Brandon Montclare might very well be one of the greatest assets of the comic industry. From store retailer to editor to writer, he has seen every side of the business and has worked with such iconic talents as Jim Lee, Frank Miller, Paul Pope, Grant Morrison, Frank Quitely, Simon Bisley, Jeff Lemire, David Lapham, and Matt Wagner.
Even more impressive are some of the legendary characters or titles he’s either written or edited including Superman, Batman, Green Arrow, The X-Men, The Hulk, Elfquest, John Constantine, and The Spectre.
This November, Brandon sticks a feather in his cap, as he writes new stories of Uncle Scrooge McDuck and his nephews, Huey, Dewey, and Louie in DuckTales, the latest property that Dynamite Entertainment is publishing with their successful Disney license.
Based on the beloved original animated series (which in itself was hugely influenced by the “Good Duck Artist” Carl Barks’ comics) DuckTales follow the animated series continuity placing Uncle Scrooge and his nephews in a world of legendary quests, and globetrotting treasure hunts.
I was fortunate to speak to Brandon and discuss his career as both an editor and writer as well as his plans with artist Tommaso Ronda as they hang on to some DuckTales…Woo Ooo!
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FOG!: Brandon, you started in the comics industry as an editor. Were you a comics fan growing up and how did you break into the industry?
BRANDON MONTCLARE: Not only am I a lifelong fan of comics, but I’ve been continuously employed in the biz–in one form or another–since I was 13 years old. I started selling comics at local NYC conventions the summer before high school. The Great Eastern shows at the Roosevelt Hotel, where I’d usually buy more stuff with whatever money I made–splurging a few bucks on a Larry Stroman commission to fill a portfolio with the ranks of Alien Legion.
When I was still a teenager, my local comic store–Alternate Realities in Scarsdale, NY–was having trouble and I bought half of that. It was a ton of work, and owning a shop in my mid twenties didn’t seem as cool as it did when I was 19. So I sold my share to my partner as life took me to Los Angeles. I interned and then was hired in editorial at TokyoPop. They were known for manga translations, but at the time they were also making new comics with American creators in the manga style.
It was a great learning experience, with Mark Paniccia (who’s now at Marvel).
From there I got a gig working with Bob Schreck at DC Comics. On all the monthly Batman titles.
Paul Pope’s Batman Year 100, edited by Brandon
But also amazing books like All Star Superman and Batman Year 100.
I moved “upstairs” with Bob to Vertigo, where I edited more great stuff: Sweet Tooth, Daytripper, Joe The Barbarian… to name a few.
So eventually it was time to leave editing (which I still love, and often miss).
My first gig was an 8-page backup on Incredible Hulk at Marvel.
Amazingly, I had Simon Bisley (who I previously hired to do Hellblazer covers) paint the thing.
One of your early projects was All Star Batman & Robin, The Boy Wonder with Frank Miller and Jim Lee. Were you intimidated working with these icons or was it simply, “business as usual?”
It definitely wasn’t “business as usual.” You probably can’t tell from some of the kinds of books I work on, but Frank Miller is the greatest influence on my scripting. And Jim Lee is not only “JIM LEE,” but also was very generous to me–even though I was a young assistant editor. That being said: it wasn’t intimidating. I’ve had the good fortune of editing hall-of-famers, superstars, and multi-Eisner winners. But the more established a creator, the less you ‘edit’ them (in the traditional sense). They know what they’re doing! I had more hands-on work, I suppose, with people who were breaking-in or rising: like Jeff Lemire, Sean Gordon Murphy, Gabriel Ba & Fabio Moon.
When did you segue into writing and did you find you had an easier time than other first time writers based on your editorial experience?
I think a big advantage was simply that scripting a comic was totally demystified for me. I saw how all kinds of masters approached not just story and characterization, but very importantly: talking to artists through the script. While I don’t draw, I learned a ton from watching the work of creators who were artists first, but scripting on our books.
Again, Frank Miller–the way I lay out scripts I mostly took from him. Matt Wagner wrote Madame Xanadu “Marvel style” plot-first for Amy Reeder and Michael Kaluta. While I don’t work plot-first, reading Wagner’s scripts taught me to keep things visually interesting for the artists.
One of your earliest projects was Rocket Girl. What was the genesis of that project and how did that lead to working with Marvel, most notably on Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur?
Rocket Girl was first crowdfunded on Kickstarter, before being published at Image Comics. And even before that, Amy Reeder and I Kickstarted an oversized one-shot called Halloween Eye. That was also published through Image. We weren’t the first comics pro’s on Kickstarter, but it’s fair to say we were early pioneers!
I picked up some of what you’d call “publisher” experience as an editor. And had some general business experience from my time in retail. Plus, I like all that kind of stuff. I think Rocket Girl is a really well-made book… I know that might sound goofy and bragging. But I just mean that especially for a first significant project, it was at least as successful as most of the contemporaneous creator-owned stuff.
Marvel thought so too! And basically they approached us to see if, in their words, ‘you guys can do what you did with Rocket Girl here at Marvel.’
It’s flattering and exciting, of course.
We had a meeting to discuss available Marvel characters. Going in, I wanted an obscure character–for the same reason other creators do: if you work on a character not too many people care about, you get a little more creative freedom. Devil Dinosaur was the first character mentioned, and it would have been quickly passed over. But the editor, old pal Mark Paniccia, threw in, “and we could have a Moon Girl” (Moon Boy being a supporting character in the original Jack Kirby series).
