04-13-2004, 08:45 PM
Posted 13/04/2004
Source Newsarama
Following the post Coup DâEtat Wildstorm Universe is an unstable place. Unfortunately, this means both within the fictional world as well as in the real. Wildcats 3.0 writer Joe Casey has informed Newsarama that the series has been cancelled. Shortly after he learned of the bookâs cancellation, Casey spoke with Newsarama about his run and the series end.
Newsarama: First off, the specifics. Whatâs the last issue, and what reasons were given to you?
Joe Casey: Issue #24 [August] is the final issue. The reasons were completely financial. I hate it when I see people trying to spin things in their favor just to pump themselves up. Letâs just be honest here⦠in this particular case, it was low sales that did us in.
NRAMA: But the series got a boost from Coup DâEtat right? Was the decision made after the Coup boost trailed off?
JC: I honestly couldnât say what the timing was in regards to Coup. I just got the call last week so Iâm still kind of reeling from the news. But I knew the writing was on the wall when I heard they werenât doing any more Wildcats 3.0 trade paperback collections - well, aside from some weird Cyberforce crossover tpb, I guess. As far as those are concerned, whatâs out there now is all there is and -- as far as Iâve been told -- all there ever will be.
NRAMA: Where is that in regards to your storyline?
JC: Unfortunately, thereâs not much closure for the long term plans Dustin [Ngyuen] and I had for the book. Hell, Dustin doesnât even get to come back like heâd planned all along. Issue #24 is the final chapter of the âCoda War Oneâ storyline and it was already written when the plug was pulled. I was actually writing issue #25 when I got the call, so when you read #24, it certainly feels like issue #25 is coming after it. But now that wonât be the case.
NRAMA: I got the sense that post-Coup, the WSU was more cohesive, with each title playing a particular, integral role in the larger picture. That wasnât the case?
JC: Iâm not sure if our current readers were actively clamoring for a more cohesive Wildstorm Universe. Quite obviously, I could be wrong about that. But my sense of things was that our readers enjoyed the books for what they were without having to explain how they all tied together. The Coup series was an event meant to throw a brighter spotlight on books we were all excited about, more than anything else.
NRAMA: Under your writing, Wildcats was different than anything out there in the market â it was challenging, mature, cerebral, and made some demands on the reader. In short, itâs hard to find a book like that out there today. Personally speaking, what kind of message do the low sales and cancellation send to you as a creator, and to say, industry-watchers?
JC: I hesitate to say⦠mainly because I donât want -- myself or anyone else -- to give up on the kind of work that I personally enjoy in comic books. Iâve been more like a âcult writerâ in the mainstream for most of my career and itâs been a relatively comfortable place to be. I hate playing it safe, and I donât want other creators playing it safe either. Guys like Chaykin and Miller and Moore showed me that you can make demands on the reader in the mainstream and it can pay off, because they essentially created a new mainstream. Maybe Wildcats was a âbook out of timeâ. Either we were ahead of the curve or too far behind it. I donât really know. I just know I loved it. We all busted our ass on a work-for-hire book as though we owned it, not DC. Part of me takes pride in that kind of commitment. Part of me wonders if I was a chump to care so muchâ¦
NRAMA: Editorially, were you still getting support throughout the run, even though the book wasnât seeing stellar numbers?
JC: Well, thereâs two types of âeditorial supportâ. Thereâs the kind we got from Ben Abernathy, who consistently went above and beyond the call of duty each and every issue. If thereâs an unsung hero of this series, itâs Ben. Then thereâs the larger version of âsupportâ coming from New York. Obviously I wish weâd had more of that. Frankly, Iâm not sure if there was a lot of enthusiasm from DC corporate about Wildstorm attempting a Mature Readers superhero line in the first place.
NRAMA: Speaking of the support though, wasnât there any kind of Hail Mary that would come in? A return to costumes, Jim Lee covers, more punchinâ & âsplosions and people getting kicked in the head?
JC: Thatâs what the whole âCoda War Oneâ story was supposed to be! A big, sprawling action epic before we headed into what was to be the final act of our run. Plus, we were confident that Dustin might bring back some attention with issue #25, coming fresh off his run on Batman. I guess weâll never know if that wouldâve helpedâ¦
NRAMA: Well Sinatra, tell me about your regrets, if you have a fewâ¦
JC: Like I said, the entire âfinal actâ of Version 3.0 -- as Dustin and I had planned it -- wouldâve lasted from issue #25 until around issue #40. The aftermath of the mission to Greece, seeing how Jack Marlowe and the Halo Corporation were going to deal with the world energy crisis and the worldâs reaction to that, a controversial Presidential election and its ramifications, the return of the real Ladytron, the âJunior Wildcatsâ, the last Coda, and really just playing out all the various character threads that began all the way back in issue #1⦠all of that cool stuff will never see print.
