Gerry Conway was one of the most prolific comic book writers of the 1970s and 80s.  His writing credits go on for miles! He’s probably best known for co-creating the Punisher and Firestorm, as well as scripting the death of Gwen Stacy in the Amazing Spider-Man.  He also wrote for and produced such TV series as Law & Order and Diagnosis Murder.  Gerry recently returned to comics after an almost 20 year absence with the insightful mini-series, The Last Days of Animal Man.

As always, Gerry was a true joy to talk with. During our two hours together, we discussed how Gerry started in comics, his work on Firestorm, Steel: The Indestructible Man, Justice League Detroit, the Superman vs. The Amazing Spider-Man crossover, Iron Man, DC during the Explosion and Implosion, covered questions from the DC Comics Firestorm Message Board, and much, much more.  We even get to talk some Law and Order: Criminal Intent.

Be sure to head over to VIEWS FROM THE LONGBOX.com and listen to our interview with comic book legend Gerry Conway.  Thanks for stopping by and I hope you enjoy the interview. To keep up with Gerry, be sure to check him out on Twitter and Facebook.

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• Cartoon Network has posted a sneak peek of this week’s Batman: The Brave and the Bold episode.  The clip is nearly six minutes long and features High School Coach Ronnie Raymond and High School student Jason Rusch.  My thanks to Max Henderson for sending this my way.  Click here to be taken to the clip.
• Below is Comics Continuum’s interview with Michael Jelenic, Producer and Story Editor for Batman: The Brave and the Bold, about Firestorm’s appearance on the show.  Click here if you can’t see the embedded video below.

• It’s been announced that Firestorm will appear in the upcoming direct-to-video animated feature, Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths.  Firestorm will be voiced by Cedric Yarbrough.  At this time it’s not clear if the Firestorm in the feature will be from the “good” Earth of the Justice League, or the “evil” Earth of the Crime Syndicate.  World’s Finest Online has the cast rundown for the feature.  My thanks to Joshua Wolf and Max Henderson for sending this information my way.
• The Ronnie Raymond Firestorm DC Universe Infinite Heroes figure has started appearing in stores.  Keep your eyes out for this figure.  Get it before it disappears.  My thanks to CJ/Outburst for the heads-up on this.

• Kurt Harris put together a fun line-drawing showing what a Firestorm Lego figure might look like.  You can find Kurt Harris’ work on Flickr.

• Over at the Favorite Fiction blog, Marcus McElhaney has put together another Firestorm battle using the customized Capcom fighting game.  This time out it’s Firestorm versus Marvel’s Quasar from the 1990s. If you can’t view the embedded video below, please click here.

• Finally, Ninjabot1000 on YouTube has put together a review of the DC Universe Classics Worlds Greatest Superheroes Firestorm action figure. It’s about 7 minutes long and goes into great detail about the figure.  If you can’t view the embedded video below, please click here.

Don’t forget to watch Firestorm on Batman: The Brave and the Bold this Friday, February 5 at 7:30pm (ET)!

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If you haven’t listened to part one of the interview, please click here.  As I mentioned the other day, Gerry was absolutely wonderful to talk with. I really appreciate how generous he was with his time. We talked for roughly 80 minutes about Firestorm’s creation, artists, the writing process, creator rights, the DC Implosion, merchandise, where the character has journeyed since his involvement, and much more!

Gerry and I spoke so long, I had to break the interview into two parts. The first part ran about 50 minutes long, while this second part runs about 30 minutes.

You may play part two of the interview right here on the FIRESTORM FAN site with the handy-dandy player below! I apologize for not offering the interview in text format, but transcribing an interview that long would have taken months.

Alternatively, you may download the file and listen to it on an MP3 player or your computer. You may download part two of the interview by right-clicking here, choosing “Save Target/Link As”, and selecting a location on your computer to save the file (28.5 MB).

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you enjoy the interview. To keep up with Gerry, be sure to check him out on Twitter and Facebook.

