Aquaman Shrine Interview with Jimmy Palmiotti - 2009

Today over on my TreasuryComics.com site, I have an interview with writer/artist Jimmy Palmiotti, who is writing the delightfully lighthearted Supergirl strip for Wednesday Comics, drawn by Amanda Conner.

When I first heard about Wednesday Comics, I was disappointed to learn that Aquaman would not be getting his own feature. But he's not been totally left out, guest-starring in both Supergirl and Kyle Baker's Hawkman strip.

You can read the entire interview with Jimmy over on my TreasuryComics.com Interviews page, but I thought I'd run the couple of Aqua-centric questions I asked him here today:

Aquaman Shrine: The strips in Wednesday Comics are paced unlike anything else in regular comics--12 one-page segments instead of a 20-plus page story. Did you find it a challenge writing and pacing a story like this? Was it a fun process?

Jimmy Palmiotti: It was both fun and a challenge for us and thats ok because everything I take on these days is a bit of an adventure for me to see what I can do next. Making it all work within 12 parts and making each segment able to somewhat stand alone was something I labored on for the first few, then when Aquaman came around, it got much easier. Ireally dont know how to explain that better...lol.

AMS: Aquaman makes everything better! Did you always want to work Aquaman (and other guest-stars) into the Supergirl story, or did it occur to you as you were plotting it out?

JP: It just hit me one day that if would be an interesting thing to do and I grew up on the Super Friends Aquaman, not the royal sometimes entitled Aquaman...so given this chance, I thought...what would Aquaman really be like if he were real, and what would he be acting like and so I worked it onto the strip.

For me, the tone you should be thinking about here is Aquaman played by a younger Dennis Leary. I just love how people are responding to it...but really don't expect DC will ever let me do an actual book like that...lol. I really do believe there should be more fun in the books these days.

AMS: Is Aquaman a character you'd ever want to write as a solo star? Have any untold Aquaman stories you'd like to tell?

JP: I would love to do a 6 issue mini-series that has nothing to do with DC continuity. Something showing what it would be like for one person to have to deal with 70% of the planet's problems while having a life of their own...and mostly showing what Aquaman eats...I think I started a lot of this conversation a few years back at a San Diego panel and I have never really gotten a good answer.

Aquaman fans probably don't like what I did with their character, but whatever. Its all good fun and nice to see him pop up. Next week its Dr. Mid-Nite.

AMS: Where can I get one of those clam phones Aquaman has?

JP: I think it is up to DC Direct to make them. I just couldn't think of what he would use to communicate and the idea just popped into mine and Amanda's head.


I really appreciate Jimmy taking some time to talk to me about his work on Wednesday Comics. Speaking for this AquaFan, I was happy to see him show up in the Supergirl strip and I like the slightly off-kilter take on the character. And I want one of those clam phones!

Thanks Jimmy!