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Posted on Dec 09, 2004 - 09:01 PM by Admin |
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J.M. DeMatteis is a true legend in the comic book industry. Since 1979, this prolific writer has been chronicling the adventures of nearly every character from Spider-Man to the Super Buddies! Recently, this talented scribe sat down with The Comic Fanatic.Com to talk about the death and resurrection of 2004's surprise hit Abadazad, his upcoming reunion with Keith Giffen on Hero Squared, the long awaited sequel to Formerly Known As The Justice League and much more! Sit back, relax and enjoy a conversation with the legendary J.M. DeMatteis!
The Fan Man: Thank you for taking the time to talk to The Comic Fanatic.Com.
J.M. DeMatteis: A pleasure, Heath.
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The Fan Man: You are one of the creative forces responsible for the phenomenon known as Abadazad. CrossGen went belly up and it looked like this magical tale would never be completely told. However…to borrow a line from good ole Doctor Frankenstein…“It lives!” Tell us how Abadazad has come back from comic book oblivion.
J.M. DeMatteis: When CrossGen went into bankruptcy, Mike and I decided that we had to go to court to try and get the rights to Abadazad returned to us. And that’s what we did. We didn’t know if we’d win...or if Abadazad would be lost in legal limbo for years...but we knew it was the right thing to do. It wasn’t an easy decision. It’s not like we had it in for CrossGen or that we saw Mark Alessi as some big, bad villain. That wasn’t the case at all; but, as many reports have indicated, it had been a very rocky road for everyone working for CrossGen, in many ways...and the bankruptcy was the final straw for us. In the end, it was all about the story. We wanted to be able to continue Abadazad and the best way to do that was getting the rights back and starting over with a new publisher.
As you know, there were several parties interested in the company, including Disney. Shortly before the final bidding, I was contacted by Brenda Bowen, editor-in-chief of Disney’s Hyperion Books For Children, who told me how much she loved Abadazad and that Hyperion wanted to relaunch it as a series of children’s books. Mike and I were both very intrigued by Brenda’s enthusiasm and understanding of the material...as well as the opportunities that making a deal with Disney/Hyperion would offer.
Since we were co-owners of the property, Abadazad couldn’t be scooped up with the rest of the CrossGen properties: Disney had to work out a separate deal with us. There was some long, hard negotiating...but the end result was well worth it. As I’ve mentioned elsewhere, I’m a Total Disnoid. Walt Disney is one of my heroes: it’s extraordinary what one man, armed only with will and imagination, accomplished. To be a part of that history, that legacy-in any small way-is really an honor.
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The Fan Man: Before we get too far along, for those who might’ve missed those first few issues of Abadazad, tell us about this wonderful story and the fantastical world.
J.M. DeMatteis: The short version: Abadazad is a magical land that our lead character-a surly, cynical fourteen year old named Kate-has only known through a series of famous fantasy novels written, a century ago, by a writer named Franklin O. Barrie. But when Kate suddenly finds herself journeying through the real Abadazad in search of her beloved younger brother, Matt-who vanished five years earlier-she discovers that the truth of Abadazad is far stranger, and more amazing, than fiction.
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The Fan Man: In this day and time, what made you decide to write a magical tale that would be suitable for - gasp! - all ages?
J.M. DeMatteis: I love kids’ fantasy...everything from L. Frank Baum to A.A. Milne...Narnia to Wonderland to Neverland. These are magical stories that nurtured me as a child and then nurtured my own children, as well. What better legacy could a writer have than to continue that wonderful tradition of imagination and insight and adventure? Comics, of course, pretty much ignore the children’s market. I’ve been obsessed, for years now, with doing some projects that could bring that level of imagination and literary and artistic quality to the comic book form. Back in the 80’s I sold a project, called The Stardust Kid, to DC-then bought it back when I realized that the market wouldn’t support it.
The seed of Abadazad also began to grow back in the 80’s, when I was working on a story about a little girl’s relationship with an old woman who lived in her apartment building-a woman who turned out to be Baum’s Dorothy. I never got beyond the outline stage with the story, but the idea hung on in my head.