That clicked. And the rest, as they say, is history. During development, the title “Dinosaur” became “Devil Dinosaur and Moon Girl” became “Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur.” Like anybody else would, we figured we’d do our few issues and have a cool single volume collection. But then I wound up writing a thousand pages of it!
You’re now the writer on Dynamite’s upcoming DuckTales series. Were you a fan of the original animated series? And how did you get involved with project?
Variant cover by Carlo Lauro
The editor, Nate Cosby, reached out to ask if I’d be interested in doing a Disney monthly. I was familiar with the other Disney stuff Dynamite was putting out–it was good stuff, getting good reviews, and seemed to me to be connecting with readers.
On top of that: I’ve only had a few projects on the shelves for the past few years. Some of my work has been in film and tv and games–but mostly only in development. I have a handful of original graphic novels being produced for the bookstore market.
Unlike comic shops, the mass market stuff has a whole lot of time between me writing a script and it hitting shelves. So the idea of doing another monthly was appealing.
There’s a lot of Disney stuff I like, but I’m not familiar with all of it. The classics in their catalog are pure gold, of course. And I like a lot of what I’ve seen of the newer stuff–I have two daughters, so like, from Frozen to present are things that are important to me by association!
So now that I think of it: kinda like Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur at Marvel, the first thing out of Nate’s mouth was DuckTales. But unlike Moon Girl, Nate didn’t have to say anything else. The international importance of Uncle $crooge comics is a big deal for me. It’s a special property–and while I’m sure there are some out there, I can’t imagine any writer turning that character down.
And the 1987 DuckTales iteration of Scrooge plus Huey, Dewey, and Louie, and everyone else is by itself was huge. I did watch the show. At the time, my favorite stuff was the rougher and more tumbly. G..I. Joe and He-Man. But I watched everything. Galaxy Rangers and Inhumanoids (how many people remember them?) were important to me. But to be fair: DuckTales holds up a lot better than that stuff (sorry, other guys!). And while . remains a juggernaut overseas and with comics aficionados, I’m keenly aware that EVERYONE my age remembers DuckTales .
DuckTales was inspired by the work of Carl Barks and later, Don Rosa. How much did their work affect your take and why other influences did you bring to your take on the book?
Again–Barks is a Hall-of-Famer. If your a comics professional, looking at his work will inspire you no matter what title you’re working on. Our new comic won’t move like the Barks and Rosa stuff… but I’m very conscious of the sublime simplicity of the classic stuff. And that’s definitely a part of my approach to the new book. But more than that: the first five issues require some flashbacks to Scrooge’s younger days. And those pages are distinguished by being 100% in the style of classic Carl Barks: 8-page grids of one or two pages–stories within the story. We hope it brings something really special to the project.
How are you structuring the book? Are there arcs or are they single issue stories?
The first five issues all go together to make a single narrative. But the individual issues are self-contained stories. There’s also plans for straight-up one-offs later in the run. In addition to new story arcs–but those will again work as single issues. Of course, as a writer you always have single issues/chapters be a complete story in itself. Just as you should, in my humble opinion, make every scene hit every storytelling base with a beginning, middle, and end. And again: I think every page should have a premise, a conflict, and a resolution–in broadest terms. That is: something is set up in the first panel, then you don’t know which way it’ll go, until it’s resolved in the last panel.
Artist Tommaso Ronda is illustrating the comic. What does Tommaso bring to the project?
Tommaso Ronda’s art speaks for itself! That is to say: if you erased all the balloons, you’re still getting a story. An exciting story. Or a sweet story. Or a scary story. Our DuckTales got an ace artist who’s also familiar with Disney comics over in Europe. You always need a few pages for a writer and artist to start syncing. But Tommaso’s stuff is so good, DuckTales hits the ground running on Page One. I’m very lucky to have that in an artist. And the only people luckier will be the readers!
Variant cover by Francesco Tomaselli
In addition to Scrooge McDuck, the nephews, and presumably the occasional Donald appearance, what other characters will be showing up in the book and which character do you enjoy writing the most?
We very consciously are focusing on the “Core Four” over the first five issues. You’ll see the supporting cast in the backgrounds and/or playing small roles. The flashbacks showcases favorite villains like Magics De Spell the Beagle Boys, Glomgold. With the nature of these opening stories, it’ll make sense. But story follows characters–and we thought it was important to feature Uncle Scrooge, and how he interacts (story, character, theme, visuals) with his nephews. Issue #6, however, will make up for it–the plan for that one is an extravaganza with EVERYONE.
DuckTales characters as depicted in the 1987 animated series
Are there other classic Disney characters that you’re hoping to incorporate in a story at some point? Who would you like to see the DUCK TALES group interact with?
Never say never? But I could write a thousand pages of these guys and still have more to say.
For readers who are jumping on with DuckTales for the first time, what three classic Duck stories would you consider “must-reads” to a new fan?
Well, there isn’t anything you have to read before our new Dynamite book. But you can build a library out of some great classic stories.
My sentimental choice for a Carl Barks tale is: Donald Duck’s Christmas on Bear Mountain. Don Rosa’s epic Life and Times of $crooge McDuck is exactly what the title says it is. And I’ll throw a curveball (and credit Nate Cosby’s as the one who threw the curveball to me a few months ago): go look for the DuckTales stories written by another comics titan, Marv Wolfman.
DuckTales #1 Arrives in Comic Book Stores on November 6th, with variant covers by Ivan Bigarella, Francesco Tomaselli, Carlo Lauro, and Alan Quah
Pre-Orders For DuckTales #1 are Due This Friday, September 20th.
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