Matt Anderson Interview!

<b>Matt Anderson has been making waves lately with his series </i>White Picket Fences<i> from Ape Entertainment. A true comics lover, Matt was gracious enough to take the time to chat with Project Fanboy...</b>
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Matt Grant: Matt, first off, thanks for taking the time to talk with Project Fanboy, we really appreciate it.

Matt Anderson: It’s my pleasure. Thank you for the opportunity!

MG: If White Picket Fences is any indication, aside from being talented, you've also got quite a passion for the medium of comics. At what point did you get the comics writing bug?

MA: The minute I picked up a copy of SUPERMAN #51 (1991) – the first (and practically only) appearance of the mysterious Mr. Z – a villain that had the ability to trap souls in his diamond-topped cane. I’ve never been able to pinpoint exactly why, but after reading that comic, I knew I wanted to create them.

MG: Coming up were there any writers that you'd call major (or minor) influences?

MA: Definitely. The Keith Giffen/J.M. DeMatteis JUSTICE LEAGUE (which I largely read as back issues) was practically scripture to me. I would spend so much time pouring over each issue, scrutinizing every panel. Those books taught me so much about keeping characters real, no matter how absurd the circumstances. Also, Mark Waid’s FLASH run, specifically the arc, “Terminal Velocity” – which is quite possibly my favorite superhero story of all time. I’ve actually had to purchase the trade three times because I’ve either loaned it out, or read it until the pages start falling out.

MG: How did you end up getting together with Eric Hutchins, and also Ape Entertainment, for doing White Picket Fences?

MA: Eric and I have been best friends for years, so the only problem in getting together to write WHITE PICKET FENCES was just convincing Eric that it would be fun to write a comic book together (he’s much more of a film guy).

Honestly, getting together with Ape wasn’t inordinately tricky – we just followed the rules listed on their website. Back at Wizard World Chicago 2006, Eric and I stood in the pitching line at the Ape booth with a bunch of WHITE PICKET FENCES pages, waited for our turn to make a case for our book. Truthfully, Eric and I almost chickened out because the guy directly in front of us in line received a glowing portfolio review. We’d been hoping that whoever was in front of us would bomb, and therefore we’d be better by proxy! Such was not the case, but Ape was accepting regardless, and the rest is happy publishing history!

MG: White Picket Fences takes place in a world that is part '50s B-movie Sci-Fi and part '50s suburbia. What inspired this original setting?

MA: The main inspiration was just a love for both television shows like, Leave it to Beaver and cold war sci-fi films like, Day the Earth Stood Still, Invaders from Mars, Them!, etc. I’m always astonished that today you can watch almost any television show (even the blandest sitcom) and chances are you will find topical humor. While it may be broad, there is an effort towards insight in regards to current affairs, politics, etc. Now, if you look at the equivalent 1950’s sitcoms, no such window exists. So the thought was why don’t we take those same 1950’s sitcom scenarios and couple them with the science-fiction films of the time, which in turn are treated as the “news of the day”

MG: I reviewed the most recent WPF (One-Shot which will discuss momentarily) for Project Fanboy here, and one of the things that stood out to me the most was how well handled the characterization of the children was. A lot of times children are dumbed down or smartened up, but WPF seems to have it nailed. Was this a consideration? Or just something that came about naturally?

MA: Honestly, very little consideration was given to this. We just wrote the characters the way we felt they deserved to be presented. I know that’s kind of a boring answer, but that’s really the most thought we gave it.

MG: There's also a strong sense of nostalgia running through WPF, but I gather you're a bit young to be remembering the time period. Obviously there's an amount of research involved, but perhaps also a passion for the time period, or at least the movies and television of the period?

MA: The majority of research came from the television shows and movies. That’s not to say I haven’t done plenty of research into the history (in fact, David Halberstam’s The Fifties is one of my favorite books), but it was the pop culture that factored in heavier than the politics and social issues of the day.

MG: In the WPF Double Feature OGN, which people should note that it actually contains three stories, you write one story, team up with Eric for another, and another is written by Eric, yet the feel and vibe is consistent throughout. Not many teams can work so seamlessly, how do you two accomplish that?

MA: I think it just boils down to knowing your characters. Eric and I have spent so much time with these characters that we instantly knew when a line of dialogue was wrong, or a certain action was not befitting of a particular character.

MG: So the mini series has been done, and now the follow-up Double Feature OGN is in stores now. You guys clearly have a lot to offer and there was no finality to the OGN, so can we expect more WPF to come in the future? Are there other non-WPF Matt Anderson plans?

MA: Yeah, there’s plenty more WHITE PICKET FENCES to come. First up is our Free Comic Book Day story in Ape’s Cartoon-a-palooza which was available on Free Comic Book Day. Then we’ll be doing an exclusive to the internet 22 page story, which will pave the way for another 3-issue mini-series.

As for non-WPF plans, there are few things in the works. I’ve contributed a 13 page story titled, “A Day at the Beach” to a forthcoming anthology from Ape entitled, ATTACK OF THE MONSTROLOGY (an entire book of monster centric stories!) The artwork for that story was provided by Kelly Goodine, who can be seen in the recently released Wolverine: The Amazing Immortal Man and Other Bloody Tales.

I’ve also begun writing a graphic novel called, SILVER SUMMER, a sci-fi coming of age story with art by Brian (WHITE PICKET FENCES: Double Feature) Mead. More information will be available on that soon.

MG: So, I've got a confession to make. I totally missed the mini-series, but after reading the OGN, I need to get em! Where might one be able to purchase these if their local shop is out?

MA: The three issue mini-series can be purchased at www.apecomics.com. Just click on the ‘store’ button.
Also, if you’re in the area, you can come visit us at Wizard World Chicago in June. Eric and I’ll more or less be shackled to the Ape booth where we will have all WHITE PICKET FENCES related books for sale.

MG: If I ran into you at a comics shop, what would you be buying?

MA: My current obsessions are, HERO SQUARED (where is the next issue?) by Keith Giffen and J.M. DeMatteis, & Joe Abraham, and PERHAPNAUTS by Todd Dezago and Craig Rosseau. In my humble opinion, those two books encapsulate all that is good in comics – great characters, great writing, great art, ridiculous situations – I mean, come on, what more can you ask for!

MG: Alright, our site is called Project Fanboy, so I have to ask you to reach down into fanboy self and tell me: If you could work with any creator on any book, who and what?

MA: That’s easy (I’ve given this thought before) – the creator would be Kevin Maguire. The book would be THE FLASH (and not the “Just Imagine Stan Lee” one that he already worked on). In my mind, there is nary a cast of characters currently in existence that Kevin Maguire would be more perfect for than the West family. So…DC…I’m interested if you are…

MG: Last question. Will they ever cut Parker's mom a break?

MA: Nah, what’d be the fun in that?

MG: Well, Matt, thanks again for taking some time to talk with us here at Project Fanboy, and we're looking forward to what the future holds for Matt Anderson!

MA: Thanks for letting me ramble!