Matt Wagner Interview

Normally, I'd be writing a post right about now to pick a new random book to review from my collection, but we have a special treat for you today instead.

If you've been following the blog recently you're aware that we've had a spate of Demon posts over the past week, and we're not quite done with Etrigan yet. I had such a good time re-reading this issue, that after I initially finished I went on-line to check out Matt Wagner's website for some more good stuff. While I was there, I took the opportunity to contact him with a couple of quick questions...and wouldn't you know it, he was kind enough to respond!

So without further ado, here's my two question interview with Matt Wagner.

RL: The Demon seems like such a natural fit for you, as your stories often have mystical elements running side by side the real world. Was your initial Demon mini-series something that DC approached you about, or was this character a favorite of yours previously?

MW: No, I was still something of a young fledgling when the Demon series came about. I had always liked the character and, in fact, had done a painted re-creation of the cover to #1 in Junior High School (long since lost).

I was just starting to get some renown via MAGE and GRENDEL when I happened to meet Dick Giordano at a convention. He invited me up to New York to give DC a pitch for whatever I'd like to approach. I originally took him a re-vamp of Batgirl but they'd already set plans in motion for THE KILLING JOKE and Barbara Gordon's crippling (my plot outline had her running for the Senate, necessitating a new Batgirl).

So, Dick asked me who else I liked in the DC stable of characters (it was kinda understood that I wasn't going to get a crack at any of the REALLY big guys at that point) and so I mentioned the Demon. Etrigan had just been featured in two issues of Alan More's seminal run on SWAMP THING during which Alan introduced the rhyming aspect of his speech. I thought that was incredibly cool and so Dick told me to go back home and come with a pitch for a DEMON mini-series.

I based the story on two incredibly beautifully drawn Demon short stories from BATMAN FAMILY where the legendary Michael Golden provided the art. I used the events of those stories as a springboard for the beginning of my series.

RL: What brought you back to the Demon for a second time with issue #22? Did you have more that you wanted to say with the character that you didn't get a chance to originally? Or was this just an opportunity to have a little more fun inside the DCU?

MW: As much as the situation I just described sounds like something of a dream opportunity for a young creator, the reality was a bit of a nightmare. DC at that point wasn't geared towards working with the new crop of independent creators that were cropping up around the edges of the industry and, honestly, I had no idea how to function within their corporate structures.

I don't want to rehash old problems here but the results were, I felt, a very fractured and overwrought series that didn't live up to my expectations. To this day, the original mini-series is probably the least favorite of all my published efforts...yet I'm continually surprised how many people have a real fondness for that run.

Well anyway, years later, Dan Rasplur was editing a new DEMON ongoing series and called to offer me a one-shot fill-in issue. I saw this as the perfect way to cleanse my creative palette of the grim experiences I'd had on the original series and so I endeavored to make that one issue the opposite of my initial take on the character. Whereas my DEMON mini-series was dark, dour and serious in so many aspects, I deliberately made issue #22 of the current series more of a light-hearted romp (which certainly still had horrific elements). I took the same approach with the verbiage as well; the first series was very word-heavy and the fill-in issue was written as something of a nursery rhyme.

So there you have it...my first foray into comics journalism.

I want to thank Matt Wagner for taking the time and being incredibly kind and detailed with his answers. I met him at a con about ten years ago, and he was nice enough to draw an extra doodle in my Season of Mists hardcover next to his autograph. It's great to see that he's as gracious with his time now, as he was back then.

The Demon #22

TITLE: The Demon #22

PUBLISHER: DC Comics

COVER DATE: April 1992

COVER PRICE: $1.50

24 pages


WHAT I REMEMBER...

I missed out on the debut and original run of The Demon, as it was just a little bit before my time. I only have a handful of the later issues, and most of those are from Garth Ennis and John McCrea's run. So when this issue popped up on the Randomizer, I had completely forgotten that it existed. That's no slight against Matt Wagner, it's just that I was such a huge Ennis fan during the 90's that I figured that him writing was the only reason I would've picked up an issue of The Demon.

Was I ever wrong. There's a handful of creators who were putting out exceptional work, month in and month out during the 90's, and one of those was Matt Wagner. It shouldn't come as a big surprise that it ended up in my collection, but I'm kicking myself that I let it sit unread for close to twenty years.

We already got a sneak peek of what we're in for yesterday, so let's just get to it and read this thing already.

Witch War

• Written and Drawn by Matt Wagner
• Colored by Bernie Mireault
• Lettered by Todd Klein
• Edited by Dan Raspler
• Demon created by Jack Kirby

I've never been too good with the rhyming sound
But since that's the Demon's bit,
We'll toss the old iambic pentameter around
And see if we can get something to fit.

Yeah, don't worry...this whole review is not going to be in rhyme. I may be crazy enough to randomly read my comic book collection and blog about it one issue at a time, but I'm nowhere near foolish enough to do even one post in rhyme.

