September 2004
Steve Niles: So, you're the guy who wrote
Last of the Independents, right?
Matt Fraction: Yes. I wrote the shit out of it! And then Kieron Dwyer drew the shit out of it! You may know Kieron Dwyer from such IDW books as
Remains.
Niles: What do you do when you're not writing funny books?
Fraction: I work at MK12. We're a motion graphics and animation company. We make pretty things for the TV and the music videos and the whatnots. And then I hang out with my beautiful wife and together we make out and poison stray animals for laughs. Oh! Also, I like movies and reading.
Niles: And now you're writing
Bloodsucker Tales, right? Tell us how that happened.
Fraction: Shanghai'd, I was. No, I dunno, how did it happen? You and I were just kinda shootin' the shit and making with the mutual high-fives and the idea came around. I mean, you've got so many little cul-de-sacs built into the
30 Days universe that they're begging to be explored, even just a little bit. And we both love the old EC comics and the horror antho books of yore, it seemed that something like
Bloodsucker, something that could explore the world outside of Stella and Barrow and all that in short little pops, could be a blast. And, hell, I'd be nuts not to want to see my work between an IDW cover; I'm in love with the line, the people are great, and the work always comes in these beautiful packages... and you guys wanted Templesmith to do the art? Sucker bet, man. So, yeah, you asked, I said "Hells Yeah," and the rest is soon to be history. Or something like that.
Niles: Do you like horror? What is your preferred genre?
Fraction: I do-I love all the dirty, trashy little genres that comics can cover. I think comics can be great art just as easily as they can be lurid and twisted. So, yeah, man, I love it. While you seem to have "horror" pretty well stitched up, I'll be happy if I can get a toehold on a hardboiled supercreep like "Juarez" is shaping up to be. The kind of thing teachers don't want you reading, the kind of books that make Mom frown while Dad sneaks away to read it himself.
Niles: Seriously, what the hell's wrong with you?
Fraction: When I was five, a little girl named Lucy-that might not have been her name, but she always looked like Lucy Van Pelt to me-had a crush on me and one day, when our kindergarten class went for a walk, Lucy hid and waited for me (I was, as usual, in the very back of the line) and then ran at me as hard as she could with her hands out. I very clearly remember seeing her come at me and thinking "Lucy has a crush on me." Then she shoved me so hard I slammed head first into the sidewalk and blacked out. When I woke up, everyone was freaked out, I had a massive head wound, Lucy was crying, and I was being rushed to the hospital. As a result, I have a permanent dent in my skull, right on my forehead. It feels like a little trench. Ask me at a convention or a signing and I'll let you touch it. For a dollar.
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