A Chat With Marc Guggenheim On Jonas Quantum: The World's Most Intelligent Superhero
I recently got a chance to sit down and chat with Marc Guggenheim, writer of DC and The CW’s Arrow and Legends of Tomorrow. Somewhere in the midst of all that he has found time to write a new comic series, called The Infinite Adventures of Jonas Quantum. We cover his new project at length here, so let us get started.
Matt: I got a chance to read the book, and I absolutely loved it. Aside from the fantastic name, which if someone were actually named that you’d think they would be set up for life, can you give us some insight into what inspired it and what the book is all about?
Marc: Absolutely, but first I do have to tell you that in issue 3, you are going to learn something about that name. It will all make sense then. Wait, sorry, issue 4, I lied. What the book is about is the world's smartest man. The idea is pretty simple actually, what if there was a superhero whose power was his intelligence? and it is playing around with that notion. One of the things I wanted to do was, you know, Indiana Jones was created as a response to James Bond. No one has tried to create a character in response to Indiana Jones. That’s a lofty aspiration and I don’t even know if I can pull it off, but that is where the germ of the idea began.
Matt: You’ve been working on a variety of TV shows for awhile now, so did you just have an itch you needed to scratch or had this idea been there for awhile?
Marc: It was definitely in my head for awhile, and it was one that I had come up with about 15 years ago, when I had just moved to Los Angeles, and was just kicking around ideas. It was just a character I kept coming back to in my head. I would just think about it and then add these little elements, and it just slowly took form over a long period of time. Then I produced a pilot with a guy named Peter Johnson who then moved over to Legendary, and we kept in touch. We always wanted to do something together, and it just felt like the time was right, and I had mentioned this idea that I had been holding on to for quite a while, and Peter responded to it, and we just started going from there.
Matt: One thing that really sticks out, especially in the first few pages, is the banter between Jonas and Eve. How would you describe the dynamic between them? Is it a sidekick type thing or is there something more to that?
Marc: Well, I love writing banter. It is probably my favorite thing to do, particularly the banter in the rhythm style that you see in those first few pages. The relationship with Eve, it's... I would say there is a mystery element to the book. It will continue to evolve, and the reader's understanding of it will change over time. The relationship isn't changing, just the reader's understanding of it will. Even though the book is not serialized, each issue is self contained, each issue is designed to give you at least one or two new insights into Jonas's character and his relationship, and his interaction with Eve is definitely a big part of that. I don’t want to spoil too much, because there are some surprises in store, but let me put it to you this way. In the same issue Jonas is kissing Eve but is also going out on a date with another woman, but all of this will actually make sense as we get towards the end of the series.
Matt: I did notice that, and first thought was "what the hell?" Haha. When you have a character like this, it is really easy to have that person, because he or she is so intelligent, a Sheldon Cooperish type character if you will, act as if he or she is talking at people as opposed to to them, and I didn’t feel that way here. As intelligent as he is, he never spoke to her in a condescending tone. Even in his mini history lessons, it is more informational than anything, and I really appreciated that dynamic between them. I know that can be a really hard balance to maintain.
Marc: You know, I think the key to that was in making sure that Eve could play at Jonas’s level. Basically you kind of see that she doesn’t take any of Jonas's shit.
Matt: Hahaha
Marc: Even though Jonas might be inclined to be condescending, Eve would never let him get away with it. I love writing strong women, and I particularly love writing Eve because she’s just no-nonsense. Well, not no-nonsense, because she does have a wit about her, but she doesn’t have any patience for Jonas’s bullshit. I think that is a large part of why Jonas doesn’t come off the way you fear, because he is just not given the opportunity to by Eve.
Matt: Yeah, and you can see that in the first three pages, and that is much appreciated. The book is genuinely funny by the way. I laughed out loud more than a few times.
Marc: Oh, thank you.
Matt: As far as tone, because the book is dealing with all these epic things like time travel and and ramifications of what happens to his vault, and all these other things, but it is a very light-hearted tone throughout. Was that something you purposely did or did it just happen over the course of writing the book? Was it ever a more serious gritty tone at any point during the process?