NRAMA: Do you think Wildcats 3.0 would have done better if it was told in larger chunks, given the density of the story you and Dustin were telling?
JC: I donât know⦠the density was actually what I liked about doing the series. That and the characters themselves. Actually, Iâm insanely proud of how we depicted this cast of characters, the time we took to explore their personalities, the unpredictability of their actions, etc. so I donât know if Iâd want to do it any differently. I basically wrote the series Iâd always wanted to read. Maybe if the book hadnât been called Wildcats⦠but, again, I liked the brand identity of that name. It certainly tied into some of the themes of the series. But Scott Dunbier told me he was faced with a similar situation a few years ago, when he morphed StormWatch - which was selling for shit, despite critical raves - into The Authority. Maybe we shouldâve taken a page from that playbook, but hindsightâs always 20/20â¦
NRAMA: Personally, how do you work this over and deal with it in order to pitch again another day? It seems almost that, since the series ended, you one could end up with a âThey didnât like it when I tried something dense and a little off, so letâs try something about a guy who hits people. A lot.â â or â are you more philosophical about it â âIt pushed the envelope a little more, so next time, someone can walk on the path I carved out and push some moreâ¦â?
JC: Itâs still a bit of a raw nerve for me, since I had so much invested in this series from a creative point of view, but I have to say that Iâd still rather take chances and reach for the brass ring rather than play it safe. The real challenge for future, similar series that arenât standard fare is how to market them and reach the readerships that can sustain them. So, yeah⦠at the end of the day Iâd prefer to push the envelope and fall on my face rather than just jump on the latest bandwagon and have an easier ride. Iâve worked like a dog for eight years to get to the point where I could take more chances creatively and I donât really want to stop now.
NRAMA: DC just signed a deal to publish Humanoidsâ books. What you were doing with Wildcats always struck me as more European in its approach. There seems to be some irony there â that on one hand, DC is embracing Humanoids, and work of that ilk, but canât make it work on their ownâ¦
JC: If thereâs any irony in this situation, I canât enjoy it yet.
NRAMA: So where do you go from here? Frantic pitching, or do you already have some ins in other offices and editors?
JC: Well, at Wildstorm, Iâve still got The Intimates launching in October, a series thatâs certainly different from Wildcats in form and function. Out of all of my industry pals, Iâm probably closest to the guys who work at Wildstorm. I think Iâve done my best work for them, so hopefully thereâll always be more stuff to do for as long as Wildstorm lasts. If youâre asking from a financial point of view⦠this isnât about money. Sure, I have to earn a living like everyone else but I try not to get âfranticâ about anything if I can help it. I write comic books most of all out of love and if youâre going to have a lasting career in this business, youâre inevitably going to take your share of lumps. This is just one more, although Iâll admit itâs a particularly painful one⦠but thatâs for reasons more sentimental than anything else. We had a story to tell and we were still in the middle of telling it when the rug got yanked away. Thatâs never fun.
NRAMA: Any last thoughts you want to get out there for the seriesâ readers?
JC: Well, for the readers that have stuck with us, Iâm really sorry it went down like this. Itâs certainly not the way we wanted it to happen. Okay, so there werenât enough readers to keep the series going⦠but Iâm damn grateful for the ones we did have. They really seemed to get what the book was all about and they enjoyed it for what it was, not for what it wasnât - shout out to the various Delphi forums and the Millarworld forum folks, in particular. For me, I really loved this book, thanks mainly to the artistic collaborations that go all the way back to dragging current Eisner nominee Sean Phillips into Wildstorm for Wildcats Vol. 2 up until now with Dustin, Richard Friend, Francisco Ruiz Velasco, Pascal Ferry and Duncan Rouleau. Not to mention colorist Randy Mayor and the brilliant Rian Hughes as our cover designer. Itâs consistently been the greatest experience of my professional life so far, much more so than I ever thought Iâd have in this business. But beyond the behind-the-scenes stuff⦠it was the characters, too. Iâve lived with these particular characters for the past four years. Itâs definitely tough when youâre so attached to something to see it go away. But this was DCâs call to make and theyâve made it.
