Profile Interview: Matt Wagner
By Christopher Butcher.

Matt Wagner has personally created some of the most important and recognizable comic characters of the last 20 years. His creations, MAGE and GRENDEL are possibly two of the true inheritors of the "modern myth" moniker that is often applied to comics. And along with the notable exception of Dave Sim's CEREBUS, MAGE and GRENDEL are some of the only creator-owned and characters still in print after 20 years. His work on mainstream characters, revamping the Golden Age SANDMAN and his revolutionary BATMAN stories have marked him as someone who can take a venerable concept and make it fresh and exciting. That's why this month we shine the spotlight of our ProFile feature on Matt Wagner.

Describe how you came to be working in comics.

Always wanted to be a cartoonist. My mom was an English teacher and so I was taught at a young age to read for entertainment. Unlike most teachers of the time, she didn't care that I was reading comics. Thought I would eventually grow out of them but, hey, it was reading. Anyway, my parents have a school memories book that has a space to fill in "What I want to be when I grow up". All through grade school -- one year I wrote "astronaut" but every other year says "comic book writer". I assumed at that age that whoever wrote the books drew them as well. After high school, I went to college and art school where comics where frowned upon, so I decided to become a commercial illustrator. Thank god, I got saved from that fate! Eventually, I returned to comics.

Where did you get your professional start in comics? What were the nuts and bolts of the transition between school and your first few pro gigs?

Well, I've told these tales before so I'll try to keep it brief. When I first went to college, I had decided that what I wanted to do was become a commercial illustrator. This had been not only due to my (then) lack of current exposure to the comics scene, but also what I saw/was told was a viable way to make a living. I've never harbored any romantic notions of poverty. The first school I went to, James Madison University fairly frowned on comics and so the illo route was the path I took. Conversely, at the same time, I started doing a twice/weekly comic strip for the school newspaper called OUR HERO. It was a goofy little super-hero spoof and gave me my first real exposure to deadlines and such. I also functioned as the paper's graphic artist, which meant that I did fill-in illos for articles that had no photo. Later, I transferred to an art school in Philadelphia wherein I met the fellows who would later form the core base of the fledgling Comico. Several years later, we all dropped out and leapt into the burgeoning boom of independent comics in the mid 80's.

What does a regular working day look like for you?

I have two young kids, so my day consists of fairly normal business hours. I'm also the cook in our family, so I kick off work around 5:00 to fix dinner. My studio's in my home. Quite the swank affair as well!
Mornings tend to involve phone calls and attention to business hoo-ha. Then the phone goes off and its time to hunker down over the drawing table/computer/easel/whatever.

How does having your studio at home affect your work process? Do you find it difficult to write or draw with the kids under-foot?

Actually, they're overhead. My studio's downstairs and it's fairly removed from the rest of the house, so no. That's rarely a problem.

Does your wife work at home as well?

She's a mom and housewife. Does a lot of volunteer work through our kids' school etc. But, yeah, she's around quite a bit. But I love my family. Their presence isn't a problem. Plus, I'm an old hat at this stuff by now. If inspiration's lacking, I remove myself from the scene. A short break's usually all it takes. Can't afford to waste time waiting for the muse to speak. I smack dat bitch into workin' fo me!

I read a quote in a comic once, "This industry isn't kind to marriages"...

I think that's true of any of the entertainment fields. The creative process can become obsessive. And let's face it... a career spent sitting at a drawing table can lead to a mighty big ass. As with everything else that's worthwhile, marriage takes a lot of effort. But I knew that going into it, though.

A few people have theorized that your family will play a big part in the life of your alter-ego, Kevin Matchstick, and that you have intentions for your son to be featured as a main character in MAGE III...

Yeah, THE HERO DENIED will definitely be "The Kevin and Magda Show." And, yeah, both my kids will play a role. In fact, the other night, lying in bed, my wife described what she thought would be a great way for MAGE III to open. Several nights later, at dinner, my son says, "Dad, I've got a great idea about how I can appear in the next MAGE series." I had to make a family announcement that I, and I alone, would be writing MAGE III. My creative process is NOT a democracy!

