CREATOR CHAT

Ed Brubaker

One of the most popular and critically acclaimed authors working in modern comics, Ed Brubaker's work includes Batman, Gotham Central, Lowlife, Scene of the Crime and Sleeper. Perhaps his finest work yet is the award-winning crime/noir series Criminal, co-created with artist Sean Phillips. Ed was kind enough to take a break from his incredibly busy schedule - wrapping up the second arc of Criminal, "Lawless", as well as Captain America and X-Men - to talk to us...

I think so, yeah. I started out doing autobiographical comics, and when I moved to fiction, I just found an attraction to crime and mystery. I feel like you can address the same themes as in any other fiction, but with more plot movement. I like that puzzle aspect as a writer, in using those templates to tell your tales. Also, when I was a teenager, it's not a huge secret that I was a petty criminal, a thief, and a drug-addict, so I've lived around the edges of a lot of bad stuff in my time, and that experience certainly influences my writing twenty years later.

Probably movies like Point Blank, and The Limey, a bit, yeah. The entire '40s/'50s noir scene, from books to movies had a big influence, but I hope I bring something new and modern to it, too. Richard Stark's books were a huge influence, as well, though I try not to let it show. Before rediscovering the Parker novels, I was still mostly thinking of writing about the good guys, though, so that played a big part in deciding what to write about. I still have ideas for doing some mystery stories in Criminal, as well, but in a different manner.

Yeah, as I said before, that side of my life, not a part that I'm proud of, obviously, plays a big part in my fascination with the criminal world. I can understand the true desperation of people on the outside, even though I'm far from that world now. And the people in my comic are much nicer and more romanticised than the people I hung around with. Most of the people I knew back then were on a lot of drugs and not planning elaborate heists and such. Though I did know one person like that. Other than him, most of the guys I knew were just scumbags on the edge of going to prison.

Actually, Sean is like the first reader. He never wants to know what's coming next while he's drawing. I learned this years back on Sleeper, when I tried to tell him what was coming up. So, I just try to please him with what I write, mostly. But after all these years together, I can't write any of this without seeing how he'll draw it in my head as I write, so it's really a pure collaboration. I consider Sean my hands on this book, basically.

He's one of the best storytellers in the business, he has an intense grasp of facial expressions, and he's a complete professional. Plus he's one of my best friends in the world, though he probably doesn't know it. I think of him and Michael Lark as my brothers. I'd do anything for those guys.

Anyone could, really. Sadly, the perfect crime is really easy. It's all about having the guts to do it, for one, and then two - not talking about it afterwards. The way people get caught is rarely about evidence or forensics, it's about bragging about it later. 99 percent of the crimes that are solved are done so because someone talked and then word got around and someone called the cops. I know a few cops and intel people, and this is the sad truth of the world we live in.

Criminal: Coward (Vol.1) was published August 2007 by Titan Books.

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