Creator Interview: Tony Moore

Tony Moore

At the end of 2009, I got to interview another then-current creative force on Ghost Rider, the incomparable Tony Moore.  Even though he only did three issues of the series (at the time, he later came back during the "Circle of Four" story in 2012), Moore left an undeniable mark on the series and helped to produce one of my all-time favorite Ghost Rider comics (the first chapter of "Trials and Tribulations").

Two things I'll point out, though: a) the confirmation that The Walking Dead was coming to television sounds so quant when read here, considering the juggernaut that series has become, and b) I really should get around to either re-posting or flat-out re-doing the Top Ten Ghost Rider Comics of All Time list...

As part of our anniversary extravaganza, Vengeance Unbound proudly presents a few words with recent Ghost Rider artist Tony Moore! Take it away, Tony!

1) While you've had an extensive career as a comic book artist, your work on Ghost Rider has been very recent. For Ghost Rider fans that may have experienced your work for the first time, what are some other projects you've worked on in the past? In other words, what books would you recommend as “The Essential Tony Moore”?

 

Hmmm. Well, I guess I'd recommend one of everything I've done! If I had to pick a handful of my favorites, I'd pick Brit issues 1 and 2, both 48 pages, written by Robert Kirkman and full art by me. It's about an impervious old man who does the government's dirty work fighting monsters and weirdos. Then, The Walking Dead vol. 1, which is also by myself and Robert, which is a Romero-style survival/horror story in a zombie apocalypse. I co-created Fear Agent with my now Punisher cohort Rick Remender, and it's basically a two-fisted sci-fi western, inspired largely by the EC comics of the 1950s. My favorite collection from that series is vol. 3, The Last Goodbye, which is the origin story of Heath Huston and how he became the alcoholic space cowboy we see in the rest of series. And lastly, but not leastly, The Exterminators, which i did at Vertigo with Simon Oliver, which is a gritty black comedy with supernatural overtones, which basically follows a group of social misfits on their daily job with the family pest control business in the underbelly of Los Angeles. These are my favorite four creator-owned projects, which lead right up to the point I started working with Marvel.

 

2) What with your work on zombies and monsters of all kind, did you come into your run on Ghost Rider already a fan of the character? If so, what are some of your favorite Ghost Rider comics/moments?

 

Yeah, Ghost Rider's one of the big reasons i got into comics as a kid. Unfortunately it was in the period of his heaviest saturation in the 90's, but as a kid who was already a fan of horror and monsters, I was an easy mark for everything that featured the flamey-skulled biker. I grew up on the Mackie/Tex run with Danny Ketch from then, but as I grew older and my collection grew bigger, I really came to enjoy the older Blaze stories by Friedrich and Ploog from the late 70s.

 

3) For your run on Ghost Rider, you partnered up with writer Jason Aaron. What was that experience like? Should we be on the look-out for more Aaron/Moore produced comics in the future?

 

I'm a big fan of Jason's work, and he's a dear friend of mine, so the experience was one of those kinds of experiences that make drawing comics a joy. We come from similar schools of thought, and we really enjoyed kicking ideas around together and making the kinds of comics we as readers would enjoy. As soon as our schedules allow, I'd love to work with Jason again. I've said it before, and I'll say it again: that dude could write a VCR manual and I'd strangle 50 other artists for the chance to draw it.

 

4) Even though you only contributed three issues to the character, your work on Ghost Rider was hugely important to the character's history. In one issue in particular, you were responsible for designing a whole slew of past Spirits of Vengeance. Where did the inspiration for all those wildly fascinating Riders come from, and was it difficult having to design so many characters in your very first issue?

 

The seeds for most of them came from Jason wanting to have one for each of the featured time periods. A good many of them are pretty thinly veiled analogs of pop culture icons that Jason and I both enjoy, and the rest were born from our similar interests, such as outlaw country music, which inspired our Penance Fist-wielding zombie smashing Hellbilly Ghost Rider. Designing them all was a blast, but it was easily one of the most challenging issues of a comic that i've had to draw, constantly establishing new time periods and locales and introducing an all new guy that you only get to see for a panel of two, yet somehow make it all feel important. It was a pretty tall order.

