Amazing Agent Luna: Absolute Interrogation

Name: Nunzio DeFilippis
Birthplace: Flushing, Queens
Zodiac Sign: Taurus
Bloodtype: I have a thing about my blood being taken and about needles, so I have not let anyone test my blood
Favorite Thing(s): Dogs
Least-Favorite Thing: Being ignored
Favorite Color: Blue
Favorite Manga: Maison Ikkoku
Favorite Food: Fettuccine Alfredo
Least-Favorite Food: Meat of any kind except bacon which I still miss
Hobby: Roleplaying Games, Computer Games
Special Talent: Sarcasm

Name: Christina Weir
Birthplace: New York, NY
Zodiac Sign: Libra
Bloodtype: No idea
Favorite Thing(s): my husband
Least-Favorite Thing: People who use the turn lane to pass on the right
Favorite Color: Purple
Favorite Manga: Inu-Yasha
Favorite Food: Chocolate
Least-Favorite Food: Peas
Hobby: Roleplaying Games, Reading
Special Talent: Telekinesis

How did you get your starts writing for comics? How did you end up becoming writing partners?

CW: Well, actually both Nunzio and I started in television. We each went to graduate school to study writing (me for television and him for film). We wrote for two seasons on the HBO show ARLISS. But we were also interested in pursuing film and we had an idea for a screenplay. Our friend, Greg Rucka, who writes a lot of comics, suggested that we tell the story as a comic book miniseries instead and he introduced us to the guys at Oni Press. They liked the idea, we wrote Skinwalker and the rest, as they say, is history. As for how we started writing together, Nunzio and I go way back. We met in college (Vassar College) where we were both Psychology majors. Believe it or not, it was a common major for aspiring writers who didn't like the Film or English Departments. Nunzio moved to Los Angeles after college for Graduate School and I went to Boston for Grad School. Afterwards, I moved to Los Angeles and we became roommates. A few years into that, we started dating. And in a very bold move, we decided to give writing together a try. It was either going to be great or wreck the relationship. Fortunately, we got married a couple of years later. And the writing together thing is great. I think it makes us both stronger writers.

Could you tell us a little bit about the writing process? How do the two of you work together as a team?

ND: I talk and Christina actually does the writing. Or something like that. Basically we plot everything together, from the series overview to the individual volume overview to the scene-by-scene breakdown. Then we write it, which is much faster and easier at that stage, because we've dealt with so many of the questions already. Sometimes one person will do the finished script, but usually that is the two of us working together, as are all the other stages. And that's where the "me talking, her writing" thing comes in. At all stages, when we work together, Christina mans the computer and I pace. I need to pace a lot to feel creative. Go figure. So I talk a lot about how I think things should go, and she either types in what we're discussing, or just types in whatever she wants and hopes I won't catch on.

There's a definite manga influence in several of the series you write for. How did you first discover manga? Any favorite series?

CW: I came to comics late in life. Nunzio introduced me to a lot of the Marvel and DC stuff. And because our friend Greg wrote comics, I wanted to read what he'd written. So I was just learning about comics and a friend of ours was coming to visit who is a big manga fan. He thought if I was learning about comics, I should know about manga too. So he bought me the first volume of Maison Ikkoku and I loved it. I was hooked. Then I started exploring the bookstores and I discovered Inu-Yasha. And I loved it and I was hooked. Shortly thereafter came Fushigi Yûgi. There's still a lot out there that I'm not familiar with, but I'm having fun discovering it.

ND: I'm a huge fan of the ones Christina mentioned. I'm also discovering that the Suikoden III manga is a lot of fun. I love the game (though I liked the earlier games in the series even more and wish they'd brought manga for those stories out) and the manga is a nice blend of new story elements and deeper exploration of what was already in the game.

You both write for New X-Men: Academy X; how different is it creating characters for that well-established universe compared to something like Luna where it's entirely up to you?

ND: On New X-Men, we did ultimately get to create a large percentage of the characters we write. It was fun, being able to add our own characters to an ongoing soap opera like that. But even with our own kids (and much moreso when writing the characters who already existed) the experience is a lot more limited than creating your own characters. When we work on Luna, or any other story we created ourselves, the boundaries are pretty much where we put them. The characters can do what we set them out to do. At Marvel, some of the characters have been around forever, and the ones we created are in a universe controlled by an editorial committee. So the choices we can make, story-wise and character-wise, are limited. On the other hand, when you create something new, you never know if it will make a cultural impact or be remembered. Adding your own mark to the history of something as well established as the X-Men or Batman guarantees that your work has impact and can be kind of geeky-fun.

