Interview with the former co-executive producer of “Fringe” and “New Teen Titans” writer Felicia D. Henderson

Comicbook Resource has a interview with New Teen Titans writer Felicia D. Henderson. She was co-executive producer of “Fringe,” “Gossip Girl” and “Soul Food: the Series,” which she also directed. She also wrote “Cheetah Girls 2″ and for the “Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” and was a consulting producer and writer for “Everybody Hates Chris.” Her first issue of Teen Titans #75 will be released on September 30.

Here’s a few excerpts from the article:

CBR: What can you tell us about the story you’re going to tell in your first arc of “Teen Titans?” Who’s the villain? Who are the key players?

FELICIA D. HENDERSON: What can I tell you? Well, not much because it’s changing even as I’m writing it and I’m writing it now. In fact, I should be writing now instead of talking to you. I have to go.

Joking, of course. Let’s see. In the first arc some characters will come, other characters will go, a villain will go on a terror that will wreak havoc on our team. Yes, I know I’m “Queen of Vague.”

Are you a long-time fan of the “Teen Titans” and comics in general?

I am a long time comic book fan. I was a sickly child, which meant lots of time on the Asthma inhaler and lots of time in the house while my brothers and sisters played outside. So I created my own alternate universe and comic bookshelped me do that. My sisters were reading Archies and I was reading “Batman” and coming up with ways the villains could take out my younger brother. Yes, I was dark even at ten years old.

Getting a chance to write “Teen Titans” is so cool because it combines my strengths in writing teens, my love of comics, my science background, and my sci-fi sensibilities. And I’ve always loved the idea of creating stories about where this realm meets the spiritual/mystical one. In other words, I’m in heaven.

What are the major differences between writing for comics and television? “Teen Titans” is your first comic assignment, correct?

The biggest difference between the two is that you can rely on dialogue in television and you haveto rely on visual story telling in comics. In that way, comics are more like film, even more like silent film, which I love.

Also, because I’m so committed to doing a great job, the process is all-consuming for me now. Every page, every panel, every word of dialogue takes me forever because I take way too long to commit. This is my first full-length issue. To get my feet wet, I did a 10-page “Citizen Steel” story for the upcoming “Justice Society of America Annual” and that took me forever, too. But with “Teen Titans,” I’m on a serious time crunch so I won’t have the luxury of contemplating everything for so long.

Another difference is the intensity of weekly deadlines in television. You know you have to have an episode ready to go every week no matter what and that can be stressful, as well. Both mediums are very collaborative but the way the collaboration works is a little different. Breaking stories in a writers’ room surrounded by fellow writers means that television writing is never a lonely job. Also, there’s no better place to be than with other writers. I love the process.