Cullen grew up in rural North Carolina, but now lives in the St. Louis area with his wife Cindy and his son Jackson. His noir/horror comic (and first collaboration with Brian Hurtt), The Damned, was published in 2007 by Oni Press. The follow-up, The Damned: Prodigal Sons, was released in 2008. In addition to The Sixth Gun, his current projects include Crooked Hills, a middle reader horror prose series from Evileye Books; The Tooth, an original graphic novel from Oni Press; and various work for Marvel and DC. Somewhere along the way, Cullen founded Undaunted Press and edited the critically acclaimed small press horror magazine, Whispers from the Shattered Forum. All writers must pay their dues, and Cullen has worked various odd jobs, including Alien Autopsy Specialist, Rodeo Clown, Professional Wrestler Manager, and Sasquatch Wrangler. And, yes, he has fought for his life against mountain lions and he did perform on stage as the World’s Youngest Hypnotist. Buy him a drink sometime, and he’ll tell you all about it. [
www.cullenbunn.com]
For those unfamiliar with your creator owned series The Sixth Gun, could you tell our readers a little about it? The Sixth Gun is a dark fantasy set in the Old West. It follows the story of the Six, a set of magical six-shooters with apocalyptic powers. The most powerful of the Six vanished after the Civil War, and it has recently resurfaced in the hands of an innocent girl. The first issue of the series is free on ComiXology, so I'd definitely encourage folks to check that out.
It was revealed at the San Diego Comic Con last year that Syfy are moving ahead with a small screen adaptation of the series. Are there any updates on its progress? The wheels turn slowly. All I can say is that it is still a work in progress. I try not to think about that side of things too much, because I can get lost in daydreams. Right now, I'm just focused on the comic. I want to make it the very best book I can.
Fear Iself: The Fearless and Fear Itself: Battle Scars are both nearing their conclusion. Any teases as for what we should look forward to in the final few issues? The last few issues of The Fearless features a HUGE battle between Sin (using her very soul to power the Final Sleeper) and a large number of superheroes. In the end, both Sin and Valkyrie will be changed a little and have new driving goals. The final issues of Battle Scars are tense and full of action. It really sets Marcus Johnson up as a major Marvel Universe player, and it has some major ramifications for Nick Fury himself.
After Jason Aaron's legthy run on Wolverine, how do you feel to be taking over from him with issue #304? It's a little intimidating following what (I believe) to be one of the best runs in the character's history. At the same time, that really encourages me to bring my A game.
So, what can readers expect from your take on the character? This will be a Wolverine-focused book, meaning that while there will be guest appearances from other characters, I want to make sure the stories are focused on Logan as much as possible. The first story (featuring Dr. Rot) is pretty dark and violent. In the next story, I'm going for a more action-oriented, pulp adventure. I'm hoping to put Wolverine in as many unique situations as possible.
Can you tell us about your approach to retelling the origin of one of Marvel's best known characters with the Spider-Man: Season One graphic novel? It was a challenge, because I didn't want to change any of the character's existing history, I wanted it to be an interesting read for people who have never read a Spider-Man comic, and I wanted to give long-time Spidey fans something enjoyable, too. That's a lot of masters to serve. in the end, I decided to focus on Peter Parker's early obsession with being famous as the driving force of the comic. That gave it an angle to hang the rest of the story elements on.
It was recently revealed that you'll be co-writing Venom with Rick Remender in the five issue arc, "Savage Six". What do you guys have planned for that story? We're introducing a new team of villains who will be tormenting poor Flash. While they are characters he has met before, they are now working in a very organized fashion with one goal in mind--destroy Venom. It's a very fast-paced, crazy story in which Flash is paying the price for all the mistakes he's made as Venom.
It was also announced a little while back that you'll be working on Captain America &..., featuring a rotating cast of characters (the first being Hawkeye) teaming up with Cap. What can we expect from their team-up and do you have any clue who else you might choose to appear in the future? The first story pits Captain America and Hawkeye against a very dark force rising in the American southwest. It's a story with lots of monsters, "dinosaurs," and a classic villain--Stegron. Cap and Hawkeye have such different approaches to super-heroics. I wanted a wild adventure that would show how they work well...and how they work poorly with each other. The next arc features Iron Man. It will be something of a spy-fi thriller set in Madripoor.
You seem to have a lot on your plate right now and Marvel are clearly more than happy to entrust you with a fair few of their books. How are you finding the experience so far? Right now, I'm making a living writing comic books. You'll never hear me complain about that! It's been a lot of fun. I can;t wait to see what's next in the Marvel Universe! As a creator, I'm in a great spot. I get to work on creator-owned books as well as superhero books featuring some of my favorite characters of all time!
Are there any characters you've not yet had chance to write that you'd like to? Sure. Lots of them. Many characters have had cameos and guest spots in the books I'm writing, but I'd love to write some X-Men stories, Dr. Strange, Man-Thing, and a whole host of obscure characters that I (and maybe only I) remember.
I have to ask - The Avengers, The Amazing Spider-Man and The Dark Knight Rises. Which 2012 comic book movie are you most looking forward to? I can't wait for all of them... but Avengers is the one I'm looking forward to the most. Joss Whedon and a mash-up of all these great cinematic heroes? I'm there!
A big thank you to Cullen for taking the time to answer my questions. You can find his official website at
www.cullenbunn.com and he's also on Twitter at
@cullenbunn.
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