Matt Fraction is currently ascending the ranks of very good comic writers, his current output includes Five Fists of Science and Casanova for Image, and the upcoming Punisher: War Journal for Marvel. decided to batter him with questions and see whether writing about Frank Castle had warped his clever little mind.
Where the hell did you pop up from, and who the hell let you write the Punisher?
Hm. The Internet, one, and Axel Alonso, two.
I was a satellite attendant of the old Delphi scene that revolved around the Warren Ellis Forum; from there I and two compatriots (Mr. Dave Potter and Mr. Alec Austin) started a kind of proto-blog-zine thing called Savant. From there I bullshitted my way into a writing career.
How did you end up with the Punisher gig?
Well, one of the gigs I bullshitted my way into was writing a graphic novel called Last Of The Independents that was illustrated by mad genius and turbopervert Kieron Dwyer. Axel read it and loved it; he passed it around his office and other folks, namely Warren Simons, loved it too- or at least thought it proved me capable enough to work for Marvel.
And then when it came time to bring the Punisher back into the Marvel U, Axel thought I was the right guy to do it. Wham-bam-thank-you-man.
Are you perturbed by Garth’s run on the main Punisher title?
I’m disturbed by the sinister scum-fucking bastards he digs up for Frank to murder arc after arc; I’m horrified that Garth’s probably making up a lot less than you’d hope about the wickedness and sickness man can perpetuate on his fellow man.
I absolutely LOVE his run on the book. I think it’s as character-defining as Frank Miller’s run on Daredevil, and one of the best crime comics ever written. Realizing after I’d signed up that our books would be running parallel to one another has been the only thing that’s made me reconsider writing P:WJ.
How do you feel the Punisher fits into the Marvel Universe?
Mm. Badly- and that’s the fun of the book. That’s the utter joy of writing it. You know the bit in Raiders where the swordsman busts out the crazy scimitar-dance in the streets and Indy just grabs his gun and shoots? That’s the Marvel Universe and Frank.
One of the issues that has been raised about War Journal is whether it is a cop out if Punisher doesn’t go after and take down the Green Goblins or the Kingpins of the MU. How do you resolve that as part of an ongoing series?
I don’t want to cop out on the answer here, but without going into a lot of fun-ruining details of both Civil War, P:WJ, and the rest of the direction the Marvel Universe is gonna take as the dust gradually settles, I kinda can’t answer it with too much specificity.
Let me just say this, and please forgive the brevity and elusiveness: that was the first thing I asked Axel, and it was the first thing he brought up in our discussions about the book.
I wouldn’t be writing the book if I wasn’t satisfied- as a writer first and as a reader second- with the answers.
What research did you do to get the “real” characters for Five Fists of Science?
I did a lot of very very shallow research. Like, I read a little bit of a lot of books about Twain, Tesla, etc.
The problem was, I wasn’t looking to make a true-true historical piece, just something true enough. As I’ve said before, if you had to guess where the fiction starts you’d guess wrong.
Twain and Tesla WERE friends. Twain DID have a plan for world peace. Tesla DID invent a weapon so terrifying the military wanted nothing to do with it. And so on.
What influence, if any, was Moore and O’Neill’s League of Extraordinary Gentlemen?
None- I mean, aside from both taking place in 1899, that’s kind of where the similarities end, you know?
What came first for Five Fists, the characters or the storyline? Mark Twain or Giant Robots?
It all came at once- and as we started moving, we found more facts that supported our story. When I found they were pals, I immediately thought- THEY TEAM UP AND SAVE THE WORLD! And the robot and everything else that came along with it- I mean, in one bolt of lighting I had the whole thing.
We were more than a year into it when Sanders found the Tesla essay on War Automatons… the more we made up, the more it all turned out to be true anyway.
What is the obsession with historical figures such as Twain and Casanova?
