Lindsay is rounding out her pre-convention interviews with Joe Benitez, the creator of Lady Mechanika. She talks to him about his projects coming to the convention, as well as some future possible television show based on his work.
Lindsay Garber: I know you are a busy man, with Comic-Con coming up, so would you like to just get into some questions?
Joe Benitez: Sure.
LG: As we know, Lady Mechanika is about a cyborg heroine placed in the 1800’s Victorian era who has mechanical arms and legs, and who is the only known survivor of a mysterious mad man’s experiments. She has no memory prior to her discovery and was found in a facility of mechanical and biological parts. In her search to find out her origins, she has become the premier investigator of her time. You have mentioned in a past interview that you wanted a strong heroine that is sexy but not sexual. Strong and dominant but not masculine. Who didn’t use her body and sexuality to get things done. I believe you have achieved this balance very well in her visual character and in her actions. Can you talk a bit about the various explorations you did in developing her story?
JB: In the initial stages of her creation, when ever I was “what is her occupation?” I had bounty hunter, assassin, detective, and vampire hunter. All these things. Then I just ended up making her all of them. She was one of those things, at one point in her lifetime. I have this blueprint of where she came from, and roughly where she is going to end. Basically I have a timeline, so when ever we create, we have a storyline. There are places where the story would fit best. There are different eras of her life. That’s where we did “La Dama de la Muerte”, it takes place 10 years prior to the events in The Mystery of the Mechanical Corpse, because that’s when she was in the United States in the southwest so that would fit with her timeline.
LG: That’s great, I find it funny that you take all these amazing things an assassin, vampire hunter, and you say, “you know what I’ll make it all of them”.
JB: That’s part of the reason why, I get bored easy when I am illustrating the book. I wanted to create a character where it’s not the same outfit. It’s not Wonder Woman, she wears the exact same outfit for everything. Or Superman or anything. I wanted to create a character that, if she is going into the snow, she is going to wear proper attire. She isn’t going to wear the same outfit in the snow, as in the rainforest. I wanted to conceive something where I can constantly alter the look.
LG: That’s what also draws me to the visual look of your books as well. You do this great vignette of a lot of the covers, they are stunning. You see her in all the different attires, and that alone is enough to make someone pick it up. When you were signing in Sherman Oaks for issue 0 and issue 1, I had to buy it based on that. I fell in love. Another wonderful thing about this series is that you can pick it up and jump in at any mini series story point. Can you share with us anything about any future themes or places you are planning on having her explore?
JB: I always wanted to world build and not just have it all take place in and around Britain. We do have at the moment a story surrounding Russian. One also in Japan. We want to explore India, China, and other places of the United States. I want to touch upon different spots in the world and see what our world looks like. It’s a familiar world, but it’s a little hyper, a little different.
LG: When you are thinking of these different worlds in China and Japan, do you travel there to research, or do you get enough from what you research online, to create the environment?
JB: A little of both, I can’t go back in time and experience what Japan would be like in the 1800s, but we get a vibe and take a lot from movies and TV. With the Japanese story line will be heavily influenced by a lot of the samurai movies and comics that I’ve watched. Anything that helps tell the story, that’s what we are going to use for reference.
LG: I can’t wait to see those places turn steampunk. Legend has it that your inspiration of Lady Mechanika was influenced through the steampunk cosplay you have seen at Dragon Con, with a dash of influence by fashion designer Kato of Steampunk Couture. Have you ever done or been interested in cosplay yourself? Or do you mostly leave that to Abigail Page, your friend who is a professional cosplay model, who I see by your side at most of your events dressed as Mechanika?
JB: I leave that to everybody else. I’ve been to a few steampunk shows, where I was literally the only person not dressed up. I joke with friends, who tried to persuade me to get into it. I’m a little shy when it comes to that stuff. Maybe I should. It’s a little more elegant, and gives a better vibe when you are decked out in Steam Punk attire.
LG: Maybe Abigail Page can give you a couple hints, for some cosplay.
JB: She is actually great, she’ll be attending San Diego Comic-Con decked out in Lady Mechanika attire.