No, it's a Zen Journey... Hah. You've described your work on MAGE that way before, "A Zen Journey". It conjures up images of you wandering through the work, for me anyway. Is this the reason there were a few "bumps" in the production schedule?

Not so much that, as former commitments to both Dark Horse and DC. I had been promising GRENDEL: BLACK,WHITE, & RED to Dark Horse for a long time and couldn't back out. Plus John Snyder finally decided to finish DR. MIDNITE, so I had to script that as well. Those were two big wrenches in the MAGE works. The other projects involved commitments to other people, whereas MAGE involved only myself so that's where I took the lumps. Next time I'll know better.

When is "Next Time"?

Ha! Now starts the "When's MAGE III?" questions! Actually, I'm might be doing something for DC (can't say what, yet), but I promise THE HERO DENIED will not take another decade. The events covered in DEFINED happened to me more than a decade ago, so I do have the distance and life experience to draw upon ready to go straight into the next one. We'll see...

Wow, a MAGE/DC crossover? Sounds neat!

No MAGE crossovers. Ever. Especially no crossovers with GRENDEL. Those are two halves of mind and soul and never the twain shall meet.

Can you describe some of the tools (art and writing) used in the creation of your work?

The tools? Ah, they're no different than the industry standards and, besides, tools are incidental (Kevin Matchstick is learning). What's important is the process.

Interesting. You've described your creative process for MAGE in the books themselves, how does that differ from something like GRENDEL?

You mentioned that MAGE is a Zen journey and that's true. I don't write out plots or do thumbnails for it. I sit down with blank pages and let the story take me. GRENDEL and all the SANDMAN MYSTERY THEATRE (SMT) work that I did tend to be far more calculated. Plus, both those are collaborative efforts whereas MAGE is a one-man show. Still, even on the collaborations, I don't write what are known in the biz as "full scripts". I prefer plot and dialogue fashion in order to afford the artist more input. As a writer, I feel that if I want an ironclad control over visual pacing and layout... hey, I'm artist too. I should be drawing it myself, then. The only reason for me to collaborate is to learn to see things through other people's perceptions as well.

You're one of the few creators in the comic industry that is renowned entirely for their own creations, versus their run on a big-company book. Do you see yourself as a leader in the regard?

An early example. Whether I'm a leader or not is for other people to decide (something else that Matchstick is learning). But, yeah, most other creator/owners started at the big two and then branched out whereas I became known for MAGE and GRENDEL first and then, later, my work for DC.

Do the troubles with leadership of MAGE's Kevin Matchstick reflect your own life?

Kevin Matchstick's troubles with everything reflect my own life.
Early in my career, my immediate circle of friends were all comic/artistic hopefuls. I was the one who came into his own the quickest, so I became the defacto leader. Its only after I expanded my scope into the industry as a whole that I realized my "leadership" qualities didn't necessarily translate to others.

You lived and worked through a very difficult time in the comics industry, several really. For those of us who've come to your work late, can you describe what happened with GRENDEL, MAGE, and Comico?

Oy. The most fucked-up time of my entire life. Comico was run by a bunch of... less than competent people who ran themselves into massive debt and then filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy -- totally screwing their loyal creators. My contract even had bankruptcy clauses wherein, in just such an event, all rights were supposed to revert to me. Regardless, bankruptcy laws are federal which overrules any civil contract. Both MAGE and GRENDEL were considered company assets and denied to me for several years.
Eventually, some legal loopholes led my properties back into my possession but it was a mighty fucked-up couple of years there.

Did you have a personal relationship with the people behind Comico?

Sure, we met on an elevator and one was wearing a comics oriented T-shirt. At the time, they too were publishing a school paper called DUCKWORK that featured reviews, school news and duck themed cartoons. My gig was doing movie poster take-offs, ie: ROLLERDUCK, RAIDERS OF THE LOST DUCK, DUCK THROAT. We remained friends for a bit, but most of those relationships broke off in the face of actual business fuctionings. Plus, whereas they went into the business of comics, I stayed at home and drew them.
Hard to stay close with that sort of separation. And, then, of course Comico's bankruptcy shattered any illusions of friendship forever.