Source Newsarama
Following the post Coup DâEtat Wildstorm Universe is an unstable place. Unfortunately, this means both within the fictional world as well as in the real. Wildcats 3.0 writer Joe Casey has informed Newsarama that the series has been cancelled. Shortly after he learned of the bookâs cancellation, Casey spoke with Newsarama about his run and the series end.
Newsarama: First off, the specifics. Whatâs the last issue, and what reasons were given to you?
Joe Casey: Issue #24 [August] is the final issue. The reasons were completely financial. I hate it when I see people trying to spin things in their favor just to pump themselves up. Letâs just be honest here⦠in this particular case, it was low sales that did us in.
NRAMA: But the series got a boost from Coup DâEtat right? Was the decision made after the Coup boost trailed off?
JC: I honestly couldnât say what the timing was in regards to Coup. I just got the call last week so Iâm still kind of reeling from the news. But I knew the writing was on the wall when I heard they werenât doing any more Wildcats 3.0 trade paperback collections - well, aside from some weird Cyberforce crossover tpb, I guess. As far as those are concerned, whatâs out there now is all there is and -- as far as Iâve been told -- all there ever will be.
NRAMA: Where is that in regards to your storyline?
JC: Unfortunately, thereâs not much closure for the long term plans Dustin [Ngyuen] and I had for the book. Hell, Dustin doesnât even get to come back like heâd planned all along. Issue #24 is the final chapter of the âCoda War Oneâ storyline and it was already written when the plug was pulled. I was actually writing issue #25 when I got the call, so when you read #24, it certainly feels like issue #25 is coming after it. But now that wonât be the case.
NRAMA: I got the sense that post-Coup, the WSU was more cohesive, with each title playing a particular, integral role in the larger picture. That wasnât the case?
JC: Iâm not sure if our current readers were actively clamoring for a more cohesive Wildstorm Universe. Quite obviously, I could be wrong about that. But my sense of things was that our readers enjoyed the books for what they were without having to explain how they all tied together. The Coup series was an event meant to throw a brighter spotlight on books we were all excited about, more than anything else.
NRAMA: Under your writing, Wildcats was different than anything out there in the market â it was challenging, mature, cerebral, and made some demands on the reader. In short, itâs hard to find a book like that out there today. Personally speaking, what kind of message do the low sales and cancellation send to you as a creator, and to say, industry-watchers?
JC: I hesitate to say⦠mainly because I donât want -- myself or anyone else -- to give up on the kind of work that I personally enjoy in comic books. Iâve been more like a âcult writerâ in the mainstream for most of my career and itâs been a relatively comfortable place to be. I hate playing it safe, and I donât want other creators playing it safe either. Guys like Chaykin and Miller and Moore showed me that you can make demands on the reader in the mainstream and it can pay off, because they essentially created a new mainstream. Maybe Wildcats was a âbook out of timeâ. Either we were ahead of the curve or too far behind it. I donât really know. I just know I loved it. We all busted our ass on a work-for-hire book as though we owned it, not DC. Part of me takes pride in that kind of commitment. Part of me wonders if I was a chump to care so muchâ¦
NRAMA: Editorially, were you still getting support throughout the run, even though the book wasnât seeing stellar numbers?
JC: Well, thereâs two types of âeditorial supportâ. Thereâs the kind we got from Ben Abernathy, who consistently went above and beyond the call of duty each and every issue. If thereâs an unsung hero of this series, itâs Ben. Then thereâs the larger version of âsupportâ coming from New York. Obviously I wish weâd had more of that. Frankly, Iâm not sure if there was a lot of enthusiasm from DC corporate about Wildstorm attempting a Mature Readers superhero line in the first place.
NRAMA: Speaking of the support though, wasnât there any kind of Hail Mary that would come in? A return to costumes, Jim Lee covers, more punchinâ & âsplosions and people getting kicked in the head?
JC: Thatâs what the whole âCoda War Oneâ story was supposed to be! A big, sprawling action epic before we headed into what was to be the final act of our run. Plus, we were confident that Dustin might bring back some attention with issue #25, coming fresh off his run on Batman. I guess weâll never know if that wouldâve helpedâ¦
NRAMA: Well Sinatra, tell me about your regrets, if you have a fewâ¦
JC: Like I said, the entire âfinal actâ of Version 3.0 -- as Dustin and I had planned it -- wouldâve lasted from issue #25 until around issue #40. The aftermath of the mission to Greece, seeing how Jack Marlowe and the Halo Corporation were going to deal with the world energy crisis and the worldâs reaction to that, a controversial Presidential election and its ramifications, the return of the real Ladytron, the âJunior Wildcatsâ, the last Coda, and really just playing out all the various character threads that began all the way back in issue #1⦠all of that cool stuff will never see print.
