Welcome everyone to four guys in a comic interviews. Today we have none other than Mr. Ken Marcus. Ken is a writer for a hilarious comic book called Superhuman Resources.
Ken, thank you for being on the show tonight. Thanks for having me guys. I appreciate it. So Ken, for those out there not familiar with you, maybe you can tell us a little bit about yourself.
So, yeah, I'm the writer of a comic book called Superhuman Resources and it's published through Action Lab Entertainment. And our first find was actually published like six, six, seven years ago through eight entertainment who was no longer in business, but a lot of people went over to Action Lab, so I'm happy to be there. In my day job, I'm a writer in advertising. I do a lot of like, die-go commercials.
So I'm probably most famous for like that hump day at, it's probably the most well-known thing I've ever worked on. But all those commercials that are like, it's what you do, I work on those. So it's a fun day job. That's a really cool man.
A little bit of a cut. It's a hot speed day, but most days. In my work in the office, I'm at that hump day ad was all over the place last year. It was where I turned.
I had people screaming hump day at me. That's probably haunting. Yeah, it's all right. It's catchy.
It works. So between all the commercial stuff and all the guy-go work and all that, how do you find time for comics? I don't find a lot of time. So this volume was only four issues.
It's been in the works for four or five years. It's just their times. I go months for time without working on it. And then there's times I work on it a lot.
My artist, a guy named Marmana Zankar was very reliable. I was the one that was pretty unreliable. But our publisher actually, I'm pretty smart about you, you have to finish the whole series, the miniseries, four issues before you can solicit the first. Because as you know, there's a lot of comics, especially in needy comics, where something's solicited and you never see the second or third issues.
All four issues are done and already different. I need to make sure everything is done before we solicit the first one. Very cool. So what inspired this book?
Superheroes mixed in with the office, mixed in with Animaniacs, mixed in with Drown Together. It's all these crazy elements all blended into one. What inspired you and came up with this idea? I'm a longtime comic fan.
I realized I kind of want to write a comic, but I know I can't do the guys I'm fans of and ladies I'm a fan of doing. I feel like I can do myself. I'm definitely a fan of animated shows like Venture Brothers or Archer or Simpsons. I feel like I can play in that medium and do some fun.
So the idea of Supreme Resources, it was a catchy name that popped in my head. I always like to think about what's all this, I just like to think of these guys as co-workers and stuff that happens all the time that we take for getting comics. It's like you would just be like every day, just like being possessed and turning evil. That happens all the time.
So what if it happens every other week? So what if that's like to deal with that perspective? I mean, it's a big deal that our planets are about to collide or it's no big deal that I've been possessed by some demon overlord. I just like the idea of what would it be like day to day as a mundane job to work alongside superheroes?
That's exactly what I was getting. When I was reading it, it was really relatable. That was just something that was there. But you were talking about how other comics and stuff.
What are some comics that you pulled inspiration from? Well, there's lots of them ripping off, honestly. Just clear like Swamp Thing, Batman, Antilog, Starfire, Antilog. I was a big DC Marvel person.
I still am. There's definitely an Infinity Gauntlet thing in there. There's a Watcher thing. There's a little shrunken city of Candor that makes an appearance in some way.
So there's all these little things. Basically they're kind of like what would they be like around just in office? As far as specific stories, I can't think of anything. But there's always, you know, I kind of turn on this idea of meeting your future self in the first volume.
That's a big X-Men thing and like being teleported to a future or backwards into a different time. So there's all these little cues I picked up on comics along the way. But nothing like a specific story wise. But there's definitely a lot of familiar stuff.
So when you were younger, what were some of the first comics that you got into? And how did you get into comics? I remember the thing that just kind of lit me up was the Secret Wars. I remember like up to my mind.
Like, well, there's all these, you know, like, that's the first thing I got my head around like a shared universe. Like, oh, X-Men and Avengers and Iron Man are all in the same comic. And then that's some reason just let a fire under me. I got into Marvel huge and I definitely got into DC later.
But, you know, I was a big X-Men person. I loved Spider-Man. And then as I got older, my 20s, I definitely started falling writers more. I was, I can't believe any writer can do any character well.
So I started just falling writers. I like Grant Morrison. I'm a huge in him. Warren Ellis.
Kelsey, the comic, that fraction. Garth Ennis. I just, you know, I just only followed writers. Kind of going to the art side of your book, Superhuman Resources.
I noticed, I had the pleasure of reading Volumes 1 and 2. And I cannot talk enough about them. Everyone, please go out and check out these books. They're hilarious.
