DCA: Who is Erik Fromme? What makes Erik Fromme tick? And is it true that that ticking is indicative of a time bomb that is about to explode?

Erik: Well, according to the popular gossip rags Erik is an insanely awesome and handsome 30-year-old guy with great sideburns that make the women hot. He suffered a back injury that continues to be a major inconvenience many years ago while fooling around with 2 girls and a teeter-totter. It’s not as interesting as it sounds, but given the drop off in story it’s better to leave it there. But, to the dismay of many females he’s a proud husband and father.

Oh, and that ticking? Yeah, it’s not a bomb. In reality I’m a wind-up toy and that’s the sound my gears make as they work to keep me alive. When they begin to slow down is when I gotta turn that giant key in my back before I just stop and slump over to stare obliviously into nothing.

Which city and state reluctantly claims you as a citizen of dubious character?

E: I’m a reluctant citizen of an illustrious and happening little city known as Buffalo, NY. Thanks to that curse I am doomed to live my life as a die-hard Sabres fan that deep down in the very center of my soul can’t help but know they’ll never achieve the pinnacle of greatness. And if you think I’m over the ’99 Stanley Cup season then I’ll gleefully jab a hot poker in your eye and watch your brain melt through your ears. At least I can take joy in the relative stupidity of the sports fans here and their angst over the 4-time Super Bowl losers. Of course, I can’t be a NY Yankees fan; you know a team that actually WINS every now and then!! No, I have to be an Indians fan. I suck.

What’s your background?

E: I was born in a small town. Thought I’d live and die in a small town. But as the result of an ugly custody battle I was brought to Buffalo where I lived a relatively average and lack luster life and my only specialty was shooting myself in the foot with the chicks and not getting laid. I’ve been a dishwasher at a restaurant that was burnt down for the insurance money, then a Grocery Clerk (I’m so God damned PC it hurts) at Wegmanns. I then went on to become a drafter for a Mechanical Contractor and have been so for 10yrs now. I do have an Associates Degree that took me 7yrs to earn. 2yr degree in 7yrs. Again, I suck.

What inspired you to start writing?

E: I just had to get all this weird shit floating around in my imagination fighting to get free out. My mind is constantly working and I discovered the power of writing and found that outlet I needed. I can’t help but see things around me in movies, television and books and break them down and figure out how I might’ve done it differently or better.

What were the first stories you wrote? Where they for English class back in school or something you decided to do for yourself?

E: I had an English teacher back in 8th grade that really encouraged us to write stories that were outside of the norm. For creative writing she would write down 2 or 3 random words and our assignment were to take them and write an entire story around those words (like elephant and pink hippo for example). One of the stories involved me dreaming and visiting this world that existed only in dreams and I had to save their civilization from being destroyed by giant dogs.

I really think that pushed me to think outside the box for stories, so take something familiar and take it off the beaten path.

What’s your approach to writing?

E: Once my mind has formulated this plot I immediately do research. Even if I know the characters and their situations as well as I can I jump on the internet and check out 2 or 3 various sites that might remind me of things I’ve forgotten or I’ll discover connections I didn’t know existed. Knowing everything I can really helps me to use what’s come before to push characters into new territory by making, to me, logical evolutions in their history and personality. I just want to tell good stories based on the characters I have and love. Most, if not all, of my books are character-centric, so if I don’t know my characters then my work is going to suffer or not exploit all the detail it can to make the story better rounded and natural.

I like to write things that I know won’t be done unless I do it. And if I tell a story that’s more conventional I like to take it off the beaten path, do it in a way that’s not conventional by the characters I use, the situation they’re in, or in the combination they’re in with villains or other heroes. I do like to write action, but I get a bigger kick out of exploring relationships, interactions, actions and reactions. And all of those are subject to change as I write. I may know where I’m going for at least 6 issues, but my ideas are always fluid. They morph as I learn new things, think of new things if a ‘better’ idea pops into my mind, or as the tone and atmosphere of a scene comes out different as a I write it versus how I saw it in mind.

