CBR: MORNING GLORY DAYS: A Killer Chick Named Zoe

[CBR News]

Writer Nick Spencer is back on CBR to share new insights into the hit Image series "Morning Glories," delving into issues #14 and 15 with new info on the game of Woodrun, time paradoxes and a killer cheerleader named Zoe.


Full article here.

[Personamanx]

Lord, I just don't like Zoe at all. I keep expecting the worst from her and she keeps on delivering. Her crying in a bathroom stall does not change anything for me. Shows she's not a totally flat character I suppose but it's hard for me to like a character like her.

So I guess Maggie's gone for good? Unless... Time Travel? Has Hunter watched "Heroes"? I can't remember if he's made a reference to it or not. He can go back in time and try to save her!

[ultraaman]

A few things I want to make sure get props. First, the art is top notch. Seriously, what's on the page is in the top 10% of what's out there. Second, we are getting a lot of story for our buck. This comic takes me longer to read than almost any other not just because of the length but because there is a lot of subtlety and nuance to what is going on.

That being said while I like this series for the most part, I think there is a major drawback to spending more than a year on set-up before getting pay-off on character and plot development.

I read the first 13 issues in one clump then read 14 and 15 when they came out, and I kept waiting for something to happen. I'm excited for something to happen, but after almost 300 pages, I'm just not seeing it.

Yes, there have been story "arcs" where there's a beginning, middle, and end, but at the end of these arcs very little if anything has changed. I feel like I'm reading a series of vignettes - or an X-men book from the 80's - where there's a lot of character exploration and almost no character development, just a series of (interesting) events where we see different sides of the characters.

I want to emphasize that I am enjoying the craziness but I want less Twilight Zone and more Clockwork Orange.

[Nick Spencer]

A few things I want to make sure get props. First, the art is top notch. Seriously, what's on the page is in the top 10% of what's out there. Second, we are getting a lot of story for our buck. This comic takes me longer to read than almost any other not just because of the length but because there is a lot of subtlety and nuance to what is going on.

That being said while I like this series for the most part, I think there is a major drawback to spending more than a year on set-up before getting pay-off on character and plot development.

I read the first 13 issues in one clump then read 14 and 15 when they came out, and I kept waiting for something to happen. I'm excited for something to happen, but after almost 300 pages, I'm just not seeing it.

Yes, there have been story "arcs" where there's a beginning, middle, and end, but at the end of these arcs very little if anything has changed. I feel like I'm reading a series of vignettes - or an X-men book from the 80's - where there's a lot of character exploration and almost no character development, just a series of (interesting) events where we see different sides of the characters.

I want to emphasize that I am enjoying the craziness but I want less Twilight Zone and more Clockwork Orange.

Hey, thanks for reading.

It's a long-form mystery. The people who get frustrated by the book are usually the ones who expect to get answers to the central questions in that mystery now. It's a bit like demanding to know who the killer is three chapters into an Agatha Christie novel.

Morning Glories is structured differently from nearly every comic on the market right now (there are a few exceptions, like THE UNWRITTEN, my favorite book, or in some ways SWEET TOOTH). It's not built in 3 or 6 issue arcs, but 25 issue seasons. The end is a long way away. It's the anti-ADD comic.

We have given a lot of answers, and a lot HAS happened. But every answer raises new questions, and everything that happens, causes something new to happen. That's the nature of the beast here.

Some people will be able to enjoy the journey, and the things that happen throughout-- some people will get annoyed or frustrated by the wait for closure on the things that piqued their interest. Some will probably come back as we near the end, or move to trades, or whatever (though for my money, the best reading experience on this is via singles). That's all fine. I've kinda made my peace with the reality that this isn't for everyone.

Hope you stick around, we'll do all we can to make it worth your time and patience.

[Alex Decay]

Strangely, even after reading this article, I still feel like I know nothing about what went on in issue 14 and 15 aside from what happened on the surface.

Stranger still, I like it that way. It's why I read this book.

I really do want Ike back though...

