Broken Frontier

After a brief sabbatical, Image Comics’ NYC Mech will be returning this week with a new series, NYC Mech: Beta Love. Wayne Ree decided to catch up with co-creator and co-writer Ivan Brandon to find out a little more about the book and just shoot the breeze.

BROKEN FRONTIER: How are you doing, Ivan?

IVAN BRANDON: Well, it’s cold in NY today, but otherwise I’m a happy man. Just coming off a nice breakfast of poached eggs with prosciutto and roasted potatoes with a Bloody Mary and lots of coffee, so you’ll get no complaints out of me. 

BF: You’ve probably heard this one a lot since before the first issue even hit the shelves, but for the benefit of those of our readers who aren’t familiar with the book yet, tell us one more time what NYC Mech’s all about?

IB: I get asked this one every time, and it’s the hardest one for us, even though we created the damned thing. NYC Mech is New York City; with 8 million robots doing all the types of things the city needs done.  It’s less of a sci-fi book than people expect and more of the type of high-stakes you can find if you read a NYC news paper any day of the week. There’s an obvious crime-vein throughout the series so far, and a lot of that is inherent in the location moreso than our intent. This city’s a lot more absurd and exciting than any summer blockbuster, so we focus on that rather than aliens and laserguns.

BF: What is it about Beta Love that sets this series apart from the original?

IB: Well first, to be clear, because I don’t want anyone thinking they’re too late to the party, Beta Love is a new starting point, a new thing.  It works in sequence as a successor to the original run, but you don’t have to have read anything else to enjoy it.

As to what it is, it’s a violent crime story, plus an epic romance, and we dig deeper into the Mech side of NYC Mech, while still upping the ante on the environment.  It’s a much more evolved piece of work than anything you’re read from us before… especially visually: Andy (MacDonald, NYC Mech artist) and our new colorist Nick Filardi have developed a new look for the book that just defies description.

BF: So far you guys have had Jasen Lex, Alex Maleev and Dave Johnson (just to name a few) providing covers and pin-ups. How did you guys get such an impressive list of contributors? You sold your souls, didn’t you? Who else can we expect to see in the future?

IB: The love I’ve gotten in general on my work is really overwhelming. I’ve got the coolest friends in the whole wide world and I’m stunned every time a new piece comes in. Beta Love has the amazing Eric Canete on all covers, as well as pieces by Becky Cloonan (Demo), Goran Parlov (Y: The Last Man), Leandro Fernandez (The Punisher), Tony Salmons (Vigilante), Toby Cypress (The Tourist), James Romberger (Seven Miles a Second), and too many more to name, most notably one juggernaut I’m keeping as a secret on purpose.

BF: A little what-if type scenario: the book is obviously like a baby to you guys, but if you were to entrust it to another writer besides yourself and Miles Gunter for a stand-alone issue, who would you want to see craft an NYC Mech story?

IB: God, I don’t know… Dave Lapham?  David Milch? 

BF: We’ve seen Andy’s Mech’d up version of Bruce Lee around online. Is there any particular celebrity you’d want him to sneak into the book?

IB: I just want to state for the record that any similarity to Bruce Lee or anyone else that we can be sued over is entirely coincidental.  The subject of the piece you’re talking about is actually a guy from Peoria named Sherwin Finkelmeier.

Beyond that, Miles and I like Andy to surprise us.  Most of the smaller background details in the book are unscripted, and if you look close at any given page of NYC Mech, there are all these little hidden treasures. He’s like a 6 year old with a whoopee cushion.

BF: To close things off, stealing an idea off the Mech message board, what’re you listening to these days and what was the last movie you caught?

IB: The last movie I saw was the Arthur Miller penned “The Misfits”, which I hadn’t seen since I was a kid.  Montgomery Clift, Clark Gable in his last role and Marilyn Monroe in her next to last (she died during the shooting of her next part).  It’s a great departure for everyone, Monroe in particular and just the right kind of character piece.

Today I’m mostly listening to 31 KNOTS and the score to “Danny the Dog” by Massive Attack.  I’m writing two very different things right now (Beta Love issue #3 and another thing TBA), so these 2 CDs make for a great contrast.

BF: Thanks for your time.

IB: Thanks for the interview.  PRE-ORDER NYC MECH: BETA LOVE, FOLKS!

Need more of an incentive to check out NYC Mech? You can read the first two issues of the original series  here, and preview the first five pages of Beta Love  here. NYC Mech: Beta Love #1 is out in stores on May 4th.

- Wayne Ree