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Deep Discussions with Decapitated Dan: Ian Edginton

Alright lets start out with a short answer section and get the usual out of the way. Ian John Edginton, which is slightly odd because Ian and John are the same name in English and Scots. So I’m either Ian Ian Edginton or John John Edginton. It could have been worse, I was going to be called Julian. I figure I dodged a bullet there, that and having the crap kicked out of me at school. No offense to other Julian’s out there!

Slipping slowly towards 50. I feel like Quint at the end of Jaws.

To a wonderful woman who has the patience of a saint and can some how make me feel guilty and adored at the same time.

Two cats. Ben – a cool, slick James Bond, John Shaft kind of feline. Tom, his brother – fat and flatulent. A rug slug. There’s a cartoon show in there somewhere.

Highest Education Level:
Leasowes High School where I flunked most of my exams. I went to night school, took the whole lot again and passed with flying colors. Back in the ‘70’s my old school was a zoo. A boy in my year was dangled from his ankles from a third floor window and another was found to have been locked in his locker all day! Ah, happy days!

High School Mascot:
We never had such things back then.

First Job:
I ran my own retro clothes business, mostly fifties and sixties stuff.

Favorite Food:
Classic Sunday Lunch/roast dinner – beef, pork or chicken with heaps of veggies and gravy.

Favorite Ice Cream topping:
Grated, dried Puffin.

Staying with short answers lets talk about what you do: Comic(s) you created Before 1929:
Not much, I had a bad case of writer’s block which probably had something do with my folks not being born yet.

May 19, 1930 - May 19, 2030:
Various lots of Aliens, Predator, Terminator, Star Trek, Star Wars, Planet of the Apes. Warhammer & Warhammer 40k, Blade, Wolverine, X-Force, Batman, Vampirella, Witchblade, The Establishment, Stormwatch, Days Missing, Kingdom of the Wicked, War of the Worlds, Scarlet Traces, Scarlet Traces: The Great Game, Victorian Undead, Aladdin: Legacy of the Lost.
I’ve also written a number of series for 2000AD over here, as well as some Dr Who and Torchwood. I’m also adapting the Sherlock Holmes canon into a series of graphic novels. I’ve just finished the last of the four Holmes novels and then it’s on to the short stories.

2030 and Beyond!:
I’ll let you know when I get there.

Alright all that stuff aside lets get to the meat of the interview:

What do you do when not making comics?
Sleeping. We have a small child who could give the Duracell Bunny a run for it’s money. A good nights, uninterrupted sleep is rarer than a signed copy of Amazing Fantasy #15.

All time best comic movie you ever saw and why?
Close tie between the first Sam Rami Spider-Man movie and Iron Man. They both catch the flavor of their respective characters perfectly. Watching the Spider-Man movie took me right back to when I was a kid and read those first Steve Ditko and John Romita stories. Also, you can have the slickest CGI in the world but it’s the characters that make those pretty pictures work.

All time worst comic movie you ever saw and why?
The Spirit – dear God in Heaven! You want to know why, it’s because it’s a huge piece of anal extrusion from start to finish. That humming sound you hear is poor Will Eisner spinning in his grave at warp speed.

When you were 9 and 11 what were you for Halloween? When I was young we never did that heathen Halloween stuff over here, although it’s big now. We had (and still have) Bonfire night instead, where we ritually burn the effigy of a 15th century Catholic assassin who tried blow up the Houses of Parliament and kill the Government of the time. So you know, it’s for the kids!

Any TV shows grabbing your attention these days?
Being the father of a small child, I usually end up watching what she wants which is Peppa Pig, Ben and Holly’s Little Kingdom and Humf. Which, I have to admit can be pretty entertaining at times. The first two were made by many of the same people who made the adult, animated series Crapston Villas, so include a few sly nods to the adults in the audience. Humf, is odd in that it’s set in a world populated by monsters, where humans are fictional characters.

Having just read that back, I can see I really need to get out more.

Other than toddler TV, I watch, 30 Rock. BSG, Boston Legal, Being Human, Caprica, Big Bang Theory, City of Vice (Law and Order in 17th century London). I’ve also been re-watching the 1960’s The Avengers, Farscape and Babylon 5. I forgot how good B5 was. It’s infinitely superior to Star Trek:Next Gen’ and Star Trek:Voyager.

Favorite music to listen to, right now?
A mix of stuff, depending on my mood and time of day. Just lately it’s been a lot of PiL, Stiff Little Fingers, Kraftwerk, Bauhaus. The Specials, The Jam, The Action and The Kinks. Sundry bits of Ska, Northern Soul and 80’s synth’ stuff.

