Allen: I want to welcome you Anthony Garcia to Jazma for interview. Can you tell me something about yourself, how long have you worked in comic book industry?

Anthony: Thanks, Allen. Well, I live in Tucson, Arizona. I've been here for about 20 years but I'm originally from New England. I've become a bit of a desert rat over the years, but I love it. The weather is almost always great. I have a nice house, with a little bit of land, in a nice neighborhood and life is good. I've been self-publishing since 1994, off and on doing a book called Project: Dark Matter. Looking back, I see it was a really terrible comic but it was a really good learning opportunity in terms of self-publishing and comic writing. As far as age goes, I won't get too specific other than to say I'm getting a bit long in the tooth. Comics were 25 cents when I was growing up, you can figure it out from there.

Allen: What's your family life like?

Anthony: Pretty quiet, actually. My parents passed on some years ago and most of my other relatives retired or moved to Florida. My sister, who I love to death, still lives in our hometown in Connecticut, but I don't really see anyone all that often. I'm not a phone person, so if it wasn't for the internet, I'd never be in touch with anyone. My wife's family is back east, same story there.

Allen: Do you come from family that has others working for comic book companies?

Anthony: No, no one in my family has ever gone down that path. I guess I'm a pioneer.

Allen: What kind of comics did you read in your youth?

Anthony: Back in the day, I pretty much read whatever I could get a hold of. There weren't any such things as comic shops or any kind of specialty shop like that so I haunted the newsstands for new comics but they didn't renew stock very often. Of course, I had no idea about shipping schedules and stuff. When I got to middle school, I met some kids who were collecting Marvels and the whole continuity thing just blew me away. I became a Marvel Zombie right then, buying and trading trying to fill those gaps. Fantastic Four was my big favorite and the Romita Sr. Spider-Man came in second.

Allen: What influenced you to work in comic book field?

Anthony: I figured out pretty early on, that I didn't have the time, talent, or patience to attempt my own art, so it wasn't until 1994 that I met someone actually willing to illustrate my stories. I had always been a fan of Robert E. Howard's Conan, and had written some short barbarian stories in high school, a couple of which, sadly, made it into the school newspaper, but until I met my friend Ron, I only dabbled in prose. I started going to the San Diego Comic Con in 1992, met Stan and Jack and all my Marvel favs and confirmed to myself that what I wanted to do was comics.

Allen: Tell me about your positions at TwentytoSix Books.

Anthony: Ha. Name a position that doesn't involve the actual production of art, and I'm it. I write, market, promote, letter, finance, the list goes on and on. It's definitely a labor of love.

Allen: What kind of comics are produced by TwentytoSix Books? Where is this company located?
How long has company been in existence?

Anthony: Right now, I'm only doing Wall Of Angels although Reno and I have been talking about reprinting his Maskarado series under the TwentyToSix banner. Last year, I did a three volume anthology called The Hierograph. It was a really good experience and helped me network in the community quite a bit. It's where I linked up with Reno. Ultimately, it was put on the back burner and there it sits. Not to say I won't do another one, but I've been concentrating more on me the writer rather than me the publisher. The whole thing is done from my home, and I've been publishing as TwentyToSix since 2005.

Allen: I want to focus on Wall Of Angels: The Franchise. Tell me about setting and theme.

Anthony: The Franchise is an introductory story to the much larger story of Wall Of Angels. I really didn't want to do superhero stories, my stories deal more with the supernatural and mythology. I was kidding around with an artist friend, wondering what it'd be like to have teams of superheroes, like the Avengers, that were organized and traded like professional athletes and teams. So, we worked up a spoof based on that, very comedic, but aside from a rough script, it didn't go any further. While I was looking for an artist for Wall Of Angels, I thought that with a little rework, The Franchise would work as an intro to the main story and establish right away why there are no superheroes in my world. I hired Atlantis Studios to work on those initial issues while I looked around for a permanent artist.

It's an alternate near future piece that introduces several elements that will serve as anchors for future story threads. Some of the threads will be only loosely connected, with different characters, locales and time periods. The world of The Franchise is not too different from ours, technology-wise, but things get going when that technology begins to fail, giving supernatural and mythical beings the opportunity to move in and fill the gaps.

