The Scott O. Brown Interview.

In writing a column about what is coming out I mentioned some possible issue with a book from Platinum Studios called Atlantis Rising and received a comment from the writer of the book. Anytime a creator is actively looking out for their book, it usually means they really invested themselves into a project. Also a pet project for this blog has been to try and do creator interviews and we asked Scott if he would be willing and we secured another victi---er participant.

Jim: You obviously enjoy the acronym that your name allows as your blog (http://sobstories.blogspot.com/ ) is called SOB Stories. What is you sob story or secret origin? You have been active with a publishing venture and written Nightfall, are you a writer by design, education, desire or inspiration or all of the above?
Scott: My secret origin is, well, not really all that secret. I got a papercut form a radioactive comic book, imbuing me with the ability to make comics. Unfortunately, my weakness is art...stick figures are the best you'll ever get out of me.
Seriously, though, I am a writer because I absolutely have to be. And I will keep writing for as long as I have ideas to write about. Comics, poetry, novels, film, scathing epithets. I can do it all.

Jim:Platinum Studios has been making some headlines with going public and now publishing without Image. It appears "Atlantis Rising" is a major featured project for them as I believe it is the first new series they are publishing on their own and issue one is a bargain at a quarter. Did you know going in how big your book was going to be for them?
Scott: I had no idea that they were going to be giving it this big a push until a few months before the first issue came out. I'm certainly happy. It was a fun project to work on, and I'm ecstatic they're starting the series with a strong launch. But Platinum has dozens of fantastic projects, all of which deserve just as big a push.

Jim: Tim Irwin is a new name to me and he has some really good work in this book. Did you know him going in or did Platinum make the match?
Scott: Tim was actually one of the finalists for their Comic Book Challenge in 2006. I met him briefly during the Comic-con International that year and knew just by browsing his samples he would be perfect for the project. So, I bugged them until they signed him.

Jim: Every writer has a different style. Do you write full scripts, plots, or work back and forth with the artist?
Scott: In the case of Atlantis Rising, I wrote the full script based on a plot Platinum had already developed. We went through several versions of the story until we made the comic you hold in your hands now. And then I tweaked the dialogue as I lettered to accommodate any variations in Tim's layouts.

Jim: You jumped right into the story with very little preamble and hit the ground running. Any back story to be filled in as we go along or are we moving forward with no looking back?
Scott: There's some backstory woven into the narrative as we move forward, but for the most part, there's no looking back. But I won't spoil the fun. Oh, but I will say this: Lovers turn to enemies. Families are broken. Bombs are dropped. And Pulitzers become irrelevant in the face of Impending Doom.

Jim: It says created by Scott Michael Rosenberg. Did he contribute a basic premise or a full outline of what the story was going to be?
Scott: The basic premise was Rosenberg's, and I was given a simple plot to work from. Like I mentioned before, as we worked out the plot, the story took on a life of its own, and only a few character names and the core idea still hold over.

Jim: What is next on the horizon for products with your name on it?
Scott: THEY DO NOT DIE! with my long time collaborator Horacio Lalia is running online at Ambrosia Publishing to be released next spring, THE HUNTER, a four issue mini-series for Platinum that'll be on the heels of ATLANTIS RISING, the short story "Whale Song" in Arcana's Dark Horrors 2 anthology, And I'm collaborating with Jamie Delano (Outlaw Nation, Narcropolis) on a political thriller due out sometime next year.
And that's only scratching the surface. I have an incessant need to create as many comics as possible. 2008 is going to be a busy year.

Jim: Obviously as a working writer you would probably not mind working for the big two. If you had the chance which character would you like a write?
Scott: I'm a DC man at heart. But the two characters I'd drop everything to write are Ghost Rider and Devil Dinosaur. Not in the same story, mind you. But I have a unique take on both that respects the properties and the audience while going in a completely new direction.

Jim: Any dream project that you have in your mind?
Scott: I would love to write more stories about Captain Percival Smith of the HMS Trident, the protagonist of "Whale Song." I've got about 20 stories I could tell about him, spanning his whole career...Alas, there are only so many hours in the day.

Thanks Scott again for taking time to answer some questions for us. Personally I believe the SOB credit will be one to watch for over the next few years. Atlantis Rising was the first book I read by Scott and I went in skeptical as hell as it sounded like a been there done that premise, but it really hit the ground running and has me looking forward to issue #2.