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Live
On-Line Chat With Matt Wagner |
| <Kev> Welcome to the
room Matt! <Kev> Matt You have the floor. Would you like to say anything by way of introduction? <Matt_W> Okay. Now, I'm on. Thanks for everybody's patience. <Matt_W> Well, I'm here to talk about le grand finale. <Echo_Grendel> OMG, I'm the first! Wow, Matt , you're a genius and I love your work! My first question is What are the REAL chances of a Hunter Rose/Grendel movie in the next 5 years? <Matt_W> MAGE is currently under development at SPYGLASS ent. <Echo_Grendel> So no real ideas on Grendel? <Matt_W> Oh yes. Its just that GRENDEL will garner more $$$, if MAGE is hot shit. Hate to be a whore, but we're almost considering GRENDEL more of a franchise than MAGE. <Matt_W> More, less $$$ questions? <Tujiro> Hi, Matt, I'm glad to have this oportunity to talk with you. <Matt_W> Shoot, baby! <Tujiro> My question is: Don't you think that we could lose the nuances of some of the most obscure references (autobiographical ones) in Mage? <Tujiro> Could we see in the future some kind of annotations? <Matt_W> Sure. When I'm old and grey. Hopefully, the nuances work well enoough for any reader. The specifics are all just window dressing. You don't HAVE to know who Fitzgerald was drinking with to read the GREAT GATSBY, do you? I think this material speaks to a reality. <Matt_W> As an artist, I'm young. Less than 40! Some day, I'll need annotated. Today, I don't. <Tujiro> Ok! <Matt_W> Okay. More? <Matt_W> I'm gettiing the hang of it. <Matt_W> Tujiro, thanks for attending. Three, a.m., his time... <Matt_W> Okay, here.Qustion? <Eric-Julien> Hi Matt. Thanks for this. What do you think about Mage 2's reception now that it's complete? I know you had some of those negative letters in the beginning. Think you've silenced the critics? <Matt_W> Never. That's the sum of creativity. If you look on the latest message board of this site, you'll find several guys who felt "cheated" by the finale, like I've been laughing t them the whole time. <Matt_W> But, on a personal level, yes. I feel utterly fulfilled. <Grendel001> jumping the gun a little, but what song can we expect mage III to open with? and what play will the quotes come from? <Matt_W> JESUS! Like I even know?!! This is a zen journey for me. Even the last chapoter of this installment, which should have seemed like a denouement.. was a matter of vittal realization. I tried to "plot outt" the conclusive issue of this seriees, but the plot wouldn't let me. <Matt_W> Where MAGE III takes me is totally up to zen of the story itself. <Rob_Worley3> What is the status of the MAGE movie script? How much interaction do you have with Rogers? Any leanings on a director? <Matt_W> Rogers is a HUGE MAGE fan. So far, I'm thrilled with the interaction. Which means, I know when to leave him alone... <Matt_W> Director...premature.. Story first.... <genesisstudios> Hi Matt. Enjoyed the First Mage series very much. My question is, What kind of struggles have you gone through creating Mage? <genesisstudios> *Creating and Publishing mage. sorry. <Matt_W> Every kind you can imagine. Is the public interested? Am I? What is the resonance involved? Is MAGE a phenomenon or a conceit? <genesisstudios> All the questions that each creator/publisher asks himself eh? <Matt_W> No shit. 3 <Talbot> Great just when i get voiced comp goes nuts, um matt you rule, any ideas of who plays kev in movie <Matt_W> NADA. As with comics, all depends on script. <Talbot> and any encouaragin words for an asdpiring creator? <Matt_W> Encouraging words....live what you believe. Write what you know. <Matt_W> Where's those two fuckers who hated the ending? <Kev> You've been reading the bulletin board, eh? <David_Castle> Hello Matt, I love your work <David_Castle> My question is...willl there be anymore Hunter Rose Material by you in the future and will it include a Mage interlude? <Matt_W> No, MAGE interlude planned. BUT, another GRENDEL, B,W & R is in the works. <Umbra_Sprite> Hi, was Joseph Campbells writing inspirational to the whole Mage story so far? <Umbra_Sprite> The Hero's Journey, discovering his identity, that kinda thing. <Matt_W> Beyond measure. In fact, I use Campbell's quote for every instance where I (sadly) have to explain my atheism. <Umbra_Sprite> Super cool. <Matt_W> In fact, my son asked me the other day, "Dad, what god do you believe in?" <Matt_W> I responded, "All of 'em." <Ralph_J> Matt, I've read and immensely enjoyed your work since the first Mage series; I'd go as far as to say your writing style has influenced my own. My question: We got only a brief glimpse into the twisted world of GRENDEL circa "Devil