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  1.  (7178.1)
    And that's what matters! That Casanova finds a place in the hearts and minds of as many people as possible. We want comics that matter, that challenge, that ENGAGE readers, that are substantive works, contributions to the medium...that's Casanova. Man, I'm fawning, but shit, I love the book.
  2.  (7178.2)
    dont worry r_sail, i was agreeing with you. as my favorite single comic since INVISIBLES, i just want it back no matter how.
  3.  (7178.3)
    Heya Matt,

    Was there anything that ended up on the cutting room floor with Cass due to the page count or where you ended up taking the characters? Like, any instances where you thought up a character thinking they'd do A, and found them doing B when it came time to write it, or small beats you had to sacrifice to the big beats for the page count?

    And nothing to do with anything, but I really dug your Everything I Need To Know, I Learned From... posts. The Drake/Premiani DP and Bat Lash were my Sensational Old Comic Finds of my first year of college, so seeing DP get some love was very cool.
  4.  (7178.4)
    WAIT EVERYBODY:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ACm9yECwSso&feature=player_embedded


    lady gaga has this to say.
  5.  (7178.5)


    Question; I remember reading somewhere that you found the move from part-time comics writer to full-time two-plus-titles-a-month comics writer an eye-opener/challenge. Having gone throught that now, what has been the biggest change in your work practices, and if you could go back, what advice would Old Biff (Matt) give Young Biff (Matt)?


    i don't think i would, honestly. i think i got beaten up and whipped into shape pretty quickly, and I think i really needed that terror of failure and fear of professional embarrassment to keep me honest. and by "honest" i mean 'turning in script pages.'

    ED WOOD is the secret to everything. Just do better next time.
  6.  (7178.6)

    Matt, (and Kelly, since you are here and may have an opinion,) how do you feel about decompression in story lines in the current crops of comics? Is there a point where it's too much?


    i think bad writing is bad writing; i think great writing is great writing. dialogue and pacing and character are all critical components and when written brilliantly it's all of-a-piece and it all works.

    that's maybe a cop out answer, but it's the easiest way without getting into subjective arguments (which i'll avoid if at all possible).
  7.  (7178.7)
    What are your favorite KC area eateries, and what is it that appeals to you with each one?


    Everything Kel said; Murray's Chocolate Flake Fromage milkshakes and the double cheeseburger from the HiBoy out by the stadium i miss at least once a week.
  8.  (7178.8)
    I saw earlier you mentioned Image said no, but have you considered the Casanova script book as POD?


    huh. no. um... i will now, though. we'll see.

    Though I seem to recall when you first started Uncanny with Bru you had it mapped out the major arcs up to 525. Im curious how close to that basic outline the stories came out and how much further along you have your story plotted out to?


    we pretty much it the broad strokes, give or take. Some of an Ed story that was just marked in as SENTINEL MAN-- Trask-- I folded into XVDA as it all made thematic sense... everything else is pretty much there, in as much as we had anything there. I've got up through SECOND COMING and am in the process of wool-gathering for what comes beyond.


    And for my out of left field question and I meant to ask you this at heroes con years ago, but why was ICP in the Agenda Suicide video way back when?


    wow, good lookin' out money. MK12 loved-- and still loves, to the best of my ability to discern such things based on their work in QUANTUM OF SOLACE and BEATLES ROCK BAND-- easter eggs. they were, when i was there, little things we'd add to keep each other from going nuts, i suspect. anyway, i believe-- i might be wrong-- that the jugaloos were the add of my pal John Dretzka who, when we noticed it, said something to the effect that, to him, jugaloos really summed up what the whole piece was about. we couldn't disagree.

    (It might have been jed; 99% sure it was john.)

    so: oppression = juggalos
  9.  (7178.9)

    How is Oregon treating you?


    totally love it.
  10.  (7178.10)
    Given your earlier comments about the commercial viability of Casanova 3 (and 4), are there any specific strategies that the publisher or the creative team are working on to get the word out? Having two coloured volumes available will help and a team of three Eisner winners can't hurt, but do you have any other plans? Or are you more strictly focussed on just making the thing.


    Yes, that's exactly it-- before, we were no-time eisner award winners doing a one-color weird format book. So this time, everybody's profiles have risen a bit, so we're staring from there. We're going to roll out a whole... reintroduction, i guess you'd say; the color versions are quite honestly going to be seen by people and carried by stores that never would've carried the book before. that's a big first step. but yeah, we'll really be doing a push, retailer outreach, etc.

    (that we've already got v1 and v2 done as we move into v3 makes that much easier to do-- we can show retailers the whole thing, yknow? that helps. you'd be amazed...)

    Also, recently CAS was referred to as 'supercompressed', mentioned in the same breath as THE WINTER MEN and some Grant Morrison stuff. Winter Men and Casanova are my two favourite comics of the decade; have you read the former and do you hold to any notion of 'supercompression' as a vague or specific approach to writing?


    oh, man, i love winter men.

