{"id":371,"date":"2017-10-10T06:00:37","date_gmt":"2017-10-10T10:00:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/jamiecoville.com\/blog\/?p=371"},"modified":"2017-09-28T21:14:36","modified_gmt":"2017-09-29T01:14:36","slug":"fabian-nicieza-interview","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/jamiecoville.com\/blog\/blog\/2017\/10\/10\/fabian-nicieza-interview\/","title":{"rendered":"Fabian Nicieza Interview"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"

Fabian Nicieza at NYCC 2013<\/p><\/div>\n

Originally published in May of 2001. Ouch, I was hard on Fabian here. In short Thunderbolts went from one of my favorite titles to one I dropped during his run as writer. I had a few friends that felt the same way and we’d gather in chat rooms and complain about the book getting worse. Neither of these were Jason Borgeois or Sheryl Roberts who helped provide questions for the interview. Jason was a fellow writer (and sometimes interviewer) for CollectorTimes and Sheryl was our editor. Jason likely provided the Gambit, Cable and Sinister related questions and I’m not sure which questions are Sheryl’s or mine. Fabian was a champ though, answering a lot of questions and being professional about it.<\/p>\n

An Interview With Fabian Nicieza<\/p>\n

Fabian Nicieza is a name many of you are familiar with, especially if you’ve been reading Marvel Comics over the last 10 years. He has written many different comics and even worked as an EIC of Acclaim Comics at one point. Currently he is working on Thunderbolts and with this interview I ask him all about that, about some previous X-men related work and where the comic industry is going.
\n* Special Thanks to Jason Bourgeois and Sheryl Roberts for providing some questions *<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Jamie:<\/strong>\u00a0I can’t help but notice a few people on usenet keep calling Thunderbolts #50 a ‘good jumping off point’. Does that worry you at all?<\/p>\n

Fabian Nicieza:<\/strong>\u00a0If 5 people say they’re leaving, I shrug my shoulders. If 5,000 people say they’re leaving, THEN I’m worried! So no, I’m not surprised if a reader chose Mark’s leaving the title and a temporary status quo shake-up as a reason for stopping. Just like I wouldn’t be surprised if an equal number use it as an opportunity to jump ON the book. I also wouldn’t be surprised if the vast majority of people who might not buy the book anymore don’t peek at the coming issues and – based on all the fun stuff we have planned — slowly start to come back into the fold.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Jamie:<\/strong>\u00a0Between your start on T-Bolts and issue #50 there have been a whole lot of changes to several characters. Jolt died and came back with different powers, Atlas has died after his powers went into overdrive, Techno died but but the Fixer is back, The Beatle (Abe Jenkins) became black. What is it with you and making major changes to characters?<\/p>\n

Fabian Nicieza:<\/strong>\u00a0A better question to ask is why WOULDN’T I do these things? The lifeblood of monthly superhero comics are good characters and good soap opera. In TBOLTS, I feel we have both.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Jamie:<\/strong>\u00a0Do you feel there is an area where too much change can be a bad thing?<\/p>\n

Fabian Nicieza:<\/strong>\u00a0Sure, but the writer is usually the last to know! Hopefully, you have an editor who can see the bump in the road before the readers do!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Jamie:<\/strong>\u00a0With Thunderbolts #51 you added a number of members and the remaining (alive) original criminal members are out of costume. You also replaced Hawkeye with Captain America as the teams trainer. What made you believe the title needed this much of a drastic change?<\/p>\n

Fabian Nicieza:<\/strong>\u00a0If you read the issue, you’ll know it’s not a drastic change at all. The core characters needed a chance to breathe and reflect on having attained a pardon for their crimes without the need for involving them in superhero action. I felt the best way to do that was to smack them in the face with unexpected freedom and the illusion of redemption and let them all start seeing if the grass is really greener on the other side. Between subplots in the monthly title and the LIFE SENTENCES TBOLTS special, I feel we get a look into their minds in ways that we haven’t had a chance to do since I took over the book. The book still remains about THEM, not about the Redeemers. But it’s a superhero comic, so we still need some slapping and kicking, and we can show that for a few months through the Redeemers. And, with Cap leading them, through those characters, we can also show other sides of the thematic coin in regards to what the book is all about.
\nOf course the TBOLTS will be back together again and back in action. The question is not if, but WHEN, WHY and HOW?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Jamie:<\/strong>\u00a0I assume your writing the LIFE SENTENCES TBOLTS special, who is doing the art and when will it come out?<\/p>\n

Fabian Nicieza:<\/strong>\u00a0I have written it. Charlie Adlard is doing the art. I have no clue when it comes out. I think between issues #52 and #53.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Jamie:<\/strong>\u00a0Why are Meteorite, Mach-1 and Songbird out of costume? I think most fans know it’s only a matter of time they’ll be back in them.<\/p>\n

