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Thursday, December 08, 2011

Aquaman Shrine Interview with Joshua Williamson

sg
On Tuesday, the Shrine posted a recap of one of the General Mills JLA comics that are exclusive to certain boxes of cereal; this was the one that centered on Aquaman and Batman that I enjoyed as a solid, well-paced, all-ages DC superhero comic.

The writer of that comic, Joshua Williamson, was kind enough to answer some questions about the book and Aquaman in general:


The Aquaman Shrine
: How was the overall plot to "Breakout!" pitched? Did you propose an Aquaman/Batman-centric story, or was that already in the mix?


Joshua Williamson
: They presented me with a few options...different team-ups. Superman/Wonder Woman, Flash/Green Lantern, and Batman/Aquaman. I knew I had to do the Batman/Aquaman team-up. I've always loved their dynamic and thought it could make for a fun and kick ass story.


After they gave me the okay, I went ahead and submitted a few different ideas, with different villain combos. The Penguin/Ocean Master was the one everyone liked so we went with that. Which was great because it was my favorite.


TAS
: Are you a particular Aquaman fan? If so, do you have some favorite Aquaman stories?


JW
: Yes! I loved Peter David's whole run. Aquaman: Time and Tide, which was sort of an Aquaman: Year One book by Peter David is probably my favorite Aquaman story of all time. It was Aquaman flashing back to the highlights of his life that was a prelude to Peter David's epic story. You'll notice that there is a reference to Time and Tide in my General Mills story.


sg
Now I'm a big fan of what Geoff Johns is doing with his new relaunched title. It has me really excited for the future of the Aquaman Franchise.

TAS:
The Aquaman in your story seems a mix of the traditional comic book Aquaman and the Batman: Brave and the Bold version. Was this something intentional, since (presumably) the audience reading these General Mills comics is around the same age as that of the show?

JW:
Yeah, I wanted to try and hit both bases. Obviously I'm a big fan of the comics and the cartoon so I thought it would be fun to do a mix of the two. Something for hardcore fans and then a little something for the new kids who only know the show. Man, I wish they let me give him a beard. Haha.


TAS:
Do you have other Aquaman stories in your mind that you'd like to tell some day?

JW:
For sure. He's one of my favorites. There is so much that can be done with his character. So many facets to him: The hero, the father, the son, the husband...and the King.


For the most part I have a few short ideas but then a bunch of big epic ideas. Hopefully some day I will get to tell them.


TAS:
What's it like working on a comic book that's designed as a piece of mass-merchandising like these General Mills/JLA comics? Is there an extra level of scrutiny in the creative process, or did you not have to deal with any of that?
sg
JW: My editor kept most of that way from me. Honestly, they barely touched my script. It was explained to me that they wanted an all-ages book and I have some experience with all-ages so it was easy to put together. They had a few minor notes, but my script was one of the easier ones to get approved.

Once in the art stage there were a few minor changes here and there, but for the most part by story is intact.


Working on an all ages, stand alone book that is going to be read by so many people was a lot of fun.

sgTAS: The Shrine has long advocated an Aquaman team-up book called Surf & Turf. Are you in?

JW:
You bet! That would be a lot of fun. Undersea adventures or fish out of water team-ups sound great to me!


TAS:
What are you working on now?

JW:
A ton of stuff. Voodoo and Uncharted for DC Comics, Xenoholics at Image, and a few things for next year I can’t talk about yet. 2012 is going to be a very busy year.
If I'm lucky some of it will involve Aquaman!


You can find more about Joshua's work at his website and Twitter feed. And tell him The Aquaman Shrine sent you!

1 comment:

Russell said...

Sounds like a great Aquaman fan. Hope to read more from him soon!