I read a couple of interviews with Brian Azzarello where people were worried (jokingly I hope) that he was going to kill them. I dont think he would kill me. Plus after you piss off William Shatner, Andrew Vachss and Leonard Nimoy you dont get too scared anymore.
Azzarello first thought of his signature series, 100 Bullets, after he was cut off while driving. He wanted to kill that guy. We all get those feelings and in the beginning 100 Bullets was all about the revenge fantasy. The premise seemed simple, Mr. Graves, a shadowy old man in a suit shows up with evidence of someone who wronged you, 100 untraceable bullets and an untraceable gun. Then they are meant to hunt down and kill the person that violated them. But over the course of around 60 issues Azzarello and the brilliant artist Eduardo Risso have turned 100 Bullets into a large conspiracy tapestry that everyone is involved with.
Besides 100 Bullets, Azzarello has done other notable works, such as marrying comic icon Jill Thompson, writing acclaimed runs of Batman and Superman, the Sgt. Rock graphic novel Between Hell and a Hard Place, celebrated runs on Hellblazer and many more.
Check out the official site for 100 Bullets
Daniel Robert Epstein: How was the Big Apple Con [in New York City] for you?
Brian Azzarello: It was fine. Its a good show.
DRE: Is it frustrating sitting next to Jim Lee and his long line?
BA: No, its fine. Its good sitting next to Jim.
DRE: How was it being in New York City?
BA: I really like New York.
DRE: Did you do anything cool?
BA: I hung out at a bar around the corner from the convention for most of the time [laughs].
DRE: Was it one of the Irish pubs?
BA: The Blarney Stone. With that place there is no reason to leave. Everything that you need is in there.
DRE: If it had dancing girls it would be the best.
BA: Yeah, how about that.
DRE: I saw that the new 100 Bullets trade paperback, The Hard Way, is coming out in July. What goes on in this one?
BA: Its issue 50 through 58. In issue 50 there is a big background reveal about the nature of The Trust and The Minutemen. Then there is a pretty long story with Wiley, Dizzy and Mr. Shepard.
DRE: I read that you have the entire Minutemen background written out.
BA: Oh yeah.
DRE: But its not illustrated or anything.
BA: No, its just for me.
DRE: How often do you need to refer to that?
BA: Surprisingly never [laughs]. I forget a lot of things but this is one thing I remember. Its always fresh when I sit down to write.
DRE: Whatd you have for breakfast?
BA: Leftovers from last night.
DRE: So you remember that.
Will you ever do a full reveal of the origin of The Minutemen?
BA: Sure.
DRE: Has the origin changed since you started the series?
BA: No, its always been the same.
DRE: Who else has seen the bible?
BA: No one.
DRE: Not even the wife?
BA: Nope.
DRE: She probably wants to read 100 Bullets as it comes out.
BA: She does.
DRE: I did read that you are going to end 100 Bullets at issue 100 or was that just something you said?
BA: That was something I said a few years ago but it became reality.
DRE: Why is that?
BA: Thats just when we are going to end. Its a finite series.
DRE: Would you rather have it go on or does it just tie up neatly?
BA: Right now I want it to end at issue 100 but Im sure when it hits about 90 I wont want it to end. Ill start to miss it.
DRE: Has 100 Bullets become like real work yet?
BA: No, 100 Bullets is not work.
DRE: Its such a hard series to explain to people.
BA: Yeah. You can explain the original conceit but thats not what its about.
DRE: The revenge aspect is kind of The MacGuffin.
BA: Yeah, being able to get away with murder is something thats easy for people to grasp. But once they start reading it thats not what the series is about.
DRE: Do you feel that its about human nature or does that happen in all good stories?
BA: You hope that happens all the time but it doesnt. Its about human nature but maybe some of the darker aspects of it.
DRE: I read that you first came up with 100 Bullets after someone cut you off on the road. Do you still get as mad when someone cuts you off now or do you just go kill someone in 100 Bullets?
BA: I still get mad. Im a terrible person to drive with.
DRE: What kind of car do you have?
BA: I have a Scion xB, it looks like a shoebox.