 

5) As part of the site's 8 year anniversary celebration, I've recently posted the Top Ten Ghost Rider Comics of All Time – and one of your issues, Ghost Rider # 33, made the list! What do you think about one of your issues being held up as one of the greatest Ghost Rider tales ever told?

 

I'm truly honored. Ghost Rider is one of the characters closest to my heart, so for a story I worked on to be held up as one of the greatest really means a lot to me. The 12 year old fanboy inside me is blown away by it all.

 

6) You've recently started work on the Punisher alongside writer Rick Remender, the most recent issue of which seems to have been met with a bit of controversy amongst fans. What's the story with “Franken-Castle” and how do such Marvel horror icons as Morbius and the Man-Thing come into play?

 

Well, we figured that the Marvel 616 continuity is a batshit crazy place. Giant cosmic planet-eating gods and flying weirdos in tights, mutants and androids, and a guy like Frank, a regular (albeit highly skilled) dude with guns, whose M.O. is shooting people in the face, can't rightly exist in such a place without bumping into, and even running afoul of, a lot of these cats with some pretty serious consequences, and perhaps some pretty outlandish results.

In our tale, Frank has been sliced to chunks by Wolverine's no-account son, Daken, on the order of Norman Osborn. Before the body can be retrieved, moloids scuttle off with the pieces. Meanwhile, the monsters of the Marvel Universe are on the run from a mysterious new force, which is slaughtering them at every turn, hell-bent on eradicating them from the earth. Among the monsters is Morbius, who has rebuilt Frank as a lumbering bolt-necked behemoth in hopes of having him join Manphibian, Werewolf by Night, N'Kantu the Living Mummy, and Man-Thing as  the Legion of Monsters, to help protect the creatures of the night. We're examining Frank as a monster on the inside as well as out, and telling a fun tale that gets Frank on his feet again in the wake of his murder. It's all pretty wild stuff, but that's what's so fun about the Marvel Universe!

 

7) A question I ask every creator: what did you think of the Ghost Rider movie?

 

It broke my heart. The script had a bazillion holes in it. Why did Sam Elliott waste his final flame-up on the ride over, to leave Blaze hanging when he could have used the help the most? Why did the Penance Stare that failed 30 minutes earlier suddenly work on Blackheart? I love Nicolas Cage, but as Hi from Raising Arizona, and as Charlie Kaufman in Adaptation. Try as i might, i can't buy him as a tough guy or a hero, and he's way to old to play a naïve screwup like Blaze. I dunno. The whole thing was a wreck. I watched it a second time to see if it was a bad as i remembered, which is was, and I watched it a third time because I'm a glutton for punishment.  It was all too slick, and made no sense. It's a horror story. Simple. Go watch Sons of Anarchy and American Werewolf in London, and read Faust. The thing should practically make itself

 

8) Outside of your work on the Punisher, what other projects do you have in the works right now?

 

That's it for the time being. I have some stories i'm building up in my notebook, for future use, either with another writer, to to do by myself. A couple ghost stories and a couple westerns, but Punisher is taking up all my time for the foreseeable future, until my biggest work in progress hits in March. My wife and i have a daughter on the way, which will surely monopolize my waking hours for a while. We're both very excited.

 

9) I hear that Hollywood has taken a serious interest in your work of late. Did I hear correctly that both The Exterminators and The Walking Dead have been optioned for television?

 

It's true. Sara Colleton, who is one of the driving forces behind Dexter is working to bring The Exterminators to Showtime.  Frank Darabont is working on The Walking Dead at AMC. The crew at Dark Horse are talking to Universal about Fear Agent. If a couple of these come together, a fella could get real comfortable!

 

10) Mr. Moore, thank you for taking the time out of your busy schedule to do this interview with me. Any last remarks for all the Ghost Rider fans out there?

 

I'd like to thank all the fellow fans out there for coming along with us on the ride. We've got a lot of love for these characters. I mean, they inspired us to avoid getting real jobs and devote our lives to this stuff, and it's an honor to get to play in this sandbox.  I'm really proud of the work we've been able to put together, so it means a lot to us when fans are having as much fun as we are. Thanks so much!

 

Ghost Rider by Tony Moore