Run-DMC's Darryl McDaniels and Writer Edgardo Miranda-Rodriguez On Their Guardians of the Galaxy Story

This week sees the release of Guardians of Infinity #2, a new series written by beloved Guardians of the Galaxy writer Dan Abnett and featuring a rotating cast of characters and talent in backup stories.

In next month's #3, for which the final order cutoff date is looming, Darryl McDaniels -- better known as hip-hop legend DMC -- and his Darryl Makes Comics co-creator Edgardo Miranda-Rodriguez are writing a backup story featuring The Thing and Groot (interestingly, Groot's partner Rocket and The Thing were featured in the backup for #1, from writer Jason Latour and artist Jim Cheung).

During a recent interview about Darryl Makes Comics, McDaniels told ComicBook.com about his long-lasting love for Marvel Comics, the thrill of working for them, and what attracted him to these characters in particular.

You are talking about trying to build a reputation among the readers, meanwhile you guys are doing this art and story for Marvel, how did that come about?

Edgardo Miranda-Gonzalez: That came about because we have always wanted to write and tell stories. We have always wanted to write and tell stories and then it was actually right around the time of near Comic Con that we were approached with the opportunity to pitch.

We came in and we pitched an idea, we are not going to say what the idea is, but we came in and pitched the idea of a character that, ironically, that both he and I grew up on and we pitched this story idea.

Axel [Alonso] came back to us and said "You know what? I got an even better idea. Why don't I introduce you guys to Nick Lowe? I like this idea, but I think I want to get you guys' feet wet on something a little more current, something right now." We were like "Really? You just want us to jump into right that minute?" "Again, this book you guys have is a great idea, but you are going to need time to develop it. Why don't we throw you into something small?"

We were like that and so here is this concept. We have all these characters that are part of the Guardians theme, like an homage to the Marvel Team-Up or the Marvel Two-In-One of these days and automatically D, with so many characters, it was like overwhelming for me, and D looked at me with the big, giant brown eyes like a child on Christmas day and he said "Grimm and Groot!" I was like, "What?"

"Grimm and Groot. That is the story that we are going to sell." We won't get more into it than that, but it was like these characters spoke to us in a way ... And you will see in the story that we created.

We created an original story, but an original story that is a reflection of the both of us and this is actually the first opportunity that we actually get to write a story together. Write the dialogue, coming up with the story, doing the page, doing the art direction. It was fun and it is a great opportunity.

I was telling D this morning and we were talking about it. We were like, "Okay you guys, we're done with the scripts, what is next?" They were like "you're done." "What do you mean?" "You're done, we sent it over to [the artists]."

This time, when you publish your own book, you got to worry about distribution, you got to worry about promotion, you got to worry about the art, you got to worry about the colors. We were like "We just hand over the script?" That was great.

Darryl McDaniels: And the cool thing is, I fell in love with Groot and imagine having Groot and Ben Grimm! Benjamin Grimm! Do you know -- there's much personality and so much fun and introspectiveness that you get with these two guys paired up together. So me and Ed was like "Yo, this is going to be great because people are going to love the way that we brought these two guys together!"

Edgardo Miranda-Gonzalez: One thing we loved about Grimm is that he is one of the only characters in Marvel, that after so many decades, it is still very, very definitively New York. [with New York accent] New York, New York. He is like ... Peter Parker runs Parker Industries now, he is from Queens, but he never sounded like he was a [with New York accent] New Yorker. Grimm never changed the vernacular.

Darryl McDaniels: Since he was a baby. He is like your uncle, he is like your cousin, he is like the crazy guy in high school, he is like the fireman, he is like the policeman, he is like your boss, you know what I am saying?

When we said "Yo, Grimm is the man," the thing about Grimm is that he is the universal ... He is a universally clever, funny, attractive character. You know what I am saying?

Edgardo Miranda-Gonzalez: Very relatable, yeah. The Everyman, he is the everyman.

Darryl McDaniels: I was joking "The way we portray Grimm in our story, is the way that they should have played him in that whack ass Fantastic Four movie, they might have had a hit."

Edgardo Miranda-Gonzalez: Word, and put some pants on him. My God.

Darryl McDaniels: Exactly!