Being "Before the Internet", almost no records of the proceedings surrounding Comico's (Or First's, for that matter) bankruptcy survive into the present day. Are there any lessons that you think the current industry could learn from those happenings?

Well, in both of those instances, I think the key to their downfall was an overly eager leap into newsstand distribution. So many of the 80's independent publishers longed for the verification and acceptance of the "big two" that they pictured competing with them on this level was the way to do it. Unfortunately, newsstand distribution is a hard row to hoe. It consists of printing an enormous quantity of books that would, to a great degree, be later returned for a buyer's refund. It wiped 'em out. Marvel and DC survived that way by selling ad space to national accounts. Comico and First had very little opportunity to do that.

Where does The Aerialist come into play?

Out of frustration, during the time of the Big Freeze on MAGE and GRENDEL. The main character was playing out my feelings of being trapped in a privileged but endangered existence. I was SO pissed off at the world that, just for good measure, I flaunted as many social taboos as I could -- homosexuality, marijuana, entertainment as mass opiate.

To lay the questions to rest, will it ever be finished...?

Fortunately (un?), I got both my babies back. But it resulted in The Aerialist getting left to the wayside. I didn't flee the story due the homophobia that arose there. Fuck that.

Whoa... Homophobia?

Sure. There's a fellow that regularly wrote into DHP (where the Aerialist appeared) and they printed two completely contradictory letters he had written in the same ish. One praised Miller for how daring his fiction was, how he called on all of us to confront our normal outlooks by building these worlds that were so like our own, yet so challengingly different as well. His comments on the Aerialist were of the most knee-jerk "Ugh-FAGS!" variety. Another fellow, one of my biggest fans, wrote in to say that his fascination with my work ended when I showed two men engaged in oral sex. I bet both these fuckers wouldn't have blinked if it had been two women going at it. Probably would've dug that. Closed the shades and all.

On that note, why did you decide to make Jupiter Assante gay?

Why does that matter? Most people never even read that brief footnote in the GRENDEL CYCLE timeline. Its incidental, but if you need a reason...

Well, it's a fictional work. There are story concerns to consider. I understand your answer, who cares why someone is gay (in real life), but I don't see you just adding something to your story like that for an irrelevant reason...

I figured he grew up around a lot of domineering male figures. Without getting into the genetic questions, it just worked for me... and for him. In a typically GRENDEL bit of melodramatic tragedy though, we find out in the upcoming illustrated novel, PAST PRIME, that Jupiter's ultimate downfall is when he accepts a woman into his bed. People do what they do and I try not to judge them. As a creator, I find characters sometimes do what they do and I, also, try not to judge them. That's one of the tenants of GRENDEL, the violence is rarely justified. Why aren't you concerned that Susan Veraghen is a lesbian?

I'm not Concerned that Susan is a lesbian because I think that side of her character was developed and explored really well in WARCHILD, but my knowledge of Jupiter past the end of WARCHILD is "He's gay and he ended up destroying everything."

Well, that's just cause we haven't told the whole story yet. I didn't say things went to hell because he's gay. He just turned to be a not-so-great leader. That's more a comment on hereditary power than it is on his sexual preferences. Okay, I'll admit that I might have added his homosexuality as a result of his character NOT being well defined yet and I thought it would be an interesting springboard. Sue me.
If he would've continued in his male relationships, he might not have ultimately been assassinated. But, who knows... maybe so.

Considering Trade Paperbacks seem to be the wave of the future, are there any plans to collect the remaining uncollected GRENDEL stories?

Yeah, we're slowly working of reprinting the entire GRENDEL catalog. Trouble is, most of that printing film was scattered to the winds when Comico went down (before digital files). Its a lengthy process but we're starting by issuing re-mastered versions of the Christine Spar story arc, DEVIL'S LEGACY. These issues, drawn by the Pander Bros., are re-colored by Jeremy Cox and feature all new painted covers by moi.

Will things like SILVERBACK, BATMAN/GRENDEL, and the stacks of uncollected short stories be reprinted, or collected? They don't really fall in the purview of a typical trade paperback collection...