Years later, I started playing with the idea of creating my own magical land...a contemporary spin on Oz and Neverland...and that 80’s idea about the girl and the old woman folded itself into the new one. Soon, Abadazad was born. I was very excited about the possibility of getting a comic book out there that I could actually read with my daughter.
I pitched Abadazad to a few companies and they just didn’t get it. It didn’t fit their perception of the comic book market (guess things hadn’t changed that much since the 80’s). I kept working on Abadazad and finally pitched it to CrossGen. Ian Feller read it first, loved it, and then passed it on to Mark Alessi-who totally understood the material. It was approved in a couple of days...and we were off on an adventure through CrossGenland that was both wonderful and harrowing. We’re quite happy that the road eventually brought us to the Magic Kingdom.
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The Fan Man: With Disney acquiring Abadazad, will the story pick up where Abadazad #3 left off or will you be restarting things from scratch?
J.M. DeMatteis: We’re starting everything over from scratch. Now that Abadazad will no longer be a comic book but a series of children’s books, the idea is to take the material that we’ve already used and explore it in a whole new-and, we hope, utterly unique-form: a hybrid that combines prose, illustration and sequential art. If the initial books are successful, we’ll continue the series and, with luck, keep telling the tales of Abadazad for years.
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The Fan Man: Will we be seeing any new Abadazad tales at all in comic book form? Maybe in other forms of media?
J.M. DeMatteis: There’s a possibility that the series could return later in comic book form: Disney, as you probably know, is one of the major comic book publishers in the world (and the addition of the CrossGen properties will only add to that). That said, our focus here is on the new book series. That’s where Mike Ploog and I are focusing our energies. Brenda Bowen at Hyperion has high hopes for the series and we all want to make these books as unique, exciting and memorable as we can.
As for Abadazad in other media, I think there’s a very good chance of that happening; but my primary focus is on the books, on telling this story I’ve wanted to tell for so many years. The Hyperion Books deal has given us the chance to continue our story in a brand-new venue: We can’t wait to get started.
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The Fan Man: I remember while reading Abadazad #1 thinking how this book would work great as one of those oversized hardcovers that you read to the kid at bedtime. Any chance of an Abadazad book along those lines?
J.M. DeMatteis: As noted, a good percentage of the new Abadazad books will be prose, woven together with lots of illustrations and some sequential storytelling, as well. Beyond that, what I’d love to do-and this, of course, depends on the success of these first books-is to actually write the “Franklin O. Barrie” Abadazad books. One thing I loved about working on the comics was writing those excerpts from the “Barrie” books. It was a kick to put myself back a hundred or so years and become this writer from another era. And let’s not forget that “Barrie” wrote something like eighteen Abadazad books...so there’s a lot of material there to play with!
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The Fan Man: Will legendary artist Mike Ploog be returning with the new Abadazad?
J.M. DeMatteis: Absolutely! At this point, I couldn’t imagine continuing without him. His contribution to the success of Abadazad is incalculable. Mike is my collaborator, my friend-and, of course, one of the greatest fantasy artists in the world.
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The Fan Man: What has it been like working with Ploog on this project?
J.M. DeMatteis: Having been a huge fan of Mike’s l970’s Marvel work, I was floored when Ian told me that CrossGen had signed Ploog to do Abadazad...that this was the project Ploog had chosen for his return to comics, after so many years of working in the film business.
We hit it off right from the first phone conversation. It was almost as if we’d already been collaborating for years. This really has been one of the greatest creative partnerships of my career.
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The Fan Man: How far ahead had you and Ploog worked on Abadazad before CrossGen stopped publishing the book? Will these stories be incorporated into the new Abadazad?
J.M. DeMatteis: Mike and I finished Abadazad #4, I’d written the entire script for #5 (and Mike had drawn the first five pages) when the bankruptcy became official. All of this material will be folded into the books-although, in what final form I can’t say.
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The Fan Man: Can you give us an idea of what’s to come next in the story of Abadazad?
J.M. DeMatteis: I could...I’ve got the whole story outlined, right to the end...but, as noted, this story is very much a living creature with a mind of its own. It takes me to so many unexpected places that whatever I’d say here will almost certainly be contradicted once the books come out. So I’ll just let the story lead me on. This way I’ll be surprised...and, with luck, our readers will be, too.
