William Katt Interview - Catastrophic Comics

Rounding out our interviews with the fine people behind Catastrophic Comics is William Katt, who was kind enough to subject himself to our interview process. Please note the art pages are two pages from the forthcoming Mythology Wars which will not be out until Late 2008 or Early 2009 - Thank you Chris for the early look at what looks to be a great series.

Jim: Who is William Katt?

William: A little naughty - a little nice – comfortable in jeans but okay with tights. And I’m a sucker for rhyming couplets did you notice?

Jim: And how did we get from the star of “The Greatest American Hero” 25 years ago to being the executive producer of Sparks?

William: Ah… the long and winding road! In both cases it was dumb luck!

Jim: What is you involvement with Sparks? Editor? Money man? Both?
William: When I met Chris Folino my partner he was looking for someone with half a brain who’d be willing to risk it all financially – there I was!

Jim: Chris has told me that you have an idea for a comic called “Mythology Wars” what is the premise of that story?

William: Guess I have to get serious for a second – the genesis of that story evolved from a script I wrote several years ago that never got made. I brought it to Chris thinking it might make a great animated feature – of course he thought it sucked – but over the course of the next few years largely with Chris’s ever critical eye it became a terrific story of Mythological Wars set in a modern day world. We are well into production on that and it’s turning out really dark and cool! Whew….That was really long winded wasn’t it?

Jim: Will this be an ongoing, limited series and what will be your level of involvement with that book?

William: ‘Sparks’ and ‘Mythology Wars’ will both be ongoing books. I mostly get Chris to take me out to lunch and pitch story ideas to him for ‘Sparks’ which he almost always disregards but with ‘Mythology Wars’ I get to co-write with him and that way he’s forced to use my ideas.

Jim: I have also heard that you are very serious about getting the right artist. Have you been conducting try outs or how have you been determining who is the right artist for this job?
William: I couldn’t convince Chris that I should do all the drawing – he said my stick figures were nice but the rest had to go. I said if he didn’t like the hearts and arrows he couldn’t use anything… so we looked at pages and pages of artists work and found some terrific individuals… I’m still planning on my stick figures appearing as a special bonus feature.

Jim: An artist is a big part of a comic as it is a visual medium first, what style are you looking for, realism, super hero, impressionistic, dark, animation?
William: To be honest… I’m never quite sure what I’m looking for! It just jumps off the page somehow and hits you square between the
Eyeballs and you know that’s the artist for the story. The two books are drawn entirely different from one another but each makes me feel something when I look at the pages. Maybe I won’t include my stick figures after all.

Jim: What has been the hardest thing to do so far in trying to start you own comic book company?
William: Chris is very controlling and has a loud whinny voice! If he doesn’t get his way it’s painful.

Jim: Based on some brief biographical information I have read on you, we are about the same age. I have always been into comic books and owned a store for four years in the early nineties. Has this art form always been of interest to you or are you new to the field?
William: I have great memories of racing my buddy Jimmy $#%^*# ( better not use his real last name he’s an attorney now and he scares me ) But I’d beat him to Burwood pharmacy in Sherman Oaks a mile or so away and hog the new issues of Superman and Green Lantern.

Jim: Back to Mythology Wars, do you have a target date to get issue #1 out?
William: ‘Mythology Wars’ is scheduled for release next summer. We would have released it sooner but the artist locked away in Chris’s cellar stopped drawing until we promised to trade out the black light for an incandescent table lamp and give him Sundays off to watch the Box set of ‘Greatest American Hero’. That reminds me… I should bring him down his Taco Bell soon.

Jim: Chris says you were Perry Mason’s (Raymond Burr) boy toy. True or false?
William: See… now the thing is… ya have to know that my partner Chris has issues… okay… it’s all through the book of ‘Sparks’ if you read between the lines. Chris is a sick man!

Jim: Being the “Greatest American Hero” has to be a double edged sword. One a certain generation identifies you with that character and therefore probably projects the characters traits onto you. What is the biggest plus from this fame and what is the biggest negative?
William: The biggest plus is that I got to wear the red tights! The biggest negative is that they sagged in the crotch!

Jim: If you could be a tree what type of tree would you be?
William: The tree of knowledge.

Jim: What else are you involved in currently?
William: Right now I’m doing an episode of ‘Heroes’. Only one episode and they have the nerve to kill me off. Maybe you can launch a letter writing campaign to keep me on the show. Yeah… you could do a raffle or something!

Jim: What do you hope to accomplish with Catastrophic Comics?
William: World domination of course!

Jim: Why publish on your own as opposed to going to Image or pitch it to another company?
William: Why do something the easy way? Half a brain… remember!

William was a great sport and I want to thank him again for answering our questions and having fun with it. Of course I want to see Mythology Wars now and then want the "director's cut" with Bill's stick figures.