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WORK TITLE: MESSENGER
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CITY: Los Angeles
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COUNTRY: United States
NATIONALITY: American
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PERSONAL
Born November 29, 1971; children: son, daughter Sophie.
ADDRESS
CAREER
Entertainment journalist, television writer-producer, comic book author, freelance writer, public speaker, podcaster. Los Angeles Times, film editor; Playboy.com, deputy editor; Hollywood Reporter, senior editor; Entertainment Weekly, managing editor, Starlog, managing editor; Fangoria, consulting editor.
MEMBER:Writers Guild of America.
AWARDS:Comic-Con International, Inkpot Award, 2018.
WRITINGS
Writer of television scripts for shows, including Castle Rock, Carnival Row, Alphas, and Masters of the Universe: Revelation. Contributor of articles to periodicals and websites, including Wired, GQ, Empire, Details, Vulture.com, Syfy.com.
SIDELIGHTS
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Bernardin is a entertainment writer who has worked on television scripts, comic books, and magazine articles. As an entertainment journalist, he was film editor at the Los Angeles Times and senior editor at Entertainment Weekly. For television he wrote scripts for Carnival Row, Treadstone, and Alphas. He has also contributed entertainment articles to various outlets, including Wired, GQ, and Vulture.com; has written for comic book companies Marvel, DC Comics, Image Comics; and co-hosts the Fatman Beyond podcast with filmmaker Kevin Smith.
With cowriter Adam Freeman, Bernardin published the urban revolutionary graphic novel miniseries that begins with Genius Volume 1 from Image’s imprint Top Cow. The origin story focuses on teenager Destiny who is a military genius in South Central Los Angles in a world marked by gang violence and corrupt police. As Destiny aims to unite the various gang factions into a unified fighting force, her target is the predatory cops and SWAT teams that infiltrate the neighborhood. She evades the police’s search for the mastermind behind the gang attacks, as the city declares war on the gangs. Presenting more than just a tale in the hood, the authors “craft a taut, visceral thriller that’s driven home by newcomer Richardson’s realistic yet stylized artwork,” according to a Publishers Weekly reviewer.
Bernardin published and Ariela Kristantina illustrated Adora and the Distance, a young adult fantasy graphic novel, part of the comiXology Originals line of exclusive digital content. In the epic adventure, Adora is a young woman of color and statesman who has dreams about a bizarre void, a mysterious force known as The Distance, that has the power to destroy the world. Leaving her kingdom, Adora gathers a band of protectors and underground river pirates to hunt down The Distance. In the Arabic-tinged world, they travel through hidden cities, and encounter ghosts, a giant lava monster, a musician whose sings magical spells, and caves with ancient puzzles and secret histories.
Fifteen years in the making, the story was inspired by Bernardin’s daughter, Sophie, who at the age of two was diagnosed on the autism spectrum, and her love of fantasy stories like The Wiggles, Finding Nemo, and Dora the Explorer. As Bernardin sought to understand his daughter and see the world as she saw it, he told her stories about Adora. “I wanted to imagine what was in her mind, what are the things that she sees to make her laugh and cry?…What’s happening? That’s what excited me,” he told Anthony Breznican at Vanity Fair. In an interview with Borys Kit at Hollywood Reporter, Bernardin said he was pleased with the reaction the story received: “One of the things I was very mindful was I know the spectrum is a vast landscape of people with various levels of ability and needs and desires.”
Bernardin joined with illustrator Ron Salas for Messenger: The Legend of Muhammad Ali, a graphic novel biography of the boxing legend. The book chronicles Ali’s life from childhood as Cassius Clay in Louisville, Kentucky, to winning six championship boxing matches before age 18, his matches at the 1960 Olympics in Rome, meeting with civil rights leader Malcolm X, conversion to Islam and changing his name to Muhammad Ali, interview with broadcaster Howard Cosell, controversial opposition to the Vietnam War, heavyweight match against George Foreman, and diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease. “The creators pull no punches when it comes to discussing heavier topics,” such as his charitable endeavors, racism Ali endured, and refusal to join the draft, according to a writer in Publishers Weekly. A Kirkus Reviews contributor praised Bernardin’s work presenting Ali’s life, saying: “Bernardin’s prose effectively captures Ali’s larger-than-life aura, seamlessly incorporating the boxer’s poetic catchphrases and electrifying speeches.”
