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Jesus. I just spent the last hour on the Comics Journal website trying to see if the interview was online. I haven't been in there in forever. How could I keep out of touch for so long? Herblock is dead, man. Herblock is dead.
Anyways, I couldn't find the interview (however I did find out what Mazzucchelli's next project is) but my trusty print copy was discovered under the bed by my faithful Cocker Spaniel, and so I will transcribe the relevant bits for you.
Brayshaw: Looking back on that work, what strikes you as most and least effective about it?
Mazzucchelli: Oh man. I'm going to be more critical of that work than anybody. Not here and now, I mean in general. I think there are some very good stuff, aspects of it, and I think there are some much weaker aspects, in terms of art and story and the whole thing. But the good points, the good parts, I think really stand up. And in terms of story, one of the things that was very important to me, I remember, in discussions with Frank, was how we were going to end it. And it was clear that what we were trying to say was that here's a character who has big problems, and so we're basically going to kill him, and then bring him back to life better. And that became the issue to me: what does "better" mean? You have to remeber at the time, the most popular characters in the Marvel universe were Wolverine and the Punisher. And I was very wary of that.
Brayshaw: Wary of what?
Mazzucchelli: I was very concerned about what we were going to say about bringing this character back. I mean, I didn't want "Daredevil comes back, basically from the dead, rebuilds himself as a better fighting machine." I mean, that to me made no sense at all for the story we were telling. What was important to me was that we not show that Matt builds himself back up, puts on the Daredevil costume, and then goes for an all-out attack on the Kingpin and his organization. Somehow to me, that reeked of vengeance. And I kept thinking, if he's better, and he's a hero, and you want to deal with "What does it mean to be a hero?" then vengeance does not have anything to do with that. It was important to me that the story ended the way it did. That the victory over the Kingpin is Matt saying, not explicitly saying it to him, but in showing the thought I was dead, and I came back and I'm still here. And I'm not going to sink to your level. It made perfect sense with all the Christian references we were throwing in there. Two good ex-Catholic boys.
Brayshaw: I'm flipping between the first chapter and the last in the trade paperback collection. The way Matt identifies himself: "First of all, I'm a victim. I was blinded. Now I'm Daredevil. I fight crime."
Mazzucchelli: Matt's state of mind at the beginning was really pretty messed up and that was something that Frank interpolated into the issues that Denny had been writing before.
Brayshaw: And I liked the movement from that to the last page. "I'm a man, I live in theis place."
There's actually quite a bit on the nature of the working practices between him and Frank Miller, his love of Kirby, Japanese comics, the New Yorker, Rubber Blanket and all sorts of fun stuff. It's all in issue #194, and includes an interview with Bryan Talbot. Available online at the site above for $6.
You might also want to try tracking down Marvel Fanfare #40, a subdued Angel story by Mazzucchelli in a Kurtzman style. It's also about hope, and is a wee bit smaller.
And, hey, why not try contacting the man yourself? He seems like a nice guy, you're both in New York and he's recently been teaching, so maybe he can relate. |
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