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With the success of the two-part Meltdown from Image Comics, a super, jam-packed, trade edition is now due out on July 18th. I got in contact with writer/creator David B. Schwartz, cover artist Greg Horn, and former Image PR and Marketing Coordinator Jim Demonakos to ask them a few questions about this exciting release (for a full article on interior artist Sean Wang, check out my previous installment of Voices from the Other Side). With the trade of Meltdown you’ll get a deep look behind the scenes of the creation of the great book, but for a behind-the-scenes behind the scenes, read on, enjoy, and then go place Meltdown on your pull list forthwith! Included with this interview are some preview pages from Meltdown, as well as a sampling of the features that’ll be lighting up the trade.

Matt Rawson: First off, David, can you tell us a little about yourself?

David B. Schwartz: No problem. I’m thrilled to be making my Image Comics debut with Meltdown. I previously co-wrote and co-produced the award-winning feature film Fighting Gravity; served as a comedy writer on several syndicated television shows, and I’m currently hard at work on a number of new writing projects. By day, I’m Vice-President of Business Affairs for Disney * ABC Domestic Television, where I work on the cutting edge of new technological distribution platforms for movies and TV shows. I came to Disney after stints at indie film houses Gold Circle Films (My Big Fat Greek Wedding) and Alpine Pictures (The Convent). I attended the University of Miami School of Law, New York University, and the New World School of the Arts (where I created the school’s “official” underground newspaper The Casting Couch). I interned at Marvel Comics and NBC-TV’s Late Night with David Letterman, hosted a radio talk show, and performed in dozens of theatrical productions. I live in Los Angeles with my wife Amy, my daughter Lana, and the dog Winnie.

MR: Quite a resumé. How did you first get interested in comics?

11-page preview of Meltdown

DBS: It all started with Star Wars. I was a big Star Wars fan as a little kid growing up in the 70s. By the time I reached junior high school, I was reading the old Marvel Star Wars comics religiously — and exclusively. One day, while waiting for my 7th grade science class to start, the kid next to me, Chris Schain, saw me reading a Star Wars comic. Horrified by my choice, he leaned over and whispered, “those suck. Try this.” He pulled out Uncanny X-Men #179. In my memory, it actually glowed in his hand as he held it aloft before me. I devoured it, and was hooked. Uncanny X-Men led to New Mutants, which led to The New Titans, and so many more. I was junkie. I couldn’t stop. And, next thing I knew, I had 43 long boxes taking up my closet. And, for the record, the Marvel Star Wars comics definitely didn’t suck. I still love ’em.

MR: What other comics do you hold to your credit?

DBS: Meltdown’s the only comic book I’ve written so far. I had done some minor film and TV writing before this; a few things that actually got produced, but nothing big enough to actually write home about. Meltdown’s my big coming out party, and hopefully it’ll lead to many more exciting projects to come.

MR: What formal education, if any, do you have?

DBS: In writing, little to none. Most of my education was in theater, film, and law. But, although it may not have technically been about “writing,” I do think the theater was an essential training ground that served to truly lay the groundwork for my future writing style. It taught me that great entertainment is all about character: developing three-dimensional, well-rounded characters; and letting the characters’ choices drive the story, not vice-versa. All tremendously important points I try to infuse into my work.

MR: What is your method of writing?

DBS: I’ll generally start with a one-page pitch, expand it into an outline, flesh out the outline into a full script, then revise the thing a few thousand times until I’m at least semi-happy with it.

MR: Explain the process of pitching Meltdown. How difficult was the process?

DBS: The pitching process was actually relatively painless. I went down to the San Diego Comic-Con in 2003 and tried to meet as many editors as humanly possible. I followed up a few weeks later by sending each editor a group of 8 pitches. Image’s then-editor, Jim Valentino, jumped on a pitch entitled Last Days of the Flare, which was eventually re-titled to Meltdown, and we decided to move forward. So, the pitching process was a breeze - it was everything that came AFTER that that was so mind-numbingly grueling.

MR: How long was the process from initial concept to reality for Meltdown?

DBS: As you can probably tell from your previous question, it was a long and harrowing process, with far too many stops, starts, and near-disasters. It ain’t easy to put together an indie book with no comic writing credits, very few contacts, and a minimal budget! All in all, it took about three and a half years from pitch to publication.

MR: What does Meltdown add to the medium of comics that was previously absent?

DBS: Meltdown takes a lot of the superhero conventions and turns them on their ear a bit. We really wanted to make an atypical hero story, one that’s truly personal and internal, with a character that everyone could really relate to on a very deep level. And, in this age of epic crossovers with dark and depraved heroes, we really wanted to provide an uplifting story of redemption. That’s not to say that all of those things were previously absent from the medium. It’s such a wonderful and varied medium, with so many great creators working in the field, that I’m sure all of those things were already out there somewhere and to some degree. We just aspired to put them together in a new and compelling way.

MR: Was Sean Wang your first choice as artist?

DBS: Sean was actually the pot of gold at the end of a long artist search. My original artists, the incredibly talented John-Paul Leon and Bernard Chang, dropped out of the project fairly early on. From there, I spent months trying to find a top-quality replacement. I talked to a bunch of great artists, both big names and unknowns, but none ended up gelling. I was just about at the end of my rope, my comic writing dreams nearly dashed, when I went back down to Comic-Con in 2005. I was walking through Artist’s Alley with my wife, when we passed a large banner that said, in big letters, “Sean Wang’s Runners”. I stopped in my tracks, turned to my wife, and asked, “Hey — didn’t we go to junior high school with a guy named Sean Wang?” It turned out, of course, that we had, in fact, gone to junior high school together way back in the mid-80s, but lost touch after 9th grade. I took home a copy of Sean’s indie comic Runners and was absolutely blown away by his work. It had such great character and energy to it, very akin to the Star Wars stories I had loved as a kid. He was equally blown away by the Meltdown pitch and script, and so we decided to team up. It was really a perfect collaboration. Sean is not only a truly inspired artist, but also a consummate professional and a great friend. I was truly lucky to have him on board.

