Broken Frontier

Mike Benson is a writer who has seamlessly made the transition from television to comics in recent years. Best known in the TV arena for shows like Entourage and The Bernie Mac Show, he made his Marvel Universe debut with Punisher Max Annual #1 a few years back and has gone on to play, to great effect, in some of the darker corners of Marvel's fictional reality.

In the first part of a two-part interview, Broken Frontier chatted with Mike about making the transition from the small screen to the printed page and the contrasts between the demands of the two media...

BROKEN FRONTIER: For those Broken Frontier readers new to your work can you fill us in briefly on the life, times and career of Mike Benson in a handy paragraph or two…

MIKE BENSON: Sure. I’m a New York transplant living in Los Angles for close to seventeen years now. I’ve been fortunate enough to have worked on a variety of TV shows. The more well known ones: The Bernie Mac Show, Entourage and currently I’m writing a pilot for Fox with my long time writing partner Marc Abrams. We also have a show we are Executive Producing with Anthony Kiedis, of The Red Hot Chili Peppers. The show is based on his childhood, growing up in the '70s in LA with his outlaw father, Spider and their very unconventional father-son relationship. The project is with HBO and is written by the very talented writer/director John Sayles.

In the last couple of years I have ventured into the world of comics, which I’ve been a life long fan of. I wrote three arcs of Moon Knight, did a Punisher Max Annual and Deadpool: Suicide Kings along with a number of other one-shots. Deadpool: Suicide Kings which I co-wrote with Adam Glass made the New York Times graphic novel bestseller list. Adam and I also co wrote Luke Cage: Noir and are doing an original book for Oni Press. I also have a few more books that’ll be coming out in the upcoming months that I can’t discuss yet. One is for DC.

BF: As a writer with an obvious pedigree outside the comics industry what made you want to try your hand at the world of super-heroes?

MB: As I said, it was something that was already a part of my life. From childhood I was an avid Marvel zombie so when I got the opportunity to actually write a book I jumped at it.

BF: A lot of your comics work has a very cinematic aspect to it – either in terms of tone visually, as in Punisher Max Annual #1, or in story structure as per the homage to black and white Hollywood in Luke Cage: Noir. It’s an obvious question but how does your approach to storytelling differ between the two? What does the comic page allow that the screen doesn’t in terms of narrative technique?

MB: I think my approach is to be as visual as possible. Much more so than in TV. To be able to have the panels communicate story and or plot points. I learned rather quickly that nuance in comics does not necessarily translate. When I wrote my first book, the Punisher Max Annual, I wanted it to feel very much like a Michael Mann film. That was my intention going into it and what was really cool was my artist Laurence Campbell said that was how the script made him feel before we actually spoke, so we were very much on the same page. In TV the rhythms are also very different, especially in comedy. You’re focused on telling a story through humor. You’re not focused on those big "wow" moments. But at the end of the day, writing is writing and each has its own unique challenges.

From left to right: Mike's breakout Marvel book Punisher Max Annual #1 with art by Laurence Campbell; Luke Cage: Noir #1 co-written with Adam Glass and recent Merc with a Mouth miniseries Deadpool: Suicide Kings #1. Below right the Deadpool: Games of Death one-shot also collected in the Deadpool: Suicide Kings hardcover.

BF: Comparing and contrasting the working setup between television and comics, what are the relative freedoms of working in comics as opposed to a studio writing scenario?

MB: The big difference is with comics; there are fewer chefs in the kitchen. When you’re working on a show you have many masters. Even if you’re the show runner, unless you have a major hit on your hands, you have a studio and a network to answer to. In my somewhat limited experience in comics, I’m usual just working with an Executive Editor and once the story is approved you’re pretty much on your own.

BF: There’s a very vocal section of the comics fan base that have a pronounced negativity to what they perceive as an influx of film/TV writers unsuited to comics as a medium. Is that something you’ve experienced to any significant degree? Had you mentally prepared yourself for it as a possibility when you handed in that first comics script?

MB: I jumped into comics about four years ago. It was a hair before the recent influx of TV writers working in comics right now. That said, I was prepared to be criticized and judged but at the same time, I was a true comic fan and I spoke the language and my intentions were pure. I wasn’t doing it for the money or exposure.

I mean, I need the money as much as the next guy, but I went into it because I had stories to tell and it was a long time dream of mine. These were characters I grew up on and continued to keep taps on throughout my adult life. I sometimes caught heat on certain comic threads but for the most part I’ve been very fortunate and have been embraced well so far. I never take writing comics for granted and when it stops being fun and starts being a chore I will stop.

Check back tomorrow for the second part of our interview with Mike when he talks about the nitty-gritty of getting down and dirty in the Marvel Universe. Mike can be followed on Twitter: @MPBenson