Then I mercilessly beat Clayton into submission with my ideas looking for approval like a scorned little puppy.

Do you have any influences in fiction that have affected this approach?

E: No, not when I started out. Otherwise I probably would’ve ended up writing Star Trek fiction, as it’s the majority of what I read in novels. When it comes to comics I’m probably the least knowledgeable person in terms of comic history outside of my own very limited collection and what I can find on Wiki or other various database sites. I really had to learn as I went (story of my life) and I had to learn quickly. My comic collection, prior to writing, started with the Death of Superman and went for about 3yrs before I had to stop.

Recently, my biggest influence comes from an author named PJ Parrish. She (they really) write a series of crime/mystery novels and what I learned from their use of background details and scenery, like what music is playing on a jukebox, the beer people are drinking and other things have really helped me develop the scene and its mood. Also, the detail they give to the characters and their back-story, strengths, weakness, insecurities and whatnot are also huge for me.

From there I learned how to apply limitations based on the title I write as I may go places in SPECIAL CRIMES UNIT that I wouldn’t go in in SUPERMAN just because of the differences in the characters and tone of the book.

Why fanfiction and how long have you been writing it?

E: I’ve always had an easy time taking what I saw and twisting it in a way that I’d like to see it done. Even a good story I found things in it I’d have done differently. With comics I had access to a world that I’ve always wanted to explore, but knew I’d likely never get a chance too. When I discovered fanfic I finally had my way to do that without jumping through the hoops to do it. I could take Superman and his cast and write stories with them as I wanted. I mean, how could I pass that up? So what if it’s not a real comic? The story isn’t less real. And in the context of a website based on these universes the characters are just as real here as they are in print. It’s all a mental and fictional world to begin with and the authors who do work for the big company’s are playing with other people’s toys anyway!

So, I started with fanfic in ’99 as a part of a PBeM RPG based on the Age of Apocalypse. I consider this my first foray into writing in general, but I wasn’t serious about it until Clayton introduced me to Marvel Anthology in 2000 and I realized that this was much different than single paragraph clips. I really needed to get length out of this now.

What brought you to DC Anthology? What was the first title you read at DCA?

E: Well, I was already a part of MA when Kelen created DCA. There were only 2 books onsite at the time and I saw this as a perfect opportunity to pitch books that I knew Kelen needed to build it up. He wasn’t in a place to turn me down, though maybe the fact that I threatened to kill him if I didn’t accept me may have played a part in his decision. None of the books then exist now, but I didn’t really read them anyway. So, I would say TEEN TITANS was the first real DCA title I read.

Do you have any work at another site?

E: I write DAREDEVIL at Marvel: Omega. I can say that since I actually did release an issue of this year. Woo!! I currently do not have any work at Marvel Anthology, but I’d like to rectify that problem sometime in 2010.

What was behind your decision to pitch GL:AD as your first title at DCA?

E: Green Lantern is a great concept. With Tony Drake I didn’t need to create some sort of weird experiment to give him powers or shoehorn some ridiculous alien influenced origin to explain his powers. With GL all you need is a solid character who fits into the criteria to be considered worthy of receiving a ring to give him all the power a person would ever want, limited only by his imagination.

What made Tony special was that he didn’t seek out this power, he doesn’t even know if he wants the responsibility of it. Especially, when Tony is already responsible for the protection and safety of a community as a Police Officer in the SCU (a unit designed to police crimes done by super powered people). How would he juggle doing both? How would one affect the other? All of these are things I want to explore and given the nature of the GL I could simply create a new and flawed character to do it.

