Jay: Two words: Creative freedom. While it was fun getting to work on some of my favorite Marvel and DC characters, on too many projects my own vision was compromised to a degree I wasn't comfortable with. It just became too frustrating to have specific ideas I wanted to get across, only to be cut off at the knees for a variety of reasons -- the editor had an idea he liked better, or the character I wanted to use was tied up because of a crossover, or the editor-in-chief didn't like said character. It just started wearing on me, and after meeting Anthony Bozzi, who at that point was the Marketing Director for Image Comics, I was inspired to come up with a creator-owned comic. It was really an epiphany of sorts. Two years ago, if you'd asked me if I had any plans for creator-owned work, I'd have said "No." I was quite content to work at Marvel or DC. But now, after tasting the rewards of creator-owned work, it's hard to think about going back. Obviously, I'm not swearing off work-for-hire -- but I'm not looking to do it exclusively anymore, either.

Oh, Anthony's a pretty energetic guy. Was he out recruiting for Image, or was it just coincidence?

At the Wizard World Convention 2000, I was supposed to go out for dinner with WildStorm's John Layman, and we ended up tagging along with Bozzi and a few other guys -- mostly other Image creators (Dreamwave's Adrian Tsang, Astounding Space Thrills' Steve Conley, and Gear Station's Ford Gilmore, among others). As we swapped stories all night, I became really really jealous of these guys, who sounded like they were having so much fun doing their own thing. I decided that very weekend that I was going to put together a book to do at Image.

Any characters that you've introduced in something you did for DC or Marvel that you wish now that you'd held onto?

Fortunately (or unfortunately, depending on your POV) I never really created any truly noteworthy characters at Marvel and DC. There are some names I wish I hadn't given up, though. "Glacier," a throwaway villain used in Titans, and the group name "Rising Sons," which I used in Generation X, are among the ones I wish I held onto. But it's not like their loss is keeping me awake at night.

In Today's market, do you think that it's going to payoff well enough to be worth the risk?

It depends on what sort of payoff you're talking about. If you're talking simply about a financial payoff, that's something that we're hoping will happen in the long run, once we issue Trade Paperbacks, and get foreign reprints and stuff like that. But creatively, it's already well worth the risk. The critical acclaim the book's been receiving has been simply astounding to everyone involved -- it's really gratifying to have the book be so well-received by everyone from Wizard to CBG to various online comic reviewers.

How long does it take you to get feedback on how Noble Causes is doing?

We get information from Diamond on how many copies were pre-ordered about two weeks after the orders were placed. So as of this writing, we're anxiously awaiting word on the numbers for NC #2. Image also issues quarterly reports that track re-order activity. So far I'm hearing promising things about re-orders from various retailers, but not enough to get a legitimate number.

So you're pretty satisfied with the reaction so far?

With the critical reaction, very much so. Commerically, we could always stand to do better. We're hoping that slow and steady wins the race, though. I never thought the book would be an overnight success. But I remain optimistic that if we can continue to get good word-of-mouth, we'll pick up more and more readers with each issue.

How far do you plan on taking the book?

It's an ongoing series, so I really have no end in sight. I'll keep doing it as long as people want to read it.

Any particular long term plans for it?

We hope to issue regular Trade Paperbacks of each story arc, but Image has a say in when/how TPBs are released. As for long-term plot points, I have ideas -- but I'm not saying what they are!

I'm a little vague on exactly how your publishing agreement with Image works. Doesn't it work similar to a franchise agreement?

I'm not sure how franchise agreements work, but basically, Image is my publisher. I own the work, but Image is the publisher. In return for a fee, Image advances all the publishing and production costs, that sort of thing.

In which case, why can't you take the material and collect it when you want? Can you do it without the Image Logo if neccessary?

It's kind of tricky, and I haven't discussed this with Jim Valentino, so I may be misunderstanding. But as far as I know, Image has first dibs on a TPB. If they don't want it, yeah, I'm free to do a TPB elsewhere (without the Image logo, of course). But where it gets tricky is if they DO want to do one, but just not exactly when --I-- want to do one. So they could, for instance, say, "We want to do a Noble Causes TPB... in 2003." If that's the case, and I want to do one sooner, I'm not sure what my options are. Thankfully, this whole thing is pretty academic -- so far, Image has been nothing but a pleasure to work with, so I certainly don't anticipate any rift forming over the hypothetical situation I just described. I'm sure they'll be just as eager to put together a TPB as I am.

If Noble Causes doesn't work out, do you see yourself going back to work for hire comics, or do you think you'd just consentrate on the TV writing?

Probably a little of both. I mean, in addition to NC, I'm in the process of developing three more creator-owned projects, and I'm confident all of them will happen. One is a one-shot and the other are mini-series, so it won't be a matter of any of them being cancelled. But as I said before, depending on the circumstances, I'm open to doing more work-for-hire stuff -- it's just a matter of finding the right working relationship so I'm not as creatively frustrated.

