By Kevin Mahadeo
Certain people just have "The Write Stuff."
Marvel proudly announces its "The Write Stuff" promotion, which will shine the spotlight on a quartet of up-and-coming writers in the same "Young Guns" has highlighted some of the industry's top artists over the past several years. Over the next four days, Marvel.com will unveil the names participating in this initiative and introduce you to the writers of tomorrow.
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PUNISHER #5
cover by
Mike McKone |
Rick Remender wanted to follow in his mother's footsteps and become a writer.
Needless to say, he accomplished his goal and then some with over eight years of comic book work in his corner, from countless creator-owned titles to now writing exclusively for Marvel Comics, and being one of the four writers named in Marvel's latest promotion of talent, "The Write Stuff."
"It's incredibly flattering that [Marvel] sees me as someone they want to get behind," says Remender. "I've had a wonderful time in the last seven or eight years creating a pretty large library of creator-owned books and scratched that itch really well. So, this came at a very perfect point in my career where I really wanted to get a chance to play with some of the toys in this particular sandbox."
Growing up, Remender studied writing in school, but after a while he found himself drawn into the artistic realm and working with companies such as Warner Bros and Fox as an animator and storyboard artist. However, despite his professional drift away from writing, Remender never left his pen far behind.
"I focused on both [art and writing] the whole time and I never stopped," he recalls. "I was constantly writing. Seven or eight of my creator-owned projects were conceived during the time I was primarily making my living as an artist."
For a person in love with both the written word and visual aesthetics, a career in comics seemed the obvious choice, as the medium blended both ingredients into a cocktail of combined creativity. Remender says his experience in both realms helped him build the basics for comic storytelling, and currently the writer utilizes his arsenal of experience in the PUNISHER ongoing series, delivering what he calls "a high-octane blast of some good pulpy insanity with Frank [Castle]."
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PUNISHER #6
cover by
Mike McKone |
"I felt that the only way to put my stamp on the character was to write it as if it was my own or any of my other creator-owned properties," explains Remender of his approach to the
Punisher. "I think that people's response to the book and overwhelmingly positive reaction is because of that and because of editor Axel Alonso who [has allowed] me to work with artist Jerome Opena and to take some of we've done on [creator-owned projects] and bring it to PUNISHER."
The success of PUNISHER and his inclusion in the "Write Stuff" promotion definitely paves the way room for Remender to put his impression on many other aspects of the Marvel Universe; the writer expresses interest in one particular area that he really wants to work his magic on.
"I really like the supernatural stuff in the Marvel Universe," enthuses Remender. "I think there's a lot of underdeveloped and left-behind oddities in the supernatural realm and that's really where I want to sink into and to gritty up that stuff and get to the core of the meta-brilliance that [creators] like Steve Ditko and Stan Lee were bringing to the old
Doctor Strange and all the 70's monsters stuff—trying to update that while still keeping the classic aesthetics."
While Remender may soon get his opportunity to dabble in the mystic realm of Marvel, he assures us he doesn't plan on parting ways with PUNISHER anytime soon. In fact, he hints toward some big things coming down the line for the hostile hero:
"It's big out of the gates and if you miss what we're doing with Frank in the coming months, you're missing out on some good comic bookery."
As for Remender's professional future, the writer exhibits nothing but gratitude for his inclusion in the "Write Stuff" promotion and looks forward to working with everyone at Marvel, from his fellow writers to artists to editors, to continuously raise the bar to the next level.
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PUNISHER #6
cover by
Mike McKone |
"I think we'd all like to see our generation of creators put their mark on these characters and I think at Marvel right now you've got a really great breed of guys and they've all been incredibly supportive," he summarizes. "I'd like to see this be a generation of creators that find a nice way to work together in camaraderie and really elevate what already is a very high standard."
Come back tomorrow as we reveal the final "Write Stuff" writer here on Marvel.com!
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