Interview - B. Clay Moore Talks G.I.Joe: Special Missions

Even though they are the best of the best, even America’s elite can’t be all places at all times… so, what happens before they can get there? When a terrorist group invades a New York City skyscraper to get a virus that could kill millions, it’s a race against time between former Cobra agent Neurotoxin and a team of G.I. Joe reserves! This February G.I.Joe: Special Missions returns with a one-shot from Devil's Due Publishing. We had a chance to sit down with one of the authors for this upcoming book, B. Clay Moore and ask him a few questions about it.

CNI: First if maybe you could just give a little background on yourself, what other projects have you worked on, and are you a G.I.Joe fan?

B. Clay Moore: B. Clay Moore, writer. Most notably, I co-created HAWAIIAN DICK and BATTLE HYMN for Image Comics, as well as THE EXPATRIATE. Jeremy Haun and I are launching a five issue mini-series later this year from Oni Press called THE LEADING MAN. I also recently spent a year as Image Comics' Director of PR & Marketing. And who isn't a Joe fan?

CNI: Can you tell us a little about the story? Why the decision to use Beach Head, Cover Girl Tunnel Rat and Neurotoxin?

B. Clay Moore: We were given the option to choose which Joes we wanted to use (with approval, of course), and Jeremy and I came up with a handful. We ended up being able to use all of the characters we wanted to, and added one or two at the suggestion of Devil's Due. Neurotoxin was probably the coolest choice, as it gave us a chance to introduce a Joe villain into the comic book mythos.

The story's about some "reserve" Joes being called in while the "A" team is too far away to help. Basically, they have to hit a Manhattan building to clean up a bioweapons lab left behind by Cobra.

CNI: Also we hear there is a story about the Joes pets in this issues, can you
give us some details on that?

B. Clay Moore: haven't actually read that one, as I wasn't involved in it. I've heard it may be pretty heavy, though.

CNI: What is it like to write a title thats got so much history. What did you do to research the characters for this story?

Andrew: Well, artist Jeremy Haun is like a walking Joe encyclopedia, and I was familiar enough with most of the characters to get a good head start. But it's a lot of fun to go back and poke around older books to see what people have done with these characters in the past. Joe fans are always available to help you out when you hit a stumbling block.

CNI: Will this tie-in at all with the regular series or be a total stand alone story?

B. Clay Moore: I believe it's a stand-alone story, but the Elite team does make an appearance.

CNI: Special Missions is touted as being a one-shot, but any chance of seeing it become a regular series?

B. Clay Moore: You'd have to ask Mike O'Sullivan. I'd love to see it, and I'd love to be involved if it happened.

CNI: Who is your favorite Joe and why? Who is your favorite Cobra and why?

B. Clay Moore: My new favorite Joe is one we used in the story that I'm not going to talk about. :) But I like a lot of the specialist Joes...I think there's lots of potential for characters like Cross Hair, Low Light, Halo Jumper, Wet-Suit...guys who have a particular skill that would shape both their activities and their personalities.

CNI: Any other upcoming projects that your working on that you would like to
tell us about?

B. Clay Moore: As mentioned earlier, Jeremy and I will be launching a five issue full color mini-series from Oni Press later this year called THE LEADING MAN (an espionage book with Hollywood as a backdrop), and we'll have the trade paperback collecting our recent BATTLE HYMN series (a twisted WWII superhero book) out in early February.

Comic News International would like to thank B. Clay Moore & Devil's Due Publishing for taking the time to answer our questions. Look for this one-shot to hit shelves in February and here is a little 5-page preview to hold you over till then.