A Halifax comics writer prepares for his best-known job yet – stint as writer for one of Marvel Comics’ flagship series, The Avengers.
Jed MacKay, who grew up in Stanley Bridge, PEI, has been commissioned to write the series, beginning with issue #1, due for release this May.
In the four years since his big break at Marvel’s man without fear, a five-issue miniseries about the superhero Daredevil, MacKay has been busy. This year alone, he has worked on series including Doctor Strange, moon knightAnd Mary Jane and black cat.
And later this year when the first edition of The Avengers hits, it will mark the culmination of a longtime dream for MacKay.
“I grew up reading avenger Comics in the 70’s that my dad had and there’s something about that era of comics. It has a breathless grandiosity,” he told CBC radio Information morning Nova Scotia.
“To be able to take some of that and infuse it into my own work now [in] 2023 is a really interesting kind of uniqueness.”
In The AvengersFeaturing blockbuster superheroes like Thor, Captain Marvel, Iron Man and Captain America.
MacKay said that’s a big part of the fun.
“This is our big-budget summer blockbuster every issue,” he said. “These are characters who stride through their respective worlds like gods. So if you put seven of them together in a room, things get interesting pretty quickly.”
CLOCK | Trailer for Doctor Strange #1 written by Jed MacKay
With a comic this popular and the backbone of the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe, there’s undoubtedly a certain pressure that comes with making an appearance. But MacKay said he doesn’t feel it.
He’s aware of the need to balance the expectations of movie fans who come to the comics with the reality that he’s writing for an entirely different medium with his own set of rules.
“I think it’s very useful to look at the trends that are being popularized by these films and see if we can do that [draw] benefit from this popularity and hopefully attract new readers,” he said.
“But I don’t generally try to shape the comics in response to the movies because I don’t know if that’s going to do anyone any favors in the long run.”
MacKay plans to continue writing. The steady pace of comics and the need to provide new stories for artists to illustrate means the work rarely slows down.
In 2019, when MacKay last spoke to CBC News, writing comics was a side hustle, something he did alongside his full-time job as a teacher.
But now, with several ongoing series for Marvel, his work has grown into a full-time job.
In May three of his ongoing series will appear’, The Avengers, moon knightAnd Doctor Strange, will have new issues at booths in comic book stores around the world.
MORE TOP STORIES