Ultimately, yes, my goal is to have everything in book format. GRENDEL: BLACK WHITE & RED will be collected soon. It'll include the DEVIL'S VAGARY story that was done with Dean Motter years ago and there's another BW&R series in the works. The second collection will include the DEVIL'S WEEK story that I did for the first ish of A DECADE OF DARKHORSE. The ultimate plan is to some day release both collections in a limited edition, slipcase set.

There are a lot of GRENDEL stories that you only plotted, or perhaps "approved"? How does it feel, letting someone else tinker with one of your "babies"?

GRENDEL has long been about collaboration. I enjoy seeing it constantly reinterpreted. The exact opposite is true of MAGE. Whenever I see someone else draw Kevin Matchstick, I think , "That's not right." That's been quite a thing to let go of in regards to the MAGE movie now in development. The writer, John Rogers, has done an amazing job of adapting for film. Major changes are an inevitability, but the story stays oh-so-true to the source material as well.

The central theme of GRENDEL seems to be a cycle of self-destruction. How do you think something like the GRENDEL could take command of a society? I mean, GRENDEL societies keep crashing down...

Yeah, and so will this one. GRENDEL is about grand potential that atrophies and rots. MAGE is about growing up whether you want to or not. Still, this tableau is good for quite a few more stories before its ultimate apocalypse (which I'm sure Grendel Prime will have a large hand in). The PAST PRIME novel covers the formation of the Grendel Prime/Susan Veraghen team and (as revealed in BATMAN/GRENDEL II) that partnership last for many years until Susan dies of old age. Lots of stories in those intervening years...

Can you tell us more about the upcoming GRENDEL Novel, PAST PRIME? Why did you decide to do a novel?

Dark Horse had just done the HELLBOY illustrated novel and the author tried to sell me on doing a GRENDEL one as well. Seemed like a natural fit and it was shortly after considering this that I met Greg Rucka at a party at Bob Schreck's house. He sent me his first two novels as well as the script for the first issue of WHITEOUT and I knew I wanted to work with him (remember, I haven't collaborated with many other writers in my day). So we started talking about what I assumed would be a Hunter Rose novel. After considering this, Greg decided that Hunter is (as he puts it) my Athena -- sprung fully formed and weaponed from my brain. He says no one but me can write Hunter and, eventually, I saw that he was right. So, we chatted some more and eventually I brought up that two-panel sequence I mentioned earlier, from BATMAN/GRENDEL II, concerning Susan and Prime. Well, Greg naturally gravitates towards strong female characters and he's really good at portraying them. So that was the springboard. We had a lunch jam and continued with some phonecalls, but he really took the idea and ran with it. The book reads wonderfully and its joyously pulpy -- tons of sex and violence. Still, he brings a resonance of story and a dignity of character to all his work and that's quite evident here as well. GRENDEL to the core. Illustrating was fun.

What's next for GRENDEL, after the current reprint mini-series? More trade paperbacks? More new Material? Another Novel?

Another GRENDEL: BLACK WHITE & RED series. More untold tales of that unfathomable bit of darkness, Hunter Rose. And, we ultimately would like to get all the older stuff back into print.

I'd like to see WAR CHILD...

What? You mean more Prime? WAR CHILD, itself, is still available form Dark Horse I believe. And, sure, there's centuries of stories available about him (it?).

No, the last time I tried to re-order GRENDEL: WAR CHILD I couldn't get it.

Did you try Dark Horse's on-line thing? (www.darkhorse.com) I think they offer retail ordering...

No, actually. I'll be sure to check it out. I've got mine right here though, it's all banged up but I'm still happy. It's even got your signature!

I like the fucked up copies. Means they've been well read. I get nervous when people treat them like holy relics. I always include a sketch when signing a well read (loved) edition.

I got a sketch too… Anyhow, despite undermining my next question with my rampant fanboyism... Is the Grendel a personal Demon for you? In DEVIL BY THE DEED you described him as "The demon of society's mediocrity." That's a pretty dangerous statement to make, as an artist.

You're confusing the narrator with me. That's Christine's voice.

It's not a sentiment you share?

Maybe at the time. I was 24 or so...

And now? What is the Grendel to you?

