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with Myatt Murphy
Interview
with: Troy
Brownfield
On Wednesday the 7th, the first issue of Two Over Ten landed
on the newsstands. The writer of this new comic is a young
guy who has made quite the name for himself in journalism
in the past eight years. Murphy has been writing over fifty
features a year for publications such as Cosmopolitan, Details,
Esquire, GQ, Maxim, Men's Health and Penthouse. Combined with
international issues, Murphy's work reaches more than 40 million
readers annually. Frankly, you wouldn't believe some of the
things this guy has gotten to do in the name of reporting.
Ladies and Gentlemen, Myatt Murphy!
THE BIG Q&A
Q1.
What are your earliest memories of having a love for comics?
A1.
Back in 1974, long before the words 'comic' and 'collectible'
ever became used in the same sentence, store owners still
used to rip the covers off of whatever comics they didn't
sell and mail them back to their distributors for full credit
(shudder when you fathom how many X-Men #94's were senselessly
slaughtered to recoup that whopping quarter buy-back!).
My Dad
used to work as a soda vendor delivering cases of 7-up and
stuff to supermarkets and other Mom and Pops (convenience
stores) so he would grab every coverless comic he could find
and bring them home to me. If it was Marvel, DC or (yes, I'll
admit it…choke!) Archie, I read it from 1974-1979. I'd like
to say I read them cover to cover, but that would require
them having covers in the first place. I couldn't tell you
what the outside looked like to this day, but the first comic
I ever read was an old Flash where he battled The Top and
finished the issue telling his wife Iris about it over a good
pipeful of Prince Albert or whatever the Hell he was smoking
back then. Since the glory days of free books, I've eventually
found all the comics I read as a kid (old Flash and Green
Lantern being my two all-time favorites) but not without serious
effort, since I don't know what the comic ever looked like.
To this day, I'll look at a comic I don't recognize, wonder
if I ever read it, open it up and have an instant flashback
(followed by an immediate escort out of the comic store for
opening up every 70's book I find.)
Q2. How did you get into your magazine writing gig?
A2.
I took a job answering letters in 1993 for Men's Health (a
magazine that wasn't nearly as popular then as it is today.)
Back then, my days were spend answering phones where readers
would tell me they wanted to know if we ever ran any articles
on genital warts or 10 ways to lose 50 pounds. I would find
it, xerox it, mail it and then pray for God to find me a better
job, like freelance boil lancing or something equally exotic.
To keep from hating my life, I used to put art up from comic
books I liked, so all the editors knew I was a comic fan.
I would get asked all the important questions like "What was
that thing that Kirk used to shoot people with?" and "Didn't
Batman have some kind of man servant?" when editors needed
to add some pop culture to their stories or prove to others
that I was a geek.
One day,
an editor was doing a freelance piece on comic collecting,
saw my wall of tribute to Dave Sim, Neal Adams and the like,
and asked to interview me. I accepted and four months later,
there I was, on the stands, telling thousands of Boy's Life
readers a Mylar Snug wasn't an illegal wrestling hold and
that Valiant was a wise investment (If you took my advice
back then, please don't hate me. I'm still sitting on 10 copies
of Bloodshot #1 myself, alright?!?)
I dug
seeing my name in print, started asking to do some writing
at the magazine and then eventually ended up writing about
a third of it every month under three different pen names
(All three of my personas were oddly enough all underpaid.
Note to all writers: If you see the words 'Work for hire',
run like John Goodman thinks you're free food.) That led to
writing for all the major men's and women's magazines from
GQ, Details, Maxim, Penthouse, Cosmo, Glamour, Sports Illustrated,
etc. It's good money (plus, working at home lets me type in
the nude. My old editor at the Christian Monitor never really
understood that side of me…)
Q3. Reading over your bio, you've had some amazing experiences.
Brief us on running with the DEA and wrestling reptiles, among
others.
A3.
Yes, the jury's still out on whether I'm really brave or very,
very, very, very stupid (The smart money's on the latter.)
The alligator wrestling was just perfect timing. I was on
Marco Island in Florida doing a travel story when I heard
about this 80+ year old guy who used to be a gator wrestler.
The locals told me he could still do it (even though he was
now legally blind and lucky when he could make it through
the day without pissing on his shoes) I went to interview
this modern-day Matt Murdock at his gator petting zoo, watched
him hop on some 300-lb. living handbag and jump off. When
I challenged him if the thing was even breathing, let alone
alive (since it barely moved when he was on him) he dared
me to do it. Not to be shown up by some guy that couldn't
beat Bob Hope in a foot race, I did it. All four limbs accounted
for, but I did drop about a gallon of sweat all over that
things back. I came back, told an editor at Maxim about the
experience and he had me write an article teaching others
how to do it (You know, in case you ever get the urge…)
I've done
other fun stuff like being thrown in a simulated concentration
camp, cave diving, learning sex tips from Amsterdam prostitutes
and even spending time with a high-speed narcotics unit in
Dayton, OH with David Morrell (author of First Blood, you
know, Rambo) and Marcus Wynne (author of No Other Option).
It was fun, if you're into wearing flak jackets, shooting
really, really big guns. I was just grateful at the end of
the day if I still had a pulse and didn't have scabies from
whatever crack dealer brushed past me on the way to the paddy
wagon.
Q4.
You've interviewed the Tennis Goddess, herself, Ms. Anna.
Is she really that hot in person?
A4.
Mmmmm…yes. Shorter, but no less sexually intimidating. And,
I'm proud to say that after being flown down to spend the
entire day with her and even telling her how to stand for
the photo shoot, the woman still wouldn't recognize me on
the street. Sigh…but can you really stay mad at someone like
Anna? I mean really!
Q5.
Give us the inside on "Two Over Ten".
