While both Marvel and DC will point to youth-oriented series that they have, such as the Marvel Adventures or Johnny DC line, there are few comics that work as a bridge between the all-ages crowd and the mainstream comic book universe. Chris Eliopoulos changed that, with Lockjaw and the Pet Avengers, using heroic animals from the mainstream Marvel Universe, in a story that could fit into continuity yet at the same time stand-alone for kids that had no prior involvement with Marvel Comics.
The result was a hit, and it has led to a sequel, Lockjaw and the Pet Avengers Unleashed. I had a moment to catch up with Chris to ask a few questions about the upcoming mini.
Where did the idea for the Pet Avengers come from in the first place?
My editor, Nate Cosby. Well, he actually called me and said he wanted to do a book about Lockjaw and some of the other animals of the Marvel Universe. I picked up the ball and ran with it.
Along those lines, where did the idea for Miss Lion to join the Marvel Universe come from, and why the gender change?
I did some research on all the animals to choose who would be on the team. On the list was Ms. Lion who was originally in the Spider-Man and Friends animated series. He was Aunt May's dog. Actually, they never mention if he's a boy or a girl and for some reason I got a chuckle thinking it'd be funny if a MS. Lion was actually a boy. The dog's personality is really based on my old dog – that loving, friendly but a little daft kind of friend.
Where do the pets (although Lockheed would take offence to the label of “pet”) go this time in Lockjaw and the Pet Avengers Unleashed?
Well, they start off at the Central Park Zoo and head a few places. In the second issue, Frog Thor travels far and wide – even to Asgard.
School Library Journal posted their list of “the best comics for kids in 2009” back in December, and only three comics by the big two made the list, all Marvel, and the first Pet Avengers miniseries was the only mainstream superhero book to make the cut. As the writer of the only superheroes on the list, what do you feel Marvel and DC need to do in terms of comics for a younger crowd so that the Pet Avengers are not the only superheroes on the list in 2010?
We as an industry have fallen into the trap of catering our stories to the people already reading comics. In all the stories I do, I take the approach that the person reading knows nothing about the characters and storylines. We need to approach these stories like the movies do in that they fill the viewer in on everything and don't assume they know who the characters are. We need to create self-contained stories that a new reader can follow. Granted, I threw in some nuggets to the longtime readers as well, but not to a point to alienate new readers.
