Quality Time with Mike Carey

Lowdown - Special Feature

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Posted by Mike Carey on Sep 30, 2009

Tags: carey, marvel, unwritten, vertigo, x-men

Mike Carey is joining BF from 3-4pm Eastern (12-1pm Pacific) today to answer your questions in this week's edition of our live, hour-long Q&A session, Quality Time!

Post all of your most burning questions in our comments box below, and stay tuned as Mike answers them live...

Note: You have to be signed in with your BF member account to be able to post your questions and interact with Mike. If you’re not yet a registered member of the BF community, sign up here to participate.

Comments

Andy Oliver Sep 30, 2009 at 2:55pm

Welcome Mike! Not so long ago you collaborated with your daughter Louise on the Minx imprint's CONFESSIONS OF A BLABBERMOUTH. What was that like as a creative experience and do you have any thoughts on why the Minx line for sadly failed to find an audience?
Frederik Hautain Sep 30, 2009 at 3:00pm

Hello everyone. Welcome back to BF for a new chat... this time with one of the finest Brits in comics: Mike Carey. And off we go!
Richard Boom Sep 30, 2009 at 3:01pm

boom in da house
Mike Carey Sep 30, 2009 at 3:02pm

It was a great experience, Andy. Hard work, but really worthwhile - both personally and professionally.

Why did Minx fail? I think it was a lot to do with bookstores and how they rack books. Minx books needed to be placed with Mangas, and in most stores they weren't. That meant manga readers didn't find them.
Richard Boom Sep 30, 2009 at 3:03pm

going a bit old school here.
SPELLBINDERS...loved the story and loved the art (duh) but I am still waiting for a sequel. Is there a shot of that?
Mike Carey Sep 30, 2009 at 3:04pm

Sorry - I received those messages out of sequence. Thanks for having me, Frederik.
Sam Moyerman Sep 30, 2009 at 3:05pm

What are your thoughts on the abrupt changes made to the Ultimate Universe, and did you have any plans for the Ult. FF that you really wanted to write but were unable to get to?
Richard Boom Sep 30, 2009 at 3:06pm

out of sequence...is the way to go :)
if you just reply with the name of the person asking something, then it will be in sync no matter what!!
Great to have you here!!
Mike Carey Sep 30, 2009 at 3:06pm

I wish. We had it all planned and ready to roll, Richard, but the original series didn't sell very well at all. Maybe if Mac Cadenhead had stayed at Marvel she might have been able to make it happen...
TimP Sep 30, 2009 at 3:06pm

Hey Mike! Did you foresee staying on X-Men for as long as you have?
Mike Carey Sep 30, 2009 at 3:08pm

Not really - I figured I'd get a year and then I'd be bounced. Seriously, I was scared going into the gig. X-fans know what they like, and they let you know if you're not providing it. :)

But I've had a great time, and I seem to have struck a chord with at least a part of that fanbase.
Richard Boom Sep 30, 2009 at 3:08pm

another question: BIG fan of Vampi here! Loved what you did with her and to bad Priest did not get a chance for Revelation 2 :( But I have been reading the Phil Hester stories. And I am as psyched about it as with your run! Do you follow Vampi still? What appeals you to the character?
Steve Kanaras Sep 30, 2009 at 3:09pm

Welcome Mike. Loved the new Torch series. The work betrayed some research into the development of AI, care to share some thoughts about this, in relation to the character, and just in general on the possibility of creating android life?
Mike Carey Sep 30, 2009 at 3:11pm

I haven't read the latest stories, but I do love the character. She's the kind of character who can be re-invented endlessly, really - like John Constantine or Batman. I like the fact that she's a sort of poacher turned gamekeeper - the most dangerous (and beautiful) vampire become a vampire-hunter. It gives her a tragic aspect in some ways...
Richard Boom Sep 30, 2009 at 3:13pm

YOu collaberated with legend fellow Brit Bolton in the Graphic Novel GOD SAVE THE QUEEN

I found that it was pretty low profile. You had that same idea?
It WAS a gorgeous and interesting read and I dare you to do a sequel :D

How did GSTqueen come to pass anyways?
TimP Sep 30, 2009 at 3:13pm

Is Rogue still your favorite X-character to write?
Sam Moyerman Sep 30, 2009 at 3:13pm

Any chance of you working with Sonny Liew & Marc Hempel again in the near future?
Arthur askey Sep 30, 2009 at 3:13pm

Who is your favorite xmen villian?
Richard Boom Sep 30, 2009 at 3:14pm

do you do conventions?
Eric Lindberg Sep 30, 2009 at 3:15pm

One of my favorite stories of yours is "My Faith in Frankie." Is that a concept/series of characters you would ever revisit or has their story pretty much been told?
Mike Carey Sep 30, 2009 at 3:15pm

Hi Steve.

