An Interview with Robin Laws, by Randy "Moonstonelover" Burtis ComicBoards Exclusive! My thanks to Robin for taking the time out of his very busy schedule to do this. Q: Previous to your comic book work you were more involved with RPG's. How has that experience prepared you for comic book writing? A: RPG design doesn't really translate into comic writing, or for that matter any kind of fiction work. When you write an RPG adventure, you're not creating a story so much as you're devising a framework for a bunch of other people (the GM and players) to improvise from. If anything, RPG work saddles you with a number of bad habits you have to shrug off when writing fiction -- an overfondness for exposition and backstory chief among them. Whatever preparation I've had for comics writing comes more from my experience as a novelist than from my game work. The basic building blocks of fiction -- theme, characterization, and plot development -- operate no matter what story-telling medium you're dealing with. Even so, the shift from one medium to another can be taxing, because the toolkits available to the writer in each form is strikingly different. Prose fiction is very free -- you can zip back and forth in time, use lots of internal monologue, make seamless transitions from one scene to the next, and (in longer pieces) go off on the occasional entertaining tangent. Comics, by contrast, constrains the writer's options much more tightly. And, with Marvel, there's the whole question of catching on to a particular house style -- as it continually evolves. Q: You currently have a couple of comic projects going. A 3 issues run of Iron Man and Hulk:Nightmerica.How did you come to write these projects? A: Bill Jemas knew my work from my novel, Pierced Heart. He approached me to write a novel in the illustrated prose format you might remember from Elektra/Wolverine: Redeemer. Nightmerica began in that format; after I submitted the first draft, it was decided to do it in comic book format instead. On Iron Man, there was a sudden parting of the ways between Marvel and Mike Grell, the previous writer, and I guess my name came up as someone who might be available to step in and complete the story arc then in progress. It made sense then for me to do the subsequent fill-in storyline while Tom Breevoort looked for a permanent new writer. Q: You also finished doing a storyarc in Ironman(called Manhunt) Which was started by the previous writer Mike Grell. Can you share what touches you put on it, what direction you took it that was different from originally conceived? A: Without getting into specifics, the end result you see is mostly the original broad-strokes conception implemented with different details. It would be colossally jackassical of me to try to seize credit for particular elements of the arc, or to seem to distance myself from other parts. Q: Vegas Bleeds Neon is your own Iron Man story arc. The second part came out recently. Can you explain why you chose this kind of story and possibly where it is going. (NOTE: SPOILERS AHEAD) A: Because it was a fill-in, it had to stand alone and couldn't do anything permanent to the characters that the new writer would then have to undo. The end of the previous story left Tony at a low point and I thought it would be interesting to show him working his way through that. And what better way to than to go to Vegas, suffer its temptations, and fight alien bio/nanotech? Hints on the final installment? Maybe those Iron fans who've been pining for an increased supervillian quotient might find something to dig about it... Q: If you were to get a chance to write Iron man full time would you focus on more super villains? Which ones? Introduce new ones? Steer clear of them? What supporting characters would be there? Who would be Tony's main romantic interest? A: Any writer given the chance to write any existing book full time has to make those kinds of decisions after consulting with the editor to see what direction Head Office is looking for, so that's a hypothetical question I find pretty hard to answer. They are all interesting questions, though, and I'm looking forward to seeing how JJ Miller answers them. The political angle sounds pretty cool. Q: Hulk:Nightmerica is a 6 issue limited series. Do you know if it will be put in TPB? A: I believe that's the plan. Q: Is there pressure, in light of the Hulk movie, placed on this project? A: I saw the push for the movie as an big opportunity, not a source of pressure. As a writer you always put pressure on yourself and hope that your projects reach as large an audience as possible. When Nightmerica was a novel, I had a freer hand to ignore continuity, presenting Banner as younger and more Eric Bana-like. When it became a comic, it was more about conforming to the mainline Marvel universe version of the character than about making it match the movie. Q: Why should someone pick up this series? A: It's got fabulous art by Brian Ashmore, who brings an evocative watercolor approach to the fully-painted comic. Story-wise, it boasts Hulk-sized portions of both drama and action. It introduces a new cast of surreal characters to the Marvel Universe. And it's got something to say. Oh, and did I mention that Hulk smashes a bunch of stuff? Q: What is it like working on a character that has such an established history, yet making the character/story relevant and fresh for present day readers as well as those long time fans. A: I think the key to this is to imagine the character -- in this case Banner -- as a real-life person, and try to invest him with genuine emotion, while situating him in a world that is recognizably our own real world -- then worry about the genre elements after that. Once you've done that you can begin to nod to the classic elements we all expect in a Hulk story. Specifically, I wanted to focus on Banner as a competent fugitive, and to give him an active goal to work toward, as opposed to the reactive motivation of trying to get away from the people who are chasing him. (Not that people aren't chasing him, mind you -- it's not the Hulk if he ain't being chased.) Q:Are there any other projects(comic or otherwise) that you have coming up? A: The only thing I can talk about right now is a novel I'm currently writing for Games Workshop. It's called Sacred Flesh and is a sequel to the recently-released Honour of the Grave. Q: What comic project would be your dream project to work on? A: I'd love to do a high-profile Hulk mini... oh, wait, I'm already doing that. Guess it's all downhill from here... Q: What do you do when you aren't writing? A: I'm a dedicated cinema fan deep in the throes of a crippling DVD addiction. Right now I'm looking forward to Toronto's big film festival, which unspools in a couple of weeks. My wife and I do that like full-out maniacs every year, watching 4-6 movies a day for 9 days. I'm also an avid follower of music, literature, and the visual arts. For the place to discuss the interview check out the: Iron Man Message Board and Hulk Message Board