The picture is from www.wrestlingonthefringe.com, and was taken by Patty Therre if I remember right.
"Sometime in the last 10 years," said Raven, "people my age started writing comic books. But they didn't want to write for kids, they wanted to write for themselves. So you had all these people who, if they were writing woks of literature, would be considered very good writers, but they love the comic bood medium. That elevated comic books from a children's pastime to a literary art form. It's kind of like out organization. If you look back at the 80's, it was geared more towards kids. Later it became geared more for adults. That's what comics did. They grew up."
Raven's involvement with Marvel dates back to an encounter several years ago at the Chicago Comic Convention with comics writer Brian Azzarello-- known for his work on DC Comics' edgy "Vertigo" line of books, including 100 bullets and The Dreaming. Raven happened to be walking by Azarello and his wife wearing a T-shirt of the comic character Sandman, which was coincidentally illustrated by Azzarello's wife. The pair stopped Raven, who they recognized form ECW, and the trio expressed admiration for each other's work.
Over time, the two became friends and would often discuss the possibility of one day collaborating on a comic book. They originally planned to work together on a limited series called The Darkness, published by ImageComics' Top Cow division, but that project never materialized. The opportunity would not present itself until recently.
Azzarello, now working for Marvel, was approached by his editor Axel Alonso for ideas for the monthly Spider-Man's Tangled Web series. One of comics most acclaimed titles, Spider-Man's Tangled Web features stories about the numerous supporting characters in the life of Marvel's celebrated wall-crawling superhero. Azzarello immediately suggested doing a story about the wrestler Crusher Hogan, a character who first appeared back in 1962 in Amazing Fantasy # 15, the same issue that featured the first appearance of Spider-Man. In that original tale, the young Peter Parker, having just discovered his spider powers, steps into the ring with Crusher Hogan as a way to exploit his new abilities for cash before he takes the high road as the crime-fighting Spider-Man.
Obviously, this provided the perfect opportunity for Azzarello to finally work with Raven, whose inside knowledge of the sports-entertainment business would be invaluable. The project got the okay and Azzarello and Raven got to work.
"Breaking into comics is a very difficult thing to do, especially as a writer," said Axel Alfonso in reference to Raven's debut. "As an editor who likes working with new talent, I usually look for a voice, someone with an attitude or swagger that translates on to the comic book page. With any writer that I'm breaking in, what I try to do is make sure that they're on comfortable ground. In this case, Raven's role was to make sure that the story read like a ground's-eye veiw of the game."
For the most part, Raven laid out the storyline for this issue, while the more experienced Azzarello concentrated on scripting the actual dialogue. That was the level of collaboration that Raven felt most comfortable with.
"I'm more of a plotter than a scripter," he said. " I'm not one to sir there and write out dialogue. I can do it, but I'm very lazy when it comes to that aspect. That's what Brian does for a living. He's a phenomenal writer. And frankly, I'm quite content to be just a plotter anyway."
The finished script, entitled "The Last Shoot," deals with the events leading up to the match between Crusher Hogan and the as-yet-unname Spider-Man. It gives a depth to the Crusher character that's never been seen before, explaining his motives behind issuing the infamous challenge that lures the wallcrawler into the ring in the first place.
"The Last Shoot" appears in Spider-Man's Tangled Web #14,on newsstands and comic-book shops now. The cover artist, Dave Johnson, is known for his work on DC's "Vertigo" and superhero comics. The interior artist, Giuseppe Camuncoli, has also worked on DC's more sophistocated titles, most notably Swamp Thing. Axel Alonso seems quite pleased with the results.
"My goal is to put together a good story," he said. "For me, the story's about loyalty, trust and honor in a corrupt game. There is redemptive value in the story. Crusher Hogan, who is the first person to ever fight Spider-Man, looks to do a good thing for everyone in his circle, and unfortunately he gets screwed as a result. I liken the story to a slowly unfolding car crash."
As comics fans already know, the formerly unbeatable Crusher is embarrased in the ring by the super-powered Peter Parker. But in the starting the action before the events depicted in Amazing Fantasy #15, the story illustrates the ramifications of what seemed originally to be a humerous side-note in Spidey's origin story. But according to Alonso, no serious knowledge of Spider-Man's history is required to appreciate this unique tale.
"Tangled Web is geared at a different audience [than the other Spider-Man comics]," Alonso commented. "The main audience are readers who I can't assume read Spider-Man or care about Spider-Man. I joke about Tangled Web as being the book for people who don't give a s*** about Spider-Man, and as such, most of the stories are genre studies, wether it's romance, crime or slice-of-life. The bottom line for me is a good story, and I need to know that the peopl reading this Crusher Hogan story aren't going to be in the dark if they don't know who the guy was or they never read Amazing Fantasy #15. I think the story accomplishes that goal."
So what's the chance of Raven becoming a long-term member of the Mighty Marvel bullpen? Much of that depends on the success if Spider-Man's Tangled Web #14, but Raven (or Scott Levy, as he is credited in the issue) has stated that he would enjoy working with Brian Azzarello again in the future. Alonso also seemed confident that further Raven collaborations would be possible.
"I would want Raven to be writing about something that he knows," Alonso said. "That doesn't specifically mean he would have to write a story on sports-entertainment or wrestling per se, but I'd want to know that he was bringing some expertise or deep love to the story he was writing."
Well, there you have it, true believers: An ongoing partnership between Raven and Marvel Comics? Sounds like the ultimate superhero team-up.
