Catching Up with
the Fastest Man Alive
Heroes and Dragons Chases Down an
Interview with New Flash Co-Writer Mark Millar
Part 1 | Part 2
| Part 3 | Part 4 |
Part 5 | Part 6 |
Part 7
Interviewed by Scott Simmons
on September 4, 1997
Appropriately enough, The Flash’s new
writers are both fast talkers. Maybe it’s their Scottish accents, or
maybe it’s the level of excitement Mark Millar and Grant Morrison
generate when they talk about the Scarlet Speedster.
In June, we talked with Grant
Morrison about JLA, Flash, and his other projects. This month, we ask Mark Millar how
he went from being "a Vertigo guy"—he was the last writer on
the long-running Swamp Thing series—to co-writing the adventures of the
Fastest Man Alive. (And in the meantime, we found out a lot about some
upcoming projects, particularly for you Elseworlds fans.)
Did you get that stuff I
sent you?
Yes, I did. The Red Son pages looked terrific.
Oh, yeah, Dave [Johnson]’s
a god, you know. [Laughs.] We love him.
I was really
impressed—all the classic Superman poses—
Yeah.
—taken completely out of
context.
[Laughs.]
It looks like such a fun
book.
Oh, yeah. I’m really
having a great time doing it, and it’s even better seeing the pages
come in. It’s so good.
Sometimes, you know, an
artist doesn’t live up to what you imagine yourself. You kind of—you
picture it one way, and an artist doesn’t do it well.
But Dave actually makes
it ten times as good as what was in your head. The guy’s great.
I just wish there were ten of him so that we could actually ... get the
book out on time.
Yeah. What time period is
the book set during?
Well, the first one, the
one that you’ve got there, is set in—1957? Or 1958. 1958. And it’s
like Superman landed on Earth in 1938 in the story. In Russia, you know.
And 1958 is when he makes his first appearance, which is what you’ve
got there.
1978 is Book Two, and
1998 is Book Three, with a 60-year-old Superman.
Oh, wow. That should be fun.
Oh, yeah, it’s like a
real hoot. I’ve really had a great time.
The thing is, I’ve
spent about two or three times as much time on each one of these as I
normally would on something, you know? I think I’ll be pleased with
the result when it’s all out, and it’ll be nice to have it in a
little book and everything, you know? I’m glad DC seemed to be really
getting behind it, promotional-wise, like for next year. So hopefully
the money that I lost spending so long on this I can make back in
royalties. Here’s hoping.
It’s going to come out
in November, didn’t you say?
Well, it was going
to be November, but now DC has— Because Dave’s taken a while, it’s
actually worked out nicely for Superman’s 60th anniversary. They’re
launching this as one of the two big books of the year [1998]. At Easter
they’re going to bring this out, and in the fall they’re going to
bring out Alex Ross’s Superman book.
Easter? That’s ominous.
I know; I know. [Laughs.]
Well, I guess I should
warn you: I just turned my tape recorder on; I’m going to start taping
the conversation so I don’t miss anything.
O.K. No problem. If you
have any trouble with the accent or anything, just tell me, ‘cause
I’m so used to it dealing with overseas. The Scottish people tend to
talk not very clearly and very quickly.
[Laughs.]
So if you want me to
repeat anything, just say it, you know. [Laughs.] It’s O.K.
I don’t think it should be
a problem, but keep in mind that I’m calling you from the Deep South,
so—
[Laughs.]
Between my questions taking
14 minutes and your answers taking about 12 seconds, we should kind of
even out.
[Laughs.]
I was one of these people
that went to Florida on honeymoon, you know. It’s like—I think all
Americans laugh at Florida as a vacation, but British people tend to
think it’s luxurious. So I had a really good time. I really enjoyed
it.
Yeah, we’re probably 3
to 4 hours from Atlanta, if you really drive fast.
Right. Do you know Dave
Johnson, then? Do you ever have him up to your shop or anything?
I’ve never met him.
‘Cause he’s from that
part of the woods, you know.
Oh, really?
Yeah.
Where is he from?
Well, he lives in
Georgia.
Oh, I didn’t know that.
Yeah.
I did not know that.
There are a lot of people [in comics] who have moved to the South. Roy
Thomas is here. Steve Epting, who used to work on Avengers.
Right, uh-huh.
Greg Adams, who’s a
fabulous inker, operates out of this area too. So
we’ve got a few people coming through [from] time to time, but I’ve
never met Dave. That I know of.
[Laughs.] Well, Grant
[Morrison] and I are the only people out here. In Scotland, there’s me
or Grant. [Laughs.] If you don’t like us, that’s it, you know?
[Laughs.] You could do
worse.
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