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The Fan Man: With Disney acquiring Abadazad, will this mean a larger audience for this book?
J.M. DeMatteis: I think coming out in book form, through Hyperion, with the support of the Disney organization behind us, will open us to a whole new audience, the audience I was searching for all along: living breathing kids and their parents.
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The Fan Man: Do you know if Disney will be pursuing the many possibilities of Abadazad, like feature films, action figures and the such?
J.M. DeMatteis: I think there’s a very strong possibility-but I can’t get lost in thinking about that. My responsibility is to the story. To the world of Abadazad. If I honor that, I think all kinds of wonderful things will follow.
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The Fan Man: Any time frame for when we could see Abadazad on the shelves again?
J.M. DeMatteis: The first two Hyperion Abadazad books are scheduled to come out in the spring of 2006, with two more scheduled to come out after that. If those four do well...we’ll keep going till they bring out the hook and yank us off the stage!
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The Fan Man: The CrossGen fiasco had to be frustrating. Before the Disney deal, had you considered any alternate ways of continuing the story of Abadazad? Maybe by changing the names of the characters?
J.M. DeMatteis: We didn’t do that-but Mike Ploog and I did go off and cook up another kid-friendly fantasy series. There was always a chance that Abadazad would be lost in legal limbo for years. The one thing Mike and I always had going for us was that we could walk away and create something new. And that’s what we did. The new series is called...The Stardust Kid: Yes, it’s that same series I sold to DC, and then bought back, in the 80’s. Only it’s not. I’ve been fiddling with this idea, on and off, in a variety of forms, for nearly two decades.
Mike read some of the material and we started bouncing ideas around. He dug into his files and started bombarding me with a series of incredible creature-designs he’d been stockpiling for years, all of which excited my imagination and totally inspired me. I went off to write-and the story just blossomed and transformed, completely transcending my original intentions, becoming something new and fresh. We’re doing it as a five-issue mini-series and right now it’s scheduled to come out in late spring from Joe Pruett’s new Desperado line. The best news? Our Abadazad colorist, Nick Bell, and letterer, Dave Lanphear, are coming along for the ride.
Stardust Kid isn’t a continuation of Abadazad in any way-it’s a very different tale-but it’s a continuation of the spirit that infused it. Now, of course, we get to continue with Abadazad and do the Stardust Kid, too. Doesn’t get much better than that!
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The Fan Man: One of your upcoming projects has been gaining a lot of anticipation across the internet, a project with Atomeka Press. Tell us about Hero Squared.
J.M. DeMatteis: Hero Squared starts on a world all your readers are familiar with, a world populated by super-heroes. Only this world is coming to an end. A villain named Caliginous has destroyed everything and murdered all the heroes except one: Captain Valor (who seems to be the reason Caliginous went on this rampage in the first place). Then Caliginous kills Valor. Or maybe not.
We cut to our world, where we meet twenty-three year old slacker Milo Stone, a directionless young man in search of...well, his problem is, he’s not really in search of anything. He’s floundering. Until he wakes up from his afternoon nap (hey, it takes a lot of energy playing video games all day) and finds Captain Valor standing in his living room. It seems Valor wasn’t killed by Caliginous; something has thrust the hero across the universes where he’s come seeking his counterpart on our Earth. And that counterpart happens to be Milo.
You can imagine how disappointed Valor is when he discovers that his Parallel Self isn’t a super-hero at all, just a bewildered loser. And you can imagine how Milo feels when he discovers that Caliginous is coming to destroy our Earth. And him. And...well, hilarity (and adventure and some very cool character stuff) ensues.
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The Fan Man: Who will be working with you on this project?
J.M. DeMatteis: Some kid named Keith Giffen (I’m not that familiar with his work, but I hear he has a lot of potential) and a fantastic new artist named Joe Abraham. Our editor is Atomeka Head Honcho Ross Richie-who, for the record, is one of the Good Guys.
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The Fan Man: Will this be a one-shot, mini-series or an ongoing series?
J.M. DeMatteis: This first one is a one-shot; but Ross has already asked us for a three-issue mini-series...and we’ll be getting started on that very soon.
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The Fan Man: How did Hero Squared come together?
