In this episode Amy Reeder and Brandon Montclare talk roller skating geniuses.
Topics include following in Jack “King” Kirby’s footsteps, what exactly IS a Devil Dinosaur, socially awkward inventor geniuses, fantastic glasses, all ages books, kid’s stories in the 80s, the Inhumans whaaaaat, being afraid of change, and dinosaur cosplay!
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Transcription:
Matt: Welcome back to NYCC Live. Kara and myself are here from comiXology, your one stop shop to get digital comics. We have a big interview, probably the biggest one of the day so far, honestly. Marvel Comics has been doing a lot of great stuff for diversity in comics and hitting all ages. Coming up very soon, Devil Dinosaur, making a return, but as Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur. Welcome to the show, Amy Reeder and Brandon Montclare.
Amy: Thank you.
Brandon: Yeah, thanks for having us.
Kara: This is definitely the book of the year, if not the decade.
Amy: Wow, that’s a lot of pressure.
Brandon: When they said, “Hey, what do you want to do?” Devil Dinosaur wasn’t on anyone’s radar as going to be a big hit, but people are excited, that’s good.
Amy: Yeah.
Matt: How do you follow Jack “King” Kirby who did the original Devil Dinosaur Series? You guys, following in his footsteps, that’s kind of a big pile of pressure right there.
Amy: It’s bold, it’s bold but you know, Jack Kirby’s done a ton of stuff so it’s like, you’re going to have to inevitably do that at some point. It was a crime, Devil Dinosaur only lasted for 12 issues, it was unloved.
Brandon: Only 9 issues actually, so.
Amy: Really, we can’t go wrong because like, it should be back and we’re bringing it back.
Kara: So many more stories to tell.
Amy: Yeah, yeah, we’re doing you all a favor. We’re not ruining anything because it wasn’t around in the first place.
Kara: For people who aren’t familiar with Devil Dinosaur, if you can even imagine such a thing, what’s your pitch for the book?
Amy: I’m going to let Brandon do that. He’s the wordsmith.
Brandon: Well, yeah. If you’re not familiar with the old Devil Dinosaur, it really is just a big, red dinosaur that would go around in prehistoric times and it wasn’t very scientifically accurate. It would fight cave men and aliens and all these other things. It’s the exact same Devil Dinosaur from the Kirby book, we’re changing a lot of things but we’re taking that old dinosaur from the past and putting him into modern New York City and he meets a young girl, who they’re going to get kind of entwined and they spend the first few issues trying to get away from each other before you know, figuring that they can work as a team together, so yeah.
Kara: Awesome. Tell us about Moon Girl. Why do we love her already?
Amy: Okay, Moon Girl, yeah, she is pretty awesome. She is kind of a socially awkward young like, inventor-type-genius. She doesn’t have any friends and somehow, she and Devil Dinosaur, they just become like this, like they’re meant for each other in a way, it’s pretty special. She roller skates, so that’s how she gets around trying to follow Devil Dinosaur around the city. She lives in the Lower East Side and she has fantastic glasses.
Matt: How important is it, and I remember, I was reading about the issue when it was announced. You guys felt it was really important for Marvel and comics in general to have like, an all ages presence, more so than it does now. How much of an impact is that thought process in putting the book together?
Brandon: Yeah, I mean, all ages is a tricky term. Some people think it then just becomes just kids stuff and it’s definitely a book that’s appropriate for younger readers, but the whole idea is that anybody can kind of pick it up and read it. It’s really, when people say all ages, so you sometimes forget that you have to make it entertaining for adults too. It’s the type of thing where, obviously you stay away from a lot of violence or offensive material but no. She’s right in the regular Marvel Universe with everybody else so it’s just a story that is kind of, I don’t want to call it a safe way to put it, but like I said, she’s going to be interacting with Iron Man and the Hulk and everybody else and the same thing. She’s still a part of that world but you know, you also want to make it appealing to children, like I said. Also a broad audience, does that make sense? I don’t know if that …
Amy: Yeah, I think so. I mean, you know, it is a kind of weird concept these days, how sometimes people think, oh, all ages, that means it’s not for all ages, it’s kind of the opposite. I miss those days back in 80’s when children’s stories were like, people put so much emphasis into them. They actually felt like that was the most important type of movie there was out there. In my opinion, that’s kind of how I saw it, was that the big epics were the children’s films. I don’t know, I think we want to treat it like that. We’re not going to make it condescending, it’s going to be pretty awesome and luckily, kids can read it too.
Brandon: Yeah, a lot of the stuff for younger readers winds up being, like this, it’s so watered down, it’s almost for like, the parents, who want something for their kids. This is like in the movies, like I said, if you grew up watching like, Goonies or ET, they really are something that have a bit of an edge to them and you want that to be able to work. We’re very conscious of tone going in, not to make it too light and bubbly and all over the place, that it really has a story and a through line and consequences but then again, it stays age appropriate.
Kara: I heard somewhere that Moon Girl’s got a little bit of Inhuman blood in her maybe?
Amy: Oh, that’s right. Yes, she’s Inhuman.
Kara: Will we be seeing a dinosaur just rampaging through Agents of SHIELD?
Amy: We shall see. That’s going to be kind of like, a big part of the story coming up. She has not yet transitioned, I don’t know if that’s the right word for it, but it will be kind of interesting to find out what it is she does and when you find out, it’s going to be really awesome. We’re going to make it a slow burn. She’s young.
Kara: Yeah.
Amy: Yeah.
Brandon: Yeah, a lot of characters who are becoming, who have the Inhuman DNA and the Inhuman gene, are becoming superpowered in the Marvel Universe. She has the potential to become that, but it’s actually like her greatest fear. She doesn’t want to change. She’s afraid of what might happen, like any kid might be, so the big thrust of it, is her actually trying to avoid and finding a way to not make the transformation, so.
Matt: I think every interview Kara’s in, she asks, no matter what book it is, "What are the chances I’ll see this character on Agents of SHIELD in the near future?” It just so happens that it worked in this interview.
Amy: You look like you’re almost dressed for the part of being in Agents of SHIELD.
Kara: I’m undercover. Don’t tell anyone.
Amy: Oh, man.
Matt: Don’t tell anyone in this live interview that we’re broadcasting on the internet.
Amy: They’re not doing a very good job being undercover.
Kara: Well, you know, I just want characters like Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur to reach the widest audience possible because they are so awesome. Clearly, you guys are very excited about this and I think it will show.
Amy: Yeah, well, you know, that would be pretty awesome. I’m down for it.
Brandon: I think the big possibilities for Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur beat the cosplay opportunities of you know, one of those faux dinosaurs, and you’re the dinosaur legs and Moon Girl’s like on top of Devil Dinosaur. I think it works. I think it works very easily.
Amy: Oh, yeah. Are you saying where, like, one person can play it and they have like, almost like an inner tube around them?
Brandon: Yes, exactly.
Amy: Then they’re the kid? That’s amazing.
Brandon: Yeah.
Amy: Now I want to do it.
Matt: I think we should all do it. We’ll come back next year and do that. I appreciate you guys coming on. Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur, it’s like one of the best ideas ever. If you’ve ever read Devil Dinosaur by Jack Kirby, or not, you’ll love it and I hope everyone checks it out. Stay tuned to NYCC Live for more.
(Source: SoundCloud / comiXology)
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