10 Questions With Comics Writer Joe Casey!

Our great friend Michele Fiffe (of COPRA fame) reached out one day and said "You have to interview Joe Casey, he's a huge DC in the 80's guy!" Well we got super excited and co-editor Mark Belkin reached out to see if we could answer 10 Questions. Turns out in addition to being on of the best comic book writers ever, his taste in DC comics of the 1980's is impeccable. Joe Casey had classic runs on Uncanny X-Men,  Adventures of Superman, Wildcats, Cable, and two of his creations (two of my favorite comics) Godland and Automatic Kafka. Highly recommended. Also, and I didn't know this until recently, Joe was one of the creators on the cartoon series Ben 10! Without further ado, 10 Questions with Joe Casey! 

1.What was the first DC comic you remember buying?

JC: Let’s see… the earliest DC Comics I can remember holding in my hands -- and reading over and over -- were Justice League of America #137, All-Star Comics #63 and Secret Society of Super-Villains #3. I have no doubt that my folks bought all three of them for me, because I was just a grade school scrub. Y’know, when I stop and think about it… those three comics really just sum me right up, in terms of my formative tastes. But the first one I remember actually buying on my own would have to be New Teen Titans #9. As a matter of fact, I didn’t even purchase it when I first saw it. I spotted it on the stands at the first Direct Market retailer I ever knew of (Walt’s Paperback Books in Nashville, TN). That classic George Perez cover, with all of the Titans hanging by marionette strings… after I got home, I couldn’t get it out of my head. It just haunted me. I even tried to redraw that cover from memory. So, clearly, I had no choice but to go back and buy that comic book. Once I read it, I was instantly hooked… and I was no longer exclusively a Marvel kid reader. 

2. What were your favorite DC comics runs in the 1980s?

JC: There was a helluva lot to love during that decade. The Baron/Guice Flash (not to mention their two-issue Hawk story in Teen Titans Spotlight), the first two years of the Giffen/DeMatteis/Maguire Justice League, the Wolfman/Perez New Teen Titans, Fleming and Von Eeden’s Thriller, the Ostrander/McDonnell Suicide Squad, the Kupperburg/Lightle/Larsen Doom Patrol, the Giffen 5YL Legion, the Helfer/Sienkiewicz/Baker Shadow, Chaykin’s Blackhawk, Miller’s Batman work, Alan Moore on Swamp Thing. 

3. If you could go back in time and write for DC comics in the 1980s, what comic would you like to do? It can be anything you want, a re-boot, or taking over a book.

JC: Listen, I tried to write for DC Comics in 1987! I had the balls to send the great Dick Giordano a Batman fill-in script that I wrote on spec when I was just a punk teenager. Got a very encouraging, handwritten note back from Dick, which I still cherish. But to answer your question… to this day, I would’ve killed to take over for Mike Baron when he made -- in my humble opinion -- his all-too-early departure from Flash. Other than that, maybe DeMatteis’ gig dialoguing the Justice League books. 

4. Tell me all your thoughts on Jack Kirby, the Fourth World, and what that might mean to you?

JC: I have no doubt that Kirby is an influence on anyone who works in superhero comics. Even if he’s not a direct influence, believe me, he’s in there. He’s always been there for me. But I was actually first introduced to the Fourth World characters in the Secret Society of Super-Villains series and then the JLA/JSA/New Gods crossover in Justice League of America #183-185. From there, I eventually inhaled the pure power of the deluxe Baxter reprints of New Gods and I never looked back. At that point, most of those original back issues were still somewhat getable, so I got as many of them as I could afford. And here’s an exclusive tease… that Fourth World material means a lot more to me now than it ever has, for very practical, career-related reasons.

5. Your first DC work was on Superman and the Flash. How did the 1980's runs on those characters affect your runs on those books?