J.M. DeMatteis: The way most Giffen-DeMatteis projects seem to start: Keith calls me up and says, “Hey, I’ve got a cool idea. Wanna do it with me?” Since working with Keith is so easy that it hardly feels like work-and since his ideas are always terrific-I usually say yes. Then comes the fun of developing the book, adding my own ideas and concepts to Keith’s, breathing life into the characters...and we’re off. The best part of Hero Squared is that it’s all ours...we’re not working in anybody else’s universe, we’re creating our own from the ground up.
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The Fan Man: Who are the main characters of Hero Squared?
J.M. DeMatteis: Milo and Captain Valor...Milo’s girlfriend Stephie (who plays a huge part in this, but I don’t want to give anything away)...the villain, Caliginous...an evil-idiot henchman named Sloat...and, of course, we’ve got entire parallel universe full of super-heroes to play around with. Sure, their world has been destroyed and they’re all dead, but this is comics...we can do anything!
Hero Squared is first and foremost a book about relationships: the relationships between Milo and Valor, Milo and Stephie, Stephie and Valor, Milo and Ca- Well, again, I don’t want to give anything away. But there are lots of twists and turns ahead. It’s a super-hero adventure, a buddy comedy, a romantic comedy, a French farce. It’s all things to all people: It’s Hero Squared! (Okay, Keith, did I hype that enough?)
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The Fan Man: It seems like anytime you and Keith Giffen get together, it’s like catching lightning in a bottle. Will Hero Squared be along the lines of your Justice League work?
J.M. DeMatteis: I sat down to proof the Hero Squared Special a few weeks ago and I honestly have to say that I think it’s one of the very best things Keith and I have ever done together: the project has taken our collaboration to a new, and better, place. Yes, it’s got the character-driven comedy of the Justice League...but it’s also got a core concept, and a cast of characters, that have limitless possibilities. We’ve hardly scratched the surface in the one-shot. Keith, Ross and I have talked at length about all the places we want to take this story, all the new characters and situations we want to introduce. If the book continues to do well, we’re going to keep at it.
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The Fan Man: Speaking of the Justice League, at long last we will be getting a follow up to the very successful and extremely hilarious Formerly Known As The Justice League. However, this sequel won’t exactly be another miniseries.
J.M. DeMatteis: It will and it won’t. It’ll be a mini-series within a series-running in issues four through nine of the new Justice League Classified.
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The Fan Man: Will this sequel reunite the entire creative team responsible for Formerly Known As The Justice League?
J.M. DeMatteis: As Mad Magazine would put it, we’ve reassembled the Usual Gang of Idiots. The only change is that we’ve got a new colorist this time around.
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The Fan Man: What’s it like working alongside Giffen and artist Kevin Maguire?
J.M. DeMatteis: For the record: Keith Giffen is one of the single most creative humans I’ve ever met, in any field. He’s a one-man idea factory. And Maguire is brilliant: a genre unto himself. He’s really at the top of his game right now. What’s it like working with them? A total delight.
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The Fan Man: What can we expect from the “Super Buddies” this time around?
J.M. DeMatteis: All together class: “Bwa-ha-ha!!!” And a few head-spinning serious moments, too. (We like to keep our readers on their toes.)
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The Fan Man: Will Guy Gardner make an appearance in this sequel?
J.M. DeMatteis: Yep. And he’s meaner-and more obnoxious-and perhaps just a little more complex-than ever.
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The Fan Man: Since she was such a key part of Formerly Known As The Justice League, will Sue Dibny’s death in Identity Crisis have any repercussions on this sequel?
J.M. DeMatteis: This story takes place before Sue’s death; so, as far as I’m concerned, she’s alive, well and very happy.
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The Fan Man: When can we expect to see the sequel to Formerly Known As The Justice League?
J.M. DeMatteis: Last I heard Justice League Classified #4 will be coming out in February...and the story runs through July.
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The Fan Man: What else have you got on your plate in 2005?
J.M. DeMatteis: Keith, Kevin Maguire and I have a book in the works for Marvel that should be announced very soon. Can’t spill the beans yet, but if you loved our Justice League, I think you’re gonna love this. Three issues into it and we’re having a blast: We’ve got a whole new comic book universe to decimate!
