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| Cover art for "Marvel Comics Presents" #9, on sale this week. | |
Cohen and Parsons' "Marvel Comics Presents" story came about after a number of pitches to former editor Andy Schmidt. "Andy had been working on 'MCP' for months, so when we pitched, Hulk was one of the few characters who wasn't assigned," Mark Parsons told CBR News. "We had been hoping to pitch oddballs, like Wrecking Crew, The Headmen, Stingray or Woodgod, but most of them were taken, except, alas, poor Woodgod, the oft-mocked red-haired stepchild of the Marvel Universe. So we pitched some Hulk yarns. Andy had to remind us that these were eight page tales as many of our pitches were too ambitious (i.e. manic and over-stuffed) for the short story format. We settled on one concept and went from there.
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| Interior art from "Marvel Comics Presents" #9 | |
"Hulk's just a heckuva fun character with a rich history," Tom Cohen said. "Check out his 'Essentials' volumes: there's tons of great stuff there. Some obscure yet cool elements, some that are still resonating today."
Parsons and Cohen had to remain cryptic about which version of the Hulk would appear in their story. "We think it can be interpreted in different ways," Cohen remarked. "Without getting too specific, it's a version that's both familiar yet unique."
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| Interior art from "Marvel Comics Presents" #9 | |
Cohen added, "In terms of story, it's about the price of war, and how it can unleash powerful, dangerous consequences even amongst the 'good guys.'"
The tone of Cohen and Parson's Hulk tale reflects their protagonist's penchant for getting into anger fueled colossal slugfests. "This is a Mighty Marvel Smashup/Smackdown and just wait till you see Ed's epic double page splash battle scene," Parsons explained The story title is 'Gammaragnarok.'"
"We were trying to skate a line -- a story can have a fair amount of grit and edginess and still be fun," Cohen stated. "Hopefully we succeeded."
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| Interior art from "Marvel Comics Presents" #9 | |
Cohen and Parsons were extremely happy to have landed their "Marvel Comics Presents" assignment, but when they found out their eight-page story was going to be drawn by Ed McGuinness, the duo were ecstatic. "We never thought we'd see the story interpreted by someone of Ed's stature and popularity," Parsons said. "It's like getting Johnny Depp to be in your movie: big news. Ed brings a sense of sleek yet brawny energy and power pop to everything he does. And this is the first time you'll get to see his pencils taken straight to the printed page. They would have burned off the ink (or depixilated digital inks). So this story features Ed McGuiness unfettered, unbound and, in a few panels, unhinged."
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| Interior art from "Marvel Comics Presents" #9 | |
For Cohen and Parsons, having a story published in a comic like "Marvel Comics Presents" has been a lifelong dream and they're immensely grateful to those who have helped them realize it. "We'd like to give a shout-out to editors John Barber and Michael Horwitz for all their hard work, to Fabian Nicieza and C.B. Cebulski for helping us get in the door and especially to Andy Schmidt for giving us a shot," Cohen stated. "And to everyone reading this -- buy 'Marvel Comics Presents!' Every month! Not only for our story (which you'll dig!) but for all the new writers and artists the book gives exposure to. It's a great outlet and more fans should get behind it. 'Nuff said!"
Now discuss this story in CBR's Marvel Comics forum.
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