[abysslord]

I think one of the best things about this series is how it rewards you for going back and rereading the previous issues. I get around 80 titles a month and this is probably my favorite read. I feel like I get the most for my money and I'm always anxious to read it.

If Nick sees this, I have some questions:

1. Do you have ALL the story planned out already? Or do you have an outline and some things may change here and there?

2. What are your thoughts on the future of the title and attracting new readers. With long-form mysteries it may be hard for someone to jump on issue #50 because of the huge back issue pile. Is that what the Yearbook stuff is for?

3. What happened to the yearbook? Still planned?

4. If sales dropped sometime in the future, what are your plans then? Would you chop the story up and finish it with the ending around where it was or would you just kill it? And would you do something like Green Wake is doing and publish a "world bible" telling us everything you had planned and all the secrets?

5. Has anyone talked to you about turning this into a TV series?

Keep up the good work, looking forward to more!

[Nick Spencer]

I think one of the best things about this series is how it rewards you for going back and rereading the previous issues. I get around 80 titles a month and this is probably my favorite read. I feel like I get the most for my money and I'm always anxious to read it.

If Nick sees this, I have some questions:

1. Do you have ALL the story planned out already? Or do you have an outline and some things may change here and there?

2. What are your thoughts on the future of the title and attracting new readers. With long-form mysteries it may be hard for someone to jump on issue #50 because of the huge back issue pile. Is that what the Yearbook stuff is for?

3. What happened to the yearbook? Still planned?

4. If sales dropped sometime in the future, what are your plans then? Would you chop the story up and finish it with the ending around where it was or would you just kill it? And would you do something like Green Wake is doing and publish a "world bible" telling us everything you had planned and all the secrets?

5. Has anyone talked to you about turning this into a TV series?

Keep up the good work, looking forward to more!

1. I have an outline, a solid idea where we're going. Stuff gets added/adjusted/changed all the time, though. Still, I know the ending, and have an explanation for everything you see in the book.

2. We've got some ideas there, but obviously this isn't the kind of book that lends itself easily to jump on points. We do have some plans to entice some of our trade readers onto singles. Usually the best way to do that is make the end of the trade strong enough that people aren't willing to wait 6 months for the next one.

3. It's kind of morphed into something else we'll be doing down the road, in part to address your 2nd question.

4. Sales on this book are fine, trade sales are incredible (top 10 for all of comics last year), so I don't think we're going anywhere.

5. Always a possibility, we'll see.

[abysslord]

1. I have an outline, a solid idea where we're going. Stuff gets added/adjusted/changed all the time, though. Still, I know the ending, and have an explanation for everything you see in the book.

That's one reason I like these interviews you do here. It's nice to hear the writer talk about the issues and maybe drop hints about what is important or what to keep in your head for future reference.

2. We've got some ideas there, but obviously this isn't the kind of book that lends itself easily to jump on points. We do have some plans to entice some of our trade readers onto singles. Usually the best way to do that is make the end of the trade strong enough that people aren't willing to wait 6 months for the next one.

That's a good point. That's also a way to get people to jump on ... make the story so good that word of mouth gets people to not care about reading a lot of back issues. That's what happened to me with Walking Dead, read 60+ issues to catch up.

Anyway, thanks for answering. I actually buy two copies of this book because I like to reread the past issues and the collector in me wants to keep one copy as nice as possible.

[Blackknight75]

Picked up Morning Glories Vo1 from my comic book shop earlier this week as I had heard many positive comments about the series, yet no-one was dropping any spoilers.

This is a fantastic read. The first 6 chapters really got my attention and had me guessing what kind of phenomenon we were dealing with within the story. Was it magic, was it heaven vs hell, was it time travel, was it alternate realities? I was so hungry for answers that I immediately went back to the shop and purchased Vol 2..

Glad to see that this will be a long story, but I don't think I will have the patience to wait month to month for each issue. Instead I will wait for the collective trades, and get a decent amount of story in one hit.

I do have to ask Nick, what kind of boarding school did you attend in your youth to give you such ideas for Morning Glories?