DF: Are you a lifelong comics fan? Which ones were childhood favorites?
FT: I am a lifelong comics fan, although like a lot of other people, I stopped reading comics at a certain point. I think it was when I discovered girls. I decided comics were too expensive compared to everything else I wanted to do. I got back into comics around the Death of Superman and when the new X-Men series was starting. I picked up those comics as an investment, but shortly afterwards began my internship with Marvel Comics. Working at Marvel re-sparked my interest in comics and I chose to pursue them as a profession.

DF: When did you first discover the character Wolverine?
FT: The funny thing about Wolverine when I was a kid was that the older kids were mainly reading X-Men, Star Wars, and Micronauts. The kids my age were reading Spider-Man and Incredible Hulk. It was my older friends who first introduced me to the X-Men and Wolverine. The first comic that caught my eyes didn't actually have Wolverine in costume. He and the X-Men were in Japan and Moses Magnum was a villain in the issue. What stood out to me was a conversation between Logan and Scott Summers. They were sitting, eating breakfast, and Logan was reading a Japanese newspaper -- in Japanese! Scott looked at him dumbstruck and was like, "You never told me you could read Japanese." Logan looks at him and pointedly replies, "You never asked!" That really impressed me and sparked my interest in that character.

DF: What, if anything, do you dislike about Logan?
FT: What I dislike has nothing to really do with the character and mainly with the comic itself. Specifically -- continuity. One of the things I like best in my new series Weapon X is the simplicity and way we're presenting it. In Wolverine there are too many contradictions and things that just don't make sense. The fact that some stories exist that tried to say Wolverine was actually raised by Wolverines -- that's ridiculous! Silver Fox? I can't make heads or tails out of whether she's alive, dead, or something in between. I truly believe it should be a MAX title. I mean people need to stop fooling themselves, this series and everything Wolverine stands for caters to an adult, mature audience. And I understand Marvel's point of view and that there are action figures of Wolvie and so forth, but let's get down to what the lure of this character actually is. The attraction is to a realistic character who has a healing factor, adamantium claws, and who kills people. There are just too many restrictions on the book.

DF: Like the fact that cigar chompin' Logan is no longer allowed to smoke?
FT: Well Marvel owns the character so it's their choice to do with Wolverine what they want. I don't agree with it. I think it's part of his character, especially once he explains that with his healing factor, he's in no danger from the smoking. I understand why Marvel has their reservations and why it's had to be done, but I just don't happen to agree with it. My Wolverine smokes all the time.

DF: How have you changed since your Iron Man days?
FT: I have evolved a lot since I started writing with Joe Quesada on Iron Man. I think I've found a niche with the darker stories in Wolverine. I really started with the whole "superheroey" style and was able to grow into the edgier, hard-hitting Wolverine. I like tales with lots of graphic violence, that are darker, and whose characters aren't as perfect as one might think.

DF: Is that why you liked Wolverine? Because he's not perfect?
FT: Exactly.

DF: How'd you land the job writing Wolverine?
FT: I was working with Joe on Iron Man and editor Mark Powers offered me the stint on Wolverine. The series had just come off of a pretty bad run from Rob Liefeld and Marvel was looking for new blood to tackle the character. I jumped at the chance to write Wolverine. I was a young up-and-coming writer and this was a great opportunity.

DF: What aspect of this character did you want to explore?
FT: What I like best about Wolverine is that he's a flawed character. I prefer my characters to have flaws. I can't relate to someone like Captain America, because he has no flaws for me to exploit. Wolverine is very human to me. All of us are f#$ked up in our own ways and the fact that he is f#$ked up too is just something we can easily relate to. I wanted to make Wolverine relatable again.

DF: How has working on this character helped stretch your writing skills?
FT: When I started on Iron Man, I was doing superhero stuff and then I phased out of the bright and colorful costumes into the darker and weirder world of Wolverine. As a writer you should always try to evolve and learn. I learn something new all the time. I'm constantly trying to absorb more of the craft. What I'm doing now under Axel Alonso is looking at Wolverine from a different angle.

DF: What angle?
FT: Before Axel, the book was a high octane graphic action orientated series. They were moving a mile a minute and Axel had us slow things down a little bit. We all mutually agreed that going in this direction was a good idea. We decided to just take a look at Wolverine from a different point of view and have a few more character driven tales instead of relying solely on the action. I wanted to get into his mind and see what made him tick. In these next few issues, you're really seeing what I think makes Wolverine tick and the kind of guy he truly is.

DF: Why do you think Wolverine works best as a solo act? How does the lack of sidekick help this character to be the "best he is at what he does?"
FT: First, I have to tell you I despise the "sidekick." I think that those characters are just plot devices to be kidnapped, get injured, get killed, or all of the above. I am not a sidekick fan and you will NEVER see me use Jubilee in any of my books. I think having a teen character in his life totally derails Wolverine as a character. He is NOT a guy to teach little kids anything. He's got too many problems of his own to deal with.

DF: What is Wolverine # 181 about? Why is that issue the perfect jumping on point for new readers?
FT: Basically when Axel brought me on board he told me that I tell good bar stories. The minute he got me on the title he wanted me to do a, "Wolverine walks into a bar... " type of story. Although that's the premise of about almost any story dealing with Wolverine that someone tries to pitch, Axel thought I could make it work. Axel wanted the “walks into a bar” story and things go from there. Essentially there are three guys bragging and telling stories about all the bad things each has done. A trio of badasses, talking about the nasty people they know and just mouthing off. Wolverine enters the equation and we hear his story. This issue is a great jumping on point, because it acts as both a stand-alone story and a springboard for things coming up in future issues.

DF: What else is coming up in future issues of Wolverine?
FT: Well, because of what happened in Wolverine # 181, Logan will get involved in some situations involving the mob. This is essentially repercussions from the bar story. Seeing how he deals with it over the next few issues should be interesting, but I can't really say too much more. I want readers to be surprised.

DF: Besides Wolverine, you're also working on Weapon X. How did this series come about?
FT: This is actually sprung out of a storyline from Wolverine. I brought the original Weapon X Program back and it was such a success that Marvel wanted to do a miniseries on it. Hence. “Deadpool: Agent of Weapon X,” a highly successful miniseries. After two positive experiences, Marvel wanted to do a permanent series. So we moved on to this tale that's prominently a villain book. I like to call it Dynasty only with better weapons. Everybody is in a den of vipers and none of the people involved really like each other. They all have reasons for joining the Weapon X program, and we'll find out some of those soon. Each also has various degrees of badness from not so bad to really evil mothers!

DF: Just like the real world ...
FT: Exactly. Purely good person is the exception. Everyone has shades of gray. In Weapon X there is lots of gray. Even the "good guys" will have their gray underwear on.

DF: How is working on a team series different than a book that spotlights just one character?
FT: Wolverine has no supporting cast. It's just Wolverine, so my challenge every issue is to come up with something interesting to happen to or around him. With Weapon X, I have a rich cast that you want to have a lot going on with. I want to get everyone involved. So instead of trying to think up one situation for Logan, I'm inspired and constantly thinking of ways to involve all the cast of Weapon X. Everyone will get his or her moment in the sun on this run. One of my hardest things to go is come up with different ways to showcase each character, but I'm working on it! In writing a team book the advantage of having different characters to play with is also my greatest disadvantage because I constantly have to have something for them to do.

DF: Why should Wolverine fans check out Weapon X?
FT: Because I'm writing it and especially fans that liked the Weapon X storyline that began in Wolverine will want to see how this all plays out. There are things that were hinted at that are coming to light. The real agenda of the Director is going to be revealed in these pages.