An interview with Steve Orlando
Eisner, Glaad, Ringo-nominated comic-book writer who works regularly with Marvel, DC and Image.
Originally published 29 March 2020.
American comic-book writer Steve Orlando recently left DC Comics after completing a four-year exclusive contract with the publisher that saw him writing A-list series such as Wonder Woman, Justice League of America and Martian Manhunter.
I don’t know him well, but he seems like a lovely guy. I’ve been on Twitter long enough now to have met a lot of comic creators like Steve online before they hit the big time, and he’s one of the people that genuinely loves the medium and continues to champion the other creators who he met on his way up. If that’s not the measure of an artist, to use your platform to amplify the voices of others who don’t have the same reach, then I don’t know what is.
And Steve is all about amplifying voices that haven’t been widely heard in comics in the past. His work has been nominated for a GLAAD Media Award, recognising his “outstanding representations of LGBT community and the issues that affect their lives”. His Midnighter series was named by io9 as "The Best Portrayal of a Gay Superhero in Mainstream Comics." So what I’m saying is that if you haven’t read any of his comics yet, you should really check them out.
1/ What first motivated you to become a writer and, as you face new challenges, have your motivations changed over time?
My first motivation was a love of the medium - going back to the mid-90s, when I would see editorial pieces about how stories came together and Marvel and DC, I knew I wanted to be part of that process. Hell, that's why I went to my first comicon at 12 years old, to try to start breaking in. Almost two decades later, I got the foot in the door. But I kept working because I knew, even if there were things I did to pay the rent in between, that writing and storytelling was the only thing I wanted to do. And now that I've BEEN in for some time, the challenges are of course different.
“Just like manuscripts don't burn, stories never die, and so that phrase becomes a constant inspiration to produce work you'll be happy to know will outlive you.” – Steve Orlando
I have to push myself not to become comfortable in one place, with one type of storytelling, or one character. Or even one medium! Since coming to comics, I've found a new love of prose and screenwriting, and so now, the motivation is to always be on the hunt for the new: new formats, new genres, new storytelling and new ideas. Find the new ideas, express them in news ways, give readers the innovation they deserve, not comfort food.
2/ What piece of art or artist has most inspired you in your life?
Probably Bulgakov's MASTER AND MARGARITA, my favourite novel. In context, it's a powerful piece written in a time of creative oppression, acting as both an elegant farce about a society circling the drain of amorality, and as an ode to the power of creation itself. "Manuscripts don't burn" is a defiant mantra for every creator struggling to speak truth and push boundaries, and it's also a memento mori, especially considering this piece as published after Bulgakov died.
It's a reminder of the importance of the work, even acknowledging the battle could be pyrrhic, it may not reap rewards in our lifetime. But just like manuscripts don't burn, stories never die, and so that phrase becomes a constant inspiration to produce work you'll be happy to know will outlive you - even if you don't plan on checking out anytime soon.
3/ What does your creative process look like – if the comics that we’ve seen so far are the tip of the iceberg, what goes on under the surface that we don’t normally see?
Days and weeks of research and stress, mostly! I keep an idea board in my office, since it's common for me to have a lot of possible ideas in the course of researching whatever I'm working on for the day's topline. So the board is where I throw my random titles and ideas that I want to attend to later (such as AMERICA 2: AMERICON - they're not all winners yet).
But when something is just at the outset, it's about consumption: reading as much as I can, watching as much as I can, finding a mood board of sorts to keep me focused on the right tone for story. So I decide what I want to say, decide the basic conflict driver, and then build characters around it that will intensify that conflict as much as possible. That process can be quick or it can be ongoing for months, depends, but the key is to not commence on the actual writing until the structure and power is in place so you're working with something that's as strong as possible. It's the pre-work here that's as important as the writing, so you know you're operating with a strong foundation.
4/ If you woke tomorrow and were no longer constrained by time, budgets or even skills that you haven’t learned yet, what would you make?
I've been lucky that a lot of the old answers to this question, I've been able to complete! MARTIAN MANHUNTER, KILL A MAN, DEAD KINGS, MIDNIGHTER AND APOLLO, they all would've been a potential answer at one time. Now? I'd love to do something similar to what Jasons Aaron and Latour have done with SOUTHERN BASTARDS. I'd love to do a longer story, ongoing even, about the place that made me the mad fool writer that I am today. And it'd probably be called LOST EMPIRE STATE. It's on my whiteboard right now...