I did quite a few episodes of Justice League Unlimited this year and I’m hoping to do more for next season. And I’ve got some other film and television projects in the works, including a very exciting movie project-a supernatural thriller called 215-that I’m writing for Dean Devlin (producer of Stargate and Independence Day).
I've also been talking to Ross Richie about reprinting my mid-90's Vertigo series, Seekers Into The Mystery. Seekers had art by Jon J Muth, Michael Zulli, Glenn Barr and Jill Thompson and it was a story I was passionate about. I've wanted to get it back into print for years now...and it looks like Atomeka's going to do it some time in ‘05.
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The Fan Man: How much time do you devote to writing?
J.M. DeMatteis: I’m not one of those writers who clocks in at nine and clocks out at five. I can go for days without writing a word (which is actually the hardest work-since that’s when my unconscious mind is really chewing on the story) and then work like a demon for days after that. In the end, it’s the story that leads me, not the other way around. And of course nothing motivates like a tight deadline. I’m one of those guys who actually enjoys having his back to the wall. Up to a point, anyway.
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The Fan Man: What motivates you to finish what you started and work through those writer’s blocks?
J.M. DeMatteis: I’ve realized over the years that, with rare exceptions, most writer’s block isn’t writer’s block at all: It’s necessary time that allows the unconscious mind to do its deep work. The great “Ah-Ha!” moments don’t usually come at the keyboard. They come when I’m lying on the floor, staring into space (or banging my head against the wall in frustration). All of a sudden the Unconscious Camera turns on, a movie starts playing in my head-and there it is: The Big Moment. Or the Whole Damn Story. And, in many ways, I had nothing whatsoever to do with it.
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The Fan Man: Any advice for the wannabe writer?
J.M. DeMatteis: Yes. Follow your heart, follow your dreams. If writing is your passion, put everything you have into it. Let that passion, that joy, lead you. In the end it might not lead you to exactly the place you thought you were heading...but it will absolutely lead you someplace wonderful. And don’t let the Nay-Sayers, the Practical People, stop you or wear you down. Follow your dreams...and you can’t go wrong.
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The Fan Man: How did you break into the business?
J.M. DeMatteis: My first published work was, believe it or not, in Marvel’s Crazy Magazine. But the real break came at DC, writing for the late seventies/early eighties mystery line: House of Mystery, House of Secrets, Weird War Tales...all those oddball titles. It was like Comic Book Vaudeville: a great place to learn my craft before moving on to bigger and better things. And I had terrific editors like Len Wein, Paul Levitz and Jack C. Harris teaching me.
How did I break in? By submitting and submitting and submitting and never taking no for an answer. You have to believe in yourself and your dreams. You have to keep going until those dreams manifest.
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The Fan Man: Not to make you feel old, but it seems like you have been around the industry for years. You’ve been the writer of some of my favorite comics and characters like the Defenders, Man-Thing, Daredevil, Spider-Man, the Spectre and many more. What are some of your personal favorite comics and characters that you have worked on?
J.M. DeMatteis: This looks like a long list, but you’re right, I’ve been doing this a long time-since l979-so really, it’s not so long a list after all. (I could give you a list of stuff I’ve done that’s really atrocious, too...but why torment myself?)
In no particular order:
1) ABADAZAD (with Mike Ploog)
2) BROOKLYN DREAMS (with Glenn Barr)
3) THE COMPLEAT MOONSHADOW (with Jon J Muth)
4) DR. FATE (with Shawn Macmanus)
5) ”GOING SANE” ( BATMAN: LEGENDS OF THE DARK KNIGHT #s 65-68) (with Joe Staton)
6) SPIDER-MAN: KRAVEN’S LAST HUNT/SOUL OF THE HUNTER (with Mike Zeck)
“BEST OF ENEMIES” (SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN #200) (with Sal Buscema) “THE GIFT” (AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #400) (with Mark Bagley)
THE LOST YEARS (with John Romita, Jr.)
“THE KISS” (WEBSPINNERS #1) (with John Romita, Sr.)
