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POTA Yahoo Group Transcript:
Online Chat With Daryl Gregory |
Posted by Rich Handley, Mar. 31, 2011
Yesterday, Hasslein Books posted an exclusive interview with novelist Daryl Gregory regarding his Planet of the Apes comic-book line debuting in April from BOOM! Studios. Later that same day, the POTA Yahoo Group conducted an online question-and-answer session with Mr. Gregory, hosted by group moderator Jamesa1102. The following is a transcript of the one-hour chat, compiled with James' and Daryl's kind permission.
Jamesa1102: First, I want to welcome Daryl to the group and thank him for taking the time to answer our questions. I'll start the ball rolling and ask, What made BOOM! want to do a POTA comic in the first place?
Daryl Gregory: Hi James, and hi, everybody. Thanks for having me on. As for why BOOM! (I'm legally obligated to capitalize and punctuate it each time) decided to do an Apes book now, I'm sure it had something to do with Rise of the Apes, and the fact that interest was growing. I'll keep my answers short at first, so this looks like chat. Next question!
Bill Hollweg: Welcome as well, Daryl, from West Texas! Was wanting to know how far-reaching your goal is, as far as linking up with the original POTA, or will BOOM!'s POTA comics stay set more or less in the current planned timeframe (mentioned in the press releases)? And thank you for bringing POTA to comics again!
Daryl Gregory: Hey, Bill. Howdy from central PA, land of the Amish, bears, and Amish bears. Current plans are to stick to the time period of the Lawgiver. We'd like to introduce a set of characters that people care about, then tell their stories. But the Apes universe being what it is—time is a slippery thing—who knows where we'd go after the first year?
Bill Hollweg: FANTASTIC! {{Go, Steelers—yes, holding down the Steeler fort here in West Texas—LOL}}. Without giving anything away, will it stay within the confines of Central City and the Forbidden Zone, or travel farther out into the desolation of the world?
Daryl Gregory: We're actually going a bit further afield. Ape City and the Forbidden Zone will be part of the story, but they won't be central locations at first. We've created a new, sprawling city called Mak. If Ape City is New York, then this is Chicago.
Bill Hollweg: Very cool!!!!!!!!!
Jamesa1102: OK. Here's one submitted by one of our members who couldn't be online right now: "A lot of the preliminary write-ups/promotion for the new comics say, 'They're tying the new title into the continuity of the five classic films'... If this is so, how come most of the covers we've seen so far are illustrated with apes dressed in clothing that's anything but tied in with the look/style of the original films?"
Daryl Gregory: I think when you see the issues in April, you'll see more of the ape dress that you saw in the movies, especially in regard to the Lawgiver. But we're also setting this in a time period that's never been seen before. So while you'll see some styles that look like ape clothing from the 3900s, there are obviously going to be styles that are different in 2680. It's a balancing act, to be sure.
Jamesa1102: As a follow-up to that: If they're taking such drastic changes with their clothing, I can only guess the content will be equally different. If such major changes are being done, wouldn't they have been better off saying it's all new (i.e. "new story", "new look")? To make such big alterations and yet say it's "in the continuity of the originals" probably isn't going to sit well with a lot of people, so why call it what it doesn't appear to be?
Daryl Gregory: Well, it is going to be a new story, obviously, since it's not an adaptation of an existing movie—but what we're trying to make clear is that it's also going to be in the classic continuity, meaning not related to the Burton film or the new reboot. We're taking all the facts of the films as canon, and going from there.
Rich Handley: Hi, Daryl! Long time, no speak. :) Here's one I meant to ask you earlier [ED. NOTE: During Daryl's interview with Hasslein Books.], but forgot to mention: What can you tell us about how you plan to characterize the Lawgiver—what kind of ape is he, and what's your perception of his attitude toward humans? Oh, and what's his name? (I doubt his parents named him Lawgiver, after all.)
Daryl Gregory: Hiya, Rich. Well, at least two characters call him "Grandfather!" As for his name, I'm not telling. Maybe because I haven't decided on it yet. I have a name in the series bible I'm creating to keep track of everything, but I'm not in love with it. Since I didn't need it in issue #1, I decided to wait for a name I really like. As for characterization, I'm going with John Huston as my guide, and he's definitely the character we met at the end of Battle. He believes in equality between apes and humans.
Rich Handley: Thanks, Daryl. I'm very much looking forward to this—especially given the intriguing revelation that it doesn't take place in Ape City. That's a good way to get around any societal or aesthetic divergences from what we've seen on screen. As for the Lawgiver's name, I recommend "Handley." It's a solid simian name.