MR: How did Greg Horn and Chris Bachalo get signed on to do the covers?

DBS: I contacted them cold, sent them the series’ pitch, and crossed my fingers. Both are artists whose work I really love, so I was completely astounded when they actually said “yes”. Both loved the story, and were more than happy to jump on board. And, man, did they ever deliver in a big way!

Greg Horn: I had met David at a convention previously, and he liked my artwork on Emma Frost and Elektra (such good taste he has). When he got to the point where he was ready to do a cover, he contacted me through my website.

DBS: One very cool thing in the TPB is that you get to see some amazing “behind the scenes” work from both Chris and Greg. With Chris you see his thumbnails, pencils and inks for the cover. With Greg, you get to see the pencils for a completely alternate cover design. It’s an intriguing look inside their respective processes, and I’m tremendously excited to be presenting it in the book.

MR: This one’s for Greg and Jim. What was your initial reaction to Meltdown?

GH: I broke into comics by doing my own indy book called J.U.D.G.E., so I fully understand and appreciate what it takes to make it in the independent comic book scene — its freakin’ hard these days! Anyway, I’m always ready to entertain an idea from someone who is out there really taking a chance.

Jim Demonakos: I was really taken with the story and the variety of styles by the same artist to reflect what was happening with the character was great.

GH: David showed me how the hero scenes were going to be drawn in a realistic and gritty style ... and they were unbelievably violent, while childhood scenes were drawn in a more whimsical cartoon style. I was immediately hooked by these bizarre opposites!

MR: Greg, can you give us a run-down of the process you employed in creating your dynamic cover image?

GH: First David and Sean give me their thoughts for the cover, then I created two or three sketches based on our conversation. From there, we all agree on the best direction...in the case of Meltdown we actually changed directions and came up with a 4th idea based on all three sketches together. From there I go straight to the pencil art and painting process. There are no color comps because the final colors can be changed in Photoshop if needed.

MR: Jim, can you tell us what exactly your role was regarding Meltdown?

JD: My job was to get the word out about the comic and assist the creative team in any marketing efforts they wanted to pursue.

MR: What kind of routes were taken in advertising?

JD: Black and white previews of the book were sent out to retailers, the entire issue was posted up on a secure website for viewing, a PDF for advance reviews was made available, a series of interviews on comic websites was set up and appearances by the creative team were all part of the marketing of the book.

MR: What elements of Meltdown did you want to push forward to sell the book?

JD: The core of the book — “A hero on the verge of burning out. Literally.” — was the great selling point, it got people intrigued in a concept they hadn’t seen before. I pushed that so that they knew it wasn’t just another unknown superhero book they should overlook, but instead it was an exploration of what could happen to a hero if their own powers act against them. I think that is what really intrigued me and thus I was able to convey that when I was pushing the book.

MR: Alright, now to the meat of the issue. What features can we expect to see in the upcoming trade edition?

DBS: We really wanted to make this TPB a spectacular package, the comic book equivalent of a movie’s platinum edition DVD release. We’re both big fans of “behind the scenes” bonus materials, and we made a very conscious decision to give as thorough a look behind the scenes as we possibly could. So, we’ve got lots of great behind the scenes stuff, like:

- The aforementioned artwork from Chris Bachalo and Greg Horn.

- A very funny foreword by Robert Kirkman.

- A big “Creators’ Commentary” section, which is similar to a DVD commentary track. Sean and I walk through the full series, discussing the different choices that went into each page. I love those on DVDs, but I don’t recall ever seeing anything similar in the comics world, so we’re pretty interested to see what readers think. It also contains a bunch of deleted scenes, alternate endings, and other DVD bonus material-type content.

- Pages ripped from Sean’s sketchbook, showing the initial series design work

- A pretty widely varied array of very cool pin-ups from very talented folks like Josh Howard (Dead @ 17, The Lost Books of Eve), Micah Gunnell (Shrugged, Soulfire), Dan Hipp (The Amazing Joy Buzzards), Mark Haven Britt (Full Color), Robbi Rodriguez (Hero Camp, Maintenance) and Joelle Jones (12 Reasons Why I Love Her). They’re all indie comics artists, and I’m very proud that we’re able to include so many of our fellow indie comic creators in the TPB.

This Meltdown TPB includes bonus pinups like this one from Micah Gunnell

Plus, the graphic design work on the book (by Rory Myers) is just incredibly cool. It’s gonna look spectacular.

MR: Fantastic! Remind us when the Meltdown trade will hit stores.

DBS: It was originally supposed to drop on July 5th. But, due to printing issues, it’ll now be July 18 for the direct market, and a few weeks later for traditional bookstores.

MR: So, David, What’s next on your plate?

DBS: I’m talking to a bunch of publishers about follow-up projects, but nothing that I’m allowed to announce quite yet. In the interim, I’m wrapping up work on a new stage musical (quite a change from Meltdown!), and looking forward to my return to the 4-color world...

MR: And for Greg and Jim, any final thoughts on the book or your involvement with it’s creation?

GH: The art that Sean Wang has done on this book is just great, and from the beginning, I was happy to know that I’d be working on something that looked very professional. Then Dave took out every expense from the format to the nice super-gloss cover. That really helps to show my entire color palette that might not print on a normal comic book cover.

JD: Together or separate, I can’t wait to see what David and Sean come up with next, Meltdown is a great book and I’m proud to have been around when it came to life.