SebastianPiccione
Sunday, November 08, 2009, 04:50 PM
On Saturday, November 7th, FAMOUS FACES AND FUNNIES in Melbourne, Florida, hosted their first MINI-FREE COMIC BOOK DAY. Along for the fun was writer TONY BEDARD. He was gracious enough to talk to me about his current projects for DC COMICS, the ongoing R.E.B.E.L.S. series and the 10 issue miniseries for China’s super team, THE GREAT TEN. Here’s what he had to say.
SEBASTIAN: How did you get the GREAT TEN gig? Was this something they came to you with, or was this something you sought out?
TONY BEDARD: They offered, but I was already interested; so I was really happy.
SEB: What about the GREAT TEN had you so interested?
TONY: When I heard that Grant Morrison was handing off some concepts I knew it would be a lot of fun. I’m also very into Eastern thought and I find China interesting from both a news and politics stand point.
SEB: Do you have a favorite of the Ten?
TONY: Ya know…I don’t. I don’t really have a favorite. Each issue focuses on one of the Ten, so that’s fun. I get to give each of them their turn at the center. I figure, if you can surprise yourself with what you’re doing than that’s great. Things like, by his name you would think that RED SOCIALIST GUARDIAN would be the most ‘with the program’, but it turns out he’s the most bitter about what they’re doing of them all.
SEB: How much wiggle room were you given for character development?
TONY: I’ve got a lot of wiggle room. Each character came with a one or two paragraph bio, kind of them in a nutshell, but I was told don’t be constrained by Grant’s stuff. I’m using his concepts and his origins, but I have a lot of room to play with from there.
SEB: Is this one of those, If the sales are there we’ll do another mini, or even an ongoing, deals?
TONY: I suppose it could. For me though, it’s about doing these ten issues and if it’s something people enjoy and it gives these characters further validity, than great!
SEB: Let’s talk R.E.B.E.L.S. You’ve just reinvented STARRO THE CONQUEROR. Was that something you had planned coming into the series, or did that come from higher up?
TONY: I’m not sure who originally decided on Starro. We were looking for a villain, and I was told I couldn’t use Brainiac. Once we decided on Starro we went with a barbarian Conan type, but not something like Thanos or anyone that regal…more like a force of nature.
SEB: We just had ADAM STRANGE and CAPTAIN COMET show up. Now, they were part of the original L.E.G.I.O.N. series, are they going to be sticking around?
TONY: Yeah, yeah, they’ll be part of the ongoing cast.
SEB: Now, Mon-El, sometimes known as Valor, is all over the Superman titles and heading to the JLA. As another former L.E.G.I.O.N. member, will we ever see him in there?
TONY: He’s another one I couldn’t have, and I REALLY wanted to use him. I love Mon-El for some reason.
SEB: While we’re on the subject of former team members, I’m gonna have to ask…any chance of seeing the Main Man, himself?
TONY: I’d LOVE to get LOBO, but they have plans. I ask like every three months. I even thought of using a kind of Lobo stand-in, but thought, no.
SEB: Whatever happened to Peter David’s Slobo from YOUNG JUSTICE?
TONY: [Laughs] Oh, man…
SEB: I guess not. [Laughs]
Ok, so the book is called R.E.B.E.L.S., does that mean Dox and crew are doomed to stay on the run, or will we see them regain control of the L.E.G.I.O.N.?
TONY: What I’d like to do is once they deal with Starro is to have them reestablish L.E.G.I.ON., but I haven’t gotten to that yet. I’ve still got to work that out.
SEB: And for the long term, what are you thinking beyond that?
TONY: I’d like for Dox to meet Brainiac. I’m also hoping we’ll address the Braniac 5 connection. At one point, Dox was contacted by the Brainiac from Mark Waid’s Legion, which turned out to be the Earth Prime Legion, so it’s sorta weird.
