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Image Central.com
1. In a nutshell, tell us what Lady Pendragon is about, and
who the main character is.
Lady Pendragon is a tale combining mythical elements of the
Arthurian legend with some factual historical tidbits. There is a present and a past
storyline set in the Dark Ages. The past story focuses on the exploits of Guinevere,
following the death of her husband King Arthur. The present day story focuses on Jennifer
Drake, a 28 year old novelist who specializes in historical fiction. Through a complicated
sequence of events, Jennifer is reunited with the sword of power in the present, causing
magic to return to the earth.
2. Why did you choose Lady Pendragon as the comic you'd strike out on your own
with?
I love the sweeping stories of the Arthurian mythology.
They're timeless and retold for every generation. I've been wanting to break off on my own
for some time now and doing it on a project that I'm very passionate about seemed to make
a lot of sense.
3. What are your plans for Lady Pendragon? Does it have a definite beginning or end, or do
you plan to take it as far as you can go?
There are stories I'm telling in the past, present and the future and I have a definite
ending in mind. But it could take place years from now and that still doesn't mean it's
the end of the series. I plan on doing the book on an ongoing basis.
4. Why will Lady Pendragon appeal to today's comic fans?
I think it blends sci-fi and fantasy into an action-adventure tale. The artwork of John
Stinsman is fabulous and I think people can look at the book and really enjoy the art, but
there's also a complicated tale full of love, death, betrayal and all kinds of good stuff
that will hopefully make people want to come back for more.
5. We've seen your name listed in countless Extreme/Maximum/Awesome titles, as the
Promo and Marketing guy. What can we expect from Matt Hawkins: Creator/Writer/Editor?
I'm going to focus my energies on Lady Pendragon for the foreseeable future. I am a
partner of Action Toys a toy company with Greg Aronowitz as the other partner.
6. What's harder, creating the books or promoting them?
For me it's creating them. I've been promoting comics for so long it's become second
nature for me. A lot of it's contacts. I have a lot more respect for the creative people
in the industry than I used to.
7. What is it that drew you to comics, and what keeps you there?
I love the medium and the ability to tell the craziest of stories and work with some
amazingly creative and down-to-earth people. What keeps me here is the response from the
fans to the material. I thought about getting a full time job in the video game industry
(my other love), but opted to put my full energies into Lady Pendragon.
8. As the comic industry stands right now, what's good about it, and what's bad?
The good thing is that some of the best books in years are coming out. I think we're
having a renaissance of creativity now that the "gimmick" years seem to be
heaving their final death throw. The main bad thing I can see is that there are not a lot
of comic shops left. I think we all need to support the local comic shop or he may not be
there next week.
9.
When I had the opportunity to meet you face-to-face, you had some interesting thoughts on
artists getting stale as they get older, could you elaborate on that for us?
This is only my opinion and doesn't apply to everyone, but it seems like there are some
artists who don't keep up with the times. There are some great artists from the '80's, fan
favorites, who people don't even know who they are anymore.
10. I'll finish with any easy one. What comics are you currently into, and who do
you think is really presenting some original and fresh ideas right now?
I really like Inhumans, I think it and Astro City are far-and-away the best books
published in comics now. I love Frank Miller's work. John Ostrander is one of the best,
unsung heroes out there writing comics right now. I'd have to say that Inhumans is the
best book out there right now (IMHO).