Are those in line already at Image, or are you going to shop them around?

One of them, a 48-page one-shot called THE HAT SQUAD, is already lined up at Moonstone Books. The other two will be shopped around. It's just a matter of finding which publisher will be the best fit for each particular project.

So what kind of work for hire projects would interest you at this point? Any characters that you'd like to do that you haven't done yet?

It's becoming less and less about working on specific characters as it is about working with specific people (editors, mainly). For instance, C.B. Cebulski is a good friend of mine, and acted as the Managing Editor on Noble Causes. That meant that he was in charge of rounding up advertisers who wanted to buy space in the book, and he also took care of some other administrative tasks (basically anything I didn't want to deal with). But he recently took an editorial position at Marvel, which meant he had to back away from NC. So, knowing that C.B.'s a smart guy, and that we get along, I'm sure we'll do a book together at Marvel -- it's just a matter of finding something we're both interested in, that isn't already in development by another editor. As far as specific characters, I'm interested in doing an ongoing series with a single lead -- a solo character. So much of my work has been about team books that I think it would be fun to try a single character. It's a different way of writing, and I think it'd be an interesting challenge.

Ok, on a somewhat different subject, Kurt Busiek said that an average issue of Astro City take about six months from beginning to completion. How does that compare with what you're finding on Noble Causes?

We've actually got a shorter turnaround time, I'd say. It is hard to figure the actual starting point, since it has to start with my initial idea for a script, and I tend to write the scripts in chunks of four (one 4-part arc at a time). So for us, I'd say we can do an issue in about 3 months, all told. We could do it much faster, but since the book's only on a bi-monthly schedule, everyone's got other projects they're juggling. If/when we upgrade to a monthly status, I'm sure everyone will be meeting their deadlines.

Wow, 3 months! That's pretty speedy. That includes Dialoging, Production time, everything?

Yep -- about 3 months, maybe a LITTLE longer. 3 and a half, tops.

I guess handling your own book is pretty different from when you are doing work for hire for DC or Marvel. When you are doing work for them, once the script is done, is that usually the end of your involvement?

Yeah, pretty much. I always liked to see the art as it came in, but I wasn't always afforded that luxury. So once I turn in the script, that was it until the book was drawn and lettered, at which point I'd get to go over it and check for typos and mistakes like that.

Which brings up another question. How do you prefer to write your books? Full, detailed script or rough story?

I write largely in the full-script format, but if it's with an artist I trust, I'll sometimes loosen up on the fight scenes and let him choreograph that stuff. I try to play to the artist's strengths whenever possible, and with Patrick, on NC, he's great at laying out a story, so sometimes I'll let him pace a particular sequence out.

How long do your 22 page comic scripts usually run?

My 22-page scripts tend to run about 25 or 26 pages.

Ok, I'm afraid I have to ask this question, even though it get's asked in probably every interview: Any particularly big influences on your writing?

Yeah, but not many of them are comic book writers. The biggest -- and first -- influence on my writing is Robert B. Parker, a mystery novelist. I discovered his novels in high school, and they're largely responsible for me developing an interest in writing. I think I got my ear for dialogue from the way he writes. I'm also influenced by TV writers such as Stephen J. Cannell, David E. Kelley, Aaron Sorkin, and Paul Haggis.

That's interesting that you name more TV writers. Since you do both TV and comic script work, Do you approach it differently when you are creating a comic script or property as oppossed to doing something for TV?

Well I've never actually created anything for TV -- with the TV stuff, all I've written so far are spec scripts. A spec script is a sample script of an existing TV show, which is used to show producers that I know what I'm doing. But the actual writing process is pretty similar. I start both comic scripts and TV scripts with an outline. I hammer out each beat, each scene, until I know the whole flow of the story. Once that's pretty airtight, I can dive into the actual scripting. The outlining usually takes longer than the scripting. The biggest hurdle I had to overcome when I sat down to write my first TV spec script was learning how long each Act should be, since you have to adhere to a structure that allows for commercial breaks. So it's pretty rigid. Once I got used to it, though, it was easy to tear right through. I imagine I once had the same problem sticking to the 22-page comic book format, but I've been doing that so long that it's now second nature.

Does a project ever start out as one thing, like a TV idea and then evolve into a comic property, or are they fairly interchangable?

