Torunn Grønbekk is a Norwegian comic writer who has worked on Carnage, Thor, and Punisher: War Journal, and is currently writing Red Sonja for Dynamite. She was a guest at last weekend’s Baltimore Comic-Con where she chatted with Scoop about her work in comics and attending conventions.

Scoop: Are you having a good time this weekend?
Torunn Grønbekk (TG): I’m having the most amazing time. I would say the heat is a little intense, but other than that the con is amazing. Just amazing.

Scoop: What do you like about attending cons?
TG: Meeting the readers and then meeting other creators. I sit around alone in a cabin in a forest in Scandinavia for most of the time, and then I get to meet the people I actually work with and it’s a joy.

Scoop: What books do fans want to talk about most?
TG: We’re talking a lot about Thor and about Realm of X, which is a comic that just had the first issue, like, last week, and the next one is out in few weeks. People are excited and horrified about what we did, so there’s a lot of Realm of X talk. And then Red Sonja, lot of Red Sonja.

Scoop: That’s definitely a popular book.
TG: Yeah, it seems to be doing well and I think people enjoyed the sort of back to basics approach that we had, which I appreciate because that was what I wanted to do.

Scoop: What else are you working on now?
TG: Right now, I’m writing Carnage. It’s out in November and it’s one of my favorite books that I’ve written. I hope people will enjoy it – it’s bloody and murderous and horrible. But it’s got something. I’m also writing Venom as well, which is also bloody and murderous and horrible, but in a different way – less Cletus Kasady. I’m still on Red Sonja, still on Realm of X, and then I have a couple of other things coming up that I can’t talk about but I’m really excited about.

Scoop: Do you have a specific genre you like to work in?
TG: I don’t know. As long as I can bring some level of humanity into it somehow. I wish I could do any genre. I’ve been enjoying the fantasy genre, just because it’s such an escape from the world. Like an alternative route we could have gone down. I’ve enjoyed that a lot. And everything that’s dark and horrible and bloody. We’re getting back to that.

Scoop: Which titles would you like to work on that you haven’t yet?
TG: I think I would like another go at Thor, I just did seven issues of Thor and it was just a joy, so much fun. It would be interesting to tackle that as a sort of separate… like not taking over someone else’s book, but just doing my own thing. That would be fun. I’ve been exceptionally lucky so far, I’ve gotten to do amazing things like Punisher. One of my favorite characters even though he is objectively horrible, but that is the thread of this conversation.  

Scoop: Which shows are on your schedule for the rest of the year?
TG: I’ll be in Stockholm, I’ll be in Athens, which is going to be fun. I’ll be in New York for New York Comic Con. I’ll do a few panels, but I don’t have a table at New York.

Scoop: Thank you, have a good rest of the show.
TG: Thank you so much.