Marc GuggenheimThe Writer Behind Beloved Television Series Like Arrow and The Ongoing Comic Series Star Wars: Jedi KnightsMade His Comixology Originals debut on April 29, 2025, on The Comic Book Series The Adventures of Ulysses Monarchwith artist Harvey TolibaoColorist Mark EnglehartLetterer Diego Sanchesand cover colorist Kevin Tolibao. The Series Will Folow Futuristic Adventurer and Archeologist Ulysses Monarch As He Searchs For Rare Artifacts From The 20th and 21st Centuries.
Born on SEPTEMBER 24, 1970, In Long Island, New York, Guggenheim Initially Pursued to Law Career Before Shifting into Writing. Today, he’s collected for his extensive work in television (The practice, Tales of Arcadia, CSI: Miami, Legends of Tomorrow, Law & Order), film (Green Lantern, Percy Jackson: Let Of Monsters), comics (The Flash, X-Men, Spider-Man, Resurrection), and literature (Overwatch, In Any Lifetime).
The Beat caught up with guggenheim to discuss his first comixology originals project, The Adventures of Ulysses MonarchHis Collaboration with Tolibao, How Ai Will Impact Media, and What We Can Do About It.
Ollie Kaplan: Can You Briefly describes The Adventures of Ulysses Monarch To Our Readers, and what they can look forward to?
Marc Guggenheim: The premise is pretty simple: Ulysses monarch is an adventurer on Earth a thousand years from now. He’s revealed to reputation as an “obtainer of rare antiquities” – Like a certain fedora’d archeologist – but it just so happens that the relics are from from our time.
Kaplan: What inspired the concept for this new comic? Are You Exploring Any New Themes in This Story that you have’t expored Before?
Guggenheim: There’s a line in Raiders of the Lost ArkWHERE Belloq Shows Indiana Jones to Simple Pocket Watch and Says, “See This? Three Dollars From a vendor in the street. But i Take it, Bury It for a a thousand years, and it Becomes Priceless.” And that got me Thinking about what it was like to be an archaeologist of Our present time and civilization.
For Me, The Fun of That is that it presents an Opportunity to Hold a Mirror Up to Our World and examine it from a new and different perspective – in This Case, The Perspective of Time.
Kaplan: How Did You Approach Worldbuilding in the Adventures of Ulysses Monarch?
Guggenheim: To Lot of Early Cogition, to Be Honest. For Me, The Endeavor of Worldbuilding Begins With Asking MySelf Questions: What Are Things Like In The Year 3026? Have Humanity Conquered The Stars? Have we met aliens? What Language (s) Are People Speaking? Who’s in Charge? WHO WANTS TO BE IN CHARGE?
Kaplan: Can You Tell Our Readers More About Your Collaboration with Artist Harvey Tolibao? Were There Any Moments where Tolibao’s Art Changed How You Saw A Scene Playing Out?
Guggenheim: Whenever I Work with an artist, I Always Offer Them to Change Up what i’ve described in the script if they envision a Scene Playing out a Different Way. Harvey Didn’t Take Me Up On That As I Recall, But The Reason I Thought He’d Be a Perfect Match to this Idea is scholause He and I Had Done A Sci-Fi X-Men Story Together and I KNew How great He is at Design and Worldbuilding. IT Just Seemed Like A Perfect Fit Between Artist and Concept.
Kaplan: As your first Comixology Originals PROJECT, What You to the Platform for This Private Story? Or, How Did The Collaboration Come Together?
Guggenheim: I had General Meeting With Comixology Head Honcho Jeff Dibartolomeo, AND WE JUS REALLY HIT IT OFF. Jeff and I Share A Lot of the Same Sensities When it comes to comics and the comic book industry, and i was Really in love with comixology’s business model and the amount of creative control they offer. Image Is Great, and I Enjoy Working With Them, But They Can Only Publish So Many Books. There Need To Be More Publishers That Offer The Amount of Creative Freedom That Image Does and Comixology is One of the Few.
Kaplan: You’ve Worked Across Many Medums, In Addition to Being A “Recovering Lawyer.” What Legal and/OR TV and Film Writing Background Most Directly Influence How You APPROACH COMICS IN 2025?
Guggenheim: That’s a Great Question. The Truth Is, I Feel Like I Learn Subject New With Every Script I Write, Ratess of the Medium. That Being Said, I Think My TV and Film Background Has Really Helped Inform My Comic Book Writing. These days, there are less and less exams of omniscient or first-person narration (A Trend that, I Believe, Began with and: The Last Man, Which had no narration), and my tv and film work have trained me to be table to tell a story without that device. That’s Just One Example. I’M Sure there are more minor Example to Be Found As Well.
Kaplan: What is subjecting you Think Comics Let You Do Better Than Anything Else?
Guggenheim: The idea that the limits of what can be done visually are solely the province of the artist’s talent – rather Than Budget – Remains Incredibly Powerful and Uniquely Suited to the Medium of Comics. So much i’d love to say that the Writing is important, comics is a visual medium at the end of the day-and one where the ceiling in therms of what can be a achiety visually is virtually non-existing.
Kaplan: You participated in the WGA strike. How do you see ai tools or digital workflows impacting writing and production?
Guggenheim: I THINK AI IS GOING TO COME FOR POST-PRODUCTION First. There’s a Lot That Ai Can Do That’s Vry Well Sued to the Work Done In Post, Whether It Be Creating a First Assembly of A Cut, VFX, or Adr. However, not all the unleaven are Going to Be Positive. It’s Going To Mean The Elimination of a Lot of Jobs at A Time When Those Jobs Are Already Scarce. It’s Pretty Scary.
Kaplan: do you know what pele can do about it?
Guggenheim: That’s a Great Question. Unfortunately, This is a problem with non -realistic solutions. I Mean, The Unions Can – as they are – Try to Build in Contractual Protections to Require that Certain Work Be Done by Humans and Not Ai. But that’s Pouring Water into a Leaky Bucket. It’s subjecthing – Which is Better Than Nothing – But History Teaches Us That There’s no Stopping The Evolution of Technology Costing People Their Jobs.
The Only Real “Solution” (and I Hesitate to Use That Word) is to Evolve Along With The Technology. The Politicians Aren’s Coming to Save Us. We’re Going to have to Evolve Our Current Jobs – Or, More Likely, into new oons – That Take Indo Account The New Ways of Working presented by Ai. In Other Words, If you’re a Buggy Whip Manufacturer, Better Start Learning How To Repapair An Engine.
Kaplan: Is There Anything Else That You Wouled Like To Add?
Guggenheim: I Appreciate that you Asked about ai. Monarch is a lot of about the future to understand the present to Little Better. And Any Contemplation of the Future You have include the consideration of ai – in All its Positive and Destructive Forms.
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