Again, since I've never created anything for TV, that parallel doesn't quite hold up. But I have come up with a comic book idea that I'll probably wind up doing as a feature film script, instead. It's the type of idea that would work equally well as a graphic novel or a movie, and since my agent keeps telling me I should have a feature film script to show around, I may as well take this idea and try and turn it into a feature script. There are other times when I've had ideas for TV shows (in a "wishful thinking" kind of way) that I've translated into comic series. I'm currently developing a private eye comic, called DODGE'S BULLETS. It was born out of my love for the TV PI genre. And I know I won't be asked to develop a new TV show anytime soon, so I focused that energy instead on creating a comic. But the comic will "feel" a lot like a TV show, if you know what I mean -- in the same ways that Warren Ellis' AUTHORITY "feels" like a summer blockbuster movie.

In what way? How do you mimic one medium in another? I mean, for example, we all saw Frank Miller start using small panels to imply quick cuts in the pacing. But how do you plan to accomplish this? Does it rest with you in the writing stage or do you instruct the artist in how he frames up his panels?

I can only speak for myself, but with certain projects, I try for a more "cinematic" feel, and I think that can be accomplished by doing things like abandoning the use of captions and thought balloons, and slowing the pace down, so there's more silent panels. Another way to increase the cinematic feel is to use text overlays to establish locale instead of captions -- you know, just white lettering over the actual picture, as opposed to using the caption box. It sounds silly to make such distinctions, but it really does affect the feel of the product.

Not silly at all. Lot's of time I see something in a comic that seems cinematic and to what degree it is intentional. What about other comics that are out there? Do you get comp packages from either DC or Marvel?

I get comps from DC every month, but that'll end shortly, since I just finished working on Titans.

What do you read first out of them?

It's a toss-up between 100 BULLETS and FLASH. I'm a big 100 BULLETS fan, so I look forward to that every month. I read it for sheer enjoyment. And with FLASH, I'm good friends with Geoff Johns, so I know most of the plot points that are coming up in the book. So when I read FLASH, I usually know what's happening already -- but it's such a well-executed book, it's still enjoyable just because Geoff's such a fine craftsman ... and Scott Kolins is such a dynamite artist.

Yeah, he's excellent. And still kinda underrated. Ok, now it's time for a copule of left field questions:
Since comics are only visual, what music would you recomend as a soundtrack to go along with Noble Causes?

You know, I really wish I could give you an eclectic list of songs that fans could track down and compile into their own NC soundtrack, but the sad truth is ... I have no soul. I don't have much interest in music. I greatly prefer writing in complete silence, and the only time I turn on music while I'm working is if my neighbors' TV is bothering me and I need something to drown it out. So I throw on something instrumental, so it doesn't distract me. Pathetic, eh?

Well, maybe people can come up with their own and post them on our message board.
Here's another one: What do you plan on saying to the guy who pays big bucks for a 10.0 CCG graded copy of Noble Causes #1?

Dude, I'm so far removed from the collectors' mentality I'm not even sure I understand the question. Comic shop clerks look at me funny when I decline the free bags and boards they attempt to put my comics in when I'm picking up my stash. None of my comics, regardless of value, are bagged or boarded. So if I understand your question correctly, I think this guy paid a lot of cash for a mint copy of NC #1, right? Well I'd tell him to be damned sure he OPENS THAT THING UP and reads it. And that when he's done with it, he passes it on to his girlfriend or wife (assuming he has one).

Oh, that's definately the right answer in my book. I know that collecting kinda drives the market, but I would think that a writer just wants his book to be read. Since you hedged on naming any comic influences, who get's the first "Jay Faerber Award" (we just started that one) for writer most deserving of wider recognition?

Mr. Brian K. Vaughan. He's literally wise beyond his years, and is one of the single best writers I know. He's got a creator-owned Vertigo project coming out later this year called "Y" and he's got a Marvel Max book called "The Hood." They're both fantastic reads, and I hope people start to give him the props he deserves.

We'll look out for them. Any words of wisdom for the aspiring comic writers out there?

My favorite piece of advice these days is to write what YOU want to write -- write from the heart. Don't just try and cash in on what you perceive as the latest craze. Don't try and anticipate what your audience wants. Don't listen to the fans who say it's your job to write what they want you to. It's your job to write what YOU want to. You're the writer. You come first. I don't say this out of arrogance, really. It's just that the best stories come from the heart. Not a single person was begging to see a soap opera about super-heroes ... except me. So I wrote one, and the response has been really positive. To me, this proves that a writer needs to really follow his (or her) heart.

One final question: Why are comics better now than, say... 30 years ago?

I think it's because there's more diversity -- more comics geared at adults, and in a variety of genres. It's really not just super-hero stuff anymore.

Perfect! That seems like a great place to end this. Thanks very much for taking the time to answer our questions. I'm sure that you'll do great with Noble Causes.

Thanks for letting me take part in it.

For more info on Noble Causes and other projects, take a look at:
Nobleswatch.com
and
JayFaerber.com
Titans and all related images are TM and copyright DC Comics 2002
Noble Causes and all related images are TM and Copyright Jay Faerber 2002