Comics is People

Matt Kindt takes over as head writer on DC’s FRANKENSTEIN: AGENT OF S.H.A.D.E. Congratulations, Matt!

For the third title with a new writer, things get a little more outside the box. Starting with issue #10, Frankenstein, Agent of S.H.A.D.E. will be written by Matt Kindt. Kindt did the “Revolver” graphic novel for Vertigo, not too long ago, but is MUCH better know for his “Super Spy” graphic novel from Top Shelf. Kindt’s profile coming into this is a lot like Lemire’s coming into the 52 relaunch: he’s done some well-received indie and Vertigo work, but this is a different format/genre and you’re not quite sure what to expect. (In Lemire’s case, DC struck gold with Animal Man. Frankenstein coming in with less praise and lower sales.) Of course, since Kidnt is associated with spy fiction, we might see the S.H.A.D.E. aspect of Frankenstein played up a bit more. DC _has_ had a chance to see Kindt in this format. The last issue of Men of War turns out to be something of a backdoor pilot/audition, with Kindt and Lemire co-writing an adventure with Frankenstein and the GI Robot. They’re also saying that Kindt helped Lemire brainstorm some of the Frankenstein concepts. DC can probably get more sales with Lemire on JL-Dark and Frankenstein isn’t a bad choice for Kindt to try something a little more superhero-ish (well, Vertigo superhero-ish by way of Morrison) on for size. It’s a legitimately interesting choice. Kindt’s statement of intentions:

I’m so excited to be writing Frankenstein, Agent of S.H.A.D.E.! I’ve been good friends with Jeff Lemire since we both broke into comics years ago and I remember spending the weekend at his studio and kicking his ideas around for his take on Frank and Crew and just having a blast. Lemire was having so much fun putting these characters into action…and I think that fun really comes through.

And then getting the invite to officially work with him on Men of War…AND getting to put G.I. Robot into the story? – that’s the kind of work that I would daydream about when I was a kid getting my comics from the grocery store spinner-rack. So now, getting my hands on a monthly book is just crazy.

I’ve had a pretty fortunate career to date by breaking into comics with my own original graphic novels. All I’ve known is creator-owned stuff. I’ve been spoiled – writing and drawing my own books. So in a lot of ways I feel like I’m the mirror image of a lot of writers that get the work-for-hire stuff straight away and then work to make the leap to creator-owned work. So for me, this is just a great big treat. Getting to work on characters that have been around forever and have a kind of cultural history already. It’s just plain fun. I feel like I’m collaborating with everyone that’s ever touched these characters before, from Grant Morrison to Bob Haney and Arnold Drake.

And working in the DC universe is liberating in a lot of ways. I’m getting a chance to hit more directly on a lot of genre stuff I haven’t gotten to yet – science fiction and horror with all of my past espionage experience mixed into it. It’s a crazy mix. I have to say that writing the scripts for Frankenstein has seriously been some of the most entertaining hours of my writing career.

Taking over for Jeff is just the added bonus – knowing where he was going with the series from the beginning and talking about these great characters he’s rebooted has been fantastic. And it’s going to be fun to surprise him (and the readers) with where it ends up going. There’s Frank and his relationship with so-and-so (can’t spoil it), the Mummy and his crazy origin. And we’re going to get to see a lot more of S.H.A.D.E. and see how the agency works around the globe and visit a lot of crazy field offices. What is life as a S.H.A.D.E. agent really like? It’s basically Steranko meets Tinker, Tailor, Soldier Spy, with some of the best spy-gadgets ever invented.

I was working on the Robot Man story for My Greatest Adventure and digging through my old Doom Patrol comics and I found this old issue of Secret Origins: Doom Patrol. In the middle of that issue was this fantastic essay about what the Doom Patrol was and what they represented. This is the comic that sold me on Doom Patrol and was my gateway to DC. So I’m sitting at a coffee shop re-reading this Secret Origins comic (that I’d picked up at the grocery store) and I realize it’s written by Joey Cavalieri – who’s now my editor on My Greatest Adventure and now Frankenstein, Agent of S.H.A.D.E. and it makes all of this seem right. Full circle and secret origin!

(via DC Shuffles Writers On Justice League Dark, Frankenstein: Agent of S.H.A.D.E. and Stormwatch | The Beat)