On your X-Men work, is there anything from manga that you try to bring to the Marvel Universe?

CW: Probably the ability to chase down character moments. We take our time letting our kids be kids and not worry about saving the world. The previous X-books about teenage teams had to be superhero books with superheroes who happened to be teenagers. This book is about teenagers who happen to have powers. The character first approach is more common in manga.

Now on to your latest project-Amazing Agent Luna.

You two were the first writers to sign with Seven Seas for an original manga. Is there a story of how you got started on Luna?

ND: We're friends with Dallas Middaugh. That's the first big part. The second is that we had just done "Once In A Blue Moon" for Oni Press. That book is very much inspired by some of our favorite manga, like Inu-Yasha (though it also has elements of books like The Chronicles of Narnia). I think Dallas was looking for writers with a little bit of a track record, but also wanted someone he and Jason could collaborate with very closely. Because we're all friends (we met Jason through Dallas) that collaboration comes very easily, and makes this one of the smoothest jobs we've had. So it was a combination of knowing the right people and working in fields very close to what they were looking for. As for Luna specifically, that's a longer story. When we first met with Dallas and Jason, we had a story idea we had tried to get set up at Marvel. It wasn't happening there, so we tried pitching it to the guys, and they loved it. They liked it so much that they had Shiei do a couple of character designs - we had seen her work and knew she was the artist we wanted to work with. But we told Marvel we were taking the idea around town, and they asked us to hold off. The editor there wanted to see if he could get it set up after all. Since we'd gone to Marvel first, we owed them that much, and we started thinking of other stories we could do with Shiei for Seven Seas. That's when we came up with Luna. The funny part is, Marvel eventually passed on the other idea, but we all got so into the story for Luna, we decided to stick with it.

What was your inspiration for this series? Did you set out to make a shoujo series?

CW: We definitely wanted to do something in the shoujo style. We're both fans of Buffy: The Vampire Slayer and Kim Possible, so the idea of a strong female lead who could kick butt was very appealing. But I'm also a fan of the WB style soap opera drama (Nunzio to a lesser extent but he likes the occasional WB show) so we wanted to do something fun and angsty and high school is a perfect backdrop. Though I do worry that between this and New X-Men, we're going to become pigeon-holed as the 'kids in school' writers.

Do you think Luna could be done in a traditional US comic book format? How much different is it writing a story for a 150+ page graphic novel compared to monthly comics?

ND: It probably could be done in traditional comic book format, but it would probably not succeed, commercially. The storytelling is split between Luna the agent and Luna the high school girl with no experience at being a teen. I think the American comics audience would want more action, or would want no action. They need things more clearly defined, and they usually prefer superheroics. The manga storytelling instinct allows for the story to go where it will go without worrying so much about how the direct market readers will pigeonhole it. In terms of writing, the main difference between a 150 page graphic novel and a comic is the storytelling breaks. We use chapter breaks in Luna, so it's not entirely different from telling the first volume's story in 6 issues of a comic. But there's a flexibility. A six part comic story has to be six chapters of 22 pages each. With Luna, the story can flow, and we can place the breaks where it is dramatic. If Shiei's art takes 35 pages to get through one chapter, we can keep the next one a little shorter. Again, it comes down to the storytelling being a little more fluid and organic in this format.

Who are your favorite Luna characters to write dialog for? Who's the hardest character to write for?

CW: Oliver Riggs (one of the kids at the high school) is a total kick to write for. He's fun and goofy and says almost whatever comes to mind. Luna is also fun to write for because she's just so clueless when she gets to school. But in some ways, she's also hard to write. She's grown up in an environment where she's never known any other kids and she hasn't had the same exposure to the rest of the world that we've all had. So you constantly have to take that all into account when figuring out her reactions to things. Yet at the same time, what should hopefully make her appealing, is that deep down she's like any other teenage girl. The end result is that she's fun and challenging at the same time.

