Brian Heater of The Daily Cross Hatch talks to Kim Deitch about his new book, Alias the Cat:
How often do you borrow stories from old movies or cartoons?
Well, you just figure that your mind is like a sieve. You’ve got to get inspiration from somewhere. When you’re walking through the world, looking at things, talking to people, and reading things, any time, you jump on it. I’ll tell you, here’s the thing about writing: just about any good story starts out as a half-baked story. If you get an idea that doesn’t go anywhere, instead of just giving up in disgust, file it away, because you never know, you might be able to get that angle back later.
Tom Spurgeon talks to Godland scribe Joe Casey about that book, among other things:
SPURGEON: Why can’t anyone seem to write Iron Man?
CASEY: The thing is, anyone can write Iron Man, if they meet certain criteria. You have to 1) know how to write superhero comics, 2) know the character and its history, 3) have some insight into the character and its history, and 4) Marvel Comics has to hire you to write Iron Man. In a way, the idea of quality doesn’t have to enter into it. It does for me, but those are my own personal standards.
And The Onion’s AV Club talks to Penny Arcade creators Jerry Holkins and Mike Krahulik about their striop:
AVC: Do you see yourself ever bringing in more collaborators, or even handing the strip off to someone else?
JH: No, the spotlight can never leave us. Actually, our employees aren’t even allowed to look us in the eye.
MK: No, the only thing that they are allowed to do is bring us platters heaped with pork and chicken.
JH: And then back out of the room.
MK: Bowing the entire way.
