Ronée
February 19th 2005, 09:41 PM
We here at ComiXtreme are mourning the recent passing of Doug Miers, but no one more than myself. We met in my early days as a news writer here , and he quickly became a confidant and mentor to me… he even had a major hand in the inception of What A Girl Wants. He read the very first issue before anyone else did, and encouraged me above all to be myself. I will miss our talks and his unique way of looking at life.
Realizing that the interview I had with him a year ago was no longer on the site, I decided to re-post it below. Exactly as it was originally presented, with some new pictures added.
Rest In Peace My Friend,
<center>WAGW #14 / EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH DOUG MIERS
Originally posted April 22, 2004</center>
Those of you that have been following this column know of my fondness for a particular writer, I could not get an interview with him however, So I got this one from Doug Miers instead! Ha Ha I kill me!
<a href= "http://comixtreme.com/gallery/data/media/529/cclogo.jpg" target="_blank"><img src= "http://www.comixtreme.com/gallery/data/thumbnails/529/cclogo.jpg" align="right" border="1" alt= "picture name"></a>From the moment I stumbled upon Comics Conspiracy as the small press news writer, I fell in love with the wit and humor of this writer… just by reading his own bio! I knew that this was someone I wanted to learn more about, and in doing that I grew even more fond. And not just because he loves the Dallas Cowboys as much as I do.
This interview was originally scheduled for this Saturday as part of the new revolving column but due to an emergency with the Friends of Lulu, I begged him to step it up for me. Thankfully, he came through and I am proud to present this interview even though I promised the man my next born child….
What was your major at Stanford? And What first led you away from a “real” job and into comics?
Doug Miers: I studied Modern Thought and Literature, a self-designed major that gave me the freedom to take all the cool philosophy, literature and creative writing classes I really wanted.
What real job? I’ve never worked for a corporate entity, never had to put on a tie for work, never did time as a 40 hour wage slave. I believe that would have burned all of the creative energy right out of me. As it is now, I’m one of the oldest teenagers you’ll ever meet. And no, I didn’t inherit anything, I’ve always made ends meet as a freelancer.
You sold your store to concentrate on your creative endeavors, what project were you most passionate about at the time?
DM: When I sold my comic store in 1999, I was making a small fortune doing web design. That was before people figured out how easy that is and started making their own. Most of the web jobs I get now come because of my unique creative twists (harder to export to India) rather than my technical prowess, which is fine, but I miss having more paid monkey-work than I can keep up with.
I am sure you are aware of how often I have plugged your “Generic Comic”, when will you give in and produce more issues?
DM: Yes, and thank you so much for that. But it’s not a matter of me “giving in”, it’s a matter of economic consequences. The series only made money on the very first of its thirteen issues. I had to push it kicking and screaming the rest of the way, with support for a very precious few perceptive retailers.
<a href= "http://comixtreme.com/gallery/data/media/529/Generic5_LR.jpg" target="_blank"><img src= "http://www.comixtreme.com/gallery/data/thumbnails/529/Generic5_LR.jpg" align="left" border="1" alt= "picture name"></a>Most comic stores dismiss Indy comics like ours, either because they don’t have shelf space, or because they don’t think their customers will buy them, or because they don’t know how good they are and are too jaded to find out. Literally hundreds of random Indy comics are published every month, and some are great, but most truly suck. Why would retailers expect a title like Generic Comics to be any different? Because it’s within their chosen profession to know this stuff? Because it’s a superior and sellable book? Nah. Too much effort.
I can’t really blame them, I was a retailer long enough to know that no store can possibly support the overwhelming glut of trash comics (Indy and Mainstream), and if a few gems slip by, most customers will never know to miss them.
<a href= "http://comixtreme.com/gallery/data/media/529/gcmspencil.jpg" target="_blank"><img src= "http://www.comixtreme.com/gallery/data/thumbnails/529/gcmspencil.jpg" align="right" border="1" alt= "picture name"></a>
We had a nice windfall from a 2-page editorial in Wizard #121, but then Diamond mis-solicited #11 by printing the wrong (higher) cover price, and orders immediately dropped 25%, which was one big sloppy French kiss of death.
