A few weeks ago, DC’s The Source gave us our first look at Kevin Maguire’s Tanga and Aaron Lopresti’s Garbageman for the upcoming Weird Worlds anthology. Back in October, Lopresti talked to Newsarama about his unique creation. Blog@ had the chance to talk to contemporary master, Kevin Maguire, about his extraterrestrial lady, Tanga.

Blog@: So, Kevin, you’re more well-known for your artistic duties. What people might not know is that you’re also one heck of a film buff and actually involved in sketch comedy and short films. Do you feel that your creativity comes more naturally at an artist’s desk or the writer’s chair?

Kevin Maguire: Well my create-o-meter’s a bit on the fritz, but if I’m reading it properly, it’s leaning towards writer’s chair. If I’m drawing then, generally, I’m telling someone else’s story, assisting someone else in bringing their vision to the masses. Maybe not masses, as much as small assemblies.

Blog@: What made you want to be a part of this incarnation of Weird Worlds?

Maguire: It never started as being a part of Weird Worlds. About a year and a half ago, at the Philly Con, Dan DiDio sat at my table and, knowing that I wanted to do a series about a character who, at that point, I was calling “My Space Girl”, said “Let’s pull the trigger on this”. That was one of the happiest moments of my career. At first, we were talking about having it as a second feature to R.E.B.E.L.S, which I thought would have been a very nice fit and went to being the second feature replacement to Metal Men. Somewhere around that time the Weird Worlds title was introduced and they put Tanga very comfortably there.

Blog@: So I guess the big question is who is Tanga?

Maguire: Tanga is a girl who has been flying around the fringes of space looking for some kind of intellegent contact. She’s seeking some kind of connection, any kind of connection. She legitimately feels like there’s no one else in the universe quite like her. She’s right about that. She possesses both enormous cosmic power and an inability to self-edit, a combination that will, inevitably, always lead her into trouble. My short hand pitch has always been “The power of the Silver Surfer and the personality of Sarah Silverman”

Blog@: How long has this idea for Tanga been rattling in your head?

Maguire: It’s been floating around my fertile noggin for quite a while in a far more embroyic form. It wasn’t until I was being interviewed for my highly-flattering, but perhaps premature, induction in the Modern Masters series that I’d come to realize that I always enjoyed doing projects that I wrote and created far more than anything else. It was after that that I started giving more form to her and her world. I knew I wanted to have it take place in outer space because I have so much more fun creating environments wholly out of imagination. I knew it would be a female character because, well, I love women.

Blog@: What was your inspiration for Tanga?

Maguire: In terms of her character, that’s tough to nail down. I’ve described it as if there was a second soul inside my body that’s been aching to get out and hit the page. I’m sure she is, in some way, a representation of some part of me, if , of course, I was smoking hot babe. Visually, she’s inspired by British model Carla Brown, a petite brunette with a real sparkle and intellegence in her eyes. Warm but mischievous.

Blog@: Will she be interacting with other characters from the DCU?

Maguire: Not in this story arc, but she will do some name-dropping. She’ll mention that Lobo thinks she owes him money, but she disputes that. I’ve got ideas for at least four more Tanga story arcs. My hope is that the character will be well regarded enough that DC will allow me to continue telling stories about her. Honestly, once I’m finished with the Generation Lost covers, I would be happy working on nothing else for the rest of my comics career. It’s just been far more satisfying writing, pencilling, and inking something of my own creation. And, hopefully, my colorist , and part time physicist, Rosemary Cheetham will continue working on it with me. It’s been a different and unique working relationship on this project. I’m really enjoying it.

Blog@: What can fans expect from this story?

Maguire: For my chapters, you can expect aliens, giant monsters, lots of action, lots of fun and a very funny and gorgeous central character. Oh, and a background for every panel. No floating heads. Well, one floating head, but he’s a character in the story.

This entry was posted on Monday, December 6th, 2010 at 12:20 pm and is filed under Announcements, Art and Design, DC Comics, Interviews, News & Views. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.