Straight from the pages on the Annihilation: Conquest Prologue comes the latest mini-series in Marvel interstellar saga, Wraith. Helmed by TV and comic book writer Javier Grillo-Marxuach, the drifter in a galaxy at war that brings a bit of horror to the Marvel Cosmos. Javier took time out of his busy schedule to sit down and chat with PopCultureShock about Wraith, his television work, and his Viper Comics series The MiddleMan.

PopCultureShock: You will be writing the upcoming Wraith mini-series, part of Marvel’s Annihilation: Conquest mini-series. What is the new mini-series about? Was this sort of a natural fit for you having worked on the original Annihilation event?

Javier Grillo-Marxuach: The new miniseries is all about looking at the “Annihilation: Conquest” event from the outside in. When Marvel approached me for it, Bill Rosemann – conquest master and editor extraordinaire – told me that they wanted a kind of gothic/horror character, an archetype that didn’t really exist in the cosmic universe before. The story we cooked up for Wraith was specifically designed to not only bring in this unusual character into the cosmic universe but to also make him a complete outsider, so if you’re picking up Wraith #1, you’re learning about the events of the conquest at the same time as the lead character – and what that does for me as a storyteller is it allows me to approach the entire cosmic universe without the familiarity of, say, Super-Skrull – it allows me to take the reader by the hand and give them an entrance into this very large and alien world.

As far as it being a natural fit, you bet. I loved writing Super-Skrull and had an awesome experience on the original Annihilation, so when they told me that they were bringing a new threat and a new event, I was primed and ready.

From what we have seen, the character of Wraith is a brand new entity in the Marvel Universe. Who is Wraith to you and how much input did you have in the creation and design of the character? Was this something that Marvel came to you with or did they just give you free reign to do with as you choose?

Grillo-Marxuach: Bill Rosemann came to me with the area of a gothic/horror type character and, under his sure tutelage, I went to work on the backstory and the character design, as well as his unique set of powers. One of the great perks of this job is that every once in a while you get to play “Project Runway” with superheroes, and one of the things I enjoyed most about doing the Super-Skrull mini was redesigning his costume, keeping all the cues but making it into something that looked a little less like a circus acrobat and more like what an aging space samurai would wear.

With Wraith, the idea of his being a lone gunslinger – a man who walks alone into a conflict he didn’t make – was one of the earliest tropes we developed, and the costume obviously owes a lot to “the man with no name.” Additionally, Wraith’s signature weapon is a complete throwback to the old west, with a sci-fi twist.

For a while, we were all a little nervous about Wraith’s sartorial choices – the character was briefly nicknamed “Captain Poncho” – but once Marko Djurdjevic took a pass at the character designs I sketched out, it became clear that we could – as I had always hoped – redeem the poncho as a superhero fashion accessory.

Upon seeing Wraith the first thing that pops into my mind is Clint Eastwood in A Fistfull Of Dollars. What inspirations did you draw on in the creation of the character?

Grillo-Marxuach: Obviously, the poncho is an homage to the spaghetti westerns, but it wouldn’t be fair to say that we are just doing “A Fistful of Dollars” in space or that the character is merely a collection of archetypal gunslinger traits: we definitely looked at that old west iconography (and Marvel’s catchphrase for Wraith is “the gothic gunslinger”) but that’s not the sum and substance of the character. One of the directives I received from Marvel was that they wanted the character to be their horror entry into the cosmic universe, so his origin story, his mission – and even his powers – have to do with a horror-style mythology (with a sci-fi twist, of course) that is completely new to the cosmic universe.

Now fans may remember you were initially working on a follow up Super Skrull mini-series for Marvel. Is this still something that fans have to look forward to or has that been overshadowed by Wraith?

Grillo-Marxuach: I wrote the outline for “Super-Skrull: Armada” shortly after I wrapped up “Annihilation: Super-Skrull,” and we were all very happy with the story: it had to do with Super-Skrull as a kind of Moses, leading the Skrulls that survived the Annnihilation Wave to a new Skrull homeworld. We knew that Super-Skrull had popped as a character and that the mini had been very well received, but Annihilation is one of those things that was so large that it opened up a whole universe of story possibilities; when the time came to really look at what could be done with a follow-up, it became clear that there were many more stories we could do before taking Super-Skrull to the place he ended up in at the end of the Armada storyline. It’s a win-win for the character and the reader.

Of course, Super-Skrull and Praxagora are part of the Wraith miniseries – that was something I definitely asked for because I feel very close to those characters and wanted to be the one to shepherd their continuing involvement with Annihilation.

With there being so many books out there today, why should readers check out Wraith? What is it about the character that you think will have them clamoring for more?

Dude! The question shouldn’t be “why buy Wraith?” it should be “Why buy anything else?”

