[MUSIC PLAYING]
What's up, y'all?
Langston here, and it's a very special day
because I am joined by not just an incredible, incredible
writer here at Marvel, but one of my childhood friends,
and my college friends.
We did theater together, like a couple
of weirdos in New York City.
We were incredible theater nerds.
Yes.
I'm not exaggerating when I said
there were literal times in front of coffee shops
doing the West Side Story snap.
Yes.
Well, of course, I'm talking about the one,
the only Danny Lore.
How are you, my friend? How are you?
Hey.
It's great to be here, just like on the couch,
and also chatting with a fellow nerd.
Yes.
I want to get to the big news-- the big congratulations.
Can you please regale the Marvel faithful
as to why you recently burst into tears on a Marvel panel?
OK.
Like fine, whatever.
We just announced, in February, we will be getting a Bloodline:
Daughter of Blade series starring Brielle Brooks.
It'll be-- I'm on writing, Karen Darboe on art.
It is so dope, and so fun.
We get to see Brielle as a teenager dealing
with, suddenly, vampires being like a real thing in her life
in Atlanta, Georgia.
Oh, nice.
I mean, as I'm sure they're down--
I mean, sure they're laying low during the day.
What has it been like--
I mean, again, like when a character like this,
like Blade, that is beloved, you're getting
to expand on this legacy.
What is that like, when you're kind of handed the keys to like
the next chapter, and like the legacy
of Blade with the daughter?
And like this is--
like what is that-- what's that feeling like?
It's so-- it's exciting, right?
Because like, for me, I was telling the story earlier
about how like one of my fondest memories,
even before I ever thought that I was going to do comics,
right, is that my dad would do like the Sunday matinee movies
with us.
And it was going to see Blade with him.
And I was-- at the time, I didn't even know
he was like a superhero, right?
It's funny.
People are like, oh, the Marvel logo at the beginning.
I was like, I was a child.
I wasn't looking at logos. - Yeah, exactly.
You didn't know what they were.
I was like, what, there's words before the movie?
And I wait for the words to be over.
You're getting in the way of my movie.
Yeah. [LAUGHING]
Yeah.
So like, you know, growing up, and like from the first time
you hear music--
like from the time the sprinklers come down,
and you were like, this was different, seeing some--
seeing that kind of cool, you know?
So both in terms of his legacy in comics,
but also my personal vibe with the character,
and how important he is to me, to like
my memories of like my father, and stuff like that.
It was really intimidating, but intimidating in that
kind of way where I'm like, nah, I have to do this.
Like where I was like, this is an opportunity
to make the kind of character that is very connected
to that legacy, but also feels like the kids that
are like at the bus stop waiting at 3:30, you know?
Like those kids that I knew both growing up,
but also like my younger cousins and their kids, you know?
No, I-- can listen to you talk--
I'm just so proud of you.
I'm so happy for you.
It's not like you've ever listened to me babble before--
That's very true.
We've sat at diners very much, talking about the various--
the varying degrees of all Marvel characters.
But I want to also--
so I want to go back.
And again, there are so many creators out there, writers,
artists, young and old that are looking to start their journey
to create here at Marvel.
And I've known you for so long.
And I've known you before that--
please, tell us like the origin story-- ha-ha,
wakka-wakka-- the origin story of how you
came to be a creator at Marvel.
The answer's I still really don't truly know
or believe that it happened.
I might walk away from here and there, and you come out,
and you're just like, psych.
Like building up for that.
All four walls fall down [INAUDIBLE]..
[LAUGHING] But like, for me, I was really fortunate that,
when I was working at the comic shop
Forbidden Planet at a time where I was focused on writing prose,
right?
Like I loved comics, but it hadn't
ever really clicked, like one can
exchange money for my scripts.
Yes.
And then they will let me write more scripts.
But I was really fortunate that I was working there
when my best friend Vita Ayala and Matt
Rosenberg were starting to really break into the industry.
And that's how I learned to script, actually.
Like, just watching them, and listening to them--
you know, and going, hey, can I see your script,
so I see how it's done.
And I was really fortunate that they both
really believed in my craft.
And Vita, when they believe in you, they basically go,
I'm going to drag you everywhere until you start introducing
yourself as a writer.
And I was really fortunate enough
to do work with [INAUDIBLE] my creator-owned stuff.
