Joe Martino has been in the comic industry for over 16 years now. Recently the creator announced a new project on Kickstarter for his new comic project the Mighty Titan. This is a personal and unique project unlike anything you’ll see in the local comic shops. Find out more about Joe, his personal journey and how you can help his dream come true. If you always wanted to support something on Kickstarter, then this is the one.
RAPH-
What got you into the comic industry?
JOE-
A love of comics. I grew up reading and enjoying comics. I was very interested in drawing at an early age and I would create little comics. Comics were a way to escape real life. They still are in many ways.
RAPH-
What were some of the comics you loved as a kid?
JOE-
I was a Marvel kid even though my first few comics were Superman comics. Spider-Man and the Hulk were my favorites when I was growing up. When I hit 13, I got more sophisticated tastes and started to read Uncanny X-Men and Fantastic Four. I got back into DC when John Byrne started Superman. I have been a HUGE Superman fan ever since.
RAPH-
The only other time I remember a superhero comic dealing with cancer was the old Death of Captain Marvel comic from years ago. Have you read it?
JOE-
I have not read it yet. I knew about it growing up. It was the first Marvel Graphic Novel as I remember. I haven’t had the chance to read it. And now that I know it is about cancer, I don’t want to read it until I am finished writing my mini series at least. I’d like as little influence as possible there. The funny connection here is that my character is loosely inspired by DC’s Captain Marvel. That is why I was so excited to have Jerry Ordway do the cover.
RAPH-
You based your own experiences with cancer when you wrote this story but it’s not an autobiography of your life obviously. What aspects of your struggles were integrated into the story and how did you come up with the character?
JOE-
Many. Conversations with doctors that I had, family conversations. You will see what I went through in the beginning when I found out. You will see how I reacted even though I am not a super powered being. You will see my sadness. My fear. My anger. My doubt. As much as I can convey it. Anyone that says that these conversations aren’t accurate or that they don’t sound real will be kidding themselves. I take more than one conversation that I had with doctors and present them verbatim. Only the names and dates have been changed to protect the innocent! (How many will get that joke?)
RAPH-
Shadowflame was one of your first creations. Do you have future plans for him? Same goes for Ripperman. Will they be appearing in the Arcana crossover event Intrinsic?
JOE-
Shadowflame is near and dear to me. I just completed an 8 page story that led into War of the Independents 3 and I am working on a new crossover with Phazer for RZG Comics. I am hoping I never stop writing any of my characters. Shadowflame and Titan will cross paths eventually. But this is not planned for this 5 issue mini-series. I have plans to bring the two of them together after issue 6, if there is a want for it.
Both Shadowflame and Ripperman had cameos in the first issue of Intrinsic. I believe Shadowflame will have a bigger role in a future issue.
RAPH-
Will Mighty Titan be published by any comic company or will this be self published? Are there any plans for the character in the future?
JOE-
What I am doing for the Kickstarter will be through my publishing company JGM Comics. That doesn’t mean I wouldn’t put it anywhere else. I am not a big fan of rejection (who is?) so I don’t normally send pitches because of that. Someone might argue that Kickstarter is the biggest pitch in the world. It certainly is more stressful than a pitch. I am sure if a company like Image or IDW were interested, I’d know by now. But, who knows! I am always open to getting my stories to a bigger audience. A larger publisher would make that possible.
RAPH-
Why did you decide to go the Kickstarter route? If you’re successful with this Kickstarter will you be doing more in the future?
JOE-
I have funded every book I have ever worked on. Kickstarter was a way to finally put my comics out without taking food from my kid’s mouths. Every creator knows that sometimes it is a matter of paying the power bill or paying your inker. It is a difficult thing to choose. I just figured what I paid to produce those mini-series and Graphic Novels. That is the amount I decided for Kickstarter. It isn’t even the full amount that is truly needed. People have no idea how difficult it is to create one comic that you buy for $2.99. Five people have to be paid, promotion and printing. It isn’t cheap and I am not taking one penny for myself from this. I’ve been doing this for 16 years and I think this is the one that people may latch on to. It is the best thing that I have written to date, so I can’t wait to see it done! Using Kickstarter shows that people are interested, they pay for the book and they get it if funding is successful. It is an amazing model. It puts the fan in control of a property seeing the light of day.
RAPH-
You’ve been doing many creator owned series over the years, but would you ever want to tackle a character in the Marvel or DC universe?
JOE-
Superman. I love that big lug and I miss him! I’d bring him back to where he should be. And, of course, only I know where he should be. Lol.
RAPH-
Can you tells us more about the Titan and how powers? Is there a connection to Greek Mythology?
JOE-
Titan’s origin is mired in Greek Mythology but it isn’t touched upon in this mini-series as much as it could be. Some of the bad guys are mythological. He fights a family of Cyclops that are trying to get back an ancient artifact that is tied to Titan’s power. Their family had been protecting it since Zeus banished the Titan’s to Tartarus. You will see some of the pantheon of Greek gods on one of Cory Smith’s flashbacks. You will learn more about where he gets his powers and what Titan of old he derives his power from. He isn’t named Titan for nothing!
RAPH-
Besides these projects, what are you working on for the future?
JOE-
More Shadowflame! More Ripperman! And I am also finally going to finish my Crimson and Caress one shot. The first 2 chapters were published in an anthology “New Age Tales of Alternate Adventures”. I plan on reviving that soon! I am a busy man when I look at that! I still have 5 issues of The Mighty Titan to complete!!!
RAPH-
Any projects outside of the comics medium? These days it seems like every comic is being turned into a movie. Have you ever gotten any offers to turn your books into a film?
JOE-
I wrote a short Shadowflame Vs Zombies prose story in a book from Coscom Entertainment called Metahumans Vs Zombies. That ties into the Shadowflame universe in a gut wrenching way. Any of my books would make amazing movies but I am a comic book guy. I want to make comics. Of course, getting a movie optioned wouldn’t be a bad thing. Maybe it would recoup the money that I have sunk into this genre that I love so much.
To help Joe Martino make his comic dream come true go to this link here.
You can find out more about Joe and his other projects from his own site here.