But we hope to recapture those magical “gimmick” sales of Generic Comic #1 with the upcoming Generic mini-series #1 through 3 or 4 or so, which should launch in early 2005. And maybe a Generic one shot after that. And maybe a Generic Annual. And then maybe Generic Comics Volume II #1, etc., ad nauseum. Finances permitting.
You publish a lot of your own work, what would you say is the most difficult part of working on so many aspects of the same project?
DM: The hardest part is convincing the artists to do most of the actual work. Putting the final product together and sending it off to a printer is no harder than planning your average family vacation (and it costs about the same).
Or you might say that hardest part is getting retailers to sit up and take notice, but that goes far beyond mere difficulty into the realm of magical. Apparently, I am not a good magician.
How many comic titles are you currently writing? Do you have a favorite?
<a href= "http://comixtreme.com/gallery/data/media/529/anthology_thumb.jpg" target="_blank"><img src= "http://www.comixtreme.com/gallery/data/thumbnails/529/anthology_thumb.jpg" align="left" border="1" alt= "picture name"></a>M: Our latest project is Prophecy Anthology, which I edited for Sequent Media. It just came out last week. It’s a gorgeous oversized coffee-table tome collecting some of the coolest comic stories I have ever seen. (www.prophecymagazine.com) This project gave me new respect for Editors, who I always thought of as grumpy pissers who yell at creators when they miss deadlines, then take credit when everything’s done. But, I’ve learned first-hand that editing is hard work. There’s much more yelling involved than I thought. I am always out of breath.
Comics Conspiracy has 3 titles currently in the works (and 12 titles total, over 30 actual comics, already published). Gypsy Rose #2 will be out in June. Retailers are making those orders right now, so ask your local store to order it. The American Inquisition (a dystopian one-shot) will be out as soon as Heavy Metal artist Matt Maquire finishes the art chores (probably late summer/early fall; so far the pages are amazing). The third project is Trench Monkey, a full color comic we are pimping to bigger companies, but failing that, this awesome color book will be a one shot from Comics Conspiracy in the winter. Samples of all three can be seen at www.comicsconpiracy.com/publishing
I’ve written about half a dozen titles for Avatar Press (Hellina, Lockers, Pandora, Ravening, Ivory, Tundra and Calico); some of these are still unreleased and others currently coming out (and will be for the next year or more) I created Ivory and Tundra for them.
Asking which if my comics is my favorite is like asking which of my children is my favorite. But I think the best ones are the ones I publish myself through Comics Conspiracy. Generic Comics were fun, and as a comic spoof of the comics industry, it was an excellent venue for insider observations (i.e. rants). But my favorites are the color one-shots… each of these represents everything I could ever ask of a comic.
Why don’t you do an ongoing color series?
DM: we never sell enough of the first issue to follow up, so I’m always careful to make them self-contained stories. That way we can kill it off faster than a death-row convict in Texas.
Okay, the question I am dying to ask… Why exactly are you no longer writing Hellina?
DM: Because you (Ronée) told me you hated Hellina.
Okay seriously, it’s all good, because I redesigned Hellina for Avatar to be exactly that: hated and hateful. She gets off on humiliating people, seeing how far she can push them, seeing how bad she can screw them, for no better reason than to watch them suffer. She’s as rotten as a human can be without running for political office. And the sad thing is, some people will read this description and decide to order the comic. (hey, you gotta be 18)
<a href= "http://comixtreme.com/gallery/data/media/529/gypsy-color.jpg" target="_blank"><img src= "http://www.comixtreme.com/gallery/data/thumbnails/529/gypsy-color.jpg" align="right" border="1" alt= "picture name"></a>But I stopped writing for Avatar when they decided to put my creator-owned Gypsy Rose project on the back-burner to do Brian Pulido’s creator-owned Gypsy instead. So I published Gypsy Rose myself, before they could get to press, just to stick it to ‘em. Issue #1 is already out. Unfortunately it would have sold much better through Avatar, so I really stuck it to myself, but I’d do it again. (beats bending over and spreading.)
I also found out that Avatar was re-writing my scripts, adding up to 30% extra content I didn’t write, mostly gratuitous and shocking sex scenes. I had already put shocking sex scenes in those scripts, but none were gratuitous; each one advanced the plot. Yes, really.
