Interviews

Little Ms


By Chris Weber
July 31, 2006 - 08:00

Today I have 10 questions for the very busy Andy Schmidt, who (among many, many other things) is the editor on the new Ms. Marvel series. I guess the esteemed higher powers at comicbookbin.com felt it was appropriate to have somebody German do an interview that is all ”About Schmidt.”

 

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1). Chris - Hi Andy! Ms. Marvel is a sizeable hit. Did anybody at Marvel expect the first issues to do this well?

 

Andy Schmidt - Honestly, I don’t really think so. In fact, I think I had the most doubts of anyone. I knew I liked the book and I was proud of it, but I didn’t think Ms. Marvel as a character had as much heat as she clearly did. And with Brian Reed and Roberto De La Torre as untested as they were, I figured it wasn’t their names that were going to sell the book. That said, any success this book has had comes from the amazing talents of Brian and Rob. They’re both giving it their all! And a special thanks of course to Franck Cho for such beautiful covers on the first five issues!

 

2). C - I know you’re a big fan of Marvel’s cosmic characters, and Carol has connections to the Kree and the Starjammers. We already saw the Brood, but can a ”Ms. Marvel in Space” arc be far behind? Pretty please with the return of Rocket Raccoon?

 

AS - That’s really up to Brian and Rob. It’s just my scatterbrain head, but I like to work on many different kinds of projects as much as I can. Obviously, I’m working on the Marvel Cosmic side of things a lot with ANNIHILATION, but that means that I love working on MS. MARVEL and X-FACTOR that much more—because they’re so different from the cosmic stuff. That said, I certainly don’t put any kind of mandate on my writers and artists. So if Brian and Rob want to go into space, I won’t stop them—but I love what they’re doing with Carol down here on Earth!

 

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There are talks of a Rocket Raccoon appearance somewhere down the line next year—nothing set in stone. I’m not kidding.

 

3). C - I loved the little ”Linda Danvers” joke Brian Reed put into a recent issue of Ms. Marvel. Who do you think would be better for an inter-company crossover with Ms. Marvel: The Linda Danvers Supergirl or Mary Marvel? And why?

 

AS - Mainly just because you could hype it as ”The Battle of the Marvels!” I’d go with Mary Marvel. Besides, she’s so nice, I’d love to get a chance to work with her.

 

4). C - The new series grew out of ”House of M” and almost immediately segued into ”Civil War.” Obviously, those massive crossovers are going to have a positive effect on sales of a new series, but do you also see a risk for the book’s ability to stand on its own feet?

 

AS - Brian and I talked about this a lot. We almost didn’t do a tie-in with CIVIL WAR and then Brian came up with a real emotional story for Carol in the middle of what’s going on. We were planning on going straight into the story with X-Men’s Rogue, but this three part CIVIL WAR story really tugs at Carol’s heart strings and we get to see her in a new light. It’s my favorite story yet in the book.

 

5). C - I read several comments by fans online who say they are beginning to like heroes less who side with Iron Man in the Civil War. Ms. Marvel is one of those, isn’t she? How will she ever win back the hearts and minds of those readers?

 

AS - She is technically on Iron Man’s side. But she’s not looking at it like that. She’s got a lot of loyalty to Captain America, but she’s cutting through her friendships and going with what she believes in. She believes the registration has the potential to be a very good thing—although she’s also not foolish enough to think that it couldn’t go horribly wrong.

 

Ms. Marvel is extremely conflicted in issues #6-8, and there’s such an emotional story at its core, that it’s a passionate story and an intellectual one at the same time. That said, Brian and Rob won’t do an issue without some hot action sequences too—so don’t think they’re in any short supply.

 

I think folks who pick up the MS. MARVEL tie-in issues will become invested in these characters—yes, even Araña. Part of why I think these are the best issues so far is that Brian and Rob have really gotten their sea legs now. The opening of a first issue of a comic always has kinks while the creators and editors are figuring out how to work best with each other and what exactly the book should feel like. Brian, Rob, and myself are in a real groove now, I think.

 

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6). C - We’re less than 2 years away from Carol’s 30th anniversary. Are there already any plans to commemorate the event?

 

AS - Actually, she’s turning 23 again.

 

7). C - Carol has been a lot of different things over the years: Air Force pilot, CIA-Agent, magazine editor, interdimensional date-rape victim, alcoholic… Is there anything in her backstory that you feel is so out of character that you told Brian to either ignore or explain away?

 

AS - Not really. In the first issue, he originally brought up her Binary stint in the captions and the whole giving birth to Markus in a day thing, and I recommended that we remove them because they had no connection to the story he was telling. They’re so hard to explain quickly, that I felt—and Brian agreed—that it made the comic harder to follow, not easier.

 

That said, Brian wanted to put those references in there to let the long-time fans know that we like all aspects of Ms. Marvel’s history—even the crazy ones. I’m sure we’ll get around to stories dealing with all her different aspects as soon as we can.

 

8). C - When Sean McKeever (the Eisner Award winning) got the assignment to do a Mary Jane book, Gail Simone joked that the first thing he did was look up the word ”girl” in the dictionary. When Carol first became Ms. Marvel, she was a feminist hero written by men. In 2006, the editor, writer and artist on the book are still all men. Do people ever give you a hard time about that?

 

AS - No, not really. The fact is, I’d like to work with more women creators. But they’re difficult to find. And at the end of the day, I have to go with the writer I think is best, instead of the writer that politically makes the most sense. Folks can say all they want about how male-oriented super hero comics are, and they’re probably right. I’m all for more women breaking in, but I think I’ve only gotten three women in the last year even trying to break in. One artist named Alicia Rodriguez who’s quite good, a colorist, and one writer.

 

So, ladies, if you’re out there, and you want to write and draw comics—give us a call!

 

9). C - Are we going to see any of the enduring characters who started out in Ms. Marvel stories? Mystique, Deathbird, Rogue?

 

AS - Absolutely. I said above that Rogue will be coming up. That’s a two part story directly after the CIVIL WAR stuff. Rogue is in issues #9 and 10 and they are guest penciled by the awesome Mike Wieringo! You guys and gals remember his run on FANTASTIC FOUR and Superman, right? He’s friggin’ awesome!

 

10). C - And finally, are we ever going to see that other costume again, you know, the Binary one? And will it be in the way we would expect to see it again?

 

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AS - Ah…

 

Yes and no. Keep your eyes peeled in December!

 

Thanks for the opportunity to chat, Chris. I hope everyone reading enjoyed the interview and please, if you’re not reading MS. MARVEL already, pick it up in your next visit to the shop. Flip through it. If you like what you see—give it a try.

 

Thanks again.

 

Andy

 


Last Updated: August 31, 2023 - 08:12

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