WILD AT HEART: NEIL GOOGE ON WILDCATS: WORLDS END
by Chris Arrant
This week, Newsarama is turning its attention to the unfolding events in the Wildstorm Universe. Building upon the events of the
Armageddon and
Revelations miniseries, the currently running
Number of the Beast is changing the playing field for everyone involved in that world. Our spotlighting of Wildstorm begins with the title that started off the published in the first place, way back in 1992; were talking about Wildcats.
In the new series
Wildcats: Worlds End, acclaimed writer Christos Gage and artist Neil Googe take on the flagship title of the Wildstorm Comics in a time where their universe looks to be in its darkest hour. It was this time last month that WS editor Ben Abernathy announced this new chapter to Newsarama in an exclusive
interview. In that, he revealed that the line-up for the new Wildcats series was: Grifter, Zealot, Spartan, Maul, Warblade, Ladytron and Voodoo, in addition to the well-received heroines from
Wildstorm Revelations Nemesis and Backlash.
In a follow-up
interview with series writer Christos Gage, the writer promised that the "premise is something I don't believe has ever been done in an ongoing superhero book before". While not disclosing the new modus operandi just yet, Gage left Newsarama readers with high expectations.
Now we turn to series artist Neil Googe. Googe is a Wildstorm regular at this point, having drawn several series for WS include the most recent
Welcome To Tranquility. Now, with what is his most high profile assignment yet, we talked to him to find out more.
Newsarama: Thanks for talking with us, Neil. Can you tell us what your view is of what
Wildcats: Worlds End is about?
Neil Googe: Well, I'm sure Christos has put it more eloquently that I can, but basically its the Wildcats attempting to pick up the pieces and help in anyway they can after having the world around them and everything they know, turned on its head and shaken, hard... then hit with a sledge hammer, kicked down the street and driven over by an exceptionally large truck.
NRAMA: A truck named
Number of the Beast, I reckon.
NG: All in all, the world is in big trouble and the Wildcats are just trying to help as best they can... which seems to be far easier said than done.
I dont know the full ins and outs of the series, which is the way I like it. Just like any reader, I don't really want to know what's coming up to far in advance, that way it remains as much of a surprise for me as it is for everyone else. It was the same with
Welcome to Tranquility. It also helps keep the work more interesting; when a script comes in I get double the excitement: One as a reader watching the story unfold, plus as an artist seeing the amazing things I get to draw for the next few weeks.
So I do have an overview of the bigger picture but none of the finer details.
NRAMA: What's it like moving from
Welcome To Tranquility up to a major team and major event like
Wildcats?
NG: In a word, scary. It's the biggest book I've had to work on, and it's a major turning point in the Universe's history. To be honest, I've had to change my undergarments on many occasions when thinking about it all.
To go from something as personal and contained as
Welcome to Tranquility with no past for the reader to draw, straight on to something on a scale as large as Wildcats and the destruction of the world, with characters that already have a strong fan base, was quite a shock.
But it was a great change of pace and an even greater challenge. I did find it all a little overwhelming at first, but fingers crossed, I'm starting to find my feet on it all a little now.
NRAMA: Looking at the pages you gave us today, you're doing just fine. The solicitations promise a return to the "classic" Wildcats. Let me ask you, back when Wildc.a.t.s first debuted in 1992 were you a comics fan, and if so, what'd you think of it?
NG: I was a massive fan of Jim Lee back in 1992 (Was it really that long ago?), and subsequently
Wildcats; I still have some original sketches of Wolverine and Grifter he did for me at a convention I won them with a paper clip.
The launch of Image was at the height of my comic ready frenzy. You know, the period when you buy everything that hits the shelves. I was a huge fan of Image when it launched, especially
Wildcats and
Savage Dragon.
So I loved
Wildcats. I think the main appeal for me with the book, as was the case with the majority of the early Image titles and a handful of the current ones such as
Invincible, was that you could tell it was being done by guys that both loved their creations and what they were doing with them, visually and with the stories. It made the books feel fresh and new, and they were so exciting to read --
Wildcats was a great example of that.
NRAMA: From past to present, lets now get to your partner for this. For this miniseries you're teaming with writer Christos Gage. What's it been like working from his scripts?
NG: It's great! Christos certainly has a thing for the grand, which is fine by me. The scale of the Wildstorm Universe is so huge at the moment. It's a great universe to be working in, and I think Christos' work reflects that perfectly. Obviously, it also helps that his scripts are easy and a joy to work from.
I've been lucky with writers and Christos is no different. I like to feel I can have some input to both the story and the storytelling if I think it helps the bigger picture, and to date, all the writers I've had the pleasure of working with seem to be okay with this, Christos included.
NRAMA: When we were setting up this interview, you mentioned you were living in Thailand. You're originally from the UK, so what finds you across the world?
NG: There's a lot to be said for working in comics. I know a lot of artists jump ship, going into concept design, etc. Maybe for the money, or the regular hours. Maybe, at times, for the not-so-stressful deadlines. But I can't think of many other jobs in the world where I can pretty much do my work from wherever I want. I'd wanted to get out of the UK and see some of the world for a long time. I had friends in Thailand, so I thought I'd give it a go.
Maybe not the wisest choice with such little planning and just
starting a new series. To say it's been stressful, for both myself and
people working with me would be an understatement sorry Ben.
Thailand is an amazing place, an incredible country, in so many surprising ways, with a rich and diverse culture... but needing certain things to work, regularly, and the way you'd expect them to work in a more Westernized country, Thailand maybe wasn't the best choice while working with deadlines... so it looks like I'll be moving on in the next couple of months. That said, I would advise anyone to visit in a heart beat, it really is a great place.
Read writer Christos Gage's previous interview on this new series Wildcats: Worlds End here. Come back Tuesday for our second spotlight on Wildstorm, with new Gen13 writer Scott Beatty.
The real test, of course, will come with his treatment of Hadrian, since he's easily my favorite Wildcats character. But right now it looks promising.
