Mark Waid, a New York Times bestselling author, has written and edited more than 2000 graphic novels over the course of his 40-year career. He is best known for Kingdom Come, produced with painter Alex Ross, which imagines a future in which Superman and his generation of heroes have to come out of retirement to keep the newer, wilder, undisciplined next generation of superheroes from sparking a global war. Currently a resident of Santa Monica, he has lived in many, many places, but none more roach-infested than the two-bedroom Richmond apartment he shared with Kermit Woodall and their mutual friend, Michael Joyner.
If you were stranded on a deserted planet with only one book to read, but it turned out to be one of your own, how would you feel?
Cheated by wretched fate. On the other hand, when it comes to my own work, I have the memory of a toaster, so when I do reread old stories, I often rather enjoy them. Which enjoyment is immediately followed by the depressing thought, “Jesus, whatever happened to THAT Mark Waid?”
If you had to choose between being a mermaid or a dragon, which would you pick and why?
A mermaid, of course. Dragons aren’t real.
If you could time travel to any point in history, which era would you choose, and why?
The future’s out. As much as I love modern conveniences, I’m terrified I’d step out of the transport device onto Fury Road, the way this world is going. I wouldn’t mind spending some time in the mid-1950s if it meant I could see Elvis and Buddy Holly perform in their salad days.
If you could swap lives with any character from one of your books for a day, who would it be and what would you do?
Were I Superman, I would waste no time seizing every single civilian-owned assault weapon in America and drop them into a goddamned volcano.
If you could have any fictional pet as a companion, what would it be and why?
Superman has a bunch of pets with his superpowers–that would be cool–but no one should own a cat who has heat vision. Same with Super-Monkey, same with Super-Dog. But he also has the telepathic Comet, the Super-Horse, who used to be a centaur and can hold a conversation. Let’s go with Comet.
If you had to choose between having the ability to speak with animals or plants, which would you choose and why?
What is a dog going to say to me? “I want out, take me out, I’m hungry, SQUIRREL!”? And I have enough actual talking people around me who ooze contempt to add a cat to that mix. And yet, even with those drawbacks, animals have to be more interesting to talk to than an ear of corn. I get enough of that level of conversation at least once per convention when some fan comes up to me and starts excitedly recapping for me the plots to my own stories.
What Pre-1960s SF television show or movie would you like to see get a big-budget remake, and why?
I know it was remade in 1978 with Donald Sutherland, but if someone’s even right now not remaking Invasion of the Body Snatchers as an allegory for MAGA, they’re missing a bet.
Mark Waid is currently writing the Superman-Batman team-up series, World’s Finest, for DC Comics. He has also begun, alongside veteran artist Howard Chaykin, teaching day-long traveling seminars on how to create comics and graphic novels. Look for one in your area somewhere in 2024!
Twitter: @markwaid
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