Percy Carey: Hollywood Renaissance Man Mike Le

[Each Wednesday, Complex columnist Percy Carey a.k.a. MF Grimm dives into the world of comic books with industry interviews, reviews and more.]

As promised, we’re getting down to the bottom of these rumors about actor/singer Tyrese Gibson getting into the comic book business. Today we’re sitting down with renaissance man Mike Le, who is not only Vice President of Tyrese’s HQ Pictures, but also creator of the hilarious web comic Don’t Forget to Validate Your Parking, screenwriter of the big screen adaptation of Issac Adamson’s Tokyo Suckerpunch, and founder of the Hollywood think tank The Avalon Table. Check out the interview below…

Percy Carey: Where were you born and when did you get into comics?

Mike Le: Well, I was born in Vietnam, but my family moved to the United States in 1975. From there, I grew up in Minnesota, and went school in Florida. From there, I moved to LA 11 years ago. When it comes to getting into comics, I've always been a reader, first book I bought was at the first movie I saw. When I was 4 or 5, my parents took me to see Star Wars, and out in the lobby they were selling the Marvel adaptation at concession. I wanted it so much so my parents ended up buying it. I've been and avid reader ever since.

Percy Carey: So you got into comics through Star Wars'would you be interested in writing for it?

Mike Le: That would be a great honor, but my only concern is it’s such a complete world that it makes it difficult. It’s so difficult to come up with a great storyline, a great epic with so much history, so many storylines already in place. I'd really like to create my own world. The fan base is so powerful I'd worry about what I would do, about messing up something and having those die hard fans tear me apart. And so much has been done already like I said, those two factors make it hard to see the possibilities.

Percy Carey: Okay, so do you have anything creator owned that you're working on?

Mike Le: I've got a Web comic called Don't Forget To Validate Your Parking. It's a web comic that I created during the writers strike. We weren't allowed to really write so I caught up on Adrian Tomine’s work'he does art for the New Yorker. I was really struck by the characters, about the Asian-American experience. So, because of my own experience, I decided to do a comic based on my blog entries, which I posted on livejournal. It began to get around and people encouraged me to do more. After a while, it began circulating through Hollywood, then finally leaked out of Hollywood, where boingboing.net picked it up, and after that, it just blew up. Now execs want to meet with me simply based on that comic. To kind of sum up what it's about, it's loosely based on my experiences in Hollywood.

Percy Carey: How did you come up with the name?

Mike Le: I never had to pay for parking until moving to LA. That was a major culture shock. I'd be going to meetings, and people always told me not to forget to validate, otherwise you're punished. Something like that becomes a form of actual validation between all people. The original title was Dreamland, but that didn't sound as unique.

Percy Carey: Have you thought about continuing, perhaps using “Dreamland” for the name of another project?

Mike Le: Not at the moment.

Percy Carey: Speaking of the Execs, are there possibilities of a film coming out of this?

Mike Le: Right now we're in the middle of working on a film. It's going to more than likely be a series of animated shorts, almost like an anthology that we plan to use to build the universe. The hope is to turn that into a TV show as it expands.

Percy Carey: Internationally, how do you see the popularity of comics? You’re an inspiration to others because of the web comic, how do you see the world's view of comics?

Mike Le: I think there's definitely room for growth. When I travel, it’s mainly for work and I don't get a chance to buy a lot of comics. That combined with the fact that I moved away from Asia when I was very young, I don't really have a line into that scene anymore.

Percy Carey: Do you collect any comics?

Mike Le: When I was younger, I'd collect everything from Marvel, you know all the staple titles. I was also around for the independent boom, and collected titles like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Boris the Bear, and became a big Cerberus fan.

Percy Carey: Do you collect anything now?

Mike Le: The biggest things I like to collect are Lonely Criminal, Captain America, Powers, and Scalp.

Percy Carey: You work for [actor/singer] Tyrese. Do comic books seem like a good avenue for someone like him?

Mike Le: That's definitely something we want to do. With the type of movies he's in'he wants to make movies that appeal to that fan base'it only makes sense that we tap in to that audience. You know, being lifelong fan, it's definitely something I want to see. Right now, we're actively looking into those projects. At the same time, our company is actually working on a deal to publish our own series.

Percy Carey: Can you give us some details?

Mike Le: Not right now'we're trying to keep that under wraps until it becomes a little more solid, but it is very exciting, I can tell you that.

Percy Carey: Will you come back and do a second interview after the project goes through?

Mike Le: Oh, definitely. I'd love to come back and talk about some of the details about the workings and goings on, some behind the scenes insight. I'll definitely do another interview when it hits.

Percy Carey: What can you talk about, writing-wise?

Mike Le: Right now I'm working on a project called Fever. I'm actually looking to shoot in Korea at the beginning of the year. There's also an indie project that I've been hired to write, which might start production mid November. It's ultra low budget but should still be fun. Also I have the opportunity to be Executive Producer on a reality show on BET, which is in pre production for late next year to air.

Percy Carey: Now the serious question: who would win in a fight between Black Adam and Hulk?

Mike Le: I'd probably have to go with the Hulk, because I've grown up with him and I'm just more familiar with Hulk.

Percy Carey: Where can readers learn more about you and your work?

Mike Le: Read my alter ego in the web comic, Dontforgettovalidateyourparking.com'all of life's secrets will be revealed there.

Percy Carey: Do you have a favorite place where you like to buy comics?

Mike Le: Right now, the place that I love to go to is Meltdown.

Percy Carey: One last question. When it comes to comics, what do you think it takes to make good comics?

Mike Le: Characters. Characters are definitely the foundation of a good story. These days lots of books become just a rehash of other stories, but when you take a common story and add great characters, it really makes the story unique.

Percy Carey: Mike, thank you for taking time to do an interview, I know the readers will definitely be interested, and I enjoyed hearing your stories.

Mike Le: No problem, I appreciate you inviting me to do this. And I look forward to coming back with some new stories.

**SPECIAL BULLETIN**

Do you want to know more about the Hollywood think tank The Avalon Table? And names of the members? We’ll get to the bottom of this in Mike Le’s next interview here with Complex.

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