JC: The first Superman comics I even cared about were written by Alan Moore -- the annual with Dave Gibbons and the two “finale” issues of Superman and Action. After that, I was definitely caught up in the excitement of the Byrne revamp. Some of those Byrne/Wolfman/Ordway issues definitely had an impact on my own work, especially when I spent my three years plus on Adventures of Superman. And I can tell you I was damn proud to be writing what I considered the “legacy” title. As for the Flash… well, from my previous answers, it should be obvious to one and all that I have an unhealthy, unconditional love for Mike Baron’s Flash relaunch. I can’t even tell you exactly why it hit me so hard when it first came out… or why it still sticks with me. I was already a big Baron fan from Nexus and Badger and his other indie work. And while I’d read random issues of the Barry Allen Flash series over the few years previous, it was never a must-buy for me. But the Baron relaunch, for the age that I was at the time, just seemed so modern, so cutting edge. Not that it was particularly groundbreaking comics (it wasn’t)… not that I didn’t bump on the differences between the Wally West I knew from New Teen Titans and Baron’s take (I did)… but it had a certain vibe and a narrative voice that just spoke to me. Props to editor Mike Gold (my absolute favorite DC editor of that period), who encouraged Baron to abandon just about everything that was associated with the previous Flash, including his famous Rogues Gallery, which seems inconceivable now. So it's much more than an influence… it’s literally embedded in my DNA as a writer.    

6. How did your admiration of DC in the 80's inspire your work on some of your most popular books/runs/creations; Wildcats, Automatic Kafka (<3), and Ben 10?

JC: You can draw a direct line from any of my “experimental” work straight back to the DC that published Thriller, Swamp Thing, Ambush Bug, Ronin, The Shadow, Dark Knight Returns, Animal Man, Black Orchid, Watchmen, Chaykin’s Blackhawk, Giffen’s 5YL Legion of Super-Heroes and other comics that definitely pushed the envelope when it came to “mainstream” comics. When I broke in as a full-time professional, I made it a personal mission to try and evoke the vibe of those 80’s comics in the ones that I wrote. 

7. Who were some of your favorite writers from the 1980s?

JC: David Michelinie, Mike Baron, Matt Wagner, Howard Chaykin, John Ostrander, Robert Loren Fleming, Keith Giffen, Steve Englehart, Walt Simonson, Frank Miller, Alan Moore. 

8. And subsequently, who were some of your favorite artists?

JC: Paul Smith, George Perez, Alan Davis, Trevor Von Eeden, David Mazzuchelli, Jackson Guice, Luke McDonnell, Howard Chaykin, Gene Day, Dave Stevens, John Romita Jr., Kyle Baker, Todd McFarlane, Kevin Maguire, Bart Sears, Paul Chadwick, Bernie Mireault, Frank Miller, Steve Rude, Erik Larsen, Ty Templeton, Dave Gibbons, Walt Simonson, Matt Wagner, Bill Sienkiewicz, Bob Layton, John Byrne, Keith Giffen, John Totleben, Brian Bolland. 

9. If you could pick any DC comic to do a Crisis crossover issue with, from that time, what comic would it have been?

JC: Jeezus… y’know, I’m gonna say Infinity, Inc. Because history has shown us that Roy Thomas wasn’t too crazy about Crisis in the first place. So maybe I’d be doing him a favor, because I would definitely be into it. Plus, there’s a good chance it would’ve been drawn by Todd McFarlane during his wacky page design phase. But, to be honest, as much as I love the original Crisis (and I do), it was Legends that really connected with me. 

9b. How about Legends crossovers?

JC: If I had to choose, I think the BLUE BEETLE series could've been better served using LEGENDS as a way to push that series more into the spotlight. Not that I didn't read and love what Len and Paris were doing... but it was a bit too old school and the character was featured in LEGENDS to such a degree that maybe his series could've taken better advantage of the particular energy that was in the air in late '86/early '87.

10. What character who was big in the 80's, that may be forgotten, deserves some shine today?

JC: A few years ago, I would’ve easily answered, “Wally West”. But DC has taken some steps recently to rehabilitate the character. So that leaves only one answer for me: Thriller. The concept, the characters… it’s all so cool. A seminal book for me. God forbid DC collect the Fleming/Von Eeden issues, at least…!

DC in the 80's wants to thank Joe Casey for such a great interview! When we asked Joe if we could promote anything for him, he said "I think the most fun thing you could mention as "promotion" goes is that I've got some pretty big DC plans over the next few years. And i do mean BIG." WOW! That sounds exciting. Can't wait to find out what it is. Until next time. 