7) SEEKERS INTO THE MYSTERY (with Barr, Muth, Zulli, & Thompson)
8) THE GARGOYLE (with Mark Badger)
9) GREENBERG, THE VAMPIRE (with Mark Badger)
10) BLOOD: A TALE (with Kent Williams)
11) MERCY (with Paul Johnson)
12) DOCTOR STRANGE: INTO SHAMBALLA (with Dan Green)
13) SUPERMAN: SPEEDING BULLETS (with Eduardo Barretto)
14) THE LAST ONE #2 (with Dan Sweetman)
15) MARTIAN MANHUNTER #4 (with Mark Badger)
16) MAN-THING/STRANGE TALES (with Liam Sharp)
17) SPECTRE #s 11-13 (with Ryan Sook), #s 20 & 26 (with Norm Breyfogle)
18) All that JUSTICE LEAGUE stuff (with Keith Giffen, Andy Helfer, Kevin Maguire, and everybody else)
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The Fan Man: Since we mentioned the Spectre, any thoughts on Hal Jordan returning to the mantle of Green Lantern?
J.M. DeMatteis: I think it’s a great idea; in fact, I suggested the same thing when I was working on the Spectre, but the timing just wasn’t right. Glad to see that Hal’s back where he belongs now.
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The Fan Man: Before you started writing comics, were you a Comic Fanatic? Remember that very first comic?
J.M. DeMatteis: I honestly don’t remember a time when I wasn’t reading comics, so I couldn’t tell you what the first one I ever read was.
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The Fan Man: What were some of the comics you followed as a kid?
J.M. DeMatteis: As a kid I went for...well, everything-the DC super heroes (especially Superman, Batman, Green Lantern and the Justice League)...funny animals...Bob Hope and Jerry Lewis...Sgt. Fury and Sgt. Rock...Casper and Richie Rich...Sad Sack and Archie. I went totally berserk for the Marvel super-heroes when I was in the seventh grade and for a few years I refused to read anything else. Later on I fell in love with Crumb’s underground work. Kirby’s New Gods material. The Wein-Wrightson Swamp Thing, the Gerber-Ploog Man-Thing. Will Eisner, American Splendor. The list goes on and on.
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The Fan Man: Do you find the time to follow any comics these days?
J.M. DeMatteis: My old buddy Tom DeFalco is always nice enough to send me issues of Spider-Girl, which I think is a terrific-and, miracle of miracles!, kid-accessible-super hero comic book. Very much in the Grand Marvel Tradition and yet completely contemporary, too. Why there aren’t more mainstream super hero comics like this is a mystery. Beyond that, I really don’t follow much of anything these days-no time, and not all that much interest.
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The Fan Man: When it comes to your own writing, who do you consider to be major influences in your style?
J.M. DeMatteis: There are so many writers who have either influenced or inspired me (or both). Too many to list. That said, I’ll mention Dostoyevsky, Dickens, Bradbury, Vonnegut, J.D. Salinger, Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, Steve Gerber, Will Eisner, L. Frank Baum, C.S. Lewis, Rod Serling, Isaac Singer, Philip K. Dick, Par Lagerkvist, Henry Miller and Hermann Hesse...to name a few.
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The Fan Man: You’ve worked with so many amazing artists over the years. Any stand out as favorites?
J.M. DeMatteis: I’ve been lucky enough to work with dozens of extraordinary artists. In my early days in the business, I was blessed to work with legends like Gene Colan, John Buscema, Steve Ditko, and Gil Kane. Artists whose work I grew up on. Unfortunately, I was just starting out and I can’t say the scripts I wrote for them were very good. Not that I wasn’t trying, but my skills just weren’t there yet.
Some of my favorite collaborators over the years include Mark Badger, Mike Zeck, Jon J Muth, Kent Williams, Shawn Macmanus, Glenn Barr, Keith Giffen (who’s as terrific an artist as he is a writer), Mike Ploog (yep. Him again!), Michael Zulli, Sal Buscema, Ryan Sook, Liam Sharp. (I know there are many, many great artists - and old friends - I’m forgetting, so everyone please forgive me!) I have to single out John Romita, Sr. He was the artist drawing Spider-Man when I first fell in love with the character...one of the greats of our industry. We only did one story together (”The Kiss” in Webspinners #1), but working with him was a dream-come-true.
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The Fan Man: Any artists whom you haven’t worked with that you would like to work with someday?
J.M. DeMatteis: Again, too many to mention (and remember!). But the one who instantly comes to mind is Barry Smith.
