Click on the pictures to enlarge them

Could you introduce yourself to the Italian readers?

My wife Randy and I have been writing comics since the mid 80s, with a variety of titles, both at DC (Teen Titans, Blue Beetle) and Marvel (What If, Doctor Strange). The most recent work we've done has been the German Cinema Elseworld with Ted McKeever for DC, Superman Metropolis and Batman Nosferatu. We wrote the Airtight Garage series based on Moebius' graphic novel, and two Hellraiser based on Clive Barker's story. We also created Tongue*Lash with British artist Dave Taylor, published in Italy by Punto Zero.
Currently we're writing comics for SEMIC in France.
We've also written animated television and books.

Which are your influences?

In terms of comics, the classic writers like Stan Lee, Roy Thomas, Marv Wolfman, and of course editor Julie Schwartz for whom we were privileged to work on a Superman title.

Which comics do you currently read? Which authors do you follow?

I read everything by Alan Moore, but my favorite title is The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. I love Kevin O'Neill's art. I also follow the works of Jay Stephens, Mike Manley, Frank Miller, Stan Sakai, Steve Rude. In France, I follow XIII, Largo Winch, Lanfeust de Troy but also the works of Tardi, Andreas, Boucq, Loisel and Didier Conrad.

What can you reveal us about your Robur? It seems a sort of a steam-punk sci-fi ... This looks like a sort of new trend in comics, I mean we have Alan Moore's The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, the upcoming Image series Clockmaker, the Victorian ... in Italy we have a very interesting miniseries titled "Giulio Maraviglia" set in a steam-punk hypothetical Rome at the beginning of the XX century ...

The notion behind Robur began in the late 1980s when we were supposed to do a book called EMPIRE OF THE DINOSAURS for artist Mark Nelson for Dark Horse. It was going to be about Earth in 1912 being attacked by a race of intelligent dinosaurs from a parallel world. The heroes were Flash Gordon, Mata-Hari, etc. with lots of Verne & Wells notions. Then the project was abandoned because Mark Nelson had a disagreement with Dark Horse. Later, I did another steam-punk series, the DC Elseworld Superman Metropolis series, because I like the genre. So when Gil Formosa said he wanted to do something in the science fiction genre that was unique and different, I remembered the old dinosaur project, except that this time, we changed it to aliens from the Moon.

What do you know about the Italian comics market? Would you like to collaborate with any Italian artist?

I am very fond of all the Bonelli and EsseGEsse comics I read as a kid. Also Diabolik, Kriminal, Killing, etc. Right now, I work with Luciano Bernasconi for SEMIC -- we just finished WAMPUS which was a series he began in 1969! In fact a lot of the characters we're revamping for the Semic Universe were initially designed by Italian artists such as Giorgio Trevisan, Lina Buffolente, Franco & Fausto Oneta, etc in the 1960s. I would live to write for Bonelli. I am a great fan of Martin Mystere, Nathan Never, Dylan Dog, etc. If you know them, tell them I'm available! :-)

Here in Italy there is a never-ending discussion about "the crisis of Comics". I am really curious to know your opinion regarding the following topics:

1. Comics: a real Art form?

Yes, indisputably Comics is a special art form, just like Film, or Opera, or Animation. From LITTLE NEMO to TINTIN to MOEBIUS to AKIRA, I think it cannot be argued that comics as a medium has not produced some real masterpieces of art & story, in a unique combination.

2. The future of Comics as a mainstream product in the same entertainment market of movies, CDs, DVDs, videogames ... which way to reach a wider audience? maybe on the Web?

The future of Comics, I am less optimistic because it is true that children and teenagers have far more demands on their time and pocketbooks today. When I was a kid, the only thing we could spend money on were movies, music and comics (before girls! :-)) Today there are also movies (a lot more movies) and music, but also games, Internet, action figures, and even designer clothes, etc. So there is less time and less money to buy comics. So comics is becoming a "niche" market. It makes it harder to the authors to live.

GO TO THE GIL FORMOSA INTERVIEW