ISO: What did you think of the initial fan reaction?

Scott: I wasn't sure what to expect. Aside from writing most of the bios for G.I. Joe Battle Files, this was my first stab at a major property. I knew from fan reaction on the regular Joe book that I wouldn't be able to please everybody, so I set out to please myself. I wanted to write the Micronauts book as a straight-up sci-fi piece, and not focus too intensely on the fact that it was a toy property. I was hoping to draw in readers who'd written off the book before it even hit shelves, while keeping core fans happy. Another good idea that didn't quite work the way it was supposed to.

Eric: We sold a crapload of books. Retailers seemed hopeful and Micronauts fans seemed excited. That's a good reaction, right? We had this rare chance to knock a lot of people's socks off and keep them coming back. But I knew before the first issue came out that wasn't going to happen. The book at best, was mediocre.... in my mind it was much worse than that, I was dreading the reaction it would receive. But, and I guess this a testament to the general crapulence of most comics, the reaction wasn't "oh my god, this is shit!", so much as a resounding "Ehn."

Either way it was a HUGE opportunity missed. A major cockup.

ISO: In the most diplomatic terms possible, what do you think happened with the book that made it not do as well as expected? Why did it start out bi-monthly? Any thoughts on the state of the series now?

Scott: Fuck diplomacy. I'll give you the straight poop on this one.

There were dozens of factors. First and foremost: too many cooks in the kitchen. Myself, Eric, Steve Kurth, Josh and Tim Seeley were all throwing ideas into the ring of what the book should be. Each and every one of us felt our ideas were better. When it came down to it, we all just butted heads. Steve was supposed to help consult on the series, but bowed out early because we'd been cutting him out of the loop. When he was later brought back on as series artist and we started to plan for his arrival on the book, I thought we were on the same page. Apparently not, which I'll go into later.

Eric is an uber-creative guy who, once he got drawing, came up with tons of ideas of how things could and should be done, and they didn't mesh with mine. With Josh, I never got much feedback. Not until it was too late anyway. I got a few, "Dude, that's not going to work, go with something else" e-mails or phone calls here and there, but overall, there was very little communication going on. Everybody was tossing shit into the air and hoping something would stick. When Tim was brought on to edit the book, it got worse. Not that he doesn't have great ideas, it was just another cook in the kitchen, where we'd already had too many.

The bi-monthly thing was an Image edict. Start out bi-monthly, see how things go, then go monthly if sales dictate. We could've gone monthly right away based on the sales of the first two issues. Not sure why we didn't, but we didn't. Oh well. Factor in too many cooks in the kitchen, with a padded, leisurely pace where not a lot happens spaced out over a bi-monthly schedule (that became tri-monthly for some reason I still don't understand), and you've got a wonderful recipe for failure. Don't take this to mean I don't accept part of the blame. I know now what I could've done better to come out guns blazing and knock people out of their socks. That's the benefit of hindsight. It's 20/20. I didn't do what I should have right out of the gate and was crucified for it. I'm over it. I hope everyone else is.

I'd originally intended to do the first arc as three issues instead of five. For some reason, I didn't feel like I'd be able to cover all the ground I wanted to in three issues, so I asked for five. Once we committed to five and I began to write, though, I found myself padding to fit the five-issue format, and still not doing everything I wanted to. There was just too much I wanted to do, and I couldn't figure out how to do it all, so unintentionally, I did very little of it. Wish I had it to do over. Could've done it in two and fit most of what I wanted in.

Nova and Harrower concept designs by Eric Wolfe Hanson

Eric: It was ill-conceived. Almost no planning, there was no editor, and I don't think Blaylock even knew what the property was or the inherent intellectual property problems it had. I was pleading for months for everyone involved to really try to put much more planning into this. I knew from the history of the property and the size of the fanbase, among other things, that this would not be another G.I.Joe. We couldn't just start off where others had left off in a comic or cartoon. The entire thing needed to built from the ground up. And making it up as we went along wasn't going to cut it. And this didn't totally fall on deaf ears, but it did take awhile to sink in, and by then it did precious little good for the first few issues.