Daryl Gregory: Ha!
jedimasteryoda1138: Hi, Daryl. Does the comic tie into the new movie?
Daryl Gregory: We're steering clear of the new movie. This series works with the mythos from the first five films, and doesn't try to tie in with either the Burton film or Rise of the Apes.
Jamesa1102: Here's another from a member who couldn't be online: "There's an artist named Neil Foster whose work is highly acclaimed by fans... He's had artwork published in Mr. Comics' Revolution on the Planet of the Apes issue #6, in the 'Letters to the Editor' section... Would you consider using him in any future projects?"
Daryl Gregory: It's not up to me—and for good reason! I'm just a writer, and the whole artist side of the business is a mystery to me. We'd probably have to get an artist in here to talk about how to break into comics.
Jamesa1102: I'm going to ask a follow-up on this, in terms of how involved FOX is. Is there anything that you've wanted to do that they rejected? Are there any standard requirements from them?
Daryl Gregory: The folks at BOOM! shield me from all of that stuff, mercifully. Or maybe they're shielding FOX from ME. All I know is that FOX approved the storyline I pitched to the editors, so I'm happy. So far, I haven't seemed to have crossed over into any Forbidden Zone.
Jamesa1102: And as a follow-up to that: There are some good "fan-fics" out there. Would you ever consider using any of those as the basis for any future issues, or are you only using "in-house" writers/stories?
Daryl Gregory: Hey, are you trying to take food out of my mouth? I'm trying to stay employed here! (In case it's not coming across in e-mail, I'm joking. Please insert smiley face.) I'm avoiding reading any fan-fic, because I don't want to consciously or unconsciously use some other writer's ideas. Making it up is the fun part of my job. The non-fun part? Getting interlopers to vacate my favorite table at Starbucks. However, I feel like I'm writing fan-fic, because it's fiction, and I'm a fan. I'm having a great time.
Jamesa1102: As a fan, what has been your inspiration?
Daryl Gregory: Man, there are so many moments from the films that inspire me as I work on this book. I love those characters. Because I saw the movies when I was young, I think I developed a huge crush on Kim Hunter. Her performance, especially in Escape, is so heartfelt, and the way she works with Roddy MacDowall is just beautiful. And Roddy! I keep his performance in Conquest in mind. But I also think about one of the scariest film moments in my life, watching Beneath when I was ten. When the mutants pulled off their faces, I almost jumped out of my skin.
NAME HIDDEN: Mr. Gregory, I read your interview with Rich Handly. Why are you ignoring excellent comics like Revolution and "Terror" [ED. NOTE: "Terror on the Planet of the Apes," a serialized story from Marvel's Apes series of the 1970s.]?
Daryl Gregory: Please, call me Daryl. I'm avoiding those comics because they're excellent! At least, that's what I have to assume. If they're great, then I don't want their fabulous ideas to creep into my stories—or, worse, drive me to despair that I'll never come up with something that good. Well, that's a half-joking answer. The serious answer is that at some point, I would like to go read them. But when I was creating the storyline for this series, I decided to concentrate on just the five movies, and re-imagine from there. The best way to do that, I thought, was to immerse myself in those movies, and nothing but.
NAME HIDDEN: I'm glad they are ignoring "Terror"... While I know it has its fans, I always thought of it as being the beginning of the end...
Jeff K.: All those comics are so old. Even the Adventure stuff is 20 years old. New fans shouldn't have to track that stuff down. I think it's smart to just stick with the films.
Jamesa1102: Since it is after 5PM, I'm going to thank Daryl for his time. I hope it wasn't too painful for him, and hope we can do this again.
Daryl Gregory: Thanks, everybody! I had a great time, and I hope you dig the comic.
JohnM: Have fun with the comics, and good luck. I hope it lasts and creates some kind of stir.
Chip Mosher, Marketing Director, BOOM! Studios: Hey, gang. Thanks for being so welcoming to Daryl, and there have been a ton of great questions today. I just wanted to chime in that the best way to TRULY get behind the Apes comic book is to contact your local comic book shop and PRE-ORDER the comic from them. To find out where your local comic shop is located, please go to www.comicshoplocator.com and plug in your zip code. Calling them up and pre-ordering the book shows comic-shop retailers what the demand is for the book, and they will place more orders. The order code to reference with retailers for pre-order is FEB110852. Again, thanks for being such a great fan base, and we hope to deliver to you the best Planet of the Apes possible.
Special thanks to Daryl Gregory, BOOM! Studios marketing director Chip Mosher, Jamesa1102 and the POTA Yahoo Group for agreeing to let us present this transcript.
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