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BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
Kirkus Reviews, July 15, 2023, review of The Messenger.
Publishers Weekly, July 6, 2015, review of Genius Volume 1, p. 55; June 26, 2023, review of Messenger: The Legend of Muhammad Ali, p. 110.
ONLINE
Hollywood Reporter, https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/ (June 17, 2021), Borys Kit, “Marc Bernardin on the 15-Year Journey of His ‘Adora and the Distance’ Graphic Novel.”
Los Angeles Times, https://www.latimes.com/ (April 1, 2024), “Marc Bernardin.”
Vanity Fair, https://www.vanityfair.com/ (July 8, 2021), Anthony Breznican, “The Father Who Searched for His Daughter in a Comic Book.”
Marc Bernardin is a television writer-producer as well as a comic book author. His TV work includes serving as a supervising producer on Star Trek: Picard, a supervising producer on Starz’s The Continental, was most recently a producer on Amazon’s Victorian fantasy series Carnival Row, a co-producer on the USA Network spy drama Treadstone, a staff writer on the first season of Castle Rock, the Stephen King and J.J. Abrams original series for Hulu, and a staff writer on Syfy’s superheroic television series Alphas.
In an earlier life, he was an entertainment journalist: He was the Film Editor for the Los Angeles Times, overseeing the paper’s movie coverage and coordinating the efforts of a dozen staffers. He was also the Deputy Editor of Playboy.com, a senior editor for The Hollywood Reporter, a senior editor for Entertainment Weekly, managing editor of Starlog magazine, and a consulting editor for Fangoria magazine. As a freelance writer, he has contributed to Wired, GQ, Empire, Details, Vulture.com, and Syfy.com.
He also has written a fair number of comic books over the years. His most recent is Adora and the Distance, an original graphic novel coming from Comixology in early 2020. Other works include Genius (Image), an urban revolutionary miniseries which The A.V. Club called “the most relevant comic on stands, Static Shock (one of DC Comics’ premiere African-American superheroes), X-Men Origins: Nightcrawler, Wolverine, The Authority, The Highwaymen, and Monster Attack Network.
Marc Bernardin on the 15-Year Journey of His ‘Adora and the Distance’ Graphic Novel
The writer shares an exclusive, five-page preview of the graphic novel inspired by his daughter.
BY BORYS KIT
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JUNE 17, 2021 9:46AM
Adora and the Distance Marc Bernardin
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Marc Bernardin has cultivated a strong geek following with his insightful and entertaining Fatman on Batman and Battlestar Galactica podcasts, his Emmy-nominated screenwriting work on such shows as Castle Rock and Star Trek: Picard, and his comic book work.
But this week, Bernardin, who was also a journalist for Entertainment Weekly and The Hollywood Reporter, released his most personal work yet, the YA graphic novel, Adora and the Distance.
Coming digitally from ComiXology Originals, the story focuses on nine-year old girl named Adora, plagued by nightmares, who goes on a quest to stave off her kingdom’s destruction.
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Inspired by his daughter, Bernardin’s tale weaves together a band of protectors, underground river pirates, hidden cities and a mysterious foe that is creative fodder for Indonesian artist Ariela Kristantina, who brings the Arabic-tinged world to life.
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THR caught Bernardin as he was gearing up to watch Marvel’s Loki (research for his next Fatman podcast, he says, and of course we believe him) to talk about the book.
This book was almost 15 years in the making. How did it begin?
The idea popped into my head after my daughter was diagnosed with being on the autism spectrum. Friends told me I could process this by writing an article or book but I was always resistant to it. I didn’t want to write a memoir, I didn’t want to write a “here’s how I dealt with it.” I wanted to know about the narrative that I didn’t have access to, which was what was going on inside her head. Over the next couple of years, I kept returning to it and it merged into this fantasy story inspired by the content she liked, The Wiggles, Finding Nemo, Dora the Explorer. And this eventually became Adora and the Distance.
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There must have been ups and downs getting this made.
There were like three or four times that I pitched it to some publishers who appreciated it but just didn’t quite get. And some collaborators fizzled. I thought about doing it as a Patreon or Kickstarter and that didn’t quite gel. About five years ago I just figured I might as well write it. But it was 15 years in the making and there definitely have been ebbs and flows.