Tony didn’t start out that way. He actually comes from a defunct PBeM called ‘New Age Heroes’. The rules to NAH was to create a new/original hero in a city named Hope City. All of this was to exist in the same universe as the DCU but to explore it through new eyes. In this Tony was a computer programmer, so the cop angle came when I retooled him for my pitch to DCA. I did that because NAH was floundering and I didn’t want to see a character I’ve grown to love simply disappear with the group. DCA and it’s relative youthfulness gave me the perfect chance to take Tony and give him new life.

Kelen was a bit reluctant to accept 2 GL titles from me, but I made sure they were really two different books in tone, concept and vision.

In your mind, is it important to show how someone other than, say, Kyle Rayner or John Stewart handles a Green Lantern ring? Why or why not?

E: Oh, absolutely. Kyle and John are fundamentally two different people in their background, their lives and upbringing, thought process, personality and approach. The GL ring is an amazing tool that’s customized and personalized to the person who wears it. The ring reacts to these different natures inline with that nature. It won’t do, create, or perform in a way that’s contradictorily to the person who’s using it. Kyle is likely going to create far more ornate and highly detailed constructs very naturally and without much thought to do it because of his very artistic nature. Kyle draws with a pencil, creates cartoons with a pencil very easily. The ring will do the same thing, but instantly as its plugged directly into Kyle’s mind and willpower.

On the other hand John is much more rational, logical, organized, compartmentalized and is more of a straight to the point person than Kyle. He’s an architect so he likes clean lines and designs that are aesthetically pleasing. He was a marine so he’s no-nonsense and he finds the easiest solution to the problem and only does what he needs to achieve his goal with the least amount of energy used. John could never create the same constructs as Kyle because he simply doesn’t think that way, where as Kyle could come close to thinking how John does but his subconscious would still put his own spin on those same constructs.

With a GL you need to understand the person wearing the ring as that will dictate how he uses it. One of the greatest revisions that DC (Geoff Johns) did with the rings was reflect how the ring works differently to the wearer. Kilowog’s ring makes noise with every construct created as a symbol of the power of his willpower unleashing through the ring. Guy’s ring is always sparkling, even when it’s idle, because it cannot restrain or contain the pure strength in willpower Guy has inside him. Things like that are genius and really show off the differences between each member of the GLC, even when they all wear the same basic ring.

Why make the switch from calling the series GREEN LANTERN: ANTHONY DRAKE to the less conventionally super-hero-y SPECIAL CRIMES UNIT?

E: Because GLAD wasn’t a very super-hero-y book, honestly. It was a crime/thiller book at heart and I found that as I wrote the title I was expanding and developing Tony and his supporting cast more that Lisa Hunter became just as important to the title as the main character was. I struggled with naming the book GLAD in the first place, but I suck at coming up with titles and I settled on that due to lack of anything else. When DCA relaunched in ’05 I knew I wanted to relaunch GLAD under a different title and using their job seemed the best choice for it. SCU fit the book better and represents the ensemble cast much better.

What can we expect to see from future issues of SCU?

E: If you’ve read the original run of GLAD then you pretty much know what to expect. I haven’t changed the run very much, just a few details and story focus here and there. My goal this time is to decompress the story, streamline it and make it easier to read without having to know the entire 19 issues to get the 20th issue. I want to give Tony’s struggle more spotlight as he’s forced to accept his role as a superhero and give weight to his internal conflict as juggling his responsibility as a cop and a GL while keeping them separate and now allowing his GL role encroach into his role as an officer. Lisa Hunter will hopefully be treated more consistent this time around and I can squeeze some fun out of her general disdain for meta’s, especially Green Lantern, for what they allowed to happen to Coast City.

In addition to writing SCU, you also oversee the DC Anthology adventures of a somewhat obscure hero called Superman. What’s your favorite thing about writing the Man of Steel?

E: Frankly? I don’t really know. It could be the fact that I get a chance to write an incredibly iconic character that, along with GL, was responsible for me even acknowledging that comics existed. I get to give my fantasies life that I had as a kid who wanted to punch down brick walls and be among the clouds. My favorite thing about writing Superman is telling stories that take him off the beaten path and possibly finally wrap up some long running story arcs to make room to develop others that are unconventional to him.

