#mark rahner

Dejah Thoris and The Green Men of Mars #1 (2013)

PREVIEW: Twilight Zone: 1959

There is a fifth dimension beyond that which is known to man. It is a dimension as vast as space and as timeless as infinity. It is the middle ground between light and shadow, between science and superstition, and it lies between the pit of man’s fears and the summit of his knowledge. This is the dimension of imagination. It is an area which we call the Twilight Zone. Journey back to where it all…

Vampirella/Army of Darkness #4 Review

Everyone wants to work at S-Mart. Creative Staff: Story: Mark Rahner Art: Jethro Morales What They Say: The splatterific climax! After Vampi’s witch trial, she and Ash race to face an abbey swarming with possessed monks. Which is just a speed bump compared to the demonic angels the monks...

Vampirella/Army of Darkness #3 Review

The past is such a drag. Creative Staff: Story: Mark Rahner Art: Jethro Morales What They Say: Ash’s pals in 1300 A.D. are so happy to meet Vampirella that they introduce her to a friend of their own: Black Friar Thomas, who wants to put her on trial as a witch! That is, a trial by ordeal!...

Vampirella/Army of Darkness #2 Review

Acting against their own best interests – again. Creative Staff: Story: Mark Rahner Art: Jethro Morales What They Say: It’s on! Boomstick vs. fangs! The battle you’ve always wanted to see between Ash and Vampirella – sort of. Make that Ash and a monstrously transformed...

Vampirella/Army of Darkness #1 Review

Like peanut butter and chocolate together. Creative Staff: Story: Mark Rahner Art: Jethro Morales What They Say: During his time trapped in the England of 1300 A.D., Ash listened to the terrified primitive screwheads tell of a horrific flying Deadite similar to the one he blasted out of the air...

Every day this week as we gear up for emeraldcitycomicon (ECCC), we will be highlighting one influential Seattle-based comics artist or writer to hear what true locals of the scene have to say about the evolution of the Convention, how it reflects the Seattle comics culture and where it’s headed. Today, we hear from Mark Rahner.

And for any fans heading to ECCC, be sure to stop by legendarycomics at Booth #1804!

MARK RAHNER

ECCC as a reflection of the Seattle Comics scene: “It’s pretty diverse here. Mainstream big-company creators. Fantagraphics. Assorted cartoonists. Locals who made it big and come back for ECCC. And look, I’m not in the chamber of commerce here, but Seattle’s a beautiful town with tons of cool places to eat and – more importantly for comic pros – drink. Before I lived here, I came here for vacations.”

Artist Alley & ECCC as an event for creators: “ECCC remains the one show I hear creators genuinely looking forward to attending, when others can seem like a grind. More and more, I hear fellow pros saying they’re skipping this con or that one, but that they wouldn’t skip Seattle.”

What excites you about the future of ECCC: “Having longer lines at my table!”

More on Mark…

Originally from: Carcosa

Best known for: The Twilight Zone, Rotten

At ECCC, he can be found: Table J-07

Gail Simone, writer on Red Sonja #14, talks with writer Mark Rahner about The Twilight Zone: Shadow and Substance #1, both on sale now.

GAIL SIMONE: Okay, Mark, I am excited to talk to you about this new Twilight Zone book, and I’ll explain why in just a bit. But for those readers who are not familiar with your work (and this is actually the first story of yours I have read as well), could you give a little background, how you got to be a writer, how you came to be chosen for a high profile title like Twilight Zone?

MARK RAHNER: In that case, I say welcome to the Mark party!

I’ve been doing comics since around 2009. I came from Career 1.0 as a newspaper reporter and critic – largely at The Seattle Times – and began Career 2.0 with my creator-owned zombie-western, Rotten, from Moonstone Books. So doing the math, I’ve made my living as a writer for 20 years and the last six of those have been much more fun. You can find out – and read – a bunch more by and about me at www.markrahner.com.

As far as doing Twilight Zone, you could say I “proved in” with a lot of previous Dynamite work, as well as being an obsessive, lifelong TZ and Rod Serling devotee – and letting our authority-figure editors know it.

GS: Here’s the thing about myself and The Twilight Zone. I’m a fan. I mean, hardcore. I watch the series over and over, I even watch the color version with Forrest Whitaker. I have a stack of the prose collections, I have every issue of Carol Serling’s Twilight Zone magazine. I’ve read and seen many, many attempts to nail that voice, that feeling of unease, and most of the time, they never quite get it. But I literally could tell from your first narration that you had utterly nailed it. I heard Rod Serling’s voice as I was reading, which is no small accomplishment. So, I have to ask, were you a fan previously? What went into getting the tone so tight?

MR: That means a lot to me, especially coming from a fellow Twilight Zone cultist. I’ve said from the time I started writing my previous TZ volumes – the 2014 Annual and Lost Tales– that that was my goal. So I hope you and the other readers will check those out, too.

We’re the same on the hardcore front. The original show is gospel to me. I’m very familiar with Serling’s life. I read all the prose collections when I was a kid, have all those magazines, Night Gallery, Serling’s previous live TV work, interviews, biographies … you get the idea. It was in my veins at an early age, and I’ve been getting continuous infusions.

GS: You’ve written some beloved cult icons before, in Dejah Thoris and the Avenger, for example. But this is The Twilight Zone. If you get it wrong, it seems like writers all over the world would hate you forever. (smiles) I know something about the pressure of getting fan favorites right. Did you have any concern about this story, keeping up with the standards not just of the show, but the importance it had in people’s memories?

MR: There’s no pressure greater than the prospect of hating myself if I screw up something that’s so important to me. But my career 1.0 was good schooling in performing under the greatest of pressures, and on deadlines.

My main concern with “Stumbling Distance” was that it’s more personal than I’ve gotten in comics. Writing those long-established characters like Dejah Thoris and The Avenger– whom I also love – doesn’t lend itself to that so easily. But Serling went deep, and writing is risk.

As far as people’s expectations, I want to exceed them. At least that’s what I strive for. I’m a compulsive researcher with a knack for getting the tones of things, but I also have no interest in inbred fan fiction or recycling catchphrases like “Submitted for your approval.” My stories are meant to be completely faithful, but still new and raw and experimental and angry.

GS: Tell me a little bit about your story, why did you choose to tell a story of a writer confronting his demons? This was a favorite theme of many TZ writers, obviously, but what made you go to that place?

MR: The story had been percolating with me for a while. What would you say to your younger self – especially at a crucial moment? After you’d grown up, become civilized like a human, gained some perspective on what you’d lived through. Would you want to protect a child from the bad parts of what made you who you are?

I rewatched “Walking Distance” on Blu-ray recently, and it nearly brought me to tears. Beautiful. One of the landmark Twilight Zone stories, and it features one of Serling’s most prominent obsessions: nostalgia for his childhood and hometown. So here’s my own inverted version of that, with a vaguely familiar feel, but it goes down a whole different path. I don’t want to retell or update the old stories. I’ve got plenty of my own.

GS: And finally, can you break down for us what’s coming up? I have to say, I’m down. I was very pleasantly drawn into this story and I will be following every issue. So what can you tell us about your future issues?

MR: Glad to hear it! The next one is more science-fiction, about a prisoner in an overly comfortable containment facility run by giant aliens. Then some weird phobia-suspense from my recurring nightmare about waking up on a mattress on the pinnacle of a skyscraper swaying in the wind.

These are meant to feel like they could be episodes, yet still contemporary. I want you to feel like you’re in good hands. But hands that’ll give you a brisk shake.