Fabian Nicieza:<\/strong>\u00a0Asked and answered. We can learn just as much if not more about them by seeing them trying to maintain 9-5 jobs as we can watching them fight bad-guy of the month.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Jamie:<\/strong>\u00a0Do you think the new Thunderbolts characters will be published after their time in Thunderbolts is done?<\/p>\n

Fabian Nicieza:<\/strong>\u00a0I don’t understand the question. The Thunderbolts characters ARE the Thunderbolts comic. \ud83d\ude09
\nIf you mean the Redeemer characters, I can unequivocably say NO, they will not be published after their appearance in TBOLTS is over.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Jamie:<\/strong>\u00a0Do you know how Patrick Zircher got the job to take over T-Bolts after Mark Bagley left? I know he took over the art cores on New Warriors when you left that title.<\/p>\n

Fabian Nicieza:<\/strong>\u00a0We ran through a list of potential artists and Pat was at the top of that list. Being able to get him is a privilege. His art gets better on the book each and every month!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Jamie:<\/strong>\u00a0Have you had to change your writing any to compensate for Zircher’s strengths and weaknesses? If so, how?<\/p>\n

Fabian Nicieza:<\/strong>\u00a0In very little ways. No more or less so than with any creative team change. You feel your way out slowly over the course of a few issues and develop a rapport where you know each others’ strengths and weaknesses. Pat is an excellent storyteller and draws elegant figure work, so I have to do more character interaction. He hasn’t worked on a group book in a long time, so he needs to get the hang of choreographing multiple characters in movement through a scene, so I have to pay attention that my plots are clear in regards to action. But like I said, Pat’s doing great work. I’m sitting here scripting #54 and I think it looks like dynamite!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Jamie:<\/strong>\u00a0How do you feel about the event like “Silent” month on all Marvel Books and do you have any ideas on how your going to do your silent TBolts issue?<\/p>\n

Fabian Nicieza:<\/strong>\u00a0Well, part of me thinks it’s a bit forced, like any editorially enforced crossover tends to be, but the other part of me likes the creative challenge. I am more than half way through plotting and doing rough 8-1\/2 x 11 breakdowns for the pages and it has been fun.
\nIt helps that the timing fit perfectly for a Songbird story I had intended to do all along, so the “stunt” fits in smoothly to the normal flow of the TBOLTS storyline. In fact, the silent pages make the surprise ending work even better!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Jamie:<\/strong>\u00a0I noticed in both Gambit and in Thunderbolts you played around with character power levels. Why?<\/p>\n

Fabian Nicieza:<\/strong>\u00a0I find it to be an entertaining way of putting a character through a physical and emotional ringer.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Jamie:<\/strong>\u00a0You seem to have a penchant for using past works of your own in your latest projects, like Nomad in Thunderbolts recently. Why?<\/p>\n

Fabian Nicieza:<\/strong>\u00a0It’s easy to use what I know and apply it in the right ways. The two main reasons for using NOMAD supporting characters was to A) point out obviously the clues needed to guess Scourge was Jack Monroe and B) to get Andie Sterman into the V-Battalion because I wanted her POV in that organization. Why create a new superhuman psychotherapist, reporter, FBI agent. etc. when there are pre-existing characters that are begging to be used? And why not use characters I’m comfortable and familiar with since it makes their application into a crowded story easier?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Jamie:<\/strong>\u00a0What are your feelings on leaving Gambit and then having the book promptly canceled so soon after?<\/p>\n

Fabian Nicieza:<\/strong>\u00a0Better to have been canned and then see the book canceled than to have it canceled while I was writing it! For those who liked my work on the Gambit character, there may be an interesting non-comic Gambit announcement soon.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Jamie:<\/strong>\u00a0Can you give us any hints?<\/p>\n

Fabian Nicieza:<\/strong>\u00a0Not yet. It’s not real until it’s real.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Jamie:<\/strong>\u00a0Did you accomplish everything you wanted to do with Cable and if you were offered the chance, would you go back to writing him?<\/p>\n

Fabian Nicieza:<\/strong>\u00a0No and No.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Jamie:<\/strong>\u00a0What didn’t you accomplish with Cable that your really wanted to?<\/p>\n

Fabian Nicieza:<\/strong>\u00a0Pass. Not worth getting into.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Jamie:<\/strong>\u00a0Is there any chance the Sinister miniseries, which was cancelled\/put on hold may still have a chance of seeing the light of day?<\/p>\n

Fabian Nicieza:<\/strong>\u00a0Highly doubtful.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Jamie:<\/strong>\u00a0Why was it stopped?<\/p>\n

