The Authority recently had their asses handed to them by a crack team of human Special Forces operatives within the pages of StormWatch: Team Achilles #6 and the result of that battle had Message Boards across the Web burning for weeks. I decided to contact Micah Wright, StormWatch: TA's resident script writer, and ask him some questions concerning the construction of a team battle and on just how much input fans really have when it comes to their favorite comic book characters.
Greg Schoen: You recently had Stormwatch beat the Authority's ass in Stormwatch: TA #6. Many fans seem to be upset about their treatment in your book, yet it seems that an equal amount are supportive of your decision to beat down the Wildstorm Universe's premier team. What would you like to say to those people who think you failed to do justice to The Authority?
Micah Wright: There was no ass beating... StormWatch accomplished their tactical mission (to kill the Chechan superterrorist cell) and withdrew, period. This was not a "superbattle to end all superbattles" between two teams of over-muscled toughs punching it out on a city street amongst a crowd of terrified civilians, it was a military action, ruthlessly carried out by professionals against violent terrorists using a team of elite super-dilettantes as the weapon to smite the terrorists.
Ben Santini, the leader of StormWatch, has a clear plan: avoid violence, avoid force, always negotiate. But, when violence is unavoidable, strike fast, unexpectedly, and with total commitment and willpower. It's hard to stand up against someone who's done their homework, either in life or in comics. Look at Trent Lott... the guy's been hiding from these nasty things that drop out of his mouth his whole career long, but it wasn't until one web reporter put ALL of them together to show a pattern of racist remarks that all the support for him dropped out from under him.
GS: What sort of forethought did you put into the fight between Jukko and The Midnighter? Did any sort of real life experiences help you in the choreography?
MW: I was in the U.S. Army Rangers. We're one of the last groups of the modern military to receive intensive personal-combat training. In addition, I have tons of friends who compete in combat sports such as jiu-jitsu, Kendo and kickboxing. I worked that entire fight between Jukko and Midnighter out with a friend of mine in order to show people what a real fight looks like. Only one air move, no big kicks, no roundhouse punches, etc. I have a big problem with comic-book and movie fight sequences. For the most part, if someone has to be hit five or six times in their head then you should really just run away. :)
Initially, that fight was four pages long... but to give room to the rest of the characters, I had to trim three pages of it. People are suggesting that we put those pages back in for a "director's cut" of the trade paperback. I'm going to talk to Wildstorm about that.
I'm writing a Jukko 8-page backup story right now, so for all you fight fans out there, you'll definitely be seeing more real fisticuffs in the future.
GS: Any plans for a rematch between the two teams?
MW: Midnighter shows up in #8 and faces off with Jukko in a different way than he did in #6. I won't say any more about that story. As for future Authority storylines, it's going to depend on whether or not Robbie Morrison wants to do any. I'm sure he'll be much too busy establishing his own tone on the series to want to do many team-ups or crossovers.
GS: Any other surprises fans should look out for?
MW: Yes. Lots of them. I think old-school Wildstorm fans are going to be in for a treat in our second year of stories. We'll be seeing a lot of old faces.
GS: There have been complaints over some message boards that Whilce Portacios artwork has not been at par with the writing. Will there be any changes to the artistic team of StormWatch: TA?
MW: I've heard these types of complaints and I think that they're tremendously unfair to Whilce. He's a great partner to work with on the series and I, for one, respect the amount of experimentation he's been going through with his new style. What he's doing with the pencils is having a consistent lineweight and having the coloring fill in the perception of depth and surface curvature which normally an inker would handle. It's a type of painting with light, much more akin to how a film director thinks about shooting a scene than typical look of American comics. I think a lot of people are just unused to his style... when people give it a chance, it seems to grow on them pretty quickly.
For those who feel that Whilce isn't their cup of tea, Mark Texiera is our guest artist on issue #7 and Tomm Coker is our guest artist on #8. Whilce returns as of #9.
As for Whilce leaving, Lord knows, no creative team works together for very long in American comics... I think Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon are pushing the record right now and they're not even American! If Whilce ever did choose to move on or to work on his own projects, I just hope people wouldn't think he was running away because of what some angry fan said online. StormWatch has been very lucky to have Whilce attached... his name recognition has really helped push this book with retailers, and I consider him an asset to the book in every way.
GS: How much input does a man in the creative drivers seat such as yourself actually take from fan reactions?
MW: It's interesting... occasionally I'll see some comment online about something in the book and I'll say "hmm, that's a good idea... I should have done it THAT WAY." Unfortunately, this is usually a week after the comic has been published, so it's too late for that particular issue... I just file it away for later. Other times some one says something which makes me think "hey, we haven't seen That Guy in quite a while... maybe I can work HIM into the story!"
GS: Any other projects we should look for from you in the near future?
MW: Oh, I'm always busy... I've got a book about the War of 1812 mostly written and awaiting a publisher. I have a book of remixed Propaganda Images coming out in April which is orderable via Amazon right now. I have comics projects in the works which I cannot mention for various reasons.
GS: What books (comic related or otherwise) are you currently reading?
MW: I buy pretty much anything written by Brian Azzarello, Grant Morrison, Brian K. Vaughn, Peter Milligan, Garth Ennis and a few other people... I tend to be attracted to strong writers more than strong pencillers. For me, great art in service of bad story is a waste of time. I'm a little more forgiving in the other direction... a good story can make even the worst art shine for me.