DRE: Are you a bad driver?
BA: No but I get really angry when I drive. Im definitely a screamer and road rage is a friend of mine.
DRE: Do you rage in any other aspects of your life?
BA: No I get it all out in the car.
DRE: Did I read that at one point 100 Bullets was going to be a TV series?
BA: You might have read that but you didnt hear it from me.
DRE: Could it work in that format?
BA: It could.
DRE: I dont watch a lot of TV but I do watch shows like The Shield.
BA: Yeah I like that show.
DRE: The cases they solve in that show are somewhat incidental to the characters. 100 Bullets could work really well like that and if you need to do a fill-in episode it could be like the one issue stories in the comics.
BA: It could. Its set up to be taken advantage of in that way.
DRE: I read that the first 100 Bullets trade paperback is used in a few courses at Northwestern University.
BA: Its taught in a crime fiction of the 20th century class. Its kind of an honor, especially after I looked at the syllabus. Raymond Chandler is on it also Elmore Leonard, Jim Thompson and Quentin Tarantino. So come on, its an honor to be included with those people.
DRE: Do you think a book like 100 Bullets could have been set in a Jim Thompson like era?
BA: Sure but it would have had a different flavor. I think 100 Bullets is very aware of its time and Im pretty conscious of that.
DRE: Is it difficult to keep that up?
BA: It gets more difficult as the temptation to get lazier comes up [laughs].
DRE: I read quite a few articles where you mentioned that you go to bars and get dialogue for the book from listening to actual people talk. Do you still do that?
BA: Yeah, I think its crucial.
DRE: Do you go to a bar that knows you?
BA: No I dont want to be known. That defeats the purpose.
DRE: Have you ever used a bit straight from someones mouth?
BA: Absolutely.
DRE: Do you ever see someone and that that you shouldnt be writing down what they say?
BA: No.
DRE: Did that 100 Bullets videogame ever happen?
BA: No it didnt unfortunately. Acclaim went bankrupt.
DRE: So thats not even anyones fault. Did the storyline get incorporated into the comic?
BA: I dont think I can do that legally because the assets and all that stuff are still in the courts. Also since I was adapting my own material Im not going to unadapt it for the comic.
DRE: Was that process much different?
BA: Yeah it was. 100 Bullets doesnt really have much gunplay. 100 Bullets itself would make a very boring game so we really had to ratchet up the gunplay.
DRE: What characters would we have been able to play?
BA: Cole and a new character you could play.
DRE: Did you end up finishing the whole story?
BA: I did the whole story. It went through all the scripting to the voice record.
DRE: Did Eduardo [Risso] do the designs?
BA: Yes he did.
DRE: Hes so amazing.
BA: Hes the greatest.
DRE: How did you and Eduardo communicate mostly?
BA: Mostly by email.
DRE: Besides his obvious talent, what else does Eduardo bring to the table?
BA: His storytelling is second to nobodys in the industry right now. He is in a class by himself. My scripts are very bare bones so I leave him lots of room.
DRE: So it never says in the script Then you only see this characters teeth and eyes.
BA: Sometimes I will say there is a tight shot on the eyes but thats about it. I know there are a lot of writers who put a lot of panel description into their scripts but thats not me. I wont get into the minutiae of whats happening in a panel. An artist isnt my pair of hands. Hes my collaborator so if Im doing my job then he should know what to do just from the dialogue.
DRE: Since you are in Chicago and Eduardo is in Argentina, have you spent much time together?
BA: We see each other once a year at San Diego Comicon.
DRE: Steve Niles works quite a bit with Ben Templesmith but Steve is in California and Ben is in Australia. Steve told me that when he and Ben first met in person it was a bit awkward and they both felt like they should go to computers and email each other.
BA: Its funny because Eduardo and I worked together for maybe three years before we first met one another. We were both a little apprehensive like, What I dont like this guy?
DRE: Before [former Vertigo editor] Axel Alonso first brought you two together did you do any preliminary sketches?
BA: No I didnt do any of that.
DRE: Did you see the Constantine movie?
