A magazine photographer, confined to a wheelchair “in a two-room apartment with nothing to do but look out the window at the neighbors,” becomes convinced he has witnessed evidence of a gruesome murder across the courtyard.

As near perfect as a movie can get, Alfred Hitchcock’s Rear Window is arguably the Master’s greatest film, a virtual textbook of film technique, and inarguably one of the greatest of all Hollywood entertainments (see NOTES).

First, it does everything a Hitchcock film is supposed to do and does it in duplicate: it is eminently suspenseful, building on a slowly rising line of tension until the audience is in total conspiracy with its protagonist, culminating in a final thirty minutes that are the very definition of the edge-of-your-seat finale; it affords the most experimental of famous directors the chance to openly play with film theory, in this case giving himself the challenge of shooting on a single, confined set, using nothing but shot/reverse shot editing to make all of his points; it has Hitchcock’s most glamorous blonde heroine, the hypnotically beautiful Grace Kelly; and it is a genuine work of art, for those who are interested in that sort of thing, wrapped in the guise of a slick, witty, big budget entertainment.

Second, its design is flawless: a man stuck in a wheelchair, looking out the window, sees evidence of a murder, yes, but what else does he see? The lives on view in the windows across the way begin to reflect aspects of Jeffries’ (James Stewart’s) own psyche back to him, just as he projects his attitudes toward love and marriage upon them, while Hitchcock pulls back the curtain on the loneliness of urban life and the bittersweet realities of romantic idealism. Through the simple device of showing us a dozen or so windows that reveal snippets here and there of life’s tragedies, big and small, Hitchcock sets up a kaleidoscopic commentary on 20th Century love and its attendant anxieties. (more…)

The Big Question with Ron Marz
Interview with: Troy Brownfield
(special thanks to Ian Feller of CrossGen Comics)

If you’re a devout comics fan, you’ve no doubt heard of today’s guest. He came to prominence on Silver Surfer, but he really made his name known by taking over DC’s Green Lantern. Ushering in the age of Kyle Rayner, this writer took a character that Hal Jordan zealots wanted to see fail and made him into an engaging personality who grappled with the questions of power and responsibility. That talent caught the attention of fledgling comics company CrossGen, who tapped the writer for a move down south. As the scribe on Mystic and Scion, our guest continues to explore questions of power and responsibility in two of the most exciting comics to debut last year. He’ll also be helming a new CrossGen title, Sojourn.

Everyone, please welcome Ron Marz!

THE BIG Q&A

Q1. Through your run on Green Lantern, and in your current CrossGen books, you’ve dealt monthly with the theme of “responsibility of power”. Is this a theme that you’re naturally drawn to, and how has several years of touching on the topic affected how you view responsibility personally?

A1. It’s definitely something I’m drawn to, both personally and as a storyteller. Obviously “coming to responsibility” stories have been with us as long as we’ve been telling stories. It’s part of the traditional hero cycle in myth, and of course it’s been utilized in everything from Spider-Man to Star Wars. It’s really an evergreen concept when you’re dealing with mythic stories.

For me personally I think it’s a pretty simple formula: “Do what’s right.” Do what’s right for your family, your friends, the people you work with, the fans who buy your books. I never want there to be a day when I don’t like the guy looking back at me in the mirror, so you do what’s right every day, even when it’s not the easiest thing to do. ESPECIALLY when it’s not the easiest thing to do.

Q2. CrossGen arrived in popular consciousness with a bang. What’s it like to have been in on that from the ground floor?

A2. Pretty damn satisfying, to tell you the truth. I’m very gratified that I was here to contribute to the building of CrossGen, both as a universe and as a company. We started out comparatively small if you stack us up next to Marvel or DC, and we’re certainly doing different material than the superhero fare you get from the Big Two. And yet we’re still here and growing, and frankly getting better all the time. We have new people in house, like Mark Waid and Steve Epting and Greg Land, who are doing terrific work. We have more people on the way.

So there’s a great deal of satisfaction in watching this grow and having helped nurture it. I’m proud of what we accomplished so far, but it’s only the beginning of what we can do.

Q3. Like a lot of fans, I’m curious about the CrossGen quad system and studio approach. Could you give us a view from the inside?

