Todd was kind enough to take a break in his schedule to rap with me about his bursting-with-flava series. (Rght up front, I'd like to ask all Newmoanyeah readers to hit their local comic shops and make sure they order WildGuard.)
| Stephen: |
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Holy smokes, WildGuard has been in the making for a loooong time! When exactly did you originally come up with this concept? |
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| Todd: |
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I came up with WildGuard while at the Art Institute of Dallas in the Summer of 1992. I was a fan of the show COPS and thought it'd be cool if superheroes were followed by cameras instead of police officers. I even produced two homemade mini-comics of WildGuard in the Fall of '92 and Spring of '93. It was those mini-comics that got me hired at Image's Extreme Studios. Now, I get a chance to bring these characters (and more) back to Image and on to the stands. It's a fun full circle for me. |
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| Stephen: |
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So, over the years, how exactly has the WildGuard concept evolved? |
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| Todd: |
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Well, reality TV has really taken off in the past 5 years. Since Survivor, really. Now I have more "reality" genres to draw inspiration from. The "audition shows" made the origin of WildGuard easy for me to come up with. I had never thought about it before. American Idol and Making the Band made that story really easy to come up with and got me really excited to do the first mini-series WildGuard: Casting Call. |
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| Stephen: |
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I recently noticed the marker drawing of Robin and Ignatia on ToddNauck.com. Is that a new addition to the gallery, or did fans totally miss out on a WildGuard sneak preview? |
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| Todd: |
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That piece was done for the 2003 Phoenix Cactus Comic-con. I was the guest of honor and they asked me to do the cover for their convention booklet featuring a Young Justice character and a WildGuard character with a cactus. It was a fun show. Really great people and the staff was excellent. I hope to attend again in the future. |
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| Stephen: |
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As this is being described as American Idol for superheroes, how do you feel about the actual TV show? Are you a fan? |
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| Todd: |
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I liked American Idol. Especially the first few episodes where some people were just horrible. I kinda touch on that in Casting Call. When American Idol gets to the really good finalists, I lose some interest till they get to the final four hopefuls. |
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| Stephen: |
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The "reality TV with superheroes" thing in general is becoming more popular. What are your thoughts (if any) about Marvel's revamp of X-Statix and the last Real World-ish story arc you did with Peter David on Young Justice? |
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| Todd: |
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I like X-Statix. I've been an Allred fan since his Grafik Muzik comics. X-Statix is a cool comic, though it's hard for me to see it in the "X-Family" of books. When Peter did the reality TV story in YJ, I wished we had more time to explore that. We were wrapping up the series and only had two issues to touch on that. Now, I can do all the things I'd hoped we could have done in WildGuard. |
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| Stephen: |
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The interesting twist here, is that the fans actually make an impact on the final product a la Batman: A Death in the Family. What coolness do you foresee happening? |
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| Todd: |
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I wanted the readers to be able to interact with the comic. I look forward to seeing who the readers take to and want to see on the team. Then, I look forward to the challenge of seeing how the character the readers pick interacts with the characters I've picked and how the stories spin from there. |
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| Stephen: |
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You've said that you would like to see WildGuard continue on past the mini series. What type of future fan interaction would there be, if any? |
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| Todd: |
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I haven't gotten that far yet. But that's definitely something for me to think about and play around with. |
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| Stephen: |
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What other projects do you have planned for the future? |
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| Todd: |
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Just WildGuard right now. I still keep in contact with DC and we hope to get another project rolling for me there. So, I look forward to what's next! |
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| Stephen: |
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On a completely random note, I loved your young Luke and Biggs story in Star Wars Tales #15. Any chance of you doing more work in that galaxy? |
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| Todd: |
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That was a fun story (by new writer Jim Beard). The editor was really happy with my work and asked if I'd be interested in doing more. So, we'll see what comes next. |
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| Stephen: |
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Is there any thing else you might like to mention regarding the end of Young Justice, the beginning of WildGuard, your uncanny knowledge of useless trivia, or otherwise? |
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| Todd: |
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YJ was an awesome project for me. I loved the characters and was sad to see it end. But WildGuard has been a great step "next step" for me. I'm learing so much more as a creator and getting to interact with more of my peers. I've received a lot of encouragement and support for this new project. I want to invite everyone to visit www.wildguard.com and let me know what they think. I hope everyone who picks up WildGuard: Casting Call has as much fun as I have creating it! |
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If you were to take a smidge of Kelly Clarkson, a dab of Young Justice, a skosh of the Cluemaster's gang, a huge pile of American Idol and ground it into a yummy metaphorical sausage, you might get Todd Nauck's soon-to-be-released comic WildGuard.
