BY JENNIFER M. CONTINO Dean Haspiel and Michel Fiffe are in the middle of a Brawl, but, don't worry, there aren't too many punches being thrown and not a lot of blood being spilled. The two are sharing face time in the Image three-part limited series. Haspiel's Billy Dogma and Fiffe's Panorama are featured in each issue. Will these stories equal a comics TKO in the cash registers? Fiffe hopes so. In between rounds, he gives us the one-two punch of Panorama.
THE PULSE: For our readers meeting you for the first time in this interview, what other works have you done in and around the field of comics prior to Act-i-Vate and Brawl?
MICHEL FIFFE: I'm a regular contributor to "Negative Burn" comic for Image/Desperado, as well as having short stories published in "Reflux" #3 and "Commercial Suicide" magazine.
THE PULSE: How did you come up with your "psychedelic nightmare" story of Panorama?
FIFFE: I wanted to have a comic where I could artistically loosen up and develop a specific style that addressed my interests free of editorial and commercial demands. In doing so, I mixed up several ideas I had rolling around into one solid story filtered through my love for Steve Ditko's "Shade the Changing Man" and Shinya Tsukamoto's "Tetsuo the Iron Man".
THE PULSE: Why did you want to call your tale "Panorama"?
FIFFE: Originally it was going to be an eight page story that developed into a 48 page story with a sequel in the works. It originally focused on a runaway and his experiences in the big city, so I wanted a fairly simple title. As the scope of the main theme broadened, "Panorama" seemed even more apropos. Plus, my well paid agent thought it'd be commercially smart to have a word with an O in the middle for design purposes.
THE PULSE: What kind of powers does your teenage lead have?
FIFFE: If Plastic Man made love to Rubber Johnny while listening to Kraftewerk B-sides backwards, their post coital spams would manifest themselves as Augustus' logic defying flesh contortions.
THE PULSE: How did getting powers change his life? I mean, some of us imagine having a super power would be the end all be all – the best thing in the world to happen. But I imagine the reality might not be all that we dream …
FIFFE: I wanted his uncontrollable powers to be used as a metaphor for a curse, a disease, or an STD. You know, things that we have little to no control over. Augustus didn't discover his power and decide to fight crime. He saw it as a sign to run away and live it up as a neurotic, independent kid far away from his normal life. It's ultra physical anxiety, it's grotesque puberty, it's something that he doesn't care how he acquired it but what he has to do to get rid of it (as if that were an option).
THE PULSE: How long have you been working on Panorama? Were you at all influenced by X-Men, Rising Stars or Heroes or any other series where a normal person gets a power and has to cope?
FIFFE: I've been working on Panorama for about two years and I never intended it to be a "realistic take" on having super powers. I wanted the characters to act as naturally as possible in a surreal setting. I think those other works you mentioned are really entrenched in "our world", whereas all of my characters live in the specific platform I created for them. I'm more influenced by Love & Rockets, Ultra Gash Inferno and Yummy Fur.
THE PULSE: In the solicits, Panorama was aimed towards fans of "Manga-inspired Ditko noir." I don't think I've ever heard anything described as that before … what does it mean to you to have Panorama touted as that?
FIFFE: Those are some of my biggest influences on this project and my comics making, period. It makes perfect sense to me and I guess nothing has been described as such before. While my style isn't identifiable as Manga, I'm very much into specific Manga artists like Suehiro Maruo ("Ultra Gash Inferno"), Katsuhiro Otomo ("Akira") and Hideshi Hino ("Hell Baby"). As for Steve Ditko... well, Ditko is one of the undisputed masters of comics. His work should be on museum walls, but he'd probably hate that.
THE PULSE: Mike Baron's called you a "master of noir." What do you think of Baron's work? How does it feel to receive praise like that?
FIFFE: It feels amazing and it's very flattering. I grew up reading Mike Baron's work in the 80's and well into today, so it's very cool to have him read my stuff and like it! His work is so deeply rooted in black humor that it's oftentimes misconstrued as "dark" or "grim". His stuff is funny, unpretentious, hopeful and well written.
THE PULSE: Who do you view as the masters of noir? Why?
FIFFE: Will Eisner and Alex Toth are the Kings of Comix Noir and the 50's work of Steve Ditko are equally impressive. David Mazzuchelli and Jaime Hernandez are the current noir masters that everyone is trying to catch up to.
THE PULSE: What's coming up in these three issues?
FIFFE: The entire "Panorama" story cut up into three pieces and serialized in every issue, back to back with Dean Haspiel's "Billy Dogma". It'll be twisted, it'll be hilarious, it'll never be boring.
THE PULSE: What have been some of the biggest challenges to working on something like this?
FIFFE: Having to carry a narrative for more than eight pages and having it make sense is a skill in itself. It's very daunting if I stop to think about it, so I just busy myself with creating it and moving forward. I rarely go back and look at my old art. I've also learned how to not be so precious when it comes to creating.
THE PULSE: Where can PULSE readers see some of your work online?
FIFFE: Go to act-i-vate.com ... Under handle of "Zegas", it's where I originally posted "Panorama" and currently post a lot of short, more experimental, neo-primitive uni-deconstructivist aggromantical comic tales. Pulse readers will love Act-i-vate in general. There are quite a few really cool, funny and innovative works that should be seen by the world. It's worth everybody's time.
THE PULSE: What other projects are you working on?
FIFFE: Tim Hamilton and I will be sharing the art chores on "Fall of Cthulhu" #8 published by Boom! Studios coming out soon. Also, I'm designing and drawing a futuristic, filth ridden America for Simon Fraser's "Nikolai Dante" published by 2000 A.D. Aside from plugging away pages for "Zegas Comics" online and planning my next big comic, I'm also halfway done with the sequel for "Panorama" which was unprecedented and proving to be just as sick and complex as the first. Argh! I can't wait for you to read it!!
The first part of Brawl will be in stores this October.
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