Allen: Tell me about individuals working on Wall Of Angels: The Franchise . Please also include information about cover artists.

Anthony: Jim Jimenez did the interiors and the covers to issues 1 - 4, Sonny Leader did the color on the covers to those same issues. Reno Maniquis took over the art starting with issue 5. He's done the interiors and covers on issues 5 & 6, and Brian Miller of Hi-Fi Design colored the covers for both those books.

Allen: Tell me about what you liked most working with artist Jim Jimenez'?

Anthony: Unfortunately, I never had a relationship with Jim. I hired Atlantis Studios for the production of the book and they set me up with Jim and they acted as the go-between for revisions and whatnot. What I did like about Jim was that he had an uncanny ability to read my script and then illustrate exactly what I saw in my head. I think there were only 1 or 2 times that I had to get something redone. Right around the time where Atlantis started getting screwy is when I got introduced to Reno. Rather than try to work up something with Jim directly, I went with the new guy, but Jim did a great job and I'm really happy with those first four issues.

Allen: Tell me about characters in Wall Of Angels: The Franchise.

Anthony: Going in no particular order, I'll start with Ignacio. He's the big baddy in The Franchise and can control minds and stuff. He's a central part of Wall Of Angels and we'll be seeing a bit more of him. He's a 400+ year old priest with some serious anger issues. Well, he was a priest during the Spanish Inquisition, I'm not sure he's doing God's work now. Why he's still alive and why he's so disturbed are topics for future issues. In this story, he's after an ancient artifact that is conveniently located in the catacombs beneath Atlantis. He believes the artifact will help him get to Heaven.

Next is Nick Jerman, the wholesome hero and the only character to come through The Franchise retaining some superhuman abilities. So I stretched the truth a little bit, since he is technically a superhero but his character's treatment will not be typical. He's a bit of an amalgam of hero types, he's obviously got a Marvel swagger to his style. He's totally in love with Fortune and wants to bring her back from the dark side.

Natalie Fortune. Bad girl, good girl, who knows? I've been intrigued by strong female characters, and I'm not sure I'm doing her justice, but I keep trying to define her as strong, smart and tough. In spite of her fate at the end of The Franchise, she'll remain a central character in subsequent issues. I have a thing for tough girls with swords, so sue me.

Dr. Ron Cornett is patterned after my friend Ron Cornett who collaborated with me on Project: Dark Matter. I did it as a goof, every time I'd get a new issue out I'd tell Ron I was killing him off next issue. It never happened, though, and the way the Cornett character interacted with John Hamilton made me want to keep those two together. I really don't want John Hamilton to become a sidekick since he's a strong character himself but it's obvious that they're each part of each other. Cornett's the guy that came up with the technology behind E-Humans, he's also the guy that can disable the whole network. John is his assistant, but no one except Cornett knows more about E technology.

Allen: What is an E-Human?

Anthony: An E-Human is an enhanced human. They're enhanced by their suits that are powered externally by a generated network field. The humans have no powers themselves, it all comes from the E-suit technology developed by Dr. Cornett.

Allen: What is the Casimir Effect?

Anthony: It's the basis for E-suit technology. It's a way of tapping into the energy field in a pure vacuum, the space between quantum particles. For the purposes of The Franchise, the energy is then amplified and transmitted via satellite to all the franchise headquarters in the nation. The nano-fibers in the suit interact with the field to produce the desired effect.

Allen: How did you come up with idea for Wall Of Angels: The Franchise?

Anthony: As I mentioned earlier, The Franchise is a starting off point for Wall Of Angels. I'm not sure that I thought it out as a set piece. Different elements kept coming together over the several years that I've been working on the Wall Of Angels narrative. These elements started fitting together like puzzle pieces and it started writing itself. It'll deal with 3 major points: Angels, pizza, and the end of the world.

Allen: When were older issues published? What is frequency issues are published?

Anthony: The first issue came out in March of 2005, so we're looking at a little over three years to get The Franchise out. I had an ambitious plan to publish it quarterly but the finances just weren't seeing it that way. Now, I release them as I can afford to produce them.

