Trust me, you want to know all you can about Ales Kot right now. His comic debut only happened a year and a half ago with the Image release Wild Children, a daring story about children taking their teachers hostage that eventually becomes a psychedelic head trip, its follow-up Change, about broken people fighting a giant monster trying to sink Los Angeles, but Kot has established himself as a force to be reckoned with. His current Image book is Zero, which is a brutal look at the superspy game with the neat hook of having a different artist for every issue. Kot has also been co-writing Secret Avengers with Nick Spencer, stuffing the A.I.M. vs. SHIELD arc full of big ideas and intense storytelling.
With the All-New Marvel NOW initiative, Kot will be taking over Secret Avengers and flying solo with artist Michael Walsh, bringing in more comic elements, and he’ll also be giving us the former War Machine James Rhodes in his own book in Iron Patriot, alongside Garry Brown. Crave Online got a chance to talk with the confident Ales (pronounced “Alish”) Kot about his history and the new projects, we found out that not only does he write intensely, but even his interviews have an epic flair. We’ve even got a couple of never-before-seen preview pages to show you from Secret Avengers #1.
Oh, by the way, he’s probably going to kill Rhodey. Heads up.
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CRAVE ONLINE: Let’s start with the basics – what were the comics that inspired you growing up, and how did you make your way into the industry?
ALES KOT: I grew up in Czech Republic, at least mostly, until I was about thirteen. Germany and some other places during the first thirteen years, also. After that Czech Republic and the UK.
First comic: Donald the Duck. At least the first I remember, although anything made of words and pictures is really a comic. Comics are the basis of our standard daily cognition.
I am sick. Flu of some sort, or something with my lungs, maybe both. Waiting for the family doctor at home. I am about four and my family is taking care of me. Someone brings me a Donald the Duck comic they bought for me. I read it and forget about the world. Well, to be more precise, I find myself in another world: the world of the comic.
I am not sure if I consciously realize this at the time. What I do realize at the time is that I love comics and that I connect reading them with a pleasant feeling.
After that: grandfather is a truck driver. He saves some comics from pulping. They are mostly Czech translations of Conan the Barbarian and Amazing Spider-Man comics. The Roger Stern / John Romita Jr. era. A whole new world opens.
After that: I am buying computer games magazines. Some of them have essays about (mostly) American comics in the back. Eventually, I also discover a Czech comics magazine is launching, and I will be able to read various reprinted comics through it. The comics include Hellboy, Druuna, Tank Girl, Lobo, Hellblazer, Devlin Waugh, Batman, plenty more. A whole new world opens.
I am fourteen and in the United Kingdom. I get near complete runs of Preacher and Transmetropolitan. Shortly around the same time I discover girls and don’t read comics that much until I hit eighteen or nineteen.
I am twenty-two. I decide to make comics for a living. I don’t decide to make it in the industry. I decide to master the art form first, and simply make comics that will sell well and be accepted while creating the kind of work I want to be truly creating: honest, from the gut.
I move to Los Angeles because I am in love with a woman; we divorce a few years later. In the meantime, I meet Eric Stephenson from Image Comics at the Emerald City Comics Con in Seattle. He approves two of my comics on the spot. This happens three years after I decided to aim for creating comics as my full time job.
CRAVE ONLINE: That’s amazing. Your life story reads like a comic script. Now you’re at Marvel, working with Nick Spencer on Secret Avengers, which very much counts as making it in the industry. What’s the working relationship been like with Nick on this barnburner of an arc with Mockingbird, which may or may not be completely redefining the character depending on how it all shakes out? Are you fully in the driver’s seat yet, and if so, how do you like it?
KOT: Nick and I — and our editors Lauren Sankovitch and Jon Moisan — put the outline together. I write the scripts. So yes, I am fully in the driver’s seat when writing the scripts, and I love it. Nick set up the domino pieces and I get to add some, then knock them down, then set them on fire and dance around them naked. It’s standard artist process stuff.
CRAVE ONLINE: One of the things I’ve loved about Secret Avengers is the raising of the game of A.I.M., giving them this supervillain ruling council and basically leveling them up beyond their ‘low-rent beekeeper’ status. Will they be a part of your solo relaunch next month, or is Nick taking them with him to Avengers World? If he gets custody, what brand of bad guy is on deck for your book?
KOT: A.I.M. will show up in the new run of Secret Avengers, yes. Its legacy will be explored. Also, there are goons from one of the A.I.M. factions chasing Hawkeye on the rooftop on page four or so. So A.I.M. will, at least partially, stay around. For the main portion of A.I.M., go for Avengers World.