DC in the 80's Five Questions with Michel Fiffe About Superman Red & Blue #3

Everyone knows we at DC in the 80's have a deep fondness for Michel Fiffe. Not only is he the driving force behind COPRA, one of the best comics coming out today, but he is also the cover artist for the first issue of our zine, Baxter Stock. He even came up with the name! Well, when we found out that he was going to have a story in SUPERMAN RED & BLUE #3, coming out May 18th, 2021, we HAD to do an interview with him. Seriously, when it comes out, go to your LCS and buy it. 5 Questions with Michel Fiffe Interview with Mark Belkin is below this totally RAD image from the comic. 

Ummmm yes times infinity.

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Mark Belkin: Question #1: How much of a dream job is it to do a Superman story?

Michel Fiffe: This is the first comic book character my little kid eyes ever saw, it's one of the earliest figures I ever drew with my little kid hand. That in itself carries a lot of weight. There's a formative component I couldn't escape even if I tried. So yeah, file under Dream Job.

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Mark: Question #2: Did you specifically request using Booster Gold, Hawkwoman and Cyborg? Why?

Michel Fiffe: "Panic In The Sky" was the crossover that originally inspired me, it got me thinking about what kind of story I wanted to tell. Superman's relationship to his peers is fascinating to me, and squeezing in as many characters as possible was appealing at first. I wanted to tell a tight story, though, not clog my 8 pages for the sake of clogging them. So I whittled it down to a core team, which allowed me to better focus on each member. In a way, that specific roster is a nod to John Byrne's Action Comics run.

Booster showing Superman who's boss.

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Mark: Question #3: Kilg%re is definitely a villain I could see in COPRA. What drew you to using them?

Michel Fiffe: My affinity for the Baron/Guice Flash material is no secret. Plus, I needed an unlikely antagonist with untapped potential. Let me be clear, I had 8 pages to express the totality of what I think about Superman, and I wanted to cover as many bases as possible. Solid teamwork, crisp action, leadership, superpowers, tension, danger, humor, nuance beyond good guy vs bad guy while very much being a good guy vs bad guy story. I wanted to feature Superman's uniqueness but not at the expense of those around him. Plus, I drew my ass off. I'm still reckoning with the filtering of my influences on such a major property. 

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Mark: Question #4: If you could do a Justice League book, who would be on the team?

Michel Fiffe: I like the challenge of context, such as... who are the characters that are available? What's the project, a cool one-shot or the main brand? So many options. Let's just say that with my favorite being the JLI-era, I'd most likely pick a similar line-up. Maybe Extreme Justice, simply to prove that something cool can be done with just about any roster. I wanna draw that Booster armor.

DC, you know what must be done. 

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Mark: Question #5: Can we expect an 80's DC Comics Presents type book with Superman meeting COPRA????? 

Michel Fiffe: It's not something I've considered, but now you got me thinking of all the possibilities. Damn you, DC in the 80s!

I could seeee ittttt.

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You can get the Superman Red & Blue #3 at your local comic book store on May 18th, 2021.

You can get COPRA either in your LCS or through Michel online. 

Thanks again homie!!

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You can find Michel Fiffe at:

http://michelfiffe.com/ 

https://www.patreon.com/MichelFiffe 

https://twitter.com/MichelFiffe

https://www.facebook.com/michel.fiffe

The Superman Comic

And on the cover of our first Baxter Stock!!!! CHECK THIS AWESOMENESS!!!

DC in the 80s interviews Michel Fiffe. Round 3

For those of you who don't know, Michel Fiffe is the creator, writer & illustrator of the smash indie comic book series COPRA. Not only is Michel Fiffe the one-man creative force behind COPRA, but he's also an avid and well-read fan of 80s comics (the concept behind COPRA was heavily inspired by John Ostrander's Suicide Squad [1987 - 1992]). Fiffe was one of the first followers of the DCinthe80s tumblr blog back in 2013, before we realized who he was we simply knew him as a connoisseur of 80s and 90s comics. Despite his frantic schedule of writing and drawing EVERY issue of COPRA on a monthly basis, Fiffe was generous enough to sit down with us and chat about DC comics from the 1980s.