A lot of people in various different mediums have commented that Superman is a difficult character to write and to relate to. What are your thoughts on this?

E: I can absolutely believe it. I don’t think the problem is rooted so much in a lack of an ability to come up with ideas for Superman. I mean, there’s 50+ years of history to draw from to create a world for him. I think this difficulty lies in a fear of not living up to not just your own personal expectations and perceptions of the character, but the expectations of those that will read your work. There are tremendously high expectations attached to a character like Superman and it’s intimidating. He’s much more than just a comic book drawing. Superman’s a legit icon, beyond to those in the comics and movies, but as a pop culture being. When you’ve got superstars like Shaq or Bon Jovi walking around this world with that unbelievably familiar ‘S’ shield on proudly displayed on their arms it’s a sign that Superman is a legitimately inspiring character to real breathing people.

It’s well-documented that you feel that Lex Luthor is an important character in the DC Universe, and that you want DC Anthology to reflect that. What makes Lex such an important character in your mind?

E: What makes Lex such an important character? Because he’s Lex freakin’ Luthor, the greatest criminal mind of our time! Lex is a powerful character, not just in a sense of his amazing wealth, power and status – especially now that he’s the President of the United States – but in the strength of his will. He’s unflinching, uncompromising and a genius. There isn’t anything that’s beyond his limits, as I don’t feel like Lex has any limits. What he can’t buy, he can bargain. What he can’t bargain, he can take. And what he can’t take, he’ll make you give it to him freely.

That and Lex has a vision that I don’t feel is given any justice. He’s big picture guy with a plan that will elevate the whole of humanity through his example. And his plan has been thought out through every possible scenario, right down to the smallest detail, and contingencies in place to cover his bases. And being the President gives him a chance to have his fingers wrapped around so many threads that were previously beyond his influence previously as a simple CEO. In my mind it’d be foolish not to exploit that to its fullest.

I also feel it’s important to make Lex Luthor consistent and keep his eye on the ball, while staying true to his character. Over the years there have been so many inconsistencies and twists to him that I can’t help but feel they’ve tarnished him. Lex Luthor as a child, allegedly, murdered his parents through an elaborate ‘accident’ to earn their life insurance money. He then took that money and through the years turned himself from this poor boy from the Suicide Slums into the world’s most powerful CEO of the world’s most powerful corporation. He went to rags to unbelievable wealth entirely on his own and made it all possible through his innovation, hard work and determination. Lex Luthor needs only Lex Luthor. And Lex Luthor will prove to humanity that they only need themselves and the same ethic to pull them from the muck and into success. That’s his message.

Lex very nearly owned the very soul of one of the most predominate and largest cities in the U.S., 2nd only to New York City. He was Metropolis’s prodigal son. So, then here comes this alien who’s going to replace him? Use these amazing powers to save humanity from itself and make the masses of Metropolis rely on him for their salvation? Bullshit. Lex Luthor doesn’t play that. Humanity needs humanity and relying on an alien for their lives is the antithesis of his ideals. He would despise Metropolis for being lazy and dependent on anything and anybody else other than him.

Yet, you’re going to tell me that here’s this self-made xenophobe who will then turn around and make back ally deals with Darkseid? It’s bullshit. He doesn’t need Darkseid’s charity. He’s Lex Luthor. LexCorp is the pinnacle of human technological development and if he can’t create a green and purple warsuit on his own now, then he will later. I hate that writers have Lex jump onto the ‘get rich quick schemes’ that, to me, contradict what made Lex powerful to begin with. Lex wouldn’t hinge his plans on superbeings that, to him, aren’t any different than the one he wants to destroy. The meta’s are simply disposable tools to Lex, they’re not important enough to his plan that failure by them will destroy his work.