What “bad guy”…well, the thing about me is, I don’t believe in bad guys. Or bad girls. Or bad people. I believe in people and I believe in complexity. I don’t believe there is such a thing as “absolute evil” in human form. I believe the idea of “monster in human form” or “absolute evil” is something that can do us humans an extreme disservice. We’re responsible for our own acts. Moving the responsibility on some sort of an imaginary evil doesn’t help. It creates a buffer.
Then again — I’ve seen some things that make me doubt my own words. I am not completely certain. It’s something I do intend to explore in my future work. And the line between good acts and evil acts is certainly something I intend to explore in Secret Avengers. So, while not spoiling who comes knocking, I can tell you this: they will be complex. There will be large grey areas for everyone involved.
But okay: Artaud Derrida, the weapons dealer mentioned in SA #14. Lady Bullseye. The Fury. And more.
CRAVE ONLINE: You don’t believe in bad guys, fair enough. Is that why it seems like MODOK might actually be full-on joining the team with Secret Avengers #1? I absolutely love that possibility, by the way. MODOK deserves more complexity.
KOT: That’s definitely a part of it. MODOK is a master strategist and it can be very hard to get a clear read on him. What were his real reasons for joining S.H.I.E.L.D. ? Are they the same reasons he gave Hill? We will find out.
CRAVE ONLINE: Spider-Woman is coming on board the team as well, although honestly it seems like she should have been a part of it from the beginning, given her skillset and history. What do you have in mind for her?
KOT: Jessica finds out that she’s got a new gift.
CRAVE ONLINE: Are we talking mutant, Inhuman, or something else?
KOT: Something else. She will have a very interesting conversation in #3 — you might start seeing bits and pieces of it by then.
CRAVE ONLINE EXCLUSIVE PREVIEW PAGES FROM SECRET AVENGERS #1
CRAVE ONLINE: Between Secret Avengers and Zero, you’re really making your bones as the guy with the absolutely ruthless take on the superspy game – although these preview pages from SA do seem to have a more comedic touch than recent issues have. Is this a genre that’s always been your specialty, or is it just where the road has happened to lead you?
KOT: It’s just one of the many things I am good at. I am enjoying playing around with the genre. It’s a phase. Next 3-4 projects are completely different. Change and Wild Children, my previous projects, are also completely different. I am interested in never repeating myself. While Zero explores the speculative fiction action thriller landscape that doubles up as an exploration of the violent impulse, nature and nurture and many other themes, Secret Avengers is my way of taking the same basis and merging it with comedy and a different brand of absurd and surreal. I could talk about the themes I am finding myself exploring in it, however I don’t want to — I want the readers to discover them for themselves.
I prefer to create works that elude complete classification. It’s like with love — you can never put it into words, not completely so. I like that about love. Keeps the mystery in.
CRAVE ONLINE: Zero is just so intense, and even when it’s not, it’s usually just for a moment to either catch your breath or lull yourself into a soon-to-be shattered complacency before the next big thing goes down. What was the genesis of the project, and how long can you keep it going?
KOT: Thank you, I am glad it’s working so well for you! Zero was born from my desire to create an ongoing container series, meaning a series of interconnected stories where each story would be drawn by a different artist. I realized I wanted to explore the idea of a super spy in a way that would feel relevant to me. Something that wouldn’t partially feel like a relic, except on purpose. When Dr. No came out, it was speculative fiction — it had a science-fiction bent to it.
Plus I wanted to explore my nature in new ways. I wanted to see where the war impulse comes from. Where violent thoughts and ideas come from. I wanted to explore conditioning. “I wanted to explore” can be used as the first sentence, the first block, every single time I talk about the origins of a project. I am a scientist and adventurer by nature. It took me a while to realize this and now that I have arrived I am just getting started.
As for how long Zero will be going: we’ll see. I have some idea, however I keep it close until I am certain. There are also possibilities in other media that I am currently exploring. So Zero might be going for a long time to come. I intend to make it so, in one form or another. As long as there are stories need to be told.
CRAVE ONLINE: Each issue of Zero feels different thanks to the cycling of artists with very different styles. How tough was it to get this many of them on board?
KOT: Not very. I approached the right people. It was — and is — mostly a matter of scheduling. Most, if not all people who were asked, loved the idea.
CRAVE ONLINE: The teleporter sabotage with Mina stunned me, as I did NOT see that coming in an issue that was dressed in all the James Bond trappings, and it really pulled me in. Upon reflection, though, I wonder if you had any concern about whether or not that constitutes a “woman in a refrigerator.”
KOT: I had zero concern, no pun intended. Zero is about war. Man and women die in war because war doesn’t discriminate.
