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New Avengers #39 & Kabuki, the Interview

posted by Matt Knicl at 11:43 pm.

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The Secret World of David Mack

David Mack is an artist who has subtly reimagined the way comics can be told. He is best known for his series Kabuki, a cult classic in comics. He has also worked on the Marvel comics Alias (nothing to do with the show) and Daredevil. With Daredevil, he created the deaf assassin, Echo, who is now a member of the New Avengers. Next Wednesday, his art will be featured in New Avengers #39, an Echo centered story that guest stars Daredevil and ties into the Secret Invasion crossover.

Mr. Mack took time to speak with me about several of his projects, including New Avengers #39 and Kabuki: The Alchemy.

Matt Knicl: Is there a difference for you in how you approach a super hero book as opposed to more realistic stuff, like Kabuki?

David Mack: Yes. The main thing is character. I tend to let the character and tone of the script shape the look of the art for it. Because of the script and the nature and atmosphere of this New Avengers series, I had to develop an art style for this issue that was fitting to it and best communicated the script and vibe of the series.

People familiar with my work (especially on Kabuki) will know that I develop a variety of different art styles for each project that I work on, so each story has its own individual look that is best for that story.



In New Avengers #39, I really embraced a very fun Marvel inspired art approach for this issue. The art approach is very Jack Kirby inspired. But contemporary and realistic as well. Kind of in the way the spirit and influence of Kirby is channeled through unique contemporary artists like Paul Pope and Joe Quesada.

Its going to be cool to see what kind of reaction there is to my artwork in this issue. It is a much more fitting with what people might consider a Marvel super hero approach.

And I should say that the coloring by Jose Villarubia in this issue is stunning. Jose is a true artist. His coloring is making my pencil and inks look good.

Matt: Are there any special considerations you make when doing a super hero title?

David: The biggest influence is the script from Bendis. It is really well thought out, character driven, and a very fun, very action packed script.

I’m also working with characters that have a very deep and iconic mythology. I want to be respectful to the mythology of these characters in the context of their long and colorful history in Marvel, and I want to be respectful for what other creatores have brought to these characters. And in addition to that, I want to infuse them with the truth of this particular story, and build onto them my own approach in the context of their personality and history.

Matt: Was it easy or hard to draw all the Avengers in the upcoming New Avengers #39?

David: Well, it is a blast to be able to draw Wolverine and Hawkeye (Clint Barton) in this story. These are characters that run deep in the Marvel mythos. And it is very fun to be able to draw Echo in this context of an action oriented team story. I was able to take bits and pieces of how Joe Quesada drew her in Daredevil, and how Lenil Yu drew her in New Avengers, their little flourishes to her costume, and gel that together in this issue to really define her action and team look in my own way while incorporating their iconic approaches to her character.

I did try to give a slightly different tone to the art of a scene of different characters. A scene driven by Wolverine has a little bit of a different inking than a scene that I drew that is dominated by Hawkeye. I alse was very conscious of Lenil Yu’s excellent work that precedes this story. I wanted this issue to still fit into what readers are looking for from New Avengers, and still have its own personality as well.



Brian Michael Bendis wrote a very detailed and tight script, and my job in this issue is just telling that story as truly and clearly as I can. Brian Bendis and I have been best friends for fifteen years, and we have a very long history of working together from the beginning so we do have a good dialogue about that. And we genuinely like each other, which also helps. We both had dreams of making it in this medium and here we are getting to work on some of the coolest characters ever invented.

After Brian sent me this script, I spent over a week at his place last December, and I asked him how he saw things for this issue. How he saw the tone, and panel layouts, and subtext of this story. So we had many conversations about that, and I took them to heart and I tried to bring all of that out in this story. Without those conversations, the book may have shaped up differently.

Matt: How did you and Mr. Quesada come up with Echo?

David: When I took over writing Daredevil after Kevin Smith, that was one of the things Joe Quesada asked of the story. He asked me to create a new character in the story that was unique to Daredevil’s personal rogues gallery. I invented her as a kind of villain against Daredevil. She was kind of a wild card.