Well, we were interested in the timing, really - the fact that Horton creates the Torch BEFORE both the discovery of the double helix and the creation of the first computer at Bletchley Park (which in any case stayed secret for a long time after it was made). We wondered how he'd done it: he had to have found another self-replicating pattern-maker besides DNA and binary code.

Incidentally, did you see that the British Government apologised to Alan Turing recently? They're so much faster than the Vatican...
Mike Carey Sep 30, 2009 at 3:16pm

Richard - I do, but mostly in the UK. I do SDCC sometimes, and this year I did New York.

Eric - I'd love to do more with the Godtown characters in Frankie. I wouldn't want to mess with Frankie and Kay's happy ending, but there are other stories that could be told...
GrannySpray Sep 30, 2009 at 3:17pm

I really missed this feature last week. Good to see it's back! Now, my question: Mike, I've come to see The Unwritten as a series that wants to comment on literature. In what way does it reflect your opinion of literature and the place literature takes in our daily lives?
Mike Carey Sep 30, 2009 at 3:17pm

Sam - I'd like to, yeah. I had a recent outing with Sonny in the LIQUID CITY anthology, but I haven't worked with Marc in ages. We've been talking about it, though...
Mike Carey Sep 30, 2009 at 3:19pm

Tim - yeah, I'd say so. But it's always easier to pick out a top ten than to rank them WITHIN the ten...

Arthur - probably Magneto, but he sort of escapes from that category. If we're talking straight, out-and-out bad guys, then Cassandra Nova.

BTW, are you named for the Cheeky Chappie?
Mike Carey Sep 30, 2009 at 3:21pm

Granny - that's a big question! I think one of the things we're saying is that (to quote Peter Gabriel, who I think was quoting Anne Sexton) "words support like bone". Every civilisation is built on stories as much as on anything else. They define us, tell us how to behave, tell us what our lives mean.
Richard Boom Sep 30, 2009 at 3:21pm

how do you like the Brit cons then?
I help organise a Belgium convention (CB is coming writer wise this year. STeve Niles last year) but I feel it is more an artist oriented thing and that is why I had Fabry, Bisley, Linsner, Suydam, Minck Oosterveer, Romano and then some

might be a cool idea to get you across maybe next year....just thinking out loud actually
Sam Moyerman Sep 30, 2009 at 3:22pm

What's it been like splitting time between comics and the Felix Castor novels? How are the writing experiences different? And unlike other writers who peddle in both comics and novels, you won't be leaving comics anytime soon right?
Richard Boom Sep 30, 2009 at 3:23pm

@Fabry: you and Fabry did Gaiman's Neverwhere. I read/own novel as well as the comics and I was really impressed by the similarities. The stories did not waver much from eachother. What is your take on that? And how was it with Fabry?
Mike Carey Sep 30, 2009 at 3:24pm

I'd LOVE to do a Belgian con. I've done Lille in France, and Aviles, Bilbao and Semana Negra in Spain. The great thing about European cons is that they give me a chance to learn more about European comic books - since each country has vast amounts of material that never gets translated into English.

Of the Brit cons, I've done Bristol (a lot), Thought Bubble and Birmingham, plus UKCAC back in the day. They're all good in different ways. the only one I didn't enjoy much was the Earl's Court show, which was mostly about celebrity autographs with a little comics ghetto attached...
Mike Carey Sep 30, 2009 at 3:27pm

Sam - no, I don't have any plans to leave comics. I just like trying my hand at lots of different kinds of storytelling.

