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Welcome back kiddies! This time we welcome into the dungeon one of my favorite writers and soon to be yours, David Hine. So sit there and pretend to enjoy it as much as I did, as he tells us all about his work and so much more.

Alright let’s start out with a short answer section and get the usual out of the way.

Name:
David Hine

Age:
53

Married/Single/Dating/Other:
Other. Hah!

Pets:
Scruffy and Scrappy, plus cat fleas, mice, dead birds…

Highest Education Level:
Bachelor of Arts Degree in Graphic Design at Exeter College of Art and Design.

High School Mascot:
High school? Mascot? You Americans are so quaint.

First Job:
Chopping wood, fetching water from the well. We were poor.

Favorite place to let loose:
Torture Garden (but keep that to yourself).

Favorite Ice Cream toppings:
Toffee fudge with chocolate sauce, sprinkled with chocolate er… sprinkles?

Staying with short answers let’s talk about what you do:

Comic(s) you created Before May 17, 1985 :
Primal Scream and Joe Public Comics (self-published),
The Man from 2000 (2000AD – story Oleh Stepaniuk),
Dead End and Riot (Knockabout Comics),
Zero Comix (weekly strip in Record Mirror),
Big Ben (Warrior – inks only).

May 18, 1985 – May 18, 1995:
Lots and lots of inks for Marvel UK,
True Romance (Renegade Romance – story and art),
Sticky Fingers (Crisis – story by Myra Hancock),
Tao de Moto (2000AD – story by Myra Hancock),
Up on the Roof and Worms (Crisis – story and art)
Martin (Revolver Horror Special – story and art),
Didn’t you love my Brother and Crisis in China (Crisis – both written by Tony Allen),
The Spider (2000AD Action Special – story by Mark Millar),
Maniac 5 (2000AD – story by Mark Millar),
Mambo (2000AD – story and art),
Judge Dredd: Blowout (2000AD – story by John Wagner),
Vector 13 (2000AD – story by Peter Hogan),
Strange Embrace (Atomeka – story and art) and various educational and advertising strips.

May 19, 1995 – Tomorrow:
Scripts For:
Marvel: District X, Mutopia X, Daredevil: Redemption, X-Men: Colossus Bloodline, Civil War: X-Men, X-Men: The 198, What If? Deadly Genesis, What If? Annihilation, Son of M, Inhumans: Silent War, Spider-Man Noir (2 series).
For DC: The Joker’s Asylum: Two-Face, The Brave and the Bold # 19 – 22, Faces of Evil: Deathstroke, Battle for the Cowl: Arkham Asylum, Arkham Reborn.
For Radical Comics: FVZA, Ryder on The Storm.
For Tokyopop: Poison Candy (2nd volume in 2010 – co-creator Hanzo Steinbach).
For Image: Spawn # 150 – 184, The Bulletproof Coffin (6-issue mini series coming in 2010! Co-creator – Shaky Kane!)

On art:
Elephantmen # 6 (6 pages) and another entire issue of Elephantmen, story and art, coming in 2010.

Alright all that stuff aside, let’s get to the meat of the interview:
What do you do when not making comics?

Read and buy books, too many books; I buy new and secondhand, from bookshops and online. I borrow books. I steal books. I need a second home to store them all. Also watch lots of movies with my partner and son – going to the movies is our favourite thing.

Your iPod gets stuck on one band for 2 days. Who do you hope it is?

Well, I hope to God it’s not The Jesus and Mary Chain. I love them, but you know, two days of screaming feedback could drive me over the edge.

You’re on a cruise when all of a sudden out of the water emerges the lost city of Atlantis. What do you hope to learn from these lost people?

There is a question that has been tormenting me since I wrote the Inhumans for Marvel, a question that has baffled the world’s greatest intellects, and the Atlanteans may just be the ones with the wisdom to finally give us the definitive answer: “Is Lockjaw a dog?”

When you were 10 and 30 what were you for Halloween?

Ah, more quaint American traditions. There were no Satanic Halloween celebrations here in England when I was a kid, but the degenerate influence of our former colonies has finally crept into our society, and I have to admit I have succumbed to the temptation to put on tacky make-up and a cheap costume to parade myself as one of the undead.

Favorite comic character when you were 7, 17 and 27?

7: Dennis the Menace (the English version from the Beano comic – a real menace, not like your quaint American version).
17: Mr Natural
27: Alack Sinner

If while on a trip through the Andes Mountains you happen to find the Abominable Snowman, would you:
A. Take a picture with your camera to share with all your friends.
B. Go catch that big white bastard because you need a new trophy for your great room.
C. Crap your pants because you didn’t think he was real, which for some odd reason proves that the child in you is dead and you need to get your imagination back.

Can I crap my pants, shoot the bastard, then take a picture of the corpse to share with my Facebook friends?

Back to comic stuff for now.

Knowing that Iceman is the greatest hero of all time, why do you think he is so underused?

Hey, I used him! But I have to admit I couldn’t shake the urge to give him the “I’m so cool I pee ice-cubes” line.

Alright you’re making a comic about the workers of a box factory who are secretly planning on taking over the Arctic Ocean. What’s the name of the book, and sell me on a quick pitch? Go!

It’s called ‘The Ice Box’. With global warming, some parts of the world will suffer from extreme drought, while simultaneously the ice caps will be melting. Our heroes travel to the Arctic where they set out to “Box That Ice!” before the big meltdown, and ship it to a secret location, to await the day when it will be worth more than gold. But Iceman has other ideas!

We all know your writing is amazing, but what do you really want to be when you grow up?

I want to be a Smartass Journalist Assassin.

Where is the real money at in comic creating?

Being Mark Millar. (Bastard!)

When you’re making comics what’s going on around you? Music, what kind? Silence? TV on?

Only movie theme music and classical stuff. No lyrics. I also like to write in cafes. The general background buzz of human activity is better than silence.

What do you know about the process of painting ones toenails?

I’ve seen Kubrick’s Lolita so I know you have to put bits of cotton wool between the toes before you start.

Alright we can finish up with a quick word association game. I will say a word, you give me a quick one sentence response.

FVZA?
Radical’s finest comic book.

Radical Publishing?
America’s finest, independent publisher (you see what I’m saying here?)

Horror Comics?
Eddie Izzard!

Marlon Brando?
The Horror! The Horror!

Batman?
Jingle Bells, Batman smells… I know, I know, but this is word association, it [was] Christmas, what can I say?

Burger King?
I once went into a Burger King that had a glory hole in the lavatory. For some reason I find that very, very scary.

Thunderbirds Are Go?
Thunderbirds are gone.

Decapitated Dan?
Well I guess I don’t have to rip your head off to spit down your neck…

David Hine?
White Anglo Saxon Lapsed Protestant Middle-Class Male Writer Without a Cause.

Haha! Thanks so much for taking the time to share with us David.

I highly recommend checking out anything and everything that David works on. FVZA is an amazing story that is getting a lot of attention and you can find out more about it at radicalcomics.com

Decapitated Dan
decapitateddan@comicattack.net