And then from there, I started co-writing with Vita
for a bit, which is great because, like, there's
a lot of things when you're a prose
writer in terms of pacing, and how much dialogue.
That is a big adjustment.
And Vita is really, really good with that pacing stuff.
And then my first solo, like longer thing at Marvel,
was Champions.
Mm-hmm.
With-- I say solo, because Vita wasn't co-writing.
But that-- that would be unfair to [INAUDIBLE]
because [INAUDIBLE] was a gift on that book.
I will praise him up and down, like, this entire convention
floor, because every script is really
like this big learning process.
That's what I like about writing.
Like, no matter how many things you've written, the next thing,
you're going to learn something, you know?
And that was kind of my journey, was this very weird,
just like being really fortunate that not
only did people believe in me, but I was able to--
not embarrass them in public, essentially.
[LAUGHING] Yes.
Which is a big thing.
You know, like it's not-- it's making sure that,
if someone has seen your writing and believes in it,
that they can introduce you to somebody that like--
and just being there, and being willing to go.
I have no clue how to do that.
But I will learn right now.
Yes.
I mean, you know from improv, like, sometimes
the answer is just yes, and.
Yes, and just keep going.
Yeah.
So I want to know, what was the biggest surprise--
like going from now writing a comic book,
a Marvel comic-- what was the biggest surprise that you found
that was like, oh, here's something
I never thought I'd encounter.
Or like how-- what was that moment, like that moment
of like, a-ha, oh, writing a comic
is different than writing prose, like you said.
What was that biggest a-ha moment, maybe, for you?
So for me, I think it has been learning--
as a prose writer, I think, like, as much of collaboration
as there is with your editor, I feel like a lot of it
is very solo, right?
A lot of it, you're doing like in-private, on your own.
And I had to learn to--
like I love-- I've always loved teammates, right?
And I'm always like, I'm not drawing because I can't draw.
So I rely on you to do that.
But learning to say, look, I'm going to write this,
but also I may be wrong.
So just like reaching out.
And I learned that a lot on Champions especially, when
I would be like stuck or scared, because like my first book
at Marvel being a team book was big.
There's a lot of learning that goes into that.
And [INAUDIBLE] though, he like loves
choreography, for example.
So I could go, hey, I'm not really sure how to do this,
and we would just get into a DM or an email chain,
and we would just figure it out.
And I got to learn from learning about that stuff.
Or I was really fortunate to spend a day at a convention
surrounded by three amazing letters one day,
and I just asked them everything about their craft,
and had them like flip through books,
and teach me about what they do, right?
Because I think so much about how we craft dialogue has
to keep in mind how the space on a page works,
how much work they have to do on that back end, right?
And so the more you learn about the lettering process,
the better your dialogue is.
And I always love just like sitting
there, and asking everyone to just
teach me about their craft.
So I can like like-- like, how do
I write a script so that you have
the easiest time possible-- - Right.
--and you get to do what you do?
You know?
And then, like, I guess on a personal side,
it's really people actually coming up to me and saying--
when they say something that they love about your work.
And that was something that you cared about while writing
it in a really deep way.
Because I'm a very, very insecure person--
like, as I'm sure you remember.
Yeah.
But as much as I talk a good game,
I can be very self-conscious.
And it just hits different when someone tells you
their favorite part was the part that was the message for me,
you know?
Where some Brown, queer teenager tells me that, like, this book
mattered to them, you know?
And that they got what I was doing.
Because when you're writing scripts, it's hard to-- it's
easy to forget that the readers are going to click.
You just kind of hope they do.
Yeah.
Well, Danny, I'm so proud of you,
and it's so good to see you.
I'm so glad I got to talk to you.
I'm so glad we're here.
We made it.
Oh my gosh.
We literally-- I just like--
ever since I first saw you doing this stuff, like--
because you were doing this before I was like writing,
you know?
And I'd just been like, one day I want to be up on that stage
and on the camera with you.
Like, that was like literal bucket list of career goals.
Oh, well, thank you--
I was like-- from the beginning.
And so like I love being here.
And-- you know.
[CHUCKLING]
I love you.
Yeah!
Thank you so much for joining us.
Congratulations, and you stay tuned
to all the cool things happening here at the Marvel booth
in New York Comic Con 2022.