Round 4 Interview with Michel Fiffe, about COPRA #1, through Image Comics.

We at DC in the 80s LOVE Michel Fiffe. Why? He blessed us with the cover of the first issue of our fearless zine Baxter Stock. He spoke with us at length in 2016 with a hot 3 part interview (check out part 1, or as we called it, Round 1.). Most of all he has supported our mission as much as we have supported his, and has come out with some of the best comic books of the last decade.

Since he is coming out with a brand spanking new number one issue of his masterpiece COPRA, through Image Comics on October 2nd, 2019 (!!!), we asked him to do a quick interview. Mark Belkin does the honors in Round 4 with Michel Fiffe.

COPRA #1. Image Comics. Go get it now!

MB: Thanks again for talking with DC in the 80s. We make no secret about worshipping your work. You spoke to us at length in 2016 (Round 1), so this would be Round 4 of the interview. And we can't thank you enough for that first Baxter Stock cover. Soooo, what have you been up to since then?

MF: Running a marathon in a world full of sprints, Mark. I took a detour but now I’m back on that COPRA track.

Baxter Stock #1. Still blows us away.

MB: You were a Super Powers fan, and those toys meant a lot to yourself and people who grew up in the 80s. Do you have any plans to make a line of action figures for COPRA?

MF: Plans have been brewing so we’ll see what happens. Now, as much as I love those SP toys — they’re so elegant — I’d probably lean more towards the more detailed model. But hell, I'll take M.U.S.C.L.E.S. any day, too.

MB: Do you ever imagine what the mini comic to any of the figures would be about?

MF: I would love to have some anonymous office staffer draw my characters in the most joyless, mechanical way... that would be really interesting.

Michel's first foray into Super Powers mini comics.

MB: Tell us a bit about what made the Ostrander/McDonnell Suicide Squad run so special.

MF: Jeezus, that’s like asking Flea about the Lakers. That comic was special because it is sharp and grimy and sophisticated, wrapped up in colorful adventure stories. It was expertly done, beyond entertaining, and many times, it was sublime. 


MB: Legends, Invasion, Millennium were something you enjoyed. Do you have any plans of crossover with other Image titles? Something where Image "Will never be the same!"

MF: The grandeur of something like INVASION cannot be duplicated but I am trying my damn best. All within the main series, too. COPRA is a one-stop comic.
  
MB: Do you ever imagine what you would put into a crossover like that? Todd McFarlane drawing aliens invading the COPRA world would be pretty baller.

MF: I just want Todd to give me a pin-up.

Maybe?

MB: We have a time machine, and it's 1989. You get the chance to do a special 5 issue mini series of COPRA, which exists in the 80s. Every issue is drawn by a different artist, a la DC Challenge. Who are the 5 DC related artists you would pick to draw the stories you've written?

MF: Same people I would get today if I could: Walter Simonson, Kevin Nowlan, Laus Janson, Keith Giffen, and Xaime Hernandez.

MB: What would a Michel Fiffe Vic Sage Question comic be about? What would you be excited to put in?

MF: I actually have a barebones idea as to what I would do with Vic. I can’t go into it but I do know it can only work within the DCU. No alternatives. Naturally, everyone would guest star.
(Editor's Note: How do I link Dan Didio to this answer?)

MB: Tell us about your issue of COPRA #1 coming out October 2nd for Image. What can people expect?

MF: I wanted to make a fun, thick, accessible first comic. If you gotta pick one issue to see what COPRA is all about, this new #1 is the one to get. The larger story backdrop is for the heads, but I made it as welcoming as possible for new, curious readers. 

MB: Great speaking with you Michel, and I'm off to buy COPRA #1 right after I publish this. We are excited for you, and good luck man!