NRAMA: Do you think Wildcats 3.0 would have done better if it was told in larger chunks, given the density of the story you and Dustin were telling?
JC: I donât know⦠the density was actually what I liked about doing the series. That and the characters themselves. Actually, Iâm insanely proud of how we depicted this cast of characters, the time we took to explore their personalities, the unpredictability of their actions, etc. so I donât know if Iâd want to do it any differently. I basically wrote the series Iâd always wanted to read. Maybe if the book hadnât been called Wildcats⦠but, again, I liked the brand identity of that name. It certainly tied into some of the themes of the series. But Scott Dunbier told me he was faced with a similar situation a few years ago, when he morphed StormWatch - which was selling for shit, despite critical raves - into The Authority. Maybe we shouldâve taken a page from that playbook, but hindsightâs always 20/20â¦
NRAMA: Personally, how do you work this over and deal with it in order to pitch again another day? It seems almost that, since the series ended, you one could end up with a âThey didnât like it when I tried something dense and a little off, so letâs try something about a guy who hits people. A lot.â â or â are you more philosophical about it â âIt pushed the envelope a little more, so next time, someone can walk on the path I carved out and push some moreâ¦â?
JC: Itâs still a bit of a raw nerve for me, since I had so much invested in this series from a creative point of view, but I have to say that Iâd still rather take chances and reach for the brass ring rather than play it safe. The real challenge for future, similar series that arenât standard fare is how to market them and reach the readerships that can sustain them. So, yeah⦠at the end of the day Iâd prefer to push the envelope and fall on my face rather than just jump on the latest bandwagon and have an easier ride. Iâve worked like a dog for eight years to get to the point where I could take more chances creatively and I donât really want to stop now.
NRAMA: DC just signed a deal to publish Humanoidsâ books. What you were doing with Wildcats always struck me as more European in its approach. There seems to be some irony there â that on one hand, DC is embracing Humanoids, and work of that ilk, but canât make it work on their ownâ¦
JC: If thereâs any irony in this situation, I canât enjoy it yet.
NRAMA: So where do you go from here? Frantic pitching, or do you already have some ins in other offices and editors?
JC: Well, at Wildstorm, Iâve still got The Intimates launching in October, a series thatâs certainly different from Wildcats in form and function. Out of all of my industry pals, Iâm probably closest to the guys who work at Wildstorm. I think Iâve done my best work for them, so hopefully thereâll always be more stuff to do for as long as Wildstorm lasts. If youâre asking from a financial point of view⦠this isnât about money. Sure, I have to earn a living like everyone else but I try not to get âfranticâ about anything if I can help it. I write comic books most of all out of love and if youâre going to have a lasting career in this business, youâre inevitably going to take your share of lumps. This is just one more, although Iâll admit itâs a particularly painful one⦠but thatâs for reasons more sentimental than anything else. We had a story to tell and we were still in the middle of telling it when the rug got yanked away. Thatâs never fun.
NRAMA: Any last thoughts you want to get out there for the seriesâ readers?
JC: Well, for the readers that have stuck with us, Iâm really sorry it went down like this. Itâs certainly not the way we wanted it to happen. Okay, so there werenât enough readers to keep the series going⦠but Iâm damn grateful for the ones we did have. They really seemed to get what the book was all about and they enjoyed it for what it was, not for what it wasnât - shout out to the various Delphi forums and the Millarworld forum folks, in particular. For me, I really loved this book, thanks mainly to the artistic collaborations that go all the way back to dragging current Eisner nominee Sean Phillips into Wildstorm for Wildcats Vol. 2 up until now with Dustin, Richard Friend, Francisco Ruiz Velasco, Pascal Ferry and Duncan Rouleau. Not to mention colorist Randy Mayor and the brilliant Rian Hughes as our cover designer. Itâs consistently been the greatest experience of my professional life so far, much more so than I ever thought Iâd have in this business. But beyond the behind-the-scenes stuff⦠it was the characters, too. Iâve lived with these particular characters for the past four years. Itâs definitely tough when youâre so attached to something to see it go away. But this was DCâs call to make and theyâve made it.