We are introduced to Sybil Haden at the outset of the story, as she begins the chain of events that would make her a full-fledged witch in the service of Lilith. All it took to start things off was for her to murder an older witch, so she could take advantage of the opening in the coven. Before long, she is marked by the devil and acquires a familiar in the form of a rooster.

All is well and good, until another upstart decides to take her place. She strikes out at Sybil, and her rooster takes the brunt of the assault and is left disemboweled.

Using all of the witchcraft at her disposal, she summons a council with Asmodeus, First Son of Lilith, and Archduke of Hell. She will have her revenge, but Asmodeus just laughs and sends her back to the mortal plane with nothing but the name of a lesser demon who just might be able to assist her. That demon, of course, is Etrigan.

Sybil sets out again to seek otherworldly help in her quest for revenge, this time setting a mystical snare for Etrigan, so that once he's bound he'll be forced to help her. Etrigan hears her summons and soon finds himself trapped within a mystical circle. As you can well imagine, Etrigan is none too pleased to find himself bound to help this young witch.

Sybil's binding spell was too good, however, and the Demon soon finds himself doing her bidding. It turns out that Annie Mojo, the witch who killed her familiar, did so to make of it a homunculus. Sybil will have her familiar back, so off the Demon goes to retrieve the homunculus. Nearing Annie's hovel, Etrigan gets a chance to let out his frustration about the current turn of events on Annie's zombie hordes that guard her front gate.

Once inside the witch's domicile, her traps and snare's are no match for Etrigan. Soon enough, he is face to face with Annie and her pig familiar, as well as the newly constructed little chicken-man.

With a belch of hellfire to distract the witch, Etrigan makes off with not only the little chicken-man, but also the swine familiar of Annie! Arriving back at Sybil's place, the Demon gives her her beloved little rooster-man when he gives her another surprise as well. She's none to pleased with Etrigan's extra prize, for a familiar is bound to the witch in such a fashion, that Annie Mojo can not be too far behind!

With Annie's arrival, a battle of witchcraft is soon engaged. Annie is able to use her spells to transform her familiar into a giant pig-man and sics it on Sybil. Desperate to turn the tide, Sybil undoes her binding spell on Etrigan in exchange for his help in defeating the pig-man. It's a deal, and the battle is on once again.

It's only when the last of Sybil's binding knots are undone, does Etrigan release his hellfire breath to burn the pig-man alive. Devastated, Annie Mojo is soon brought down by Sybil's witchcraft, and the battle is done.

All's well that ends well, eh?

Not so fast, as the Demon has one more score to settle with Sybil. He lets her know how unkindly he takes to being bound in service, and unfortunately it's her homunculus that bears the brunt of his dissatisfaction.

With that bit of business taken care of, Etrigan wishes her well and thanks her for a marvelous night on the town.


SO, WHAT DID WE LEARN...

I think we may have a new contender for favorite single issue here at the Random Longbox, and it's rediscovering little gems like this that make doing this blog a heckuva lot of fun.

Matt Wagner takes an anti-morality play and puts the Demon smack dab in the middle of things. The fact that the Demon is a captive player in this drama puts an interesting little twist into the story. He's allowed to be as arrogant, brutal, and pompous as he wants to be and we're still allowed to root for him. The witches are the real villains of this story, and they're their own worst enemies. The Demon is little more than a force of nature doing what he's been bred to do.

The artwork by Matt Wagner is just about perfect. The comic has a certain tongue-in-cheek feel to it, and his artwork really brings out the irreverence and puts it center stage. All the while, you never get the sense that he's making fun of the genre, but he's definitely having fun with it.

So the next time you find yourself wandering down the aisles of your comic book store, stop by the "D" box and look this issue up. You'll be glad you did.

And if you don't? I think the Demon put it best when he went...

All characters and artwork reproduced are (c) DC Comics.

Related links for your surfing pleasure...

• Matt Wagner's official website

The Demon + Matt Wagner = Some Crazy Shit

So when I said yesterday that an over-the-top character like the Demon should give Matt Wagner room to let loose with his art, I had no idea he would take it to such heart.

I don't usually do this, but here's a quick sneak peek of just what we're in for while I finish up the review. And remember, this isn't a Vertigo book. These are in a mainstream DCU book!

Naked Butts!

Thankfully, the Demon manages to keep his shorts on throughout the whole issue.

Eviscerated Bodies!

The Demon is just mad that KFC replaced their Double Down Chicken Bun Sandwich with the disemboweled daily special.

Obscene Hand Gestures!

Admittedly, most of these are relatively tame by today's standards. Don't get complacent, however, as he's just setting you up for this...

Naked Chicken-Men Trapped In Blood Filled Vials?

Come back tomorrow, when we will see how all of this makes sense. In the meantime, I'm going to sit back and watch the google searches come in now that I have all of these great new keywords on my blog! Thanks Matt!