Category Archives: Interviews

Unpacking the Power of Power Pack

It was my privilege to hang out with Jeff and Rick at the Unpacking the Power of Power Pack podcast. We talk about the upcoming Future Foundation on-going series which features Alex and Julie Power. Give it a listen!

The Future Foundation will be making its return in Fantastic Four #12, which comes out this Wednesday – July 31.

The Bard’s Gambit: Interview with Jeremy Whitley

I had a chance to talk with Matthew Scott Kirkham of The Bard’s Gambit podcast about The Unstoppable Wasp.

He also did a write up for Medium about the comic back in February.

Whitley’s work in this first run does more to humanize a character than any other comic I’ve ever read. In this run, Nadia is established with clear, reachable goals (claim citizenship, save friend, find smart women), she’s given a personal role model (Mockingbird/Bobbi Morse), she and Janet organically fall into their surrogate mother/daughter roles, she’s given a close-knit group of friends (a diverse and colorful group of friends at that), and most importantly, clear and apparent weaknesses. Nadia may be intelligent and powerful, but she can’t solve everything on her own, and every aspect of the comic reinforces this idea as a very clear theme. She can’t claim citizenship without Janet, she can’t save her friend Ying without the help of the intelligent women she’s come across throughout the story, and she couldn’t have found those women without help from Jarvis (the avenger’s butler, also strongly characterized in this series).

Kirkham, Matthew S. “Let’s Talk About Nadia Van Dyne”, Medium.com. 27 July 2019.

You can read the article “Let’s Talk About Nadia Van Dyne” in its entirety over at Medium. You can also read “Let’s Talk About Priya Aggarwal”. This article dives into Priya’s role in Unstoppable Wasp #5.

CBR: …on Relaunching Future Foundation

I got a chance to talk with CBR about the upcoming Future Foundation series.

After starring in a special back-up story in this month’s Fantastic Four #12, the young super-geniuses of the Future Foundation will star in a new Marvel series. Written by Jeremy Whitley (Unstoppable Wasp) and illustrated by Will Robson (Spider-Man/Deadpool), who also team up for the backup story, the upcoming relaunch has the team of genius-level adolescents and teenagers scour the Marvel Universe for pieces of Molecule Man to put the powerful character back together.

While speaking with CBR at HeroesCon in Charlotte, Whitley shared details behind the eagerly anticipated relaunch and how Fantastic Four writer Dan Slott’s decision to keep Valeria and Franklin Richards with their parents allowed him to increase the focus on the young ensemble’s other characters.

Click here to continue reading Sam Stone’s interview!
Click here to get the TLDR version!

The Future Foundation will be appearing in Fantastic Four #12, which hits the shelves July 31, 2019.

War Rocket Ajax: Episode 457 – The Continuity Hug

I got to catch up once again with those War Rocket Ajax boys – Matt Wilson (@TheMattDWilson)and Chris Sims (@theISB) – to talk about the finale of Wasp and the upcoming launch of Future Foundation. We also talk about whether or not Artie and Leech are trash teens. Are they? You’ll have to listen to find out!

Newsarama: JEREMY WHITLEY on PRINCELESS’ Future & Its Future with Libraries

In this interview with Zack Smith for Newsarama, I get to talk about the latest Princeless Kickstarter – aimed at getting some hardcovers for volume three.

Jeremy Whitley sees his long-running story in Princeless ending in the next few years, but the future is bright with “a whole world of new possibilities.”

The penultimate arc of the main Princeless story begins August 28 with Princeless Book 9: Save Yourself, but at the same time Whitley and publisher Action Lab Entertainment are raising funds via Kickstarter for a hardcover edition of Book 3 aimed specifically at libraries – which the writer said is the franchise’s most-prized market.

Long story short? Paperback books don’t last long in libraries.

Nrama: So why hardcover then?

Whitley: That’s a great question as, as I mentioned, we already have the book out in softcover. The thing is, being an all-ages comic with a message of reaching a diverse young audience, there is no market that’s more important to us than libraries. In libraries we have a chance to be a kid’s first comic or to reach kids that might not have the money or comic shop to go get the book in stores.

And when you talk to librarians, their number one complaint about trade paperbacks is that a number of them don’t last more than a few check outs. Kids are rough on books. Dropboxes are rough on books. Trade paperbacks aren’t built to sustain the kind of abuse they do in a library. So, if we’re going to reach this audience and help librarians do the same, hardback is the format we need to be using to reach them.

Smith, Zack. “JEREMY WHITLEY on PRINCELESS’ Future & Its Future with Libraries” Newsarama. 2 July 2019.

You can read rest of the interview at Newsarama.

You can also help support our efforts by backing our Kickstarter and picking up some copies of Princeless and Raven: the Pirate Princess comics for your own shelves!

bpHope: The Unstoppable Wasp: Fighting Bipolar & Bad Guys

I’m honored that The Unstoppable Wasp was featured in bp Magazine. This magazine is part of an online community that strives to increase awareness of bipolar disorder as well as provide support for those in the bipolar community.

How did you go about creating a realistic, respectful portrayal?

I started off by doing some reading. Informative stuff about what the symptoms are, what the onset of bipolar looks like, especially in teenagers, but from that moving out to the personal. I worked with both a psychiatrist and a professor of psychology, but also with several people who either have first-hand experience with bipolar or who have friends and family members dealing with it.

Forbes, Elizabeth. “The Unstoppable Wasp: Fighting Bipolar & Bad Guys”, bpHope.com. Summer 2019.

You can read the rest of the interview online here. You can also catch it in print in the Summer 2019 issue of bp Magazine!

Screen Rant: Marvel’s FUTURE FOUNDATION Team Previews New Series

Will Robson and I talked with Screen Rant about the upcoming Future Foundation series.

While originally introduced as Reed Richards and the Fantastic Four’s collection of bright young minds, the new incarnation of the Future Foundation has a more fantastic roster than ever. Alex Power remains as the team leader, with his sister (and fellow Power Pack teammate) Julie back in all her rainbow glory. Throw in a moody genius clone, one of Wakanda’s future stars, and a literal Dragon Man just to name a few, and it’s hard to imagine what stories writer Jeremy Whitley, artist Will Robson, and colorist Greg Menzie WON’T be telling. But first, the team will need an expert in breaking people out of prison… and who better than the Guardians of the Galaxy‘s own spiritual mentor, Yondu Udonta?

To continue reading our interview with Andrew Dyce, head over to Screen Rant!

Be sure to look for Future Foundation #1 at your local comic book shop. The book comes out August 7, 2019!

Talking Comics: Special Guest Host WHITLEYYYY!!!

I’ve double checked to make sure that I added the appropriate number of Y’s to the end of Whitley. I think I have.

Though I’ve been on a few podcasts, it isn’t often that I get a chance to host one! Special thanks to The Comic Book Podcast from Talking Comics for giving me the chance to play host for “Issue 394”. In this issue, Bob, Steve, Joey and I get to talk about Future Foundation, Princeless, and more.

Did you enjoy this podcast? If so, you can get more of Steve Seigh, Bob Reyer, Joey Braccino, Jessica Garris-Schaeffer, and Sarah Miles weekly on The Comic Book Podcast. Find them on Twitter @TalkingComics!