When it comes to bad ideas, Robert Venditti has a few. Well, at least one.
Let’s just say Venditti, the writer behind the return of X-O Manowar and the recent volume of Hawkman, is the writer behind the next title from Bad idea, the comic company that is breaking pretty much every established rule of comic book publishing. Tankers follows a group of soldiers working for an oil company who are sent back in time to delay the death of the dinosaurs so there will be more dead dinosaurs and thus more oil. It’s an insane plan, and well, without spoiling much, it goes about as well as you’d expect.
I talked with Venditti about his process, the history of the book, and why I’m judgy for calling his protagonists a-holes. While we’re talking, check out a preview of issue #1, out April 7, and an EXCLUSIVE pencil preview of issue #2.
Preview issue #1 of Tankers
Cover by Lewis LaRosa 
Matthew Lazorwitz: You started your comics career in the indies with your series The Surrogates before moving over to Valiant with X-O Manowar and then over to DC for a number of their premiere titles, including Flash, Green Lantern and Justice League. How does it feel to be back in the smaller press world?
Robert Venditti: It’s just another approach to creativity. Working in the big, shared universes is rewarding and fun, but it takes one form of creativity — you have rules and histories and continuities to work within. I enjoy it immensely, whether it’s Hawkman, Green Lantern, Superman ’78 or something else.
Tankers is different. We’re building it from the ground up. The rules are what we decide they are. That takes a different form of creativity, and it’s equally rewarding and fun. I’m glad to get back to a balance between the two styles of story, and my hope is to continue writing both.
ML: What made Tankers a Bad Idea series? What is it about Bad Idea, with their particularly unusual publishing plan, that speaks to you, as a creator or a fan?
RV: Tankers is about a team of mercenaries in mech suits who work for Greenleaf Oil. They get sent back in time to divert the comet that killed the dinosaurs because more dinosaurs in the past means more oil in the present. Is there anything about that concept that doesn’t sound like a Bad Idea?
Beyond that, I worked at Valiant with Warren Simons, Dinesh Shamdasani, Hunter Gorinson, Josh Johns and Atom! Freeman — I just missed the chance to work with Karl Bollers — and we all have a great relationship. Bad Idea’s overall business plan lends itself to freedom and versatility. I don’t think Tankers could work in 20-page installments. It’s big. It’s bombastic. It’s mechs vs. dinos. The concept needs space to deliver on its promise. So in the initial discussions with Bad Idea, I said that I thought three oversized issues of 32 pages would be better than four smaller issues, and they said no problem. Anyone who’s been paying attention to what Bad Idea has been doing with their marketing over the past year can see that they’re willing to push boundaries and break rules. Creatively, it’s a very fun place to stretch your legs.
ML: Tankers is about oil, time travel and dinosaurs. Where did that mixture of ideas come from?
RV: It came from bouncing around story ideas with Warren Simons, plus a desire I’ve had for a while to write a story that’s absurdist and satirical. I’m always challenging myself with each new project, and Tankers is a chance to keep doing that. We’re taking this outlandish concept and grounding it in relatable characters and engaging storytelling. At no point in the story do any of the characters realize how absurd their mission is. They’re 100% invested and committed. They’re true believers. My hope is that readers will get swept up in that commitment and enjoy the ride.
ML: Was Juan Jose Ryp the artist who you immediately knew had to draw this book? Or was he someone who was brought to you after the pitch was accepted at Bad Idea? He seems ideally suited to a book that so centers around gorgeous gore.
RV: Juan is a genius. I’ve been trying to find a way to work with him again for years. I wasn’t aware that he was going to be the artist when I started writing, but it wasn’t long after that he joined the team. I was thrilled.
Yes, there’s a lot of gore in Tankers, but there’s a ton of heart, too. It’s exceedingly difficult to excel at communicating both those things, but Juan is just such a talent. He delivers on all the action and violence that mechs vs. dinos promises, but he also delivers on the humor and emotion of the story as well. I can’t imagine anyone else drawing this story.
