Mark Moretti

In his time, Mark Moretti has been a trucker, a basketball coach, and most recently a double-threat as writer and artist for Valiant's Ninjak.

Growing up in tiny Jenkintown, Pennsylvania, Moretti read comics as a child in the '60s. While he admits to "drawing a little bit in high school," he has clearly spent years practicing his skill. When asked if he preferred writing or penciling, Moretti replied, "I like them both because unless you're in close collaboration with the artist, you're going to get different points of view - sometimes for the better, sometimes not. Handling both is the best because you control the final product - there are no excuses. You can't blame anyone else because you did it."

However, Moretti admits that he has other ambitions: "One day, I want to do film," he explains. "There's no two ways about it. I want to write and direct. In fact, I got into comics because it's the perfect training ground for film. A comic artist and a film director use their images in the same way. In comics, the reader should be able to follow the story without having to read the word balloons."

Until then, Moretti plans to continue writing and penciling comics. His latest project is Ninjak #0, scheduled for release in early 1995. Moretti adds, "I just spent six weeks in England and Japan researching material, so the story would be as authentic as possible. Also, it'll be a different kind of zero issue than has ever been done before." As for how different, Moretti declined to comment.

"...without a doubt, Jack Kirby and Stan Lee; also Denny O'Neil and Neal Adams - that's what I grew up with. My biggest modern influence is Frank Miller."