There are times in any interview where your skill set is tested. Brian Azzarello is one of those times.
First, let’s start with who the man is. Azzarello is a consummate comic book writer, a genius who has a knack for reinventing characters. He breaks everything about them down, and then builds it back up as he sees fit. Azzarello rose to fame with his decade long series 100 Bullets. It remains one of the best long-run series in the medium. Later he used his incredible talents to subvert and reinvent the Joker.
When DC launched the New 52, Azzarello was tasked with writing Wonder Woman. The first thing he did was cast off anything we would expect from the character or her mythos. Choosing to focus on the Greek Mythology of Wonder Woman, Azzarello brought out sides and dynamics in the character few had ever touched. As his run came to an end, the story he gave us is above reproach.
Interviewing him at New York Comic Con was exciting for me. He doesn’t give answers freely, as he’s not there to shill or sell himself. In fact you could argue he doesn’t want to be there at all. Still, once we got going it became one of the most honest interviews I did during NYCC.
CraveOnline: So now that Wonder Woman is done, what’s next for you?
Brian Azzarello: Fishing.
Fishing?
I fish.
Where?
Wisconsin. I live in Chicago.
Oh, I live in Ohio now so I drive to Chicago a lot.
Where are you living?
Cincinnati
I’m from Cleveland.
So are you happy with your Wonder Woman run?
I’m happy with it. What we set out to do we accomplished. To reinvent the world that character operates in. Give her some personality traits that other super heroes don’t have. That’s a problem with a lot of these superheroes. They have different costumes, but they’re essentially the same person. They all stand for the same thing. If we can have her come in from a different angle, we make her character more unique.
How did you do that?
(Laughs) By changing up her status quo. There are fundamental core values of that character that we kept, but the world around her we changed.
Changing the mythology?
We played fast and loose with the mythology. We rewrote Greek mythology.
Do you think that’s why people were driven to it?
I think a character works best when it’s relatable. There’s got to be something in these characters that you recognize in yourself, even if it’s something bad.
Is writing that way difficult for you?
I don’t seem to have problem with it. Then again, talk to my editors about how I screw up their deadlines because I’m looking for the exact right turn of phrase that’s going to inform what she’s thinking.
Talk to me about the issue of Future’s End you’ve done.
Which one, I’ve done most of them. It’s four writers on that book. Me, Dan Jergens, Jeff Lemire and Keith Giffen.
Is the weekly comic series something different?
No way man, it’s a weekly comic book series, that’s not weird for DC, that’s become their bread and butter. Dan Didio called me up at quarter to seven on a Saturday morning and said, “I need a favor”. I said, “It’s quarter to seven.” Later in the afternoon I found out what that favor was.
Is this harder for you?
Sure. It’s much more collaborative than I’m used to working. There’s a lot of give and take, and a lot of me being respectful of ideas I normally would not of thought worked, or that wouldn’t work in the way I tell a story. There are four of us here though; we all need room to shine as best we can.
Is it working for you?
It’s actually been pretty good. There are certain aspects of plotting I don’t like. Future’s End is s superhero book, and that’s really not my forte. Wonder Woman wore a superhero costume, but that was not a superhero comic,.
It was a book about Gods?
It was a family drama, that’s what it was.
You reinvented her much the same way you reinvented Joker.
We did Joker because Lee (Bermejo) and I had a bad reaction to the way that character was becoming an anti-hero with fans. What was being done with him had taken all the power from that character. What makes the Joker powerful is the fear that you should feel when he steps into a room because you have no idea what he’s going to do.
Is that the fault of the movies? Is it gone forever?
I think it’s back now somewhat. Back then it wasn’t being done at all so when we sat down to write that book, we wanted to make people not like that character again. We need you to be like wow, he’s terrible. He’s irredeemable.
Now what?
Musky.
Musky?
It’s a fish.
So now just fishing for you?
I’m going to do something shorter. After I finished 100 Bullets I said I would never do a ten-year run on a book again. After Wonder Woman I said I’d never do a three-year run on a book again.
So month-to-month?
Probably a year. Sign up for a year.
Who is next?
You know what. I have no idea. If you would have come up to me five years ago and said I was going to be coming off a three year run on Wonder Woman, where you redefine what that character is, I wouldn’t believe you. I’m looking at the wall (a wall across from the interview area with all the DC characters on it) and trying to think is there anybody up there I’d like to do.
I’d like to see your take on Green Lantern.
I don’t know if you would.
Oh I would.
You might find out.
Do you feel Wonder Woman is complete now?
It’s complete. We’re done. We told the story we wanted to tell and now we’re done.
