Heroism Has A Price: Talking `Resolution’ With Creators Ron Marz And Andy Lamming

One of Zoop’s first crowdfunding campaigns, for the graphic novel Resolution, has reopened for two weeks to give anyone who missed the book a chance to get on board.

Created by Ron Marz and Andy Lamming, the story centers around Xaan Maddox, a retired member of an outer-space corps of heroes who is called back to action. In an exclusive interview with Comicon, Marz and Lamming discuss their love of all things cosmic, the delay in production for the project and how they collaborate across continents.

Tom Smithyman: Resolution’s story deals with Xaan Maddox, a former hero who must come out of retirement to face her archenemy. What was it about this story that made you want to tell it?

Ron Marz: There’s an allure to “hero at sunset” stories, stuff like Unforgiven or The Wild Bunch or even the most recent James Bond movie. There’s heroism, there’s sacrifice, there’s mortality. We felt like that kind of story would really work in a cosmic setting.

Andy Lamming: When the opportunity to work with the folks at Zoop arose, Ron and I batted ideas around but thought that it would be fun to go back to our sci-fi storytelling roots and explore another aspect of the cosmic-powered super team of law-enforcers. The story of Xaan Maddox and the Resolute Blades gave us the chance to do some world-building and develop what we think is a new take on some old concepts.

Smithyman: You each have a lot of experience with telling cosmic-level stories like Guardians of the Galaxy, Silver Surfer and Star Wars. Why do you think you are drawn to those kinds of stories?

Marz: I don’t know that I’m drawn to this kind of story over any other genre in particular. I like all of it, and I’ve written across a pretty wide spectrum of stories. But I will say that I’m very comfortable working in a cosmic setting. It’s the first thing I wrote in comics and something I’ve come back to over and over again in my career.

Lamming: Like Ron, I love all genres as they each offer different challenges and rewards as a storyteller, but I am always drawn to sci-fi and cosmic stuff. I think this is because I grew up on a steady diet of sci-fi and fantasy from Star Trek to Space: 1999 on TV, novels like Dune and Hyperion and an endless flood of comics like 2000AD, Action and Star Lord in the UK, and all the Marvel and DC comics I could lay my hands on. I guess my first love will always be sci-fi.

Smithyman: You have pulled in several well-known artists, including Liam Sharp, Phil Jimenez, Ron Lim, and Paul Pelletier, to draw original art for an accompanying Resolution portfolio. How were you able to convince such a strong group of colleagues to participate?

Marz: Well, the truth is we have a lot of friends in the business and called in a bunch of favors! One of the real boons of being in comics is the relationships you build with people whose work you really admire. Having artists of this caliber bringing their skills to these characters and this world we created is a sheer pleasure.

Lamming: Stick around long enough and you are fortunate to work with some awesome creators and call them friends. Between us, Ron and I have a pretty decent address book which we shamelessly dug into and, lucky for us, and the folks who get the book, we were able to enlist some awesome artists to help us out.

Smithyman: The idea of a former hero being pressed back into service is not new. What do you think Resolution has to say about the nature of heroism. 

Lamming: For us, the interesting angle with the story is that Xaan is forced to confront her past after trying to build a new life for herself. In those years, she has come to the conclusion that she was just a tool, an instrument wielded by others and that being a hero was not worth what she sacrificed.

Marz: I think one of the things we’re saying is that heroism has a price. Xaan Maddox didn’t retire happily to live out her days in peace. She withdrew and lived a lonely existence until her past came back to haunt her. She bears the scars of her heroic career, both literal and figurative.

Smithyman: What is the writing process like for you, particularly given that you’re on different continents? Was it a lot of Zoom calls or did you write different portions of the story then merge them together?

Marz: The way is usually works is Andy and I chat quite a bit on Skype and kick ideas back and forth, then work out ideas in a shared document. Andy will do a draft of the plot, I’ll go in and tinker here and there, and then the plot goes off to the artist. Once the art comes in, I’ll do a dialogue pass, Andy gives his notes, and then we finalize the dialogue and button up the book. It’s a pretty organic process.

Lamming: Yeah, we’ve worked on a few things over the years and this seems to be the natural fit for us. If it ain’t broke!

Smithyman: Rick Leonardi had to drop from the project and was replaced by Netho Diaz. Did that cause any production issues for you? What does Diaz bring to the story?

Marz: Certainly the situation set us back on deadline, which is not ideal, but we were very glad that Netho could fit in the project. We had worked with Netho on a Twilight Imperium graphic novel, based on the board game franchise, which is a big science fiction universe. Lots of spaceships, aliens, cosmic stuff. So we knew this material was right up his alley. The complication was that Netho was starting to get regular Marvel work in the X-Men office and now on the Predator series, so he was really pulling double duty. We’re really thrilled with the work he did, along with inker Jagdish Kumar and colorist Prasad Rao.

Lamming: Netho, Jagdish and Pressy really stepped up to help us get the book over the line. In hindsight, maybe launching a campaign in the midst of a global pandemic wasn’t the wisest choice, but everyone who has worked on getting the book finished has done stellar work, often under difficult circumstances. Netho is an absolute star, he’s a machine, producing Resolution along with a regular gig at Marvel and other commitments. The art on the book is truly wonderful, we have been very fortunate to work with this team.

Smithyman: Without giving anything away, what should we read into the title of Resolution? After all, you’re only now introducing readers to the story!

Marz: First and foremost, Resolution refers to the Resolute, which is the name of our intergalactic peacekeeping force in the story. Beyond that, the conflict between our hero Xaan and our villain Tau needs resolution. And in even another layer, Xaan needs the resolve to take up her heroic mantle again.

Lamming: I’m desperately trying to think of another definition for Resolution that fits but Ron has beaten me to it!!

Smithyman: Ron is clever that way, isn’t he? Thanks for taking the time to talk, and best of luck as the crowdfunding campaign winds down.