What’s the reaction been so far?
It’s been incredibly heartwarming. One of the things I was very mindful was I know the spectrum is a vast landscape of people with various levels of ability and needs and desires. Hearing from people on the spectrum who have read and it and felt connected to it has been heartening. That’s the part that means the world to me.
Will we see more of Adora?
It was designed to be a one-off. But the more I think about it, the more I see there is a path for another chapter. I’m not as dismissive to the idea as I had been in the past.
***
Adora and the Distance is out now on ComiXology. Bernardin, who is prepping to make his directorial debut with Splinter, a short that was funded via a successful Kickstarter campaign, will be at the live recording of Fatman on Batman podcast June 22 at Hollywood’s Scum and Villainy Cantina.
The Father Who Searched for His Daughter in a Comic Book
Marc Bernardin’s gorgeous, powerful Adora and the Distance was his way of connecting with a child on the autism spectrum.
BY ANTHONY BREZNICAN
JULY 8, 2021
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PHOTO BY ANDREW HEABERLIN
An extraordinary young girl faces a seemingly inexplicable struggle. The people who love her unite in support, but ultimately the battle is hers alone. Wonders and joys await. So do pitfalls and setbacks. They stand bravely for one another, no matter what, as the inevitable bears down.
In writer Marc Bernardin’s new graphic novel, Adora and the Distance, this tale plays out in a fantasy kingdom full of dashing figures—a masked protector, underworld pirates, a giant lava monster, a musician whose songs are magical spells, and caves with ancient puzzles and secret histories. At the margins of this world, a bizarre void—an entity known only as the Distance, a destroyer that consumes anything in its path—has begun to pursue Adora, a young, kindhearted stateswoman who leaves her kingdom first to escape, then to fight.
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In Bernardin’s own life, a less fanciful version of the plot unfolded between him and his 18-year-old daughter, Sophie, who was diagnosed with autism when she was a two-year-old. The heroic character of Adora began to take shape as Bernardin sought to understand his own little girl—to see the world as she saw it, if only to be there for her when she most needed him. It wasn’t easy for any of them, but that was okay. No worthy quest ever is.
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The Father Who Searched for His Daughter in a Comic Book
“As she got older, I realized that there were parts of her life that were unavailable to me as a parent,” says Bernardin. “We have a son who’s a year and a half younger than Sophie, and he’s neurotypical. And so, we were able to get access to ‘Why are you laughing? Why are you crying? What are you afraid of? What is your current emotional state, what’s causing it, and what can I do to alleviate it?’”
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That wasn’t something he felt they could always do with his daughter. She’s verbal, and can express wants and needs, but tends to be closed off internally and emotionally. “Every kid on the spectrum is different, and some children and adults with autism have complete access to those things. In my case, my daughter didn’t,” Bernardin says. “If there’s pain, can you tell us where it is? Not having answers to those things is the stuff that keeps you up at night as the dad of a child on the spectrum.”
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Bernardin turned to some of his own superpowers for support: creativity and imagination.
Marc Bernardin and his daughter Sophie.
Marc Bernardin and his daughter Sophie. COURTESY OF MARC BERNARDIN.
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The 49-year-old is a geek extraordinaire, an entertainment journalist who made the leap to creative storytelling, first for DC Comics and Marvel, and then as a writer on TV shows such as Castle Rock, Treadstone, and most recently Star Trek: Picard and the animated Masters of the Universe. He’s also the longtime cohost of the podcast Fatman on Batman (now known as Fatman Beyond) with Clerks filmmaker Kevin Smith, and is a mentor to many newcomers who yearn to break into the business. As Syfy once wrote, “Marc Bernardin Should Be Your Geek Career Role Model.”
As his daughter grew up, he tried to fill in the blanks by working on Adora and the Distance. The graphic novel became an exercise in attempting to confront the unknowable. Every parent can probably relate to the experience of seeking to understand an inscrutable kid, although Bernardin hopes this story will have special resonance for moms and dads like him. Not that he wanted to dwell on everyday experiences—he knows that spending time in other worlds can sometimes give us important perspective on our own.