But in the end, I just wasn’t depraved enough for Hellina’s editorial standards. Hellina vs. Pandora has an entire extra issue’s worth of crap added to the original 2-issue series I wrote. I had to threaten legal action to make publisher William Chrisensen take a co-writer credit. He tells me my name will now be listed third in the writer credits of my books, after himself and Seifert, his writing partner. Ah, the sweet smell of justice. (choke)
So what do you think the chances are like for the Cowboys this year?
DM: I hope they go all the way. It’s time for a new dynasty. The Cowboys chances are better than those of the 49ers, the local team here (San Jose). It’s enough to make me a hockey fan. Go Sharks!
Do you read the immensely popular column What A Girl Wants? If so, how much do you love it?
DM: I love that column so much, I wonder why it’s not nationally syndicated. I love it so much, I joined the PTA so I could lobby to have it read aloud in schools. I love it so much, I wrote my congressman asking that government subsidies be sent to the writer. I love it so much, I even read it myself, every week.
It says on your site that you are available for parties, what sort of entertainment do you provide?
DM: I though this was supposed to be an all-ages forum…
Actually, I play guitar and sing with a classic rock cover band, I also sing with a second all-original heavy metal band (you can check out the latter at www.shadesofpain.com a site I also built, btw).
I’m a real screamer. It’s a talent I picked up as an editor.
Have you ever had any success breaking into Mainstream comics, or do you just do Indy work?
I’ve had some interesting “near misses” getting myself a mainstream writing gig. Laura Mittler, submissions editor for CrossGen, wrote me saying my submission for Gnard the Kopfswoggler was one of the two best scripts she had read in her three year tenure ( the other guy got the job). She took a copy with her recommendation to story editor Barbara Kesel, who never read it. Chris Carlisle (VP Of creative something or other for Top Cow) called me after reading Taxman and offered me a job writing “One of our books, or something of your own” but then never bit on any of the proposals or plots I sent him. I’ve been blown off by Schreck at DC too. He kept promising to read one of my books, but I bugged him about it one too many times and he sent a LONG rejection email TWO minutes later with a form critique, the gist of which only demonstrates that he never actually read the comic.
Larry Marder told me at two separate conventions that “Yes, Image will definitely publish Bastard Stew”, ( a beautiful, finished book with art by fan favorite Al Rio). Larry never returned my calls or emails.
But my favorite was the Marvel Submissions Editor ( I forget his name now) who wrote saying that he loved my comic samples but that he had absolutely no influence in hiring creators. This was their Submissions Editor! He might as well be their plumber.
On the Indy side, I’ve successfully written for Brainstorm, Avatar, Sequent, Eon, Plethora, Retrospect and Greater Mercury. Umm, maybe some others, I forget. 150 comics or so at last count. Each and every one was my whole world for the time it took to write it.
Have you ever set your sights on Hollywood?
DM: Yes, in fact, they are far more receptive to demonstratable writing talent. I’ve been picked up by Circle Of Confusion (same guys who manage Bendis and The Wachowski) and William Morris Co. (biggest talent agency anywhere) to develop screenplays and I couldn’t be happier.
<a href= "http://comixtreme.com/gallery/data/media/529/Exec.jpg" target="_blank"><img src= "http://www.comixtreme.com/gallery/data/thumbnails/529/Exec.jpg" align="left" border="1" alt= "picture name"></a>My color one-shot The Exec has been optioned by Warner Bros. For a big-budget production with one of my favorite Directors attached, Chris Nolan (Memento, Batman: Intimidation game).
Comics editors on the other hand are so used to judging artists in the ten seconds it takes to review an art page, that they have no mechanism to screen aspiring writers. Takes too long. Their attention spans are too short. Maybe they have been reading too many comics. No wonder Hollywood is experiencing a renaissance while most mainstream comics continue to be written at a high-school level.
Now I must make it clear that the views expressed here are those of Doug Miers and not those of ComiXtreme, X-World or myself. I also want to add that I have been fortunate enough to see Prophecy Anthology first hand and it is breathtaking! A MUST for any comic fan. Thank you Doug for taking the time to talk to lil’ ol me, and as for the rest of you, I hope you pick up one of the above mentioned titles and see just what I have been going on and on about since the very first edition of this column.