LG: Awesome, Can’t wait to see her. There is a lot of amazing steampunk styled items that you have created for the Lady Mechanika universe. I know it can be hard referencing flat images online, do you also collect various steampunk props, and if so, do you have any favorites you have collected?
JB: No, I can’t say that I have. Most of the stuff is either taking existing item, or making it up as I go. There is not much reference. I am a 2D illustrator. I just look up the reference and then do my best to interpretation of it. I usually like to put my own little twist on it. It’s very much like a genre, like being into sci-fi or subgenre of story telling. It just happens to be where Mechanika takes place. The steampunk was always secondary to her. We wanted to go with the approach that happens to take place in this world, but he world is not the focal point of it. It’s like Star Wars. The story of a farmer who gets brought into this rebellion. It’s not about the robots, it just happens to take place thee. A lot of times when I see people do steampunk, you hear people say “Well we’re going to do this all about this machine!” and they miss the point that it’s supposed to be about the characters that take place in his world.
LG: Thank you for that insight, and makes sense as to why your stories are so powerful.
JB: Me and Marcia Chen joke around when we are doing the story. Where can we steampunk it out? Where can we make and alter it enough so that it’s steampunk. When a character needs to go from point a to point b, instead of a carriage, lets do a dirigible. If there is a character has to meet, lets make it an autonomaton. We come up with a story, we plot it out and as we are working… It’s very organic. The story is always moving and changing.
LG: In an older interview of yours, I was intrigued to find that one of your favorite projects you have worked on was a G.I. Joe silent issue, meaning there was no words involved. This kind of blows my mind that the story is told in just imagery and pacing. This is something I personally haven’t seen before. Are there any specific issues, story arcs, or art pieces in general that have affected you in a way that it has stayed with you in your thoughts over the years as something outstanding or special?
JB: Primarily why I did that story was because there is a story in the G.I. Joe run from the 80s issue 27 called “A Silent Interlude”, written by the same writer Larry Hama, who virtually gave life to G.I. Joe. He was a writer for Marvel who was tasked to come up with the characters back then. When I had the opportunity to work on the G.I. Joe storyline I brought that up. That I’d like to do a tribute. They were able to bring Larry in to write the story. That’s why it was so meaningful. I was getting a chance to do something that touched on a book that meant a lot to me growing up. That book is no words. Just 22 pages of just action. That one, was a very meaningful book, in my collecting years. Also the G.I. Joe yearbook #2 written by Larry Hama and illustrated by Michael Golden was a story that I remember buying and deciding that being a comic book illustrator was what I wanted to do with my life.
LG: I never gave G.I. Joe a chance, but you’re really talking me into it. I’ll have to check it out.
JB: I was a kid of the 80s. I was into the toys. I had a little bit of money in 83-84 at 12-13. Since I was into the toys, I went to the convenience store, I was going to buy a coke and chips, but ended up buying a comic book instead. It was a G.I. Joe comic book. It was the first book I bought and it got me into buying more, I wanted to finish the collection. I kept buying them and I discovered more books. I discovered the X-Men and the Avengers. Then I discovered the artists. I started finding Michael Golden on Nam and Art Adams on Longshot. I just started discovering these amazing artists that I knew nothing about, and I started collecting comics for the art. That never went away. I still to this day collect comics for the art. I love the art form, and I love seeing new talent that comes in with a fresh way to tell the story.
LG: You can see the passion in the details of the Lady Mechanika comics. I have no idea how long it takes to draw that, and your partner to paint. I believe that your fans appreciate it. It’s what makes your comics jump off the shelf as you are walking by. You just have to pick it up.
JB: It takes a lot longer then it should. I’m lucky that I’m working with Martin Montiel. He is a friend of mine that used to work for Top Cow, and he helped me out with the end of Volume 1 of Mechanical Corpse, and with Volume Two: “The Tablet of Destinies”. We tagged teamed. We started going back and forth and Lost Boys of West Abbey, we got into a rhythm. I would lay it out, and illustrate the figures. He would illustrate the backgrounds and adding the gears and piping all the way around. Then we just fell into a grove and rhythm. Now it’s a pretty cohesive approach to the books.