Novels are strange because you live with them for a long time - months and months. Comics are BANG BANG BANG, one deadline following another, and there's an exhilaration about that. But a novel gives you a different kind of control over the articulation of the story. You can mess with deep structure as you go along, which is usually impossible with comics.
TimP Sep 30, 2009 at 3:27pm

One more X-Men question from me: I feel like the book has lacked a steady artistic hand these last couple of months. Is Legacy getting a real regular artist in the near future?
Richard Boom Sep 30, 2009 at 3:28pm

USA vs UK approach here.
mmmm...welll...
you are UK and you write mostly for USA comics.
1] what are the differences in approach writing wise?
2] how is the exchange rate treating you nowadays?
3] are you going to do the Millar-magic and do a cool movie? Any Hollywood plans?
Richard Boom Sep 30, 2009 at 3:29pm

@Belgian con: not this year. Booked MORE then full. But I will keep it in mind for next year. CB Cebulski is done via Frederik Hautain as well by the way...so the seed is planted :D
Andy Oliver Sep 30, 2009 at 3:29pm

Ah... UKCAC that takes me back. Happy days in the '90s getting to knock back beers in the bar with creators and missing most of the afternoon panels in an alcoholic haze. But I am digressing. Standard question, Mike, but are there any established characters at the Big Two that you'd love to get your hands on but haven't yet?
Frederik Hautain Sep 30, 2009 at 3:30pm

I'm curious myself about your hand in Necrosha: was this an editorial idea, or an idea that generated among the writers? And where can we see your hand in fleshing out the storyline?
Mike Carey Sep 30, 2009 at 3:30pm

Richard - with Neverwhere we actually took a few big liberties with structure, while (I think) being totally faithful to character, story and theme. We made Richard Mayhew be the narrator, which was a very significant departure (but necessary because omniscient narrators have a different set of associations in comics), and we changed the first meeting with Islington enormously. But we did those things for good reasons, and Neil approved all the changes.

Working with Glenn was a wonderful experience. He's a very generous and exciting collaborator.
Mike Carey Sep 30, 2009 at 3:31pm

Tim - yeah, it will. But there's a little more swapping around still to come. Fortunately, though, all the guys who are coming onto the book are doing spectacularly good work. #228 is wonderful, and so, in a very different way, is #231...
Mike Carey Sep 30, 2009 at 3:33pm

Richard -

1. There really isn't much of a UK industry left. What there is, is 2000AD, which deals almost exclusively in serial stories told in five and six page episodes. That's a challenging form to master, and makes a 22-page Marvel or DC book feel like a huge and bounteous canvas. :)

2. The exchange rate was so bad under Bush, the present state of things, where it's only mildly awful, feels GREAT!

3. I'm working on it. :)
Mike Carey Sep 30, 2009 at 3:34pm

Andy - Doc Strange at Marvel. I'd love to write him, with Pablo Raimondi on art.

At DC... nah, I'm good.
Richard Boom Sep 30, 2009 at 3:36pm

@Movieplans: great. You deserve it!!!
Mike Carey Sep 30, 2009 at 3:36pm

Frederik - all the X-writers were sort of invited to take a slice of Necrosha if they wanted to. Zeb Wells and I both said "hand me some of that". But it's a very different crossover model from Messiah Complex: essentially, the main action plays out in X-Force. Over in legacy and New Mutants, fallout from that main action generates substantially different stories: it's the law of unintended consequences...
Mike Carey Sep 30, 2009 at 3:37pm

Richard - thanks. :) It's several different projects, all of which look promising; but with movies you have to be philosophical. I've worked on other things that looked like they were going to happen right up until the moment when they suddenly, horrendously didn't.
Mike Carey Sep 30, 2009 at 3:38pm

Andy - that was a dumb response I made before.

DC - Metal Men, Dial H for Hero (which I understand JMS has just used in a really strong story) and the Challengers of the Unknown.
Mike Carey Sep 30, 2009 at 3:42pm

Richard - my wife's dad came from Belgium. He was born in Antwerp. But amazingly, and shamefully, I've still never been there.
Andy Oliver Sep 30, 2009 at 3:42pm

Not at all Mike. ;) Interesting choices indeed. And that JMS BRAVE & BOLD issue is indeed a very good issue. Book looks like a much-needed return to standalone stories in the DC line. I'd love to see a Carey CHALLs book.
Richard Boom Sep 30, 2009 at 3:43pm

ok..time for my last set of questions since my wife is tired, wants to get a massage in bed and in 2 days we are leaving for a week Turkey WITHOUT kids...so I have to prioratize :D

1] last movie you saw and last (comic)book you read
2] best most recent movie/comic/book you enjoyed
3] any new plans comicwise you can talk about already?
4] most memorable con-experience
5] favorite color :p
6] what is your working day schedule?
7] if you look back at your massive list of work...what stands out for various reasons? I mean; you can pick multiple things for other reasons. Say Neverhwere for Fabry, Vampirella for her cleavage, Constantine for his twisted character, X-men Legacy for its editor...
8] favorite artist you have worked with
9] which artist do you want to work with and have not done till now?
10] which letterer is your favorite, especially since you are a word-guy and a letterer then has an even more direct link (MPOV) then the sequential art by the artist
Mike Carey Sep 30, 2009 at 3:43pm

