Mike Murphy is a comic book writer, creator, and (with Celina Hernandez) co-founder of Chibi Comics and a life-long comic book fan.

“Ever since I could read, I’ve been reading comics, ever since I could draw, I’ve been drawing them,” Mike said. “I think the first books I remember were a Comico Gumby Summer Special, and an issue of Sword of The Atom.

Mike had intended to become a comic book artist, and he said that, aside from a five-year stint with his old punk band Myopia, that goal never changed.

“However, once I started attending the American Academy of Art in Chicago, and I hooked up with friends who also wanted to draw comics,” Mike said, “it became obvious someone was going to have to handle the writing side of the equation. I pulled the short straw. That said, over the years I have really grown to love being a writer. Even more than being an artist, I think. I’m a faster writer than I am an artist, and I also think I’m better at writing than drawing. So, there’s that.”

Mike is currently writing Red Town, Nothing Ever Lasts, Bodies: The Difference Between Here And Gone, and Days Apart for Chibi and has a variety of other projects in the works.

T.E. Pouncey: I instantly became a fan of your Red Town series after reading the first issue. How hard is it to plot a mystery comic book?

Mike Murphy: Plotting a mystery never seemed that hard to me; come up with the drive of the story (Bill killed Amy because of Blahbiddy-boo, for etc….), and then fast forward to your main character discovering the body, or the crime scene, or whatever. The hard part is covering the main plot up, throwing in convincing red herrings, and keeping the readers guessing. It’s like a magic trick as story. It’s all about misdirection.

Adrift in a Blazing World
Alan Moore and Kevin O’Neill take readers on a most fantastic voyage

The League Of Extraordinary Gentleman: The Black Dossier
By Alan Moore and Kevin O’Neill
Americas Best Comics
Cover price: $29.99; Available now
suggested for mature readers

One of the most intriguing parts of the second League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen series was the “New Traveller’s Alamanac” stories in the back of the comics.

While our Victorian Age heroes and heroines valiantly battled a Martian invasion in the main story, a text story afterward described, among other things, Captain Nemo meeting Captain Hook and Long John Silver; an encounter between The Nautilus and The Yellow Submarine (yes, the one in The Beatles cartoon movie); and references to the League members visiting America and passing by Zorro’s villa in California, the logging town of Twin Peaks, and visiting the New England community of Stepford with its “proverbially pretty and agreeable womenfolk.”

In this “almanac” feature, writer Alan Moore skillfully and humorously combined and juxtaposed dozens of famous literary and movie characters, making the fantasy world of the League even more amazing and inclusive.

If you liked those Almanac text features, you will absolutely LOVE Moore and artist Kevin O’Neill Black Dossier. You thought the first two League volumes were filled with delightful literary and pop-culture references? You ain’t seen nothing yet.

The Black Dossier begins with Mina Murray (from Bram Stoker’s Dracula) and a now-young Allan Quatermain (from H. Rider Haggard’s book series) stealing The Black Dossier containing classified League information from James Bond in 1958.

The Man From U.N.C.L.E.
The Complete TV Series DVD Box Set
Starring Robert Vaughn, David McCullum, Leo G. Carroll
TimeLife
On sale: Nov. 27, 2007

When I was a kid, there were so many spy shows on network TV, that prime time looked like a propaganda project for the Department Of Defense.

On any given night you could watch British spies (The Avengers ran on American TV from 1966-69 and Secret Agent, also called Danger Man, from 1964-66); cowboy spies (The Wild Wild West, 1965-69; cool-talking, tennis-playing spies (I Spy, 1965-68); spy teams (Mission: Impossible, 1966-73); funny spies (Get Smart, 1965-70), and even monkey spies (Lancelot Link, Secret Chimp 1970-72). The grand TV spy tradition continues today with shows like Alias (2001-06) and the new USA cable show Burn Notice.

But one of the first spy TV shows — and some would say one of the best — was The Man From U.N.C.L.E. (1964-68) The series starred Robert Vaughn (who you may remember as the villain and Richard Pryor’s comic foil in Superman III) as the suave Napoleon Solo and David McCullum (currently a medical examiner on the series NCIS) as the enigmatic Russian spy Illya Kuryakin. The series was a huge hit and top-rated series that spawned several TV movies, a reunion a spin-off (The Girl From U.N.C.L.E. 1966-67), comic books, and countless toys and other merchandise.

