CONT'D: Taming the Savage Beast | Page 1, 2, 3

I only have 20 dollars to spend a month at my local comic book store, what books would you say I can't live without?

Savage Dragon, Aquaman, Wolverine, Nova, Sin City, Hellboy, Astro City, Minimum Wage and Big Bang Comics.

After the success (would you call it success?) of the Spawn movie and now Blade, any chance of ever seeing Savage Dragon or any of your creations on the Big Screen? Do you have any desire to make the jump to Hollywood?

I have no desire to go to Hollywood. I'd rather do good comics than bad movies. Most movies suck. Superhero movies almost always bite. I'm not pursuing this in any way. If, on the other hand, somebody great got a wild hair to do something with one of my creations I'd love to see it--but I'm not interested in pitch meetings and running around looking for the next big deal. Somebody has to make sure comics don't suck. Somebody has to do them. Rather than be part of the problem, I'd like to be part of the solution. Comics can be great.

What's your favorite thing about working in the comic book industry? least favorite?

I like the characters. I like the fans. I like telling stories and getting feedback and writing and drawing. I don't care much for editors that make my life difficult. I don't like how long it takes me to actually do the physical work of producing comics. I don't like smelly fat guys at funnybook shows with no social graces that think they're witty as all hell because they can remember lines from Monty Python movies.

If you weren't working in comics, what would you see yourself doing?

Eating a lot of food, bathing infrequently and watching a lot of Monty Python movies.

Can you tell us some of your other media favorites--TV shows? Movies? Books? Music?

TV: Simpson's, Seinfeld and The X-Files. Movies: Summer of '42, The Jerk, Breaking Away, Groundhog Day come to mind but like most everybody, I watch as many movies as I can fit into a day. Books: A lot of non-fiction-- mostly politics or celebrity stuff-- for fun reading, you can't beat Henry A. Schute. Music: Aimee Mann, Beautiful South, the Knack, Q-Kumba Zoo, Army of Lovers, Elvis Costello, Elton John, the Beatles, Eurythmics, Kate Bush, Sammy Kershaw, Green Day, John Lennon, Rockpile, Harry Connick Jr... I've got hundreds of CDs-- some of everything.

What do you do to get away from comics and relax?

Nothing. This is my hobby and profession. Every now and then I'll get hauled off to Hawaii or something on a vacation and I enjoy myself tremendously but during the weekend, I can't wait to get back to work.

And now, the question we ask everyone: I know you're married, but before you were married, how did you go about telling a girl you liked her? What was your move?

I just talked to them. If things went well, I'd wrestle them to the floor--clothes flying in all directions. Being direct is the best way. Everybody likes a compliment. You've just got to have some @#$%ing tact but even that isn't necessary.

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Ron Richards is editor of Muddle, a print magazine about pop culture, punk, and hardcore music. He lives in Norwalk, Connecticut. You can read more about Ron at muddle.com.
E-mail: Ron@muddle.com