SEB: I guess we’ll go out with the traditional, do you have anything coming up outside of R.E.B.E.L.S. and post GREAT TEN?
TONY: I do have another project that I can’t discuss yet. I’m not even sure of the timing on that one.
SEB: Thanks Tony.
TONY: Sure, no problem.
SEBASTIAN: How did you get the GREAT TEN gig? Was this something they came to you with, or was this something you sought out?
TONY BEDARD: They offered, but I was already interested; so I was really happy.
SEB: What about the GREAT TEN had you so interested?
TONY: When I heard that Grant Morrison was handing off some concepts I knew it would be a lot of fun. I’m also very into Eastern thought and I find China interesting from both a news and politics stand point.
SEB: Do you have a favorite of the Ten?
TONY: Ya know…I don’t. I don’t really have a favorite. Each issue focuses on one of the Ten, so that’s fun. I get to give each of them their turn at the center. I figure, if you can surprise yourself with what you’re doing than that’s great. Things like, by his name you would think that RED SOCIALIST GUARDIAN would be the most ‘with the program’, but it turns out he’s the most bitter about what they’re doing of them all.
SEB: How much wiggle room were you given for character development?
TONY: I’ve got a lot of wiggle room. Each character came with a one or two paragraph bio, kind of them in a nutshell, but I was told don’t be constrained by Grant’s stuff. I’m using his concepts and his origins, but I have a lot of room to play with from there.
SEB: Is this one of those, If the sales are there we’ll do another mini, or even an ongoing, deals?
TONY: I suppose it could. For me though, it’s about doing these ten issues and if it’s something people enjoy and it gives these characters further validity, than great!
SEB: Let’s talk R.E.B.E.L.S. You’ve just reinvented STARRO THE CONQUEROR. Was that something you had planned coming into the series, or did that come from higher up?
TONY: I’m not sure who originally decided on Starro. We were looking for a villain, and I was told I couldn’t use Brainiac. Once we decided on Starro we went with a barbarian Conan type, but not something like Thanos or anyone that regal…more like a force of nature.
SEB: We just had ADAM STRANGE and CAPTAIN COMET show up. Now, they were part of the original L.E.G.I.O.N. series, are they going to be sticking around?
TONY: Yeah, yeah, they’ll be part of the ongoing cast.
SEB: Now, Mon-El, sometimes known as Valor, is all over the Superman titles and heading to the JLA. As another former L.E.G.I.O.N. member, will we ever see him in there?
TONY: He’s another one I couldn’t have, and I REALLY wanted to use him. I love Mon-El for some reason.
SEB: While we’re on the subject of former team members, I’m gonna have to ask…any chance of seeing the Main Man, himself?
TONY: I’d LOVE to get LOBO, but they have plans. I ask like every three months. I even thought of using a kind of Lobo stand-in, but thought, no.
SEB: Whatever happened to Peter David’s Slobo from YOUNG JUSTICE?
TONY: [Laughs] Oh, man…
SEB: I guess not. [Laughs]
Ok, so the book is called R.E.B.E.L.S., does that mean Dox and crew are doomed to stay on the run, or will we see them regain control of the L.E.G.I.O.N.?
TONY: What I’d like to do is once they deal with Starro is to have them reestablish L.E.G.I.ON., but I haven’t gotten to that yet. I’ve still got to work that out.
SEB: And for the long term, what are you thinking beyond that?
TONY: I’d like for Dox to meet Brainiac. I’m also hoping we’ll address the Braniac 5 connection. At one point, Dox was contacted by the Brainiac from Mark Waid’s Legion, which turned out to be the Earth Prime Legion, so it’s sorta weird.
SEB: I guess we’ll go out with the traditional, do you have anything coming up outside of R.E.B.E.L.S. and post GREAT TEN?
TONY: I do have another project that I can’t discuss yet. I’m not even sure of the timing on that one.
SEB: Thanks Tony.
TONY: Sure, no problem.