INTERVIEW CORNER #74: Christos Gage

5 Comments Written by Θωμάς Παπαδημητρόπουλος on December 27th, 2011 – 08:19

Από αυτό εδώ το site, έχουμε αναφερθεί ουκ ολίγες φορές σε Έλληνες καλλιτέχνες που έχουν καταφέρει να περάσουν, με τη δουλειά τους, τα περιοριστικά σύνορα της χώρας μας. Είτε συμμετέχοντας σε κάποια ανθολογία του εξωτερικού, είτε αποκτώντας το δικό τους graphic novel ή ongoing τίτλο, θεωρούμε ότι μας προσφέρουν ένα είδος περηφάνιας για όσα καταφέρνουν.

Πόσο, μάλιστα, όταν μιλάμε για τον καλεσμένο αυτής της εβδομάδας, τον Christos Gage, ο οποίος έχει καθιερωθεί εδώ και καιρό, στο mainstream άκρο της αμερικανικής βιομηχανίας των comics, προσφέροντας παράλληλα και κάποιες περισσότερο ανεξάρτητες δουλειές. Ο Gage, γεννημένος στη Νέα Υόρκη και μεγαλωμένος σε Αθήνα και Μασαχουσσέτη, διαθέτει αρκετές αξιόλογες δουλειές στο βιογραφικό του, το οποίο, τον τελευταίο καιρό, γίνεται ακόμη πλουσιότερο, χάρη σε ongoing τίτλους που αναλαμβάνει για τη Marvel.

Ήδη, όμως, το βιογραφικό του είναι γεμάτο από mainstream και μη τίτλους. Στην πρώτη κατηγορία, ανήκουν τα σεναριακά του πονήματα, για limited series, όπως τα STORMWATCH: POST HUMAN DIVISION και WILDSTORM: ARMAGGEDON για τη Wildstorm, UNION JACK, WORLD WAR HULK: X-MEN και CIVIL WAR: HOUSE OF M για τη Marvel και G.I.JOE: COBRA για την IDW, μεταξύ άλλων. Παράλληλα, έχει αναλάβει και ongoing σειρές, όπως το AVENGERS: THE INITIATIVE και τα πιο πρόσφατα ANGEL & FAITH για τη Dark Horse και AVENGERS ACADEMY για τη Marvel. Πρόσφατα, η Marvel ανακοίνωσε ότι, τον Ιανουάριο, ο Gage θα αναλάβει το X-MEN LEGACY, μετά το ιδιαίτερα επιτυχημένο run του Mike Carey στον τίτλο.

Παράλληλα, ο Gage έχει να επιδείξει και μια σειρά έργων σε κινηματογράφο και video games (με αφορμή το CAPTAIN AMERICA: SUPER SOLDIER, μάλιστα, μιλήσαμε live μαζί του στο περσινό Comicdom Con Athens) και ανεξάρτητων comics, όπως το creator-owned ABSOLUTION, το μελλοντικό SUNSET, αλλά και το επίσης προγραμματισμένο για το μέλλον, THE LION OF RORA, στο οποίο συνεργάζεται με τη σύζυγό του.

Περισσότερα, όμως, για όλα αυτά, αλλά και τα σχέδιά του για τα AVENGERS ACADEMY και X-MEN LEGACY, μας αποκαλύπτει ο καλεσμένος αυτής της εβδομάδας, Christos Gage, στη συνέντευξη που ακολουθεί:

What should we expect from your run on X-MEN LEGACY?
Hopefully a team book in which the action reveals character. The kind of X-Men book I grew up with! Rogue will continue to be the lead character but the others will be important. One of the things that make Rogue a great lead character is the nature of her powers and personality, which promote involvement with lots of others.

Will there be any connections to the other X-titles?
Definitely. I’ve been in touch with Jason Aaron to try to make sure we are on the same page as far as what’s going on with the Westchester-based characters. And I believe LEGACY is the first title in which you will see members of the Westchester X-Men encounter members of the Utopia-based X-Men.

Can you tell us how you got to become the title’s writer?
Editor Daniel Ketchum called me up and said he was enjoying what I was doing with AVENGERS ACADEMY, and asked if I’d like to take over LEGACY when Mike Carey was finished. Needless to say, I jumped at the chance.

You’re taking over the title with #260.1, which is described as an appropriate jump-on point for new readers. Can you tell us how you hope to succeed in this?
It’s a done-in-one story that serves as a good introduction to the characters and their roles. But at the same time, it should be entertaining for longtime readers as well. I’m lucky in that the X-Men books are in a period of transition, so it makes sense to sort of pull back and take a look at the characters.

There are also some changes in AVENGERS ACADEMY. Can you tell us more about them?
The Academy has moved into the former headquarters of the West Coast Avengers, giving them a base in Los Angeles, and it is now open to any teen hero who wants to learn from their elders. The focus will still be on a core cast of characters, but there’ll be more opportunities for them to interact with other young superhumans…like the Runaways, who show up in issue #27!

Over the last few years you seem to be taking on the writing duties for characters with a strong fan base, like the Avengers, X-Men and BUFFY’s Angel among others. How do you deal with the possibility that some fans may not like the direction you take with “their” heroes?
It’s something you always have to face, but if you worry too much about that you’ll paralyze yourself. If you write to please the fans you will probably end up pleasing nobody. You have to be true to yourself and write the best stories you can. If you like it, there’s a good chance a sizable segment of the readers will like it. And if they don’t, you’ll soon be looking for a new job!

How did ABSOLUTION come to be? From where did you draw your inspiration?
Actually my wife had the idea of a superhero serial killer. The rest fell into place from there…creating a world where superheroes are part of the police force, and a character who has seen so many horrible things he becomes something of a monster himself.

Can you tell us what is the status of SUNSET?
SUNSET was originally intended to be a six-part miniseries, but the folks at Top Cow liked it so much they decided they would prefer to release it as the company’s first original graphic novel. It should be out sometime in the spring – March or April, I think.

You have written for comics, TV and video games. What are the main differences, in terms of your approach to each medium?
Screenplays are written more for actors, so you can leave more unsaid. But you also have to be concerned with the budget. In comics, you can do anything you like – a page of talking costs the same as a page of action. But you have to be a little more revealing with the dialogue. Video games are sort of halfway in between…plus you write more in small fragments, in between gameplay.

Do you have any other projects for the immediate future?
In addition to ANGEL & FAITH monthly for Dark Horse, there is a miniseries I’m doing for Marvel that is still secret, as well as some video game work. Also, my wife and I are working on an original graphic novel for Oni Press called THE LION OF RORA, that is about her ancestors… it’s a historical epic sort of like BRAVEHEART. That’s about all I can handle!