Jake Black is the definition of a working writer. Working his way up from an intern at the Smallville Production office to writing the prequel comic to the latest Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie, Jake Black keeps busy. (He also keeps a blog about his progress here.) He was kind enough to sit down with our interview-bot and answer a few questions about comics, his latest work, how he got to where he is, the struggles of a working writer in comics and the struggles of the comics industry itself.

Big Shiny Robot!: On Wednesday (June 11), an issue of Legion of Superheroes in the 31st Century #15 (cover pictured above), written by you, comes out, how did you get into that job and what’s the issue about?

Jake Black: On a recent trip to NYC, I stopped in at the DC offices, and chatted with several editors about the future, and some possibilities for writing for them. Legion editor Jeanine Schaefer asked me to pitch for a couple of titles she was editing, including Legion. I sent her several pitches, including the one that became issue 15. It’s about a young Bart Allen, who was born in the 31st century and raised in a virtual reality world. A few members of the Legion join Bart to help protect his virtual home. It’s a pretty fun story, and I’m really proud of it. 🙂

BSR!: Seeing that you’re doing work for all the big publishers now, how did you get your first published comics work?

JB: In 2002, I started as the writers’ intern in the Smallville production office. I was working on the show’s promotional tie-in websites like smallvilletorch.com, writing in character as Chloe and others. After the first season finished, DC Comics announced that they were producing a series of Smallville comics based on the show. They were going to be written by Mark Verheiden and Clint Carpenter, both of whom I worked closely with in the Smallville production office. I talked to Clint and Mark about my possibly contributing to an issue of that series. I ended up co-writing the backup story in Smallville comic #5. So, my first comics work was actually published by DC. I’ve since been doing stuff on the indy scene–including titles like TMNT and Dead@17–earning my stripes back up to the big boys.

I’ve been working on a lot of Smallville projects since season 1, too, and so I’ve been published by DC all along, though not in comics as much as licensed short stories and kids books. (Be sure to pick up Smallville season 6 and season 7 on DVD — I wrote a couple of documentaries about significant DC characters on those sets, too…)

BSR!: You wrote some TMNT material in advance of the latest movie, how did you feel the response to the movie and your work surrounding it was?

JB: I think they were all favorably received. I don’t know for sure, but Ninja Turtles fans seemed to love the movie for the most part. I think the prequel comics were a really nice addition to that portion of the mythology, and I like to think that the two of those I did added something. I know that the prequels featuring the four turtles were colored and reprinted in the UK, alongside some new TMNT comics that I (and others, of course) wrote. The issue I did about April, which was considered too bloody for the color reprints since those were being targeted at kids, is my wife’s favorite thing I’ve done. It’s also one of my favorites.

BSR!: Who’s your favorite turtle to write?

JB: Casey and Karai. Is that okay? I just think they are the most complex and interesting characters in the whole mythos. I have a soft spot in my heart for Michaelangelo since I wrote his movie prequel comic. I like Leo because I wrote a kids book about him, too. So, turtle-wise they are my favorites. But Casey and Karai are my favorites.

BSR!: You’ve adapted a mountain of Orson Scott Card material [Wyrms], how did you get involved in that and what’s the biggest challenge in adapting material instead of writing original material for established characters?

JB: I got married in 2005, and realized that if I was going to make a career out of writing, I needed to make it happen. I saw that Mr. Card was writing Ultimate Iron Man I at the time, and was curious as to if he might have insight in to how to break in. I got his contact info from a mutual friend, and wrote to him. He told me that he didn’t have any advice, but had just licensed his novel Wyrms to be turned into comics through Dabel Brothers. He recommended me to them, and they hired me to write it. That was the beginning of what had become a long-term collaboration with Mr. Card and me, culminating in my writing the Ender’s Game encyclopedia to be published in 2009 by Tor Books. By virtue of that project, I have become the story consultant on Marvel’s newly-announced Ender’s Game comics series. (I’m also working on some other aspects of those comics, but can’t release details quite yet…)

The main challenge for me in adapting something is that I tend to be too faithful to the source material. That’s probably the biggest thing. When I do TMNT stuff, for example, I and I can just cut loose with stories, it’s easier. But people like OSC and the gang at Marvel are helping me to have that same mindset in adaptations. The key, I’m learning through both adaptations and original stuff, is to distill the main story, and tell it.

BSR!: How involved is Orson Scott Card in the process?

JB: On Wyrms, he approved the scripts and gave me a lot of leeway to do the adaptation I wanted to. On the Ender’s Game stuff Marvel’s doing now, he’s a bit more involved since the designs will affect all the other Ender’s licesnes (like the movie, video games, etc.)

BSR!: What’s the difference doing hired gun work at the different publishers?

JB: I haven’t had that much of a difference with the different publishers. I’ve had a really good experience with pretty much everyone I’ve worked with. I think that’s thanks to the editors at the different publishers. On Turtles, Steve Murphy and Dan Berger have been really great to work with. I really admire Nick Lowe at Marvel. That guy’s a genius, and is able to bring out the best of my ability in comics. At DC Chris Cerasi is the man, while I look up to Eddie Berganza and Matt Idelson there too. And I think Jeanine Schaefer is the most underrated editor in the entire industry. I really hope to work with her again.

BSR!: What’s the hardest part of comics work?

JB: I don’t know what the hardest part is. Maybe selling the pitches. That’s pretty slow going sometimes.

BSR!: What’s the hardest part of being writer in an artist dominated industry?

JB: I think the hardest part of being a writer is getting an editor to look at my work. With an artist they can tell at a glance if its any good. With a writer it takes a little more time, and often that means the samples don’t get read.

BSR!: What three monthly books do you look forward to most?

JB: Easiest question you’ve asked! 🙂 Supergirl, Justice League of America, Superman/Batman, and Green Lantern. Oops. That was four…

BSR!: The comics industry seems to be floundering in a way these days and new readers of anything at any age are hard to come by. Why do you think that is and how would you seek to remedy that?

JB: I’ve thought a lot about that, and if I were to be in a position where this would make any kind of difference, I would create a series of Manga starring the female heroes of the DCU. You go to any Barnes and Noble, and there are always several young women sitting in the aisles reading manga titles. Wonder Woman and Supergirl are two of the biggest feminine icons in our culture. It seems like that would be a match made in heaven.

I don’t know exactly why comics are floundering. I think it may be a bit of superhero fatigue with all the movies that have come out (Entertainment Weekly had an article addressing that recently, too…) I think they are stigmatized, of course, as a nerd thing. In the industry, I think fans are done with events. I think it may be time to get closer to one-and-dones to help stories more accessible for new readers. But what do I know?

BSR!: I think that about covers it. Is there anything you’d like to add?

JB: I hope everyone likes the Legion story. Keep an eye out in July for two more issues of Tales of the TMNT that I wrote. Also watch Chaotic Saturday mornings on Fox (since I write several of those episodes based on the CCG of the same name…) If you’re a really hardcore fan I’m also one of the main writers for the UK-published DC Comics Collection which are magazines that come with a little lead statue. I’ve heard Dan DiDio loves them. Finally, I also wrote the official Hannah Montana trading cards produced by Topps. Yeah, you know you want them. 😉

(To read more Big Shiny Robot! exclusive interviews, click here!)