    CASANOVA was my first 'ongoing' gig, my first serial comic. i didn't want anyone to feel ripped off; it all came from there. i wrote what i wanted to read and just hoped it worked. I think v2 was noticeably different than v1 and v3 will be even moreso... um... as the story dictates, really.


    I bet the answer to both of these is 'not really' but I thought I would ask.
    • CommentAuthorhelloMuller
    • CommentTimeNov 10th 2009 edited
     (7178.11)
    OK don't shoot me if this was once asked & answered before, but: was the decision to do Casanova in spot colours artistic intent or a way to cut costs while coming out with a great product and a strong visual statement (in a way that restrictions and budget limits force you to come up with things you wouldn't normally think of), and is the move to go full colour on Casanova a result retailer pressure and a way to raise order numbers - or was it the plan all along?

    Edited to add: feel free to bin this question if this has been answered already…
  11.  (7178.12)
    How many "shit" scripts did you write before you got to something you thought was good?,


    well, that's relative i suppose (i'm never happy with anything. i never read anything after it comes out, never see it again after i proof the lettering.), but i wrote hundreds-- literally hundreds-- of script pages nobody ever saw.


    Do you have any artistic ability in drawing and art etc?


    i used to; i left the fine arts track for a film track in college and the skills atrophied into nothing.


    To get a feeling for your panel/timing etc when starting out, would you draw your own comics or did you just focus on writing them?

    yeah, i'd thumbnail it out for myself, to make sure it worked. well, "worked" as best as i could manage.
  12.  (7178.13)
    Interested to hear who's going to be doing the colours - though Dave Stewart seems like an obvious (and obviously awesome) choice.


    hey, it's the hardest of the hardcore. keep me updated on the ink. and re: the colorist, stay tuned.
  13.  (7178.14)
    WAIT EVERYBODY:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ACm9yECwSso&feature=player_embedded
    lady gaga has this to say.


    I do believe there'll be a song on that album called "Alejandro."
  14.  (7178.15)

    What other pieces of media do you feel have been your primary influences?


    KANE. THE THIRD MAN. BARTON FINK and MILLER'S CROSSING. BREAKFAST OF CHAMPIONS. the book, I mean. TWIN PEAKS and lynch in general. The Velvet Underground. TWILIGHT ZONE. Kirby's fourth world, and late period Thor. Morrison. Ellis. Mamet's ON DIRECTING FILM. BATMAN: YEAR ONE. Lang's MABUSE films. THE APARTMENT and SOME LIKE IT HOT. LA JETEE. The photography of Helmut Newton. EC Comics. Howard Chaykin, from FLAGG to BLACK KISS. Leone's westerns. Paul Pope's THB stuff. Matsumoto's BLACK AND WHITE. DOOLITTLE. THE VELVET UNDERGROUND AND NICO. WATCHMEN and FROM HELL. Everything Los. Bros. Hernandez have ever touched. Bond films.
  15.  (7178.16)

    (BTW, did you hear from the Stumptown Comics Festival folks yet? I think they're meaning to talk to you about the festival next April...)


    not yet, i don't think. i owe 'em, though. april is tough but i hope to make it. if i don't i'll have an awesome excuse.
  16.  (7178.17)

    Why did you lie to me?


    baseball is pain.
  17.  (7178.18)
    Will Storm be in Second Coming? Will the X-books feel the effects of Doomwar?
    Could you give an hint on what Storm's status will be after the event?


    Yoooou... are sneaky.
  18.  (7178.19)
    Why did you kill Dr. Takiguchi? He was the cutest and looked like Pat Morita. :(


    heh. i wanted to... like, the NATION X story to me is as close to DEADWOOD as X-Men can/will get, so I wanted them to have to deal with a bevy of real world problems and logistical stuff that we all take for granted. water, food, the mail, etc. And the idea occurred to me that, if someone died, they'd have to deal with that. and you can't just up and kill mutants without it being... larger than just, oh, god, this wonderful person has passed away. the X Club has a full roster and I thought... well, as much as it pained me to do so, he made sense to pass on, so we could see how everyone would deal with horrible things like that.

    Can you confirm that Salome from UXN #512 is Sage(Tessa)'s grandmother?


    Can I? Theoretically, yes. Will I? No.

    Do you think Dazzler should show up singing a Lady Gaga song?


    I think Lady Gaga should get her own superhero comics. Or supersomething, shit, i don't know. Something insane and fabulous.
  19.  (7178.20)
    but what's an "average" day for you? How many hours do you usual keep at the desk? How many pages (again, on average) are you pushing out per hour? Or do you even track in those terms?


    Get up around 10 or 11, work until the boy is done with his day, usually around 5; play with the boy until bed, usually 8:30-9, work until about 2 or 3.

    I try to do anywhere from four to six pages a day every day while scripting. Sometimes it's fast, sometimes it's pulling teeth. And plotting/outlining is the fucking worst thing in the world and takes as long as it takes.