The 2015 slate of comics from Black Mask Comics has been a strong one so far, with many first issues going back for second printings, including “We Can Never Go Home” from Joshua Hood, Matthew Rosenberg, and Patrick Kindlon. Following two superpowered teens who have to leave town after things get out of hand, “We Can Never Go Home” is a coming of age road trip story mixed with superpowers and a dash of crime. In my opinion, it may just be the best Black Mask book yet. It’s high praise, but there’s something special here.
Read on as we chat with co-writer Matthew Rosenberg about awkward teenagers, music and comics connecting, mixtapes, signing tours, and much more. Be sure to head to your shop tomorrow for both issue 2 of “We Can Never Go Home” and the second printing of issue 1.
Duncan, one of the leads in “We Can Never Go Home”, seems like he’ll resonate with a lot of comic readers. He’s an awkward teenager who’s a bit of a jerk and says the wrong thing, gets picked on, and wants nothing more than to impress the pretty girl. Is there a bit of yourself in there?
Matthew Rosenberg: My favorite first question ever. Actually, yes, I am that awkward jerk in a lot of ways. I had a strange couple of teenage years where I lived on my own. I was actually a really good kid in a lot of ways but I found myself in trouble a few times because of stupid shit I was doing to impress people. Without getting into too much detail this book is sort of about something that happened to me and a girl I was friends with when we were 16. I tried to help her and definitely ended up being unable
One of the big moments in issue 1 is when Duncan makes Madison a mixtape. I think that’s one of those grand gestures that’s going to be lost on newer generations. What about the songs on that tape make it the right way for Duncan and Madison to connect?
MR: Man, folks do not have a lot of faith that 14 year olds will understand mixtapes. That keeps coming up.
The thing that I am intrigued by is that the people sort of see it as this intrinsically romantic gesture. I guess my experience is a bit different than most, and I definitely made mixtapes for girls I had crushes on when I was a kid, but there is a whole other level. I went to an all boys Catholic school for 10 years. There were maybe 4 punks in the whole school when I was 14. And we all made mixtapes for each other all the time. It wasn’t romantic, it was a secret club. It was about letting people into your world a little more. And that is a big part of what Duncan is doing. The songs, if you listen to them, aren’t sweet. There is a lot of pain and desperation in those songs, a lot of attitude and a lot of anger. He isn’t attempting to win her heart, he wants her to realize she is as alone as he is. And that’s the big difference. Duncan doesn’t want a girlfriend, he wants an accomplice.
While Duncan and Madison both have abilities, superpowers, whatever you want to call them, they’re quite different. Madison can get super strong, something she could use all the time but she hates it. Duncan can kill people with his thoughts, obviously something he can’t use often in good conscience. While Madison wishes she didn’t have powers, Duncan probably wishes he had any power but his. How is that disconnect, those opposing opinions on their abilities, going to help build or hurt their relationship?
MR: In a lot of ways their story is the story of growing up for a lot of people, just hyperfast and hyperviolent. Duncan and Madison are brought together by what they have in common, but may end up getting torn apart by how they feel about that. Both of them wish they were somebody else, never happy in their own skin. The difference is there is a way for Madison to embrace what she is and be something amazing. For Duncan, to be who he is means he will always be a monster.
Continued below“We Can Never Go Home” isn’t a “super” book in any real sense, even with the inclusion of the powers. It seems to be much more about that coming of age moment or that runaway road story that they’re embarking on. What did the inclusion of their powers add to the story for you that would be lacking otherwise?
MR: I wanted to get a gig writing the X-Men. Joking. Mostly. In a lot of ways the amazing thing about comics is that there are these tropes and cliches that are so well understood, so well known, that you can use them for shorthand in the same way film might use score or an album might use different production tricks. Understanding tropes doesn’t mean avoiding them, it just means using them to your advantage. This is a coming of age story in a lot of ways and the metaphor of 2 kids with out of control powers just works so easily. But more than that, the book is a sort of love letter to certain things- a lot of 80’s and early 90’s films like Badlands and Pump Up The Volume, but also comics like “Love & Rockets”, “Jimmy Corrigan”, “Brat Pack”, even “Runaways”. And what all those books do is plant one foot squarely in genre and one well outside. I wanted to use some comic cliches so I can fuck with them a little, that’s where their power comes from. Hopefully I pull it off.
The first issue is titled “What We Do Is Secret”, which is also one of the songs on the aforementioned mixtape. I have to imagine the other issues will follow that trend. It really seems like a lot of your work go hand in hand with music, whether it’s the subject matter, the creative process, or the finished product. What makes music so important to the process?
MR: Wouldn’t it suck if I didn’t do that with the tape? Like I just had this obvious and slightly clever thing with the issue titles and I just didn’t think to do it.
Well, music is very important to me and has been my whole life. I worked in music for a long time, I put out records, I toured with bands, all that stuff. So on a basic level I put a lot of myself into my work so the music element will seep into it. I also think it’s a cheap workaround that I very obviously embrace. In TV and Film they can also slap a song over a moment that easily instructs you how you are supposed to feel. It’s a copout and comics don’t have it. But Kieron Gillen, Rick Remender and I are probably always going to act like we do.