January 2000
Quoth The Raven: Women and Sex
Raven on Women, Sex, and Settling Down
By Al Isaacs
Raven: "I'm a sexually attractive man. Transvestites find me sexy."
Female Interviewer: "Do you really have five women a week? That was a good question."
Raven: "Umm, that's just a good week."
Female Interviewer: "Or is that just your character? That's just your character."
Raven: "That's a good week."
Female Interviewer: "Ok, nevermind (laughs) ...
Raven: "A bad week would be zero. A good week would be five."
Isaacs: "So the median is ..."
Raven: "Three ... Actually, to be honest ... to be honest, back in the day, yes."
Female Interviewer: "Not in this day and age."
Raven: "Actually no, this day and age doesn't change anything. Umm, I don't think the AIDS epidemic or anything has changed a damn thing. I think sex is just as prevalent now, if not more so than it ever was. I think because women are more independent now, more forward-thinking. You know ... this is all on the record, this is all on the record. Men .. men have always been like "Oh we can sleep around, women are sluts," which I think is bullshit, you know what I mean? You know, I've always been a feminist ... if she wants to, it's her business. I'd be a hypocrite to say anything different. I think more and more women are becoming assertive and free-thinking, they know what they want to do and don't worry about whether society condemns them, and umm, that's part of the reason my character is so popular, because he goes against society's ... uh ... norms, the mores and the grains of society, the convention ... umm ... I mean he's tattooed, pierced, he's a bit of a freak, but he's an intelligent and well-spoken and highly educated guy from a wealthy background who just happens to have a lifestyle that's not quite what would be considered normal, which I think normal is becoming the minority. Back in the day ... back in the day, I was a big [horndog*]. But it got old, it didn't get old real quick, I can't say that, but it did eventually get old, and it wore down to the point that like now and to be honest, I have to be mentally attracted as well. I won't just like ... I mean the last time, I was at a party and there's like a hot chick ... like on New Years, I'm sure there's gonna be a debauched ... If I sleep with three or four women I would be surprised, but that's not the norm by ant stretch of the imagination ... ummm, that's definitely the exception that proves the rule. Umm, the majority of the time unless I'm mentally turned on, I guess because when I grew up, when I was a kid it was tough to get sex. I mean i was never popular, although I was always did have women attracted to me. I got more sex than most of my buddies, still ... umm ... because I was like the outsider, I wanted something that felt better than everybody else and picking up women was one of the things I was the best at, or was one of the best, and so I always picked up women and eventually, you know, it finally ran it's course over the last couple of years and now, like, I don't want to sleep with a girl just to sleep with her. I've lost interest. I don't think sex ... sex just to have sex isn't as much fun as it used to be."
Isaacs: "Uh-huh"
Raven: "It's much more fun obviously if you have a bond or an attraction or a love or whatever, you know? And so, to me it's ... I really need to be mentally turned on ... I need a girl that's fun. Here's the thing: you can't find a girl that's funny, intelligent, and good-looking. You can find two of the three anytime, but you cannot find three of the three. And three of the three, I need all three, because you know if she's just good-looking, great, and if she's just intelligent, great, but if she doesn't make me laugh, well then forget it. But if she's funny and intelligent but she's ugly, then I'm not sexually attracted."
Isaacs: "Uh-huh"
Raven: "The point is, if she's good-looking and she's not intelligent, then because of my high I.Q., it's in the very high genius range, it's 143, you know, it's tough to find a girl of, in my mental league. This isn't to downgrade anybody else, that's just a fact."
Isaacs: "You ever see youself settling down?"
Raven: "Yeah, absolutely. But it's just finding the right woman. If I gotta be sixty like Warren Beatty or eighty whatever the hell he was ... God, I hope I don't have to wait that long. If I do, then I do. You know, I've been real close. I've been in love a lot of times. I've been real close to the right girl, but it's never been the 100% right girl and I refuse to settle."
Isaacs: "Uh-huh"
Raven: "And I think most people in life settle. I think people are afraid to wait for the brass ring and to go for it. And they would rather for something that isn't 100% than take the chance of having nothing."
Isaacs: "Uh-huh"
Raven: "And I would rather have nothing with the potential of having it all, you know?"
Isaacs: "Right."
Raven: "You know ... umm ..."
Isaacs: "Are you afraid you're going to get bored eventually?"
Raven: "Absolutely. It's .. It's just that, why -- why settle? Why settle for anything in life? Why -- I was gonna say life is too short, but life is ... life is actually quite long. Life is a long, long time. I mean, why would you want to spend the rest of your life living with someone who isn't the exactly 100% perfect person? You know?"
Isaacs: "Mm-hmm"
Raven: "It doesn't make any sense. You know, I will suffer through the lonely nights or whatever by myself, you know, because I know eventually I'll find that person. I have faith. But let's look at it this way: let's say that it takes you to seventy to find the perfect girl and you die at seventy-five. But those five years with the most perfect girl. I mean, those are the last five years of your life, you know what I mean?"
Isaacs: "Mm-hmm"
Raven: "Those are the ones that are gonna mean the most to you because those are the ones you are living. The current moment you're in is the most important, but ultimately, at the end of the ride, that's when you're really gonna need to know, you know what I'm saying? And if she ain't the right girl now, she ain't gonna be the right girl then. And she's gonna be less and less as time goes by, and the longer that goes, the more you're gonna realize that she ain't it and you're stuck and it's too late to start over. But with me, it's never too late to start over but for most people it is, because people are afraid of change."