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Thursday, September 9, 2010
Painkiller Jane's lucky 13
Jimmy Palmiotti talks with Michael May about writing for TV... and lots of other stuff
 Tomorrow night, Friday the 13th, will be the 13th episode of the Painkiller Jane TV series. It's also the first one written by Jane's co-creator Jimmy Palmiotti. Jimmy was nice enough to talk to me about writing for the show (and -- borrowing the format from my Blog@Newsarama interviews -- a ton of other stuff too).
Most of the images that decorate this interview (except the one of him, Kristanna Loken and Amanda Conner), and are from Jimmy's episode, "The League."
Who's your personal hero?
That would be my parents who are no longer with me unfortunately. They somehow inspired me to be a good, honest, caring individual and managed to instill in me the attitude that I can do anything I would like to do if I put my mind to it and be good at it. They were generous, kind and giving and had a lot of fun all the time and really, in any life it's all you can ask for to have parents like that.
What's your morning routine?
Wake up, get a bowl of cereal and introduce it to some low fat milk, check my ever expanding e-mail and then start writing, always with some music playing. Usually I wake up with an idea so I throw that in a separate file on my desk top. Its pretty funny how many stories were based on dreams I had. Jonah Hex #25 is exactly a dream I had, put into comic form.
What's your favorite item of clothing?
Boxer shorts or sweats from Nike. Love to wear them all day long. The shorts, they got pirate skulls all over them. What a weird question.
Heh. Thanks. What do you always have with you?
Amanda Conner and my wallet. Its really all I ever need.
What's always in your refrigerator?
Coke, not Pepsi, and water. Usually raw vegetables as well and something that needs to be thrown out.
 What's your favorite food?
Dude, I'm an Italian from Brooklyn … pizza, hands down!
What's your fitness routine?
A lot of walking all day long, watch what I eat, and keep happy.
Lots of 13s involved with your episode tonight. What superstitions do you have?
Don’t have any, but I like to clean my office when I start a new script. I just need to have the room to work.
What do you do to procrastinate?
Take care of the MySpace people that send me mail, take care of the Paperfilms forums, and go to the movies in the middle of the day. If it were up to me, I would go to the movies daily … and at times when there is decent stuff out, I do.
What's your biggest self-indulgence or guilty pleasure?
Again, the movies. I go alone at times … I don’t care. I love getting swept away to other worlds and watching how other people tell a story. Have to have a popcorn and a Coke with me as well. It’s a ritual.
What gadget can't you live without?
My toilet comes to mind first, then the computer. In that order. Today, its an air conditioner.
What's your most prized possession?
After Amanda Conner (laughs) … I would say my house in Clearwater, Florida. I love it and what it represents.
 What kind of vehicle do you drive?
I have a Hyundai Sonata and a Vibe. One in NY and the other in Florida. I also have two bikes.
What's your next big purchase going to be?
Was looking at a Mac computer system to edit digital films … Cause I need more crap… (laughs).
What's your favorite place in your home?
Bed … always in bed. Its where I do my best work.
What's your greatest artistic strength?
Being able to come up with crazy shit that I actually care about and being a perfectionist.
What's your greatest artistic weakness?
Being too afraid to draw more. It drives me nuts … nothing is ever good enough to me.
Do you play a musical instrument?
No, but I can sing and have very good rhythm.
What talent do you covet?
To be able to play an instrument and speak other languages.
 What's your best memento from your work?
Usually having a piece of original art from every book I do … when an artist gives me one, I cherish the hell out of it.
What household chore do you absolutely hate to do?
I don’t like making the bed. I do dishes, sweep , vacuum … but that damn bed … uggg. I think its because I got friggin books everywhere and it makes it a dangerous chore.
What obsolete item can you not part with?
(Laughs) I still have the same pillow from when I was a kid. Its not really obsolete, but its close… its as thick as a postage stamp.
What's the best recent gift you've received?