A continual examination. I think it's a question that can never be answered but must be eternally asked. For, if we ignore darkness and the consequences of aggression and violence, then the shadows cast by our own blindness only grow all the more powerful. This is why most religions, specifically Christianity, hold such little sway with me. To turn your face away, to only face the light and benevolent thought is naivete at his worst.
Just the way Jimmy Carter claimed to have committed adultery in his heart, I've committed murder in my heart. And I think, answering truthfully, most everyone has.

Considering MAGE is largely an allegory for your own life and experiences, and many of your life experiences feature some very prominent (and sometimes thinly veiled) comics creators, are you worried about how these people will react to seeing their lives up on the big-screen?

Well, there aren't too many other comic creators in the first arc. More like old college chums...

Well, I guess it still applies though. Have you gone back and talked to these college chums to ferret out opinions?

Not really. This is fiction, after all. None of them have magic powers, so the distinction is clear in my mind.

Between THE HERO DISCOVERED and THE HERO DEFINED, the only real constant is our protagonist, Kevin Matchstick. Will you continue this trend through the third book, THE HERO DENIED, keeping only Kevin and Magda (and co.), or will we see the return of past players like Mirth, Edsel, Kirby, and Joe?

Well, Mirth does have a role in DEFINED and certainly the influence of these other characters will always have repercussions in Kevin's existence. But life moves on. How many of your high school friends are you in continual contact with?

How do you respond to fans and critics who felt disappointed by MAGE II?

What could I do? This is my life I'm portraying! I can't help it if they don't like the outcome. It has to be true for me or it'll never be true for those that read it. And I loved the way MAGE II played out. So did plenty of others. Can't worry about those that didn't. Can't please everyone.

You faced criticism, at least at the onset, about putting MAGE II out through Image. How would you describe your publishing relationship with them?

Hmmm... still trying to figure that one out. You get the feeling that my career has involved a lot of criticism over other people's opinions over what I oughtta do? Strange, that.

More so than most creators...

Maybe it's that my readers feel personally involved with my stories. And try to make myself fairly accessible as a creator. Still, this above all: To thine own self be true.

Your take on the Golden Age Sandman in Vertigo's SANDMAN MYSTERY THEATRE was both unprecedented, and totally underrated. What brought the book about?

I knew that, with the success of Gaiman's SANDMAN, DC was trying to expand/spin-off/whatever the wave he had started. That ultimately coalesced into Vertigo but, just prior to that, the problem was 'how do we get more SANDMAN, when Neil is what makes SANDMAN special' (after all, he's prolific, but only human)? I pitched an idea to Karen Berger that involved a retroactive approach. Neil had taken a DC name, "Sandman", and made it something new. My idea was to return to the original source material and change the attitude towards this ill-defined golden-age character something new. I was quite into crime fiction at the time and wanted to play with that format a bit, plus this gave me the opportunity to do so with some traditional comic-book trappings (i.e. -- a cloaked and masked hero, a secret identity... I love that shit). Because the character plays so early in DC's continuity, I could also approach these elements as fresh.

Steven Seagle came on as co-writer mid-way through the series, why was that?

I just couldn't keep the deadlines what with working on GRENDEL as well. So, I proposed a collaborative effort with me handling the storylines and Steve finishing the dialogue. Steve had written several things I liked and I knew he liked my stuff as well. I didn't think there would be an ego clash and there never was. I'm proud of the years we put in on that book. Especially proud of the relationship we defined between Wes and Dian. So many comic book relationships seem to be either unfulfilled or angst-laden. We wanted to show a realistic, evolving couple that actually loved each other. Christ, what a concept!
The First Couple of comics!

What was it like, working with a co-writer on a project? How did you write a script?

I wrote and have for the most part have always written plots, not what is known in the industry as full scripts. This means describing a story in either a page-by-page or scene-by-scene fashion, not panel-by-panel and not with all the dialogue in place. So, my collaboration with Steve wasn't that different than the way I normally write except that I didn't have to do the final script.

Did you have any input on the scripting phase?