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The Fan Man: Getting away from comics for just a bit, what was the last good movie you saw?
J.M. DeMatteis: The best movies I’ve seen in the past few months were the documentary Super-Size Me (put down your Big Mac and run for your life!)...and two film classics: Kurasawa’s Red Beard (I have yet to see a Kurasawa movie that hasn’t been brilliant...or, at the least, damn close to it) and the Marx Brothers’ Duck Soup. I’ve been turning my daughter on to the Marx Brothers (we watched A Night At The Opera, too) and it’s a real treat to hear her laugh-and see her eyes go wide with delight-while watching these black and white comedies that were fairly ancient when I was kid. Funny is funny, no matter the decade. Duck Soup is, I think, one of the three greatest film comedies ever (the other two being The Producers and Monty Python’s Life of Brian); and, for all its lunacy, the movie seems more relevant now than ever. Sometimes I turn on the news and feel like we’re all living in Fredonia.
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The Fan Man: Last good book you read?
J.M. DeMatteis: This summer I finally picked up The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman (which had been on my bookshelf for years) and it totally swept me away. An absolutely brilliant fantasy novel, compelling and beautifully written, with rich, memorable characters. It’s the first book in a trilogy and I immediately devoured the other two. I didn’t find them quite as captivating as The Golden Compass...but they were still well worth reading.
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The Fan Man: A lot of Comic Fanatics may not realize this, but J.M. DeMatteis is also a recording artist. You have put together an incredible CD that I’m proud to have in my collection. Tell us about “How Many Lifetimes?”
J.M. DeMatteis: Before I became a professional writer I was a musician and singer and songwriter, playing in bands and dreaming my rock and roll dreams. Although the writing career took over, the music never let go. I continued to play and sing and write new songs, many of them inspired by my connection to Avatar Meher Baba. “How Many Lifetimes?” grew out of that connection, out of the struggles and joys of walking through the world while trying (and sometimes failing miserably) to keep balanced on a spiritual path. I did the CD over the course of two years in the mid-nineties (working with musician friends in the Chicago area), putting it out in ‘97. Recording “How Many Lifetimes?” was one of the greatest joys of my life. Despite the spiritual angle, this isn’t New Agey space music...this is classic rock in the Beatles/Who tradition, filtered through my own unique perspective, informed by the same musings and obsessions that inform my comic book work. I’m as proud of this CD as I am of anything I’ve ever done.
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The Fan Man: Is there a way that the J.M. DeMatteis Completist can order one of these CDs today?
J.M. DeMatteis: These days they’re only available from The Love Street Bookstore in Los Angeles (email: Bababook@pacbell.net ) and Sheriar Books in Myrtle Beach (email: Laura@Sheriarbooks.org ).
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The Fan Man: Any plans to go back into the recording studio again?
J.M. DeMatteis: Yes. I’ve got quite a bit of material and I’d love to begin work on a new CD some time in 2005. (That’ll make it ten years since I started the last one.) We’ll see if that opportunity presents itself.
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The Fan Man: Last word is all yours. Any plugs?
J.M. DeMatteis: I think I’m all plugged out!
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The Fan Man: Mr. DeMatteis, I have been a fan of your work for years now and cannot begin to tell you what an honor it has been talking with you. Thanks for taking the time to do this interview, and best of luck with everything you have on the horizon!
J.M. DeMatteis: Thanks, Heath. Your kinds words are profoundly appreciated.
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HUGE thanks go out to Mr. DeMatteis for taking the time to do this interview. Not only is Mr. DeMatteis a true legend in the industry - and one of my all time favorite writers - he is also one of the nicest guys in the business.
For more information about the upcoming Hero Squared, visit Atomeka Press.Com. For more information about the upcoming sequel to Formerly Known As The Justice League, visit DC Comics.Com. For more information about Blood: A Tale - which is scheduled to be released December 22, 2004 - visit DC Comics.Com/Vertigo.
And for those interested in purchasing a copy of the J.M. DeMatteis CD "How Many Lifetimes?", email The Love Street Bookstore in Los Angeles at Bababook@pacbell.net or Sheriar Books in Myrtle Beach at Laura@Sheriarbooks.org .
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