The first thing that comes to mind is my 40th birthday party by Amanda. She got me strippers, rented a club, made all the women get in cheerleader uniforms that spelled out my name and invited all my friends. It was amazing and very filthy.
Ha! Nice. What's your retreat?
Amanda, my Florida home, the beach, and the movie theatre.
Do you collect anything?
Used to collect comics and original art and gave them up a while ago. Now I really don’t collect a thing. It’s a trap to collect stuff.
Do you have any hobbies?
I love to sketch and draw for myself… never for print. Bike riding as well. Hey, all these questions, are you hitting on me?
 Maybe. Is it working? What movie have you seen more than any other?
Probably Jaws … I love that flick. The next would be Godfather 2.
What book have you read more than any other?
Don’t laugh, but it’s the dictionary.
What are you always asked at parties?
Lets see… where's Amanda, am I single, can I chip in for the beer, and usually if I got any papers to roll a joint.
What's your evening routine?
Dinner, then some TV while I ink for a bit. If it's Friday, I watch Painkiller Jane (laughs). Exciting, isn’t it? Amanda and I do get out a few nights a week and try to stay social with our friends, but they're all over the map these days.
What do you always have at your bedside?
A pen and pad and a glass of water and my baseball bat. Brooklyn, remember?
What do you obsess over?
The fact that some people take no pride in their work. It drives me nuts.
What's your travel routine?
At least one European trip a year, at least 6 cons in the states and Florida every couple of weeks. I know planes like people know their sock drawers.
 What's the worst thing about traveling?
Really long flights where babies are crying, where overweight people take up too much room and their sweat stinks, and where people don’t clean after themselves after they use the bathroom. I also hate doing cons where they don’t send people for me to the airport and I have to navigate my ass in a strange place. It happens and yes, I am spoiled.
Which historical figure would you most like to meet?
Probably Jesus Christ. He is historic, right?
Absolutely. I imagine that releasing a comics creation to TV must be like sending your kid to Kindergarten for the first time. You get to nurture your baby for a while, but then you send her out where she’s going to be influenced by people other than you. Is that accurate? What was it like letting Jane go to television?
Well, its tough because you figure you got the comic book to hand people and its all there and then the first thing they say after you sign all the papers is that this is a TV show and not your comic and here is what we are going to change.
Personally a lot of the changes have hurt the show and I think what works is because of the comic, but why would I think differently? I am glad its on TV… and really glad its getting better each episode, but now everyone involved is learning what to do and how to make it work while I get to relax and write the comic as I always do… how I see it in mine and Joe's mind.
It's all good and a great learning process for everyone. I am happy it exists, that I get to work with some truly talented people.
Was writing an episode for the TV show a big adjustment for you from a technical standpoint? How is writing a TV episode similar or different from writing a comic?
Well, its different because you break an episode with a group of writers into sections and outline them loosely then you go home and write it. Usually with comics I pitch a paragraph and the editor trusts me to hand in a finish script. Its an interesting process and one I will get better at as time goes by and I do more.
Technically its not much different than writing a comic except I do less description work for a TV script and less direction notes.
 How big an adjustment was it on a creative level? Did you have to approach it as if you were writing all new characters?
Yes, but at that point I was helping on a bunch of episodes already, so I heard the actors voices in my head and it was easy to write. Some of my dialogue was changed when it was finalized because the head writer and I have a different style… but such is the game of TV writing.
I actually respect the hell out of him, so it worked out fine. Personally, the next thing I write, I would want to direct.
What's the greatest misconception about your life?
I would have to guess that people think I am a lucky bastard and maybe don’t work as hard as others, or that things come easy for me. I really don’t know. My friends are my friends and they know me. You'd have to ask them.
What are you going to work on tomorrow?
Finishing up a Painkiller Jane script for the comic, inking some Countdown pages and probably nailing a few more interviews infinitely less interesting than this one.
Aw, shucks.
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April 22, 2008:
February 4, 2008:
November 20, 2006:
A Comic-Con without the Captain
