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Christos Gage, Writer
By Andrew Carmichael
Since joining the comic book industry in December of 2004, he has written a number of series including a 2006 Union Jack mini-series with Mike Perkins. Gage wrote a comic book series based on The Man with No Name for Dynamite Entertainment and wrote some fill-ins for Thunderbolts for Marvel, with three one-shots before, starting with #122, writing the four-issue tie-in with Secret Invasion. Also at Marvel he wrote Civil War: House of M. Gage most recently wrote the Secret Invasion tie-in "War Machine: Director of SHIELD".
We are very pleased that Chistos found the time in his very busy and hectic schedule to allow this interview with Avengers Forever. So, without any further rambling on my part, please peruse the following online interview with Mr. Christos Gage. Once An Avenger . . . always an Avenger!
Q) In your work you've shown both a keen and arcane knowledge of the Marvel Universe and its history. When did you start reading Marvel Comics, and what was your first issue of Avengers?
A) I can't remember exactly when I started reading Marvel comics…probably some time in the mid-'70's. I learned to read when I was three, so it was probably a year or two later. I still have a tattered copy of Amazing Spider-Man #161 that I bought as a kid, so at least that far back. My first issue of Avengers, to the best of my recollection, was #178, “Night Of The Beast”. Kind of a trippy one to start out with. My next one was #184, the Absorbing Man issue, which probably remains my favorite.
Q) Can you tell us a little about how you broke into the comics business, your biggest success and most embarrassing moment in your early career?
A) I broke in kind of in a roundabout way. I went to AFI Film School in Los Angeles and then began a career as a screenwriter, including writing movies like The Breed and Teenage Caveman and episodes of TV shows like Law & Order: SVU and Numbers (mostly co-written with my wife Ruth). I met Jimmy Palmiotti at a convention and we became friends. I told him I was interested in writing comics, and when I was in New York for the shooting of a Law & Order episode, he was kind enough to introduce me to Dan Didio. I pitched Dan an idea that we kicked around and it evolved into the Deadshot miniseries. The next year I was at Wizard World L.A., and I brazenly walked up to Tom Brevoort and Mark Paniccia at the Marvel booth and introduced myself. Tom had read and liked Deadshot, and happened to have an open slot for an 11-pager in Spider-Man Unlimited #12, so I pitched some ideas, and he selected one about a super-villain in a twelve-step program. That led to my working with Andy Schmidt on the
Union Jack miniseries, and I guess that gave Andy and Tom enough confidence in my work to hire me for the Iron Man/Captain America Civil War Special, which is probably my biggest success in terms of sales. My most embarrassing moment…probably my performance at Wildstorm's karaoke party last year at the San Diego Comic-Con. Not that being atrocious stopped me from doing four or five songs! Beer's a hell of a drug.
Q) We've enjoyed your work in Annihilation: Conquest. Any plans to get back in the cosmic sandbox, for example on War of Kings?
A) Not right now. Cosmic books are not really my strong suit. I wrote Quasar because I wanted to challenge myself in an area I didn't think came naturally to me, and in many ways I consider it one of my least successful pieces of work…there are aspects of it I think turned out well, but I felt like the first and last issues were too dense and the middle two were too decompressed. That's not to say I'll never go cosmic again-I feel like I learned a lot doing the Annihilation stuff-but there are no plans right now.
Q) Any comments on your upcoming G.I. Joe/ Cobra mini?
A) Whether you're a Joe fan or not, if you liked Ed Brubaker's SLEEPER, you might like this as well. Oh, and “Yo, Joe!” I love saying that.
Q) Your Union Jack mini was brilliant. We really enjoyed both the political intrigue and the team you put together for UJ. Any chance of you penning another MI group along these lines to rival Captain Britain and MI:13, e.g., like the Mighty and New Avengers?
A) Thanks! I loved working on that book, and having the chance to work with Mike Perkins, who is not just a brilliant talent but one of the nicest and most professional guys in the business, was a real privilege. Right now I think Paul Cornell has the British heroes locked up in MI-13, but you never know.
