So I had the chance to speak with another wonderful writer over at Marvel Comics recently, the writer of Uncanny X-Men, Invincible Iron Man (my favorite book), as well as Thor, Punisher, Iron Fist and many others, oh, and did I mention this guy also has his own awesome creator owned projects? That’s right, even though he’s in the big leagues wining Eisner awards at Marvel, Matt is still active in the world of Indy comics. You know, this is a great interview, and I’m just going to let it speak for itself, so without further delay, Mr Matt Fraction…

(Jef) Hey Matt, it’s great to be talking with you, thanks for talking with us.

(MF) No worries. Thanks for having me. And sorry for the delay. I had swine flu.

(Jef) Man that’s crazy, I’m glad you’re ok. No worries on the delay man, that’s understandable. So tell me, what’s it like going from writing smaller Indy books to writing huge titles like Uncanny X-Men, Iron Man and Iron Fist?

(MF) Well, you get a pay check, so now writing comics is my full-time job. That’s the craziest part– that it went from a hobby to What I Do. Creatively, though, it’s not a wholly dissimilar prospect. There’re the same basic concerns and problems and all that. Oh, people have HEARD of X-Men and Iron Man and stuff like that so there’s a degree of awareness you’re suddenly hit with… um… man, what do I know. It’s great, that’s how it is. It’s amazing. Especially as I’ve not had to stop writing my smaller indy books in the meantime.

(Jef) That makes sense, and it’s great that you’re still working in the indy world. Now speaking of Iron Fist, that’s on hiatus right now, are we going to see you returning to the title?

(MF) No.

(Jef) Well Ok then haha. There were a lot of people like myself who were never a big fan of the Iron Fist books, but that loved your run on it, why do you think this is? What did you do that made it stand apart from previous Danny Rand books?

(MF) I think because “kung fu billionaire”– which is one possible way to strip down Danny’s character– is kind of perfect comic book material. I can’t speak to what made it stand apart from previous books as I lack that perspective. We all just tried to dig into the core of the character, knock away or disregard politely that which obscured it, and celebrate the awesome stuff.

Also a dude got kicked through a train.

(Jef) Haha well you did a great job. That might have also played a part, but you’re right, that’s what I felt reading the title. Now, we’ve been hearing some rumors about a Iron Fist movie, is there any interest on your part to be involved with that in any way?

(MF) Well, I got to consult on IRON MAN 2. I have absolutely no information about an IRON FIST film, but if there ever WAS an IRON FIST film and it ever got into that stage of things, sure, who WOULDN’T want to go hang out at Marvel Studios for a week and talk about what makes the comics you love awesome?

(Jef) That’s VERY good news for fans, and of course we’ve got to talk Iron Man. You’ve had an amazing run on this title, awards, critic praise, fan praise, I don’t think I’ve ever spoken with someone who hasn’t loved your run on this book. Is this a title you really expected to take of so well?

(MF) I don’t really… I didn’t really have any expectations. On any book, regardless of the scale, I just want to write the kind of book I would want to read and I always expect it to be like pulling teeth to get there. Anything else and you just go crazy, right? So… so, yeah. The success of the book both critically and commercially has been stunning to say the least.