But I know it's in Volume 1 and Volume 2. The art was very different between the two books. Now, did you have different artists or did that, was it the same artist? You said the books were like six or seven years apart?
Yeah. So actually, the first artist I got named Justin Bleepe, that's not his real name. But he was a random name. He was like an EDM DJ.
And that was his name. So kind of he was that as his art name. He's actually the series, well, he's still credited as the series co-creators since he kind of helped me create a lot of characters and design. So he's still a creator.
And he still does the covers for Volume 2. He did four covers for us. He's a funny story because we would do comic conventions for Volume 1. And he hated comics.
Like he hated conventions. He's like, I hate these people. He's like, he hated doing sketches. And like, he just didn't like it.
I'm like, well, you're the wrong business because clearly, you know, you have to like comics if you're going to do any comics. You have to sort of love it. He just wasn't into it. But it was weird.
Like we go back to hotel for him. You know, all these crazy Legos, right? He was really into Legos. These huge Lego dioramas.
I mean, nobody did. So his dream is to work for Lego. Now he does. He works in Denmark as a designer for Lego.
So it's kind of cool. Yeah, it's kind of cool that most people dream about getting the comics. He dreams something else. So he's still very supportive of the book.
We're still very friendly. And like I said, he's done covers for our second volume. My new artist is the guy named Armando Zenker. I met him through, are my editors at Ape.
He had done some licensed stuff for them, like Richie Rich and Casper, I believe. He did some stuff for the middleman comic. So I just hooked up with him. And he's great.
He's a little bit more like classically animated feel. He kind of looks like a J-bone or player vs player vibe. He's definitely more, the other guy was more experimental. I think with anatomy and line work, I think Armando is a more traditional animated style.
Did you ever see this book or potentially see this book becoming maybe a cartoon series, so to speak? I could definitely see something like this on like Adult Swim or Comedy Central. It's funny. It's funny because like, where's like a week in my first volume that like some production coming was interested?
You know, and I was going to call one of the guys, some executive producer, I'm future, I'm always interested. And so everyone's like, oh yeah, get yourself an entertainment lawyer, blah blah. So it's like a week or two. I thought something was going to happen.
This was years ago. Of course nothing happens. And every once in a while, like we do a call and you know, nothing ever happened. I actually talked to the guy at Wayne Street who was a big production company behind Adult Swim.
And he was really cool. He was like, yeah, this could be a show, but you got to go make it. So it just gave me an insight into how shows are made. So there's no like, his whole thing was like, there's no idea that's so great.
We're going to just paint you a bunch of money to make a show. You have to make your own show, you know, get your own financing, make it, and then we'll buy it. So it's like really kind of cool how they look at things from their point of view. They're like, we have a stack of great ideas.
There's stack of scripts and pilots that are great ideas. And yours could be a great show. We got 20 more like it. So if you want to make it sure you got to make it yourself, I thought that's pretty interesting.
That said, I think DC is doing a show, a live action show on NBC. It's a very similar concept, like working with Superhills. Things called like Powerless, I think. It's like their insurance company kind of like damage control.
I honestly don't get that worked up about like other shows being similar. I saw my wife sent me a link to a book on Slate that had a similar concept. And the idea of superheroes and comics, I mean, in workplace comedy, it's not a huge stretch to make. Take two popular things, the office and the vendors and switching together.
It's not a hard leak to make. But I like to think I'm doing something completely different from how I'm doing it. And honestly, I'm just thrilled to be in a comic store. The biggest thrill for me is the Waffenkook Comics Store and see my comic on a shelf.
That's all I'm in it for. And so that, you know, I think there's a thing in the industry where like being a show was an ultimate sort of arbiter for success. And for me, I love comics. I'm happy for it to just be a comic.
I mean, there was like a six or seven years, so hiatus between volumes one and volumes two. I know volume two is about to drop here, I think, at the end of this month, right? And April? It'll be so it's in previews now.
So the the the the reprint will be in May and I think it's the third week in May. And then the first issue of will be mid June. Okay. So the reason I'm doing all my press now is like, you know, for indie comics, it's super important that people ask their retailers for it while it's in previews.
So otherwise, and just my luck, like our comics going out like the same month, like Civil War II and like reverts coming out. So it's like, you gotta be a crowded shelter. Well, I will definitely do our part in trying to help you out as much as I can and see about getting you into some local shops right here because it's a phenomenal book. It's absolutely hilarious.
I can't speak enough about it. I appreciate it. Do you have plans already? Because it's for issues each volume.
