Interviews Conducted by Robert J. Beck

How is it you came to work on “Thor”?

An enormous goat-driven chariot arrived outside my North
London hovel, carrying the many-headed beast that is the
Marvel Editor. They told me to do it. You don't get to say no to
any-headed beasts.

Do you think writing your two recent mini-series, “Ares” and “Beta Ray Bill”, have prepared you well for writing Thor?

I think they've eased me in. Bill and Ares are both characters with that intrinsic scale, but they're coming from different sides of the spectrum. With Bill, I've had this very serious lead character with a core morality to him. With Ares, I've had to play with the horrors of an eternal familial drama. There's bits of both of that in Thor.

 Do you feel a lot of pressure writing this book as it has had such a high reputation?

Only with every bone in my body. Really, I did a lot of thinking before accepting the book. In the end, I realised that all the drama around the book really was of secondary concern compared to the drama inside the book. The question became “did I think I could tell a decent story”. I think I've got one hell of a story to tell. So I try not to think about anything other than it.

Where you a fan of Thor before you knew you would be working on the series?

He was one of the first Marvel characters I read as a kid, in one of Marvel UK's reprints. There's that absolutely founding link to him. I didn't actually read comics as a teenager, but when coming back to the medium as an adult, I've been admiring what JMS has done with Thor. As i said, it's an intimidating body of work to follow.

What do you feel you are going to bring to this series to make it yours?

I was thinking of a few song and dance routines. Singing in the Rain, but in a Thunderstorm, and Thor spinning around Loki's neck in an elegant fashion. I think what I've got planned is... well, interesting. It tonally fits in with what JMS was doing, while increasing the stress on certain themes to make it my own. JMS painted it as a book about the mortal and the divine. I spin that around in a darker way. There's splashes of horror in what I'm doing.

Which characters do you plan on focusing on?

Thor. Doom. Balder. Loki. Kelda. Heimdall.Tyr. In roughly that order. Very roughly.

Are you going to touch on the “Loki/Scarlet Witch” story from “the Mighty Avengers”?

Not directly. It doesn't tie into the core things which are happening where JMS has left us.

I know you can’t say who it is but have you worked things out with the person taking Thor over from you in six months time?

I'll go as far as saying we've talked.

You are also working on a S.W.O.R.D. series, can you tell us anything about this?

Totally. It's splendid. Very different in tone to Thor. My Asgardian connection is all modernized-fantasy-Shakespeare-epic at superhero scale. S.W.O.R.D. Is a hyperspeed science-fiction spy drama – kind of a cross between West Wing and 24 in orbit, and running with Astonishing X-men's Whedonesque verbal flair. I think people will like it a lot.