More than that though music is one of the last cultural dividing lines. It divides people into camps and tribes and their taste, in a small way, tells you about them. There is nothing else in the 21st century that does that. So Duncan is a punk, and that means something, and he makes Madison a tape, and that means something. It’s a storytelling tool, much like the super powers, but it just happens to come from outside comics.
One of the things I’ve found really interesting lately has been the intersection of music and comics. It’s always been there to a degree, but it seems like the last few years it’s really been there. You have guys like Max Bemis, Gerard Way, and Claudio Sanchez making comics and music, Bemis even giving away exclusive songs with each issue of “Polarity”. You’ve got guys like Curt Pires writing things like “Pop” which focuses on a literally manufactured pop star. And, of course, you have your collaborations with Ghostface Killah on “12 Reasons To Die” and “36 Seasons”. What do you think it is about comics and music that seem to make them compatible in that way?
MR: Well what’s funny is that most of the guys you mentioned come from the punk scene, which is where my writing partner Patrick and I come from. When I was young I saw Claudio and Gerard’s old bands before they became famous. My friends played me Max’s demos when he was still a kid trying to figure out how to be in a band. So there is definitely a weird commonality there.
Continued belowBeyond that I think there is a lot of crossover in the cultures of music and comics. Both are sort of marginalized mediums in a lot of ways, especially underground music. Collecting vinyl and collecting comics are complete parallels. Record shops and comic shops are very similar atmospheres. So on a base level I think it draws the same time of personalities to both. But more than that I think there is something beautiful in what each medium lacks. When you watch a TV show or movie everything is handed to you the way you are supposed to consume it. You get a full package. Comics and music get a lot their strength from implying those things. Imagining the visuals that go along with Run The Jewels or Hop Along or Converge is a big part of the music, even if it’s only subconscious. The same goes for trying to imagine what it looks like when Reed Richards moves or what Hopey Glass sounds like when she talks or what Kirby Krackle looks like in 3 dimensions. It all let’s part of your brain play along. I think naturally combining the two mediums to see how they can fit together just makes sense.
As we do this interview, “We Can Never Go Home” #1 is going back for a second printing, which is something that only a few Black Mask books can say. How is it, as a creator, to see that enough people have embraced this book of yours from a small publisher for it to need to be printed again to satisfy demand?
MR: On one hand it’s pretty amazing. The response to the book has been pretty overwhelming and I am really grateful. On the other hand I can’t help but realize how fundamentally flawed comics is. I have spoken to literally dozens and dozens of people who want to read my book and can’t. It is no ones fault really. A lot of retailers have been very supportive. A lot of press have been very kind. Black Mask supported the book very well and over printed a lot but still couldn’t meet demand. It just sucks when we turn storytelling into a fetish and niche. As long as it is difficult for people to easily get the things they want we can’t really expect comics to break into the mainstream. I never expected “We Can Never Go Home” to be the next “Saga” or “Walking Dead”, but my mom had to buy it on Ebay for $20 and that is just not really the mark of a medium that can expand. Also it indicates that I am a shitty son for not getting her one sooner.
You and Frank Barbiere just did a huge comic shop signing tour right around ECCC. This is something that I don’t think there’s enough comic creators doing. I’m sure it probably kills a bunch of your productive time, but what sort of things did you learn about comic fans and maybe even those buying your comics while you were doing all those signings?
MR: Yeah, our productivity was hammered for sure. We definitely were going back to the places we were staying and sitting in front of laptops working instead of seeing the towns or hanging out. I am not sure every comic creator would want to do what we did. I am sure many would pay money not to. Frank and I both have a history with punk and hardcore bands though so living out of a van or car isn’t a big deal for us though.
I think the big take aways from our signing tour was realizing just how many good books are out there and how much it is to ask of comic shop owners and readers to buy your book. So many people bought “We Can Never Go Home” and were so supportive and that was amazing. Really overwhelming a lot of nights. So many shops were welcoming and worked so hard to make us and the customers feel wanted. All of that was amazing and meant the world to Frank and I. But I also realized what each dollar spent on my book meant. If you aren’t spending a lot of time weighing your own book against “Saga” and “Sex Criminals” and “Lumberjanes” and whatever else, but then you still expect people to just buy your book, you are delusional. Every single person who picks up “We Can Never Go Home” is passing on another comic that I think is really good. That’s just the state of the market. I think our book offers something different and a lot of people seem to agree, which is great. But if it didn’t? I don’t know how I could ask anyone to read it.
The other big takeaway is how insanely crucial it is to be putting new readers into comic shops and getting new readers to check out your book. I feel like the creators who do bring in new people are doing everyone a huge service and we all owe them a debt. If you are trying to poach readers from “Batman” or “X-Men”, “The Walking Dead” or “Adventure Time”… you are wasting everyone’s time. Comics is so small and there is so much good stuff for anyone to be reading that fighting for existing marketshare and customers? It’s rearranging the deck chairs on the titanic. Brian Vaughan and Kelly Sue Deconnick are our ambassadors and they do a great job of showing what comics can be. And it’s on every publisher, every creator, and every shop owner to follow their lead and provide new ideas, new experiences, and a welcoming environment.
