THE COTTON CLUB: HURRICANE WARNING
By Mike Cotton

Current WWE superstar Hurricane sits down to rap about comics, his Green Lantern tattoo and the verta-breaker!

Being one of the smallest guys on your high school football team might be tough, but just try being one of the smallest men in the WWE. Hurricane rocketed to wrestling superstardom with his trademark maneuver the Verta-Breaker, but after the move was banned, Hurricane reinvented himself as every fanboys' dream: a real-life superhero.

 

JSA: THE RETURN OF HAWKMAN TRADE PAPER BACK

MIKE COTTON: Did you grow up a comic fan, Hurricane?
HURRICANE: Oh yeah, I grew up a big comic book fan. Since I was five or six, I read everything. I read everything my uncle and grandfather had-it was early '70s and '80s stuff.

COTTON: So is that what lead to getting a Green Lantern tattoo? HURRICANE: You know, the story behind Green Lantern has always been 'willpower'-Hal Jordan had the willpower to control the ring and no one had the power to take it from him. Growing up, I was the smallest kid on the wrestling team and the smallest kid on the football team. Despite being a big guy compared to normal people, I'm a small guy compared to wrestlers. I just liked the willpower idea behind Green Lantern's history. It meant a lot to me.

COTTON: How did you shape that thought into an entire wrestling persona?
HURRICANE: The idea was spawned from doing a skit on television and we started talking about my tattoo. I just started talking about Green Lantern like he was a real person. That came out funny and eventually that idea evolved into me thinking I was a superhero. That idea came along and everything went on from there.

COTTON: You work a pretty tight schedule.
HURRICANE: This schedule wears me down. When I come home, it's hard to get me out of the house. When I fly in on a Tuesday, that's a sleep day for me. I'm like a hobbit. You can't get me out of here.

COTTON: How did you feel about your move, the Verta-Breaker being banned?
HURRICANE: The guys I worked with in the WCW, we always killed each other anyway. I can't count the number of times I was dumped on my head. I mean, that move was dangerous but no more so than the other moves out there. I don't think it's right that it was banned. I have faith that I could do that move without hurting anybody.

 

ALIAS VOLUME I TPB

COTTON: I heard you recently went to visit DC Comics.
HURRICANE: I've actually been there a couple of times. Having the Green Lantern tattoo on national television got someone's attention and I got invited up for a tour. It's a great place with tons of great people. Just as a fan it was fun to see behind the curtain.

COTTON: Any plans to venture into comic writing or publishing? HURRICANE: I have a big interest in doing my own comics. I'm actively interested in doing a comic about Hurricane. Initially I'd like to do a Hurricane thing to get it out there. That's a dream, but I'd also love to play around with some of the other established characters.

COTTON: What are you favorite comics right now?
HURRICANE: Let me look around for some inspiration. I'm a big fan of Alias. I love JSA, I'm a big fan of [Geoff] Johns. Pretty much anything Johns and [Brian Michael] Bendis are writing, I'm reading. Those are my two favorite writers.

COTTON: Do you like more realistic or superhero themed comics? HURRICANE: I'm still a big superhero fan. You know, I've read a lot of good realistic stuff like Bendis' Jinx and Goldfish, but I live in reality. I don't always want to read about reality. Reality or real life TV shows? I got a real life, I don't want to see that. I want to see something fantastic, something I've never seen before. Something I can't see anywhere else. I want stuff I can't see everyday.

 

GOLDFISH TPB

COTTON: Whose art do you dig?
HURRICANE: I'd have to say Jim Lee. I've always been a Jim Lee fan and now with him back on Batman, it looks amazing. He's spectacular. I also met Jae Lee recently and I love his stuff. I used to love his Hellshock. He's got a great style. I love [Todd] McFarlane's stuff from when he was doing comics. And I like Mark Bagley on Ultimate Spider-Man. He hits the nail on the head.

COTTON: Are you into the comic book films? The one thing about Hollywood is that it goes on cycles. Westerns will be hot, then horror movies then superheroes. But as long as the films are good, I'll be happy. Usually they deteriorate into bad movies though. I hope that the current films can stay as good as they have been. You need the right people working on them. Like Sam Raimi for Spider-Man, he knows comics. He gets that character.

Mike Cotton is a staff writer for Wizard Magazine. For all the comic book news fit to print, check out Wizard on sale every month at comic book specialty shops and newsstands everywhere.

The Cotton Club Archive

August 7 , 2003 - HOLLYWOOD RUN DOWN July 31, 2003 - SPIDER-MAN 2 July 24, 2003 - BAG MAN July 17, 2003 - Moore or Less July 10, 2003 - Ink Test July 2, 2003 - HURRICANE WARNING June 25, 2003 - BANNER BANTER June 10, 2003 - PETER DAVID June 3 , 2003 - PAUL JENKINS May 28 , 2003 - GEOFF JOHNS May 21 , 2003 - BRIAN MICHAEL BENDIS May 14 , 2003 - PHIL JIMENEZ May 9 , 2003 - Don't F[l]inch April 29 , 2003 - The X-Factors April 17 , 2003 - X2 Reviewed January 13, 2003 - Game Boy - WizKid’s HeroClix January 3, 2003- 2003 Bigger than 2002? December 20 , 2002 - Ring Bearer - A two-bit tour for ‘Two Towers’ novices December 13 , 2002 - ‘Sine of the Times December 6 , 2002 - Killer Read November 30, 2002 - Lex's World November 23, 2002 - Truth and Consequences November 15, 2002 - Triple X November 8 , 2002 - Giving the Devil his Due October 31, 2002 - Superhero DVD Preview October 25, 2002 - Mad Cow October 18 , 2002 - 80's a Go-GO October 11 , 2002 - Best Bets on Bats October 4, 2002 - Hunters & Pray September 27 , 2002 - The War Within September 19 , 2002 - Lee-Der of the pack. September 13 , 2002 - The Next Generation. September 6 , 2002 - Marvel Melee. August 30, 2002 - Breaking In. Joe Quesada reveals the ins and outs of getting work at Marvel. August 23, 2002 - Painted Into a Corner. An Interview with Greg Hildebrandt. August 16, 2002 - X-citing News on X-Men 2!