Despite being incredibly busy helming "Curse of the Mutants" for Marvel's latest X-Men event, the critically acclaimed writer was kind enough to take some time out of his hectic schedule to talk to me about his comic book work and a whole lot more! I would of course like to say a big thank you to him for taking the time to talk with me and sharing his thoughts for us to enjoy.
Victor Gischler's debut novel
Gun Monkeys was nominated for the Edgar Award, and his novel Shotgun Opera was an Anthony Award finalist. His work has been translated into Italian, French, Spanish and Japanese. His comic book work for Marvel includes
The Punisher: Frank Castle,
Wolverine,
Deadpool: Merc With a Mouth and
Deadpool Corps. Victor is currently writing the newest
X-Men title and recently killed off iconic villain Dracula in
The Death of Dracula. You can find out more about him and his work by clicking
HERE to visit his blog or
HERE to follow him on Twitter.
JOSH WILDING: What was it that made you decide to start writing comic books as well as your bestselling crime fiction novels?
VICTOR GISCHLER: I've always wanted to write comics, so it was really more a matter of waiting for the opportunity to open up. I read comics from about age 8 to 18 then fell out of it for a while when I went to college. Being eternally short on money has a way of carving comics from the budget. But I got back into reading them a few years ago and the bug to write them bit me again.
JOSH WILDING: Was the transition a difficult one?
VICTOR GISCHLER: For sure there were some things to learn. But I'd been getting into writing screenplays and that format sort of helped me transition to comics. It's surprising sometimes what you can pack into a 22 page script.
JOSH WILDING: Which character has been the most enjoyable for you to write so far?
VICTOR GISCHLER: I think Deadpool's pop culture references are very close to my own sense of humor, so he's the most fun. But there is HUGE satisfaction working on a team as important as X-men. I've yet to have a bad experience writing comics.
JOSH WILDING: Was it fun to write a big moment like the death of Dracula in the recent one-shot?
VICTOR GISCHLER: Yes. That single issue is something I'm very proud of. Axel and I went around on the script a number of times getting it just right, and I think the effort shows. At SDCC I had a lot of people come up and tell me how much they liked the issue and that's a very satisying feeling. I'm grateful to all those readers and shops that sold out the run.
JOSH WILDING: What was it like to see the phenomenal success of the first issue of X-Men which sold over 100,000 copies?
VICTOR GISCHLER: I'm not used to those kinds of numbers. I try not to think about it so I don't get dizzy and I also remind myself that it's the X-Men who are the popular ones. Keeps my head from getting big.
JOSH WILDING: Was there anything in particular that influenced your decision to have the X-Men face off against vampires?
VICTOR GISCHLER: Actually, that decision sort of evolved from the Death of Dracula one-shot. The one-shot went so well, that we thought a big vampire threat might be worthy of the X-men debut. So far, so good.
JOSH WILDING: Was it difficult to decide which X-Men to use as the main characters in the series?
VICTOR GISCHLER: It was less decision and more evolution. As we got more and more into the story, it became clearer and clearer which characters needed to take center stage. Same with the second story arc. I *thought* I'd picked my team but had to reevaluate once I started scripting.
JOSH WILDING: I thought that Janos was a great character after being introduced to him in The Death Of Dracula. Any chance we'll see him return in X-Men at some point?
VICTOR GISCHLER: Janus was actually a character that existed before, and we dusted him off and gave him a makeover to get some use out of him. Check the Storm & Gambit one-shot.
JOSH WILDING: Any particular comic book movies that you're looking forward to or would like to see made?
VICTOR GISCHLER: Does anyone know if there is a Dr. Strange movie in the works? I'd go see that!
JOSH WILDING: What else can we expect to see from you in the coming months?
VICTOR GISCHLER: More vamps as we finsih up the first arc...then the X-men take Manhattan!