If that’s still not enough Gerry Conway Firestorm action for you, then check out Back Issue Magazine.  Gerry along with several others did a fantastic interview about Firestorm for Back Issue magazine three years ago. If you haven’t read it, issue #20 of Back Issue is available as a digital download from TwoMorrows Publishing. The PDF is only $2.95, so go check it out!

Support Firestorm! Fan the flame!

Gerry Conway was one of the most prolific comic book writers of the 1970s and 80s.  His writing credits go on for miles! He’s probably best known for co-creating the Punisher and scripting the death of Gwen Stacy in the Amazing Spider-Man.  He also wrote for and produced such TV series as Law & Order and Diagnosis Murder.  Back in 1977, Gerry created Firestorm the Nuclear Man along with artist Al Milgrom.  Gerry continued to write the character of Firestorm for about nine years.  Gerry recently returned to comics after an almost 20 year absence with the insightful mini-series, The Last Days of Animal Man.

Gerry is a true professional and a joy to talk with. I really appreciate how generous he was with his time. We talked for roughly 80 minutes about Firestorm’s creation, artists, the writing process, creator rights, the DC Implosion, merchandise, where the character has journeyed since his involvement, and much more!

Given that we talked for so long, I’ve opted to break the interview into two parts.  The first part runs about 50 minutes long, while the second part runs about 30 minutes and will be available here later this week (UPDATE – part two is available now by clicking here).

You may play part one of the interview right here on the FIRESTORM FAN site with the handy-dandy player below! I apologize for not offering the interview in text format, but transcribing an interview that long would have taken months.

Alternatively, you may download the file and listen to it on an MP3 player or your computer. You may download part one of the interview by right-clicking here, choosing “Save Target/Link As”, and selecting a location on your computer to save the file (48.6 MB).

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you enjoy the interview. To keep up with Gerry, be sure to check him out on Twitter and Facebook.

Support Firestorm! Fan the flame!

Jamal was kind enough to spend some time discussing his run on Firestorm with FIRESTORM FAN.

Firestorm Fan: How did you get the Firestorm assignment and were you familiar with the character before taking the job?

Jamal Igle: Well, I was actually approached on two different occasions, once by Dan Jolley and later by Peter Tomasi, who was the editor at the time. I turned Dan down initially because although I did want to do it I was otherwise committed. The second time I was still working on one project full time and doing a fill in on Marvel Age Spider-Man when Pete asked me if i was available to do a fill in on the series and I turned him down again. I thought that would be the end of it, but Pete called the next day and offered me the series.

I said no again, hung up the phone and walked about 3 feet before screaming out loud “WHAT ARE YOU DOING???”. So I called Pete back and took the job.

I was of course very familiar with Ronnie Raymond, having grown up reading the Fury of Firestorm and watching him on the Superfriends. At one point Jay Faeber and I had pitched a Ronnie-centric Firestorm series to DC that went pretty far before ultimately being killed.

FF: You worked with both Dan Jolley and Stuart Moore on Firestorm. What were some of the differences in their writing styles? Were they full-script or plot-first? How collaborative were your relationships with them?

JI: They were both full script writers and that made it very easy for me. Style wise they were very similar but tonally very different. Dan, by the time I came on the book, was trying to right the sinking ship I guess. DC had asked him to make the series very Vertigoesque in tone but there was a bit of a backlash, not just from the book but the revelation of Ronnie’s death in Identity Crisis. So, he and the editors decided to bring in more aspects from the original series and give Ronnie a proper heroic send off. Stuart was much more about incorporating as much real science into the stories but making them more fun.

FF: Do you have any favorite issues or storylines from your time on Firestorm? Or from any other era of Firestorm?

JI: Wow, well issue 17 is one of my favorites,which had Jason taking on the Secret society. issues 24 and 25 were fun because it was the first time that I got to draw both Mr. Freeze and Batman.

FF: You designed a fantastic new costume for Jason Rusch. How did you go about creating the redesign? Were you provided any input, or was it solely your design?

JI: It was my design. We were given the go ahead to design a new suit actually around issue #14 , where we have what I like to call the proto-costume. We wanted the change in costume to coincide with Martin Stein’s return but One Year Later was put in place when we make the jump in issue #23 you see Jason’s current costume.