Marc: It was always this. The book is very much inspired by the silver and bronze age comics I grew up with, before the eighties turned everything really dark. I work on Arrow as my day job, so I spend so much time with darkness, that when I write other things I like to lighten it up. I would say this is more my tone, just my voice as a writer. I always describe my writing as sort of accidentally funny. I never try to write jokes. I don’t consider myself a comedy writer. If I manage to write something that makes people laugh, it brings me great joy, but it is completely accidental.
Matt: Hahaha.
Marc: If you were to say "write me a comedy piece," it would be the most unfunny comedy ever. I can only get at comedy tangentially through other types of storytelling.
Matt: One of the best parts of the book was how the origin is handled. When the book starts you get a small origin, literally, and then you move right into the present. You don’t get bogged down in 10 pages of “well here is how it started when he was four, and now six, etc." and it doesn’t deprive the reader of information either because all throughout you are doing all of these small flashbacks. Moments like “and here is when he cures death,” and then we are back to the present story. While we are on the subject, I sat there for hours doing basic algebra homework, and I still have issues with math, and this guy cures death in one session.
Showoff.
Back to the point though, I love how all of these pieces are scattered throughout, which gets the reader involved right away, as opposed to the normal slow setup. I really enjoyed it, and it almost felt like watching a TV show, which goes to what you were saying before. You are used to writing these shows during the day, so has any of that seeped into your writing for comics?
Marc: That’s a great question. Thanks for the kind words by the way. I would say that one piece has always fed the other for me. I learned a lot about dialogue and just sort of efficient storytelling due to my TV work. You only have 42 minutes and you have to cut to the chase really quick. At the same time, I feel my comic book work has informed my opinion for shots and editing, and that I carry over to my TV work, because in comic books the artist is the cinematographer, but you are sort of calling out the shots and going this is a two shot or this is a closeup. Internalizing the rhythm of that is something that has really benefited me in the editing room on my TV work, so I feel that one has fed the other, and vice versa. I have been very, very lucky to do that over the years. Its funny, I almost thought that once I started Arrow I would stop writing comics, because geez how much superheroes does one need in their lives.
Matt: Hahaha
Marc: But what I found is it is not just superheroes for me, it is the medium. I just have such a love of the medium of comics, and telling stores through that form, that that is still an itch I need to scratch.
Matt: So you mentioned how the artist is sort of the cinematographer. The art in the book is fantastic, Freddie and Christopher have done a great job. You mentioned how it is based on something a bit more classic, and you can really tell there are some homages at work, as there are tons of bold, vibrant colors, and the book is not afraid to be very Sci-Fi and have all this crazy equipment and alien technology on display throughout, and I love that. How has it been working with them? Did you pretty much have the designs in mind? or was that a major collaboration? can you go over that a bit?
Marc: It’s a great question. I will say that Freddie and I have worked before on Justice Society for DC, so we had a little bit of a shorthand. We had a lot of conversations about Jonas, and to those conversations Freddie brought a very clear vision on what Jonas should look like. We iterated just a very little bit on his look. What you see in the book was not the first design Freddie came up with, but it is very close. Chris is, here is the thing: I have been a long time fan of his work. He is just a remarkable talent because he meshes with Freddie’s style perfectly. It’s funny, I’m actually working with him on the Agents of Shield book which I am writing for Marvel at the moment, and his coloring style for that book is completely different, because Mike Norton had a completely different style than Freddie, so I just can’t praise Chris’ versatility enough. So much of the book is the visuals that Freddie and Chris are creating, and they work really well together. Chris was essentially hand picked by Freddie, and they mesh seamlessly. When Freddie turns in pages he is always throwing in little notations to Chris on “here is what I’m thinking here” and "oh put a light source here." It's a great dialogue. Chris recently asked me, he is working on issue four, and he asked me for a copy of the script, and I’m like wow, I have been writing comics for over ten years now and a colorist has never asked me for a copy of the script. They never thought about that stuff. So I am very, very lucky because comics is a visual medium, and this book by design is meant to be incredibly visual, and it is really to their credit. Both men have really brought their A game, and I am deeply appreciative.
Matt: Yeah, you can definitely tell, and fantastic work all around. Well thank you so much for taking the time to speak to me, I really appreciate it!
Marc: Thanks man, really appreciate it!