LG: You can tell you guys are really enjoying what you are doing. Speaking of the past, in the past you have worked with publishers such as DC, Image, and Top Cow to name a few. There you have illustrated and helped plot various stories but have never scripted a story. When Lady Mechanika started about 8 years ago, it has been your first experience writing and scripting, as well as illustrating. Since years has passed, what can you tell us about this journey from then to now and about things you have learned in your process of creation and execution over these years with these new roles you must play?
JB: I didn’t appreciate writers back then. Coming up in the 90s and working at Top Cop, with all the guys around us with Image, art was key. Art was number 1. Writing didn’t matter, just give us something, we will make it sing. Story doesn’t matter, it’s all about the art. That was my early 20s mindset. It was that cocky, we know what’s good. When you look back at Image in the 90s it was flashy art with no substance. It wasn’t until I was tasked with crafting Lady Mechanika that in issue 0, the story took center stage. I felt like I needed to craft something that made sense. Then Chen, she’s the one who came up with the basic idea. When I was doing issue 0, she said, “You should do something, where the villain isn’t the villain. Where it’s not a black and white villain.” It’s fun to see a villain that is not expected. That’s where the concept of “Lets make the creature benevolent,” instead of some fierce monster. What if you think it’s a ferocious demon, and then you find out it’s a sweet kitten or cat being cornered, so of course it will be ferocious. If given the chance, it shows it’s true nature and it’s just a sweet creature trying to survive. Through out volume 1 she was very integral in every step of the way. She helped me polish the character, and she helped me make sure I didn’t go to far to one side, or to far to the other. That’s why I like working with her. She is very analytical. She has a different approach to things then I do. I’m more of a chaos, dreamer, idealist, and she is more analytical, realist and structured. There is a story in volume 1 where at one point I have the early plot, where Mechanika shows up at the Romani and she ends up fighting a horde of vampire clowns. I gave it to Chen, and she said “Why is she fighting vampire clowns.” I said, “Because it’s cool,” and she said, “But how does it fit in the story?” I said “I don’t know. It’s cool…”, and she is trying to progress the story. That was the thing. I just wanted to make something cool. As far as structure, story and making sense, I didn’t have that. I learned over the past few years how to structure a story, and how to tell a story better. Plant seeds. There is an art form to writing stories that I was not aware of. Now I appreciate it more. When it comes to comics, I had this approach, the art drags you in. The art has to be as visually interesting that someone will want to pick it up. The story will bring you back. That’s our approach. We are going to make it as visually interesting as we can, but we need to tell a story that keeps you intrigued and keeps you hooked. That’s our approach and I hope we are succeeding in some small part.
LG: I was at Wondercon last year, and brought a person to your booth. She never had read an issue prior, she ended up buying all of your volume based on looks. She is very happy about it.
JB: That story is actually very common, I usually refer to the fact that we get a lot of people who are not comic book fans, that are fans of Mechanika. It never fails that at shows that I am at, there is usually one person who comes up and says, “My sister/my mom/my wife/my friend wasn’t into comics at all. But they picked up Lady Mechanika, and it was like a gateway drug.” I have a story from Denver. This woman came up dressed like Emma Frost, and said “This is your fault. I wasn’t into comics.” She read Lady Mechanika, and liked it. He only had three issues, so she started raiding her friends comic collections for more, and got really into comics. A year later she is dresses as Emma Frost.
LG: There has been rumor last year of a possible Lady Mechanika TV show. Is there any update or comment on that?
JB: We’ve heard that before. When ever it comes to this stuff, a production company had the rights for 3 years, and nothing ever came of it. We just got the rights back a couple years ago. Then the rights were optioned. At the moment there is a director and a lead that are very interested who are working on it. I was hoping to have an announcement at Comic-Con, but maybe we will have an announcement after, or maybe even this week. I’m supposed to hear back from them. As far as I know it’s still in the early stages, like we were before. We have an actress who is really interested in the role, and a director who is interested in doing a pilot. They are looking for a writer and showrunner. There is also a cable channel interested in developing it. Because of Lady Mechanika’s world it’s not going to be a cheap production. At the moment it is still in the works, but hasn’t moved in a while. I hope that there will be some movements and then we can make some announcements in the future.
