A Total Blast: Jimmy Palmiotti Discusses ‘Deadly Tales Of The Gunslinger’

Jimmy Palmiotti is no stranger to Western comics. The writer and inker has scribed dozens of Jonah Hex and All-Star Western issues in addition to his work on Harley Quinn and Power Girl. Now he’s bringing that passion to Todd McFarlane‘s Spawn Universe in 2024’s Deadly Tales of the Gunslinger. The forthcoming series returns Gunslinger Spawn from modern times into the 1800s. In a Comicon exclusive, Palmiotti discusses why he was drawn to the character, what it’s like to work with McFarlane, as well as his impressions of the illustrations from his co-creator Patric Reynolds.

Tom Smithyman: What can you tell us about Deadly Tales? How will it be different from the regular Gunslinger title?

Jimmy Palmiotti: Deadly Tales of the Gunslinger builds off of the world building Todd set up in his monthly series. He has been teasing the readers over the years, giving the fans a glimpse into bits and pieces of the backstory behind the Gunslinger’s origins, which we expand on in our book.

Unlike the monthly, Deadly Tales takes place back in the 1800s and revolves around the origins of the Gunslinger from the ground up, set upon a Wild West backdrop. This is both a series for someone that loves the character already and wants to know more and, at the same time, it delivers an origin story for a new reader to jump in on and get to know the character and understand the motivations and complexities of the Gunslinger. My main goal is to make it so you cannot live without getting both each month.

Smithyman: What is it about this character that gets you excited about writing him?

Palmiotto: The character at this stage is not as defined as he is in the regular series, and with that comes a ton of opportunities to play around in the Spawn Universe. I am also getting to write a Western again after many years co-writing Jonah Hex, with a character that is both grounded and supernatural in origins – and with a publisher and creator that wants me to do what I do best and push the boundaries of the genre in the process.

When the editor, Thomas Healy, approached me about writing this book, I re-read the monthly and started to really get excited about the possibilities that Todd’s backstory was teasing at. Right after I wrote a 30 plus-page bible of the character’s life as I saw it. I got to go over the details step by step with Todd and Thomas and had them fill in the gaps and questions I had. My excitement built with each new piece of information Todd shared mainly because Todd had a lot of the backstory in his head that never made it to the page, and I was getting giant chunks fed to me.

When we felt we had enough done to get rolling, we had what I thought was a fully realized dynamic and complicated world and character in the best of ways. An origin that could easily spin off to some of the greatest Wild West stories ever told, featuring a side of the character the readers have not met yet. The Gunslinger himself is a really interesting character and having the world Todd created as a backdrop this series is going to be a total blast.

Smithyman: The book doesn’t premiere until next year. How far into scripting it are you? With so many things on your plate, is it difficult to juggle?

Palmiotti: The good news is Deadly Tales of the Gunslinger is my only monthly comic book title I am working on, and I am super happy to have it that way. I’m currently working on issue #6 and plan to keep to the schedule of getting the books done in advance. My only other side project is my Kickstarters that I do a few times a year, but this book and character requires and deserves most of my attention, and I want to give Todd the best work I can as well as make the current fans happy and bring in new readers as well.

Smithyman: Is this your first time working in Spawn’s Universe? How is that experience different from working for a publisher like DC or your own creator-owned projects?

Palmiotti: Deadly Tales of the Gunslinger is the first series I have ever written for the Spawn Universe, and right out the gate it’s a different experience because of how accessible the creator of the characters is. Todd is there ready to get on a Zoom call if there are any issues and discussions that need to happen, and I am working with an editor with similar tastes that understands the process of making a great series. The experience is different because I get a great sense of teamwork within his group, and Todd treats his people with respect in every way.

I feel the Big Two are chasing sales constantly and dumping gimmicks wherever possible to get the numbers up. Todd delivers with the Spawn Universe by just giving the people what they want: excellent storytelling with amazing art delivered on time. I feel his crew really listens to what their fans desire as well as what the retailers want and then delivers it to them all.

Smithyman: Have you seen any pages yet from Patric Reynolds? How do the two of you work together?

Paliotti: Patrick is already a few issues in, and the amazing thing about his work is we are getting to watch his confidence grow with every page. Patric is a perfect fit for this book because his work is grounded in a real-world feel, and when the story takes a turn and enters the Spawn Universe of madness, it’s such a beautiful transition that I feel only Patrick can truly deliver.

Thomas, our editor, understood what was needed to make this series work and, more important to me, what I was looking for in an artist that has to really be the right fit for the material. After some back and forth we finally agreed that Patric was the perfect fit for the series and we got him started as soon as possible. What I simply love is Patric sends me the pencils before he inks them and I get a chance to comment if any changes are needed. It’s been almost zero to none because he has a vision of what this world we are creating together should look like, and he brings it to the page as only he could. I simply love working with a quality storyteller, it is what makes or breaks a book, in my opinion. He is going to have quite the following when this book comes out.

Smithyman: What other projects do you have on your plate right now?

Palmiotti: Outside of comics I just finished co-writing a screenplay for a small-budget science fiction movie. Comics wise, I’m working on a book called Fantasima, which will be my next Kickstarter with artist Pier Brito. Other than that, my wife Amanda Conner and I are finishing up her strip Boom Pow and onto other things at our Paperfilms.com site.

To be honest, Deadly Tales of the Gunslinger is my main job these days. I really want to show the Spawn crew I can do justice to their characters.

Smithyman: Any chance Todd and DC will let you write Jonah Hex into one of the issues???

Palmiotti: If they were interested, I would do a Gunslinger/Jonah Hex book in a heartbeat. Both characters inhabit the same part of the United States around the same time, so it would be an easy project to write. Best way to make this happen is to have Deadly Tales of the Gunslinger become a major hit, then…and only then, could both parties have an interest in making this happen.

Smithyman: That would be one for the ages! Thanks for taking the time to talk to Comicon.com, and best of luck with Deadly Tales!