A5.
Well, the basic premise is simple: In Two Over Ten, everyone
has a soul, but in this story, it's called a 'given'. Each
given has its very own title. You may be the Sullen while
your father is really the Break, etc. It's the name the Gods
know us by…but it also decides what powers we truly possess.
It's not as cool as it sounds. Your gift may be as lame as
to be able to move only oyster crackers with your mind…or
you could have a talent for recreating atmospheres on different
planets and making them breathable. Either way, it really
doesn't matter, because you'll never get a chance to use them.
Casey o'Beirne is the seventeen-year old girl chosen by the
Gods to make sure we never know about the abilities within
ourselves. In her sleep, she secretly teleports into the rooms
of babies throughout the world and essentially "clips the
wings" of their givens by stealing a piece of them and retaining
it within herself. The story starts when she arrives at the
house of Brenden Wynne, an alcoholic whose wife has recently
left him and the father of an 18-month old child named Joshua.
When Casey appears to turn off Joshua's given, she wakes up
to find herself standing over the crib of the one 'given'
that cannot be surpressed by her powers. The child is known
as the Release. Touching the child causes hundreds of these
'pieces' to return to their rightful adult owners. And that's
when all Hell breaks loose.
One of
the 'pieces' finds its way back to Miquel Zamudio, a small
time thug who is instantly aware of his ability, which is
to steal physical parts (muscle, brain matter, etc.) He builds
himself into the perfect human being and quickly uses his
newfound powers to soar up the ranks of the Mexican Mafia.
The five issue mini-series deals with Casey's struggle to
reabsorb his given (and others like him) before their threat
grows too large for her to handle, as well as decide the fate
of the Release child. In her quest, he enlists the help of
Brenden, who is unaware that as he helps her, he is helping
the woman whose duty it is to kill his own child.
Once you
understand the premise, it's easy to tie the theory into anything
and everything, even things that have explanation. It's a
timeless cosmic food chain that has gone on since the beginning
of time…but it's a cycle that sometimes breaks down once in
a while. The incident that sets things in motion with Casey
and the Release baby is one that, as a reader, you assume
has been going on since the dawn of time, only with different
individuals (since these powers, or givens, are passed on
in a reincarnation way when we die). Could the elusive Chalk
Giants been drawn by a child who only had the ability to simply
move pieces of Earth? Could the disappearance of the Incas
be linked to one native who lost control of their power for
one brief moment in time? Could even certain religions have
been born from just one individual who had his given returned
and was believed to be a God, before having it silenced once
again? That's up to the reader to decide.
I'll be
curious to see how readers react to the difference between
the dialogue and the narrative. One of my favorite stories
is Harlan Ellison's Star Trek episode where after letting
Joan Collins become road pizza, they make it back to the future
and Kirk's closing line is simply "Let's get the Hell out
of here." He could have fired off some well-rehearsed speech
that would make readers grab their chins and ponder the intricacies
of life but no, he chose something that felt out of place.
It was real and human and believable and that's why it's a
legend.
I don't
have the balls (or the stupidity) to draw parallels with Two
Over Ten, but I wrote the ordinary characters as ordinary
as possible, saving the poetic license for the narrator of
the piece and the characters whose abilities would allow them
to be intelligent enough to sound prolific.
Q6.
Do you have more comic projects coming up?
A6.
Sure do. The next series after Two Over Ten starting in April
2002 will be Fade From Blue. It's the story of four half-sisters
who come together after a series of accidents take the lives
of their mothers. The story starts several years after these
events, when one of the sisters learns that the one they believe
is responsible is still alive. But don't let the dark undertone
fool you. There's a lot of humor mixed in with the compassion
and I think it's a story that will be appreciated by both
male and female readers alike. For a sneak peek, people can
check out www.secondtosomestudios.com after November 20, 2001.
As for Two Over Ten, the mini-series has a finite ending so
readers won't be disappointed, but the way it ends does lend
itself to the possibility of continuing with the characters
that remain. If we get a good enough response, I'd love to
start the series from either where it ends or jump the storyline
to the past or future, where other occurrences with the Release
child could create an entirely new storyline all-together.
It's very much like the Crow in the sense that it could easily
continue but with an entirely different cast of characters.
What direction that takes however, I may leave entirely up
to the readers.
Q7. Okay, your ultimate magazine cover story. What would it
be?
A7.
Back in the mid-90's, I had been contacted by the USA Network
to interview some obscure actress that was starring in some
TV series. I thought the show would be a flop and passed to
write on something far more significant to the average reader
(I think it was an article about how to or something equally
important.)
Years
later, I'm visiting a friend in Miami who was in love with
this show and got me hooked. The show was La Femme Nikita
and I (like any guy with vision, a working imagination and
an ounce of testosterone) became obsessed with Peta Wilson.
Two months later, I'm rummaging through some useless stuff
and I come across the old press kit I had been sent years
back from USA. Yes, the woman they wanted me to interview
was Peta Wilson. Yes, I processed to soak the press release
with my own tears of regret and yes, I still have the 8 by
10 glossy that came with the kit hanging up in my bedroom.
So if
you asked me what article I'd like to write, it would have
to be…Exclusive interview with Peta Wilson: Why I fell in
love with the short, socially-dyslexic writer who blew me
off when I was nobody! Hell, I can dream, can't I?
We'd like
to thank Myatt for taking the time with us here at the Big
Question. Obviously, check out "Two Over Ten" and www.secondtosomestudios.com.
Also, keep an eye out for his work in mainstream magazines.
You've gotta respect a guy who writes about the DEA for Penthouse.
Troy
Brownfield is the Editor-in-Chief of Shotgun Reviews. Send
him suggestions for future Big Questions at psikotyk@aol.com.
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