Ron Marz
A comic book industry veteran, Ron Marz has written for a who’s who of publishers: Marvel, DC, Image, Dark Horse, Dynamite and many more over the course of his thirty year career. Beginning with a critical-ly acclaimed run on Marvel’s Silver Surfer, Marz was tasked with reimagining DC’s sagging Green Lantern title and never looked back, revitalizing both the character and the book’s sales before embarking on a dominant run of the industry’s top-selling titles for the better part of three decades.Currently, Marz serves as the head writer and editor-in-chief of Omi-nous Press/Creation.INK, guiding the creative direction of the compa-ny along with partners and fellow industry heavyweights Sean HusVar, Bart Sears and Andy Smith.
A father of three, Marz lives in the Albany, New York area and, inex-plicably, maintains a lifelong love of the Dodgers.
If you’ve read a comic book over the last thirty years, there’s a better than average chance that Ron Marz wrote it. The prolific Mr Marz is best known for his memorable, character-defining runs on Sil-ver Surfer, Green Lantern and Witchblade as well as authoring top-selling, crossover event comics like Marvel vs DC and Batman vs Al-iens. He’s even been known to dabble in a galaxy far, far away, lend-ing his unique voice and character-first approach to the Star Wars universe.
And that’s just scratching the surface of the vast list of credits under his belt.
With his newest projects, Harken’s Raiders for Ominous Press/Creation.INK and Rising Sun for IDW Publishing, now available, it seems like the perfect time to learn more about Ron Marz and his adventures in the comic book industry.
CREATION.INK: Ron, you’ve had a legendary writing career yet, from the energy and creativity in your work, it feels like you’re just getting started. What’s next for you; do you have a dream project you’ve always wanted to write?
RON MARZ: I’ve been fortunate enough to play with a lot of toys in the toybox: most of Marvel and DC, Star Wars. Conan, the Top Cow Uni-verse, John Carter Of Mars and a lot more. But the top item left on my bucket list is a Tarzan monthly comic. I’ve loved Tarzan since reading the Edgar Rice Burroughs novels as a kid, and Tarzan in the comics has such a storied history, everybody from Russ Manning to Joe Kubert to John Buscema.
CI: I have to admit, I really want to read a Ron Marz Tarzan comic now! Most writers are also voracious readers. Aside from your own work, anything you’d recommend our audience check out immediately?
RM: My favorite read last year was “These Savage Shores,” by Ram V and Sumit Kumar, published by Vault. Just a great historical adven-ture/horror tale that touches on colonialism, romance, Indian myth, and classic horror.
CI: Let’s put you on the spot. Who’s your favorite storyteller, re-gardless of medium? Could be prose, film/TV, comics, music.
RM: I have to pick two: Stephen King and Bruce Springsteen.
CI: No hesitation at all, nice. How about your absolute favorite mov-ie? Favorite TV show? Favorite comic book?
RM: For movie, Raiders of the Lost Ark. For TV, Star Trek (original series). For comics, Walt Simonson’s Thor.
CI: You often appear at comic conventions not just here in the states but around the globe. Do you have a favorite con story from all your travels?
RM: Wow, there are so many, everything from the ridiculous to the sublime, like the fan who stood at my dinner table in a restaurant for 20 minutes and told me things about myself he shouldn’t have known. But I think more than anything, I’m incredibly grateful that I’ve visited so many incredible locations and met so many people thanks to conventions: South Africa, Kenya, Ireland, Scotland, Eng-land, New Zealand, India, Malta, Uruguay. When I started in this business, comics were a niche thing, almost like a secret culture. Now comics culture is the world’s culture.
CI: As you know, comic conventions aren’t just comics anymore. Usual-ly, there are all kinds of TV and movie actors, pro wrestlers and me-dia personalities running around. Who’s the most famous person you’ve met at a con
RM: I was at a convention in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and Mads Mikkelsen needed a silver Sharpie to sign autographs. I offered up one, and we ended up chatting in the green room. Nice guy.
CI: Ron, you’re always very encouraging to young writers so let’s throw in something about your process. Do you find there are specific challenges to writing in specific genres? Harken’s Raiders, for exam-ple. Did you come across any stumbling blocks you otherwise wouldn’t have working in traditional super hero comics?
RM: I really don’t approach something like Harken’s differently than any other kind of story I write, whether it’s superhero or horror, science fiction, whatever it might be. Everything comes from charac-ter, so that’s where I start, and build from there. I want you to connect with the characters, to believe in them, no matter what I write. That’s true of silver aliens on space surf boards, or soldiers on a World War 2 mission.
