Home > COMICS > 'ADAM: LEGEND OF THE BLUE MARVEL' Q&A: KEVIN GREVIOUX AND MAT BROOME
'ADAM: LEGEND OF THE BLUE MARVEL' Q&A: KEVIN GREVIOUX AND MAT BROOME
The duo talk about thier new mini from Marvel about the 616's most famous hero from its past you've never heard of!
By Rachel Molino
Posted 8/22/2008
The Marvel Universe has certainly seen its share of recent ret-conning, but soon, a whole chunk of history we've never known will be added to the U's past. Kevin Grevioux—who writes New Warriors for the publisher—has a new passion: time-travel.
He's already journeyed back to the late '50s and early '60s to bulk up the period with the most powerful and popular superhero you've never heard of—The Blue Marvel. The hero is an original concept from Grevioux, and will helm a six-issue miniseries starting in November with art by fan-pleaser Mat Broome.
If you're wondering what could have kept him under wraps all this time, well that's what his story is all about. It's the story of Marvel's first black superhero, at a time when regular, non-super-powered black folks are socially shunned.
For a while it's no problem. As long as Blue Marvel wears a costume that covers his entire body, he can go on saving the world. But when it rips and his race is exposed, it's President Kennedy that asks him to lay down his mantle. While Jack and Bobby push for Civil Rights, they believe public knowledge that the most powerful being in the world is a black man may be detrimental to the long-term goal of social equality. Adam, Blue Marvel's alter ego, chooses to comply with the president's order, standing down for decades. That is, until the greatest adversary from his past returns to terrorize the present.
Wizard spoke to Grevioux and artist Mat Broome to find out where Marvel's new hero came from, and what they have planned for him now that he's back.
WIZARD: Tell me about Adam and the character Blue Marvel.
GREVIOUX: Adam, the Blue Marvel's "alter ego," is a man born at a time when America was woefully segregated and treated blacks as second-class citizens. It didn't matter how educated you were, if you where a good person, if you were a Christian or an upstanding citizen, if you were black, things weren't very easy for you. But despite the racism endemic of those times, Adam was raised not to hate anybody, and that all men were equal under the eyes of God regardless of what their position was in the social strata of the world. And once Adam received his powers and became the Blue Marvel, he continued to follow that teaching. Though with his power, he could strike a devastating blow against social injustice, he refused to do so because of the consequences it could have. This kind of moral quagmire is hard for a character to deal with because you can't be selective when it comes to being a hero. Either you help all people or you help no one.
How long have you had this creation in mind?
GREVIOUX: Of course it wasn't fully formed like it is now, but I've been kicking at least some aspects of the idea around in my head—in one form or another—since I was a kid growing up reading Marvel comics.
How did you approach seeding this character in the Marvel U's past and present, treating him as if he's always been there?
GREVIOUX: That was the easy part since there was no real Marvel continuity at the time in which he appears. So I didn't really run into too many problems. Plus the fact that he had been asked to retire simply means that he was doing other things.
How much time will the book spend in Blue Marvel's prime—the '50s and '60s—and how much will it spend in the present?
GREVIOUX: About 30 to 40 percent in the past and 60 to 70 percent in the present day.
What is your personal opinion on the complicated premise of this hero having to retire because the president believes public knowledge of his race will be counter-productive to civil rights at the time?
GREVIOUX: I really don't think it's complicated at all. I'm using real history as a springboard to tell a superhero story. If at that time, Blacks couldn't go to most universities, couldn't eat in most restaurants, couldn't drink from most water fountains, that was the way it was. You had to abide by the rules. I had a friend of mine who grew up in North Carolina where if you were black, you couldn't laugh in public. That you had to find a trash can and stick your head in so whites wouldn't be offended. And this was in the '70s!
But I think the most important aspect of the story is the fact that the President didn't like making the decision. That he knew that he was between a rock and a hard place. That he is forced to sacrifice the individual for the greater good. It shows how committed he was to doing the right thing.
I know some of the Avengers are going to show up, any other cameos or Easter eggs you can make us privy to at this point?
GREVIOUX: I don't want to give away too much. But, yes, the Avengers and Namor will make an appearance. There will be some others that will appear that might be surprising to audiences as well.
In this age where comics have become one of movies' most widely used resources, do you see any potential for Blue Marvel to do the same?
GREVIOUX: Most definitely. It's a story that's rich with character and drama. I also think, unlike other black superheroes seen in the media, there is no buffoonery or comedic element to the character. I think the Blue Marvel might provide a nice role for any actor to sink his teeth into.
WIZARD: How do you feel about Blue Marvel and the story that Kevin's created? Did you work with him in its conceptualizing?
MAT BROOME: I got a pitch from Kevin about this book he was doing with Marvel and Kevin says to me " I want to do a book that I think is timely about a Black super hero, but I don't want the book to be all about him being black just a part of the sub plot". When I heard him say that and being a fan of Kevin's movie and comic work I was immediately curious. Kevin followed up the pitch with 20 plus pages of research and to me the book read much in the scale of Millar's Ultimate run with Hitch. Its just amazing how Kevin keeps the story moving and builds up the scale at the same time. Great story and working with The Avengers I was all in at that point.
How did Blue Marvel's design come about? What was your approach to a full-coverage costume?
BROOME: Actually this credit goes to Kevin who wanted to keep the characters identity secret even to the other superheroes during the time period that the first part of the book takes place in the 50's and 60's. When I worked on The End League with another great writer Rick Remender we collaborated on many things from art to plot, but on Adam: Legend of the Blue Marvel everything was done its like getting into a new car lol everything smells fresh.
Blue Marvel's back story will be illustrated before he appears in present times, right? Have you been doing a lot of '50s and '60s era settings and styles?
BROOME: Yes, that's correct. It's been fun going thru my reference looking at the old styles of clothing and also putting a new school render on old school scenes. This type of story and golden age imagery is tricky, but its really rewarding when you've put everything together and the story also pulls into modern Marvel times so you get the best of both worlds. I love looking at '50s and 60's era design in automobiles and architecture.
Once he's out of retirement to take on his biggest foe, will Blue Marvel retain his body and face-covering costume or have a new one?
BROOME: This is one area that I get to take the wheel on the costumes and also lift his lid and show the modern Blue Marvel which we haven't show images for yet so I'm really excited about those. Karre Andrews did really awesome golden age designs I love his art and I got to do the modern ones which are based on the golden age of course. So we do take the modern approach in the new designs and show his face.
You went from the comic art scene in the mid '90s to playing a big role in the video-game art scene for Sony, what's it like being immersed in comic art once again?
BROOME: Bliss! I love being back and I feel like it's even better than before. One of the biggest reasons I returned to comics was I missed the story's and being a part of telling them and creating them. I did more reading while I was away that ever before, you just don't have the time when you're actively doing monthly work. I was in the store with my own pull list every week while Art Directing games for Sony. Its amazing how similar the two industry's are and I think they will continue to become more integrated as time goes on, but comics just have this blistering pace that's addictive. There is a massive world that's loosely linked and everything one character does effects another which is allot like making Massive Multi player Games like what I've been doing for the past eight years.
With comics and the close relationship it has with Film, Video Games and Publishing abroad I think we'll continue to create the properties that drive other markets success. Its almost impossible to make a game or a good movie in 30 days, but with comics its not only doable its on some levels the standard which is something the industry has to its advantage. Now with Marvel growing its online presence I think the next phase is only just beginning.
