AC - How much editorial coordination is there across the board on the Faces of Evil project? That is, how much free reign are you being given to make a kick ass Ivan Brandon style work?
IB - Editorial definitely knows what they want in terms of the bigger picture of the DCU and how the character affects and interacts with it. But the specifics of who and what the character is were all left to me and they encouraged me to be unique with my voice on the book. Which is why the finished comic is all in yiddish.
AC - In a Newsarama interview Dan DiDio said, “You always hear from writers that some of the best characters to write are the villains because they don’t perceive themselves as villains …” Is he correct or full of it?
IB - Well, in real life I don't think anyone self-perceives as a villain... it's a rare person who's the bad guy in any interaction and knows it. The biggest douchebag you or I ever met thinks he's the hero in his particular story. In comics, though, and superhero comics in particular, I like characters that know they're the villain and have pride in their work. Everyone's good at something, sometimes that thing is murder.
AC - “Viking”, a crime book about a Viking! Please tell us more!
IB - It's a book about quite a few Vikings, a King, his daughter, a fence of stolen goods, a Falcon, some eels and lots of liberated blood. It's a crime book about what it takes to be respected in a world where everyone takes what they want at the end of a spear. I think it's the best thing I've ever written and Nic Klein's art is mindblowing.
AC - Now if any one reads good crime books they know about Cross Bronx. Are you drawn more to writing the crime/noir style of story?
IB - I'm a city boy, I was born in NYC and mostly lived in a 5 mile radius from there all my life, so I think maybe I have a weird acceptance of crime as less of an anomaly and more a weird part of what makes up the world. Some of the people I grew up with found their way pretty naturally into illegal activity not for some villainous goal of decadence but just for basic things that were for whatever reason just outside of their reach. From a human character perspective I think a lot of readers connect with the right kind of crime story in that almost everyone's broken the law one way or another... everyone rationalizes things they do that they know are wrong to whatever degree. For some people those rationalizations compound forever until some outside force... prison, death, etc... puts a stop to it.
AC - If Malve were to buy you a drink or several, would you put up his mugshot on your Myspace page with a link to the Atomic webstore?
IB - Is it an actual mugshot? I'd put that up anywhere and everywhere.
AC - Do you have any advice to any aspiring writers? Not just for getting in the business, but any ways to improve their writing?
IB - I don't remember who said it, but getting into comics is like breaking out of prison... everybody does it differently and the entry/escape point is plugged and fortified immediately so that no one can repeat that particular route. There's very little useful advice I can give anyone on the business of comics, but my advice to aspiring writers is basically the old cliche of writing from a place of passion. Just because you like reading comics, doesn't mean you have to write or draw them. If all you want to do is write like Geoff Johns: there's already a guy doing that.
AC - We heard Twitter is actually Phase One of a larger Big Brother conspiracy to track and “train” people – soon it will actually implant thoughts and false memories into users. But Phase One should only affect folks with more than 1000 followers, so you’re safe for now!
IB - That totally wasn't a question. You're drunker than I am.
AC - If you could write any character from any company what would you tackle?
IB - I'm pretty open, really...I've had the most fun writing characters I'd never thought of writing... working with a character you're not as familiar with can make you think in different ways. But I'll admit I'm a huge Daredevil nerd since I was a kid... I've got issues of that dating back before I was born.
AC - Who are some other writers that you respect and look up to?
IB - In comics? Honestly, I think right now we're in one of the best periods ever as far as writing talent. Guys like Fraction, Remender, Aaron... there's a whole army of writers coming into their own with unique voices. And there's another wave, guys like Brett Lewis and Rick Spears who maybe aren't as much in the spotlight yet, but are as talented as anyone in the business or more.
It’s never easy, but it’s a pretty great time in comics.