We would each offer input at both phases. For instance, Steve might say "I was researching pre-war orphanages and came up with this interesting tid-bit of info. Let's try to incorporate that somewhere." Or I might say, "That line seems out of character or it interferes with something I have planned for Act IV". It was really a smooth transition. And, often, I'd have a sample of pertinent bit of speech in the plot that Steve may or may not use later. We both were very fond of the stories and, especially, the characters.

In the end, you left and passed the book on to Steve. Was it hard leaving a book that you pretty much created and set the tone and style of?

Sure. But the time had suddenly come to return to MAGE. You don't have to guess to realize which book is dearer to my heart.

How do you feel about what's been done to them with the recent JSA stuff? The death of Wes and Dian...

WHAAAAAT?!! I had no idea!

Are you serious?

This is contemporary?

Yeah, JSA #1 had all of the members of the JSA attending Wes' funeral. He was killed in a short story in one of the SECRET FILES or 80-PAGE GIANTS or something... His funeral is what brought them back together as a team.

What? You think they ask my permission on this stuff? You misunderstand how corporate publishing works. i.e. -- even though I had just designed and had great success with the BIG BLAST action figures, you think anyone called either Guy or I to design what turned out to be a truly awful SANDMAN figure? The variant edition had a lavender coat and hat. I call him SANDPIMP. Still, I suppose they both had to die at some point...

That variant was the uh, "Fondly remembered original Golden Age Sandman Costume"...

Is that how it was billed?

Yeah.

Still, nary a call to the two artistic talents most associated with the book. See what I mean?

There was a lot of mainstream superhero-fan backlash to the SMT series. The sentiment was that Vertigo "Bastardized" or "Vertigoized" a character they loved. Maybe they were trying to distance the character from the Vertigo version?

HA! I didn't fuck around with the character so much as the tonality of his stories. And, besides, if you look at the early golden age stories, they bear much more resemblance to the pulps -- violent and "spicy". A lot of the specifics, I took directly from the GA tales... the little effigy Wes tucks in at night, his manservant, Humphries, and Dian's knowledge of his secret identity. I suppose the only aspect I really axed was the transition to the golden and purple stretch tights and his little buddy Sandy. It all just seemed so out of character...

I think it was the tonality of his stories that really set them off, actually. But then I think superheroes, generally, are about tone as opposed to specifics.

I think the bulk of the audience is too wrapped up in the specifics. You know, the WHO'S WHO run down of how much he can bench-press, etc... Its not like I made Wes into this darkened lunatic, stalking the streets. Course they probably would've dug that!

It would have doubled it's sales!

Sheesh. Tonally, I think SMT was what the Sandman was all about and plenty of readers, I think, would agree.

You're known for breaking a lot of new talent into mainstream comics. James Robinson, Terry LaBan, and Steven Seagle all have very flattering things to say about you in our GRENDEL PRIMER article. What attracts you to a creator, particularly wanting to work with them?

An individual voice. And often my motivations are two-sided. On one level, I know these unique out-looks will bring something fresh and marketable to GRENDEL. On the other hand, I want to make sure these talents at least have a shot at reaching the larger audience they deserve. I mean, SMT was germinated over my strong desire to work with Guy Davis. Thought BAKER STREET was the shit. My association with Bernie Mireault began with him writing me a hate letter. Kinda.

Which creators are you interested in working with now?

Well, that's a good question as I'm scanning the horizon even now to line up talent for the next BLACK, WHITE, & RED. Zander Cannon is one of my first picks. But on the other hand, I'm excited to include my dear friend Cam Kennedy who is certainly no spring chicken. Also, people like Rich Tomassi, Jim Mahfood, Mike Hawthorne, the list goes on... I'm more interested at this point in those who want to work with me. I know they'll bring their best efforts to the table.

Do you have any advice to creators wanting break into the industry?

It better be love, cause its not an easy road. Nor a gold-paved one. But plenty seem to have the bug that doesn't let go and that's wonderful.

What current comic titles are you enjoying?

