at them. You just don’t get more “widescreen” than EXILES. Soon, we’ll find out more about the whole Timebroker operation and come to understand just how important the Exiles are to the Marvel Universe in general. Another cool thing is that the roster keeps changing and you’ll see characters here that you can’t see in a regular Marvel Universe book anymore. Mimic, Blink and Morph don’t even exist in the mainstream continuity! Dead characters like Thunderbird and Magick have been on the Exiles team. Anything goes!

THE PULSE: How do you regard each of the leads in this series? If you had to describe each character to someone who has never heard of any Exiles, how would you introduce the cast?
BEDARD: The team leader is Blink, who is pink and teleports. Her boyfriend is Mimic, who possesses the powers of Wolverine, Colossus, Cyclops, Northstar and the Beast. Together with the shape-shifting wise-ass Morph, they’re the heart of the team. Also along for the ride is Sasquatch (the team doctor and powerhouse), Namora (whose arrogant attitude provides plenty of friction) and Beak (who gives us the ordinary-guy’s viewpoint). They’re all very different, but they’re good at pooling their talents so that the team is greater than the sum of its parts. And if there’s a member you don’t much care for, don’t worry – chances are they’ll get wiped out and replaced soon enough!

THE PULSE: How much of what has gone before in Exiles is going to be involved in your direction for the series?
BEDARD: I just hope I can live up to the high standard set by Judd Winick in the early issues. There have also been hints about the Timebroker that I’ll follow up on. But the nature of the book is such that each adventure stands alone pretty well. The thing to tie it all together is the relationships between the cast members, which Judd set up so well from the start. The one thing I’d like to change is the reactive nature of the Exiles’ situation. I’d like for them to take more control of what they do, rather than be forced into whatever mission they’re handed. But we’ll get to that soon enough.

THE PULSE: A lot of your stories just seem to be two parters or one parters - at least from what you told me. Why do you think it's important to do shorter stories instead of longer arcs?
BEDARD: I think it’s good to mix it up. I have a Kulan Gath three-parter coming up, followed by a four-parter that exposes the truth about the Timebroker. But it’s best to keep the stories fairly brief and self-contained. It keeps things moving at a brisk and interesting pace, and it’s new-reader-friendly, too. Guys like Bendis and Warren Ellis can do 22 pages of talking heads and make it utterly compelling. I’m not in their league, so I just try to keep things moving and keep you guessing how it’ll all turn out. Plus, I stopped reading X-MEN back in the day because certain plotlines seemed like they’d never, ever get resolved and I got tired of waiting. Shorter story arcs and snappy pacing give the reader more of a sense of resolution and satisfaction.

THE PULSE: Who are some of your influences for working on this? IT would seem you could draw on stuff from not just in comics but a lot of stuff outside the typical realm.
BEDARD: I watch and listen to a LOT of news, which informs the stories. A ROUTE 666 tale I did about a man forced to drink gasoline was based on a true account of one of Saddam’s sons-in-law. I also try to do as much research as possible because it keeps things fresh. In his book called Story, Robert McKee says research is the best way to avoid cliché. And God knows there’s enough cliché in the comics genre already!

THE PULSE: What do you think of the artist you're working with on this series?
BEDARD: Since EXILES comes out 18 issues a year, I actually work with two artists. Mizuki Sakakibara has a graceful style that works really well in quiet moments. Her characters, particularly the female ones, are lyrical and engaging. You can’t help but love them. And her covers are eye-catching and cleverly composed. Jim Calafiore’s strengths tend to run in a different direction. His work is very hard-hitting and action-oriented. He’s an outstanding storyteller, too. The funny thing is that Jim and I worked together before, on MAGNUS ROBOT FIGHTER at Valiant. I wrote some god-awful stuff back then, so I’m hoping to make it up to him with some way-cool stories this time around. Between Ego the Living Planet and the nightmare world of Kulan Gath, I think he’s having a good time.

THE PULSE: How did recent events at CrossGen affect the way you view the comics industry?
BEDARD: Not very much. The Valiant experience, plus subsequent stints with Broadway Comics and Crusade Entertainment prepared me well for CrossGen and I went in with my eyes open. I liked what CrossGen set out to do – expanding beyond the superhero genre and the Direct Market – but I went into the job figuring it would only last for about two years before the market found a way to crush us. It turned out to be three years, so I guess I made it to the Bonus Round. A lot of the fellas in the studio looked forward to profit-sharing and credits on movies and such, but I always figured that stuff was pie in the sky. On the other hand, it was a great working environment, collaborating directly with my art teams and having an unprecedented degree of control on the finished product. I loved working at CrossGen, made the most of a good opportunity to grow as a creator, and tried to steer things in the right direction as much as I could…which wasn’t that much. But I went in braced for the worst and wasn’t caught off-guard when it happened. And just as Valiant inoculated me to the vagaries of the comics biz, so too will the CrossGen experience prepare some of the other creators who went through it for their future challenges.

THE PULSE: Some of the other creators who were still on staff at CrossGen have said "don't count CrossGen out yet." How do you feel about it? Do you think like another X-Man CrossGen can rise from the ashes?
BEDARD: CrossGen was a great opportunity for me, and we managed to put out some books I’m very proud of. We also put out some dogs that pretty much killed the brand. Frankly, CrossGen stayed open about six months longer than I ever expected, shambling on like a zombie that refuses to go down. Whether that zombie will rise back up from its Chapter 11 grave remains to be seen. Comics are famous for characters returning from the dead, and Marvel managed to bounce back from bankruptcy, so you never know. I wish CrossGen the best and have no axe to grind there. In the meantime, I’m thrilled to be doing work for Marvel and I only hope what I’m giving them rates highly enough to win me more Marvel work. I’ve known Joe Q since we both worked at Valiant a decade ago, and I’m in awe of the turnaround he’s helmed at the House of Ideas. Mike Marts, Tom Brevoort and Axel Alonso are all people I like and respect, who know and love this medium. I’m thrilled to be aboard with the likes of them.