EXCLUSIVE Preview of Issue #2
Cover by Lewis LaRosa 
ML: From literally page one, your stand on these rich oil tycoons is pretty clear: They’re hypocrites happy to enrich themselves and their own to the detriment of all others. You’ve clearly set your sights on these guys, and on the military-industrial complex. But you’re keeping your tongue firmly planted in cheek. How have you been approaching the satirical elements of this book and balancing them with the action?
RV: I never want to be preachy in my stories. I drive a car. I fly on planes. Fossil fuels power our lives. I do, however, hold out hope that we can find a better way. Our story’s oil execs believe they’re doing what’s necessary to keep civilization fueled and chugging along. But there’s absurdity in that because, at some point, the oil will run out. At some point, the planet won’t be able to endure it any longer.
The balance is in keeping the characters true to themselves and their motivations, and ensuring that the reader always hears the characters talking instead of me, the writer. The moment that the reader hears my voice, it’s no longer a story. It’s a lecture. People don’t consume entertainment because they’re looking to be lectured. Tankers is action-fueled. It’s bullets and teeth. Underneath all that it’s about something more, too.
ML: When we first meet all the Tankers, each gets to state their desired “bonus” for pulling off this mission as they stand in front of banners with their image and name on them. Each one is violent or narcissistic, or both. Well, except for Patch, who just seems a bit lost with the request. This is to say that, at least at first blush, none of these characters is exactly likable, and while we get a couple softer moments, these are still pretty harsh people. Why start out your team as a bunch of a-holes?
RV: I think “a-holes” is a bit harsh. Patch wants the team to stay safe and alive (though he also has a secret crush on Diesel). Diesel wants the world to know she has accomplished remarkable feats. Boom Boom wants to free his people from oppression. Houston wants a homestead for himself. Goldfarb just wants to fit in with the group. These are relatable motivations.
Granted, there’s Heatseeker, who wants to know how it feels to launch a nuke. There isn’t really a way to sugarcoat that one. But, as readers will come to learn, even Heatseeker has a soft spot for his friends.
ML: Without giving too much away, are we going to be dealing with the law of unintended consequences throughout the series? Because the last page of issue #1? That’s a whopper.
RV: Shocking as it sounds, their mission to time-travel and divert a comet for the sole purpose of increasing oil reserves in the modern day doesn’t go smoothly. The world that the Tankers return to isn’t the same one they left. It’s been overrun by hyper-evolved dinosaurs with a 66-million-year grudge and abilities far deadlier than anything we’ve seen before. Texas is the last human settlement on Earth, and it’s about to fall. Now the Tankers have a new mission: How do they fix the present before it’s swallowed whole?
ML: Bad idea released a trailer for the book in mid-February, a trailer you starred in, and it was … something else. How did that come about? And were you able to drive a tank, run a digger and shoot all those dinosaurs? Or was that all just Hollywood magic?
RV: The story of that trailer is an interview in and of itself. The short version is I live near a place where you can pay to operate heavy machinery (yes, even tanks), and Brockton McKinney — he handles a lot of the video for Bad Idea — and I had this idea to make a behind-the-scenes film of me as a “method writer” who has to thoroughly research every topic I write. We pitched the idea to Josh Johns at Bad Idea, and they enthusiastically upped the ante. The rest is advertising history.
My intention going in was to drive the tank, but the interior space was so tight, there wasn’t a way for Brockton to film anything useful. So instead, someone else drove the tank while I stood through the hatch. I did, however, operate the excavator and shoot a machine gun at dinosaurs. That’s all absolutely real.
ML: As we’re wrapping up, I’d just like to know: What’s your favorite dinosaur?
RV: If we’re talking which one I like best when seeing pictures in a book, then it’s the ankylosaur. There’s something charming about their squat body and club tail.
If we’re talking which one I want to meet in real life, the answer is none. I’ve got enough to deal with. I don’t need a dinosaur trying to eat me.
Tankers #1, from Robert Venditti, Juan Jose Ryp, Andrew Dalhouse and Dave Sharpe, debuts April 7 from Bad Idea in select comic shops.
Matt Lazorwitz read his first comic at the age of five. It was Who's Who in the DC Universe #2, featuring characters whose names begin with B, which explains so much about his Batman obsession. He writes about comics he loves, and co-hosts the creator interview podcast WMQ&A with Dan Grote.