I also don't think the creative team from writer to colorists worked together well. All were nice people intent on doing their best work, but we didn't mesh well creatively. I'm sure Scott will criticize himself much more than he needs to in his answers, so I won't add to that. Myself, I had no idea what I was doing stylistically, and I had a negative attitude about what we were producing, and it REALLY showed in my pencils. Even with me redrawing many of the pages over multiple times. I don't think Barb's inks suited my pencils all that well...probably because there was no confidence in my linework. If I had no idea of what I was doing, she probably couldn't figure out my mess either. If your dance partner doesn't lead confidently, you're pretty much screwed, y'know?

I have no idea what was going on with the coloring. I was expecting something like what Hi-Fi did on G.I.Joe. But I think they were told by DD to do something akin to the coloring style on Transformers, but on a shoe-string budget. It was a mess... it was muddy and washed out what good Barb & I did do. I saw all that awful red mist at the end of isssue #1 and I asked "Is Karza farting blood?"

another Eric Wolfe Hanson masterpiece...

ISO: What were the circumstances behind Eric- you leaving after issue #3 and Scott- you after issue #5? How did you both feel about this? I know this isn't any easy one to discuss, but say what you feel…

Eric: There were many reasons I quit. I'm not going to get into all of them, but suffice to say, I was very unhappy with the final product, and was planning to go ahead and tell Josh I was leaving after issue 5. But some other matters came to a head in the middle of issue #3, and I went ahead and dropped out. Although I offered to work longer if needed. They didn't need me. A very big weight was off my mind after that...all the frustration and depression over the book washed away instantly. People should quit jobs more often, it's very cathartic.

 

Scott: I know Eric was getting aggravated with the whole thing. He didn't dig where the book was going, and there were some money issues going on, but that's not my place to discuss. I was sad to see him go, though. I've known Eric a while, and while I think he's a fabulous artist, honestly didn't think he was the best choice for Micronauts. Until I saw the first pages come in. I changed my mind rather quickly. When he left, I felt his pain. We were friends, but he wasn't digging my story, and he wasn't happy with the finished product all around. He left before he got so frustrated that he shut down. Smart move. I commend him for it.

Me? Well, public spin made it out like it was a mutual departure. Both sides kept it civil, but I'll set the record straight here, as diplomatically, yet truthful, as possible. Josh had been asking me from just about the beginning what I wanted to do once we got this initial five-issue arc out of the way. I sent him a three page synopsis of all the ideas I'd cooked up and said, "Tell me what you like, dislike, want to run with, or if you like none of it, tell me and I'll come up with more." Didn't hear from him until about six months later, just before I was set to begin work on Issue 4. I was told I needed to come up with a detailed second arc synopsis and quick. I asked Josh to refer back to that three page deal I'd sent him some months earlier and let me know. I got a call a few days later saying that AGE wanted to see the Micronauts on Earth, and that the Devil's Due crew agreed. Not where I wanted to go so soon, but okay, you got it. I called Josh a day or two later with the basic framework of the invasion storyline. He was floored. "Dude, that's awesome. Let's do that."

Now, keep in mind, that for the first year and a half I was with Devil's Due, I retained my day job. I worked at a University as an Office Services Manager. Amazing benefits, decent pay, stability, etc. Well, I quit that job right around this time so I could focus on my Devil's Due work.

Everyone knew this, including Josh. I was making enough money through DD to give up the University job. Anyway, right after I got the go-ahead on the invasion storyline, I spent a week drafting up the synopsis for Issues 6-12. I talked a lot with Steve Kurth about all of this stuff, and I figured he and I were on the same page. He liked my ideas, I liked his. We wanted to do some pretty drastic stuff.