Please take a trip over to www.comicsconpiracy.com and pick up one or more of his books, proceeds right now are going directly to his family, and a percentage is being donated in his name to the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund. roneegb@comixtreme.com
Realizing that the interview I had with him a year ago was no longer on the site, I decided to re-post it below. Exactly as it was originally presented, with some new pictures added.
Rest In Peace My Friend,
<center>WAGW #14 / EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH DOUG MIERS
Originally posted April 22, 2004</center>
Those of you that have been following this column know of my fondness for a particular writer, I could not get an interview with him however, So I got this one from Doug Miers instead! Ha Ha I kill me!
<a href= "http://comixtreme.com/gallery/data/media/529/cclogo.jpg" target="_blank"><img src= "http://www.comixtreme.com/gallery/data/thumbnails/529/cclogo.jpg" align="right" border="1" alt= "picture name"></a>From the moment I stumbled upon Comics Conspiracy as the small press news writer, I fell in love with the wit and humor of this writer… just by reading his own bio! I knew that this was someone I wanted to learn more about, and in doing that I grew even more fond. And not just because he loves the Dallas Cowboys as much as I do.
This interview was originally scheduled for this Saturday as part of the new revolving column but due to an emergency with the Friends of Lulu, I begged him to step it up for me. Thankfully, he came through and I am proud to present this interview even though I promised the man my next born child….
What was your major at Stanford? And What first led you away from a “real” job and into comics?
Doug Miers: I studied Modern Thought and Literature, a self-designed major that gave me the freedom to take all the cool philosophy, literature and creative writing classes I really wanted.
What real job? I’ve never worked for a corporate entity, never had to put on a tie for work, never did time as a 40 hour wage slave. I believe that would have burned all of the creative energy right out of me. As it is now, I’m one of the oldest teenagers you’ll ever meet. And no, I didn’t inherit anything, I’ve always made ends meet as a freelancer.
You sold your store to concentrate on your creative endeavors, what project were you most passionate about at the time?
DM: When I sold my comic store in 1999, I was making a small fortune doing web design. That was before people figured out how easy that is and started making their own. Most of the web jobs I get now come because of my unique creative twists (harder to export to India) rather than my technical prowess, which is fine, but I miss having more paid monkey-work than I can keep up with.
I am sure you are aware of how often I have plugged your “Generic Comic”, when will you give in and produce more issues?
DM: Yes, and thank you so much for that. But it’s not a matter of me “giving in”, it’s a matter of economic consequences. The series only made money on the very first of its thirteen issues. I had to push it kicking and screaming the rest of the way, with support for a very precious few perceptive retailers.
<a href= "http://comixtreme.com/gallery/data/media/529/Generic5_LR.jpg" target="_blank"><img src= "http://www.comixtreme.com/gallery/data/thumbnails/529/Generic5_LR.jpg" align="left" border="1" alt= "picture name"></a>Most comic stores dismiss Indy comics like ours, either because they don’t have shelf space, or because they don’t think their customers will buy them, or because they don’t know how good they are and are too jaded to find out. Literally hundreds of random Indy comics are published every month, and some are great, but most truly suck. Why would retailers expect a title like Generic Comics to be any different? Because it’s within their chosen profession to know this stuff? Because it’s a superior and sellable book? Nah. Too much effort.
I can’t really blame them, I was a retailer long enough to know that no store can possibly support the overwhelming glut of trash comics (Indy and Mainstream), and if a few gems slip by, most customers will never know to miss them.
<a href= "http://comixtreme.com/gallery/data/media/529/gcmspencil.jpg" target="_blank"><img src= "http://www.comixtreme.com/gallery/data/thumbnails/529/gcmspencil.jpg" align="right" border="1" alt= "picture name"></a>
We had a nice windfall from a 2-page editorial in Wizard #121, but then Diamond mis-solicited #11 by printing the wrong (higher) cover price, and orders immediately dropped 25%, which was one big sloppy French kiss of death.
But we hope to recapture those magical “gimmick” sales of Generic Comic #1 with the upcoming Generic mini-series #1 through 3 or 4 or so, which should launch in early 2005. And maybe a Generic one shot after that. And maybe a Generic Annual. And then maybe Generic Comics Volume II #1, etc., ad nauseum. Finances permitting.