This time around, you are working with Kyle Hotz, who’s work I’ve been a fan of since Night Man. How has the experience been working with him? What do you find his art style brings to your scripts?

Grillo-Marxuach: Kyle Hotz it The Man. His interpretation of the character and the scripts totally elevates the material – his work is layered and full of darkness and menace. There is a four page sequence in the second issue that describes Wraith’s origin that is just plain mind-blowing in it’s dark beauty and narrative flow.

Also, the miniseries is chock-full of action – it starts with a big fight that leads to a huge battle, which then takes us to a great conflict that ultimately climaxes in a conflagration that I can only describe as massive – in addition to providing all the requisite atmospherics and dark nuance, Kyle completely nails all the action and carnage with tremendous energy, focus and clarity. In spite of the character’s brooding persona, this is not a brooding book – and Kyle delivers all of Wraith’s violent exploits by the bloody bucketful.

Long story short: Kyle’s work is definitive.

You also have a new volume of Middle Man debuting this July. What can you tell us about Inescapability?

Grillo-Marxuach: First of all, may you live to be a thousand years for asking about “The Middleman.”

What can I say about “The Third Volume Inescapability?” Only that it will change the world of “The Middleman” forever – it is chock full of shocking destiny and mind-bending twists that will turn everything on it’s ear while still delivering the fun, the banter, the absurdist stories that still make sense on a plot and character level and, most importantly, the character relationships. Les Mcclaine’s art has never been better and talented newcomer Chad Thomas is drawing an alternate ending for the book… so there’s all that – and giant robots!

I think that if you are already a fan of “The Middleman,” this is going to be a significant escalation in what had come before, and if you are not a fan of “The Middleman,” what’s wrong with you?

The first issue of Battlestar Galactica: Cylon Apocalypse has been released. What has it been like working on one of your favorite shows from the 70s? What has the fan reaction been to the series?

Grillo-Marxuach: Writing “Cylon Apocalypse” was a pure joy from start to finish – first of all, the fine folks over at Dynamite Entertainment – especially Nick Barrucci and Joe Rybandt – gave me nothing but support and encouragement, and when the time came to sell the books and put the word out, they worked their butts off. Carlos Rafael did an amazing job with the art, and I got to work on “Battlestar Galactica” after having been a fan for so many years (and finally write a scene where Starbuck has a swordfight against a bunch of Cylon Centurions) – so really, everybody won.

There’s been different kinds of fan reaction – people who remember the series fondly but have not necessarily pursued the fandom have been overwhelmingly positive because they feel that it is true to the overall spirit of the original, and the true hardcore believers have also been very supportive, but have not pulled any punches when they feel I haven’t been accurate to the source material, which is fine by me too. Keeps you honest.

With having been part of the team on Lost, Charmed and other “genre” shows. Do you find many differences from the fans who read the comics to those that don’t?

Grillo-Marxuach: Truly, the bulk of my experiences with fans have been overwhelmingly positive. Even on the internet, where drama has a tendency to escalate and negativity can be a real issue, when fans trash something, it usually comes out of a deep, abiding love of the material and a desire to be heard, and I try to be sensitive to that. I’m sure there all sorts of demographic distinctions to be made between fandoms, but I just love the fact that there’s people out there who are passionate about the shows and comics that I work on, it sure as hell beats having an apathetic audience…or no audience at all!

You are also currently working on the the TV series Medium on top of everything else. With so many other writers in television having difficulty keeping a steady comic book schedule, how do you manage to juggle both worlds?

Grillo-Marxuach: I am always very honest with myself about how much work I can truly handle, and I turn down more work than I take precisely so that I am not overextended. In addition to “Medium,” I’m also adapting the Brian Wood/Rob G graphic novel “The Couriers” into a feature film – so that’s a pretty full plate. To be able to keep that up and still deliver on time, I have to be judicious about what else I take on.

Additionally, I have been lucky to work with editors who have been sensitive to my situation – in the case of both “Annihilation” minis, Andy Schmidt and Bill Rosemann both approached me early and gave me a wide berth of lead time to complete the work, in the case of “Cylon Apocalypse,” we agreed to not send the book to an artist, much less to press, until all the scripts were complete, and finally, in the case of “The Middleman,” we have established a timeline that allows both me and Les Mcclaine to deliver at a pace we can both handle. It’s very easy to get caught up in the energy and fun of doing this kind of work and overcommitting – and disappointing the fans as a result. I want to be in this for the very long haul, so my job right now is to be measured and make sure that anything I promise, I can deliver.

That you have Javier, and I know that the fans appreciate it. You can find out more about Javier Grillo-Marxuach, and get a peek into the mind of the scribe, at www.radiofreejavi.com.