GEN snagged an exclusive interview with Ron Marz, the comics writer for the new Top Cow mini-series Broken Trinity! Check out the full interview and some info about BT after the jump.

Ron Marz is no newcomer to the world of comics writing. He’s written stories for publishers like DC, Marvel, Dark Horse, and Image, and had his run on books like Green Lantern, Silver Surfer, Star Wars, and Marvel vs. DC, to name a few.

But his latest project is with Top Cow: Broken Trinity. TC sent me an early copy of the comic, and I got the chance to ask Ron some questions. Excited about the opportunity and about BT itself, I thanked Ron for taking the time to do an interview and began shooting questions. He was refreshingly frank in his answers.

WITA: I’d like to start by talking a little about you as a writer. Before you came into comics, you were working in journalism, correct? What made you decide to leave?

RM: Yeah, I was a sportswriter, and then worked the entertainment desk for a daily newspaper. I ended up kicking journalism to the curb and taking up comic writing because: A) I got the opportunity, and B) making up stuff for comics was a hell of a lot more fun.

WITA: How long have you been working as a writer in the comics industry now?

RM: I handed in my first script ever, which was for a Silver Surfer Annual for Marvel, in January of 1990. I’ve been doing it steadily ever since.

WITA: You’ve worked for DC, Marvel, Dark Horse, Image … and now Top Cow. What made you decide to write for Top Cow and when did you come on board?

RM: The short version is, Top Cow asked me. When I left my previous publisher, Top Cow’s editor-in-chief at the time, Jim McLauchlin got in touch and asked if I might want to do a story arc for The Darkness. I said sure, everybody was pretty happy with the results, so they offered me Witchblade. I started on that with issue #80, four years ago, and we’re just releasing issue #119, so that’s been a nice long run that will continue. I’m committed to Witchblade until at least issue #150.

WITA: What projects are you working on now?

RM: Witchblade, obviously, and the Top Cow summer event, Broken Trinity. Once we put Broken Trinity to bed, I’m going to roll up my sleeves and take a run at another Top Cow character, Magdalena. Great character, great design, but her story has been kind of all over the place so far. I want to make sense of the story, and then move Magdalena forward in a direction that’s true to the character. I’m also doing a creator-owned book with Top Cow called Dragon Prince, which is a little different for me in that it’s an all-ages story. It’s not just for kids, but I think kids can definitely get into it. The first issue of that is out in September.

WITA: Let’s talk about Broken Trinity. I happened to pick up the Prelude book on Free Comic Book Day. For me—someone who really isn’t all that familiar with what’s going on in Witchblade, Angelus, or The Darkness—it was a nice introduction. There’s so much going on in Broken Trinity #1, as it seems to be setting up a lot. What can you tell me about the premise and maybe even a little of where the stories are going? What can we expect to see?

RM: That’s great to hear, actually, because a big part of the Free Comic Book Day issue’s purpose was to have a handy primer on all things Top Cow, or at least the Top Cow Universe. It seems like I’m forever bitching and moaning that comics — especially event comics and crossovers like Broken Trinity — aren’t accessible enough. They cater too much to longtime readers, and don’t do anything to welcome new readers. So I wanted to be sure that the FCBD issue and Broken Trinity #1 were accessible. A new reader shouldn’t get to the end of a #1 issue and go, “What the hell did I just read?” One of the goals with Broken Trinity, besides first and foremost telling a good story, is to introduce some new characters and concepts to the Top Cow Universe. Up to this point, the main players — the Trinity — have been Witchblade bearer Sara Pezzini, Darkness host Jackie Estacado, and the Angelus. We wanted to bring some new, major players onto the stage. When all the smoke clears, we’re going to be left with a few characters who should be around for quite a while. The first issue introduces those characters, and starts to bring everyone else together. So you can expect a character-driven story that’s also got a few big-screen, eye-candy moments. Giants, dragons, demons, winged warriors, all that good stuff.

WITA: With what’s going on in the beginning and then later on near the end … the “flashbacks,” if you will. They set up the stage for new characters, too, and something more when you consider what the one character finds in the antique shop. It even ends with a cliffhanger of sorts. With all these intertwining stories, characters, and elements, does that bring new conflicts into the game, as well?

RM: Definitely new conflicts. For quite a while, Sara, Jackie and the Angelus have been the big kids on the playground. Now they’re going to have to share. The first issue has a lot of different elements. There are scenes set a thousand years ago on a glacier, and scenes set right now in New York City. There are established characters and new characters. But everything does come together.

WITA: This is a three-issue limited series, is that right? With tie-in issues for Witchblade, The Darkness, and Angelus. I read one character is going to be leaving for good, one way or another.

RM: Right, Broken Trinity is three issue, and one tie-in issue each for Witchblade, The Darkness and Angelus. Six issues, less than 20 bucks for the entire thing. We didn’t want this to be the kind of DC or Marvel crossover that has three dozen tie-ins and plot threads spread over the entire publishing line. Gas is almost five bucks a gallon. Who’s got $150 to spend on one crossover? And yes, somebody dies. For good. Forever. Permanently. No miraculous resurrections in six months.

WITA: You know, I’m pretty new to the comic book world we’re talking about with BT, but I keep finding myself more and more interested! Is this storyline going to be big? I mean, is Broken Trinity going to really shake everything up?

RM: You know, everybody says their story is going to shake up the status quo, nothing will ever be the same, all that bullshit. Broken Trinity is not one of those “everything you know is wrong!” storylines. But we are adding new characters to the mix, and we are killing an established character. Both of those things will have long-term ramifications, and we know what those ramifications are. We’re not just flying by the seat of our pants, we know what stories we’re going to tell next. The events in Broken Trinity will be paying story dividends for a number of years. So is that a shakeup? I dunno … but I think it’s gonna be pretty damn cool.

Broken Trinity #1 comes out in comic book stores Wednesday, July 23.