When we last left off in the second part of our interview, Fiffe was telling us about his personal goal of reading every John Ostrander comic out there...

DCinthe80s: This brings us straight into Suicide Squad territory (and, by association, COPRA). COPRA started as you needing to take a break from your then-current comic project, Zegas, in order to get your Suicide Squad 'fix' out of your system, and it turned into Deathzone. One of the biggest things I've noticed (and like) about you is that you are really big on attribution. For instance, the opening sequence of Deathzone has a roll call of all the characters as well as the original creators and other creators that helped 'define' them. Until I reviewed this, I totally forgot that Steve Ditko was responsible for the creation of a good majority of those characters. I know you're a big fan of Ditko's - which Ditko creations would you appropriate if you had the chance?

Fiffe: You mean one that I haven't already? I can't come up with another one. The Odd Man maybe? I would just be forcing it at this point. Actually, the Question is a character I've always wanted to tackle. I got it out of my system with the earliest version of Zegas, actually -- painful stuff to look at. I would still like to make some Vic Sage comics.

Sketches of Vic Sage/The Question by Michel Fiffe:

DCinthe80s: On that note, I'm going to boldy state that you're not the biggest Vertigo-era Shade, the Changing Man [1990 - 1996] fan based on this quote:

"And they had Shade as a member! Not the milquetoast poet that’s currently being dredged up… I’m talking about the real deal SHADE! C’mon, any team that would have Ditko’s Shade the Changing Man as a member is OK in my book." [You Look Different Now, 2011]

Have you ever read Peter Milligan's Shade, the Changing Man in it's entirety? If so, what would you have done differently?

Fiffe: Milligan's Shade is a fun read, at least the first twenty-some odd issues are. That's all I've read. I generally like that specific era in DC comics, those pre-Vertigo books. Things like Animal Man and Hellblazer. They all took their cues from Alan Moore's Swamp Thing, which is one of the greatest serialized comics from any period. I love those Swamp Thing comics to death. Anyway, Shade was fine tuned to that time and there's nothing anyone can do to improve it. It's its own thing. I personally have an affinity for the Ditko version, which was more of a straight-ahead sci-fi adventure with little to no introspection.

DCinthe80s: I'm also understanding that you were pen-pals with Steve Ditko. That's huge! The fact that you were able to have a mentoring relationship with a legend like Ditko is an article on it's own. What was the big take away from your correspondence with Ditko?

Fiffe: He's the closest thing to mentor that I've had and even that is stretching it. After all this time, I can't pick out a specific lesson because I feel like it's all a lesson. Ditko leads by example, and as the man has said, all we have to do is read the work, it's all in there.



DCinthe80s: In the same vein, I'm going to ask which Kirby creations you enjoy the most and would like to take a stab at writing. I know that you've expressed interest in his fourth world material and even contributed to the more recent Captain Victory and the Galactic Rangers series - Captain Victory essentially being the continuing adventures of Orion (of Kirby's Fourth World Universe). Were you a fan of Kirby's Fourth World revival from the 80s?


Fiffe: I enjoyed them from a distance, in that they looked nice, particularly the Paris Cullins stuff, but I never dug deep into the revival. I liked them in their cameos, y'know, whenever Darkseid would pop into Superman or when Lightray and Orion joined Justice League America. I've always associated Mister Miracle and Oberon with the Justice League International, since that's where I first met them. It wasn't until Walt Simonson's Orion series in the late 90s that I got into the non-Kirby material.


DCinthe80s: So, back to COPRA. You've received some gushing endorsements - Chris Sims (of Comics Alliance) is a big fan, Oliver Sava of the A.V. Club is another big fan. For the last few years you are always on the BEST COMIC SERIES list(s). Sequart even wrote a review of your series. (I always felt that you've "made it" after Sequart gave a favorable review of anything you've done.) COPRA is very much modeled after Suicide Squad. You kind of mash all of the best of that era into a comic book series, but give it your own personal spin. I've only read rounds 1 & 2, but I understand that everything after issue #13 delves more into the characters (solo stories). Most of them can easily be matched with their Suicide Squad counterpart, but here are a few I'm not 100% sure on: Wir = Shrapnel or Calculator, Sniper & Brawler = Punch and Jewelee, Dy Dy = Marvel's MODOK, I have no clue who Vitas is based on, Castillo = Marvel's Punisher, and Xenia = Marvel's Clea or DC's Enchantress.