BA: I havent but Im sure I will. I saw 20 minutes of it at the San Diego Comicon and I was impressed.
DRE: Did you get much flack for being the first American writer to write Hellblazer?
BA: [laughs] Yeah from the anglophiles. I cant worry about that kind of stuff. If they want to get angry I dont want to control that. Please get angry at me because Im American. The same sort of thing happened when I was writing Superman. I did interviews where I said that I didnt particularly like superheroes. So people come to the work and have a prejudice immediately. They feel it should be all done by people who love this stuff. Thats what they believe.
DRE: I think a lot of comic book writers dont like superheroes.
BA: There arent many who will admit it [laughs].
DRE: What did you think of the Sin City movie?
BA: I was impressed.
DRE: Would what they did with Frank Millers artwork work for Eduardos work on 100 Bullets?
BA: Itd be cool. Eduardo does some really crazy camera angles that I dont know if theyd be able to do. At one point Eduardo put the camera in a hot dog cart. He throws his camera all over the place.
DRE: You recently finished runs on both Superman and Batman. I asked Alan Moore if writing a somewhat straightforward book like Tom Strong was easier than his other works. He said that Tom Strong is one of the harder ones because since it is so straightforward there is nothing to hide behind.
BA: I wouldnt say my Superman and Batman were straightforward at all.
DRE: What I mean is that they are more straightforward characters.
BA: I didnt treat them that way.
DRE: Was working on Superman and Batman like work?
BA: Yeah it was. Superman was real work. It was a 12 issue story so it was work to keep referencing back and forth to things that had happened before. Working on Superman and Batman was interesting. Right now I dont have plans to do it again. I think Im better served doing other things and so is DC for that matter.
DRE: I read Steven Seagles It's a Bird and the book explains how he found his way into writing Superman. Then when I talked to him he said he wasnt entirely happy with what he then did with the actual Superman comic but it was interesting to read how he found his way into the book. Did you have a similar epiphany or did you have an idea of what you wanted to and you did it?
BA: I knew Superman made a mistake and thats what this was about.
DRE: Youre writing this miniseries Lex Luthor: Man of Steel. What was your hook into Luthor? I think I read that you called him misguided.
BA: I dont think hes misguided. I think he believes hes right. Every villain is the hero of his own story.
DRE: Is he the president in your book?
BA: No, I make no mention that he was ever president so this could take place anywhere in Supermans continuity.
DRE: I love that Oz homage you did in Hellblazer. What did you think of that last season of Oz?
BA: I didnt particularly like it. Towards the end they did some really weird things that didnt work.
DRE: I would say that doing Macbeth in a maximum security prison wouldnt be the best idea.
BA: Yeah and that Reverend Cloutier [played by Luke Perry].
DRE: The ghost!
BA: Yeah. It was too bad but when you look at the whole thing it was one of the most impressive things ever on television.
DRE: Maybe if they hadnt horned all those things into the last season and spread them out over a few seasons it would have been better.
What else do you do with your day?
BA: Wake up, shower, shave, read the newspaper and then sit down and work.
DRE: Someone like Richard Corben might not have a regular routine like that.
BA: Why would you say he doesnt do that?
DRE: Ive heard hes a bit eccentric.
BA: Hes a regular guy.
There are a lot of people who do their work at night because there are fewer distractions. It doesnt bother me. There are other things to do at night.
DRE: A lot of people love the urban dialogue you do in 100 Bullets; did you hang on a street corner when you were young?
BA: Didnt everybody? [laughs]
DRE: No, I grew up on Long Island. I hung out in rich peoples house.
BA: I definitely didnt do that [laughs].
DRE: Any of those guys you hung out with still around?
BA: Some of them are and some arent.
DRE: I was lucky enough to speak to [comic book artist] Philip Bond who is married to [Vertigo editor] Shelly Bond. I asked him if they would ever work together again and he said that probably isnt such a good idea. Would you and Jill Thompson ever do something together?
BA: No, as silly as it sounds at the end of the day its nice to say to someone How was your day? and have something different to talk about. If we were working on the same project I dont think that would happen, in fact I think we would be fighting. Also she does different kinds of project than I do.