Q) It's been said Avengers: The Initiative was originally supposed to be a limited series, but was converted into an ongoing title. And given the nature of the Initiative itself, Avengers: The Initiative is a type of Avengers title we've never seen before. Considering all of this unconventionality, what, for you, makes an Avengers book an Avengers book?
A) The Avengers are America's, and the world's, first line of defense against the biggest threats. They're people from disparate backgrounds (as opposed to the FF, who are a family, and the X-Men, who are all mutants) coming together for the greater good and stepping up against the most fearsome enemies. Any book with that underlying premise could conceivably be an Avengers book. The Initiative is kind of the training camp for the Avengers of tomorrow…with some of the Avengers of yesterday and today providing a guiding hand.
Q) In writing The Initiative, are there any characters who have been placed "off limits" to you that you would particularly like to use?
A) Rom. Why do you think we haven't shown the Illinois Spaceknights? Because we can't use Rom, and the Spaceknights without Rom is like corn flakes without the milk!
Q) Any hints as to which characters you'll be rescuing from "Marvel limbo" next?
A) What, our cast isn't huge enough already?? Hmm…I think my next dip into the vaults will probably be for a villain. Any suggestions?
Q) Will we be seeing the return of Boulder/Butterball any time soon?
A) I hope so. I don't want to force it, I want to do it when it feels right, and there's a lot of big stuff going on in the near future that may make it too hectic to bring our rotund friend back. But down the line, I'd really like to. Readers loved him.
Q) Ant-Man and Taskmaster are being seen by many people as the "new Beast and Wonderman". What plans do you have for this duo going forward?
A) I see them having a feud, not speaking to each other for years, then having a tearful on-camera reunion arranged by Frank Sinatra. Oh, wait, that was Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis. How about…stay tuned.
Q) Would you care to share any further hints re the identity/future of Mutant Zero?
A) Pick up issue #20 and all will be revealed…this time for sure!
Q) Initiative arose as a direct consequence of Civil War. How different and in what ways is the book going to look after Secret invasion and Dark Reign?
A) It will be VERY different. Many of the same characters-and the return of some old favorites-but a vastly different status quo. We're right smack in the middle of Dark Reign, folks. That's all I can say right now.
Q) What can you tell us about the Reckoning War and how it will affect the Initiative?
A) The Reckoning War is Dan's baby, so it's more likely to happen in Mighty Avengers, but we'd probably tie in somehow. But Reckoning War seeds are always being planted.
Q) What happens to the SKK when there's no more Skrulls to kill, and was that "Heads in a bottle" thing a deliberate homage to Futurama.
A) They find more. And I don't know, it was Dan's idea!
Q) The next question is from a gentleman you may know, Dan Slott: How soon till Devil Dinosaur and Moon-Boy join The Initiative?
A) AIf I have my way, immediately! No, they're happier in the Savage Land. But don't be surprised if I try to work them into a story…and I think I have just the thing.
Q) What can you tell us about Dan Slott that the public would be surprised to know?
A) When we talk about the stories, he does different voices for all the characters. Baron Von Blitzschlag is my favorite. And he does sound effects too. If he'd been born sixty years earlier he'd be narrating radio shows.
Q) If you had to summarise in one sentence why we should keep buying The Initiative, what would you say?
A) Because if you stop, the Skrulls win. And you'd miss some of the most earth-shaking events to happen in the entire run of the book! Seriously, if you've liked what's been going on so far, you'll want to stick around…and if you haven't been reading, there's no better time to start! Oh, and did I mention…Clor!!
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 Andrew Carmichael |
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| Andrew began his love affair with comics way back in the late sixties, when older cousins used to leave their comics at his grandparents house. While other kids in the UK were avidly reading Enid Blyton or war comics such as the Victor, he could be found with his nose in the pages of the Avengers from the age of six. |
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