COPRA group shot

You've given a lot of attention to Rax/Shade the Changing Man, Gracie/Vixen and Guthie/Duchess. Is it kind of your way of saying that you felt their tenure with the Squad was too short (both had very short runs in Ostrander's Suicide Squad) and felt they should've been explored more? Waller, Deadshot, Boomerang, Bronze Tiger and Count Vertigo are kind of the backbone of the team - and you do use them sufficiently (Sonia/Amanda Waller you use exceptionally well). Are there any plans to add more Ditko homages to the team? [I'd personally love to see the Creeper or Hawk & Dove]. Also, if Sniper & Brawler are who I think they are, that means you don't think much of Punch and Jewelee....

Fiffe: DY DY is actually inspired by SUDE with a touch of Krang. WIR is inspired by Haywire. Spot on otherwise. Good call on Sniper & Brawler. I do like Punch & Jewelee, but I just didn't have the urge to put my spin on them. I ended up fleshing out Sniper & Brawler in issue 25, though; I was real happy with that. Vitas was originally based on Dumas, [Mark Shaw] Manhunter's nemesis, but he quickly turned into his own thing more than anyone else. As for focusing on specific COPRA team members, it's based on what the story demands, not as an exercise in wish fulfillment. Ostrander fleshed out the characters awesomely, especially for such a packed team book. So yeah, I wish Shade stuck around longer, but that's the beauty of those Squad books -- the creative team having to constantly be on their toes, at the mercy of the ever moving goalpost. I have the extreme privilege of having no editorial overseer.

 The Vitas/Dumas connection:

DCinthe80s: You've given a lot of fantastic interviews on your thoughts about Suicide Squad, so I'm not going to ask you the same old questions. Instead, I will tell you that I enjoy COPRA's DIY aesthetics and the fact that it's self-published. This really speaks to me (as someone who is a fan of DIY culture). Your success with self-publishing COPRA has been compared to Dave Sim's success with Cerebus. Do you think you'll be taking limos to comic conventions anytime soon? Since we're in an 80s mindset, I'm actually seeing more parallels between your success with COPRA and the success of Eastman & Laird's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles craze back in 1984 (when back issues of TMNT were super-rare and selling for a small fortune). Why it's different in your situation is because your print run is low because your printing model was dependent on you selling out the previous issues:

"If I could've changed anything, though, it would've been to up the print run considerably. I did not see the tide of interest coming. I was making comics for the few folks already familiar with my work. Selling out of issues sucked; it's not as romantic the headlines make it out to be. I wanted to get books in people's hands!" [Michel Fiffe's COPRA: the One-Man Written, Drawn, Self-Published Villain Epic, 2014]

Fife: Kevin Eastman & Peter Laird's success is a story that's tied to the '80s direct market structure and mania. They were totally an inspiration point back when I was trying to figure out self-publishing, and before then as a fan of their comics. It was just a couple of dudes who put out a comic that got some traction and forced them to expand beyond what they were used to. The parallel ends there because there's no COPRA Saturday Morning Cartoon (yet). So no limos to conventions.

DCinthe80s: COPRA on comixology could be a major turning point for awareness and readership. I'm guessing that you've withdrawn from your ideal that comics/graphic novels need to be held in your hands in order to be appreciated? [Michel Fiffe’s Copra: The Most Well-Known Secret in Comics, 2015]

Fiffe: I do agree that a physical single issue is the perfect vehicle for many of these stories, especially mine. Some comics work better online or as graphic novels or comic strips... it's really a case-by-case basis. I wanted COPRA to have a wider platform, I wanted it to reach that portion of readers who are exclusively digital comics consumers. It became less about what my idealized version was -- which I achieved by simply publishing it -- and more about not omitting anyone from the experience.

DCinthe80s: I read your interview with Comics & Cola. You've got some interesting comic storage management techniques. For starters, you bind your favorite work, which I think is brilliant.

