I had opportunity to interview the awesome comic book writer, Cullen Bunn. Cullen is a busy guy. He is writing several comics a month with comics from Marvel, IDW, and other projects. Last weekend, Cullen was was C2E2 in Chicago. This weekend, Cullen will be at Planet Comicon Kansas City. You can meet Cullen at Planet Comicon Kansas City @ BOOTH 1426 when he is not in a panel.
GK: (Geeky KOOL) Cullen, thank you for taking the time to do this interview between conventions. Last weekend, you were at C2E2 in Chicago. This upcoming weekend, you will at Planet Comicon Kansas City.
GK: I know you are writing a ton of comic books. Your name seems to be on everything. X-Men:Blue, Monster’s Unleashed, and Star Wars: Darth Maul are a few of the comics you are writing. Have many titles are you currently writing a month?
CB: (Cullen Bunn) I don’t know for sure. Both too many and not enough. Bottom line, I love what I’m doing and want to do more of it. I work as hard as I do because I love it, and–really–I’m only happy when I’m busy.
GK: When you are writing several different stories, how do you balance your writing so you don’t neglect one?CB: I try to focus on just one at a time, really. I keep all my materials and notes organized into different notebooks and folders to make sure I have everything straight.
GK: Since you are a very busy writer, how do make time to attend different conventions like C2E2 and Planet Comicon Kansas City? Why is it important to you to attend geek conventions like Planet Comicon Kansas City?
CB: Making time for conventions and signings is the toughest part of the job. What most people don’t realize is that when I’m at a show, I am not working. But it’s important for me to get some face-to-face time with readers. It’s a joy to interact with fans at shows. Plus, I’m a fan, too, so I have a great time.
GK: What panels can we expect to see you on this weekend?CB: I’m on a Marvel panel, a panel about “capeless” superheroes, and a panel about Warlock 5, a new comic I’m working on.
GK: A lot of times fans are… well fanatic. They will bring a huge stack of comics for you to sign. How do you handle those fans that want your signature on every comic they own that you wrote?CB: Usually, I’ll sign them. All I ask is that if someone is in line with only a couple of comics, the person with the big stack steps aside and lets me handle other signings first. A lot of times, dealers bring up huge stacks, too, and I can almost always identify them. I’m fine signing their books. There are a few EBay sellers who have outright lied to me. “Yes, I have 25 copies of each of your Deadpool books, but that’s because I give a comic to everyone in my office park.” That chafes me a little bit.
GK: You are well know for your series, The Sixth Gun. It ran for 50 issues along with a few mini-series to go with it. Is your story done with The Sixth Gun or can we expect to see the The Sixth Gun return in the future?CB: Never say never, but the story of Drake, Becky, Billjohn, and the six magical pistols is definitely finished.
GK: You are working on a horror anthology with LunchBox Press. Tell me a little about story, the process and the artist you are paired with for this project?CB: The anthology is titled Graveyard Slaughter, a throwback to 80s horror. I’m writing 2 of the 4 stories in the book. Both of them are stories I think you might have found as a VHS movie in the video store back in the day. (A video store is the connective tissue in the book.) I’m working with two different artists, both local to my neck of the woods. Gary Bedell and Javier Saltares are drawing the stories, and they are doing some fantastic work!
GK: You have been nomiated for the Brams stoker award. Congratulations! Tell our readers about the award and what work you were nominated for.
CB: I’ll be honest. I don’t even know what I’m nominated for this year. Blood Feud, I think. I’ve been nominated before, and I’m always happy that someone is thinking about my work. If I win, I’ll be ecstatic. But the Stoker awards and Horror Writers Association have always sort of looked down their nose at comic books. I remember getting into a heated argument with a former president because one year he just said, “there were no good horror comics published this year.” That, of course, was ridiculous. Every year, there are many terrific horror books published. I hope that one day the organization and its members start taking comic books more seriously.
GK: You have worked for both Marvel and DC. You have worked for lots of smaller comic companies. You have worked independently on projects. What are the positives and negatives of the different types of publishers?
CB: The different publishers scratch different itches. When working with Marvel or DC, I’m writing characters that I grew up reading and contributing to a universe that I dearly love. At the end of the day, though, I don’t own those characters and I answer to editors and their plans for the characters. With creator-owned stories, I answer to no one, and you get a truer representation of who I am as a writer.
GK: You have written a ton of different characters for DC and Marvel. Is there a character from the big two that you either haven’t written or you haven’t spent much time on that you would love to get your hands into tell your story with that character.CB: I’d love to write some of the horror characters for either publisher… but I really want to cut loose with them.
GK: Out of all of the comics and characters that you have written over the years, what is the one that caused you to have the most joy and fun writing?
CB: It’s hard to top The Sixth Gun. That was a story that we took from its beginning to the end in our own way. It was very satisfying to tell a story like that and see it through to its ultimate conclusion.
GK: Cullen, thank you for a fantastic interview and your precious time.
If you read comic books, I would bet you have read at least one if not numerous Cullen Bunn stories. He is an awesome writer. We were honored to interview him and get a few minutes of his time.
Make sure to check him out at Planet Comicon Kansas City @ BOOTH 1426. I know I have a stack of comics for him to sign. You can check out his panels: Spandexless: Comic Books Beyond Capes on Saturday 11:30 to 12:30 in room 2104; Stay in the same room on Saturday at 12:30 for The Secret Cival All -New Marvel Empire Hour; and Introducing Warlock 5 on Sunday April 30th from 3:00 pm to 4:00 pm in room 2102.
Visit his webpage cullenbunn.com. You can also follow him on social media with @cullenbunn on Twitter and Cullen Bunn on Facebook. He has a page on IMDB with Cullen Bunn.
Stay Geeky My Friends!