You publish a lot of your own work, what would you say is the most difficult part of working on so many aspects of the same project?
DM: The hardest part is convincing the artists to do most of the actual work. Putting the final product together and sending it off to a printer is no harder than planning your average family vacation (and it costs about the same).
Or you might say that hardest part is getting retailers to sit up and take notice, but that goes far beyond mere difficulty into the realm of magical. Apparently, I am not a good magician.
How many comic titles are you currently writing? Do you have a favorite?
<a href= "http://comixtreme.com/gallery/data/media/529/anthology_thumb.jpg" target="_blank"><img src= "http://www.comixtreme.com/gallery/data/thumbnails/529/anthology_thumb.jpg" align="left" border="1" alt= "picture name"></a>M: Our latest project is Prophecy Anthology, which I edited for Sequent Media. It just came out last week. It’s a gorgeous oversized coffee-table tome collecting some of the coolest comic stories I have ever seen. (www.prophecymagazine.com) This project gave me new respect for Editors, who I always thought of as grumpy pissers who yell at creators when they miss deadlines, then take credit when everything’s done. But, I’ve learned first-hand that editing is hard work. There’s much more yelling involved than I thought. I am always out of breath.
Comics Conspiracy has 3 titles currently in the works (and 12 titles total, over 30 actual comics, already published). Gypsy Rose #2 will be out in June. Retailers are making those orders right now, so ask your local store to order it. The American Inquisition (a dystopian one-shot) will be out as soon as Heavy Metal artist Matt Maquire finishes the art chores (probably late summer/early fall; so far the pages are amazing). The third project is Trench Monkey, a full color comic we are pimping to bigger companies, but failing that, this awesome color book will be a one shot from Comics Conspiracy in the winter. Samples of all three can be seen at www.comicsconpiracy.com/publishing
I’ve written about half a dozen titles for Avatar Press (Hellina, Lockers, Pandora, Ravening, Ivory, Tundra and Calico); some of these are still unreleased and others currently coming out (and will be for the next year or more) I created Ivory and Tundra for them.
Asking which if my comics is my favorite is like asking which of my children is my favorite. But I think the best ones are the ones I publish myself through Comics Conspiracy. Generic Comics were fun, and as a comic spoof of the comics industry, it was an excellent venue for insider observations (i.e. rants). But my favorites are the color one-shots… each of these represents everything I could ever ask of a comic.
Why don’t you do an ongoing color series?
DM: we never sell enough of the first issue to follow up, so I’m always careful to make them self-contained stories. That way we can kill it off faster than a death-row convict in Texas.
Okay, the question I am dying to ask… Why exactly are you no longer writing Hellina?
DM: Because you (Ronée) told me you hated Hellina.
Okay seriously, it’s all good, because I redesigned Hellina for Avatar to be exactly that: hated and hateful. She gets off on humiliating people, seeing how far she can push them, seeing how bad she can screw them, for no better reason than to watch them suffer. She’s as rotten as a human can be without running for political office. And the sad thing is, some people will read this description and decide to order the comic. (hey, you gotta be 18)
<a href= "http://comixtreme.com/gallery/data/media/529/gypsy-color.jpg" target="_blank"><img src= "http://www.comixtreme.com/gallery/data/thumbnails/529/gypsy-color.jpg" align="right" border="1" alt= "picture name"></a>But I stopped writing for Avatar when they decided to put my creator-owned Gypsy Rose project on the back-burner to do Brian Pulido’s creator-owned Gypsy instead. So I published Gypsy Rose myself, before they could get to press, just to stick it to ‘em. Issue #1 is already out. Unfortunately it would have sold much better through Avatar, so I really stuck it to myself, but I’d do it again. (beats bending over and spreading.)
I also found out that Avatar was re-writing my scripts, adding up to 30% extra content I didn’t write, mostly gratuitous and shocking sex scenes. I had already put shocking sex scenes in those scripts, but none were gratuitous; each one advanced the plot. Yes, really.
