Five for Friday with .. John Dolmayan :: SOADFans :: The Official UnOfficial System Of a Down Site!

Five for Friday with .. John Dolmayan

Posted by ZAk on Sunday, March 11, 2007 - 12:11 PM

Wizard get five questions (and answers) with John Dolmayan about comics, movies and the launch of his new online comics site.

Rock and roll fans may recognize the name of this drummer from the multi-platinum rock band System of a Down, but he’s also on his way to comic superstardom. Later this year, the 34-year-old Dolmayan plans to launch Torpedocomics.com , an ambitious online comic book retail and community site.
And he’ll also be hitting the road with his comic book-inspired drum kit—adorned with art from the likes of Jim Lee, Bernie Wrightson and Bill Sienkiewicz (as seen in Wizard #181) to various conventions, including Wizard World Los Angeles on March 16-18!

WIZARD: So what’s the deal with Torpedocomics.com?
DOLMAYAN: It starts with a 30,000-square-foot warehouse, which will eventually house about 50 million books. I’ve got one of the best copies of Sensation #1 [first appearance of Wonder Woman], I’ve got Marvel Comics #1 [first appearance of the Human Torch]. I’ve got 75 copies of Giant-Size X-Men #1. I really want it to be somewhere fans of pop culture and comic books in general can come and meet and get things affordably.

What were your reading habits while growing up?
I gravitated more towards Marvel in the beginning, but then DC put out some really good stuff: Watchmen, Dark Knight Returns. Then I got into Neal Adams’ Detective Comics. If you are not into that, get the f--- out! I even bought Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles when it first came out. Now I am really good friends with [TMNT co-creator] Kevin Eastman!

What about comic book movies? Have you seen the footage from “Spider-Man 3” yet?
It looks SICK! I can’t wait to see it. After the colossal failure of the three Star Wars prequel movies, I was devastated. And now there is a “Transformers” movie coming out, too…

What do you think of that Michael Bay production?
Okay—it is either going to be fucking awesome, or it is going to be fucking terrible. All I know is I have about 5,000 Transformers comics, so I expect them to bump up nicely.

What’s the possibility of you doing your own comic?
I’ve been asked to write one by a major publisher, but I can’t really get into it. I don’t know if I am capable, to be honest with you, of writing a truly exceptional story. I feel very strongly that, especially because of my musical background, I don’t put out anything that I am not 100 percent proud of. So if it isn’t truly great, I won’t even bother with it.

-By Andy Serwin

John will be appearing on Wizard World Los Angeles March 16- 18, check more details about it, here: http://www.wizarduniverse.com/conventions/la.cfm