Unfortunately, I don't get into comic stores. Can't shop in peace. So, unless I'm on the mailing list, I don't see em. Still, lets' see... anxious to see how Garth wraps up PREACHER but I feel its meandering. Love Jason Lutes' BERLIN -- really important work. Frank's always remarkable but I'm tired of SIN CITY. Loved 300. BARRY WEEN makes me laugh. Andi Watson's stuff is truly unique. Ooo... that reminds me, gotta get him in BW&R. Frank claims he's got more historical stuff in the wings. Love to see it...

What's the strangest thing you've seen, working in comics?

Oy. Either the guy who used to write really vile, threatening letters to the major publishers on Xeroxes of Comico stationary and then sign my name to it, or the guy who was obsessed with Edsel and used to commission artists' alley guys to do portraits of the two of them in an underwater embrace, or the guy who called my answering machine one night absolutely convince that he and a friend had actually contacted the spirit of Merlin via Ouija board and now knew the time, date and place that the three of us were to reclaim Excalibur.
Take your pick. Still it ain't rock-n-roll. That's a LOT weirder. Movies, too.

What was your best Convention Experience?

Hmmm… most memorable. An enormous drug-laden party that Dave Sim and I hosted many years ago at San Diego. It's attained a certain legendary status. I don't if that qualifies as "best", though.

What's your drug of choice? (apply a 5-year statute of limitations as necessary...)

Pot. By far. Love the weed.
Coke's just Baaaaaaaaaaaaaaad NEWS.
Never tried the horse.
Strong hallucinogens just take too long to recover from.
Never liked nicotine. Makes me feel like I have to shit my pants.

Do you listen to music while you're working?

All the time. All kinds. Lately, can't seem to get that Moby disc outta my head. But I love Nat King Cole, Miles Davis, the Pixies, AC/DC, Elvis Costello, Liz Phair, Hank Williams, Tom Waits, Orbital... all across the board. Soul Coughing, Ramones, Matthew Sweet, Chet Baker... yadda-yadda-yadda

What's your take on religion?

Heh. How long do we have? Guaranteed it's not enough... I don't practice any religion but consider myself fascinated and well-versed with the entire schism. I describe myself as an atheist which seems to scare a LOT of people. But the other day my son asked me, "Dad, what God do you believe in?" And I answered "All of them." After making my own myths for so long, I can't really accept the unbending views of anyone else's version.

Okay. Another easy subject. Into the Bush, or hungry for Gore?

Bush... oh god, save us. What a panty-waste moron. Still, Gore's not exactly pure nor exciting. I'm basically libertarian, but I usually vote democrat due to my distaste for the Republicans inflexibility on social issues. Neanderthals.

What are you into right now, outside of comics (books, movies, TV shows, magazines, etc.?)

Oh, geez. How long do we have? Guaranteed it's not enough... I'm a voracious reader. Recent faves; A WIDOW FOR ONE YEAR -- John Irving (always a treat), THE WHITE BONE -- Barbara Gowdy (a novel told from the P.O.V. of an elephant herd, truly moving), WALKIN' THE DOG -- Walter Mosely (of Easy Rawlins fame, this is his second novel about ex-con, Socrates Fortlow), GUNS, GERMS AND STEEL (the evolution of human societies, debunks any notions of racial superiority based on world conquest), TIME TO HUNT -- Stephen Hunter (page-turnin' guilty pleasure... poetically macho).
Movies: ELECTION, THE MATRIX, RUSHMORE, FIGHT CLUB, IRON-FUCKING-GIANT (four times)!
TV -- I'm a (nearly) gourmet chef so the Food Network is a constant pleasure. PARADISE LOST (both) was infuriatingly traumatic.

... and it's at this point our conversation degenerated into a discussion of the merits of cult TV show IRON CHEF!, Japanese animation, and how cool it would be to have cooking comic books like they do in Japan. PopImage, and I personally would like to thank Matt for participating in what turned out to be a 2-day, five-hour interview and being a great sport about a host of computer problems. Matt Wagner is a consummate professional and a total dude. Make sure to check out all the nice things his collaborators have to say about him in the GRENDEL PRIMER, and get to the bottom of WHO'S WHO IN MAGE II. But if you want to find out how cool Matt thinks NINJA SCROLL is, you'll have to ask him yourself!

Christopher Butcher is Columns Editor for PopImage.

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