His Hit Series is About to Become a Movie
Sanford Greene is one of the hottest names in comics. He’s also a South Carolina native, Columbia resident and Benedict College alumnus.
He’s worked on the most recent “Spider-Verse” movie and one of his most popular comic series, “Bitter Root,” is being adapted into a movie by Regina King (who will direct) and Ryan Coogler, the filmmaker behind Marvel’s “Black Panther” movies and the critically lauded “Fruitvale Station.” who will produce.
During his discussion with Free Times, Greene discussed how attending Benedict helped shape his career, how rapper MF Doom inspired his “Dr. Doom” comic, among other things. Check out Greene and Kwasi Brown’s conversation:
Kwasi: I don’t like to introduce people. Could you please introduce yourself?
Sanford: Sanford Greene, illustrator, creator. I’ve worked with Marvel, Disney and Warner Brothers. Co-creator of “Bitter Root” (Chuck Brown, David F Walker), the graphic novel series soon to be a film with Regina King and Ryan Coogler at the helm. Conceptual designer on the Spider-Verse films. And Co-writer (with Jonathan Hickman) and illustrator of the new Doom #1 comic.
Kwasi: That’s quite the resume. Let’s start at the beginning of it, how did going to an HBCU help shape your career?
Sanford: One of the biggest things was Tyrone Geter coming to Benedict. I finally saw someone who looked like me doing something similar, because he came from the children’s book illustration background. I’d never met anyone in that field, definitely not anyone Black.
So when he came to school to teach there, it was the first time I saw a realistic throughline of how to get a job. And I wanted to do comics. But even though he wasn’t doing comics, it was close enough. He had work that he literally would bring to class and show me.
That blew my mind. And on top of that, he was an insanely talented illustrator. So he had my respect off the RIP. That experience really helped me to see the value in attending and teaching at an HBCU.
Kwasi: Okay let’s break the ice and get right to it. Marvel’s Dream Team vs DC’s Dream Team, who wins?
Sanford: None of them, because they can all kill each other, man.
The only one who might be still standing is Squirrel Girl. Look her up. She’s pretty powerful.
Kwasi: Definitely wasn’t expecting that answer. Let’s stay in the Marvel universe and talk the new “Dr. Doom,” and what finally brought the writer out of you.
Sanford: Well my illustration is a form of writing, too, just visual and visually is where I get my most fulfillment. But Dr Doom is a character that I’ve always wanted to write for, so when the opportunity came I was more than ready. I just had this incredible desire because he’s such a fascinating character. He literally is the touchstone to the Marvel Universe. He’s been involved in every character at some point. The dude suffers no fools and there’s this weird dichotomy where he’s a bad guy, but people love him — and I’m one of them.
I also thought it would be dope to tie in MF Doom to this issue, I thought it would be cool to listen to his music and find a throughline between what he’s saying lyrically and tie it into the story. So at the beginning of this story I use the lyrics from MF Doom’s “Accordion,” the first line, “living on borrowed time to talk, the clock ticks faster.”
That line fits perfectly, because Doom is floating in space, almost dead, living on borrowed time. The clock ticks faster.
Kwasi: Let’s switch gears a little, two-times Eisner Awards, massive critical acclaim and now a live action Hollywood movie with Ryan Coogler and Regina King attached, can you describe how the success of “Bitter Root” feels?
Sanford: We — myself, Chuck Brown and David F Walker — really created something special.
When you are recognized and awarded by your peers at the highest level, it does something to you … it puts you in a different headspace and gives you a different perspective. Honestly we thought we would win in 2019 but we lost, so the wins in 2020 and 2022 really came as a shock.
The thing that’s been the most humbling is how we have been received outside of the comic industry. We constantly get emails from groups, book clubs and professors about “Bitter Root.” There have been whole curriculums based around our book. I think that is so dope.
As for the movie part of it, I remember when I first got the news about Ryan Coogler, O was actually in the hospital; my son had just broken his arm and we were in the emergency room. My agent called and said, “we just signed Ryan Coogler.” And I screamed, “what,” in the crowded emergency room.
Weeks later, I receive an email that says Regina King is gonna be directing, me and my wife lost it we were so excited. All of it still seems surreal.
Kwasi: That is amazing, congrats on everything. Before we get out of here, I saw you post that “Bitter Root” is coming back very soon. Can we get any details?
Sanford: The only thing I can say is it’s about the next generation.
Photos courtesy of Jai-Anna Carter/Special to Free Times