Allen: What is easiest way to get issues?

Anthony: The easiest way is to order them directly from me via the website and email me. I take PayPal. They're also available at IndyPlanet.

Allen: Tell me about how you decided to bring Wall Of Angels: The Franchise to www.WOWIO.com .

Anthony: WOWIO came about because of Mike Penny at Dakuwaka. He contacted me and asked if I wanted to be part his group at WOWIO. It's been a good relationship so far. Mike's been kind of watching out for me and I'm very thankful for his help.

Allen: What has been reader reaction since put online at WOWIO first five issues?

Anthony: I haven't gotten any reader feedback as a direct result of WOWIO, but there's been a good amount of views and I'm hoping people are enjoying it. So if anyone out there has read Wall Of Angels on WOWIO, let me know what you think, about the book, the access, anything.

Allen: Tell me why you decided to go with new artist starting with issue # 5? What impressed you most about Reno Maniquis?

Anthony: Reno is a fantastic artist. I knew I had to get him on Wall Of Angels before someone else snagged him. The timing was perfect as I was winding up my relationship with Atlantis. He lives in the Philippines so I've never actually met him, but we've worked up a pretty good friendship through email.

Allen: Do you read many comic books at present time?

Anthony: Mostly the reprints of older stuff and trades of what I consider to be essential. So I buy Marvel Masterworks and I've been buying the Absolute Sandman and Watchmen. I just finished the entire run of Strangers In Paradise by Terry Moore. I don't really keep up with the monthlies.

Allen: Tell me about your favorite comic book store.

Anthony: Charlie's Comics in Tucson. There may be other stores in Tucson but there's only one Charlie's. Charlie's been a good friend of mine going on 20 years. No one takes care of their customers like he does. He's extremely knowledgeable about comics without being all geeky or opinionated. Well, I take that back, he is opinionated but he'll never make you feel bad about your reading choices. It's a very comfortable space, and a very comfortable place to hang out, which I never get an opportunity to do.

Allen: Do you make many comic book convention appearances?

Anthony: I've been averaging 3 shows a year: San Diego Comic Con International, Phoenix Comic Con and Birmingham International Comic Show in the UK. I'd like to add another show, WonderCon maybe.

Allen: What sort of novels do you like to read?

Anthony: I read a lot of different things. I haunt the library for new stuff. I depend on friends to recommend good reads. The only thing I try to stay away from, because so few writers do it well, is science fiction.

Allen: What are some of your must see movies that you have recently seen at theatre?

Anthony: Well, I've set the bar pretty low on that one. If it's got special effects, I have to see it on the big screen. I enjoyed Iron Man quite a bit, and Stardust, I thought was really well done.

Allen: What are some of your hobbies?

Anthony: When I'm not working my day job, or doing projects around the house, I'm working on Wall Of Angels.

Allen: Do you have any pets?

Anthony: I have three dogs, Browni, Bella & Bojo, and a wonderful wife, Elaine.

Allen: What are some of your favorite foods to eat?

Anthony: Sushi, and uh, more sushi.

Allen: Do you have website? Also, what is best way for someone to contact you?

Anthony: The website is at www.twentytosix.com , if you're a retailer, special pricing is available at www.twentytosix.com/retailer.html . Best way to contact me is by email at twenty2six@gmail.com .

Allen: Do you have any words you would like to leave readers with about TwentytoSix Books?

Anthony: There's a lot of comics competing for your dollars and comics ain't cheap no more, so spend your money on quality art and stories, on something you will enjoy reading.

Allen: What are some of stories planned for future?

Anthony: Right now, Reno and I are working on a historical fiction set in 1599 which showcases a young Ignacio's adventures in the New World. I also want to introduce a character from Project: Dark Matter that was too good to leave behind. I've already set up his appearance in my version of the Roswell Incident in The Franchise, but I'm not sure when that will happen.

Allen: Do you have any words of wisdom to end interview?

Anthony: If you're a creator, the best advice I have is be persistent. Don't give up just because the going gets tough. Just hang in there, work with your network and build your community. We're all in this together.