What could you do with a meat ball, a copy of Futurama Vol.1 and a big box of hair extensions?
Make a time machine and I’ve already done it. You should have seen what the alternative 2010 looked like.

If you got kidnapped by ghost pirates how would you free yourself?
Threaten to set Disney’s lawyers on them for copyright infringement.

Back to comic stuff for now.

Knowing that Iceman is the greatest hero of all time, why do you think he is so underused?
I’m a little out of the loop with the X-books so you’ll have to bare with me. I think he has a cool power (sorry) but I always thought Bobby Drake was pretty flat as a character. Favorite comic character when you were 5, 10 and 15?
5 – Would be Dennis the Menace, the proper UK one, not that Aryan blonde moppet you have over there. The UK Dennis, was a vicious, spiky haired, stripy jumper-wearing thug – a junior school Johnny Rotten and he has a dog called Gnasher – what’s not to love.

10 – The Black Max, set in World War One. Evil air ace Baron Maximillian Von Klorr uses giant, bi-plane sized bat-creatures against the allies and Lieutenant Tim Wilson of the RFC n particular..

15 – Judge Dredd. The future of law enforcement. The strip was a revelation, brutal, bloody and bloody funny. Still going strong.

You find a genie lamp, but he only offers you 3 comic related wishes what are they?
1: A complete, mint set of everything Marvel and DC put out in their first twenty years and the number of a good auction house.
2: A pair of bolt cutters and the thumbs of a former editor at a major comic publisher…oh, and a water-tight alibi.
3: That my mom had lived long enough to see her grandchildren. Actually, make this the top one. I know it’s not comic related but let’s get a little perspective shall we.

Alright your making a comic about an a construction crew who build doughnuts and eat buildings. What’s the name of the book and sell me on a quick pitch, Go!
The Building Eating Doughnut Guys. For every $3.99 issue you get a coupon for a years worth of free medical insurance. Just watch those babies fly off the shelves.

We all know you can write a good comic or two, but what do you really want to be when you grow up?
Honestly. A ‘Right Stuff’ era astronaut. The one’s from the Mercury and early Apollo programs. I was six when Neil Armstrong walked on the Moon and I remember watching it on a little TV set in grainy black and white and being told they were pictures from another world. That kind of thing stays with you. At the risk of sounding like an old fart, I feel sorry for kids today in that they seem to have lost a sense of wonder in things. They’re carrying around in their pockets technology that has more computing power than any one of those rockets back in the day. Yet it’s all treated with blithe indifference. The launch of the space shuttle barely makes the news these days unless their an accident.

Where is the real money at in comic creating?
Breaking into Mark Millar’s house and holding an acetylene torch to his balls until he signs all his royalty checks over to you. Other than that, go sell a kidney, you’ll make more and it’ll hurt less.

When your making comics what’s going on around you? Music, what kind? Silence? TV on?
I like peace and quiet which is a rare thing given we currently live in one of the roughest parts of the city right now. Nice house, good neighbors. shitty area. The nightly (and sometimes daily) chorus of police and ambulance sirens are wryly called the Erdington Lullaby.

Favorite character you ever created/worked on and why?
It changes frequently but the top two would be Robert Autumn, the dashing English spy and adventurer from Scarlet Traces, my steampunk sequel to War of the Worlds. I’m also v. fond of Link from Stormwatch , mainly because he’s a grumpy SOB like me and faced down Midnighter without batting an eye.

10 years from now. Where do you see yourself?
Still trying to think up an answer to this question. You’ve got the cash to buy all those silver stakes and you think the IRS won’t notice!

Arabian Niiiighhttts!

Radical Publishing?

Horror Comics?
Hard to do right, or good.

Harry Potter?
The kind of thing that usually irritates the Hell out of me but I’ve found the books a guilty pleasure. Also, big admirer of Jo’ Rowling. Check out her Harvard commencement speech on www.TED.com

Kathisophobia- Fear of sitting down?
Jerry Lee Lewis

Mr. Magoo?
Laser eye surgery. If he can’t afford it, tell him to buy a copy of The Building Eating Doughnut Guys.

The NRA?
Cold dead hands? Happy to oblige. Until then, buy some mittens ladies.

Decapitated Dan?
The son I never had.

Ian Edginton?
Does not exist.

Thanks so much Ian.

To find out more about Ian and his products please go ... He has no page! You can check his Wikipedia entry though http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ian_Edginton.
Posted by Decapitated Dan at 11:52 AM Labels: Ian Edington, Interview, Radical Publishing