I would never have imagined that when I wrote Echo in a Daredevil story for Joe Quesada to draw ten years
ago, that she would end up in the Avengers years later. And I would never have imagined that I would be drawing her in an issue of New Avengers with Brian Michael Bendis writing.

Echo has had quite an organic development in the Marvel Universe and a really interesting character art
so far. And it is kind of cool, to give back a character to the Marvel U that Brian has built on, just as I began writing Daredevil and Marvel characters that other creators had created years ago.

Matt: Are there any spoilers you can give us about NA #39?

David: Fun twists and surprises that kick off the Secret Invasion story. I would never have imagined when I created Echo that she would be fighting Skrulls. That’s all I can say, as the Secret Invasion is the big Marvel event of the year, and is shrouded in secrecy. I wish I could show you pages from this issue so you could see the art style but pretty much every page is a spoiler.

Matt: Do you have any upcoming projects?

David: My issue of New Avengers #39 hits stores March 12. The hardcover collection of the new Kabuki series, The Alchemy is coming out from Marvel in June. I’m putting that together now. It collects the entire Alchemy story with lots of extra stuff, including an introduction by Fight Club author Chuck Palahniuk.

Also with the success of my new children’s book The Shy Creatures, I’m working on a new children’s book. As well as a couple secret Marvel projects. And the upcoming Daredevil: End of Days story that I’m co-writing with Brian Michael Bendis.



You can find more info on any of these on the daily updates at davidmackguide.com. You can also find links there to the trailer of the documentary film about my work: The Alchemy of Art which is continuing to win some of the top film awards, including the top award at the worlds largest film competition and is now available on DVD with lots of extra features.

The Hardcover of KABUKI: The Alchemy is the big project for me this year. People have been waiting for that to be collected. If any of your readers are not familiar with Kabuki… The first volume (KABUKI: Circle of Blood) is kind of a crime story/espionage story. It was me doing a kind of updated version of a George Orwell 1984 story where the media has become a mouthpiece for corporations and government to influence the culture. The (multi-national) corporation super-cedes the nation state as the real power in the world and used the media and what we used to call the news to maintain its true interest- making money and keeping control by exerting a state of fear and constant war about something.



I wrote it in 1993 and began publishing it in 1994. I thought I would take some of what was beginning to happen in the media then and turn up the volume of it, exaggerate it, to make a point. It doesn’t feel as exaggerated when I read it now.

In the story, there is a kind of interdependence between the organized crime, corporations, government, and media. And there is a government agency that polices that interdependence. It is an agency called the Noh. The Noh also has its own television channel called Noh TV in which it exerts its influence by soft
power or cultural power. With characters clothed in nationalistic iconography and cultural masks. The general populace believe these characters to be kind of media idol talking heads about the daily propaganda. But there are also rumors that the masked animations on the news are also operatives of the media that keep the scales balanced between the organized crime corporations and the political pundits if they go too far in either direction.

Kabuki is one of these media icons of channel Noh. At a certain point, her personal family obligations supercede the nationalistic propaganda that she grew up believing and she embarks on a path that puts here against the powers that she formerly served.



The current volume (KABUKI: The Alchemy) from Marvel’s Icon line, follows the same main character, but it is after she has left her former line of work and has decided to start a new career. It kind of starts in that place people can sometimes find themselves after graduating high school or college, or switching jobs where you ask, what am I really here to do? How do I figure that out? And after figuring that out, how do I make it happen? It is about practical applications of making that happen, and about the nature of ideas and creativity in general (about practical applications for turning those ideas and dreams into reality). And specifically, how to turn the problems of your past, into something useful and practical for your future. How to turn your garbage into gold.

Each of the volumes has a different theme to it and uses a different storytelling style.

Davidmackgudie.com has preview pages for each and every issue, so you can see how each one has its own approach.

A special thanks to David Mack for his in-depth interview. Images courtesy Marvel Comics and David Mack.

Matt Knicl: My name is Matt Knicl. I'm a U of I alumn and one of those unemployed English majors Garrison Keillor likes to make fun of. I've been reading comics since high school and one day I would like to write them. My goal is to expose readers to what is out there in the world of comics and using my English powers, show what is worth reading or not. I can be reached at buzz.comics@gmail.com.