DRE: You dont think you could write a project that would be good for her?
BA: No. I probably could but Im just going to say no.
DRE: What are you reading now?
BA: I just got The Outlaw Bible of American Poetry so Im making my way through that and then I have The Outlaw Bible of American Literature backing me up. I got the two trades for The New Frontier so I will probably get to those. Darwyn [Cooke] is really great. Vagabond from Viz is pretty awesome.
DRE: Do you like Manga or did you just get that book?
BA: It was something someone recommended to me.
DRE: I was given this new comic, Countdown to Infinite Crisis where they kill the Blue Beetle. Its funny because they kill a character like Blue Beetle and everyone is supposed to care.
BA: You think youre never going to see the Blue Beetle again? Dont cry over it because Im sure there is a Blue Beetle in your future. Ten to one its a woman and shes Hispanic. The guy in the costume is dead but the costume lives on.
DRE: You got any tattoos?
BA: Why do you want to know what tattoos I got?
DRE: SuicideGirls has a lot of tattooed girls and members.
BA: I didnt check out the site yet.
DRE: Its basically nude punk, emo and Goth girls.
BA: WellIll have to check it out [laughs].
Ive got a pair of dice on my arm. A Sailor Jerry devilhead on my arm. I have a skull on another arm. All on my upper arms.
DRE: Were you ever a punk yourself?
BA: I went to art school for five years so you figure it out [laughs].
DRE: What did you go to school for?
BA: I was a painter. I graduated with a painting degree.
DRE: Hows that going for you?
BA: Im a writer now. When you graduate from school with a fine arts degree in painting and you look for a job they hand you a roller and point you to the wall.
I was showing pretty regularly but the work definitely didnt belong over anyones sofa.
DRE: Was it abstract?
BA: No it was representational. It was pretty violent and sexual.
DRE: Do you paint anymore?
BA: No, writing scratches the creative itch.
by Daniel Robert Epstein
SG Username: AndersWolleck
Azzarello first thought of his signature series, 100 Bullets, after he was cut off while driving. He wanted to kill that guy. We all get those feelings and in the beginning 100 Bullets was all about the revenge fantasy. The premise seemed simple, Mr. Graves, a shadowy old man in a suit shows up with evidence of someone who wronged you, 100 untraceable bullets and an untraceable gun. Then they are meant to hunt down and kill the person that violated them. But over the course of around 60 issues Azzarello and the brilliant artist Eduardo Risso have turned 100 Bullets into a large conspiracy tapestry that everyone is involved with.
Besides 100 Bullets, Azzarello has done other notable works, such as marrying comic icon Jill Thompson, writing acclaimed runs of Batman and Superman, the Sgt. Rock graphic novel Between Hell and a Hard Place, celebrated runs on Hellblazer and many more.
Check out the official site for 100 Bullets
Daniel Robert Epstein: How was the Big Apple Con [in New York City] for you?
Brian Azzarello: It was fine. Its a good show.
DRE: Is it frustrating sitting next to Jim Lee and his long line?
BA: No, its fine. Its good sitting next to Jim.
DRE: How was it being in New York City?
BA: I really like New York.
DRE: Did you do anything cool?
BA: I hung out at a bar around the corner from the convention for most of the time [laughs].
DRE: Was it one of the Irish pubs?
BA: The Blarney Stone. With that place there is no reason to leave. Everything that you need is in there.
DRE: If it had dancing girls it would be the best.
BA: Yeah, how about that.
DRE: I saw that the new 100 Bullets trade paperback, The Hard Way, is coming out in July. What goes on in this one?
BA: Its issue 50 through 58. In issue 50 there is a big background reveal about the nature of The Trust and The Minutemen. Then there is a pretty long story with Wiley, Dizzy and Mr. Shepard.
DRE: I read that you have the entire Minutemen background written out.
BA: Oh yeah.
DRE: But its not illustrated or anything.
BA: No, its just for me.
DRE: How often do you need to refer to that?
BA: Surprisingly never [laughs]. I forget a lot of things but this is one thing I remember. Its always fresh when I sit down to write.
