Spider-Man. X-Men. Daredevil (my boy!). Deadpool. Batman. Superman. Wonder Woman. These are just a handful of the characters and series Joe Kelly has worked on during his illustrious career as a writer, creator, producer and overall story teller. Joe’s one-fourth of the man power behind Man Of Action Entertainment and between them they are responsible for the creation of Ben 10 for Cartoon Network. The Ben 10 property has made over $4.5 billion in retail and is coming back in the next year for more adventures.
Joe’s creator owned titles (or co-creator) are some of the best graphic novels and comics ever written. “I Kill Giants” is a book I recommend to everyone, comic book fan or not. It’s a beautiful tale of a girl working through trauma and loss and every time I read it I walk a way more thankful for everyone who is in my life. It’s simply brilliant. It’s a book that I have purchased multiple times for multiple people, whether for enjoyment purposes or to help them cope with something they are struggling with in their own lives. It’s a must read for any parent, teacher, school counselor, therapist or human being. You can grab a revised edition on Amazon.
And don’t just take my word for it, take Hollywood’s word. “I Kill Giants” is coming to the big screen. Treehouse Pictures picked it up and Chris Columbus (Harry Potter, Goonies, Home Alone) is producing with Anders Walter (Oscar award winner for “Helium”) directing. Joe talks about his love of this story, his passion for bringing it to the big screen (Joe wrote the adaptation) and when we should expect more information about being able to see it theaters.
We also go down memory lane and talk about his work on his creator owned Steampunk series (co-created with Chris Bachalo), his early run on Deadpool for Marvel Comics (an Omnibus edition is now available that collects Joe’s entire 33 issue run, plus other goodies!) and we talk about his creator owned Four Eyes series which is currently shipping the start of Volume 2 (Volume 1 is available in TPB).
As you can see, Joe Kelly has been a busy man. I’ve been a fan since his run on X-Men and Deadpool in 1997 and have been reading everything he puts out since. Then I come to find out that he’s not only a busy man, but a genuinely good man who would take the time out of his schedule to talk to me about productivity, creativity and all the mumbo jumbo I like to ask people about. Not only that, but he likes talking about that stuff too, so hearing his thoughts on getting things done and taking time for creativity was a bonus. I had a lot of fun talking to Joe and hearing his passion for creating characters and stories. He’s also a funny dude, so he had me cracking up a lot.
Here are some upcoming titles Joe worked on that you can pick up in your local comic book shop. Issue number one of Four Eyes: Hearts of Fire is out as well as Spider-Man/Deadpool #1. Also make sure to check out his IMDB page to see everything he’s worked on…it’s a ton. You can also follow Joe on Twitter @JoeKellyMOA and at http://manofaction.tv.
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