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Tony Lee Talks To Jai Nitz About Grimm

Published Wed, 09 Oct 2013 09:30:06 -0500

Tony Lee talks to Jai Nitz about working on Grimm for Dynamite;

TL: Firstly Jai, how much of a fan of GRIMM are you?

Jai Nitz- I have seen every episode of GRIMM. I'm not scary movie guy, but I am inherently drawn to concepts that focus on supernatural elements. I am a fan of mythology and folklore. GRIMM touches on both while wrapped in the episodic language of a police procedural. Also, Jim Kouf, one of the creators of the show, wrote the movie UP THE CREEK which I've seen (conservatively) a hundred times.

TL: You're best known for your work in either superhero comics of
publishers like DC, or in the more shadowy pulp tales for Dynamite. How
did this book come up?

JN- I was a fan of the show, and as soon as I heard that Dynamite had the license I emailed my GREEN HORNET editor, Joe Rybandt. The initial push for the GRIMM comic was handled by the show creators and guys in the writers room, so I didn't begrudge them at all. I asked if they'd allow me to write a future arc of the book. That became GRIMM: THE WARLOCK. The artist on the book is Jose Malaga who handled the first GRIMM comic arc. And the covers are by my DREAM THIEF partner in crime, Greg Smallwood.

TL: You've worked a lot with licensed characters, but GRIMM is a new one
to comics. With the season still hitting the airwaves, what restrictions
did this give you?

JN- None. The people on the show and my aforementioned editor are smart. They know it's best to let creative people do their thing but to guide that creative process at the earliest stages. That way I didn't cover any ground the show was already doing. Also, I made sure that I wrote the comic to include things that would never work on the show. It'd be impossible to set an episode during a Portland Trailblazers game at the arena. It'd be impossible to shoot at the Lan Su Chinese Gardens during Chinese New Year. So the restrictions of the show became fertile ground for the comic.

TL: The miniseries has Nick and Hank as ever solving a case – but will
we see any other familiar faces? At what point during the show is the
story set?

JN- Yes, every issue. All the series regulars show up in the comic: Hank, Monroe, Juliet, Sgt. Wu, Capt. Renard. I made sure that I could use everyone on the show. I was curious about the time-setting myself. I'm not privy to any insider knowledge about Season Three, but some of the guidance I got set the comic after the season premiere of Season Three.

TL: What can you tell us about the story?

JN- The short version is that a new villain is in Portland and Nick is in his way as a cop and as a Grimm. I wanted to accentuate all the things I love most about the show. I wanted GRIMM: THE WARLOCK to be a story about duality. Nick is a servant of both Order and Chaos. That's a tough life. Sometimes his two jobs follow the same path, and sometimes his two jobs are counterintuitive. The show deals with that a lot, but I wanted to explore it further with storytelling techniques that only comics can provide.

TL: How has the process with NBC been for you? Have you been restrained,
or have you gotten away with more than you expected?

JN- I met Jim and Lynn Kouf at San Diego Comic Con. They and Kyle McVey have been super-helpful and instrumental in making GRIMM: THE WARLOCK the best it can be. I have not received one note that hindered my story (macro-arc and micro-arcs) in any way. I have received notes, but they come from the people who know more than I do about the series. They always have the story's best interests in mind.

TL: I saw that your short film RHINO is doing the festival circuit at
the moment. Does this mean that there's a possible move into
screenplays? Would you be up for writing an episode of GRIMM the TV show?

JN- I would write an episode of GRIMM in a heartbeat. We've had conversations about the possibility, but it's much MUCH tougher than you'd imagine. The line of talented teleplay writers in front of me is long and distinguished. Still, would I kill for an episode? Yes.

TL: With Dream Thief at Dark Horse, what's next for you?

JN- DREAM THIEF is Greg and I's baby. We just wrapped up the first series at Dark Horse and we're going to make an announcement soon about the future of the book. It's a bright future. I also have more projects in the pipe at Dark Horse, so look for more announcements there. Greg and I are doing a Dr. Strange and Beast story for Marvel's A+X book. I'm writing some screenplay work that isn't ready to be announced, and I'm still teaching Comic Books and Film Media at the University of Kansas. And, of course, I'm always happy to keep working with Nick and Joe at Dynamite. I'm sure I'll be up to something with them soon.

In a dazzling conflict of interest, Tony Lee is also working on a comic for Dynamite, Starbuck, with issue 1 shipping next month.

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