I did, however, just read a great bande dessinee set in occupied Belgium. It was called Le Groom Vert de Gris, and was by Schwartz and Yann.
Andy Oliver Sep 30, 2009 at 3:45pm

Have you ever had a yearning to revisit any of the characters you created for 2000AD?
Richard Boom Sep 30, 2009 at 3:45pm

Schwartz and Yann: big names. I have only ONE book by Yann, giving to me by my friend Aart Zeeman just before his braintumor ended his life. Fond memories of the story about halfling squirrels...thanks for gving me that association! Loved him dearly and that album is thát more special.
Mike Carey Sep 30, 2009 at 3:47pm

Andy - I'll definitely check out the B&B issue.

Richard -

1. Last movie I saw (not counting Return of the King, which I'm currently watching for the fourth time with the kids) was Import/Export, (dir. Urich Seidl). Very powerful film, with a lot to say about people living on the margins of society. Last comic was Strange Tales#1, which I picked up a few weeks back but only just read. Brilliant!

2. Same answers. :)

3. New plans - after the Torch, I'm hoping to do another Marvel mini using characters from a former era.

to be continued...
Mike Carey Sep 30, 2009 at 3:49pm

4. Probably hearing Mike Kaluta talking about the sex lives of American editors - many of whom I knew by that time (although not in the Biblical sense).

5. Blue.

6. Chaos. I start early, work late, but with big and unpredictable gaps. I'm the least disciplined writer ever, but I still manage to be quite productive because I'm driven by a wide range of neurotic fears. This is true, although it sounds like a joke.

...
Arthur askey Sep 30, 2009 at 3:51pm

Write a message?yes I am a busy bee. What artist that you have not worked with would u like to? Thank you!
Mike Carey Sep 30, 2009 at 3:51pm

7. Lucifer, because it was my first monthly and it turned out I could do it. And because it's still the thing I'm most proud of having written. Frankie because I'd never done comedy before and I had a great time. X-Men because it makes me feel like a kid again.

8. Again, easier to pick a top ten than a number 1. If I had to pick a number 1 I'd cheat and say Peter Gross and Mike Perkins.

9. PABLO RAIMONDI!

10. Has to be Todd. He's a genius. He didn't get all those Eisners by finding them in a railway station locker... :)
Mike Carey Sep 30, 2009 at 3:51pm

Now go and do your duty...
Mike Carey Sep 30, 2009 at 3:53pm

Andy - I'd like to do another Carver Hale story. I was still finding my way with that five-page format when I did the first one (and any excuse to work with Mike P will do for me...)
Mike Carey Sep 30, 2009 at 3:54pm

Arthur - see my answer to Richard. Pablo R and I have had a Doc Strange story in the works since forever, but we never seem to be able to make it happen...
Richard Boom Sep 30, 2009 at 3:54pm

I am off :)
Thanks a zillion Mike!!
Mike Carey Sep 30, 2009 at 3:55pm

Cheers, Richard. Good to talk. Enjoy Turkey.
Andy Oliver Sep 30, 2009 at 3:56pm

Yes I can really appreciate that the 2000AD format is an entirely different storytelling discipline that exercises alternative creative muscles. Thanks very much for your time here tonight Mike. It's been a pleasure! Cheers.
Mike Carey Sep 30, 2009 at 3:57pm

Thanks, Andy. Good to virtually meet you.
Frederik Hautain Sep 30, 2009 at 4:01pm

Ok, everyone... that's that! Hope you all had fun and got to ask Mike the questions you wanted to. Mike, thanks for joining us!
Mike Carey Sep 30, 2009 at 4:02pm

Pleasure, Frederik. I've been typing so fast I think I've erased my fingerpirints, but I had a great time. Cheers, all.

- Mike
SupertanmanX Oct 2, 2009 at 11:56am

Hey mike I am new to! Woot! lol

So I really like your X-men Legacy series. Just wondering with this new direction with the X-men are you planning on incorporating the younger mutants into legacy to support Rogue? Will they be a big part of the next story you are about to write? Also is Xavier now just a supporting cast member on legacy or is he going to be featured along side rogue helping the younger mutant generation?

As many fans want to know what about plans for Gambit? Will he be featured? or will he be put into a differen X-book? The annual you did with him was really an extraordinary piece of work!

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