CI: Thanks so much for your time, Ron, we appreciate the chance to get to know a little more about the man behind the keyboard!
Whether you’re a longtime fan of Ron Marz or are just now being in-troduced to one of the comic book industry’s greatest writers, be sure to check out Harken’s Raiders from Ominous Press/Creation.INK and Rising Sun from IDW Publishing. You’ll be glad you did!
CURRENT/UPCOMING WORK
HARKEN’S RAIDERS
RISING SUN
BEASTS OF THE BLACK HAND 2
RUSSIAN SUNSET
DEAD OF NIGHT
And that’s just scratching the surface of the vast list of credits under his belt.
With his newest projects, Harken’s Raiders for Ominous Press/Creation.INK and Rising Sun for IDW Publishing, now available, it seems like the perfect time to learn more about Ron Marz and his adventures in the comic book industry.
CREATION.INK: Ron, you’ve had a legendary writing career yet, from the energy and creativity in your work, it feels like you’re just getting started. What’s next for you; do you have a dream project you’ve always wanted to write?
RON MARZ: I’ve been fortunate enough to play with a lot of toys in the toybox: most of Marvel and DC, Star Wars. Conan, the Top Cow Uni-verse, John Carter Of Mars and a lot more. But the top item left on my bucket list is a Tarzan monthly comic. I’ve loved Tarzan since reading the Edgar Rice Burroughs novels as a kid, and Tarzan in the comics has such a storied history, everybody from Russ Manning to Joe Kubert to John Buscema.
CI: I have to admit, I really want to read a Ron Marz Tarzan comic now! Most writers are also voracious readers. Aside from your own work, anything you’d recommend our audience check out immediately?
RM: My favorite read last year was “These Savage Shores,” by Ram V and Sumit Kumar, published by Vault. Just a great historical adven-ture/horror tale that touches on colonialism, romance, Indian myth, and classic horror.
CI: Let’s put you on the spot. Who’s your favorite storyteller, re-gardless of medium? Could be prose, film/TV, comics, music.
RM: I have to pick two: Stephen King and Bruce Springsteen.
CI: No hesitation at all, nice. How about your absolute favorite mov-ie? Favorite TV show? Favorite comic book?
RM: For movie, Raiders of the Lost Ark. For TV, Star Trek (original series). For comics, Walt Simonson’s Thor.
CI: You often appear at comic conventions not just here in the states but around the globe. Do you have a favorite con story from all your travels?
RM: Wow, there are so many, everything from the ridiculous to the sublime, like the fan who stood at my dinner table in a restaurant for 20 minutes and told me things about myself he shouldn’t have known. But I think more than anything, I’m incredibly grateful that I’ve visited so many incredible locations and met so many people thanks to conventions: South Africa, Kenya, Ireland, Scotland, Eng-land, New Zealand, India, Malta, Uruguay. When I started in this business, comics were a niche thing, almost like a secret culture. Now comics culture is the world’s culture.
CI: As you know, comic conventions aren’t just comics anymore. Usual-ly, there are all kinds of TV and movie actors, pro wrestlers and me-dia personalities running around. Who’s the most famous person you’ve met at a con
RM: I was at a convention in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and Mads Mikkelsen needed a silver Sharpie to sign autographs. I offered up one, and we ended up chatting in the green room. Nice guy.
CI: Ron, you’re always very encouraging to young writers so let’s throw in something about your process. Do you find there are specific challenges to writing in specific genres? Harken’s Raiders, for exam-ple. Did you come across any stumbling blocks you otherwise wouldn’t have working in traditional super hero comics?
RM: I really don’t approach something like Harken’s differently than any other kind of story I write, whether it’s superhero or horror, science fiction, whatever it might be. Everything comes from charac-ter, so that’s where I start, and build from there. I want you to connect with the characters, to believe in them, no matter what I write. That’s true of silver aliens on space surf boards, or soldiers on a World War 2 mission.
CI: Thanks so much for your time, Ron, we appreciate the chance to get to know a little more about the man behind the keyboard!
Whether you’re a longtime fan of Ron Marz or are just now being in-troduced to one of the comic book industry’s greatest writers, be sure to check out Harken’s Raiders from Ominous Press/Creation.INK and Rising Sun from IDW Publishing. You’ll be glad you did!
CURRENT/UPCOMING WORK
HARKEN’S RAIDERS
RISING SUN
BEASTS OF THE BLACK HAND 2
RUSSIAN SUNSET
DEAD OF NIGHT
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