One of our favorite comics last year was Hero Squared, which came
from writers J. Marc DeMatteis and Keith Giffen, the creators behind the 1987
Justice League series and last year’s hit Formerly Known As The Justice
League. The first Hero Squared project, a special, came out last year
from Atomeka. It scored a hit, and rounded up nearly universal critical acclaim.
Now DeMatteis and Giffen have moved along with publisher Ross Richie to Richie’s
new publishing house, Boom! Studios. Next week we’ll feature an interview with
DeMatteis about Hero Squared and his career. This week, though, we’re
talking to Richie, who is either a comic book guy turned movie producer or a
movie producer turned comic book guy, depending on how you look at
it.

Scoop: Are you a comic book guy with a movie background or a movie
guy with a comic book background?
Ross Richie: Ha! I’m a comic book guy
with a movie background that’s a movie guy with a comic book background. From
1993 to 1995 I worked at Malibu Comics. In 1995, I went to work for the Addelson
Company (they were movie producers) and did nearly ten years working in that
arena, before last year helping to launch Atomeka. And I still do work in that
arena, I spent the better part of yesterday negotiating a feature film project
with MTV and Paramount. So I guess the answer is,
“Yes!”

Scoop: How’s the reaction been since you announced
Boom! Studios?
RR: I have been quite blown away. I had a lot of
trepidation leaving Atomeka, which has a reputation for working with and
publishing some of the best in the business. Our first project, A-1 Big Issue
Zero, featured the creative team from Watchmen! I mean, c’mon! But so
far, the furor that’s surrounded the launch of Boom! Studios has been bigger.
People are more responsive; people seem to have really embraced the company, on
a fan level and also on a professional level.

Scoop: You’ve signed up
quite a few high profile projects. Can you give us a run down of
them?
RR: Our main launch project is Hero Squared. It was very
successful at Atomeka. And with the recent events in the DC universe[Identity Crisis and Countdown To Infinite Crisis], fans have got
a place to go to get their “BWAH-HA-HA.” It’s just Giffen and
DeMatteis lunacy with no restrictive editorial continuity.

The other
project that has really done well that I didn’t necessarily anticipate being
such a big hit was Zombie Tales. Now, with a talent that features people
like Mark Waid, Keith Giffen, Dave Johnson, Ron Lim, Andy Kuhn, Joe Abraham, and
the movie guys — Andrew Cosby (a feature film screenwriter who created the UPN
TV show Haunted and has a new pilot on the Sci-Fi network, Eureka)
and John Rogers (screenwriter whose credits include Rush Hour 3 and the
Transformers movie) — you’d think I could see that coming. But it really
out-performed my expectations, so let’s just say there will be more Zombie
Tales. The people have spoken!

I’ll be finishing off the
much-anticipated and much-beleagured Jenny Finn at Boom! with Jenny
Finn: Messiah. That’s with Mike Mignola on cover and story, Troy Nixey on
the interiors, although we’re bringing in another artist to help Troy finish the
book off. And we’ll probably be collecting that into a trade
paperback.

Then there’s the Mark Waid project. The creative team on that
really crystalized this week. So that’s exciting. I might be able to announce
that soon and put it on the schedule.

We’ve got a few other fun things,
like Aaron Lopresti, the artist from Marvel’s Excalibur (which is top 20
X-book that just won’t stop being a sales juggernaut), who’s doing a sketchbook,
some Trencher trades, as well as Keith Giffen goofing on an old Silver
Age WWII book and re-writing the dialogue in What Were They
Thinking?

And I’m in the process of signing up a few more creators
who will really surprise people, and I think really turn some heads. But it’s a
bit early to talk about it.

I’ve been amazed by the outpouring of
interest on Seekers Into The Mystery, which we’re collecting into trade
paperbacks. It’s been the little project that could, and I constantly get
inquiry emails at the website and curious fans that want to know when the book’s
coming out.

Scoop: The list of talent and titles is pretty diverse. Is
there a unifying thread, and if so what is it?
RR: I think the unifying
thread is: writer-driven projects from creators that you’re familiar with from
the Big Two. I want to build a company that the creators can go to when they
want to do their own thing — Marvel and DC are great, but every once in a while
you want to own your own project and do something different. And that’s the role
that Boom! plays.

Scoop: When do your first books come out?
RR:
May 2005.

Scoop: What sort of schedule do you have planned for the
first few months?
RR: Hero Squared #1 – 3, as well as the first
Trencher trade paperback, What Were They Thinking, the Lopresti
Sketchbook, and the return of G.I. Spy. We did the GI Spy
Preview at Atomeka featuring art from Firestorm cover artist Matt
Haley, and that’ll continue as a three issue mini-series.

Scoop: How
about after that? What are your long-term plans?
RR: I’d love to continue
Hero Squared as a series of one-shots and mini-series. The Mark Waid
project is designed the same way. Zombie Tales will be doing the same
thing. Beyond that, much depends on how these secret projects come together that
I’m lining up.

Scoop: Hero Squared got great reviews when the special
came out from Atomeka. What are your expectations for the new
mini-series?
RR: Joe Abraham’s art makes the first issue look like a
fanzine. You’re going to be blown away. What’s more, DeMatteis tells me that
it’s the project that he loves to write the most — he can’t wait to have a
chance to get in there and sculpt the characters.

I think everyone was
surprised when we printed up retailer posters for the mini-series. At Atomeka,
retailers told me again and again that they wanted posters, so we did ’em. And
people were amazed.

Hero Squared is really developing into a
smart, multi-layered story — that also cracks you up. It’s really great
stuff.

Scoop: You’re keeping a blog on the Boom! Studios site. What’s
it about?
RR: Me goofing around. The real answer is that it’s about
whatever I want. Maybe someone will enjoy reading it. The nice thing about a
blog is that if I only have an audience of like 3, who cares? As long as you’re
having fun.

Scoop: Anything going on movie-wise?
The
MTV-Paramount thingee. But I’ll be spending the rest of today putting out fires,
hoping the deal comes together. Maybe if we don’t spin apart, we’ll have an
announcement in the next two weeks…

Scoop: Anything else you’d like
to add?
RR: There was no way to launch this company without the tireless
support of some well-established professionals who should know better: Keith
Giffen, JM DeMatteis (who is always so kind as to tell me that he thinks he’s
more excited about my company than I am!), Dave Johnson (who always goes above
and beyond), and Mark Waid, among a host of others. I just want to take a minute
and tell them all thank you, from the bottom of my heart.