Online desde: 05/01/2000       
Última atualização: 17/05/08       

Miracleman #20, written by Neil Gaiman

UHQ: Everybody is talking about Miracleman right now. About you and Joe Quesada and what's he's doing at Marvel. There are a lot of rumors that you might be thinking of giving Joe Quesada issue #25 of Miracleman. Do you want to shed light on this?

Gaiman: Joe and I finally got to speak. I mean what was weird is we knew more about this going on because it was being reported on the fan press before we got to talk to each other. Which is the great thing about the fan press, which is always ways ahead of what is actually happening in the real world.

The idea had occurred to me, but I'm not sure it had occurred to him until this stuff started coming up in the fan press. Then I spoke to him for two minutes before he left to England and I left for Brazil. We had a two minutes conversation where we said, "…let's see what we can do." When you come back from England and you come back from Brazil. I'm in Brazil and he's in England.

UHQ: There are some rumors now that he's been seen in London with you. (Laughter)

Gaiman: Cool! I'm delighted I was there. That's what I mean about the Internet. There's a level of truth, because it is written. People believe things that if a drunk told them in a bar or the fat kid who hangs around he front of the comic stores. He hangs around…

I don't know if you have them in Brazil. But in America, every comic store comes with a fat kid. He doesn't work there, but hangs around the front of the store and he says (Impersonating this imaginary kid):

"Jo Duffy, Oh, yeah! He's a great guy. I know Jo"
"Actually, Jo Duffy is a woman."
"Hey, what are you saying? I know Jo Duffy. He's a good guy."

Always in good mood, Neil Gaiman did an impersonation during the interview

These guys they sit there and they say … (impersonating again):

"You know the real reason why Alan Moore doesn't work for Marvel anymore. Has nothing to do with anything they say. It's all because, you know, the president of Marvel at the time was sleeping with Alan Moore sister."
And you say: "Actually, Alan doesn't have a sister."
"Look, I know this man! I heard it from Jo Duffy, man. And he's a good guy".

You always get the idiot who talks very loudly in front of the comic book store. They're not always fat. But many of them are. They hang there and they talk loudly as if they know everything, all the secrets.

These days those guys get to the Internet as well. You just see the words and you don't know. It's just one of those fat kids who hangs around the front of the comic store pretending to know everything.

UHQ: How is the current situation about the rights of Miracleman? Can we hope to see it being published again?

Cover of Spawn #9 with the first Angela appearance. This issue was written by Neil Gaiman, who also created the character, and it's one of the reasons for the current situation between Gaiman and Todd McFarlane

Gaiman: It's very very confusing. It's very strange. Todd McFarlane is obviously not somebody who considers… Todd McFarlane is somebody who promises things and as soon as it's convenient for him he does something else. And I think looking back on it, if I had my life over again, I would do pretty much everything the same but when Todd phone me up and said "Hey, let's strike a big blow for creator's rights. You'll own everything. It will be so cool. Write a regular issue of Spawn for me, you can do whatever you want".

I would say: "FUCK OFF, Todd." and put down the phone.

Because I think it's sad. You have this whole world now, in which.. McFarlane… people think of him as Todd, creator's rights. Todd McFarlane's company is the only company that doesn't pay royalties to their creators. The writers and artist on Spawn and other comics they don't get royalties. What they get is they get told, "We don't pay royalties. That's how the other guys do it. Because you are our friend and we love you every now and then Todd will send you a check. And it will be for cool money it will be better than royalties. Ok?" Which is fine, as long as Todd decides to send you a check. And one day Todd decides not to send you a check.

Me, I rather have royalties. I feel like that's what writers and artists have been fighting for, the whole creator's rights thing. That's what it was all about. And these days you have people like Todd McFarlane, who gained power talking about creator's rights, dragging the thing back to the 1930s, and people like Larry Marder who were actually there, at the creator's rights summit in Northampton, signing the summit on what rights creators had. You know, right there along with him.

I think it's sad. Truly sad.

UHQ: What do you think of Miracleman alter-ego been used on Hellspawn?

Gaiman: I just heard about it. I think it's fascinating.

UHQ: In a good way or bad way?

Neil Gaiman and his new book: American Gods

Gaiman: I'm not sure it's fascinating in good way. (Laughter).

It's just another example of Todd breaking a promise. I still have the stuff from him in writing. He give me Miracleman. He sent me all the film from Miracleman and he says: good, you go and use it. Now he's decided… he suddenly says: You know there's money in this… Fuck my promise. If Gaiman wants trouble he can go and sue me. Look, I'm worth a $100 million dollars; I bought a $3 million dollars baseball.

Cover of the book American Gods

It's kinda weird. I've been talking to lawyers about it. And they reply: yeah you're right. Yeah, you got all the stuff. Yeah, you may be able to win the case. He will appeal. If you win the case, you could also quite possibly win yourself all the way into bankruptcy. You could happily spend a million dollars on this legal case. Todd could spend a million dollars on it too. At the end of the legal case, Todd doesn't care. He has lots of more millions dollars from where that came from. You could work for the rest of your life to pay for a case that you won. Because you won the rights back for Miracleman, well woopi-doo. Because they gonna pay you a million dollars.

UHQ: The fans are waiting anxiously for American Gods. What do you expect from it?

Gaiman: American Gods is the first novel were I felt that I did something as good as Sandman. This is the first book that I really sat down, from the start, to write it alone.

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