Do you have plans for future issues or is it going to be another potential hiatus in between or? I hope not. You know, like, I had like young kids and the job change and stuff kind of gotten away. And if I'm being blunt with you all, like, you know, don't comment on these hard when you're not in the great mood and, you know, when you have to start moving to a mood to write it.
So, you know, sometimes a month would go by. I was just wasn't in the mood for it. But no, I'm hoping, you know, generally the action lab, what a pattern I've seen is the comic does pretty well. They'll do it as a month later or semi-month like every other month title.
So I'm hoping if it does well with orders, we can make it look like a month later. That would make my year. That would be awesome. No, that'd be pretty cool.
No, I was actually re- like, that's the thing though. Whenever we had to do this, start the call with you. I was actually reading all the way up to it. And I was like, ah, damn it.
Yeah, no, not just cramming. I was like, I was really into it. I was like going and going. And I thought for a second, I was like, man, I wish I had like 30 more minutes to read.
But I get to talk to the man behind it himself. So that's even cooler. I have to admit in reverse that I was I was cramming. I was listening to your podcast before this.
So, which ones were you listening to? I was listening to one actually the Matt Hawkins. I saw a clip of that and most of the other guys talked to. I forget, but I was just kind of cramming.
Well, we got a rebirth coming up of our own on May 7th. So we're completely changing a lot of stuff up. So May 7th will be a new rebirth for us. The mystery right now.
Yeah, it's a mystery. I got to ask real fast. Yes. Okay.
Where do you see the future of you in comics? I would be happy just in my own little world doing more superhuman resources. I mean, it's a pretty wide open platform. I can kind of do whatever I want and do what any character I want.
So I feel like there's more little fun to have in that world. I'm sort of lucky that I don't feel the need that I want to like. I have friends that are in the business who have done pretty successful indie books and they just have a bag to do an eight page backup on a big two title. And I'm like, jumped through all these tubes for editors.
I have no interest in that. So I'm happy to just do my own little thing. And like I said, I'm just thrilled to be in comic stores and on Comptology and conventions. I don't feel the need that I have to make this a career.
So Ken, I got to ask you, what do you keep in your short box? You know, I have to say I'm a, I don't know what you guys are. I'm really going more towards trades lately. This last year or two.
Like I found myself like liking books, buying the whole book and floppies and singles and then rebinding as a trade. I'm like, what am I doing? You're buying for everything twice. So lately, I've been really just doing a lot of trades.
I'm a big, I like to create around stuff. I buy a lot of image titles. Like I said, I love Warren Ellis. I was just kind of injection and I like Rick Remender, like his deadly glass and black science.
There was a book I just got from, we can never go back. We can never go home by black mask. I like that a lot. I just got the humans that like monkey gang book.
I think that's image. I got a whole stack over there. I'm actually reading. I copra or copra.
I just read that. I like that. So generally I buy trades. I still get X-Men.
I still get Walking Dead in months and months. There's a couple of comics I still get months and months. Like I said, if there's a good writer, I'll generally follow whatever they're doing. We have volume one now and we have volume two.
You said you hope to start doing it month to month and stuff. Would you ever consider like, who would be, say that you had to find a new artist or something? Is there some kind of dream artist that you wish you could work with on your own stuff? That's the question.
I love Sean Murphy. I want to work on myself, but I love him. The first super-human resource is a certain kind of person. It's really good at like expressions.
I like J-Bone. I don't think he will be good for this. I know it'll be awesome. This is it.
It's got a young. Yeah, it's got a young person. I can see it's got a young person. There's a guy who actually did colors and did a cover for my first book called Joey Mason.
He doesn't work with comics anymore, but he's got a similar vibe. He's awesome. Yeah, but in that area, it's got a young would be awesome. He seems ideal for the style art.
I hate fairyland. It's awesome. It is. It really is enjoyable.
Got a look at it. Sam Ellis, his style of Adventure Time. Oh, yeah. I can see something like that as well with it too.
Yeah, that'd be great. It took me so long to finish the second vibe. I'm just trying to get through this. I haven't even thought about it more.
You guys probably picked up. The difference between the two volumes is, I definitely say that I'm learning on the job a little bit with the first one. The first issue is literally no plot whatsoever. It's just kind of joke, joke, joke, setting, setting.
It wasn't until I think towards the end and in the second vibe, I feel like I'm going to put a handle on a plot and a story in arcs. It works a little bit more like a normal time without sacrificing the kind of opportunities for fun we can have. So I'm definitely learning on the job a little bit. So can you plan your thoughts on a different story or series other than a Supreme Human Resources?
Anything else in the back of your brain that you're thinking about putting down? I did have one good idea for story. A little more all ages. It's kind of a story about a cosplayer.
