DOWN IN THE TRENCHES  

Being an informal chat with Keith Giffen about various and sundry

interview conducted by Bill (Bud) Shakespeare  

Inside Image: Let's start at the beginning, how did you get into comics?

Keith Giffen:  The usual.  I knocked on doors, annoyed receptionists, and just did anything I could to get my portfolio into the right hands.

II:  And your first job?

KG:  THE SWORD IN THE STAR, a back-up strip in one of Marvels' black and white magazines.  Landing that assignment was a classic example of being in the right place at the right time.  Seems the artist pegged for that job was too busy to handle it right then, so they were looking for a replacement...and there I was.

II:  So you started off at Marvel.

KG:  Yeah, but I messed up pretty bad, so I wound up at D.C. and promptly messed  up there too.  Blew myself right out of the business, I wound up selling vacuum cleaners door to door and repossessing stuff...rough times.

II:  How did you get back into the field again?

KG:  I took a long shot and called Joe Orlando up at D.C..  I figured, what the hell, the worst he can do is hang up on me.  Lucky for me, Joe believed in second chances.  D.C.  started cautiously feeding me assignments and the rest, as they say, is history.

II:  You've pretty much worked exclusively for D.C.?

KG:  Close to eleven years, with a few side trips.  Good years for the most part.

II:  And now you're at Image.  Care to go into why?

KG:  You're kidding, right?  Just consider what Image stands for!  Complete control over all aspects of your creation!  The real question isn't why I came over to Image; it's what took me so damned long!

II:  Okay then, what DID take you so long?

KG:  Inertia, brand loyalty, I really don't know.  God knows Al Gordon and Erik and Todd and Jim Valentino all tried their damndest to get me to see the light, but...You see?  I really haven't figured that one out for myself.  Hey, this can all be a little daunting, y'know?  But I'm here now, and planning to stick around for the long haul.

II:  Let's talk about TRENCHER.

KG:  `bout time.

II:  What can you tell us about the character?

KG:  Trencher differs from most other "super-heroes" in that he doesn't do what he does for any of the usual reasons.  He's not into making the world a better place, nor is he looking for any kind of personal glory.  He's just trying to do his job with minimum complication.  Unfortunately for him, his job tends to breed the kinds of complications he'd just as soon avoid.  Trencher is a re-man, specializing in the reacquisition of souls that have been wrongly re-incarnated...wrong body, wrong time period, it doesn't matter to him.  He goes where he's dispatched and uses any means necessary to re-po his target.

II:  Doesn't sound like a particularly pleasant job.

KG:  It's not.  Trencher considers it on par with lancing boils.

II:  Then why does he do it?

KG:  Why does anyone stick with a job they hate?  It's what he does, all he knows.  We're talking a real blue-collar mentality here.

II:  You're probably best known as the twisted mind behind D.C.'s Lobo, does Trencher "drink from the same well" so to speak?

KG:  If you mean does Trencher have the same kind of over the top, anything goes kind of attitude, hell yeah.  I like to take readers on a real loopy ride, and I think TRENCHER surpasses anything I've done to date.  With characters like the Nasal Python, Cher Noble, and the Hurler showing up in the first couple of issues, I think it's safe to say that TRENCHER will be rad like nothing else on the market.

II:  There are some other Image projects in your future, am I right?

KG:  Um huh, I'll be helping Jim Valentino launch his new Shadowhawk book, IMAGES OF SHADOWHAWK, which will guest star Trencher.  I'll also be plotting a SUPERPATRIOT mini-series for Erik, as well as taking over the plotting of the FREAK FORCE book as of issue #3.

II:  You like to keep busy, I take it.

KG:  Yeah, I'm kinda compulsive about work.

II:  Anything else you'd like to touch base on before we wrap up?

KG:  Lovern Kindzierski, TRENCHER's ace color artist and letterer.  I consider myself lucky that he had the time to add TRENCHER to his schedule.  From what I've seen so far, he's doing a real kick ass job!  And, oh yeah, the TRENCHER book ties in to the WILDSTAR book in what Al and I think is a really neat little twist.  So get on out there and pick up WILDSTAR.  Trust me on this, you won't be disappointed.

II:  Did Al make you say that?

KG:  He gave me twenty bucks.