From: [bv 446] at [cleveland.Freenet.Edu] (James S. Ottaviani) Newsgroups: rec.arts.comics.misc Subject: Evan Dorkin, The Usenet Interview -1- Date: 24 Mar 1993 15:01:32 GMT The real beginning of the Evan Dorkin Usenet Interview. We'll start with Lance Smith's questions and get to some others in a day or so. As I mentioned earlier, Evan gave us good long answers. *** Lance Smith ([l s mith] at [cs.umn.edu]) -- Can you talk a little about Mad Dog and Fight Man? Neither seems like the usual Marvel comics. Evan Dorkin -- I've got little to say about Mad Dog as a book, as it's becoming a frustrating working experience for me for two reasons. The first is that I never should have accepted the job with my already overtaxed schedule. The second is that it's the first time I've ever worked "Marvel style". I'm scripting half of a "flip" book, the other eleven pages are going to be written and drawn by Ty Templeton and are the main reason to check the book out. Mad Dog is a decent concept -- it's taken from the character drawn by Bob Newhart on the unfunny "Bob" show, as opposed to the sitcom itself. That's different. Templeton's material will be a parody of the characters "50's" era, i.e. a parody of good natured squeaky clean DC style shenanigans. That's cool. My half was originally supposed to be a parody of the grim and pretentious 80's/90's lone vigilante, "gritty" take on the character -- much like the schism between the ridiculous (and swell) Bill Finger and the intense and more ridiculous (and "eh") Batguy. Anyway -- I took the job while a bit buzzed on Rolling Rock at a Marvel lunch because Fabien Nicieza (my Bill and Ted's excellent Comic editor, who got my Fight-Man book accepted without even a written plot proposal) asked me, and I felt obligated and flattered. Unfortunately, somehow the parody angle was dropped and I found myself doing a straight superhero gig. Let's just say I'm uncomfortable working on someone else's concepts (which don't appeal to me) of a plain old supertype thing where I have no control over what the art will look like. On my Predator scripts I'm in full synch with my penciller and we talk about the book as collaborators, working from extremely detailed full scripts. I've given up on Mad Dog -- I try to do the best I can, but I dislike working plot first, then pencils (with a faceless, rushed "typical" superhero artist) and finally fitting in dialogue like a puzzle. Feh. It's been an unpleasant learning experience that just tells me that, ego aside, to do pure work you need to do it yourself, or at least with real collaboration and not a McDonald's assembly line system. Fight-Man, on the other hand, has been an enjoyable, if difficult experience. I'm still working on it as I type this at 6:13 [a.m. -- jimO] Wednesday, March 17th, inf fact it seems to be behind schedule. That's been my main problem, I'm pencilling and scripting and the art is taking me a long time. While F-M won't be your usual Marvel book (as opposed to my section of Mad Dog) because, hopefully, it will be thought out, drawn with care, written with some sense and some jokes (again, hopefully) and not insult it's audience - - except when it tries to on purpose. F-M's a one shot about the resident supermoron of recession crippled Delta City. The story concerns the intro of our "hero", who is a thuggish frat boy with super powers, a sexist, imbecilic pighead with a costume -- a superhero fanboy with a defensive attitude who is at the core screwed up about his sexuality, his manhood, his security, his social skills, etc. etc. Of course this is all buried in subtext. The STORY is about this super-jerk dealing with a mysterious enemy, a rash of assassination attempts, an ex-wife's lawsuits, and this all leads up to him fighting an entire city and scores of equally spastic supervillians. I mean, any "story" that has to use the word "supervillian" or show guys in costumes flying around, where you can't use mature concepts or language, where grown men cannot be depicted with nipples (god forbid they should have genitalia) but women are constantly drawn like strippers -- well, these comics SHOULD be written as ridiculous and incredible, because THEY ARE. How people past the age of seventeen can get freak-serious about Batman and X-Men is fucking *way* beyond me. These same goofballs probably think housewives hooked on cheesy soap operas are pathetic and bizarre, but that's exactly what *they* are like. Anyway, to wrap another one of my patented long and pointless answers, Fight-Man should be a pretty good read for your money, I don't know what else a mainstream book should be. I tried to draw some crazy shit and write some funny dialogue, with a subtle commentary on comic geekdom, industry trends and collecting insanity and inanity in the deep subtext. I wanted to do a book that super-geeks might like because there's lots of fists and screaming and weird villians (such as Crimeasaurus, the Plug In Maniac, Atomic Lou, The One Man Atrocity). On the other hand, I wanted to do a book that people who used to like superjocks would get a real kick out of. Who knows, it could just turn out to be another