Planet DC2 04/04/2007

Hello again! This week, I've got a special something for you all. An interview with one of the most prolific writers of the site... House Of Mystery himself! Enjoy!

1.- What are your favourite titles of the site?

Easy question to answer. New Outsiders day in and out , Weird Western Quarterly, anything by David Charlton (and having seeing Götterdämmerung #1-2 nothing's changed) and I'm really enjoying John's Green Lantern run so far. I cannot wait for Part Two of his arc! To a lesser extent I always enjoy reading the parts of Powers, Inc that I don't write because my sense of humour varies from Ramon's and Chris's. I also have really started to enjoy City of Crime, and think that it's just one example of how new blood into a site can bring something fresh and innovative. I loved Rogues Gallery #2 (Deathstroke Vs Deadshot). That's pretty much it. I also want to see another Blue Beetle mini from Chris Paugh. I should stop now before I just start naming every title on the site...!

2.- Where do you get your ideas and style from?

Ooo hard one. Ideas? All around me. I’m inspired by weird stuff, stuff that happens to me in real life that I stretch and extend into this whole different entity. I’m not saying that I once visited an extra-dimensional tesseract that had a lower level referred to as ‘Hell’ but that’s a mix of things I guess. I’m terrified of being trapped. That’s my ultimate phobia. Hell is, if you didn’t know, where sinners go when they die. Where devils and demons live and rule circles and stuff like that. (Sebastian’s note: This example is from the Question’s ongoing arc # 5-7) So anyway, extra-dimensional tesseract came from reading The Authority “Under New Management” years ago. I loved that visual. So I just threw that all into a pot and made it work.

Other writers inspire me, like I said. Grant LaFleche right now is really irritating me because his work, like Brian’s and Dave’s, is so inspiring. I wanted to write something with The Question told ala City of Crime (and so did Dave) but when we tried (separately that is) they just came off as pastiches to his work.

Anyway, writing style… That depends. With The Question it’s a more cryptic approach. I don’t like to reveal my hand before it’s dealt, you know? So I’m vague, I like to keep the reader on his or hers toes. If you blow your wad before it’s time, you’ve just wasted their time. I also like the idea of leaving question’s in the air with that book. I was talking to [Batman cover artist] Adam Tupper about a follow up of that arc I’m planning (Mourning for the Question) which approaches what’s happened in a more investigative manner. It’s told, basically, from the point of view of Bill Nodell and Travis Clevenger, and it’s basically their punishment for disregarding King Faraday’s orders. He told them not to talk to Batman in #7, yet they knew that something bad was happening, so they didn’t care. The thing with their relationship with Faraday is that he needs them. You don’t know why yet.

Also, with all my books, I envision them as some kind of television show. You get a big complication or discovery before the credits, a big ‘bang!’ Like a break out or a murder. Something that’ll mess with you down the line.

3.- What made you want to do a The Question mini and ongoing?

I had too much left to tell! You reach the end of the line and you’re stuck with so many things left you want to do. I wanted to try something different, because my new Batman run wasn’t giving me the freedom I wanted by way of… Say snappy dialogue and the mysteries I wanted to tell. Batman doesn’t travel America in his beautiful 1967 Chevy Impala (which my long time collaborator Roy Flinchum depicted BEAUTIFULLY on #3’s cover) and solve mysteries out of the trunk of his car. I loved that opportunity. Some people loved it, some people didn’t. So I scrapped two and started plotting furiously

4.- Can you tell us about The Question #7?

Haha, I could. It’s a culmination of stuff from everywhere. But, I don’t want to ruin it for you, so go read it! Go read it now!

5.- Was the idea for the end of the arc always like that?

Sure. I got Vic to a certain place where he was at the end of his wits. He’s been through so much, lost so many friends, and he’s just wasting his time making glitter collages for his broody friends and driving around spending hundreds of dollars on petrol. Until he gets this email. And it gives him purpose. So he runs off to Las Vegas and meets the New Outsiders (in the annual)

The first draft was awful. He had written a letter to the Justice League, and, suffice to say, it did not get to where it was headed. But again, we might be picking up on that in the follow up, so I don’t want to give too much away about it.

(Note: Go read the arc! It’s good!)

6.- Why interior art?

Because when you work with people like Roy Flinchum, Adam Tupper, Craig Cermak and Ramon Villalobos, you want to showcase that talent. And so we did.

7.- What can we expect in upcoming issues of Action Comics?

Oh, so much. Just a quick run down of character’s making appearances in the upcoming months: The Guardian, Lightray, Wonder Woman, Martian Manhunter, Batman, Steel, Rip Hunter, Caesar (a new character created for a special project that’ll be coming soon!) and, of course, Superman and more villains than you can shake a stick at. I’m talking en masse mi amigo, some crap is going to hit the fan, and one character is going to pay the ultimate price. One character? I mean like, half a dozen. A load of stuff happens. We find out what Steel was doing during the one year gap, why The Guardian is acting all weird, who Caesar is, what Rip Hunter has been up to since Action Comics #6, why Lightray has come screaming to Earth, and who landed smack dab in the middle of two rednecks’ drinking session!

All I can say now is: Lex Luthor hires a hit man. And someone is critical after the assassin takes his shot!

So much is going to happen, and so many characters are going to be in the spotlight!

8.- Can you tell us about our favourite San Francisco Team? How did you enter the Powers Inc. group?

That is a secret I'm not allowed to divulge. But basically, Ramon needed a hand, so I offered my services. Then Chris came along. The rest is history.

9.- And what about your future in the site?

Lots of vague, mysterious projects that you’ll be hearing about in the next few months.


See you next week!
Sebastian Gutierrez.