“I didn’t want to write a book about what it’s like to raise a child on the spectrum because I was not curious about me. I always felt like I was the least interesting person in this particular narrative,” Bernardin says. “I wanted to imagine what was in her mind, what are the things that she sees to make her laugh and cry? What is a five-, six-, seven-year-old kid imagining in her head when she sings songs with lyrics that I don’t know, or when she has conversations with people I can’t see? What’s happening? That’s what excited me.”
For him, Adora and the Distance could be the inner world his daughter sees, the feelings and sensations she experiences within, even if no one else shares them.
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Just like Adora’s quest to confront the all-consuming entity known as the Distance, Bernardin’s comic book journey required a team. His key partner was artist Ariela Kristantina, who sketched the ethereal world that Bernardin outlined on the page. She also ended up drawing inspiration from Sophie. “In every iteration of the script, there are no racial descriptors for Adora,” he says. “She was just, you know, a girl who has a lot of life in her eyes. It wasn’t until Ariela came on board and she started doing sketches of the characters that she drew her as a brown girl with curly hair.”
For some reason, it took Bernardin aback. There she was. Not just Adora, but Sophie too. “I never asked for that, and Ariela said, ‘But of course she is. She’s your kid, right?’ It broke my heart. I never cogitated it, I’d never written it down that way. That’s the kind of thing you get with an artist who is vibrating on a wavelength that you think you’re putting out there. She was like, ‘No, I get it.’”
Colored by Bryan Valenza and lettered and designed by Bernardo Brice, the book is a watercolor dream etched in runes and ancient script—a fresco come to life. The design melds influences from history and fantasy. “The city that Adora lives in, where her uncle Rafael is the regent or lord, was described as a port city on the southern shores of Spain in like the 16th century. I wanted it to feel a bit like the Baghdad of Neil Gaiman’s Sandman. This is the Baghdad of legend that doesn’t exist anymore. This is the one that’s in all the stories. It’s also things that I had been inspired by not just as a kid, but as an adult. There’s a lot of Guillermo del Toro in there, with this giant lava monster who is actually kind of sweet.”
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Within this world, Adora is a child prodigy, a foundling who connects with rich and poor, who connects with prisoners and power brokers, who unites and inspires the disparate elements of her city in a way that is almost mystical. Really, she’s just abnormally kind. When she is threatened, she finds she has many protectors.
But what exactly is the danger? In his introduction for the book, Lost co-creator and Watchmen showrunner Damon Lindelof explains that its vagueness is the point. “Only Adora knows what she must face…and overcome…to complete her journey. A journey that is not just about arriving somewhere in the outside world, but about finding peace and understanding with the world inside herself. For the only way to truly overcome The Distance is to find closeness…any way we can.”
Maybe the thing that seems ominous and destructive isn’t actually the threat we think it is. Bernardin said he learned this lesson himself, when he was laid off more than a decade ago as an editor at Entertainment Weekly. He had been comfortable there, and was working on coverage of movies and TV shows he loved. (Plus he was a young father who needed the regular paycheck.) But he was telling the story of other storytellers—not telling his own.
Taking a chance on his own writing felt too intimidating. So he stalled. “It’s a leap that I don’t know that I would have made if I wasn’t pushed,” he said. “Getting kicked off the merry-go-round ultimately was the thing that I could not have known that I needed.”
He began to see his daughter’s autism diagnosis and the family’s related challenges in a similar way. Difficulties naturally test us. But in overcoming, we find things we didn’t even know we were seeking.
“I think I’m a more empathetic person,” Bernardin says of being the parent of a neuroatypical child. “I’ve managed to wrestle a temper to the ground because of it. Having to be understanding and patient and tender at times when you might not want to be is a thing that I learned from raising a kid on the spectrum, as well as the understanding that things are going to be hard, but the hardness is what makes you sharper.”
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Both father and daughter have learned that they must push past their comfort zones in order to find the things that make them happy. With him, it was taking a chance on his own storytelling. With her, he said, it was “classes, therapy, counselors, and treatments”—all the things aimed at helping her cope better with the world.
“It’s all hard, and the only thing that makes it totally survivable is the people that you’re going through it with,” Bernardin says. “It’s classic Tolkien quest structure: It’s going to be a hard journey, some of us will fall, but it is the people that we had to endure the fellowship with that makes burning the ring worthwhile.”
