INTERVIEW: Ron Marz and Andy Lanning on the challenge of creating a vast new cosmic world in RESOLUTION

One of Zoop’s first crowdfunding campaigns, Resolution by Ron Marz, Andy Lanning, Rick Leonardi, and Netho Diaz, was reopened for a two-week limited period, with only three days remaining in the campaign as of April 21, for those who missed the original campaign. Pulling from their experience writing some of the wildest teams in the cosmos, Marz and Lanning have decided to team up to create their own epic tale of cosmic heroes.

Originally slated for Leonardi on pencils, changes occurred that took him off the project, and he was replaced by Diaz. Marz and Lanning have also enlisted Paul Pelletier, Bart Sears, and Tom Raney to handle bonus stories and flashbacks, as well as Liam Sharp, Phil Jimenez, Greg Broadmore, Wes Craig, Ron Lim, Luke Ross, Jeff Johnson, and others to provide pin-ups for the project.

Resolution will be available to back on Zoop for three more days!

The Beat had the chance to catch up with Marz and Lanning over e-mail to discuss why they decided to work together again after DC Comics’ Endless Winter crossover, their inspiration for Resolution, and more. 

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REBECCA OLIVER KAPLAN: You previously worked together on DC’s Endless Winter What about that experience made you want to work together again? Has working together on a creator-owned project presented unique challenges or rewards?

RON MARZ: Andy and I have been friends for years and worked together on other projects, including Endless Winter. This was a chance to put our heads together and come up with something original in the cosmic wheelhouse we’re both known for.

ANDY LANNING: Ron and I have written a few things together over the years, and when the opportunity to work with the folks at Zoop rose, we thought it would be fun to create our version of the cosmic peace-keeping force we’re both known for. This sort of grand sci-fi world-building appeals to us, and we got to create a vast new cosmic story world to play in that was ours to with what we wanted. Of course, the challenge for this is that we had to create ‘a vast new cosmic story world!’ But that is also hugely rewarding.

KAPLAN: Did any other works of fiction inspire you for this story?

MARZ: We’ve been saying Resolution is Unforgiven meets Green Lantern Corps, which is a pretty good shorthand. There are other influences, of course, everything from comics to science-fiction novels. But I think those are the primary influences.

LANNING: My version of this is Unforgiven meets Nova Corps, but then again, I would say that!

KAPLAN: Orble is quite beautiful, especially the biodomes. What inspired the world?

MARZ: Andy came up with the idea of floating gravity seas, and then the initial designs were executed by Rick Leonardi. It’s a really different look than you see in most comics, which I think is a huge plus. Netho really made the place feel real.

LANNING: We wanted Orble to feel unique and remote. The idea of floating ocean spheres came to me when I was re-reading The Skinner by Neal Asher. He’s such a great sci-fi world-builder and creates incredible alien ecosystems, a real inspiration.

KAPLAN: Resolution has been on a journey. Rick Leonardi dropped out of the project and was replaced by Netho Diaz. Why should that make people more excited about this project?

MARZ: When Rick dropped out, we had just come off of a Twilight Imperium graphic novel, based on the board game, which Andy and I co-wrote and Netho drew. That one was a big cosmic adventure, so we knew Netho could handle the subject matter, and we knew he was a machine in terms of deadlines. We just had to work around his Marvel schedule. It was not the original plan, but I think we have a beautiful book.

LANNING: Rick dropping out was a bit of a blow as he is such a fantastic and experienced artist but we were so lucky that Netho stepped up to help us complete the book. Netho is amazing, he’s going to be huge, and we get to see him getting better and better with each page he delivers. He has been ably complimented by Jagdish Kumar and Prasad Rao on inks and colors. The book has turned out to look amazing.

KAPLAN: There is a six-page backup story by Paul Pelletier. That’s pretty exciting for DC fans. When did he join the project? What’s the story about?

MARZ: Andy and I have both worked with Paul before, and he’s just a phenomenal talent. We feel so fortunate that he could chip in on the backup story, as well as a flashback spread in the main story. In addition to Paul and Rick Leonardi, we have spreads from Bart Sears and Tom Raney as well. Paul’s backup is the origin of our villain, Tau the Desolation.

LANNING: I’ve previously worked with Paul on the original Guardians run and would take any opportunity to work with him again. I also got to ink him on the spread and his pin-up, which was an absolute pleasure. The idea was for the flashback spreads to look different from the main art, so having Paul, Bart, and Tom join Rick on them was a bonus because they are awesome, and each has a very distinctive super heroic style.

KAPLAN: What’s the benefit of creating your own comic book universe with Zoop?

MARZ: Certainly, the main one is the benefit you get from most creator-owned books: it’s yours, you own it, and you get to decide what you do with it. Zoop’s model lets us concentrate on the book while they handle printing and fulfillment logistics. We get to do what we’re good at; they get to do what they’re good at.

LANNING: I’ve wanted to explore the crowd-funding model for a while, so when Zoop approached us, it was a great opportunity to test the approach with a company that wants to promote creator’s work and help get quality comics out into the world that might not see the light of day with the more traditional publishing model.

KAPLAN: Ron, as a HUGE Marvel vs. DC fan, is there a fun fact from working on those books that you can share?

MARZ: I’ve talked about this before, but not widely. At the end of Marvel vs. DC, there was a discussion of each publisher leaving a character in the other universe for a year. The characters chosen were Martian Manhunter and She-Hulk, which I think would’ve been crazy cool. But it was ultimately deemed too much of a legal minefield, so it didn’t happen.

KAPLAN: Andy, you played a big part in reviving Guardians of the Galaxy. Is there anything you have to say about that experience?

LANNING: With the third volume of the film series coming out soon, (and seriously, who would have dreamed of that ten years ago?) I’ve been reflecting on the stuff we did in the Guardians series and the Annihilation and Nova series before that — we were very fortunate to work with some fantastically talented artists, writers, and editors on some of my favorite comic book characters. It was an absolute blast where we got to play with every aspect of the Marvel Cosmic Universe. I wouldn’t change a thing.

OK, maybe we got to carry on writing the team for a little longer; there are always so many more stories to tell!

KAPLAN: Is there anything else that you would like to add?

MARZ: It’s taken a while for us to get this completed, but I think everyone involved is really happy with the final product. Maybe this is what was always meant to be. I hope people come along for the ride.

LANNING: I’d like to thank all the folks who backed the project for their support and patience, and I hope they enjoy the final product because we are very proud of how it’s come out.

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At the time of this writing, there are three days left to back Resolution on Zoop.