THE PULSE: What other projects are you working on?
BEDARD: In addition to my ongoing stint on EXILES, I have an X-MEN-related miniseries coming up to be illustrated by one of my CrossGen compatriots. He’s one of the very best I’ve ever worked with, and he will absolutely kick ass on this project! I’m going to remain a bit coy because I’m sure Marvel will announce all the details when they’re good and ready. Suffice to say that if you pick up EXILES #50 & 51 you’ll get some clue as to what this miniseries will be about. I’m VERY excited about it, and I think it’ll be a chance to really “plant a flag” at Marvel and make people sit up and take notice. I’m pursuing some other Marvel projects, too, but they’re all still just a gleam in my eye and a pitch on someone’s desk in New York. I also have a creator-owned horror book coming up with Avatar. William Christiansen was kind enough to call and invite me to dance, so I was only too happy to accept. This four-issue miniseries is loosely based on the experiences of a friend of mine who spent a decade counseling terminally ill patients and their families at a local hospice. Some of the things she’s told me are literally hair-raising, and they provided fertile ground for a really whacked-out horror tale. Anyone who enjoyed ROUTE 666 will dig this one. I’m sure Avatar will announce the title and details soon, and I’m just glad to be included among the incredibly good writers they publish. I’m busy putting pokers in other fires, so we’ll see if this is the year I finally “make it.” It seems like every few years we graduate a new class of writers. Garth and Warren blew up around the same time. Bendis, Judd, Vaughan and Geoff Johns made it big a few years later. If I can sneak in now with guys like Dan Slott and Robert Kirkman, I’ll be one happy little comics geek.

In light of CrossGen's current inability to publish any new books, the CU staff have decided that there is no longer a justification for having a seperate forum to discuss their books and characters. The CrossGen forum has now been merged into Other Realities. Feel free to discuss your favourite characters there and your hopes for what might have been.

DUBLIN (Reuters) - Atlantis, the legendary island nation over whose existence controversy has raged for thousands of years, was actually Ireland, according to a new theory by a Swedish scientist.

Atlantis, the Greek philosopher Plato wrote in 360 BC, was an island in the Atlantic Ocean where an advanced civilization developed some 11,500 years ago until it was hit by a cataclysmic natural disaster and sank beneath the waves.

Geographer Ulf Erlingsson, whose book explaining his theory will be published next month, says the measurements, geography, and landscape of Atlantis as described by Plato match Ireland almost exactly.

"I am amazed no one has come up with this before, it's incredible," he told Reuters.

"Just like Atlantis, Ireland is 300 miles long, 200 miles wide, and widest across the middle. They both have a central plain surrounded by mountains.

"I've looked at geographical data from the rest of the world and of the 50 largest islands there is only one that has a plain in the middle -- Ireland."

Erlingsson believes the idea that Atlantis sank came from the fate of Dogger Bank, an isolated shoal in the North Sea, about 60 miles off the northeastern coast of England, which sank after being hit by a huge floodwave around 6,100 BC.

"I suspect that myth came from Ireland and it derives from Dogger Bank. I think the memory of Dogger Bank was probably preserved in Ireland for around 3,000 years and became mixed up with the story of Atlantis," he said.

Erlingsson links the boundaries of the Atlantic Empire, as outlined by Plato, with the geographic distribution of megalithic monuments in Europe and Northern Africa, matching Atlantis' temples with well-known burial sites at Newgrange and Knowth, north of Dublin, which pre-date the pyramids.

His book, "Atlantis from a Geographer's Perspective: Mapping the Fairy Land," calculates the probability Plato would have had access to geographical data about Ireland as 99.98 percent.

Previous theories about Atlantis have suggested it may have been around the Azores islands 900 miles west of the Portuguese coast, or in the Aegean sea. Others locate it solely in the long-decayed brain of Plato.




Ok, which one of you gave the Swed too much to drink again?

In the wake of Bryan Singer's agreement with Warner Bros. to direct the new SUPERMAN movie, 20th Century Fox has abruptly terminated its two-year development deal with the X-MEN director and his Bat Hat Harry production company. Fox was still in the first year of its contract with Singer and it did not include the X-MEN films under its terms.

According to a source familiar with the situation, Singer had been eager to negotiate a contract with Fox to direct the third X-MEN movie. He had been conducting talks with Fox for months and eventually a new deal had been tentatively agreed upon by both parties. Just as things looked good for THE USUAL SUSPECTS helmer to sign a contract to direct X3, the opportunity arose for Singer to work with Warners and direct SUPERMAN. Singer lept at the chance and a contract was signed between the two parties within days of the job being offered. Fox, still believing it had a deal with Singer all but signed, learned they had lost the director of their superhero franchise to a competitor when the news first broke online at Ain't It Cool News one Friday night last month. The news became official when it was reported in the trades the following week.


Unlike the Fox deal, Warners was interested in hiring Singer on a pay-or-play agreement, meaning that even if the movie didn't happen Singer would still be guaranteed of getting a check from Warner Bros. (a similar event happened when Tim Burton's SUPERMAN movie failed to materialize.)


The departure of Singer from X-MEN 3 has left 20th Century Fox somewhere between a rock and a hard place. If they hope to still make their May 2006 release date for X3, a writer and director will have to be selected shortly and new contracts with the stars that have appeared in the first two X-MEN movies will have to be brokered. With Singer's development deal at Fox now dead, the studio may be sending an unwritten message that there's now bad blood between the two and they don't want anything to do with the man that developed their latest franchise.