Marc Bernardin is the former film editor for the Los Angeles Times; he left in February 2017. Before joining The Times, he held senior editing positions with the Hollywood Reporter and Entertainment Weekly, and more recently he oversaw the online entertainment vertical for Playboy.com. A seasoned writer as well as an editor, he has freelanced for outlets including GQ, Wired, Details, Vulture and Empire. He also knows the industry from the inside, doing a tour of duty as a staff writer for the Syfy Channel’s “Alphas” series and writing comic books for Marvel, DC and Image. A recent California transplant from the New York metropolitan area, he lives deep in the San Fernando Valley — not quite Kardashian Country, but close — with his family. He also sat in Captain Kirk’s chair once, and is inordinately proud of that.
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Bernardin in 2016
Marc Bernardin (born November 29, 1971) is an American journalist, public speaker, TV and comic book writer, and podcaster. He has served as film editor for the Los Angeles Times and senior editor for The Hollywood Reporter and Entertainment Weekly. He has written for GQ, Wired, Details, Vulture, Playboy, and Empire.[1] He has been a staff writer for Castle Rock, Treadstone and Carnival Row, and is currently a supervising producer on Star Trek: Picard.[2]
Career
Bernardin was an intern on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.[3]
He was a staff writer for the Syfy series Alphas, Hulu's series Castle Rock, based on the stories of Stephen King, USA Network’s series Treadstone, based on the Jason Bourne franchise,[4] and Amazon Prime’s fantasy series Carnival Row. He has written comic books for Marvel, DC Comics, Image Comics[5] and several independent comic publishers. He is the co-creator of the DC comic book series The Highwaymen, which is in development as a major motion picture. He co-hosts the Fatman Beyond podcast with filmmaker Kevin Smith,[6] and a second podcast named The Battlestar Galacticast with Tricia Helfer.[7] In 2018, Bernardin won an Inkpot Award, an honor bestowed annually since 1974 by Comic-Con International.[8]
In 2019, Bernardin joined other WGA writers in firing their agents as part of the WGA's stand against the ATA and the practice of packaging.[9]
On August 18, 2019, it was announced that Bernardin would be serving as writer for Masters of the Universe: Revelation on Netflix.[10] Then, on February 21, 2020, Bernardin was announced to be part of the writing team for the upcoming animated series The Legend of Vox Machina, for Amazon Prime Video.[11] On December 19, 2023, Bernardin announced he was part of the writing team for the upcoming animated series Eyes of Wakanda for Disney+.[12]
Bibliography
Monster Attack Network #1 (2007)
The Highwaymen #1-5 (2007)
Infinite Halloween Special #1 (2007)
Pilot Season: Genius #1 (2008)
Push #1-6 (2008-2009)
Wolverine: One Night Only #1 (2009)
Dark X-Men: The Beginning #2 (2009)
The Authority #17-21 (2009-2010)
Grunts (2010)
Hero Complex (2010)
Women of Marvel #1 (2010)
X-Men Origins: Nightcrawler #1 (2010)
Jake The Dreaming #1 (2011)
Spider-Man: A Meal To Die For #1 (2011)
Cartoon Network Action Pack #58 (2011)
JLA 80-Page Giant 2011 #1 (2011)
DC Comics Presents: Lobo #1 (2011)
Static Shock #7-8 (2012)
Nightwatchman (2012)
Airwolf Airstrikes #6 (2015)
Rampage Adventures #7 (2015)
Genius #1-5 (2015)
Love Is Love #1 (2016)
Genius: Cartel #1-5 (2017)
King In Black: Planet Of The Symbiotes #2 (2021)
Heroes Reborn: Peter Parker, The Amazing Shutterbug (2021)
Adora and the Distance (2021)
Census #1-5 (2022)
Messenger: The Legend of Muhammad Ali (2023)
Star Wars: Darth Vader - Black, White & Red #3 (2023)
The Devil's Cut #1 (2023)
Star Wars: Mace Windu (Vol. 2) #1 (2024)
Smash Pages Q&A: Marc Bernardin on ‘Adora and The Distance’
The writer, filmmaker and journalist discusses his latest graphic novel, which comes out next week from comiXology Originals.
Marc Bernardin has had long, varied career, from his years as a writer and editor at Entertainment Weekly, the Los Angeles Times and The Hollywood Reporter, to co-hosting FatMan Beyond with Kevin Smith and the Battlestar Galacticast with Tricia Helfer. In recent years he’s established a reputation as a television writer on series including Alphas, Castle Rock, Treadstone and the upcoming Masters of the Universe: Revelation, which launches in July on Netflix. Some of us, though, know him as a comics writer, co-writing Monster Attack Network, The Highwaymen, Genius and other works for more than a decade.
Bernardin’s new project, which comes out next week from comiXology Originals, is the young-adult graphic novel Adora and The Distance, which he created with artist Ariela Kristantina. A fantasy adventure that has its own twists and surprises, it’s a book that is familiar and unexpected in startlingly beautiful ways. Next week Bernardin’s Kickstarter campaign for his short film Splinter ends, and he was kind enough to answer a few questions about his work.
Marc, to start, how did you come to comics?
I think I came much in the same way that many people did: My parents. Specifically, my dad, who knew I liked sci-fi and fantasy stuff as a kid and, one day, brought home a bag of comics. I don’t remember much of what was in the bag other than an issue of Savage Sword of Conan, which was far too mature for my pre-teen eyes, but I devoured it anyway. I was pretty much an exclusively Conan fan, comics-wise, until Marvel’s Secret Wars came out. And that pretty much cracked the world open for me.
You mention in the afterward to the book that you’ve been thinking about Adora and the Distance for many years and that your daughter was the impetus for it. When did you start working on the book, or when did you realize what the story was?
It was a couple of years after she was diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder. This would’ve been about 13 years ago. I was still a journalist at the time and a few colleagues suggested that I write about the experience. We’re all looking for stories to tell, aren’t we? But I knew I didn’t want whatever I wrote to be about me, a parent raising a child with autism. I’m just a dude, you know? I’m the least remarkable person in this scenario. I wanted to deal with the thing that’s mysterious to me, the question that I couldn’t already answer. Which led me to, naturally, a mythical fantasy quest.
What were the fantasy and adventure stories you loved and that you drew on when writing and thinking about this book?
I was a big Tolkien fan growing up. Specifically, The Hobbit. (It took me a while to roll with The Lord of the Rings because that Tom Bombadil kept derailing my momentum.) Lay that on top of the Conan fascination, add some side servings of Alexandre Dumas’ The Three Musketeers and William Goldman’s The Princess Bride, and there you have it.
One reason I ask that is because initially the book seems to take place in Al-Andalus or North Africa or some place familiar to us, and then it quickly becomes apparent that we’re in a very different world.
Al-Andalus is precisely right. As I described it to the amazing Ariela Kristantina when we first began building the look of Adora, the story starts in a port city in the Spain of Spain’s own memory. And I sent Ariela images from the astonishing Sandman #50, which tells of the Baghdad of myth and lore that’s been lost to time. That feeling of a place that fabulous, in the literal definition of the word.
1 / 6
Talk a little about working with Ariela and Bryan, and how their work shaped the story and the characters.
It probably sounds a bit trite, but Adora and the Distance wouldn’t be what it is without Ariela and Bryan being part of it. There are so many decisions they made that I wouldn’t have even thought to make — the details of the wardrobe, the texture of the colors — that are essential to making a fantasy world feel real. And Ariela felt such a responsibility to get those details right; I will forever be in her debt for taking Adora and the Distance from an okay script to what I feel is a great book.
You mentioned that when you were talking about and shopping the book, some people questioned whether it should be told.
There were a fair number of rejections along the way, from publishers big and small, but those were less from a position of denying that this was a story that should be told and more because of the manner in which I was telling it. They all saw that there was a market for a graphic novel dealing with autism, but I think there was more a desire for the Fun Home or Persepolis version of it. More like a graphic memoir. But for all the reasons, I wasn’t interested in that. And then there were publishers who turned it down over structural reasons—namely, why can’t we introduce autism earlier in the story? And while I understand that impulse, it came down to my personal taste. It was just the way the story was asking me to tell it.
You had a Twitter thread a while back about being valued where you are and how companies demand loyalty they don’t return. I couldn’t help but think of a character confronting nothingness and being attacked, of trying to outrun it and face uncertainty, that you could relate to some of that very personally.
I am an inherently collaborative person, which comes from years of working in journalism and then television, which are absolutely not solitary pursuits. And so there are things in each story that are negotiable, if we’re working towards making it better. But then there are things that are so vital that to change them would make the project completely different. And I’ll always circle the wagon around those things. It’s crucial to identify those things and protect them and I think that value system extends to how you deal with publishers or studios or networks or whomever. “I know there’s something here. I believe it can be great. If you do too, then let’s make it together. If not, then I don’t owe anything to you, just as you absolutely don’t owe anything to me.”
Now because I’m old I actually owned a copy of Monster Attack Network, and I voted for Genius in Pilot Season. You’ve been working in TV for years now; what made this story a comic for you?
I can absolutely see a TV or movie version of Adora and, fingers crossed, those will follow. But the idea first came to me as a comic. I don’t know why, but I could see it on the page before I could see these characters walking and talking. So I stuck with that original impulse.
Right now you’re also Kickstarting a short film, Splinter. Did you always want to direct? And want to be this writer/director/producer/storyteller?
I wanted to be a filmmaker once I realized that I couldn’t really draw. I wanted to be Frank Miller, a comics writer-artist, but once artist was off the table, I then decided I’d be Spike Lee. Or whatever the nerd-version of Spike Lee might be for a kid coming up in the early 1990s. I made a couple of shorts when I was in college, but they were profoundly student productions at a school that wasn’t known for filmmakers. So they left something to be desired. Flash forward 30 years and I found myself in a position where maybe I could indulge those old dreams and see if there’s anything still there. I don’t know if this means that I want to shift my career into being a big screen writer-director. But life can present new opportunities at any time and we’d be fools not to take advantage.
Just to close with Adora, do you have a favorite scene in the book? Or is there a moment where when you go the art back, you had that moment of wonder you hope it gives the reader?
Not to give too much away, but there’s a moment early in the book, when Adora throws open the curtains in her room, revealing the city in all its dawn splendor, and says, “The day is waiting and we have a lot to do.” It’s sort of the beginning of the story, proper. That image, and the sequence that follows, shows you Adora’s world and how she loves it – and shows you the things she’s going to leave behind when she goes on her adventure. Seeing those pages come back, in every stage, from pencils to inks to colors, made the book real for me in a way that nothing else did. Beginnings are a very delicate time and for Adora to begin on such strong footing gave me faith that we’d finish even stronger.
McDaniel, Scott (text & illus.) & John Rozum & Marc Bernardin (text). Static Shock. Vol. 1: Supercharged. DC Comics. 2012. 192p. ISBN 9781401234843. pap. $16.99. F/SUPERHERO
DC Comics is revamping its old superhero universe by launching 52 new titles (known as the "New 52"). Although all the books' stars existed in DC's old universe, and despite some of DC's major heroes having multiple titles, many of the new books belong to less well-known characters. This volume's protagonist, Static--the teenaged Virgil Hawkins--has certainly been one of the more obscure heroes in the DC pantheon. Virgil and his family recently moved to New York City, and Virgil, still in high school, must fight various villains while maintaining his secret identity, doing well in school, and having a social life. Although Static, a wisecracking science genius, is similar to the young Spider-Man, writer/artist McDaniel (Batman) and writers Rozum (Xombi) and Bernardin (Push) have differentiated him by making Virgil more self-confident than the early Peter Parker ever was. McDaniel portrays Virgil's civilian life well with his bold, blocky artwork, but the unusual panel layouts he uses make action scenes difficult to follow.
Verdict This entry to the New 52 is an average but well-executed superhero book, appropriate for all ages. Recommended for fans of the 1960s Spider-Man or the more recent Ultimate Spider-Man.--Robert Mixner, Bartholomew Cty. P.L., Columbus, IN
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2012 Library Journals, LLC
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Mixner, Robert. "McDaniel, Scott (text & illus.) & John Rozum & Marc Bernardin (text). Static Shock. Vol. 1: Supercharged." Xpress Reviews, 5 Oct. 2012, p. NA. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A307413384/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=e8bce7bc. Accessed 15 Feb. 2024.
* Genius, Vol. 1
Marc Bernardin, Adam Freeman and Afua Richardson. Image, $14.99 trade paper (160p) ISBN 978-1-63215-223-7
In this long-gestating story (begun in 2008), teen Destiny A jaye grew up on the streets of South Central Los Angeles, hardened at an early age by bloody gang warfare. But Destiny possesses an advantage that sets her apart from the other heavily armed youths of her community, specifically a razor-sharp military genius and the will to unite disparate gang factions into an organized, disciplined force that wages devastating war on the corrupt local police. As Destiny's soldiers fatally devastate waves of cops and highly skilled SWAT teams, the authorities struggle to discover just who is leading these street troops and what the eventual goal might be. Taking what could have been just another "in the hood" narrative and turning the genre on its head with the introduction of a unique protagonist, Bernadin and Freeman (Highwayman) craft a taut, visceral thriller that's driven home by newcomer Richardson's realistic yet stylized artwork. This volume serves as something of an origin story for Destiny, and it's superb from start to finish. (June)
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2015 PWxyz, LLC
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"Genius, Vol. 1." Publishers Weekly, vol. 262, no. 27, 6 July 2015, p. 55. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A421321749/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=6d256cde. Accessed 15 Feb. 2024.
Messenger: The Legend of Muhammad Ali
Marc Bernardin, illus. by Ron Salas. First Second, $25.99 (240p) ISBN 978-1-59643-971-9; $17.99 paper ISBN 978-1-250-88163-2
Bernardin (Adora and the Distance) and Salas (Transference) chronicle the early life and later achievements of Black boxer Muhammad Ali in this moving graphic novel biography. After his bike is stolen in 1954 Louisville, Ky., Ali meets boxing coach Joe Martin and insists that Joe instruct him in how to fight so he can teach the thief a lesson. What follows is a passion-fueled journey that would see Ali win six championships before, at age 18, participating in the 1960 summer Olympics in Rome. Salas's noir-like b&w illustrations depict some of Ali's career-defining matches in adrenaline-rich sequences that feature fluidly rendered sweat flying across the page and sharp lighting tracing swift punches. Beyond Ali's athletic prowess, Bernardin employs organic dialogue to highlight his humanitarian efforts throughout, such as the story of his bond with Jimmy, a child with leukemia who reveres Ali. The creators pull no punches when it comes to discussing heavier topics; Ali's Olympic achievements are soured by the racism he endures in the U.S., and chapters covering the Vietnam War portray Ali's refusal to participate in the draft, making for a well-rounded look at the subject's impact on society. Ages 14-up. (Aug.)
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2023 PWxyz, LLC
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"Messenger: The Legend of Muhammad Ali." Publishers Weekly, vol. 270, no. 26, 26 June 2023, p. 110. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A757466766/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=1a28e242. Accessed 15 Feb. 2024.
Bernardin, Marc MESSENGER First Second (Teen None) $17.99 8, 15 ISBN: 9781250881632
A rousing graphic biography tracing the evolution of a storied boxing champion and humanitarian.
How did Cassius Clay become "The Greatest"? Born in Louisville, Kentucky, the future heavyweight champion stumbled into the sport after a thief stole his bicycle. Clay reported the crime to police officer Joe Martin, who trained boxers at a local gym. Martin advised Clay to "learn to fight before you start fighting." Later, 18-year-old Clay earned a gold medal at the 1960 Olympics. Becoming an Olympic medalist, however, didn't protect him from the widespread terror of white supremacy. A chance meeting with Malcolm X in Miami opened Clay's eyes to the importance of Black pride and claiming his own identity. Later, he converted to Islam and changed his name to Muhammad Ali. Denouncing the Vietnam War as a conscientious objector made headlines; the U.S. Supreme Court found him guilty of draft evasion but later overturned his conviction. Parkinson's disease may have slowed Ali down, but he remained steadfast in his beliefs. Bernardin's prose effectively captures Ali's larger-than-life aura, seamlessly incorporating the boxer's poetic catchphrases and electrifying speeches. Salas' emotive grayscale illustrations complement the narrative, evoking the unspoken fears, worries, and doubts hiding beneath Ali's bravado. This work does a stellar job of presenting Ali's life in an accessible way without minimizing the impact of his legacy and the expansiveness of his life.
A moving ode to a mighty icon whose cultural contributions are as powerful as his victories in the ring. (bibliography) (Graphic biography. 14-18)
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2023 Kirkus Media LLC
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"Bernardin, Marc: MESSENGER." Kirkus Reviews, 15 July 2023, p. NA. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A756872024/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=40a17755. Accessed 15 Feb. 2024.