Are you going to allow a way in or should people really go back and read that first volume?
Were both veterans of the first issue.
And weve carried that skillset over toEmpire, trust me.
But now, its time to crack all of that stuff open.
Not immediately, which is part of the issue.
Hes got to find something.
It begins on the anniversary of that death.
Across the empire, it is a day of holiness.
It is the day that Princess Diana died in our world, times a thousand.
It is a day of worship and commemoration.
We only have one shot, lets take it.
So this is a moment of potential weakness for Golgoth.
The other potential weakness for him is that, with the Princess gone, he has no humanity left.
He has no connection to humanity.
Where does Golgoth go from here?
Obviously the world has changed a bit since the first two issues came out, at least.
Has this changed the tone or the world ofEmpireat all?
Well, somewhat distant but they do inform where were coming from.
There was no 9/11 at that point.
We didnt know who Bin Laden was, you know?
Even the word terrorist, at that point, wasnt such a constant in our lives.
So, what are the nuances of a world in which all of this takes place?
Barry and I, it informs our vision of evil, if you will.
If you were starting this right now and it was volume 1 coming out.
Just things you wish you could go add, I mean.
A long, long time.
And when I went, about a year ago, to delve back into it…
I never say this about my own work because all I hear are the flaws.
All I hear are the things that should have worked better and the opportunities that were missed.
Like, I was constantly surprised by what was on the page.
I had forgotten some of the nuances of the story and some of the nuances of character.
I dont know how to write this.
How do I do this?
How do you resist the urge to tweak, though?
When you go back.
How do you not go, Eh, this could have worked a little bit better.
Let me just kind of adjust this here before you re-release the volume?
Because what you do is you ask yourself, Wait a minute, who shot first?
And once you answer that question, then you know that no good comes from meddling with past work.
Yeah, you just learn from George Lucas sins.
Yeah (laughs)… Um, isEmpirejust the start?
A little bit of both.
Some of my older stuff… And the same with some of the other creators whose work Im looking at.
Its not about cutting and pasting panels to make them horizontal rather than vertical.
Weve got a pretty good heavy-hitter lineup of creator owned stuff to rollout throughout the summer at Thrillbent.
For $3.99 a month, you get to deep dive in.
I still think that there is plenty of room for free content.
I think Im fine with it.
I think its smart in a lot of cases.
Im not sure how that translates to what were doing.
We just dont have the bandwidth yet.
Were concentrating on making peoples subscription money worth the value.
That seems to be so rare in superhero adaptations where the hero enjoys his work.
Oh, it doesnt really put a burden on me, it just makes me crazy.
It just makes me pound my head against the wall, because again…
I continue to rail against the idea.
Thats what makes them nuanced, interesting characters.
They can have intense motivations.
They should have intense motivations to do what they do.
But this relentless cynicism of, Oh, Im a superhero, what a tortured tragic figure I am.
Bite me, you’re able to fly.
This is the, Oh, my diamond shoes are too tight problem.
(Laughs)
Youre a superhero.
Shut up and enjoy having superpowers.
This makes me crazy.
This is why the Marvel movies kick DC movies asses right and left.
Im paying my money to see people sort of revel in doing things that I cant do.
Why do you think that they give a shot to tell stories that way?
What do you think the inspiration is for that?
That theyve just got to make them dark and gritty and their parents died and etc?
So, I understand it.
Conversely, look at how badly the Green Lantern did as a movie.
Because they tried to make it a little less dark and onerous and tragic and tortured.
They didnt succeed, but that wasnt the tone of the movie.
That and a million other factors.
I dont think the tone was the problem.
Where you are withDaredevilright now, over time thats obviously matured.
Seriously, thats how we keep it exciting.
Mark Waid, thank you very much!
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