 
 An Interview with Jay Faerber, by David Gallaher
ComicBoards Exclusive!
Jay Faerber is best known for his work on GENERATION X, NEW WARRIORS, TITANS, and WOLVERINE/IRON FIST [as well as other projects, such a GREEN LANTERN, SUPERBOY, and SUPERMAN ADVENTURES]. His most recent project is the critically acclaimed NOBLE CAUSES published bi-monthly from Image Comics. Jay was kind enough to share some of his thoughts and feelings with the ComicBoards management.
Q: What made you decide to become a comic writer?
Well, in short -- I didn't have the talent to be an artist. But basically, I've always been interested in storytelling, and I just never outgrew comics. I can't remember a time when I wasn't reading them. What I like about comics, specifically, is that they have no limits -- you're not restrained by a special effects budget, so the scope of your stories is only bound by your imagination.
Q:For the uninitiated, what is NOBLE CAUSES about?
A: NC tells the story of the Noble family, the world's most famous super-heroes, as seen through the eyes of Liz Donnelly, an everyday girl who married into this super-hero dynasty. It's a super-hero comic where the focus is on character interaction rather than fight scenes, and it's got murder, betrayal, intrigue, humor, and sex!
Q: How did you come up with the idea for the book?
A: I wanted to write a book about super-heroes that could be completely character-driven, and where I wouldn't have to concern myself with the heroes saving the day. So I quickly hit upon the idea of using a family, since families have all sorts of built-in conflicts. Hell, just depicting an average Saturday night at Noble Manor would be full interesting character dynamics.
Q: Who is your favorite Noble to write?
A: It's too close to call -- probably a three-way tie between Frost, Celeste, and Doc.
Q: It has been said that you have a proclivity towards obscure characters, such as Paladin, Jack of Hearts, Firestorm and Stingray. Why do you think that is?
A: Who said that? ;-)
I think that could be said of ANY comics-fan-turned-pro. We all have our "pet" characters that we'd love to work on someday. Heck, I know a handful of creators about my age who love both Firestorm and Paladin.
Q: What are the major themes that run though your work?
A: I tend to try and approach each assignment differently, but a lot of my stories tend to have "coming of age" themes to them, which you sort of have to expect, when you're dealing with "young adult" characters like GenX, New Warriors, and Titans. Now with Nobles, I'm dealing with lots more family-centric themes. Stuff like sibling rivalry, fidelity, parental favoritism, etc.
Q: What are the hardest lessons you have learned in the industry?
A: I've learned a bunch -- but the one that springs to mind immediately is that if an artist has a bad reputation, it's with good reason.
Q: What is the best part of your job?
A: Getting paid to entertain people!
Q: What is the worst part of you job?
A: Being at the whim of a very fickle, what-have-you-done-for-me-lately industry.
Q: Your previous dream projects were TITANS and NEW WARRIORS. It seems experience has shown you to "be careful what you wish for" - that being said, however, do you have any current dream projects?
A: My dream projects these days are more about creator-owned stuff -- I "dream" about being able to make a living off of books that I have complete control over.
Q: Looking back, what would you consider to be your greatest body of work?
A: I'm proudest of NOBLE CAUSES, because it's the comic that's most true to the vision I had for it. I also think my first few issues of GENERATION X hold up well -- issues #45, 48-54 or so. And TITANS #21-25 came off about as well as can be expected. And my final issues of NEW WARRIORS (#s 7-10 -- after Jamal Igle came aboard) were pretty fun.
Q: Recently, you've made a bit of a departure from the "Big Two" to pursue greater diversity in your own work. Can you share with us some of your projects?
A: In addition to NC, I've got THE HAT SQUAD coming out from Moonstone Books later this year. It's a 48-page b&w one-shot. I've also got a 4-issue run on VAMPIRELLA slated for #s 15-18 (although that may change), and I'm helping to develop XIN: THE LEGEND OF THE MONKEY KING for Harris Comics. The book was conceived and created by Kevin (VAMPI) Lau and Erik (Udon studio) Ko, and is based in Chinese mythology. The sneak preview issue ships in May, and the introductory one-shot ships later this summer, and if response is good, we'll do more.
Q: What can you tell us about your work for Moonstone Books? What made you decide to develop a story around THE HAT SQUAD?
A:Moonstone is publishing THE HAT SQUAD, a 48-page self-contained crime book set in 1950s Hollywood, about a group of LAPD Detectives nicknamed "The Hat Squad," and their efforts to solve the murder of a Hollywood starlet. I chose to develop this project simply because I wanted to try something completely different. If I'm "known" for anything it's for writing super-hero teams ... but I have a big interest in crime stories, so I wanted to try and develop something along those lines. Moonstone publisher Joe Gentile was kind enough to invite me to pitch something, and before long, THE HAT SQUAD was born.
Q: It your HAT SQUAD story based of real events?
A: Not really. The Hat Squad really existed, in the 50s and 60s. They were real LAPD detectives. But I've fictionalized the four of them, and the actual story I wrote is complete fiction.
Q: Where do you see yourself in five years?
A: NOBLE CAUSES will be a full-color monthly at Image, and I'll be working on two other regular, creator-owned series, and I'll have had at least one mystery novel published.
Thanks for taking the time to talk to us.
Place to discuss the interview:
Indies Message Board for NOBLE CAUSES
Image Message Board for HAT SQUAD, VAMPIRELLA, and XIN
Also visit Jay Faerber's Home Page
and
the Noble Causes Web Site.
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