Time comes for me to send my synopsis off. Less than an hour after sending it, I get a call from Tim Seeley at Devil's Due. "We're going to bring in another writer until sales go up. If things work out and we can get this back on track, we'll bring you back on later." Uh huh. Sure. Anger. Frustration. Fear. I'd just quit my day job ten days earlier, and the reason I was able to was now taken away. And my daughter had just been born a month earlier. I was more pissed that I'd just quit my day job than I was losing the Micros gig. I hated my day job, but at least it was stable. I could support myself and my family on it. Finding out the next day on Newsarama that Dan Jolley would be the new writer didn't make me very happy. Made me think this had been in the works a while, even though I was assured it wasn't.

Things got hairy from there. Apparently, Steve didn't dig what I'd come up with (though I thought he did), and neither did anyone else at DD. I can live with that. Just wish I'd known that everybody had a problem with what I'd done, and I'd been given a chance to fix it (though it's interesting to note that a lot of what I came up with remained). As it was, there was no discussion. Issue 5 would be my last. This made writing Issues 4 and 5 very difficult. I didn't even want to write them at all, and I think it shows. I've got about three or four really cool bits in those two issues, but the rest of it is crap. The ending came off forced, clunky, and way too quick. This ending was decided from just about day one, but I couldn't make it happen the way it should have. My heart wasn't in it. Some petty crap happened after that, straining my relationship with DD further, and I eventually quit the company altogether. I'm over it now, but it took me a good year before I was in a place where I didn't want to kick somebody. Watching my daughter grow and losing my dad forced me to focus my energy on my family and away from negativity.

Microtron concept art by Eric Wolfe Hanson

ISO: Did you guys follow the series after leaving the book? Any thoughts on how it progressed?

Scott: I didn't read it cover to cover, no. I glanced at the first couple of issues after being canned, mostly because my pal Stefano Caselli (who I'd brought in and never got to work with), was drawing it. But I also wanted to see if anything I'd set into motion was followed up on. Professional curiosity, and a minor bit of jealousy. I knew they'd planned to go ahead with my invasion story, and I wanted to see what Dan was going to do that I was somehow seen as not able to, but I never did read those books cover to cover.

Eric: Not really. I didn't want to dredge up any bad feelings. Sad it didn't survive. It could've been great.

ISO: What did you think of the Karza origin series by Jim Kruger and Steve Kurth?

Eric: I didn't read it. I didn't recall where Scott wanted to go with Karza, but I know it was different than the Karza book. I also think a spin-off book so early on was an incredibly bone-headed move. "Okay, the concept isn't even set up yet, we don't know what the reaction to the series will be, but hey, let's dilute it and put out a side-project that potentially steps on the toes of the creators of the main book."That being said, it's not like other companies don't do this constantly. The sad part is, I bet the miniseries was probably better than the main book...

Scott: Didn't read the whole thing. It was coming out right as I was losing the gig, so I was a little bitter. I do wish it hadn't come out right after my Issue 2, where I went into Karza's origin a bit. I had to do some quick rewrites of what I had planned for his origin, which came off kinda clunky.

ISO: What was the exact idea behind Knave being the "last of the Antrons"? Were there any plans to expand on this? How do you feel about the fact that Dan turned him more into the Marvel Bug character as the series developed?

Scott: I didn't even think of Knave as an Antron until it was mentioned by a fan on a message board that he looked similar. This sparked some creativity in me and I came up with this storyline where he was an acrobat who joined a traveling circus to get away from the mob-like members of his nearly extinct race. Somewhere along the line, I added in this bit where the Vaerians were the last of their kind due to Karza experimenting on them, thus creating the Antrons. So, the Vaerians came first, then the Antrons. I eventually wanted Knave and the crew to go back to his home planet to confront the others from his race, but it was one of those things where there was too much to do in too little time.