Fabian Nicieza:<\/strong>\u00a0I think the core editor and core writer simply preferred I not play in that particular sandbox.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Jamie:<\/strong>\u00a0Can you give us a hint of the premise?<\/p>\n

Fabian Nicieza:<\/strong>\u00a04 self-contained stories set in different time periods all linked together by an underlying story thread, all pretty harrowing stories of Sinister’s emotional devolution. And all a moot point.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Jamie:<\/strong>\u00a0Acclaim Comics is dead, they just recently removed all mention of comics from their website. Was your book Troublemakers owned completely by Acclaim or was there any creator owned deal like Priest had with Quantum and Woody?<\/p>\n

Fabian Nicieza:<\/strong>\u00a0I had the same deal as Priest, but having been a co-author of that deal, I know how the lawyers got involved in it to the point where it is too much of a hassle for me to bother with.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Jamie:<\/strong>\u00a0Are Acclaim lawyers fighting the contracts on creative owned deals?<\/p>\n

Fabian Nicieza:<\/strong>\u00a0In order for lawyers to fight, someone usually has to throw the first punch. I am not aware of that having been done by anyone.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Jamie:<\/strong>\u00a0After your experience being EIC of Acclaim Comics, would you be up for another EIC job at another publisher?<\/p>\n

Fabian Nicieza:<\/strong>\u00a0Sure, but it would depend on the circumstance and the place. I loved my time with Acclaim – the EiC job moreso than the President\/Publisher job, which was too much responsibility regarding details I lacked experience, or interest, in attending to.
\nI am a social creature, but I’m also very happy working out of home and trying my hand at a variety of different things. If a company were to call with an interesting 9-5 opportunity – and not just a comic company – I would certainly listen.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Jamie:<\/strong>\u00a0Over the last few years you have been bouncing between Marvel, Acclaim and DC. Have you ever thought of self publishing?<\/p>\n

Fabian Nicieza:<\/strong>\u00a0I’ve thought about it. Then I look at the finances involved and realize it would be just as easy to throw my money off a bridge.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Jamie:<\/strong>\u00a0So the success of Dave Sim, Jeff Smith, Terry Moore & others doesn’t convince you to take a gamble?<\/p>\n

Fabian Nicieza:<\/strong>\u00a0Define success? Creative fulfillment? Financial fulfillment? If the gentlemen above have been successful enough that they can pay the mortgage and their kid’s college educations without concern, then more power to them. I would prefer not to jeopardize my family’s financial comfort for the sake of my own ego. There are plenty of other, more enriching ways, for me to flex my creative muscles than self-publishing comics.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Jamie:<\/strong>\u00a0It seems the comic book industry is moving away from monthly titles and into TPB’s or Original Graphic Novels. Do you see this as a good or bad thing for comics?<\/p>\n

Fabian Nicieza:<\/strong>\u00a0I see that as good if it expands the horizons for distribution and content. I think it’s bad if it forces the continued whittling away of the comic book specialty shops and the regular weekly customer visits.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Jamie:<\/strong>\u00a0Some think the market is moving towards comic specialty shops that rack only or mainly TPB’s and customers come in and buy on an somewhat infrequent basis, very much like the typical bookstore. Is that good for the industry?<\/p>\n

Fabian Nicieza:<\/strong>\u00a0I don’t particularly think that would be a successful financial business model, but I’m not informed enough to be certain. Whatever floats their boat.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Jamie:<\/strong>\u00a0Marvel’s no reprints policy have caused a stir among retailers. Do you think this will be to Marvels benefit?<\/p>\n

Fabian Nicieza:<\/strong>\u00a0As I’m not privy to enough information from either side of the issue, I have no comment.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Jamie:<\/strong>\u00a0Speaking of reprints, I tried to buy your new Citizen V mini at my comic shop today so I could ask you about it. But it was sold out and they can’t get anymore. So tell me about it, what are you trying to do with the Citizen V character?<\/p>\n

Fabian Nicieza:<\/strong>\u00a0CVB is about old soldiers facing the end of their fight and new soldiers who don’t think they want to ever become old ones! It is about a sleek paramilitary organization that has been “fighting the good fight” for so long, that they might be willing to compromise their methods and ethics in order to finally win that never-ending battle. Citizen V is their point man, a covert op. He’s the kind of character you hate to love and love to hate. He has style, panache, wit and intelligence, but he is also very arrogant, very selfish and very indifferent to the obstacles he has to walk over on his way to accomplishing a given assignment.
\nIt’s a fun adventure book that explores aspects of the Marvel Universe rarely visited — namely older characters and the mantle of responsibility borne on the generations that followed the soldiers of WWII.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Jamie:<\/strong>\u00a0Do you have any other work coming out soon?<\/p>\n

Fabian Nicieza:<\/strong>\u00a0None that I know of. That could always change tomorrow.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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