But in the end, I just wasn’t depraved enough for Hellina’s editorial standards. Hellina vs. Pandora has an entire extra issue’s worth of crap added to the original 2-issue series I wrote. I had to threaten legal action to make publisher William Chrisensen take a co-writer credit. He tells me my name will now be listed third in the writer credits of my books, after himself and Seifert, his writing partner. Ah, the sweet smell of justice. (choke)
So what do you think the chances are like for the Cowboys this year?
DM: I hope they go all the way. It’s time for a new dynasty. The Cowboys chances are better than those of the 49ers, the local team here (San Jose). It’s enough to make me a hockey fan. Go Sharks!
Do you read the immensely popular column What A Girl Wants? If so, how much do you love it?
DM: I love that column so much, I wonder why it’s not nationally syndicated. I love it so much, I joined the PTA so I could lobby to have it read aloud in schools. I love it so much, I wrote my congressman asking that government subsidies be sent to the writer. I love it so much, I even read it myself, every week.
It says on your site that you are available for parties, what sort of entertainment do you provide?
DM: I though this was supposed to be an all-ages forum…
Actually, I play guitar and sing with a classic rock cover band, I also sing with a second all-original heavy metal band (you can check out the latter at www.shadesofpain.com a site I also built, btw).
I’m a real screamer. It’s a talent I picked up as an editor.
Have you ever had any success breaking into Mainstream comics, or do you just do Indy work?
I’ve had some interesting “near misses” getting myself a mainstream writing gig. Laura Mittler, submissions editor for CrossGen, wrote me saying my submission for Gnard the Kopfswoggler was one of the two best scripts she had read in her three year tenure ( the other guy got the job). She took a copy with her recommendation to story editor Barbara Kesel, who never read it. Chris Carlisle (VP Of creative something or other for Top Cow) called me after reading Taxman and offered me a job writing “One of our books, or something of your own” but then never bit on any of the proposals or plots I sent him. I’ve been blown off by Schreck at DC too. He kept promising to read one of my books, but I bugged him about it one too many times and he sent a LONG rejection email TWO minutes later with a form critique, the gist of which only demonstrates that he never actually read the comic.
Larry Marder told me at two separate conventions that “Yes, Image will definitely publish Bastard Stew”, ( a beautiful, finished book with art by fan favorite Al Rio). Larry never returned my calls or emails.
But my favorite was the Marvel Submissions Editor ( I forget his name now) who wrote saying that he loved my comic samples but that he had absolutely no influence in hiring creators. This was their Submissions Editor! He might as well be their plumber.
On the Indy side, I’ve successfully written for Brainstorm, Avatar, Sequent, Eon, Plethora, Retrospect and Greater Mercury. Umm, maybe some others, I forget. 150 comics or so at last count. Each and every one was my whole world for the time it took to write it.
Have you ever set your sights on Hollywood?
DM: Yes, in fact, they are far more receptive to demonstratable writing talent. I’ve been picked up by Circle Of Confusion (same guys who manage Bendis and The Wachowski) and William Morris Co. (biggest talent agency anywhere) to develop screenplays and I couldn’t be happier.
<a href= "http://comixtreme.com/gallery/data/media/529/Exec.jpg" target="_blank"><img src= "http://www.comixtreme.com/gallery/data/thumbnails/529/Exec.jpg" align="left" border="1" alt= "picture name"></a>My color one-shot The Exec has been optioned by Warner Bros. For a big-budget production with one of my favorite Directors attached, Chris Nolan (Memento, Batman: Intimidation game).
Comics editors on the other hand are so used to judging artists in the ten seconds it takes to review an art page, that they have no mechanism to screen aspiring writers. Takes too long. Their attention spans are too short. Maybe they have been reading too many comics. No wonder Hollywood is experiencing a renaissance while most mainstream comics continue to be written at a high-school level.
Now I must make it clear that the views expressed here are those of Doug Miers and not those of ComiXtreme, X-World or myself. I also want to add that I have been fortunate enough to see Prophecy Anthology first hand and it is breathtaking! A MUST for any comic fan. Thank you Doug for taking the time to talk to lil’ ol me, and as for the rest of you, I hope you pick up one of the above mentioned titles and see just what I have been going on and on about since the very first edition of this column.
Please take a trip over to www.comicsconpiracy.com and pick up one or more of his books, proceeds right now are going directly to his family, and a percentage is being donated in his name to the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund. roneegb@comixtreme.com