DRE: Whatd you have for breakfast?
BA: Leftovers from last night.
DRE: So you remember that.
Will you ever do a full reveal of the origin of The Minutemen?
BA: Sure.
DRE: Has the origin changed since you started the series?
BA: No, its always been the same.
DRE: Who else has seen the bible?
BA: No one.
DRE: Not even the wife?
BA: Nope.
DRE: She probably wants to read 100 Bullets as it comes out.
BA: She does.
DRE: I did read that you are going to end 100 Bullets at issue 100 or was that just something you said?
BA: That was something I said a few years ago but it became reality.
DRE: Why is that?
BA: Thats just when we are going to end. Its a finite series.
DRE: Would you rather have it go on or does it just tie up neatly?
BA: Right now I want it to end at issue 100 but Im sure when it hits about 90 I wont want it to end. Ill start to miss it.
DRE: Has 100 Bullets become like real work yet?
BA: No, 100 Bullets is not work.
DRE: Its such a hard series to explain to people.
BA: Yeah. You can explain the original conceit but thats not what its about.
DRE: The revenge aspect is kind of The MacGuffin.
BA: Yeah, being able to get away with murder is something thats easy for people to grasp. But once they start reading it thats not what the series is about.
DRE: Do you feel that its about human nature or does that happen in all good stories?
BA: You hope that happens all the time but it doesnt. Its about human nature but maybe some of the darker aspects of it.
DRE: I read that you first came up with 100 Bullets after someone cut you off on the road. Do you still get as mad when someone cuts you off now or do you just go kill someone in 100 Bullets?
BA: I still get mad. Im a terrible person to drive with.
DRE: What kind of car do you have?
BA: I have a Scion xB, it looks like a shoebox.
DRE: Are you a bad driver?
BA: No but I get really angry when I drive. Im definitely a screamer and road rage is a friend of mine.
DRE: Do you rage in any other aspects of your life?
BA: No I get it all out in the car.
DRE: Did I read that at one point 100 Bullets was going to be a TV series?
BA: You might have read that but you didnt hear it from me.
DRE: Could it work in that format?
BA: It could.
DRE: I dont watch a lot of TV but I do watch shows like The Shield.
BA: Yeah I like that show.
DRE: The cases they solve in that show are somewhat incidental to the characters. 100 Bullets could work really well like that and if you need to do a fill-in episode it could be like the one issue stories in the comics.
BA: It could. Its set up to be taken advantage of in that way.
DRE: I read that the first 100 Bullets trade paperback is used in a few courses at Northwestern University.
BA: Its taught in a crime fiction of the 20th century class. Its kind of an honor, especially after I looked at the syllabus. Raymond Chandler is on it also Elmore Leonard, Jim Thompson and Quentin Tarantino. So come on, its an honor to be included with those people.
DRE: Do you think a book like 100 Bullets could have been set in a Jim Thompson like era?
BA: Sure but it would have had a different flavor. I think 100 Bullets is very aware of its time and Im pretty conscious of that.
DRE: Is it difficult to keep that up?
BA: It gets more difficult as the temptation to get lazier comes up [laughs].
DRE: I read quite a few articles where you mentioned that you go to bars and get dialogue for the book from listening to actual people talk. Do you still do that?
BA: Yeah, I think its crucial.
DRE: Do you go to a bar that knows you?
BA: No I dont want to be known. That defeats the purpose.
DRE: Have you ever used a bit straight from someones mouth?
BA: Absolutely.
DRE: Do you ever see someone and that that you shouldnt be writing down what they say?
BA: No.
DRE: Did that 100 Bullets videogame ever happen?
BA: No it didnt unfortunately. Acclaim went bankrupt.
DRE: So thats not even anyones fault. Did the storyline get incorporated into the comic?
BA: I dont think I can do that legally because the assets and all that stuff are still in the courts. Also since I was adapting my own material Im not going to unadapt it for the comic.
DRE: Was that process much different?
BA: Yeah it was. 100 Bullets doesnt really have much gunplay. 100 Bullets itself would make a very boring game so we really had to ratchet up the gunplay.