ND: I like Dr. Andy and Control. I like each of them, but I really like making them argue with each other. Expect a lot of that. The hardest? Thus far it has been Francesca, Luna's new friend. I think we need to give her more plot time in Volume 2 to allow us to explore her more. Once that happens, we'll have a better handle on her. A lot of times, once you've explored a character, you just 'know' how they'd respond to a given situation or phrase a certain line. Once that happens, writing for them becomes very natural. But until you do, you're very aware of writing for them - giving the lines to them. You can still do it, but every line takes a bit longer. That's where I am with Francesca, still. But like I said, with more time, the voice will come.

The first installment of Luna is now online. Can you give our readers an idea of what to expect as the series continues?

CW: Luna's going to school! She'll be sent on an undercover assignment and it's going to be a big challenge as she learns how to navigate the halls of Nobel High. She's got to investigate Count Von Brucken's nefarious plan as she learns all the social etiquette of high school. Amazing Agent Luna is going to be a balance between her spy work in uncovering the bad guy's plan and the challenge of handling first crushes, making friends and discovering what it means to have a family. You know, all that teen stuff.

ND: I'd say they could expect a healthy dose of teen angst wrapped around a smaller core of spy story with the whole thing flavored with a lot of comedy.

CW: I'm hungry now...

Name: Maria Carmela Doneza
Birthplace: Manila, Philippines
Zodiac Sign: Aquarius
Bloodtype: O
Favorite Thing(s): Cats, plushies, video games
Least-Favorite Thing: Arrogant people
Favorite Color: Lavender
Favorite Manga: .hack, Magic Knight Rayearth
Favorite Food: Mushrooms :3
Least-Favorite Food: Anything spicy
Hobby: Collecting plushies, making polymer clay sculptures
Special Talent: Umm..........I don't think I have one

Luna is your first full-length graphic novel-it must be quite exciting! How did you prepare yourself for this project?

I did a lot of sketches of the characters and facial expressions.

How long have you been drawing manga? When did you decide to pursue it as a career?

I've been drawing anime characters ever since I was a child, sort of a hobby. My parents would get mad at me cause I'm wasting too much paper. Though I haven't thought of pursuing this as a career until Jason gave me an opportunity to try it. It was quite difficult at first since I haven't attempted to draw sequencing pages before. Now, I'm getting the hang of it, thanks to Jason and N&C for giving me suggestions and comments to improve my work. I also took advice from all of the great artists here at Seven Seas :3 ...they are very very helpful.

Can you list a few of your favorite manga creators and what you love about them?

CLAMP!!! :3 they are really great in creating cute characters. The details they put in their works are just amazing.

Tell us a little about your drawing process. What is your typical workday like?

I usually start at evening around 7 pm to 5 am. The thinking process is the one that takes the most time (ack ! brain hurts) the drawings are not much of a problem (umm...sorta)

Your work is definitely in the shoujo style. Did you feel like you had to "study" any shoujo techniques?

Yes, I still feel that I need to study more of the shoujo style. Eyes of the characters are the ones that show emotion and it was rather tricky for me at first.

In addition to creating manga, you also create sculptures. Do you ever use your sculptures to help you draw, or vice versa? Can you share a photo of one of your favorites?

I do love making sculptures with polymer clay when I have free time. I always wonder what they would look like in 3d form, that's why I make sculptures.
I haven't used my sculptures to help me draw, but they do help me relieve stress ;3
Photo? Sure :3 after I get hold of my camera.

Are you a cosplay fan? What are some of your other hobbies?

I haven't been in a cosplay convention before though it sounds fun :3 Other hobbies? Did I mention that I have 18 birds at home to take care of ? umm breeding and training parakeets and cockatiels are some of my hobbies. I also like playing DDR at home and at the arcades :P

In the western market, only a small percentage of artists are women, but in Japan, there are many more opportunities for women. Do you think manga spreading outside of Japan will offer more women artists a chance to get published?

Of course! There's a lot of female artists out there who are just waiting to be discovered. I think they deserve the same opportunity as men do. ;3

Who's your favorite character to draw? Which character is the hardest for you?

Oliver! He's such a fun character. The hardest is....>_> I dunno if I should tell you yet.....XD

Do you have any words of advice or encouragement for other aspiring artists out there?

As Hai said before: "don't give up on your dreams." Never let criticism put you down cause it actually helps you to grow as a better artist. "Believe in yourself," that's the main thing I learned from working with the Seven Seas crew :3 and I think that's what all of us artists should never fail to remember.


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