Arrant Scours Hay with Scarecrow's Murphy

Chris Arrant is one of those interviewers that makes me want to work harder. He turns up pieces on creators that make me think after I've read the interview: "Why don't I know about this guy?" Arrant's latest focus for Newsarama is the artist Sean Murphy, who is clearly pumped to be working on the upcoming Scarecrow: Year One miniseries for DC. (In all snarky honesty, when all is said and done with the Bat-universe, I'm fairly certain I'll be doing an interview with the creators of Batmobile: Year One before long. Not to take away from the interview...)

The interview covers some interesting ground, addressing Murphy's indy work, citing influences like Toth and giving readers some diverse thoughts/products to consider. (Another aside: I was pleased to hear Murphy mention Zach Howard, as I fondly remember meeting Zach at an Atlanta convention a number of years ago.)

As solid and engaging as the interview is, the jaded consumer in me was bemused by the following two partial answers:

I'm still really young, so my love of Batman comes from the cartoon I saw as a kid more than the comics. It made Batman my favorite, so now when I draw him I get wigged out and loose sleep over whether or not I’m nailing it.

First I was struck at where and how he developed his love of the Dark Knight, and how much an impact the cartoon clearly had on him. So imagine my surprise when I read the last little bit of a solid Arrant interview and saw the artist's desire for:

A story that kills Batman. Don't get me wrong...I'm a huge fan. Batman pays my bills. But he's been around for too long and the powers that be should end him while he's still cool. I'm sure there are other great stories that writers could write other than another Batman story.

If this were a taped phone interview, did Murphy hang up and suddenly realize "Did I really just say that?" Or was it an e-mail interview where he typed the answer out and just didn't think to maybe delete that last thought? The act to suggest that an icon like Batman (who is also paying his bills, as he admits) should be cancelled...well it's quite peculiar.

That being said, as I wrote earlier, the article is worth checking out, if for nothing else to see some of the preview art. Arrant's the type of interviewer who can foster interesting answers on a regular basis.