DRE: What characters would we have been able to play?
BA: Cole and a new character you could play.
DRE: Did you end up finishing the whole story?
BA: I did the whole story. It went through all the scripting to the voice record.
DRE: Did Eduardo [Risso] do the designs?
BA: Yes he did.
DRE: Hes so amazing.
BA: Hes the greatest.
DRE: How did you and Eduardo communicate mostly?
BA: Mostly by email.
DRE: Besides his obvious talent, what else does Eduardo bring to the table?
BA: His storytelling is second to nobodys in the industry right now. He is in a class by himself. My scripts are very bare bones so I leave him lots of room.
DRE: So it never says in the script Then you only see this characters teeth and eyes.
BA: Sometimes I will say there is a tight shot on the eyes but thats about it. I know there are a lot of writers who put a lot of panel description into their scripts but thats not me. I wont get into the minutiae of whats happening in a panel. An artist isnt my pair of hands. Hes my collaborator so if Im doing my job then he should know what to do just from the dialogue.
DRE: Since you are in Chicago and Eduardo is in Argentina, have you spent much time together?
BA: We see each other once a year at San Diego Comicon.
DRE: Steve Niles works quite a bit with Ben Templesmith but Steve is in California and Ben is in Australia. Steve told me that when he and Ben first met in person it was a bit awkward and they both felt like they should go to computers and email each other.
BA: Its funny because Eduardo and I worked together for maybe three years before we first met one another. We were both a little apprehensive like, What I dont like this guy?
DRE: Before [former Vertigo editor] Axel Alonso first brought you two together did you do any preliminary sketches?
BA: No I didnt do any of that.
DRE: Did you see the Constantine movie?
BA: I havent but Im sure I will. I saw 20 minutes of it at the San Diego Comicon and I was impressed.
DRE: Did you get much flack for being the first American writer to write Hellblazer?
BA: [laughs] Yeah from the anglophiles. I cant worry about that kind of stuff. If they want to get angry I dont want to control that. Please get angry at me because Im American. The same sort of thing happened when I was writing Superman. I did interviews where I said that I didnt particularly like superheroes. So people come to the work and have a prejudice immediately. They feel it should be all done by people who love this stuff. Thats what they believe.
DRE: I think a lot of comic book writers dont like superheroes.
BA: There arent many who will admit it [laughs].
DRE: What did you think of the Sin City movie?
BA: I was impressed.
DRE: Would what they did with Frank Millers artwork work for Eduardos work on 100 Bullets?
BA: Itd be cool. Eduardo does some really crazy camera angles that I dont know if theyd be able to do. At one point Eduardo put the camera in a hot dog cart. He throws his camera all over the place.
DRE: You recently finished runs on both Superman and Batman. I asked Alan Moore if writing a somewhat straightforward book like Tom Strong was easier than his other works. He said that Tom Strong is one of the harder ones because since it is so straightforward there is nothing to hide behind.
BA: I wouldnt say my Superman and Batman were straightforward at all.
DRE: What I mean is that they are more straightforward characters.
BA: I didnt treat them that way.
DRE: Was working on Superman and Batman like work?
BA: Yeah it was. Superman was real work. It was a 12 issue story so it was work to keep referencing back and forth to things that had happened before. Working on Superman and Batman was interesting. Right now I dont have plans to do it again. I think Im better served doing other things and so is DC for that matter.
DRE: I read Steven Seagles It's a Bird and the book explains how he found his way into writing Superman. Then when I talked to him he said he wasnt entirely happy with what he then did with the actual Superman comic but it was interesting to read how he found his way into the book. Did you have a similar epiphany or did you have an idea of what you wanted to and you did it?
BA: I knew Superman made a mistake and thats what this was about.
DRE: Youre writing this miniseries Lex Luthor: Man of Steel. What was your hook into Luthor? I think I read that you called him misguided.
BA: I dont think hes misguided. I think he believes hes right. Every villain is the hero of his own story.
DRE: Is he the president in your book?
BA: No, I make no mention that he was ever president so this could take place anywhere in Supermans continuity.
