The Real Thing – ft. Aaron Lopresti (Part 2)

Welcome back to the Real Thing, and part two of our chat with Aaron Lopresti.  In part one, Lopresti talks about how he gigged his way into the comics biz, and today, he talks about one of his biggest gigs yet.

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How did this gig with Weird Worlds come about?  Who was the mastermind behind the format and how’d you get to pitch your feature?

Long story.  When I came over to DC I was talking to Dan Didio about writing and drawing something.  At the time, he suggested I create a monster character to replace Swamp Thing in the DCU.  Vertigo had control of the character and would not give it back

So I created Garbage Man and then bugged Dan continually for two years to get him to schedule it.  Dan and the powers that be finally decided to do an anthology book and put Garbage Man in it.  I don’t know if the Weird World series was created to accommodate Garbage Man or if they created it and decided Garbage Man would be perfect to run in it.  Either way, Dan came to me and said this is where Garbage Man is going.

In an interview with Comic Book Resources, you said you conceived Garbage Man to fill the void left by Swamp Thing.  When did you first get exposed to the character and what aspects of him or his story stuck with you?  Any particular storyline you’d suggest to new readers?

I only read the Wrightson issues and some of the Nestor Redondo issues.   I have never read the Alan Moore issues because when it came out I was still too attached to the Wein/Wrightson material.  So I would recommend issues #1-10.  Although, some of the Redondo stuff that came after Wrightson is really nice and underrated.

What I took from the character was more of a feeling than any thing specific. In the 70s comics were tackling new material (horror, sword and sorcery, etc) and doing it in a mature fashion that was still accessible to all ages.  The art was a cut above the average comic and the stories were often poignant but still entertaining.  That is what I am trying to capture with Garbage Man.

What are some traits from Swamp Thing you wanted to emulate with Garbage Man, and some you maybe tried to get away from?

I wanted to keep enough of the traditional formula without copying the character or storylines.  Provide an origin story that was reminiscent of what we saw with Swamp Thing and Man-Thing (science gone wrong) and create a character with an old-school look (super-hero humanoid physique) and above all else, have the monster maintain his humanity.   I would have liked to maintain the “monster of the month” formula as well but the serialized format has prevented me from doing that.  (Monster of the Month means a new monster villain every issue)

The idea is to incorporate these “classic” elements and then tell your own story.  If you do it right, you have a new story and characters that at the same time feel familiar and comfortable.  I guess by the end of it all we will see if I succeeded.

What’s your reaction now that Swamp Thing has been officially returned to the DCU proper, post-Brightest Day?  Is he the same Swamp Thing you remembered?

I haven’t read the issue where Swamp Thing returns yet so I can’t give you a definitive answer.  But from what I know and the Finch cover I saw, he still seems to be more what Alan Moore created and less of what Wein and Wrightson created.   Although, Dr. Alec Holland will be reinstated in the Swamp Thing persona, I still don’t see the character returning to its original incarnation.   I will have to see the direction the book goes once he gets his own series.

And now that Swamp Thing is back, what are the implications for Garbage Man and his future?  How do you see the two characters possibly co-existing?

Dan Didio sees them as two different characters so I will trust his judgment on that.   I don’t think DC plans on turning Swamp Thing back into what he was during the first series and since Garbage Man is essentially what Swamp Thing originally was, perhaps both can co-exist, filling different roles.   Garbage Man is essentially a misunderstood monster book at its core, with a focus on personal morality.   Where I think the new Swamp Thing may be headed for is something of a larger scope and magnitude.  Ultimately time will tell.

In both writing and drawing your story, you get to achieve a special synthesis that you might not get when the roles are separated.  What would be a standout moment for you in Garbage Man where your work as both writer and artist came together?

It is hard to pin point a singular moment.  What stands out to me or is attractive to me as an artist/writer is the control over both aspects of the story.  When I both write and draw a story I have a freedom that doesn’t exist when only doing one of the jobs.  You never know if a script is going to work until you start drawing it.  Since I am both writer and artist I can alter a scene while drawing as I see fit.  This way I can play to my strengths as an artist and produce my best work.  I would say without hesitation that Garbage Man is the best work I have ever produced.

Batman’s set to make some guest appearances in your feature.  What can you tell us about his role in the overall story?

