So I had the chance to speak with another wonderful writer over at Marvel Comics recently, the writer of Uncanny X-Men, Invincible Iron Man (my favorite book), as well as Thor, Punisher, Iron Fist and many others, oh, and did I mention this guy also has his own awesome creator owned projects? That’s right, even though he’s in the big leagues wining Eisner awards at Marvel, Matt is still active in the world of Indy comics. You know, this is a great interview, and I’m just going to let it speak for itself, so without further delay, Mr Matt Fraction…
(Jef) Hey Matt, it’s great to be talking with you, thanks for talking with us.
(MF) No worries. Thanks for having me. And sorry for the delay. I had swine flu.
(Jef) Man that’s crazy, I’m glad you’re ok. No worries on the delay man, that’s understandable. So tell me, what’s it like going from writing smaller Indy books to writing huge titles like Uncanny X-Men, Iron Man and Iron Fist?
(MF) Well, you get a pay check, so now writing comics is my full-time job. That’s the craziest part– that it went from a hobby to What I Do. Creatively, though, it’s not a wholly dissimilar prospect. There’re the same basic concerns and problems and all that. Oh, people have HEARD of X-Men and Iron Man and stuff like that so there’s a degree of awareness you’re suddenly hit with… um… man, what do I know. It’s great, that’s how it is. It’s amazing. Especially as I’ve not had to stop writing my smaller indy books in the meantime.
(Jef) That makes sense, and it’s great that you’re still working in the indy world. Now speaking of Iron Fist, that’s on hiatus right now, are we going to see you returning to the title?
(MF) No.
(Jef) Well Ok then haha. There were a lot of people like myself who were never a big fan of the Iron Fist books, but that loved your run on it, why do you think this is? What did you do that made it stand apart from previous Danny Rand books?
(MF) I think because “kung fu billionaire”– which is one possible way to strip down Danny’s character– is kind of perfect comic book material. I can’t speak to what made it stand apart from previous books as I lack that perspective. We all just tried to dig into the core of the character, knock away or disregard politely that which obscured it, and celebrate the awesome stuff.
Also a dude got kicked through a train.
(Jef) Haha well you did a great job. That might have also played a part, but you’re right, that’s what I felt reading the title. Now, we’ve been hearing some rumors about a Iron Fist movie, is there any interest on your part to be involved with that in any way?
(MF) Well, I got to consult on IRON MAN 2. I have absolutely no information about an IRON FIST film, but if there ever WAS an IRON FIST film and it ever got into that stage of things, sure, who WOULDN’T want to go hang out at Marvel Studios for a week and talk about what makes the comics you love awesome?
(Jef) That’s VERY good news for fans, and of course we’ve got to talk Iron Man. You’ve had an amazing run on this title, awards, critic praise, fan praise, I don’t think I’ve ever spoken with someone who hasn’t loved your run on this book. Is this a title you really expected to take of so well?
(MF) I don’t really… I didn’t really have any expectations. On any book, regardless of the scale, I just want to write the kind of book I would want to read and I always expect it to be like pulling teeth to get there. Anything else and you just go crazy, right? So… so, yeah. The success of the book both critically and commercially has been stunning to say the least.
There’re people that don’t love the run. Trust me.
(Jef) Well all the Iron Man fans like myself I’ve met have really enjoyed it to say the least. Now we know the “Disassembled” arc is here, but what’s next for Tony?
(MF) Tony’s trapped in his head and doesn’t know or understand why, meanwhile the people that know and love him are trying to bring him back.
If you thought 20 was big, wait ’till you see 21.
(Jef) Speaking of “Disassembled”, what can we expect from this story?
(MF) The reduction of Stark to the core of who he is, to the absolute molten heart of his heroism. An assassination attempt. The last two women he slept with swap stories. Cameos. More than two doctors. Surgery. The end of the world.
(Jef) Sounds exciting! Now as far as War Machine is concerned, are we going to see him around again soon?
(MF) Yes.
(Jef) Any interest from you in writing the War Machine title? A lot of us that are old fans would love to see what you would do with him….
(MF) No, I’d like to have him around more in IRON MAN but my plate’s pretty full. Besides I couldn’t hold a candle to Greg’s book.
(Jef) Now from Iron Fist and Iron Man to Uncanny X-Man, what your process like for writing, and does it defer from each of these?
(MF) At its root it’s the same but the execution tends to be very different. I’ve always likened it to circuit training or something, where you’re exercising different muscle groups in different ways. The process is starting big then going smaller. What’s the story about? What happens? What are the moments in my head? Who are the characters and what’re they up to and why? What’s the connective tissue between it all? What butterflies are on the stick and why? Do they fit? Do they work?
Then it turns into lists, that get turned into page breakdowns, that get turned into panels, that get written out into the book’s script. I don’t know if that makes sense. Comics are all about visual storytelling reduced to discrete measures of time; I do that in macro and micro again and again until it’s done.
(Jef) Jumping over to Uncanny now, what’s it like to be writing one of the most famous teams in comics?
(MF) Daunting, if you stop to think about it, so I try my best not to think about what I’m writing and just write it. If that makes any sense. As a longtime fan it’s a dream come true. And it’s the most fun you can have in comics, I think. At least it’s the most fun *I’ve* had. Also the most work, the most challenging. It’s a complex relationship.
(Jef) Can you walk us through your creative process?
(MF) I don’t really examine it too thoroughly for fear of scaring it away. Explaining it is maybe useless, I dunno. There are these ideas or images or notions like butterflies that flap around my head and I have a stick covered with honey. If they intrigue me enough i swing it in the air and try to stick them to the stick in the right order and then I look at my butterfly-covered stick and start figuring out which butterflies are right and which are wrong and which ones died being captured and what ones I still need to put something together and…
…see? Useless.
(Jef) So we’ve reached the NC standard question, are gadgets your friend or foe?
(MF) They’re great when they work. Cell phones and the internet will be great when they work.
(Jef) Ha isn’t that true. Do you have any advice for writers and artists just getting started?
(MF) If I could go back in time and tell myself anything it would be to do what you want to do every single day. Even just a little bit– hone your craft and define your idiom every single day. Because I had a good stretch there where I *didn’t* do that, and, like, I would think an awful lot about wanting to BE a writer but I did very little writing. It’s like thinking about how hungry you are but never actually eating. I was amazed at what happened with my career once I stopped thinking about, or writing about, writing, and started actually writing every day.
(Jef) Solid advice. Any other Non Marvel projects we should look forward to from you in the future?
(MF) Do you mean creator-owned projects? Then yes.
(Jef) So these creator owned projects coming up… Care to tell us more?
(MF) Nope.
(Jef) Right, so what comics are you reading right now?
(MF) I can’t wait for Gilbert Hernandez’s TROUBLEMAKERS graphic novel. Rick and Tony’s PUNISHER is off-the-chain insane and I loved how ballsy it was. WINTERMEN is finally out in trade– treat yourself if you’ve never seen it, heard about it, or read it. Hickman’s FF has, in just three issues, become a top-of-the-pile must-read. Ellis’ SUPERGOD. Ivan and Nic’s VIKING. I love love loved the new POWERS. Chaykin’s DIE HARD and DOMINIC FORTUNE.
(Jef) Well thanks so much for your time Matt, it’s been great talking with you and I hope we can do it again soon…
(MF) Hey, thank you. And again, sorry for the wait.
(Jef) No problem Matt, we’ll be in touch and thanks again!
Want to hear more from Matt? Well you can follow him on Twitter or keep tabs on him over at his site! He’s also said he would talk with me again soon, so keep watch! NC
Jef Price Editor/Co-Founder