LG: I’ll keep my ears open. You had a new kick ass character, PandaGirl AsSASSiN, which you had as a character study sketchbook at SDCC last year, are there any updates you can tell us on that character and can we expect to see anything new about her this year at SDCC?
JB: Not this year. I’ve been so busy finishing the new Lady Mechanika story, that I haven’t had a chance to do anything with it. I had every intention of crafting a story this year, but maybe we will do something next year. I’ve been trying to come up with the world that she lives in, and what it’s all about. I have an approach that is an interesting approach. It would essentially tap into the political and social goings on that we are going through, and do my take on it. The issues we are dealing with in social media and technology and try to make an interesting story out of it. Mechanika is a hyper 1800s, this would be a hyper modern day, or even a near future. Technology has crept and infected the minds of the people around it. It’s a Black Mirror meets Ghost in the shell. It’s a matter of trying to make sense out of the story. I haven’t had a real chance to sit down and polish it, but there is an approach that I am considering. I have ideas of what to do with her. You probably wont see anything to do with her till next year.
LG: I am looking forward to it. You will have your latest Lady Mechanika book, La Belle Dame Sans Merci #1 at SDCC this year. Congrats on another beautiful cover, I can’t wait to read it! Can you give us a little teaser about this new three issue story arc?
JB: It touches on the aftermath of the “The Clockwork Assassin”, somewhat centering around two parts. Lewis is not doing well, and Mechanika is worried. Mechanika is more concerned about a new lead to Mechanika’s origin. The lead was introduced in the free comic book day issue. There is something there, and they meet someone there that sort of plays into this story. It continues on in La Belle Dame Sans Merci. So Mechanika is following a lead that may help her with her past, while Lewis is dealing with the fallout from “The Clockwork Assassin”. Dealing with a lot of guilt, a lot of self destructive behavior. It basically ties those two stories together. We will see if we can make those stories make sense at the end of the day.
LG: Awesome. I did not know about the free information in the free comic book day issue. At SDCC, your fans can find you as a guest at Flesk Publications booth #5019 with the latest La Belle Dame Sans Merci issue #1. Can you tell us about any con exclusives or other items fans can find there?
JB: I believe we have a few. We have issue 1 of our new story. It’s a San Diego Comic-Con exclusive variant. We printed 250-500 of them with the exclusive cover. We are doing metal covers for the first time. We did two different versions, A and B. We are limiting them to 10 each. It’s a trial run to see if there is any demand. We are also doing canvas prints for the insert image. It’s in 11×17 printed on canvas. We are a small and independent publisher, we try to issue as many of these limited edition collectables, just to supplement our company. If people want them, cool.
LG: Well I will tell you that people will want them. I’m already drooling. I can’t wait to see what the metal covers look like. You did say we will see Abigail Page, where can your fans also find his signing schedule.
JB: We will post it on social media. I am still in the process of finishing book two of the new story line, I’m pushing when I am showing up. I am scheduled to show up on Friday. Chen is scheduled to be there on Wednesday. Abigail is going to be there the whole time. You can go there and she will be decked out in a new Lady Mechanika outfit. I am going to be deciding what time to do the signing. More then likely late Friday.
LG: We’ll be sure to keep an eye out for that. Last question, is there anything at the con you are looking forward to seeing or doing this year?
JB: I think this is the first year that I am going there, just to sign. Every other year I’ve gone to sell. I think Comic Con was always fun because it’s getting to see fans but also old friends that we haven’t seen in a while. Everyone is so spread out so we don’t see each other except at a show. I am looking forward to seeing old friends maybe having dinner, and hanging out. Also, seeing all the fans.
LG: Thank you so much
Be sure to check out Joe Benitez at the Flesk Publications booth (#5019)
Checkout joebenitez.com and find him on Twitter, Instragram and Facebook!
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