DRE: I love that Oz homage you did in Hellblazer. What did you think of that last season of Oz?
BA: I didnt particularly like it. Towards the end they did some really weird things that didnt work.
DRE: I would say that doing Macbeth in a maximum security prison wouldnt be the best idea.
BA: Yeah and that Reverend Cloutier [played by Luke Perry].
DRE: The ghost!
BA: Yeah. It was too bad but when you look at the whole thing it was one of the most impressive things ever on television.
DRE: Maybe if they hadnt horned all those things into the last season and spread them out over a few seasons it would have been better.
What else do you do with your day?
BA: Wake up, shower, shave, read the newspaper and then sit down and work.
DRE: Someone like Richard Corben might not have a regular routine like that.
BA: Why would you say he doesnt do that?
DRE: Ive heard hes a bit eccentric.
BA: Hes a regular guy.
There are a lot of people who do their work at night because there are fewer distractions. It doesnt bother me. There are other things to do at night.
DRE: A lot of people love the urban dialogue you do in 100 Bullets; did you hang on a street corner when you were young?
BA: Didnt everybody? [laughs]
DRE: No, I grew up on Long Island. I hung out in rich peoples house.
BA: I definitely didnt do that [laughs].
DRE: Any of those guys you hung out with still around?
BA: Some of them are and some arent.
DRE: I was lucky enough to speak to [comic book artist] Philip Bond who is married to [Vertigo editor] Shelly Bond. I asked him if they would ever work together again and he said that probably isnt such a good idea. Would you and Jill Thompson ever do something together?
BA: No, as silly as it sounds at the end of the day its nice to say to someone How was your day? and have something different to talk about. If we were working on the same project I dont think that would happen, in fact I think we would be fighting. Also she does different kinds of project than I do.
DRE: You dont think you could write a project that would be good for her?
BA: No. I probably could but Im just going to say no.
DRE: What are you reading now?
BA: I just got The Outlaw Bible of American Poetry so Im making my way through that and then I have The Outlaw Bible of American Literature backing me up. I got the two trades for The New Frontier so I will probably get to those. Darwyn [Cooke] is really great. Vagabond from Viz is pretty awesome.
DRE: Do you like Manga or did you just get that book?
BA: It was something someone recommended to me.
DRE: I was given this new comic, Countdown to Infinite Crisis where they kill the Blue Beetle. Its funny because they kill a character like Blue Beetle and everyone is supposed to care.
BA: You think youre never going to see the Blue Beetle again? Dont cry over it because Im sure there is a Blue Beetle in your future. Ten to one its a woman and shes Hispanic. The guy in the costume is dead but the costume lives on.
DRE: You got any tattoos?
BA: Why do you want to know what tattoos I got?
DRE: SuicideGirls has a lot of tattooed girls and members.
BA: I didnt check out the site yet.
DRE: Its basically nude punk, emo and Goth girls.
BA: WellIll have to check it out [laughs].
Ive got a pair of dice on my arm. A Sailor Jerry devilhead on my arm. I have a skull on another arm. All on my upper arms.
DRE: Were you ever a punk yourself?
BA: I went to art school for five years so you figure it out [laughs].
DRE: What did you go to school for?
BA: I was a painter. I graduated with a painting degree.
DRE: Hows that going for you?
BA: Im a writer now. When you graduate from school with a fine arts degree in painting and you look for a job they hand you a roller and point you to the wall.
I was showing pretty regularly but the work definitely didnt belong over anyones sofa.
DRE: Was it abstract?
BA: No it was representational. It was pretty violent and sexual.
DRE: Do you paint anymore?
BA: No, writing scratches the creative itch.
by Daniel Robert Epstein
SG Username: AndersWolleck
VIEW 8 of 8 COMMENTS
bairdduvessa said:
I'm not a big DC fan, but his work in Batman was great. And Lex Luther has to be one of the best mainstream comics out there.
I know Vertigo is a division of DC... but c'mon, they've put out what've pretty much been the best comics for the last few years.
Transmetropolitan, 100 Bullets, The Filth, Preacher, etc. etc.