Broken Frontier

Legendary Brit creator Brendan McCarthy rose to fame during his tenure at 2000 AD where he contributed to Judge Dredd amongst many others. His international breakthrough arrived with the groundbreaking graphic novel Rogan Gosh with Peter Milligan during the early days of Vertigo Comics. McCarthy however is not limited to the comic field having worked on various tv and movie properties from Dan Dare to Jim Henson's The Storyteller to ReBoot.

Now he's back working on comics and Broken Frontier had a chat with him where he showcases some exclusive items.

BROKEN FRONTIER: It is quite rare that you work at large publishing companies at trademarked characters so how did this deal with Marvel Comics come about? Did they approach you or was it the other way around?

BRENDAN MCCARTHY: Marvel approached me a few years ago. Steve Wacker, the editor of the Spider-man line loved my edition of SOLO, which I did for DC Comics. I suggested a Dr. Strange story and he said, if I put Spidey in it, we should be OK.

Dr Strange was the character that I liked the best. He's sort of Marvel's Harry Potter, but with a whole unique psychedelic world of magick to explore, as created by the brilliant Steve Ditko. It's a thought-out world as relevant as the creations of other acclaimed occult artists such as Austin Osman Spare.

Also, this is the first major story I have both written and drawn. So it was important to me not do something that was too structurally bizarre, like SOLO. These days in comics, the writers have all the heat… And I have read so much bad, cliched writing in comics, that I thought surely I could do better than much of what I read. You be the judge!

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BF: You always go through a lot of trouble to make characters your own, the most obvious example being 'pointy' Joe Dredd. How did you set about McCarthy'ing the Marvel characters?

BMC: I always remember that the artists with their own unique style are the ones who have made the biggest impression on me: Kirby, Ditko, Steranko, Windsor-Smith, Wrightson, Corben, Liberatore, Moebius, Toth, Joe Kubert, Swan, Bolland, McMahon, O'Neill, Jack Cole, Eisner, Miller, Clowes, Hernandez etc. the list goes on, but they're all stylistically, very original voices.

I think my own sensibilty is most suited for Dr. Strange, obviously inspired by that great 60's run by Lee/Ditko. 




BF: Being such an iconoclastic creator, did Marvel Comics give you complete creative control for Spider-Man: Fever or are there certain things you cannot do? 



BMC: Obviously, it's a mainstream Marvel comic, so sexual themes, for example, have to kept very light… I had one good plot suggestion from Steve Wacker early in the process… After that, I was totally on my own, creating my own 'take' on these great iconic characters. That's the point of hiring somemone like me isn't it? To see and read something different.

BF: You are notoriously difficult to keep track of, dropping in and out of comics as you please. Could you give us some insight into what you have been working on these last few years?

BMC: I have mainly been working all over the world, in film and TV. Writing and designing animation and live-action movies has occupied me for the last 15 years. I got very bored with the rather insular life of the comic book artist. Essentially, all you do is sit indoors and draw to deadlines. And then do it all over again. So I have enjoyed traveling the globe, seeing the planet I live on that has created me, and imbibing a lot of inspiration from many new life-experiences. It has made me a much better artist, writer and changed how I think about things.

That said, I have always loved comics and always keep an eye on new, upcoming creators. I look at everything – from the very accomplished, Marvel-style storytelling of Johnny Romita Jnr, to the brilliantly loopy work of Tobias Tak, a wonderful genius, who apparently, shares my amusement over the word 'sausages'.

Steve Cook added a nice photo-montage flavour to Spider-Man: Fever. I'm an admirer of his Alternity foto-work, so I got him to help on the colors and fx for the book. There are some nice touches throughout.



BF: And to close off, the ever-lasting question: how about that reprint of Swimini Purpose, that long lost bible of comics artwork, Brendan? :)

BMC: I would very much like to produce a new one. It's a pretty expensive book to make though. I have encountered a lot of time-wasters in the indy comics scene, people with big, unstable egos… and inevitably, no money! So more than likely, I will do it myself for my own amusement, when the time is right. And any new version will be very different to the one that I have already published.
 
SWIMINI PURPOSE Because you're not worth it.

BF: Thanks for taking the time to talk to us, Brendan and good luck with your projects and globe travelling! We will wait patiently for that Swimini Purpose reprint.

Spider-Man: Fever will be available in your comics store in April. It is published by Marvel Comics and retails for $3.99

Follow Brendan McCarthy wherever you can but mostly on Swiminipurpose.com.