"Having these comics bound in such direct, no frills hardcovers made reading & storage so much more enjoyable & practical, but I also loved the idea of a curated collection of essentials. For this specific set of books, I got the idea to hit up a few of the related artists to put their own touch on the inside covers." [Cloak & Dagger Bound & Obsession Unknown: Suicide Squad Bound]

Another curious storage habit of yours is to buy bulk lots of comics and just throw them in the dumpster afterward: "I like to buy old stacks of comics, read them, then get rid of them. Not even for trade or anything, they just gotta go." I admire that about you. I still have tons of stuff I'm convinced is worth something to somebody and I'm not willing to give away yet. I think that's the 90s Comic Book Collector Bubble mentality that ingrained itself into my brain. My favorite quote from the C&C article was this gem:

"I once bought hundreds of Legion of Superhero issues in order to force myself to understand what their appeal was."

That was laugh-out-loud funny. It's mostly funny because I can totally relate. I'm one of those DC fans who never 'got into' LoSH the first time and had a hard time getting into it. Reader opinions on the LoSH are pretty polarizing - you either love them or you were indifferent to them. I very rarely hear of anyone who 'casually' collects LoSH comics - and it's for all of the reasons you mention in your article detailing your struggles with appreciating the Legion. Your article is so perfect and similar to my experience, that I plan on providing anyone who asks about my feelings on the Legion a link to your article and just saying "this".

Fiffe: I feel bad because that write up is a little petulant, in that it's basically "I didn't like this: WAHH." At least I tried to examine why I didn't like it. I tried being constructive. It's a testament to those 5YL comics that I eventually came around and ate crow and now I find them irresistible. Even the stuff from before 5YL... the time Giffen got back on the book and did his Maguire riff. I can certainly see the appeal of the Legion now, whereas before it was a blind spot for me.  

DCinthe80s: Just to drive the point home about how much of a 'child of the 80s' you are, I'm going to also add that you were a Atari/Ninetndo/Sega kid, grew up loving horror films, really dug those Masters of the Universe mini-comics packaged with the action figures, and... 

I'm not too clear on this... but were you also a GI Joe fan?


Fiffe: Not really. I had a couple of the comics and they were okay. I traded the COBRA-LA 3-pack for some Garbage Pail Kids. Zero interest. Same with Transformers. Give me Masters of the Universe or Blackstar any day. I only drew those GI Joe sample pages because it was the only title IDW was putting out at the time that I saw myself being able to draw. But no, I have to nostalgic connection to that franchise.

Michel Fiffe: child of the 80s

DCinthe80s: You also custom-painted some Vans slip-ons, which is arguably the most 80s shoe you can purchase on the market right now. I realize you can't talk about it [or can you?], so I'm just going to post a photo of them for all to admire:

Fiffe: Wow, that was so long ago. I considered painting on shoes as a side gig back then, but I never pursued it seriously. I only did it for friends. It was really fun and something I'd like to still do. I would just have to find the time to do it.


DCinthe80s: I saw you created a poster for a Thurston Moore (of Sonic Youth) show. Did you get to meet/chat with him afterwards? Did any other cult status 80s/90s bands pass your way?

Fiffe: Tons of them, but a highlight was seeing Mike Patton twice. That alone made my stint there worthwhile. Oh, and Fishbone, who lived up to the hype of being the greatest live band ever. Also, Robin Guthrie from the Cocteau Twins played a solo show and even though I was unfortunately stuck working the door, what I heard was unbelievable.



DCinthe80s: Final question, now that you've seen the trailer to the new Suicide Squad film (montage of movie clips set to the tune of Queen's Bohemian's Rhapsody) is this something you're going to want to stand in line and see? Are you watching any of the other DC comic book TV shows (Supergirl, Arrow, Flash, Legends of Tomorrow, Gotham)?