Again, I'm sort of fasting on this idea of a real person, juxtaposing a superhero world and becoming funny to tell a person that was a cosplayer in the superhero world. Yeah, I was just going to say, going back to growing as a writer and saying, between volume 22, you can definitely see the growth in one out. But don't sell yourself short on volume 1. It is still amazing.
I love both volumes equally. I can't gush enough about this book. I was seriously dying laughing as I was reading it. I'm very excited.
You're a new favorite person. I'm a new favorite person. I'm a new picture of myself. Oh, awesome.
You don't want to. No, I honestly can't gush enough. It takes, like you said, there's Infinity Gun and there's Batman and there's Swamp Thing. They're all parodies and spooks of these characters.
It's not like you're stealing these characters. I don't think people think that when you say that you're stealing these, you're not. It's complete spooks and parodies of them, which makes it so great. The wombat's great.
I don't think I laughed so hard as when I read that panel with the peeper. I lost it. I thought this is great. I'm worried what happens if Marvel is one of those employers and the police.
I hope even though I'm definitely poking fun at a lot of stuff, I hope people can see that I still love comics. I don't want to be like comics are stupid. Some things are about them are stupid, but I still there's like done with love and still, you know, still done with love and a lot of stuff I'm poking fun at. I secretly love.
Yeah, I didn't read it as you were disrespecting it anyway. I think it was very much done from a place of love and comedy. So I think people understand that. Yeah, cool.
It also was important to me as like, you know, I was, you know, I like Family Guy Fine, but I'm a big Simpsons guy. I think the big difference is like there's like a heart to the Simpsons and there's like, there's still their family and they still love each other. And it's not just about jokes. And I was always wanted my book to be, have some kind of heart and something nice about it too, not just jokes.
So I'm a huge Simpsons fan. So I kind of modeled that style off of that show. Before we wrap things up, can there anything that you want to mention or throw out there? No, just what I said earlier about we're in our new volume is in previews right now.
So I think we're in mid-April now. So if you can then get a week or so until April 30th to tell your comic store about us. And usually what happens is if you tell your story you want to order one, they usually order a couple more. So that's the best way to get the word out of any comics is to tell your store.
We have a variant cover from Gabriel Hartman, which is awesome. He's great. He's sweetheart and really super talented. So yeah, we're from Action Lab and I'm thrilled to just be back in comic stores.
And I completely appreciate your support. I do conventions and I can't tell you. People come up to you and be like, oh, I heard you on this podcast and it's neat to meet someone. Instead of putting something out into the ether of the internet to put a voice in a face and meet someone in person.
So it's great. Do you have any conventions that you're going to be coming up with that maybe people might be able to see you at? Yeah, actually, it'll be the week before our book is on shelves as heroes in Charlotte is a big one. And we'll have a con exclusive.
It'll be our first actual place you can buy super even resources too. So that's I think the third week in June. And then I'll probably do Baltimore in New York Comic Con, which is more towards the end of the summer. Super cool.
I'm bummed that I didn't think about the one in what's it called in Norfolk. Is it in? I was water. I would, my trade would be out, but not the second one.
So, and like I mentioned, it's I got to use my weekend chips very carefully because it's in a life. So I can't get every time. I made an extra. We'll be able to make it up to the Midwest.
I'm out here in the Midwest. Or you can come down south to Texas. The West is more fun. You just want to hear.
How does y'all meet? How does y'all get together? This is a good. Yeah, there's an app called Line Up.
And I had a I was running a comic book room in there and everybody was in it. And we're just kind of joking around one day about why don't we get drunk and talk about comics one Saturday night. And I'm like, let's take a step further. Why don't we make it into a podcast?
So, yeah, we figured it all out. I got the software for it and we started recording. So we get to get drunk. Well, I'm thrilled to be here.
I'm thrilled y'all read the book and liked it and wanted to have me on. So, maybe in a week. We're glad to have it. It was fantastic to read.
And I'm so happy that I got to get a coffee on it. And now after this fall, I'm going to go finish it because I want to go in. Well, I'm just listeners out there. Go pick this up.
You're going to love it. Yeah, so it'll be in comics. I'll let you soon as well. Sorry.
Sorry. I just killed a hooker and I think they're on to me. But perfect. Well, thank everyone for tuning in and listening.
This was Ken Marcus and four guys in a comic. Be sure to cop out superhero resources. It'll be on shelves May and June. It'll be in comics.
I'll let you soon as well. Can't gush enough about it. It's a fantastic comic. It's hilarious.
Go check it out.