Jimmy Palmiotti Talks Palmiotti and Brady's The Con Job

Comics industry veterans Jimmy Palmiotti and Matt Brady are coming together at BOOM! to pull a job: Palmiotti and Brady's The Con Job, a story about a group of aging genre film and TV stars who in the face of dwindling receipts at comic book conventions agree to come together to rob a major convention.

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Palmiotti joined us to talk about the series.

Morrison once told me that writing about the comics industry is more touchy than writing about Hollywood. How much are you drawing on real experience and how much is totally fabricated?

This is less about the comics industry and more about the TV and film industry, which is a lot different in certain areas and yet the same in others. I have spent some time sitting with the older creators in the business and their perspective on the world changing around them is always an interesting one. People forget, grow old and entertainment genres go out of fashion, but these days faster than ever and this is reflected in the story behind THE CON JOB in many different ways. THE CON JOB is a total character piece where we follow about a half dozen characters as they deal with the idea of the changing world and decide to do something pretty stupid about it.

This has got a kind of Ocean's 11-meets-Galaxy Quest vibe in my mind. Is that a fair interpretation?

In a way, it's a simple easy comparison, except these characters are not professional thieves, and even worse, have many second doubts about what they are doing, which is the monkey wrench thrown into the plot. There is nothing slick and cool about this bunch, and for that reason, I think a lot of reasons readers will relate and care about them. I liked the Ocean's 11 movies but felt they were a bit cold. Galaxy Quest was just plain brilliant and we are doing something a bit different than what they did.

Comic conventions have a kind of mythologized role in popular culture, so much that there has proabbly been more done with them on TV than in comics. Did you guys study up on things like Bones or Psych that Leverage novel?

I have seen them represented on Bones and a few other shows and its always the obvious geeks and nerds. This is not the comic world that I am a part of. My geeks and nerds are smart people that are social, have a different way of looking at the world and deep down are kind to each other. We are the new cool and it's a part of all of our culture now. I wouldn't need to watch another's idea of a con because I have done hundreds and the difference will be obvious in the story.

How did you guys come to work with Stanton on this one?

Dumb luck and a recommendation from our editor at BOOM! . We are so happy about it because storytelling is the key to this one and a lesser artist just wouldn't make this work. His way of letting us see the soul of the characters in his illustrations is unique.

Obviously Jimmy did the Harley Quinn issue this summer for the convention. Was it weird to write two such tonally different takes on the "XXXXXX takes Comic Con" idea, or were they so totally different it didn't even occur?

Completely different in just about every way except for the use of the layout of the convention center, which is a bit of a thing in THE CON JOB. There is a heist and this is not as complicated as most jobs, but the fun of it is using the surroundings in the process. With the Harley special, we went completely nuts and contuinity is thrown out the window. Both books have in common the idea that the con itself is a celebration of all things we love.

How did you guys balance the comedy and plot/action in this project?

The comedy is ironic and its overall tone is a caper/crime drama. Humor makes its way into situations. We didn't go the easy route on this story and you will understand why. This is a character study and a look at what people will do to preserve their livelihood.

When all's said and done, is this a done-in-one, "Last job ever" caper or is there room for more from these characters if the book is a hit?

If this book is a hit, I will write these guys till Matt says we are done. I think this book can appeal to a very large audience if people just give it a change. The Hardest part is getting it ordered. Word of mouth will have a lot to do with its success. All we can do is write the best story we can. I just hope the retailers take a chance. BOOM! Has a great track record and that really helps us as well.

Why BOOM!? Obviously Jimmy has had a great deal of luck Kickstarting his own projects, to the point where it feels like you almost do it at will.

I wanted to have a book at BOOM! Because the label itself attracts an audience I might be able to find otherwise, plus I wanted to work with these guys for a while…so it seemed like a good idea. It is a blast doing the Kickstarters, but at the end of the day I can only do so much before I realize I'm doing everything but the writing. I am super excited to be part of the BOOM! Wave of titles in 2015. It's going to be their biggest year.