I appreciate you asking the question because I find that it’s important to not reduce characters, be they male, female or third gender or a completely different species. I thought about the treatment of the protagonists in Zero from gender perspective and I arrived to the conclusion that what happens in the comic makes me shiver and that is related to everyone in the comic, not just men or just women.
Zero #3 from Ales Kot & Mat Santolouco
CRAVE ONLINE: Iron Patriot is your next big thing, which promises to be big on the international intrigue with which you’ve proven so adept. Yet you’ve compared James Rhodes to Superman, who is generally supposed to be above politics (not that you’d know it from that Action Comics #900 hubbub when he renounced his American citizenship). Rhodey’s wearing the flag. Doesn’t that make him more like Captain America?
KOT: Haaaa. Well that’s the thing. I won’t spoil this. You have to read Iron Patriot #1 to find my answer to that question. I can safely say that this is something I thought about a lot. The comic focuses on it.
CRAVE ONLINE: How difficult is it to clean the Norman Osborn stain out of that armor’s image, both within the Marvel Universe and with the comic reading public?
KOT: There’s no point in whitewashing history. Truth always comes out. Rhodey knows this and therefore he knows the thing to do is to focus on his actions, on what he does going forward. He believes the armor is a gift and a possibility to help change lives for the better. The best PR for Rhodey and for the suit is if Rhodey stays true to himself and focuses on his new mission statement, which is declared in the first issue and directly addresses your previous question.
Also: some brave acts sure would help. And as we know, James Rhodes is the man for that.
The problem might be that some people don’t see it that way. Maybe they want to take the future of the suit in a very different direction. Maybe they have their own goals. Maybe they all converge on Rhodey when he’s at his weakest.
Maybe Rhodey dies.
CRAVE ONLINE: We can’t just leave that hanging, since you could very well do that, given how few punches you pull. Do you feel you have the freedom to go that far in book featuring a Big Marvel Movie Star?
KOT: Good try! No comment.
Iron Patriot #1 by Garry Brown
CRAVE ONLINE: Fine, fine. How much freedom do you have with defining Rhodey? He’s a mainstay character but is too often viewed as just an adjunct to Tony Stark. His continuity is not all that well known in general, especially with his personal life. Any particular takes on him in the past that you’re springing from, aside from his earlier appearances in Secret Avengers?
KOT: I got most of the major comics that feature Rhodey during my research phase. My primary aim was to figure out who he is, and the answer came straight away: he believes he is an ordinary man who has to do his best to help, always. And in this way, Rhodey truly is close to Superman and to Captain America.
James Rhodes believes in not reinventing the wheel. It’s not that he doesn’t see the value of reinventing it — he’s Tony Stark’s best friend, after all — it’s just that James believes he works better when he focuses on doing ordinary things, when he focuses on taking orders, when he focuses on going by the rules. The thing is — that Tony Stark idea influence has to show one day, right?
We will also discover much more about Rhodey’s family. We meet his dad. We meet his niece. Both are very important for the overarching story. The lessons Rhodey’s dad taught him come back. The problem of having a family when people want to hurt you comes back.
CRAVE ONLINE: Don Cheadle or Terrence Howard?
KOT: Chiwetel Ejiofor.
CRAVE ONLINE: Nice, although I’m holding out for him to play T’Challa. Anyway, I’ve enjoyed Garry Brown’s artwork on The Massive, and that gritty realism should serve Iron Patriot’s morally muddy missions well. How has he been to work with? Is there anything he’s surprised you with on Iron Patriot?
KOT: Garry is a professional and I like the pages he’s delivering. The work is easy and smooth because my first rule when working with anyone at all is to talk. Open, honest communication solves problems, often before they even materialize.
There are a few cases of VERY inventive layouts Garry came up with. I will say that one of them involves Rhodey drowning in the malfunctioning suit.
CRAVE ONLINE: Do you have plans to mix Rhodey in with the big names of the Marvel Universe, or is the idea to let him establish himself as a solo act first before getting too worried about guest stars?
KOT: Solo act for most part. It’s what I felt the story needed. Someone does make a guest appearance in #5, and that’s because it felt right for the story. Character-wise, that appearance makes perfect sense in that specific moment.
CRAVE ONLINE: Three books is quite a workload, but do you have any other projects coming down the pipeline that you’d like to talk about?
KOT: I am developing many, many new projects. Most of them are already being drawn; many are coming this year. And that’s just on the comics front. I won’t go into the specifics of them except for saying that I am working with creators such as Christian Ward, Langdon Foss, Morgan Jeske, William Tempest and more.
My first comic, Wild Children, came out a year and a half ago.
I just got started.
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