Mark Russell

Writer Mark Russell joins us to discuss his path into comics, beginning with his breakthrough work God Is Disappointed in You, a satirical retelling of the Bible with cartoons by Shannon Wheeler that launched his unique career. We explore Mark's knack for breathing new life into seemingly impossible properties, from the reboot Prez and his surprising take on The Flintstones to his bold reimagining of Snagglepuss as a gay playwright facing McCarthyism in Exit, Stage Left!: The Snagglepuss Chronicles. Mark reveals his attraction to underestimated and dormant properties like the Wonder Twins, discusses the inspiration behind his controversial Second Coming series and reflects on the backlash it generated. We also dive into his Eisner Award-winning humor work Not All Robots, his collaboration process with artists like Mike Deodato, and his special creative partnership with Mike Allred on Superman: Space Age and Batman: Dark Age. 

Mark's recent Traveling to Mars series was just collected into trade paperback, and the second issue of the Vanishing Point anthology, comes out today, June 18! You can follow Mark on his website, markrussellbooks.com, and on Instagram and Bluesky @manruss.