Well, Casanova isn’t exactly a reference to THAT Casanova- it was me thumbing my nose at my good friend and artist, Hector Casanova (painter of The Lurkers, that Steve Niles wrote). We’ve tried to get a couple different books going and never had any luck so… yeah, I dunno, I just wanted to up the stakes. I’ve been telling him for years that one day I’d have a book on the shelf that had the words “Fraction” and ‘Casanova’ on my shelf…
…I just went about getting it in a different way.
Why should any self-respecting gentleman purchase Casanova?
Ours is a book that travels around the world and back, as gentlemen and ladies of tremendous wealth and attractiveness are known to do. Ours is a book that stars men and women of fantastic leisure and mind-cleaving adventure. Ours is a book that, like all self-respecting gentlemen and ladies, exists as a singularity of uniqueness and vision in a marketplace overwhelmed with the muddle-minded and mediocre. In short, ladies and gentlemen: you are Our People, and We are Yours.
In most comic creator’s minds, heroes put on capes. In mine, they put on suits. Welcome.
David Tennant as Casanova vs your Casanova - who wins?
Has David Tennant ever jumped out of a massive casino-UFO above Paris, guns blazing, and lived? No.
Next question.
Now you have your hands on the Punisher, are there any other characters you’d like to be given the keys to? (Say Doctor Strange for example )
Sure there are. I’d prefer to keep my own council- either I’ll sound presumptive, or I’ll sound like I’m hinting at something, or… yeah. There’re a handful of different toys in the sandbox I wouldn’t mind playing with.
What is your opinion of crossover storylines, such as Civil War and Infinite Crisis? Are you prepared to have to deal with limitations of having to get into line because another story affects yours?
At this point it doesn’t feel like there are limitations so much as rules, boundaries. And, like, I knew the job was dangerous when I signed up, you know? It was one of the reasons I wanted the gig. It feels like some kind of weird jam session, where you bob and weave around the big riffs the lead guys are laying down. So far I’ve been having a blast because it’s just so weird. It’s like writing by algebra, sometimes. 4 + X = 5, you know? Determine X. Sometimes it’s obvious and other times it’s a more elaborate kind of thing…
I mean, I’m new at it, so it’s all novel and fun and… and bizarre. I mean, it’s like watching hot dogs get made. Strange, fascinating, a little disturbing, and I’ll never be able to look at a line-wide crossover the same way.
Also, there’s a lot of slaughtered pig entrails scattered about.
You’ve been championed to an extent by Warren Ellis. How does that work for you and is it a disadvantage as well as an advantage?
Well, shit, he’s been a tremendous supporter and advocate in my work, and believed in me and it in a public and vocal way- I mean, a rookie couldn’t ask for a more tremendous advocate.
The only way I can figure it’s a disadvantage would be if someone’s decided they don’t like him and/or don’t like his work and thus condemn me and MY work by association- but who wants to pander to judgmental little fuckhats like that anyway?
Do you have an average working day?
Not tremendously. I get up around 9ish and go to bed around 2 or 3- later if I have to, which is often, but not my preferred way of living. The day job has a habit of eating everything it sees and sending me around the world, which, you know, is totally awesome. So the comics come out at night, when the dust of the day’s settled.
What inspires you?
My wife. My life. A pack of gum, the sunset in Tokyo, coffee in Paris and Cannoli in NYC. What if all those steel grates in the sidewalks of all the Chinatowns in all the world connect you to all the OTHER Chinatowns in all the world? Cary Grant’s suits and Paco Rabanne’s dresses. Brochstein’s concept cars. The Bobs Peak and McGinnis. Hunky Dory, Twin Cinema. Anything. Everything.
What’s the geekiest thing you own?
A Mego Captain Kirk figure that sits in the full lotus position on my desk: my sexy scifi buddha, meditating and beditating on gorgeous green ladies and the zen of total awesome.
Mark Peyton – has a MA in History and Research from the University of Hull specialising in the Hundred Years War. In a complete departure from that he now runs communications and membership for a UK based Trade Union as well as being a part time writer/journalist.
He is a founding member of Millarworld acting as a moderator and as an editor for Fractal Matter.