FF: Your new costume for Jason has appeared on two action figures (with a third coming out this year), numerous comics, and is set to appear in the Batman: Brave and the Bold cartoon. What is it like seeing something you designed grow beyond your original involvement?

JI: It’s pretty cool actually, you don’t really get used to it. I’ve designed a few other characters like the new Vigilante and Dreadbolt from Terror Titans.  I have to admit I get a little upset when I see other artists drawing the costume wrong, LOL.

FF: You had the opportunity to redesign several classic characters (Firehawk, Pozhar, Multiplex) as well as design some new ones yourself (Pupil, The Pionic Man, DOLLIES). Were there any you enjoyed more than the others?

JI: There were designs that never saw print that I loved but were cut for space and time issues. The Pupil is one of my favorites , I modeled him after a caricature of Peter Lorre from an old Bugs Bunny cartoon. He was just so creepy.

FF: You took over the Firestorm book with issue #8. This issue started the return of Ronnie Raymond storyline. Were you aware of some fans concerns surrounding Jason replacing Ronnie? If so, did this affect the way you approached the storytelling?

JI: I did, but I try not to think about those things. The truth is, if I let people getting upset about creative decisions bother, I wouldn’t get anything done. I don’t draw to please fans necessarily. Everyone has an opinion about what you should and shouldn’t do. I have to please myself as an artist, and be satisfied with the work first before anyone else sees it. I don’t want to sound like a tool or conceited but you can’t serve so many masters. I’m just happy that other people seem to like my work.

FF: You are truly an amazing storyteller, from action sequences to subtle facial expressions. You can do it all. Once you get the script/plot from the writer, how do you tackle it?

JI: Usually I read a script two or three times to get comfortable with the story and then I thumbnail the entire story over the course of a day, working out the major beats and getting the general layout down. I really prefer working from a full script because the dialog allows me to think about the acting each character does and staging. Depending on the script and what’s required it’s the hunt for reference. After that I take the first day of the week and layout that weeks pages. So I layout 5- 6 pages in one day and then I spend the rest of the week penciling.

FF: You’ve worked with a few different inkers, each bringing their own distinctive feel to the art. What are some characteristics that different inkers bring out in your pencils?

JI: Well, let’s concentrate with the three guys I had the longest collaborations. Rob Stull has a very graphic drawing style. Sharp angles and a very slick stylization. Keith Champagne’s work was equally as fluid but Keith in many ways was far more faithful to my line. I always liked Keith’s work because he was a brush inker like myself and inked me in a similar way that I inked my own work. Jon Sibal is phenomenal as well. His style actually brings a rougher quality than I normally have but for some reason it works so well.

FF: I understand you’ve lectured for the Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art and the Art Students League of New York. Would you tell us a little more about your involvement?

JI: Well I was involved with MOCCA very early on but it wasn’t in an artistic manner. In a former life I worked in public relations so I was assisting them with their PR and marketing. I lectured a few times afterward. the League was my first actual teaching experience. I taught there for two semesters, starting their comics program.

FF:  Looking back at all the work you’ve amassed, what are you most proud of? What do you consider a high point both personally and creatively?

JI: I don’t know. I haven’t done it yet. I’m a work in progress, I feel like my work is getting better with each issue so the next project is the one I’ll be proudest of.

FF: Your work on Supergirl is awesome and has been very well-received. Are there any other projects you are currently working on or have coming up?

JI: I’ll be penciling World’s Finest #3 but it’ll be Supergirl for the next year.

FF: What would your dream comic book project be?

JI: I still haven’t done my Superman run.

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Thanks again to Jamal Igle for generously donating his time to this interview.  Be sure to visit Jamal Igle’s blog by clicking here. Jamal’s blog features amazing artwork, updates on current projects, and his convention schedule.  Be sure to stop by and tell him FIRESTORM FAN sent you!

Also, be sure to support Jamal’s current work on Supergirl.  Supergirl #45 is on stands now – check it out!

Support Firestorm (and Supergirl)!  Fan the flame!