Fiffe: I tried to get into Arrow back when Deathstroke was introduced and it just didn't click with me. I'm not going out of my way to avoid these shows or anything. I catch them when I can, but I am the SO the wrong audience. Maybe I'm not, but I sometimes feel like the worst fan because I don't feel that twinge of excitement that fans must feel when their beloved characters are embraced on a larger scale. Last time I sort of felt that was for the Brave & the Bold cartoon, which was recommended, I didn't seek it out. It was great! Batman vs Superman, though, comes out this weekend and I cannot even pretend to care. I'll go see Suicide Squad out of a sense of... loyalty's the wrong word? Look, I just want John Ostrander to get gobs of money. He's the one who made that concept worth a damn. Without John Ostrander, there is no Suicide Squad. Without Suicide Squad, there is no point to life.


...and this concludes our interview with Michel Fiffe. Thanks again to Fiffe for taking the time to answer these interview questions. I strongly encourage you to check out his COPRA ongoing series, which lives up to it's reputation of being everything a fan of the Suicide Squad from the 80s would want to see in a book. Another one to watch for is Michel Fiffe's Zegas, which has more of an 'alternative' feel and has been picking up stellar reviews all around. You can also check out Fiffe's blog here. Late to the party? Read the first interview with Fiffe here. 

DC in the 80s interviews Michel Fiffe. Round 1

For those of you who don't know, Michel Fiffe is the creator, writer & illustrator of the smash indie comic book series COPRA. Not only is Michel Fiffe the one-man creative force behind COPRA, but he's also an avid and well-read fan of 80s comics (the concept behind COPRA was heavily inspired by John Ostrander's Suicide Squad [1987 - 1992]). Fiffe was one of the first followers of the DCinthe80s tumblr blog back in 2013, before we realized who he was we simply knew him as a connoisseur of 80s and 90s comics. Despite his frantic schedule of writing and drawing EVERY issue of COPRA on a monthly basis, Fiffe was generous enough to sit down with us and chat about DC comics from the 1980s.

self-portrait of Michel Fiffe

DCinthe80s: So, 2015 has been a very good year for you. COPRA is receiving tons of (well-merited) accolades, you had a gig as a writer for a Marvel Comics title (All-New Ultimates), you've breached issue #25 of your self-published COPRA series (which is now available on comixology) - but we're going to talk about none of that today...

You're about 2 years older than me (I was born in 1981), and after reading your blog and your interviews, I'm realizing that you more or less had the same experiences growing up as I did: first exposure to a comic book was older reprint material? check. no easy accessibility to a comic book shop? check. first exposure to the collectible market were Garbage Pail Kids trading cards? check. collected Marvel Impel trading cards? check. wasted your money on Image comics? check. took a hiatus to 'discover' music and girls? check. discovered (and consumed) the 'indie press' a bit later? check.

You mentioned that one of your first comics was a Dave Gibbons Green Lantern reprint story and you credit it as being one of the comics that helped you learn how to read. While that may be one of your earliest comic books, I didn't read much about you being a Green Lantern fan. Are you a Green Lantern fan? On that note, who would be your favorite DC character? What else did you 'cut your teeth on' as you were reading comics in the 1980s?

Michel Fiffe: I liked Green Lantern more when I was a kid, even before I started reading comics. I loved the Super Powers toy and the enclosed mini comic. But yeah, I find that the Green Lantern issues drawn by Dave Gibbons are near-definitive, and I'm not the world's biggest Len Wein fan, either, but those comics look so damn good. I actually did have one Super Powers proper comic, which was my introduction to Jack Kirby. But anyway, when I started getting really into comics I was on a steady diet of John Byrne's Superman titles and both Norm Breyfogle and Jim Aparo's respective Batman work. I would come across things like Blue Beetle and Booster Gold. The former I didn't get far into (again: Wein), but I was really into Booster Gold. It was a fun, little side book that didn't seem to have much consequence, and that really appealed to me. I liked that the entire run was mostly self-contained and that its creator, Dan Jurgens, was pretty much left alone the entire time.



DCinthe80s: I also read from that same The Comics Journal interview that your 'trifecta' growing up was Justice League, Suicide Squad and Marvel's Daredevil. What was your favorite version of the Justice League?
 