Now TimeLife has issued all 105 Man From U.N.C.L.E. episodes on 41-disc DVD set. To promote the effort, the TimeLife folks also issued an advance DVD containing the first U.N.C.L.E. pilot, simply called “Solo”; an interview with Vaughn and McCallum; a background feature on the series and a feature on the various U.N.C.L.E. episode guest stars (including a great clip of William Shatner, playing an intoxicated character, having a conversation with Leonard Nimoy, playing a deadly foreign agent).

(because ten questions aren’t enough — and who has time to read twelve?)

Mono AKA: SiMONOke, AKA: Cbleek is a mysterious Dutch artist, creator of the comic Crackhead Angel (about drug addiction in a group of supermodels), a techno-mix musician, and single working mom.

Born in 1974, Mono won a painting contest in 1986 (at the age of 12) sponsored by the Museum of Resistance (the theme of the contest was “Freedom”). In 1992, Mono attended the Willem de Kooning Academy in Rotterdam after high school graduation and was admitted to Art School.

“My first year (of) Art school was in 1992 and was chaotic but life changing,” she said. “Hanging out in the Storm gallery, a squat where I first came in contact with the traveller/tekno party scene. I switched from Rotterdam to the prestigious Art institute in Dusseldorf, and joined my mentor (and boyfriend) Ulrich Lamsfuss, there as an infiltrant (an unregistered student) in weekends and holidays.”

Confessing almost right away that she was not an “official” student, Mono, much to her surprise, was accepted as a temporary student.

“I could work there whenever I wanted,” she said. ” The relationship ended but those busy months of peddling between Rotterdam and Dusseldorf were fruitful for not only could I develop my own style and vision in my own time , it also lead to changes in the way Rotterdam academy approaches their students today.”

Mono is also working on a children’s book: “Libbie, stories about a serious old child” (written in Dutch), and various other projects. Her work can be viewed at her official site and on her MySpace profile.

T.E. Pouncey: When did you first become interested in being an illustrator?

Mono: I’ve drawn for as long as I can remember, using this skill to control the uncontrollable things in my life. Hopes, desires, and fears translated into drawings, safely and sometimes (the sensual ones, inspired by Henry Millers’ Sexus, Nexus, Plexus on my parents’ bookshelf) secretly put on paper. Transforming thoughts into lines was second nature. My favorite material is East Indian ink and goose feather pen.

(because ten questions aren’t enough “” and who has time to read twelve?)

Todd DeZago is a comic book author with an impressive background of work at both Marvel and DC comics. Todd wrote X-Factor for Marvel Comics (1994-95), Wolverine (1998), Spider-Man Team-Up, and The Spectacular Spider-Man Vol. 1 (for the majority of its 35-issue run). Todd also (with artist Todd Nauck) created Young Justice for DC comics and wrote Impulse (taking over with issue 50 and concluding with issue 89 — except for a “fill-in” issue #55). Todd’s most recent project has been The Perhapanauts, a horror/sci-fi/suspense comic, featuring a team of secret paranormal investigators (including a sasquatch, a psychic, a ghost, and a chupacabra). New Perhapanauts projects will be published early next year from Image comics. For more Perhapanauts information, see www.perhapanauts.com.

T.E. Pouncey: You have written both Spider-Man and X-Factor stories for Marvel. Before you write a Marvel comic, do you get guidelines or can you do pretty much what you want with the characters?

Todd DeZago: When I first started in comics, things were a lot more liberating. Editors expected you to come in and pitch your story, something that you had come up with yourself. They would take it or leave it — sometimes taking it but making a few suggestions here or there. They would be shepherds, making sure that you were telling a good story while keeping an eye on continuity and that the characters were “in character.” These days, things have changed. As big events and crossovers became standard practice, a lot of the stories now come from the editorial department and you, as a writer, are handed the basics for the story and then left to write within those parameters. Very rarely are you given carte blanche on a project and left on your own.

TEP: Can you tell us a little about how you got your first Spider-Man story assignment?

TD: I had been writing X-Factor for about six months when I got a call from Mark Powers in the Spider-Man offices asking me if I would like to script (dialog) an issue of one of Tom DeFalco’s Spectacular Spider-Man‘s. Tom, apparently, was a bit overwhelmed with work and they had liked my scripting on the other books. I was honored to have a chance to see how my heroes did it; Tom’s plot was flawless and I was thrilled to be able to work Sal Buscema, whose artwork was a lesson in storytelling!