As for what Dan did with him, I'm fine with it. We intended for him to be the sarcastic one anyway, but as I began writing, it felt more natural for him to be kind of bitter. That's one thing I should mention. As time went on, I kinda flip-flopped on things I wanted to do. I tried to go in a more natural direction than all the original plans we had, and it was making for some messy behind-the-scenes continuity. I was trying too hard to add in all the ideas I had, the ideas Eric had, the ideas Steve had, the ideas Josh had, etc. And every time I got a new one from someone, I wanted to put my stamp on it, which just made for a bigger mess.

Eric: No idea. I didn't intend for him to be an Antron. I was actually thinking he was unique because he was a hodgepodge of different races. With the technology of swap body parts, who knows how far you could go with body modification. "Want extra arms? Go for it! Hey, want to spit acid out of your butt? Go for it! Just come on down to McKarza's and we'll pimp your hide!" Wasn't aware Dan changed him. Damn your bones, Jolley!

"Micro-butts" rear view concept art by Eric Wolfe Hanson

 

ISO: Later on in the series, Dan explored the Ryan Archer "probability web" aspect of his character. (Archer being able to "make" things happen) What did you think of this, and did you have this in mind when you began the story? What did you think about what Dan did with the characters as the series progressed? Were any of these ideas yours?

Scott: I kinda had this idea that Ryan was able to see things intuitively, mostly with electronics and such. Eric had the idea that maybe he'd be kind of a slacker because things tended to come to him easily. He never had to work hard in school or anything like that. We wanted him to be irresponsible, so he'd have to learn over time to be the hero he was destined to be. I showed just a bit of that irresponsibility in Issue 1, with him mucking things up in his dad's lab, but I just didn't go anywhere with it.

I did show a bit of Ryan's innate "intuition" in my run. I'm not entirely sure how Dan approached it, so I can't say for sure whether it was "my" idea or not. From what little I read of Dan's run, I didn't really dig the fact that the remaining revolutionaries were nowhere to be seen in Issue 6, nor some of the characterizations that seemed completely out of left field compared to what I'd established. But I suppose that was Dan just trying to get into the heads of characters he wasn't really digging, trying to give them a more unique voice, and advancing them. What I read of Issue 6 and 7, he seemed to do a good job with what he was dealt. One thing I don't mind mentioning, is that Galactic Defender was supposed to die at the end of Issue 5. I was rather pissed to find out from the artist (EJ Su) that my script had been changed to keep her alive, without ever being consulted about it. When I rewrote the dialogue for that scene, I threw in a little comment about how she should have been dead. Surprised no one caught on and they kept it.

Eric: I didn't read what Dan did with Ryan's abilities. The reason I think we had Ryan has any sort of mojo was 1) to make him special, 2) because Rann had his cosmic juju thing and we wanted to throw another bone to the fans. Scott wanted him to have some sort of natural ability to work on mechanical stuff. A robot savant, I guess. The concept I pitched for Ryan's abilities were taken from another comic I had been tinkering with. Basically giving him an innate intuitive ability. It would encompass not just mechanics, but anything. Any problem he needed to solve. He had some sort of sub-subconscious vision that allowed him to tap into the basic framework of reality. He didn't really know how to activate it consciously, but it would help him figure out mechanical or other problems, give him an innate ability to counter moves in a fight, help him quickly translate other languages, etc. And to top it off, it would give the guy a great reason to be the slacker idiot he was. I mean, if everything came easy to you in life, you'd never need to try. He could be a lazy goof off and still ace his exams.

And this would have been a nice addition to the idea that the technology and even the organic matter in the Microverse basically being interchangeable. The entire universe is a puzzle made up of smaller pieces. Everything is building blocks. That would make Ryan's power so very, very valuable. But to me it wasn't so much a "makes things happen" powers. He could see the pool balls on the table and intuitively know how to make them all in the pockets in one complicated shot. But he'd still have to hit the balls with a stick. it was a power to "know" not a power to "do".