Fiffe: Oh, the Kevin Maguire stuff, without a doubt. There's no comparison. Justice League International is just the best. I sort of hate that history has relegated it to the "bwahaha" era, which the series creators have no problem perpetuating themselves. It's so much more than a cutesy, shit grinning humor book. It had great action and drama, it had a wide variety of personality types and conflicts, and sometimes it got really, really dark. It's such a well rounded and gorgeous book -- it's a genuine joy to re-read. I got a thrill back in the day just by looking at the covers, and I still get that thrill. I should mention that the Luke McDonnell-drawn Despero story arc during the Detroit era is a top contender, just for its sheer insanity.

DCinthe80s: Were there any story lines/cross-over events that really stood out for you? I have you laughingly referring to DC's Millennium as "a big old mess", but you loved it nonetheless.

Fiffe: I was on board all the crossovers from Legends up to Eclipso, but yeah, I like Millennium a lot. That's been a punching bag since day one. It seemed like an editorial nightmare but on a rudimentary level, as an 8 year old? C'mon, it was aesthetically pleasing to see all those superheroes in one comic. Plus it's kind of cool to have a totally egocentric Steve Engelhart tie a huge company crossover into a couple of Justice League stories he wrote a decade prior. I'd say Invasion! and Armageddon 2001 are the two that always battle it out for Best Event Ever. By sheer scope and editorial focus, though, Invasion! usually wins.



DCinthe80s: Having access to Frank Miller's Dark Knight Returns at the age of 9 was a huge leg up on me. What else were you able to get your hands on?
 
Fiffe: My early collection was so spotty because, again, I rarely made it out to the comic shop. When I did, that's when I would get the pricier, slicker stuff, all the prestige format material. Not many of them, mind you. I only had the third issue of Dark Knight Returns for years, and honestly that one issue was enough to be pivotal in the way I looked at comics. I also only had the second issue of Batman: The Cult, which is basically Jim Starlin being weird. I personally like the Cult a whole lot, it's sort of a mess, but it was definitely cool to have this garish, totally bloody Batman story. Bernie Wrightson and Bill Wray made a great art team. I'd be remiss not to mention the Suicide Squad, especially since that's what I mostly bought when I would hit up the comic shop. I bought back issues, little by little, and it was one of the couple of titles I had almost a complete run of. The rush of combing a bin and seeing the cover of Suicide Squad #10 (1988), "Up Against the Wall", for the first time... I mean, you cannot beat that.

Michel Fiffe with original art from Suicide Squad #10

DCinthe80s: You were an avid comic book fan throughout the beginnings of the 'comic card collecting bubble' in the early 90s - which was probably the apex of the comic collecting bubble (and the start of the gimmick era). I have a quote from you in which you are waxing nostalgic about the Marvel Universe Impel cards from the early 90s: "I think there was just this fever in the air in general, that jittery pre-Image charge that Marvel Comics had... and the second series of cards really captured that." As you read more of the article, we are reading that you are actually a HUGE fan of the art from these cards. What do you remember from this pre-Image era? Were you collecting everything and anything - or were you noticing a decline in the quality of comics? 

Fiffe: By the time that pre-Image stuff rolled in, my buying habits were a bit more solidified. I was what -- 12, 13 years old? I would still try out new books, but I definitely had favorites I was loyal to. Up to that point, I mostly bought comics for the art or the characters, therefore having a "good story" wasn't the selling point for me. Not like I wasn't sensitive to great writing; I knew that Frank Miller stories were more exciting to read than the usual stories. I recognized that John Ostrander wrote amazing Suicide Squad comics, but I wasn't crazy about his Firestorm material. But still, I bought most comics for the art, and so I was ready-made for the Image boom. In retrospect I can lazily point to the diminished quality in the writing and art as being the key factor in my comics disinterest, but really, my tastes were also changing. And by the time I discovered alternative comics, good writing mattered to me. Good everything mattered. The small press met that criteria. My tastes and my income, which is to say lack thereof, affected my comics consumption. I was pickier, brutal even, totally ignoring most of the mainstream of that era. All the while, I still cherished Cosmic Odyssey.

one of Michel Fiffe's favorite pages from DC's Cosmic Odyssey series

Michel Fiffe was extremely generous with his time and this interview is so long that it needs to run in three parts. In our next installment, Fiffe discusses: which 80s comics he 're-discovered', which 80s comic book artists influenced his style, and anecdotes about breaking into comics during the late 90s.