Millar's madness

Entering a Mark Millar comic book is like having your mind blown to bits. But after the pieces of brain matter have hit the wall, there is still much to chew on in Millar’s world of kick-ass, wanted and ultimate avengers. Here, the villains usually win, and violence has its purpose.

See, Millar is the king of kick-ass assholery. And we will all be under his rule. His imprint, Millarworld, is declaring war on Marvel and DC, with its own successful franchises and film adaptations.

The renowned author descended upon Manila this week. Supreme sat down with him to talk about his plans for world domination.

You started in the Ultimate Avengers after 9/11. How did it affect your approach to violence?

I think subconsciously, 9/11 informed the image... The first comic book after 9/11 had Captain America in Ultimates issue 1 flying a plane into a building to destroy a bunch of Nazis. You are subconsciously picking up things from the news. I wonder if it would have happened if 9/11 hadn’t happened.

How is violence in comics today?

I think comics are much more violent than ever… I don’t love violence in real life but in entertainment, I do. When I was a kid, I couldn’t wait to watch Enter The Dragon. My older brother was allowed to see it, so I counted the days until I was old enough to see it, too. It is so exciting. All boys like seeing other people getting beaten up.

Why are British writers so violent?

I think there is an element of competition among everyone. I’ll see Garth Ennis with a guy’s head on a stick and I think I better do five heads on sticks. We try to one up each other a little bit. Plus, British comics has always been a little more dangerous than American comics. Judge Dredd is a British hero who executes you by shooting you in the head as Batman is a guy who puts you in prison.

Your characters tend to have a lot of secrets. Why do you like adding that dimension?

 Stan Lee got a lot of flack because his characters were superheroes who were slightly troubled… Spider-man was too scared to fight. He had a second dimension to it. I added a third dimension to it. They are just real people. Superheroes are a weird thing. Just because you were handed a hammer or suit of armor doesn’t mean you would be 100% nice all the time. Sometimes you would do assholey things. Sometimes the bad guys would do nice things. I am just writing them as people.

You are a forerunner in writing gay superheroes. It is a hot topic now. What do you think of the issue?

I haven’t done it so much [Millar outed X-Men’s Colossus and wrote a gay superhero couple, Apollo and Midnighter]. I would take a gay character and make him straight. I would genuinely have fun to do the opposite. It is a cliche now. He gets married instead.

DC is outing a prominent superhero soon. Who is he?

All of them. They are all flamboyant. The atom definitely… He has a pink triangle on him for starters. I like the idea of a six-inch gay man. I think the Atom and Giant man would be a good couple.

Is it more fun to work your own stories with Millarworld, or in companies like Marvel and DC?

By far your own stuff. It is especially lovely when you something you have created on a shelf in the airport. It is different with, say, Captain America because he isn’t really yours. I pass by a bookshop and I see Kick-Ass in the window. That is really exciting.

What’s more exciting is Halloween costumes. I saw two girls, not together, dressed as Hit-Girl costumes in my hometown. I thought that was cool. It crossed over into something being loved.

DC is the kindergarten, Marvel is school, creator-owned work is real life. To go back to kindergarten is like urinating myself.

Did you see the Avengers film? How was it to see is influenced so heavily by your work 12 years ago?

Funny, they invited me to the set. Holy shi*! I no idea how close it was to my book. It was very flattering.

You seem to have a passion for selling your work into film?

Studios look to Previews magazine [a publication for for upcoming comic books] to see what is interesting. If you don’t sell your comic book script fast enough, you are stupid. The creators of Hanna, for example, sold their story a year after Kick-Ass was sold. If it didn’t happen that way, Hit-Girl would be a ripoff of Hanna. If millions of dollars can be yours, you’d rather have it. I’ve seen comics scenes i’ve done in films that were copied. It is devastating as a writer to see that on screen.

How do your two daughters respond to your films?

I let my oldest daughter see Kick-Ass. She was absolutely horrified — but because there was a lot of things in the movie from her life. Like the training stuff with father and daughter, we used to go to the park and do chin-ups and I’d time her. “OMG this is just us,” she said. But she loved it!

Obligatory Kick-Ass questions: The Kick-Ass 2 comic book reveals it to be part 3, and the current Hit-Girl spinoff as part 2. How did this come about?

Hit-Girl allegedly was going to be drawn by someone. Johnny [Kick-Ass artist John Romita Jr.] felt it was his book. I totally get it. I put the book back till he finished Kick-Ass.

Will the Hit-Girl comic be in the next film?

The film’s first 30 minutes will be Hit-Girl book and next hour and 10 minutes is Kick-Ass 2. The next Hit-Girl and Kick-Ass movie will be in the final one as well.

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Mark Millar’s books are available at National Bookstore. Enter Millar’s world at http://www.millarworld.tv and @mrmarkmillar.

National Book Store event photos by Marvel Comics colorist Jay David Ramos.

Send me supergoodies at readnow@supreme.ph.