Megalomaniacs and Supermen

Fabian Nicieza

By Lee Atchison
March 1, 2007

Fabian Nicieza has been writing comics since the mid-'80s, and he's worked on some of the best known comics around. From Superman to X-Men to Thunderbolts, Nicieza consistently produces stories that engage the readers and draw them back for more.

In the next few months, we'll get more Nicieza-goodness in the upcoming Thunderbolts Presents: Zemo - Born Better and several issues of Action Comics. Taking a quick break from his busy schedule, Nicieza chats with us about what it's like to write about megalomaniac supermen.

Sequential Tart: What can you tell us about Thunderbolts Presents: Zemo - Born Better?

Fabian Nicieza: I can tell you the first issue came out a couple weeks ago, so you better hurry up and buy it so you can understand what's going on when the second issue comes out! I can also say it's an interesting look at a very interesting character. You can learn about the fun-loving Zemo family at the same time as Helmut Zemo does, since he's actually bouncing through time and living alongside his ancestors! The question being that if he even survives the journey, how is he going to find his way home?

ST: Why Baron Zemo? What inspired you to specifically tell his story?

FN: I've been writing Helmut for six years now and enjoying every minute of the road we have taken him on, from crazed megalomaniac to conflicted megalomaniac to aspiring hero megalomaniac. We'd heard time and again that Helmut was "thirteenth" in the family line, but outside of his father, WWII Nazi foe of Captain America, Heinrich Zemo, we knew little to nothing about his family line. I thought, what better way for Helmut to continue growing as a character than having him learn real truths about his family rather then the tall-tales he was told growing up?

ST: What is your favorite part about doing a Baron Zemo story?

FN: His ego. His insufferable superiority complex and arrogance — especially now that it's linked to his genuine curiosity about doing the "right thing" — about becoming a better person and proving to the world why he is better than everyone else.

ST: How do you want to challenge readers with Baron Zemo? Like most of us, he's neither pure evil nor pure good, but his character plays around with expectations we give to both. What do you choose to focus on?

FN: I choose to focus on the fascinating aspect shared by all of our leaders: political, religious or corporate — the hubris it requires to either be a leader or to think you are a leader. I mean, when you really think about it, what kind of an interesting combination of arrogance and altruism does it take to look in the mirror one morning and say, "Yeah, I'm going to run for President of the United States ..."

Well, Helmut was told by his father that he was "born better" than everyone else. With Zemo blood in his veins, that automatically makes him superior. Helmut wanted to believe that for many years, but now he doesn't anymore. It's not just by blood, it takes a lot more ... he wants a greater understanding of that and then to prove that he isn't superior because he's a Zemo, he's superior because he is better than you and me. I don't know, that's pretty damned interesting for me to explore as a writer. I've toyed with those themes in Cable & Deadpool as well, but from a different perspective.

ST: We hear you're also working on some Superman stories. What do you have in the pipeline?

FN: Yeehaa! I loooooove to answer any question that starts with "we hear you're working on some Superman stories ..."

Well, I've been fortunate enough to work on a few Superman stories the last year, helping Kurt Busiek out as co-plotter as his schedule required. I co-plotted "Back in Action" last year and Superman #659, which just came out. In order to pitch in and help with their schedule, I'll be solo-writing Action Comics #848-849 and co-plotting the anniversary Action #850 with Kurt and Geoff Johns.

ST: You've done it before, but does it ever get old working on iconic characters?

FN: No. Nope. Uh-uh. At one time or another, I've gotten to write Spider-Man, Captain America, the X-Men, Hulk, Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Flash — heck, I've written Hot Wheels and edited Barbie, so my experience is pretty varied and the absolute truth is that when given the opportunity to work on an iconic character I grew up with — or is a part of the cultural landscape — I relish the challenge.

I receive a copy of a Superman or Action issue with my name on the cover, and the ear to ear grin I walk around with has practically caused my wife to call 911 thinking I'd been hit with Joker gas or something.

ST: How do you find something new to tell about such an established character? What elements of Superman are you going to highlight?

FN: I think with a character as iconic as Superman you have to occasionally look for different approaches or angles to explore within a particular story theme. Find the twist in the villain or the main conflict for your hero that forces him to make tougher choices than he might normally be faced with. My story in Action is called "Redemption" and it's a two-part tale featuring a new hero whose powers and motivations are faith-based. Religious themes have been explored with Superman before — the issue Kurt and I just did looked at aspects of how some people might view Superman as an angel — but I think "Redemption" forces Superman into a situation where God's laws and Man's laws might conflict in terms of right and wrong, legal or illegal — as well as making him consider aspects of his own upbringing.

ST: What most appeals to you about the Man of Steel?

FN: I love the purity of who he is and what he stands for. And I love putting him into situations that make him question the purity of who he is and what he stands for!

ST: With so much coming out over the next few months, what's a typical "day at the office" like for you?

FN: Monday through Friday: Wake up. Get the kids ready for school. Read the paper. Check emails. Waste too much time on various message boards. Check out my eBay watch list for the day. Scowl when a 1940's Action Comics pin bidding goes too high for my conscience to forgive spending money on it (well, my conscience and my wife). Then I start working. I work for a couple hours to get myself going, a rough pass on anything I'm going to do for the day — which could vary from Cable & Deadpool to Zemo to Superman to The 99 for Teshkeel (Middle Eastern distribution only for now) — or some work outside of comics I do on a regular basis. About 4 days a week I'll usually go work out, then eat lunch. Hit the computer again for the rest of the afternoon. Kids come home. They distract me a lot. Dinner before or after whatever soccer practice we have that day (I coach both travel soccer teams my girls play on, so it's usually 5-6 days a week with some kind of sports activity). Bedtime for the brats. Then I'll write again until 11 or midnight. Bed. Lather. Rinse. Repeat.

Weekends: house chores, sports activities, dinner out or events, and squeezing some writing in as well. Be nice to see a friggin' movie once in a while, but it never seems to happen.

ST: What other comics are you working on that we have to look forward to?

FN: Well, you can continue looking at Cable & Deadpool to see just what crazy outlandish foolishness Marvel will let us get away with on a monthly basis. There's three more Zemo issues coming up. My Superman work is coming out this spring. I finished a JSA Classified script that is being drawn now, but hasn't been scheduled. I wrote a 3-issue Batman Confidential arc last year that I believe might be scheduled for later this year, but I'm not 100% sure about that. And The 99 is a monthly comic-magazine that I hope will get U.S. distribution this year, since it's a project everyone — artists John McRea, Sean Parsons, Steve Yeowell, Ron Wagner, and Paco Diaz, writer Stuart Moore, and editor Marie Javins — is pretty darned happy with.

Phew. It all sounds like a lot when you put make it one big grey paragraph, but it's still more fun than work for me!