WAITING
FOR TOMMY: MICAH WRIGHT
By
Richard Johnston RICHARD:
How dangerous would you be in that position?
MICAH:
As a superhero or the President? I think that Politics is
the fine art of compromise, something that Superheroes aren't
too good at doing. I don't think I've ever seen Iron Man say
"hmmm, well, yeah, you stole my armor technology, but I tell
you what, you give me a royalty on it and we'll call it even."
No, it's always knock-down-drag-out. Strangely enough, it's
becoming that way in Politics as well. We're living in the
era of slash-and-burn politics, where instead of seeking a
reasonable accommodation, we attempt to destroy those who
oppose us. There are no longer nuanced positions... you are
with us or you are for the Terrorists. I guess you could say
this is the Marvel Comics Era of Politics.
RICHARD:
Now that you've worked on your first genuine line-wide company
crossover, does it feel like you're really working in comics?
MICAH:
No... because no one IMPOSED the storyline from above. If
someone had come to me and said "Okay, the Authority are all
Clones and Aunt May has always known Midnighter and Apollo
were gay and not just good friends who couldn't afford to
live separately" THEN I would feel like I was really a comic
book writer :)
RICHARD:
What's your biggest 'comic book writer' moment so far then?
MICAH:
Realizing that I was behind on my deadlines because I was
spending too much time online trying to convince people who
don't care to read my comic book?
RICHARD:
You are Mark Millar and I claim my five pounds. But you're
a man who likes his media. Whether manipulating it or commenting
on it. How do you believe the US media as a whole currently
serves your country?
MICAH:
No weighted questions with you, are there? Well, I think that
when you've got the Pentagon's own little blonde hero soldier
saying that the Media and the Pentagon conspired to use her
plight to put a happy face spin on the War On Iraq, anyone
who continues to believe what's coming from their television
set is kinda dull in the brain-o.
The Media
in this country right now is out to do one thing and one thing
only... to serve their Corporate Masters. When I hear people
say "The Liberal Media Elites" I laugh out loud. Is this the
same "Liberal Media" who doesn't report ANYTHING that might
interfere with their attempts to bribe the FCC to become super-monopolies?
The same "Liberal Media" who studiously avoided asking difficult
questions of this President and his Administration until AFTER
we were already committed to his war in Iraq? The same "Liberal
Media" who seem to have forgotten all about the "Tons" of
Weapons of Mass Destruction that Colin Powell went to the
United Nations waving PHOTOGRAPHS of? Why haven't the "Liberal
Media" gone to the sites in those photos or interviewed the
men on those tapes that Colin Powell played for the UN?
The so-called
News companies are terrified of their corporate masters, from
CBS/Viacom to NBC/General Electric to CNN/AOL-Time Warner.
These huge corporations are attempting to bribe this administration
to get permission to merge with one another on a scale unseen
since the grand olde days of the 1920s and they will not allow
ANYTHING to interfere with that... therefore anything that
angers this President or the Republican Party in general quickly
disappears, such as the recent Ronald Reagan miniseries.
RICHARD:
It does seem remarkable that in the Land Of Free Speech, that
so little range gets widespread coverage. As opposed to our
non-constitutional, non-free speech UK, where the state-owned
broadcaster ends up publicly supporting their journalists
calling the Prime Minister a liar and is happy to broadcast
incredibly anti-current government documentaries by the likes
of John Pilger or John Simpson. What gives here? Do you ever
feel like you're just screaming at the world or the government,
going "Aaaaaaaaahhhhh!!!!" with very little effect?
MICAH:
Yeah, but you can't even say that your Prince is suspected
of having the Sinister Gay Sex with his secretary, but we
Americans can actively consider the possibility in our Media
that John Ashcroft has sex with Dick Cheney every night. See?
I just did it!
Seriously,
though, it is frustrating. The number one question I'm asked
by people when I give live presentations of the posters is
"where can I go for unbiased news." I laugh at them and tell
them that it's not a matter of getting UNBIASED news... there's
no such thing. What we have to do is expand our news sources,
double-check them, and most importantly, learn to read between
the lines.
RICHARD:
Or between the lies?
MICAH:
Sure, let's pun it to death. Learn to read between the lies.
RICHARD:
Talking of which, any plans on this StormWatch/JSA Crossover
I've heard mentioned once or twice?
MICAH:
Wow!?! Did Geoff tell you about that? I don't think I've ever
discussed it with anyone else. That was something that Geoff
and I came up with at the San Francisco WonderCon this year...
unfortunately, for very good business reasons, DC doesn't
allow crossovers between Mature Readers and non-MR books,
even if I toned down the language and violence for the crossover.
It was fun to consider, the idea of the completely biased-against-costumed-heroes
StormWatch going head-to-head with the most idealistic and
pure heroes of the DC Universe was a hoot... would Santini
& Crew even be able to recognize that these guys were completely
outside their experience in the Wildstorm Universe? Or would
they just assume it was a ploy and attempt to kill them anyway?
But, in the long run,it really couldn't happen -- I would
feel completely lousy if some kid read JSA vs. StormWatch
and then went out and somehow got their hands on regular issues
of StormWatch resulting in some comic store clerk in Oklahoma
getting put in Camp X-Ray for being an Information Terrorist
or whatever they call that crime now.
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