A3. It’s like having a real job, which for a lot of us comic guys is a whole new way of life. You come to work in the morning and you do your job. When you’re done, you go home. You come back the next day and do it again.

I’ll be the first one to say working at CrossGen isn’t for everybody. A large portion of the pros in the industry couldn’t work at CrossGen. It takes a higher level of talent, commitment and maturity than anywhere in the industry, because to do what we’re doing on a monthly schedule, never miss shipping dates and maintain this level of quality is not an easy thing. Working in a studio like this requires a huge amount of dedication.

All that said, I think this is the best place in the industry to work if you’ve got what it takes. The studio environment is pretty relaxed and wonderfully creative — everyone learns from and is inspired by each other. Having all the members of a book’s team under the same roof makes the job that much easier, and cuts out any miscommunication. You’ll see a hell of a lot less mistakes in our books than in anyone else’s. And in terms of “real world” concerns, everyone’s paid a salary, not a page rate. We have vacation and sick days, full benefits. A lot of guys have never had that. Working here, even though we’re a small start-up, feels more stable than working freelance. This is our company. We’re all part-owners thanks to the profit-sharing and equity-sharing plans in place. Where else could you get that?

Q4. “Mystic” has a gradually unfolding kind of feel, whereas “Scion” seems to have a huge, sweeping scope. How do you balance these two very different writing approaches?

A4. A lot of the differences are dictated by character and setting, both of which drive the plot. The kinds of stories we tell in Mystic and Scion respectively are, I think, what works best in those books. I don’t know if it’s as much a balancing act as it is just trying to figure out what the book demands.

Q5. Will you be taking on a third regular title in the future, or is two your limit for the moment?

A: My third monthly title, Sojourn, begins in June with an over-sized Prequel issue, with the monthly series debuting in July. It’s more of a classic, traditional fantasy than CrossGen has done previously, which is something I’ve always wanted to write, and something I think the market is probably ready for as well. It’s a quest story, with a really nasty villain we’re hoping will turn into CrossGen’s Doctor Doom. Greg Land is penciling, with Drew Geraci inking and Caesar Rodriguez coloring. It’s easily the best stuff Greg has ever done. Birds of Prey was great, Nightwing was great, but this stuff blows Greg’s previous work out of the water.

Q6. This is my semi-obligatory question to all writers: what advice do you have to impart on young writers hoping to break into comics?

A: Save the tough one for last, huh? Breaking in as a writer is the toughest route, because unlike an artist, you can’t just show your portfolio to an editor and in five minutes the editor knows whether you’ve got it or not. As a writer, you actually have to get someone to READ what you do.

But there are two bits of advice I traditionally give. One is to read as much as possible, and not just comics. Read novels, read non-fiction, read everything you can get your hands on. You learn an immense amount about writing by reading, by seeing how OTHERS write. And aspiring comics writers should learn to be WRITERS, not just comics writers. First learn the craft of writing and translate that into comics. I hate hearing, “The only thing I ever wanted to do is write comics.” The industry doesn’t need any more writers who want to re-tell the comic stories they read when they were 11. What the industry DOES need is storytellers, people with their own voice and their own stories to tell.

The second piece of advice is more practical. It’s virtually impossible to break in at Marvel or DC. If somebody’s out there working on an Avengers submission, stop wasting your time. An editor has a long list of established, proven professionals he can call to write Avengers or anything else. New writers are much better off going through small press publishers or even self-publishing if they can team up with an artist. It’s not as sexy as writing X-Men or JLA, but it’s real, practical experience. Once you’ve got some of those sorts of projects under your belt, once you’re seen as a published pro, it’s a lot easier to go knocking on the doors of the big publishers.

We’d like to thank Mr. Marz for taking the time to take part in The Big Question! If you’ve missed his early monthly work on either Mystic or Scion, trade paperbacks of the first seven issues will be arriving soon! Don’t forget to check out Sojourn this summer as well. You can learn more about the CrossGen universe at www.crossgen.com. Also, we owe a special thanks to Ian Feller at CrossGen, who arranged this interview for us.

As always, if you have any suggestions for future Big Questions, direct them to Troy at psikotyk@aol.com.