[There are a couple of new writers getting ready to join Pink Kryptonite and one of them is The Hillbot. He recently interviewed Phil Jimenez and we wanted to make sure this interview went up sooner rather than later, so I'm posting it on his behalf. All I did was make it available, though - everything outside these brackets is the good work of The Hillbot! Also, is Phil Jimenez dreamy or what?--Klarion]
Phil Jimenez has a lot to be happy about. Not only is he a popular, fan-favorite artist with enough penciling talent to make dozens of other pros and wannabes jealous, but he's also flexed his writing muscles periodically on venerable comic book characters in a lengthy career, most notably his run as the writer and artist on Wonder Woman from 2000 to 2003. And he's one of those rare individuals with a career doing something he loves, not just something that only pays the bills.
Jimenez was born on July 12, 1970, and after graduating from the School of Visual Arts in New York City, he got his first comic book gig at DC Comics in 1991. It was start of an impressive career that's yielded some of the industry's most amazing artwork. Jaw dropping visuals on DC's Infinite Crisis miniseries and Marvel's Astonishing X-Men are just a few recent examples. It was announced in January 2011 that Jimenez had signed an exclusive contract with DC, and his current assignment is writing and co-plotting Adventure Comics, featuring characters from the Legion of Superheroes stories.
An openly gay creator, Jimenez came out as a homosexual in the 1990s to co-workers and announced his sexuality to fans publicly in a letters page in an issue of the Tempest miniseries he was writing. His legacy today is both as an amazing creative force and someone with the personal strength to forge a professional life with confidence and not compromising who he is.
Last week our friends at gay-nerds.com reached out to let us know paranoia interviewed out Marvel editor Daniel Ketchum, who's worked on a number of Marvel titles and currently is working on Marvel's huge AGE OF X event. Ketchum comes across as warm, funny and gifted in the interview and it's a pleasure to read. It's also a really interesting insight into the role: I was fascinated to hear about all the tasks an editor might have. I had no idea they were as much a project manager as one who edits.
Paranoia asks some fun questions, too, such as which characters Ketchum would date and why. It's a great interview and I'm only too glad to point our readership at them.
Acclaimed novelist Janet Evanovich is coming out with her first graphic novel, Troublemaker in July. I was fortunate enough to have a limited email interview with the writer about her third entry in the Alex Barnaby series, "breaking into comics", and her influences in illustrated prose. Read the full transcript, after the jump.
If you're familiar with anime, you may be familiar with the name Jamie McGonnigal. If not, you may more then likely know some of these titles: Jungle Emperor Leo, Weiss Kreuz, World of Narue, One Piece, Pokemon, Yu-Gi-Oh GX, or even Viva Pinata. Jamie's dubbed them all. An award-winning voice actor, Jamie has done work in anime, video games, and even the occasional American cartoon. He also happens to be gay. I pulled up an e-chair and sat down with Jamie, getting a nice inside look at the industry. Jamie also shared some juicy tidbits about Kizuna, one of the first yaoi (or gay-themed anime for those not in the know) to be dubbed in the states. Read on for the full interview.
Back in June, for Pride month, I issued a challenge to Marvel. Get Northstar kissed. Why? Because it's been 16 years since he came out, and we've yet to see him kiss, hug, or show physical affection of any kind to another man. As part of that article, I mentioned a current storyline in Ultimate X-Men, in which it appeared Ultimate Northstar had died. The debate shifted, from Northstar's love life, to his dying (again).
Well, the story arc in question just wrapped up last week, and while they are a bit worse for wear, Ultimate Northstar and Colossus are both alive and recovering. Now that it's over, Ultimate X-Men Writer Aron Coleite graciously took some time to talk to us about the book, the characters, gay icons in comics, and more.
Even I can't believe it. After 8 years, it seems Marvel finally decided to bring back What If? as an ongoing. I know I was always a big fan in the 90's (one of the better ones featured Rogue getting the power of Thor), and now should be the perfect time for it to come back. Especially after all the big events over the last few years:
WIZARD: What kinds of stories are you going to be featuring?
NATE COSBY: I got World War Hulk.
MARK PANICCIA: Fallen Son for me.
JUSTIN GABRIE: I've got four this year. They are House of M, Spider-Man: Back in Black, and Secret Wars. There is also a back up that continues throughout all five What Ifs where we answer the question, "What If the Runaways became the Young Avengers?"
The Runaways story sounds the most interesting to me, but the World War Hulk bit should be pretty epic on its own. And now that Exiles doesn't exist (in my world, at least), I think a little alternate reality fun is overdue.
[Don't forget to check out Part I of our interview with Charles "Zan" Christensen, founding president of Prism Comics and creator of the erotic gay thriller, Mark of Aeacus.]
Welcome back! In part II of our exclusive interview with Zan, we discuss LGBT comics and whether or not we should hold them to the same standard as "mainstream" comics. You can check out our official stance here, but read on to find out what Zan thinks! Plus information on his latest project, Eleven Pages and see if he survives our round of raunchy PK questions!
PK: Now as Pink Kryptonite starts focusing on more LGBT content, we find ourselves going into uncharted territory: When it comes to reviewing these titles, we find that a lot of the stuff that's out there doesn't fare too well when compared against "mainstream" comics, and so it becomes easy to simply dismiss an LGBT comic because of this.
My question to you is-- as readers and reviewers, should we hold a different set of standards when reading LGBT books? That is, in the case of LGBT books, is the intention more important than the content?
PK is proud to present a first in a series of original LGBT creator interviews. We recently sat down with Charles "Zan" Christensen, founding president of Prism Comics and creator of the erotic gay thriller, Mark of Aeacus .
Pink Kryptonite: Thank you very much for joining us Mr. Christensen, or do you prefer Zan? Charles?
Zan: Zan will be great
PK: All righty, Zan, thanks for taking the time to chat with us here at PK.
Zan: Always glad to be exposed to Pink Kryptonite!
PK: Did it make you more gay? Because we haven't studied its effects on people who are already gay.
Zan: Maybe it will make my gayness more deep and special.
PK: Hmm...maybe, we'll get the PK staff to do some studies. First of all congrats on your recent nomination for the 2008 Queeries!
Zan: I'm so excited about the Queeries! I'm such a fan of the Comic Book Queers podcast. It was great having my book reviewed on the show, but I had no idea I'd get nominated.
PK: And that particular book is The Mark of Aeacus, right? can you tell us a little bit about what it's about?
Zan: It's Spawn, but gay.
Hit the jump for the rest of Part I of the interview!
"Oh Lois, you SO don't want to know!"
Comic of the Week
Review: Wonder Woman #1 - #5
OK, so a couple of unkind reviews from me of late. Does that mean I hate the whole New 52? No, not at all. Does it mean that I only enjoy the new characters? Definitely not. Case in point: Wonder Woman is one of my favorite books of the relaunch. I think it's very good, with strong writing, an excellent ambience and fantastic art. Read on for why this reboot is the first time I've ever subscribed to Wonder Woman!...
Even I can't believe it. After 8 years, it seems Marvel finally decided to bring back What If? as an ongoing. I know I was always a big fan in the 90's (one of the better ones featured Rogue getting the power of Thor), and now should be the perfect time for it to come back. Especially after all the big events over the last few years:
