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This evening at WizardWorld Los Angeles’ Cup ‘O Joe panel, Marvel Editor in Chief Joe Quesada announced the publisher’s latest exclusive creator – J. Scott Campbell. The artist will be paired with writer Jeph Loeb on a Spider-Man project that is slated for release in 2007.

While Campbell has handled the character on covers for Amazing Spider-Man early on in J. Michael Straczynski’s run, the Loeb collaboration will be the first time Campbell has tackled a Marvel character in a story, as well as one of his rare appearances on a character he didn’t have a hand in creating.

We spoke with Campbell about the new gig and his overview of what it means for his art and career.

Newsarama: First things first Jeff, obviously the big question – why? What was going on with you that made this move to Marvel seem like the right thing to do at the time?

J. Scott Campbell: Why?!? [laughs] Well, I suppose because it was the right project, with the right writer, with the right deal, at the right time! Seriously though, I've wanted to work on this character since I first decided to get into comics! And Jeph has approached me several times over the years to work on some kind of "big project" together, so when he approached me about this one, we both almost immediately agreed that the situation and the timing just finally felt right! And I know that my fans have been just dying for me to do something like this, and it feels good to give them what they want! I think they're going to be really excited about this!

NRAMA: How long had you been talking to Marvel about such an arrangement? Does this date back to your Amazing Spider-Man cover time? Earlier?

JSC: Yeah, I'd say that the very beginnings of this idea probably dated back to around the time I was doing those first covers for Amazing. Everybody there knew I was dying to do something more, but the talks never got much further past the "hypothetical." It really did take Jeph's pushing and enthusiasm to make this into a reality!

NRAMA:  Not looking to get into any “versus” type stuff, but why Marvel over DC? What does Marvel have that lured you away?

JSC: Well, to be honest, Marvel had Jeph! And Jeph really wanted me for this project and I think that pressured Marvel to pull out all the stops to get me on the project. Being at DC has been great, and I've really enjoyed working with a lot of those guys, especially people like Scott Dunbier and Jim Lee! But I Marvel was just more motivated, and I liked that. And I'll be honest, a lot of my "90's/Image comics" contemporaries had already recently taken a crack at Batman, I didn't want to be just "another guy drawing Batman." I think that I can make more of a noticeable impact over at Marvel right now!

NRAMA: So, Jeph was the person who got the ball rolling for Marvel?

JSC: Yep - I give all of the credit to Jeph! Jeph Loeb really championed me over there and from what I understand, he said something like "This is the only guy I want for this project!" and that really meant a lot to me! If it wasn't for Jeph's passion for this project, I don't think this would be happening right now! And yes, It took quite a while for this deal to come together, there was a lot of back n' forth and it was always a bit up in the air right up until the end, but now that I'm signed, I couldn't be happier! I'm very, very excited about it!

NRAMA: Is the term of the contract a length of time, or a volume of work?

JSC: I'm not sure if I'm supposed to say at this time, only that it's a substantial amount of issues!

NRAMA: With you, Marvel now has the “Cliffhanger 3” – J. Scott Campbell, Humberto Ramos, and Joe Mad working on established properties rather than your own concepts. All just a coincidence, or can something about today’s market be read into it?

JSC: [laughs] You know, I hadn't really thought about that, but yeah, that is kinda funny, huh? It does kinda seem like after Joe Mad, Humberto, and even Turner announcing before me, that I'm kind of a Johnny-come-lately, but I can tell you that I was in very serious negotiations with this deal before any of those were announced, and before I even knew anything about those guys! But I like that I'm in very good company! And I don't think it's necessarily a "coincidence" at all! I think it does say a lot about the market place. I mean, the 90's was the reign of the "artist" on their "creator owned" projects! It was the "image comics" era! But it's been fairly obvious that we're now in the "icon era", where the books that have that superstar writer/ superstar artist/superstar icon character "trifecta" reign supreme! I suppose all of us just figured around the same time, "why fight 'em if you can join 'em!" And thankfully, Marvel is making it very worth our while to be a part of these exciting projects and I think that's great.

NRAMA: What does this mean for you in regards to future Danger Girls or Wildsiderz? Are you still looking to create new properties?

JSC: Listen, I absolutely love creating brand new comic properties - it's my true passion! It's what I've built my entire career upon up until this point. And I think if down the road, a group of us can band together again similar to what those Image guys originally did, then I think that creator owned properties could once again have a real shot at top ten success! But I gotta say, it's pretty exciting trying something new! Working on a legendary, established, beloved icon character is a new thing for me! It's exhilarating and very reinvigorating! I gotta tell you, I'm really looking forward to it!

NRAMA: That was pretty easy to pick up. As an artist, what’s the draw working with Jeph?

JSC: He's really just about the only writer I would trust to work with! I'm not a big fan of these quieter, talking heads, slow, introspective comic books I see a lot of out there. I'll be honest, I think a lot of them are really, well... boring. I know that Jeph is going to write an exciting, visually explosive, summer-movie-like story that is really going to take advantage of my strengths as an artist, and I love that. Based on all of our conversations and the work he's done with many of my contemporaries, I can tell we think of comic books in a very similar way. We're both all about the "fun!" in comics! And I think that this project is going to just scream FUN while still being very relevant and edgy!!!

NRAMA: Marvel mentioned that the project you and Jeph are working on won’t be out for a while – next year, as a matter of fact. Why not?

JSC: I don't know, why won't Spider-Man 3 be out this summer? Why didn't Superman Returns and X-men 3 come out last summer when we all first heard about it! Because we've only just begun to work on this, and it takes time to create something with quality that's worth while! I'm also in the process of wrapping up my last two issues of Wildsiderz for Wildstorm, so that has to be completely finished before I start. But trust me, from the moment I start page one, I'm going to be just dying to get it into the hands of the fans. But we all want this project to run smoothly, so we're going to need some time to make that happen.

NRAMA: This will be your first well…mainstream work on an extended project, right?

JSC: Yeah, absolutely! Gen13, Danger Girl and Wildsiderz were all created or partially created by me! With the exception of covers, this will be my first major interior story work for either Marvel or DC for that matter! 

NRAMA: Any thoughts about working with a full team (writer, editor, etc) on something that’s already been established rather than coming in on the ground floor, and having more of a role than just the artist?

JSC: To be honest, I'm kinda looking forward to wearing "fewer hats!" [laughs] It will be refreshing to just focus on the art for once, and not be so consumed with the burden of coming up with the characters, the concepts, the story or the self promotion that goes into drumming up interest for a new property.

That being said, so far Jeph has been very generous by allowing me to interject ideas about the tone of the project, the villains and guest stars I'd like to see involved! I don't feel "bullied" at all, and that's so important if you want the illustrator to be happy about a project. And I gotta say, I love it that everybody already knows these characters! We can start having fun right off the bat from page #1! None of that long, often dull and boring establishing of the characters that you often have to spend several issues doing when you've created a brand new concept before you can work your way to the really exciting stuff! Know what I mean?

NRAMA: What do you see as the benefits to moving to this method of working compared to working on your own characters?

JSC: Well, when you're creating properties for yourself that are "unproven", the payoffs if it's successful can be enormous. But those rewards are almost entirely "back-ended," meaning, you're taking a huge risk if the project "flops." But this is more of a "sure thing," so to speak. If I do the work... I get paid such n' such... guaranteed! So that's a nice bit of security. I mean, these characters are already very popular! You just have to make sure that you are very true to them and make sure that you don't "Screw 'em up!!!" [Laughs]

NRAMA: Taking the whole spectrum of creators working at Marvel, is there anyone you’re looking forward to working with? Inker, colorist, anyone?

JSC: Hmmmmmm. To be honest, I haven't really thought that far ahead! I'm going to start paying close attention now though!

Finally, looking at this in terms of career management, where does this fit in your larger goals? Speaking of that, where do you see yourself headed?

JSC: Hmmmmm. Well, I'm in really good company! Most of the other artists I really respect and admire have made very similar moves lately! I think that this project will be an excellent addition to the other work that I've done over the course of my career! And hopefully, it will bring my art to the attention of a whole new group of potential fans! Fans that I can hopefully attract to future creator owned projects that I will ultimately return to doing eventually! I think it's the best of both worlds!

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