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The Greatest American Hero:
Part 2 of an interview with Arcana Studios'
Sean O'Reilly...
In
part one of our interview,
Sean O'Reilly talked about the origins of his publishing
company, and where it's about to go. Of course, this week,
Arcana Studios is also about to fly high with its collaboration
with Catastrophic Comics. Sean tried to look ahead for us
and talk about this latest exciting project...
Derek
McCaw: What brought you to the Greatest American
Hero?
Sean
O'Reilly: I loved it as a kid. Absolutely influential,
the whole suit - it was just a great fun show. When I go
the opportunity to work with Cannell, I had to say yes.
Derek
McCaw: How did you get that opportunity?
Sean
O'Reilly: It was two years ago at Comic-Con. Todd
Demong (Arcana's art director) and I were talking about
what would make a good licensed property that we should
go after. We came up with Greatest American Hero and went,
"perfect! That's the one!"
Talked with
them, talked about their plans and made sure it wasn't going
to be too intense. Step by step, we contacted Cannell and
got the agreement for it. We were going to work with that,
and then it was great that we got William Katt, the actual
Greatest American Hero as well as Catastrophic Comics on
board, to do this.
Derek
McCaw: So what step are you at right now? You brought
in the artist, Clint Holinksy. How did you choose him?
Sean
O'Reilly: Clint and I have known each other for
a little while. I think officially he submitted art to me
at Wizard World Chicago three years ago. I thought he was
a good artist, very reliable, fast, talented, just great.
So I've worked with him in a bunch of different capacities.
When I showed
Bill, Cannell and Chris (Folino) the work, everyone was
excited. It went great.
Derek
McCaw: We're approaching Comic-Con as we do this
interview. What hopes do you have for this?
Sean
O'Reilly: Once it's announced, we'll put forth
a publishing schedule, which we're still kind of playing
around with. What's the price point? When's it going to
be released? We've got to do the right thing by marketing.
Derek
McCaw: But we're shooting for Fall 2008?
Sean
O'Reilly: Yes. For sure.
Derek
McCaw: You were a fan of the show. What is the
most exciting part about working on it now?
Sean
O'Reilly: I think it's fun. What I liked about
it was, well, the suit looked great, and it was fun. So
many times the guys in capes and tights take themselves
very seriously. I liked how the characters always wanted
to do the right thing, but sometimes they just didn't know
how to do it. Just like they didn't know how to use the
suit. It's a fun show and I want to bring that element back
with it.
Derek McCaw: What's been the best part
about having William Katt involved?
Sean
O'Reilly: Obviously his insights, his vision, his
connection to the material…everything. Obviously. What a
great guy to work with, polite, kind, very nice…everything
you'd hope.
Derek
McCaw: Working with Catastrophic…that's gone smoothly?
Sean
O'Reilly: Totally smoothly. For a brand new publisher,
I'm stunned how smoothly things are going. I remember my
early days, and it was kind of tricky just figuring out
what's going on to get the book out the door. Catastrophic
has a long future ahead of them, and they're a great group
of guys to work with.
Derek
McCaw: Thanks,
Sean...see you at the panel!
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