Batman has a small but prominent role.  He needed to be in the story because it takes place in Gotham and he can provide assistance to Garbage Man’s quest for justice.  He also has the scientific acumen and facilities to provide Garbage Man with some answers about himself.

Dr. Clive, the scientist who turned Richard Morse into Garbage Man, views his work as “progress.”  How would you explain why he sees his obviously depraved experiments as such?

Clive (named after Colin Clive the actor who portrayed Dr. Frankenstein in the original movies) would probably best be described as a sociopath.  As he states in the first issue, “My work, that’s the important thing.”  The only thing that matters to him is succeeding in his goal, which in this case is the creation of a super soldier.  To him the lives of the people that are sacrificed to that end are meaningless as long as he reaches his end goal.  All of his experiments gone wrong are all steps in the process of reaching the mountaintop.  So he views all of those as progress to his ultimate goal.

How has Garbage Man changed in his development from your initial idea of him?  Have those changes affected the overall direction of your story?

I don’t know that he has changed.  I usually sit down and hash out several ideas until I have what I think is a good idea or story.  If I get stuck, I bounce ideas off a friend of mine until everything makes sense and then I just go with it.   I have moved some scenes around and dropped some others but Garbage Man right now is pretty much what I envisioned from the start.

Steve Gerber used to be a writer who would not start writing until he had everything figured out.  I used to tease him about that, especially when he was late (very often) with a script.  Now I find myself being the same way.  I need to know where I am going before I start.  Otherwise you end up all over the place and you have loose ends you can never fully tie up.  See Lost.

I will say the one challenge has been fitting the story into a serialized format.  It was originally conceived to be either a solo mini-series or an ongoing monthly.  So there are story paths I have had to drop because they just wouldn’t fit into the page constraints I have.

With the final two issues of Weird Worlds coming up, what can you tell us about how Garbage Man’s first journey will wrap up?  What do you want readers to get out of it?

Well, this mini-series will end with a real cliffhanger.  The story is just too big to fit into 6 ten-page segments.   What I hope people will take from this story is a real interest in the character and a desire to see more of him.  There is a moral to the story but it is really only set up in this story line.  What I hope to do is create an interesting enough character that readers are invested in him as well as producing some entertaining adventures that people want to see more of.

I heard DC may release a second Weird Worlds mini, and Garbage Man will be featured again.  How will G-Man’s story continue in that series, and when can we expect to see it?

I can’t give any details at this point because there has been no formal announcement from DC.  What I can say is the adventures of Garbage Man will continue and the wait will not be too long.

I won’t leave the readers hanging.  There will definitely be a resolution to the story while at the same time leaving future options open.

Let’s say you got carte blanche to write a full-on title, all your own.  What would that story be, and who would you pitch as artist (assume you can choose any artist living)?

I have a Justice League type story that features all of the oddball DC heroes as well as a Superman story that I may try and pitch at some point.  Honestly, I would pitch myself to draw it.  It would be very difficult for me to step back and let someone else interpret my story.   However, if I had to choose someone to work with I would pick either Adam Hughes or Travis Charest.  If I wanted the book to come out in a timely fashion I would pick Olivier Coipel.

You’ve said you get jealous of your friends from film school who are now rich and famous.  Would you ever go back to film, and what kind of productions would you work on if you did?  And just to count your blessings, what would you say is the number one thing you’ve got over your pals in the film industry?

I am not really jealous of my film friends.  I am actually very happy for their success.  I just said that in an attempt to be funny.   I would never go back to film unless I was single and had no kids.  It takes so much time to make a film it is ridiculous.  I could barely maintain a girlfriend when I was in film school!

The type of film I would be interested in making would have to be a fantasy/adventure with a good sense of humor and a little romance thrown in.  I think I just described Raiders of the Lost Ark. 

Only a few of my film school friends have made it big in the industry so most of them are in the same boat as I am.  Fighting to stay relevant in a creative industry.  But what I have over them is the ability to get my ideas out there in a much more inexpensive way.

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A big thanks to Aaron Lopresti for being the Real Thing’s first guest.  Check out our reviews of Weird Worlds #1, #2, #3, and #4, where Lopresti’s “Garbage Man” is featured.  Come back and see our review of Weird Worlds #5, when it hits the stands on Wednesday, May 4^th.