Adam and Marc are long-time writing buddies with titles such as Highwayman, Genius and Push under their belts. Their new book is about.. Well, let's let them tell you about it.
Tell CBMers about Hero Complex and what it is bringing to the floor as a new book.
MARC: One of the things that interests Adam and I is taking a look at the familiar and finding new ways to explore it. Monster Attack Network springs from the classic Godzilla/kaiju story and examines what happens to an island’s infrastructure when giant monsters invade on a regular basis. Hero Complex came from both of us hitting our 20-year high school reunion and wondering: “What happens when a guy who was the 100-pound weakling in high school, but has since become a full-fledged superhero, goes to his reunion? What happens when a changed man goes back home again?” We found a lot of grist for that particular mill. And a lot of humor.
ADAM: I am really proud of the fact that all of our projects are different. "The Highwaymen" is vastly different from "Monster Attack Network" which is a 180-degree turn from "Genius" and so on. Hero Complex is just all out fun and plays on tons of comic book tropes and cliches.
Has it been getting a good response from comic book readers?
ADAM: I think it's been overwhelmingly positive. People get it. It's meant to be read and enjoyed, it's not going to change the world.
MARC: It was designed to be a light entertainment; something that didn’t carry the sort of tragic weight of so many superhero books. We like those, and we know that they dominate the market, but we wanted to deliver something that people weren’t getting on a regular basis. And readers have responded to that.
Any plans to develop it into a movie? And how's that progressing?
ADAM: Well we are excited that Tobey Maguire is interested. Having someone who has played in that space before is perfect because he both gives it credibility and lets the audience wink at this story a bit with us.
MARC: As with all things in Hollywood, it’s a hurry-up-and-wait scenario. Things always move slowly in the comics-to-film business...until they move incredibly quickly.
Are you excited that your property is being launched a motion comic?
ADAM: Yeah, I can't wait to see it come to life. I also like to see how our work is interpreted by other people so it should be very interesting.
MARC: Motion comics can go one of two ways: They can be interesting adaptations that succeed in their own right, or they can be abysmally boring. We’re hoping the audience agrees with us and sees that this lands in the former category.
What are your thoughts on how the medium (comic books) is being developed into films and motion comics?
ADAM: The comic book industry is just so broken - it has to find ways to bring in additional (or any!) revenue and new fans. I hope that people that went to see Thor but never read the comics went back to discover them, but I am not so sure. I have mixed feelings about the Hollywood angle because while the execs have fully realized that some of the most creative work is coming from comic creators they don't respect us enough to let us take a whack at the adaptations. I love when someone wants to license one of our books and bring in a screenwriter to hear their "take." What about the two guys right here who CREATED IT? I think we might have a good grasp of the material. But in the end, I am for anything that keeps the comic industry alive.
MARC: I’m hoping that the lessons that films like The Dark Knight and Iron Man -- that if you treat the subject matter with an open-eyed maturity, you can make both great cinema and fun movies -- don’t get lost in the desire to make more and more money. It is a business, and we totally get that. But the moviegoing audience is ready and willing to embrace superheroic storytelling -- so long as Hollywood doesn’t let them down.
What other projects are you working on?
ADAM: We are wrapping up another OGN for Kickstart that is very different from Hero Complex. Darker. We are most excited about our first novel, "Jake the Dreaming," coming out from Radical Publishing in December. It’s an illustrated novel -- it’s a prose book, but every few pages readers’ll get an astonishing illustration by Andrew Jones. They released a sneak preview for Free Comic Book Day that was really well received.
MARC: And we’re finally going to release the continuation of Genius, a gritty urban-action book that won Top Cow’s Pilot Season competition a couple of years back. It’s a story long time in the coming, but we’re delighted to be able to complete that story.
Is there anything else you'd like to relay to CBM's 5 million monthly comics/movies readers/watchers?
Make sure to follow us on Twitter: @mradamfreeman & @marcbernardin.
Our thanks to Adam and Marc for the interview. Be sure to
buy Hero Complex HERE, and watch for the motion comic that will debut on CBM's splastk player very soon.