A Five Question interview with the new Marvel Writer.... Jonathan Maberry.
NERDGASM: How does having your Martial Arts background help with writing a book such as the Punisher?JONATHAN MABERRY: Even though I hold advanced rank in jujutsu (8th degree black belt) and kenjutsu (5th degree), my approach to martial arts has always been from the point of view of a fighter. I love the science and theory, but I've always been focused on the practical applications. I grew up in a rough neighborhood in Philadelphia where we spent more time on gang fights than we did playing baseball. I worked as a bouncer, as a bodyguard in the entertainment industry, and I taught self-defense to all kinds of groups --kids, women, the physically challenged, and have done scores of workshops for law enforcement, from street cops to SWAT. So, all that said, when writing the Punisher I saw him as a fighter. First and foremost. He's a wizard with a gun but he's not a top-level martial artist. He's a thumb-in-the eye, knee in the nuts sort of fighter. Quick, dirty, and efficient.
In PUNISHER: NAKED KILL he's in a situation where he can't bring any kind of weapon. No knives, no guns, no explosives. He's undercover as a janitor, so he, being the practical guy he is, uses cleaning supplies. Trash bags, a feather duster, a decorative shot-glass from someone's desk. You'd be surprised what can be used in life-or-death combat. Necessity is the mother of invention.
NERDGASM: How does it feel going from writing so many books in horror genre to entering the suspense/thriller/crime genre with the Punisher?
MABERRY: The bridge from my novels to comics was actually not horror. My latest novel, PATIENT ZERO, is a techno-thriller and, yeah, it has zombies, but it's closer to Michael Crichton than Night of the Living Dead. After reading that book and seeing how I handle Special Ops and close-quarters combat, Executive Editor Axel Alonso at Marvel gave me a call.I'm not a one-genre writer. I like moving around. My nonfiction books have run the gamut from martial arts (JUDO AND YOU, ULTIMATE JUJUTSU, etc) to horror-movie pop culture (ZOMBIE CSU: The Forensics of the Living Dead) to the occult and paranormal (THE CRYPTOPEDIA, THEY BITE!, etc.). My novels are equally spread-out. My first three novels were supernatural thrillers collectively known as the Pine Deep Trilogy (GHOST ROAD BLUES, DEAD MAN'S SONG, BAD MOON RISING). Then I have three techno-thrillers I'm doing for St. Martins Griffin: PATIENT ZERO (2009), THE DRAGON FACTORY (2010) and THE KING OF PLAGUES (2011). I have a movie adaptation I did for Universal Pictures coming out in October , and they'll be announcing that soon. And the other day my agent closed a deal with Simon & Schuster for a pair of Young Adult novels set fifteen years after mankind was overwhelmed during a zombie apocalypse. The first in that series, ROT & RUIN is tentatively scheduled for Fall 2010.
So, I've been able to comfortably move through different genres and audiences, and that's pretty good preparation for writing comics.
Besides, I've been a comic book fan since I bought Fantastic Four #68 way, way back in the 1960s.
NERDGASM: Are there any Marvel properties that are being offered to you at this time? In other words, any other Marvel books coming out soon we will see the name Maberry on?
MABERRY: Yeah, we're working on a number of projects, some of which I can't talk about. I've taken over as the regular writer for BLACK PANTHER, and we're making serious changes to that book. There's a new Panther , a woman, and T'Challa will become a different kind of hero. Something new. My first issue is #7, which was just announced in issue #70 of Marvel Previews. I'm plotting out an epic story that will be told in two overlapping six-issue arcs.
Marvel will be making an announcement about another project I'm involved with; and I'm writing a Marvel Knights limited series, but all details of that are under wraps.
NERDGASM: Last year before Ennis left, Punisher MAX, we saw three MAX one shots from the last current writers of the MAX series, Victor Gischler, Gregg Hurwitz, and Duane Sweirczynski. With your new one shot Punisher: Naked Kill, is this a sign we will see you on the main MAX Line for an arc?
MABERRY: There are no plans for me to continue there at the moment, but who knows what'll happen. Marvel's throwing a lot of cool projects my way, so my plate is wonderfully full right now.
I loved the stuff Gishcler, Hurwitz and Sweirczynski have done with Punisher, and of course Garth Ennis' material has totally redefined the character for all times.
NERDGASM: One last fun one, just for giggles. What is your zombie plan?
MABERRY: I'll make a coat and leg-wraps out of shag carpet (just try biting through that), put on a football helmet, hockey pads, and cowboy boots; then I'll take my katana and frigging-well STROLL through the zombies. Slicing and dicing as necessary. I haven't spent forty-five years studying jujutsu and Japanese swordplay to let a bunch of living dead sonsabitches turn me into a buffet.
Oh, and if I wind up holed-up somewhere and there's a whiney guy or a loudmouth asshole, I'm gonna cut him up and feed him to the zoms. It's always the whiney guy that gets everybody else killed. I have a very well-developed sense of self-preservation.
NERDGASM: Thank you so much, for taking time out of your schedule Jonathan and can't wait to read Punisher: Naked Kill and your other works.
