Mike Carey Interview Part 2: The Sequel (This Time It's Personal)

BPD WORLD HQ - Part 2 of our exciting interview with preeminent journalist for Marvel News and the Supernatural Realms, Mike Carey. Present at this great event were: Mike (of course), Drew, Sherin and respective counsel for each party, Matt Murdock and Brandon Aiko.

NOTE: Mr. Carey expressed a concern that his 5th amendment rights not be impinged upon and insisted Mr. Murdock be involved. We, for our part, had more 'metamorphic' concerns. Identity issues, one might say.

LEGEND: Mike Carey in rust text BPD orange tag

Check out Part 1: The Prequel here

BPD: You've recently seen the release of the first of a series of 'biofics' here in the States, the 'unauthorized autobiography' (part one) of exorcist Felix Castor AKA The Devil You Know. How much of Castor's story were you allowed to use and how much was, um, "enhanced" for the book?

The real Felix Castor runs a chip shop in Walworth. But he’s a mate of Constantine’s, and after the movie and everything Constantine had a lot of friends in Hollywood. Keanu winked and tapped his nose. Deals were made. Money changed hands. This is a sordid business. How much of Castor’s story is real? He really has a sign that says ERADICATIONS. I think he got it from a pest control company because it’s also got a cartoon cockroach on it. The rest is all bollocks.


BPD: What's been happening with Castor lately? BPD hears that London is buzzing with supernatural badness these days.

It is a bit much, to be honest. You can’t spit without hitting a zombie. On the plus side, if you’re looking for some action with the sisters of Baphomet you don’t have to look very far.


BPD: Are there such things as Skrull ghosts? Can they look like other ghosts? [Drew and Sherin wrestle for control of the microphone. Brandon awaits an answer with bated breath]

This guy here? He’s my legal counsel. You’re harassing me now. This is harassment.


BPD: You also cover a variety of supernaturally powered young women, under titles like: My Faith in Frankie, Crossing Midnight and Faker. What made the subjects of these pieces reveal their stories to you in such candid and delightful ways?

I put a lot of work into those assignments, and I’m kind of proud of the results. Basically I went undercover, disguised myself as a teenaged girl and went back to high school for several semesters. I won’t say it wasn’t tough – particularly the netball games and the home economics lessons – but the results were well worth it. Jessie Kidby was a harder nut to crack, though. I had to give her money.


BPD: We imagine working the supernatural and superhero beats can get to be stressful at times. Taking a break from the "super" for awhile, you're also publishing "slice of life" pieces such as 'Re-Gifters' and 'Confessions Of A Blabbermouth' (with daughter and author in her own right Louise)—What's it like switching between super-street beats and human interest stories?

Human interest stuff is a little problematic because I’m not actually all that interested in humans. Even now, talking to you guys, I’m practically dozing off. I was lied to on the Re-Gifters stuff. Someone told me there’d be magic involved. A cursed party favor at the very least.


BPD: We've heard tell you, Castor and Constantine get together for an, infamous, drink night once a year. When? Where? And how much fun is that!?! Who wins at mah-jongg? Who cheats?

I’ll tell you who pays for all the drinks, anyway.

On second thoughts, guess.

Constantine is a dangerous man to be around when he’s in his cups. He turned me into a newt once.

I got better.


BPD: What's next for the twin stars of Midnight Crossing, Kai and Toshi? Give us all the dirt, please?

Who knows? I don’t speak a lot of Japanese, and my phrase book was published in Norway, so I’m only about fifty per cent sure that I’ve got the story right so far. That guy Aratsu? He could be a cutlery salesman. And the line about him cutting away Toshi’s past and future may have been a mistranslation. He might have said “I’m giving you layers here to bring out the natural bounce.”


BPD: Lastly, what else is coming up for Mike Carey? The Pulitzer, or the Stan Lee Award for Distinguished Reporting?

I’m happy if I’m just getting paid. And not having my internal organs breakfasted on.


BPD: Us too Mike. Us too.

Visit Mike's blog for more (and validation this is a real interview) at http://www.mikecarey.net/.

And you can find his first Felix Castor novel here. Or if you're really anxious, and filthy rich, and/or British, visit Amazon.co.uk and get them all!

Tim Hunter and Harry Potter: Separated at Birth?

BUGLE'S PLANET HQ - Following the surprise reunion of two Ecuadoran twins separated at birth, speculation rises as to the existence of other twins who now lead separate, but parallel lives.

One such possibility, though rarely discussed by the highly partisan fans of each, are Harry Potter and Tim Hunter.

Potter biographer J.K. Rowling denies any bio-magical connections between the two teenagers. "It's absurd," she said in a recent press conference. "Harry and Tim are simply two boys with an astounding number of entirely coincidental similarities. If you wander the streets of London, they're ten a shilling, really. Simply thousands just like Harry turn up whenever I do a signing!"

Neil Gaiman, Hunter's first and perhaps best-known biographer, supports Rowling's claim. "Tim's phantasmagorical story was told to the world in terms most trepidacious and ectotherical some time before Harry's, but there's nothing to suggest that Harry adopted--via osmotic phylotransferential means or a compunctilious infelicity-- any mannerisms or what-not because of Tim. So far as I'm concerned, they are twin boys of different parents."

An additional complication is that Tim and Harry have never been seen together, even though they both live in or near London. Some sorcery experts believe that they may, in fact, be the same person albeit from parallel worlds, though both Gaiman and Rowling reject this hypothesis out of hand.

"How could you prove such an inelliptic and blatantly counterintuitive assertion short of a DNA test? It smacks of Procrustean thus-and-so, if you ask me," Gaiman said. Rowling agreed. "I've only known Harry to be a resident of this world. Tim's the one who goes gallivanting off to Faerie and has Titania for a mother."

Neither Harry nor Tim agreed to an interview for this article, but Harry was heard to say in the Gryffindor dorm, "Please, I'm a jock! I play Quidditch and maintain a solid B- grade point average here at Hogwarts. Tim's the one hanging with those shady East End conjurors like Constantine and flunking out of school. I don't choose to judge a bloke by the company he keeps but... please. You wouldn't see me in Diagon Alley drinking pumpkin juice with any of them. And besides, I have a much better arch-nemesis." (BPD thanks N.L. for providing quotes.)

BREAKING NEWS!
An intrepid BPD reporter broke the following just this evening:

"When asked to respond, Hunter quipped: "Pumpkin juice...why the ^%*& would I want drink pumpkin juice? Hey, I've got to go... got a pub crawl planned with Constantine, Zee, Molly and a few other blokes. We're going to try to hit up the same 10 pubs in all 52 universes. After that, maybe I'll head back to Faerie and stir up things all over again."

"Hunter finished by mentioning that if he ever did find the universe in which the clone named Potter had squirreled himself away, he would go and take care of that 'annoying sounding git' troubling Potter. "No one messes with me or any version of me that might exist out there in the multiverse."

"With that, Hunter wandered off muttering something about someone named "the other." It was not until he had left that this reporter realized that Hunter had left without paying his bill."

Thanks to WTDG for this late-breaking news!

Harry Potter artwork by Mary GrandPre, copyright Scholastic Inc., all rights reserved
Tim Hunter artwork by John Bolton, copyright Vertigo/DC Comics Inc., all rights reserved