piece of crap. Lance -- Does the cult-popularity of Milk and Cheese surprise you at all? Can we expect Milk and Cheese Pez dispensers anytime soon? Evan -- Does it surprise me? Hell, yeah. Only an ego-boy thinks he KNOWS what he's doing will click. I had an idea they *might* please a few people early on because the characters started out as doodles I did on convention sketches or on letters to friends, and I only began putting them in strips after I was told to by others who's seen them. But keep in mind that their level of success is mild, being a "cult" figure in what is essentially a cult industry is pretty small potatoes. That said, I must confess I'm amazed that the sales on the Milk & Cheese books are growing and we're going into a fourth printing of the first volume. True, this amounts to only about 9,000 copies -- but in today's insane market that is success by small press standards. Which is sad, really. But I'm hopeful, as the sales are slowly rising on Pirate Corp$! as well, so who knows what could happen. But again, seeing the reader response to M&C, and the reaction in 'zines and the support people are giving me (not the comics press, on the whole), it's pretty incredible when you consider it's just pen and ink. Pez dispensers? If I could make a wish list that'd be on it, along with Milk & Cheese beer and a Milk & Cheese pinball machine. Ho hum. Lance -- Whatever happened to Instant Piano? Evan -- Instant Piano, the anthology from me, Kyle Baker, Mark Badger, Stephen DeStefano and Robbie Busch, is finally going ahead at Dark Horse Comics after a 2 or so year who knows what. More info as it happens. Lance -- Which is better: Seven Up, Sprite or Bubble Up? Chuck Taylors or Vans? Ric Flair or Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat? McDonalds, Burger King, or White Castle? Evan -- For me, Seven-Up. A dull answer, but honest. What's Bubble Up? I mean, it's obviously akin to 7-Up, it must be regional stuff. Sarah and I are avowed Coca Cola junkies anyway, I hardly touch that "uncola" jazz. Other favorites are A&W (no caffiene, tho'), Dr. Pepper, Dr. Brown's Cream and Orange. I like most soda pop (I love the term "pop") except for Coffee and Cel-Ray, the crack and heroin of sodas, respectively. Brr. I like Chuck T's better on the whole, but Van's makes the essential black and white high-top checkerboard sneaker. However, I'm currently hooked on the Converse red plaid high-tops, which thankfully I bought two pairs of because they were a limited release. Sarah has the blue/green flannel plaid Converse which are equally swell. This reminds me that I better find a pair of checked Vans because I wore mine out months ago. (Such a troubled life we middle class whiteboys live in America, eh?) Ric Flair is tons better than the Dragon, that question hardly merits asking. Flair is a master of the comic "flop", only the Million Dollar Man rivals his "taking a fall" shtick. I haven't been too up on "pro"-wrestling lately, it's gotten too big business and my favorite wrestler, The Anvil, retired. I was pretty sad when Andre the Giant died, though. A world without someone named Andre the Giant is a sadder one, I think. I loved it when he wrestled three midgets at a time. And he was Bigfoot on the Six Million Dollar Man "show". Poor Andre. I can't eat Burger King anymore because the one near where I worked in a comic store was a shithole and turned me off to all BK's. Plus their commercials suck. McDonald's is good factory fare, but their commercials not only suck but are usually offensive to anyone with an I.Q. over 34. Besides that, they redesigned all the McDonaldland characters to resemble cutesy muppets a few years back and eighty-sixed Mayor McCheese and Big Mac the cop, who I happened to really like. So fuck 'em. So White Castle wins, mainly on its infamy. Most people hate their food while others swear by it like fanatical cultists. I'll admit to being a former addict, bat also admit I've largely kicked the habit because those burgers can kill. Devotees all make up pet names for them -- "sliders", "murder-burgers", my mom calls 'em "snake burgers". Sarah despises them. To those who don't know, Castles (burgers) are small and square so you have to eat about eight-ten of them. They're like Crystal Burgers in the South. I ate thirteen once and threw up. Most of the time my friends and I were drunk as hell downing these things, which resulted in...tragedy. Castles will make you bloated and sick when you're dead sober, no one knows why they keep going back for more punishment -- but exactly like drinking, they do. Eating at White Castle is just like drinking -- you pile into a car, drive a distance, indulge too much, and get sick. Then the next morning in the can you swear to yourself you'll never do that again, and then you're off to fucking White Castle a few days later. Men are stupid and weak, and White Castle knows this. I tell you this because I KNOW. *** OK, that's all I have time for now. Follow-up questions for Evan keep pouring in to Interview Headquarters. Don't get left out. Respond to this post or, more directly, to [h--l--p] at [engin.umich.edu] seeya jimO --