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[IMAGE SPOTLIGHT:] 'KILL ALL PARENTS' | Writer Mark Andrew Smith informs readers on the necessity behind killing all superhero parents
Also check after the interview for PREVIEW PAGES!
| | | By Kevin Mahadeo | | Posted 6/17/08 | |  | | ![[IMAGE SPOTLIGHT:] 'KILL ALL PARENTS'](http://ep.yimg.com/ca/I/wizarduniverse_2058_1869855803)
Mark Andrew Smith kills all parents this week in his latest one-shot from Image Comics. Correction, Mark Andrew Smith explains the necessity of killing all superhero parents in his latest one-shot titled—appropriately enough—Kill All Parents.
The one-shot takes a number of familiar superhero mythologies and gives a unique spin on each by displaying a secret, hidden connection between all superhero origins. Smith gives us a little background on the one-shot—which originated from not doing his homework—and the possibility of a spin-off series.
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Now, the title seems rather obvious as to what the book focuses on, but can you expand a little on that?
SMITH: One of the biggest genre conventions of superhero comics is the deaths of the superhero's parents in almost every single book. So, it's almost a meta-story in terms of that factor and in terms of tying it all in. It's done in a pretty cool way.
How'd you come up with the idea? Was it just from reading a bunch of comics and noticing the trend?
SMITH: Actually, at a university for film studies, I was doing research at the library in UC Santa Barbara. I totally wasn't doing my film paper, and I was like, "Well, s--t, they have stuff about comic books, so I'm going to go up here and check that out." [Laughs] In the academic books about comics, there's one about superhero psychology and I was flipping through it. I read up on the convention of the psychology of the superhero and about how the death of the parent is so important to the superhero turning out right and upholding the vise of justice.
What can you say about the origin stories you'll be addressing? Obviously some of them seem rather familiar.
SMITH: It's stuff you're pretty familiar with, and the heroes are pretty thinly disguised to the point where if you read any of the Big Two's books you'll know exactly who they are. So, there's some pretty famous superheroes mythologies redone in a way through a skewed perspective giving a different viewpoint on what really happened in their story.
Why do the book as a one-shot? Why not run it as a miniseries?
SMITH: It was just an idea that I had over one weekend. I wrote it, and it all came pouring out really fast and quickly in terms of where I want to go with it. There could have definitely been enough for more stories, but there's just something really great about writing a one-shot that tells the whole story from here to there. But actually, in the process of it, I fell in love with some of the characters, such as the Locust. Eventually, I might want to skew that away from Kill All Parents and tell a Locust miniseries with that character doing his own thing apart from the justice group in that book.
Are there any other characters you'd spin off?
SMITH: For now, it's really just that one with the Locust. He's such a cool character, and after working with him... He was meant to be more of a throwaway character based loosely on other characters, but I just fell in love with his personality and started coming up with more ideas. I talked with [the artist] Marcelo [Dichiara] about doing more, and he's like, "Yeah. This character is pretty cool." I'd really be up to it.
So, there more be more to this series in the future after all?
SMITH: Yeah, there may be after all. But it'd probably be a year, or two, or three off before I can get around to it because I'm pretty swamped with stuff.
There are definitely some fun characters in this book, like Ignition Jones, who references similar life events to a certain insect-themed, building swinging guy.
SMITH: Yeah. He was cool, but he was more a background character in the book. Tomorrow Man is the second major character. There's Fabu-Lass, and Doctor Illusion. They're all based loosely on other things, but I can't say what they are or else I get in trouble. [Laughs]
There's a lot of little references in here, like the Winged Goblin killing Ignition Jones' girlfriend Stacy. It must have been a lot of fun coming up with all this stuff.
SMITH: Yeah. It's just this great meshing of years and years worth of comic books that everyone knows pretty well. So, they'll get it and connect all the parts pretty well. Hopefully, people will have a really good time with the adventure of reading it and won't be too offended with too many of the parts that happen in the book.
I think the idea alone is fantastic and again there's all the little references, but do you have any words on why people should check this out?
SMITH: I definitely think you should check it out if you're a fan of the Big Two superheroes and if you know the history and mythology really well and if you want to read a really fun story that's self-contained. You don't have to get super into it, but you can enjoy it if you read superhero books. Even if you don't, you'll probably recognize most of the stuff in it and get a kick out of it.
Now, I've got to point this out because there's a spread in here of a cemetery scene, and it seems like two characters make a cameo appearance—Aqua Leung from his own self-titled book and Stevo from Amazing Joy Buzzards.
SMITH: Yeah. Aqua Leung is in there because his parents died off. And Stevo is in there because his mother is a Yeti who got killed by hunters in the Himalayas. So, those two characters had to make a cameo in there. Also, the janitor in that book is the janitor from Amazing Joy Buzzards as well. He usually makes his rounds in every new thing I'm doing. I like giving him a bit of a cameo here and there. So, the crazy old janitor from Amazing Joy Buzzards is there and starts the book off with the discovery of this other element to what's going on.
Oh man. That old dude's been everywhere. You should totally do a book about the crazy old janitor and go through your other books through his perspective.
SMITH: That's a really good idea, actually. I hadn't thought of that yet. Damn you! [Laughs]
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| | Writer Mark Andrew Smith informs readers on the necessity behind killing all superhero parents
Also check after the interview for PREVIEW PAGES!
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