Jim McCann: From soap operas to superheroes with 'New Avengers: Reunion'
Both tell stories using the same cast week after week. Both have to move long-established characters forward while keeping the fan base excited and interested.
While fans of comic books and soap operas might be loath to admit it, the two genres are a lot alike.
“Both are serialized fiction at their finest,” says Jim McCann, author of Marvel Comics’ new miniseries, “New Avengers: Reunion,” in stores Wednesday.
McCann should know. The 34-year-old Manhattanite got his start as part of the ABC daytime writer development program, writing scripts for the long-running soap “One Life to Live.” From there, he made the jump to Marvel, first in editorial, then in marketing and PR.
McCann recently became a consultant and freelancer, which opened him up to taking on this new series featuring one of Marvel’s more popular couples, Clint Barton and Bobbi Morse, better known as the heroes Hawkeye and Mockingbird.
This series, penciled by David Lopez, redefines the couple and deals with some unresolved issues. Morse, in true comic book and soap opera tradition, just came back from her supposed death.
“Having a background in soaps definitely helps with a story like this, because it’s very emotional,” McCann says. “But this is not a romance comic by any stretch of the imagination. This is the ‘Mr. & Mrs. Smith’ of the Marvel Universe.”