Quest." The Sessions and the Hitchcocks were highly imaginative and intriguing characters in their own right--they came to life in only a few pages. Might we ever see them again? <Matt_W> As mentioned, they are too good to waste. I often have characters happen upon me like this. We will see more. <Ralph_J> Thank you. <Tujiro> Do you think that being this the second part of a trilogy, and given the publishing delays suffered, you had all odds against you trying to catch new readers' attention ( or recovering old ones, BTW)? <Matt_W> I view art as nothing less than the most arduous of quests (at any stage...inception, publication, acceptance...) <Matt_W> Still <Matt_W> I'm happy with my reuslts so far. <Echo_Grendel> Ok, How much wood could a woodchuck.. j/k.. Will fans ever know Hunter's real name to be more than "Eddie"? Was there any specific reasons you gave him this name? done <Matt_W> I've often described GRENDEL as the tale of atrofied potential and MAGE as "growing up, whether you want to , or not..." <Matt_W> Eddie...short for Oedipal syndrome.... <DrJunglePants> matt, old boy, do you think a person is creative as an individual, or from their individual set of influences? <DrJunglePants> nothin is created in a vacuum and all that, but what makes that unique? <Matt_W> You're asking a libra, friend. Which means both, all and nothing. <Matt_W> Yes, everything's been done...but not by YOU, by ME, by HE... etc... <Just_Robyn> Mr Wagner, Thanks for the chat <Just_Robyn> My Question is Will we every see susan again from grendel. Green hair and all <Matt_W> Yes. I'm just now completing illos for a GRENDEL illustrated novel writtenn by Greg Rucka and detailing the formation of th Susan/PRIME team. <Just_Robyn> Thank you, I can't wait!!! <Matt_W> Tough as nails... <David_Castle> Matt..given Mage's recent printing troubles do you think Mage III and reprints of Mage II will see print under a different publisher? Dark Horse for example? And what kind of Mage/Gendel Merchandise can we look forward to in the future? <Matt_W> we've just begun a line if PVC figs from GRAPHITTI. <Matt_W> No. The publishing question is up for grabs. Its not like the delays are Image's fault... <Grendel001> what campbell quote were you refering to specifically? <Matt_W> What Campbell quote? Where? <Grendel001> the one you used when people question your athiesm <Matt_W> Ah...the defintion of atheism. <Matt_W> "Do you beleve in GOD?" <Matt_W> "GOD is a metaphor for the sum of what humans don't understand about the universe." <Matt_W> Do I belive there is something (mysterious) and greater than myself? <Matt_W> Yes. Methaphorically, then, I believe in god. <Matt_W> "There are two types of people in the world... <Matt_W> "Theists...who believe their metaphors are historical and, indeed, even COSMIC fact. <Matt_W> "And A-theists, who know that their mythology is a metaphor. <Matt_W> This doesn't prevent me from being moral or understanding the morals of almost any myth. <Matt_W> Or from appreciating the beauty, scope and sum of any myth. <Matt_W> Shoot. <Ralph_J> Matt - Hmm. Do you think Mage II will ever be compiled into a single volume (hopefully including the second interlude)? Might we see another set of limited hardcovers like the ones Graffitti did for the first series? (By the way, I thought it was a real shame that the "God and the Devil" GRENDEL storyline was never collected; that would have been a true graphic novel.) <Matt_W> In regards to collection.. all in good time, my friend. <Just_Jeff> This is a question with a loaded assumption, so just shoot me if I'm off base <Matt_W> Go. <Just_Jeff> I have the intuition that your son is to be the role model for the 3rd Merlin <Just_Jeff> That's based on intuion and the way you talked about your son at a convention <Just_Jeff> If that's to be, do you feel any hesitance to do so, putting your son in that kind of lite, mini fame etc. <Matt_W> HA! presumption... the death of creativity. I haven't thought things out this far in advance. Follow along as I answer theese unasnwerable questions in MAGE III. Honestly, its a journey for me, too. So, I can't even being to predict. <Just_Jeff> end of question Thanks for coming out tonight <Kev> I'd like to thank Matt for coming and spending this time in the open chat session. If you have a stray question that you didn't have time to ask here, please email it to mage@higherlove.com and Matt may be able to answer it in the archived version of this chat <Kev> Thanks again Matt. Kojak... <Matt_W> My thanks to Kevin and Lisa for hosting this evening's event. <Matt_W> That's how fucking cool he is...Kojak gets to call the Police Chief, "Baby"! <Matt_W> G'night. |
