Kickstarting Comics– Talking ‘Impossible Jones’ Volume 2 With Karl Kesel

If you read comics in the 90’s and the early 2000’s, you probably know the work of Karl Kesel well. The writer-artist helped create some of the biggest comics of the era, including Death & Return of Superman, Adventures of Superman, Final Night, Superboy and Harley Quinn among many others.

His comics have always had a great sense of humor, an air of awe, and a lot of science fiction. Those qualities have continued in his current creator-owned work. Now Kesel and co-creator David Hahn have teamed up once again for one of those incredibly fun comic series, with the Kickstarter running now — Impossible Jones Volume 2.

The first volume of Impossible Jones chronicled the origin of the title character as we met the character and were introduced to her world. Now the second volume — with about three weeks left in the Kickstarter campaign — continues to flesh out that world, teaming up IMP with some of the original heroes- and villains — of this original superhero universe. The volume collects Impossible Team-Up A-D, with 15 new pages of story, pin-ups and more. Even better it’s already fully funded, so its a sure thing.

We got a chance to sit down with Kesel and talk all about Impossible Jones.

Tony Thornley: Karl, you have no idea how cool it is for me to sit down with you to talk about Impossible Jones. You were one of the most formative writers in my comics fandom — your Superboy series was my first DC pull.

Karl Kesel: Very flattered. Thank you.

Tony: Fanboy squeeing out of the way. For anyone not aware of Impossible Jones, what’s your thirty second pitch of the series?

Kesel: She’s a thief, who gets super-powers, is MISTAKEN for a hero… and runs with it! The tag-line I use (and I’m sure everyone’s getting sick of hearing): “A thief pretending to be a hero? It’s not impossible! It’s IMPOSSIBLE JONES!”

Tony: A lot of your independent work has been heavily Kirby-influenced. Impossible Jones’ adventures have been a little bit of the exception, more akin to lighter superhero fare. What led you down this path for the series?

Kesel: Form follows function. The character and setting dictates what kind of approach you’ll use. IMP is a more street-level character— a thief— who deals with (mostly) other street-level heroes (like Polecat) and villains (Holly Daze, Demolition, The Bearded Lady and her Freakshow, etc). Captain Lightning would be at the upper end of that spectrum, with Even Steven being the sole exception— he’s seemingly omnipotent. (And Even Steven is clearly more of a Ditko/Mr. A-inspired character.)

And I think a lot of this has to do with my love of the early Marvel comics — the 60s Spider-man and Daredevils, which really were crime comics, not cosmic comics. Stories that DIDN’T deal with an apocalypse every story arc, but where lives and loves were still clearly at stake.

Tony: There is an entire universe behind Impossible Jones. What’s been your favorite part about building her world?

Kesel: EVERYTHING! I enjoy creating the coffee shop she hangs out at (Coffee Cop). The local museum. Her favorite bodega. Figuring out the neighborhoods around the city, like Bricktown or The Vent, or Power Heights. Constructing a history of the city — seeing how its fortunes rose and fell, and how that changed the city. I take great pleasure in ALL of that.

Tony: Of all the unique and new heroes and villains in this universe, do you have a favorite besides Imp herself?

Kesel: Now you want me to name my favorite child! (Well: second favorite!) The thing is, I could easily write a series about ANY of these characters! And that was the intent from the start— they may be supporting characters in IMP’s story, but each of these characters are the stars of their own movie, all the time. I just wrote a scene where Captain Lightning mentions his sister, and I instantly wanted to write a story about their relationship! I’d love a chance to tell Holly Daze’s full story. But the character I’d most like to explore further— which is different than my favorite; more like the one I’m most interested in right now— would be Persephone, and the history of the Persephone pageant, and take a look at all these different women who have worn the Persephone pendant over the years, and how that experience changed their lives. I see endless stories there.

Tony: This volume is a bit different from the first, which is equal parts origin and world building. This is a team-up series. Why go down that path for this second set of stories?

Kesel: It really came down to world-building! We had a Big Event all planned— David had even drawn 5 full pages— but there was this voice in the back of my head that wanted to go small for a while. Take time to explore and expand IMP’s world. Flesh it out for myself— and the readers!

The idea was we’d do these 4 small, self-contained, fun Team-Up stories— then do the Big Event! Of course, as I was working on these “self contained” stories I suddenly saw how they could all be linked— and lead to an exciting climax! Which is what we did. It’s also why Part 4 is 62 pages long! (74 pages long, with the extra epilogues added in the ULTRA-COOL COLLECTORS EDITION!)

Tony: You’ve got some fantastic artistic collaborators on this book. David Hahn co-created Impossible Jones with you but he’s also known for Batman ‘66, Robin, Spider-Man, and a bunch of creator owned comics. What about his style makes him perfect for Impossible Jones and her world?

Kesel: I love David’s clean line, his modern sensibilities, his sense of style and design. And I knew he’d make IMP look good. Both easy on the eyes and exciting! I’ve known David for decades now — as hard as that is to believe! — and I’ve always loved his work and wanted to do a Big Project with him!

Tony: Ryan Cody is joining you and David for these stories. He’s really made his mark in comics recently. What drew the team to his work and what does he bring to the table?

Kesel: He colored David on Western Mystery Theater for Scout Comics. There was a point in these Team-Up stories where David wanted to change up his style a bit — the sort of thing most people wouldn’t notice, but was a Big Deal for David (and me, quite honestly). We asked Ryan to join the team at that point, since we thought his approach would push David’s work in the direction he wanted it to go. And I have to say, Ryan keeps hitting home runs for IMP! I just worry he’s too good at too many things, and we’ll lose him!

Tony: Now these stories are already completed, and out in the world. What would you say to someone who might have read them already but is thinking about getting the collection?

Kesel: 1) There will be 15 New Pages of Story in this collection. So you haven’t read or seen everything yet! And the conclusion to the IMP-LIGHTNING Team-Up? I never liked that. We were squeezed for space and it showed. But now we have completely changed that ending! Because we can do that.

2) ARTHUR ADAMS FOLD-OUT! A wonderful piece featuring all the major players in the IMP-verse— and a monkey! (A specific monkey— one who has already appeared in the IMP books, actually.) You won’t be able to get this magnificent masterpiece anywhere else. Quite frankly, I think it’s worth the price of admission all by itself!

Tony: Last question for you about the book — What’s next for Impossible Jones and her world?

Kesel: Well, David and I are actually gearing up for the volume promised at the end of Volume 1: a little something called Alias Smith and Jones! Where things get very complicated, very dicey for our gal, and everything comes to a boiling point.

Most likely we’ll be doing this as a series of comic-books, like we did with the Team-Up books, but we haven’t figured out all the specifics yet. One thing I do know: the next IMP book will be a one-shot LOVE comic called “Impossible To Love!” and feature her starting a romance with… damn! What’s that person’s name? It’s on the tip of my tongue… lemme get back to you on that…

Tony: Thank you so much Karl. Is there anything else you’d like to plug, any new projects you want to let us know about?

Kesel: Like I have time for anything else! Thanks, Tony! It’s been great!

Check out Impossible Jones V2 now on Kickstarter, with the campaign running through March 14, 2024!