'Punisher' actor talks hippies, sequels, Steampunk and horror comics
By Kiel Phegley |
Posted August 13, 2006 7:00 PM |
Eagle-eyed fans at this weekend's Wizard World Chicago may have caught a glimpse of "Punisher" star Thomas Jane, and not just in the typical "actor sits behind a table and signs photos" manner. Late on Saturday, Wizard Universe caught the star squeezing in between fellow fans on the floor and digging through long boxes for back-issue gold. With a particular taste for pre-Comics Code horror and crime titles, Jane is a fountain of obscure fanboy trivia, spotting particular cover artists from across the floor and appraising prospective buys for yellowing pages and torn covers.
It's no wonder that Jane has made a reputation for delivering top-notch performances in the usually maligned world of genre movie making. Sitting down for a chat over a convention center chili burger, the actor talked about his upcoming work in horror and sci-fi films as well as his work as a comic book writer and soon-to-be publisher.
WIZARD: How did you start getting into collecting older horror comics?
THOMAS JANE: When I was about eight, my dad gave me a Mad Magazine. I fell in love with that, and it turned me on to Mad comics from the '50s. Through that I started going down to the comic book shop and was reading Creepie and Eerie, the old Warren books. That turned me on to [artist Frank] Frazetta, which turned me on to the horror and science-fiction stuff. I just really fell in love with EC Comics. I just tore through all the EC reprints by Russ Cochran and started collecting the books when I got a little money. That led to the pre-code horror... you know it's a chain. One thing leads to another, and I fell in love with Lee Elias and Don Heck. Those guys led me to Thrilling Tales and Wonder Comics with the [Alex] Schomburg art and L.B. Cole art... And now every time I go to a show, I listen to the old guys, and they tell you about those artists who didn't sign the covers. You learn who those guys are. It's fascinating. I love the art. Most of the writing is kind of crappy outside of EC.
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 When I heard the announcement about the movie "The Tripper" that you did with Steve Niles and David Arquette, I really had to do a double-take at the idea of hippies versus the undead. How did you get involved in such a different kind of project?
JANE: David gave me the script, and I loved the idea. Then he asked if we would come on. You know, Steve and I have a production company, RAW Entertainment, and David asked if we would come on as producers. We said, "Yes! Great!" Steve read it and loved it, too. We tinkered with the script a little bit and gave our input, but it's really David's baby. It's his creation. We think it's a great idea. Really fun.
Who do you play in the film?
JANE: I play the sheriff of the town that everybody comes into for this free-love festival, and I'm just trying to keep it all under control. All these hippies come in and run over the place.
For all the work you've done in action and sci-fi films, you have some comedy chops as well. Do you get to work on that a little more in this movie?
JANE: Yeah, but typecasting is what kills you. That's why you don't get these kinds of jobs. You get known for one thing, and that's where the money is. So I can get a movie like "Mutant Chronicles" financed because it's sci-fi and in the genre world people know me in best. But if I was going to do a "Shakes the Clown" remake, nobody would give me the time of day.
You're rocking the Mohawk for this show. What was behind that?
JANE: Oh! "Mutant Chronicles." It comes out in 2008. We've got about a year-and-a-half of special effects to do. We just wrapped shooting before I came here. I flew from London to Chicago for the show, just wrapped the movie and came out. Me and Ron Perlman and Devon Aoki. It's very fun, great kind of Steampunk world, and we're shooting in all miniatures, so CGI is very little. It's old school. It's going to look great.
Is that because the transition to doing all genre movies in all-CGI hasn't really seemed to get to the point where it looks completely real yet?
JANE: No, it doesn't look real. I'm sure it will eventually, but right now it's very hard to make that CG stuff convincing. Models have been looking real for years, so we're just going back to a technology that is just better. I think people will have a good time with it.
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 What can you tell everyone about the story?
JANE: It's a great story-kind of like the serialized films of the '30s. It has that feel. And the feel of the old sci-fi comic books, like Flash Gordon and Buck Rogers. The world is like a new Victorian Age. It's 400 years in the future and we've completely tapped out all of the planet's resources, so we're basically back to steam power. We're working our way backwards after we turned out all the oil and everything went to s---. Four corporations have taken over the world: Bauhaus, the Mishima Corporation, the Capitol corporation and the Imperial Corporation. So there are no more countries, just these four companies, and they're constantly at war. Everyone is a soldier in this world, so there are steam-powered weapons and steam-powered aircraft. It's really exciting visually. It's got a "City of Lost Children" feel to it. I wasn't up on the Steampunk aesthetic, but it's very in line with a lot of the Steampunk stuff. I did my research. And with shooting all the model stuff, we'll have a really grand scope and scale to this film.
How are things going with your work in comics with Steve Niles? Is there more Bad Planet coming down the pike?
JANE: We're working on four projects. We have Bad Planet, which had a little setback because our artist got sick. We have a great new guy now named Jim Daly who's finishing the series with us. I'm going to reissue #1 with a new cover and a 3D poster inside. Then I'm going to resolicit the entire series in January. I think I'm going to do it biweekly so I can get all six out there. The problem with independent books is that you get one issue out and then it's "Where's the book?" People wait months and months, and I learned the hard way that it's best as an independent publisher to get all the issues in the can and then solicit the book. Then it all comes out like clockwork. So that's what I'm doing with Bad Planet.
And that's what I'm doing with Alien Pigfarm 3000, which is rednecks versus aliens in Kentucky with a fantastic artist named Tom Marquez. It's a great kind of Frazetta-esque style a-la Lil' Abner, sort of crossed with Bernie Wrightson. Bill Stout is doing a cover. Mark Schultz is doing a cover. I'm very excited about that four-issue series which we'll bring out hopefully before Christmas.
And then I have a series called The Lichen, which is werewolf hunters in the late 1700s. That'll be a five-issue series, which I'm writing right now. So I suspect I'll have an artist working on that by the end of the year to come out near the end of 2007. Then we have Steve's project, In the Blood, that we're working on.
So many people in Hollywood are making moves into comic publishing, but most don't seem to be as into it as you are. What do you enjoy about getting so hands-on with everything?
JANE: With the comic books, I'm really enjoying the process of finding out how to be a publisher. We have great stories. And I'm a horror and sci-fi fan who keeps going to the comic shop, looking at the shelves and going, "Where's the stuff for me? Where's my horror? Where's my sci-fi?" It's not there. It's non-existent. Chris Weston drew Ministry of Space years ago. It was like a drop of water in a dessert. I just said, "I'm going to make it happen! I'm going to publish these f---ers myself if I have to!" I'm doing it for me because I love the stories. I love these artists. We've got Mark Schultz, and we've got Bernie Wrightson doing a cover for Bad Planet. Dave Stevens is doing a cover for us. I was at his house a couple of moths ago, and he showed me what he had. It's gorgeous. It's going to be a classic Dave Stevens cover. These guys are heroes of mine, so it's nice to see them back on the shelves.
Lastly, I've got to check in and see how things are going on "Punisher 2."
JANE: The writer is halfway through a draft right now. We should be rolling camera with any luck by February. Jigsaw is going to be in it.
Is Jonathan Hensleigh coming back to direct?
JANE: No. We're still looking for a new director. If you know anybody, let me know.
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