I refuse to accept that Lex would turn around and give up his own daughter to an alien robot for the mere promise of power? Lex would never do something that extreme and inhuman for something so fleeting, especially when he already has great power! He would spit in Brainiac’s face and tell him to keep his secrets, because it’s only a matter of time before his genius will reveal those secrets without any strings attached or relying on an alien for his own gain. That and Lena Luthor is his heir, the benefactor of everything he’s worked to achieve so when it’s her turn she can take that and improve on it, make it better and more powerful. And if she turns around and kills him for her own advancement…then so be it.

But giving up his daughter robs Lex Luthor of the humanity that I feel he needs if he’s going to raise this world up. It’s also not rational. Lex wouldn’t be interested in these quick advancements where there’s little guarantee they’ll work. And Lex would never accept an alien’s word for it. He’d never rely on another’s plan that he, himself, didn’t create. I think if there’s anything in this world that Lex loves, other than his status, is his daughter. He’d want the best for her that he could give.

It’s ridiculous, and I scoff at these scenes that portray Lex shooting some dude in the head in the oval office. Or when he goes insane and throws everything he’s worked so hard for right into the toilet for some momentary and irrational act of anger, by jumping into some alien battle armor and publicly attack Superman and Batman without a care to the consequences. He would never jeopardize his Presidency by acting so blatantly in an emotionally rash action. He wouldn’t shoot people in the face in the White House. How does he explain it? Where was the protection? He’s monitored 24/7of his life now, and the Secret Service existed for decades before he was President and nearly all of those agents were there long before he was in office. They don’t come and go with Presidents. It’s ridiculous to say that he has them all now in his pocket to cover that up. It’s too big a risk that he wouldn’t need to take. He’s Lex Luthor. There are more resources at his disposal than most countries and any act taken would be done to keep his hands clean, and far removed from him to keep his image clean.

Why shoot a person in the face when you can hire Deadshot through some 3rd party, like Mercy and Hope, to snipe his ass from the rooftop across the street from the guy’s apartment?

Any teases for upcoming Superman stories?

E: Brainiac is on the immediate horizon. Superman and Zod will be forced to come together to deal with this threat. A lot of Zod goodness coming up, along with more Satannus, the introduction of Silver Banshee and the final reckoning between Superman and Lex.

Several other DCA writers have discussed the relaunch of the site and the effects that it had on their titles. How do you feel about the relaunch of DC Anthology? Has it been as successful as you’d hoped it would be? If you had it all to do over again, would you do it again?

E: It’s been more successful than I thought it would’ve been. How clean we’ve been able to make our continuity has been wonderful and not as limiting and muddled as it used to be. There was a lot in DCA I didn’t like and I know the rest of us still here didn’t, which really soured our mood for the site. DCA hit a depression because of it. I think the relaunch helped infuse a new life and interest in the site on our part. We had a chance to evaluate not just the tone of the entire site but our own individual books and our feelings on their success. And if things weren’t up to our standards because of execution or just a maturation of the process we could fix it.

DCA was strong for 4 years before the relaunch and have almost 600 issues on site, that was a lot of weight on our shoulders and we had a chance to trim it and scrub what was left over. I think it was a major plus and I would absolutely do it again. Hopefully, we won’t need to, but if we did then I’d hope we would get another Ambush Bug issue documenting the whole event and tearing me apart in process. ‘Cause I deserve it.

Is there anybody on site you’d have assassinated in order to take over their book?

E: Tobias. I really dig the concept behind his book and the relationships he’s created. I think I’d like a chance to take a shot at that and see what I could do.

Any other author you’d like to see do a fill-in issue on either SPECIAL CRIMES UNIT or SUPERMAN to see what they’d bring to the table?

E: Clayton knows he’s got a free shot at any of my titles. I think his grasp on Tony is great and has forced me to step up my own perception of him just to compete. Jamie also has a free shot at my books. I’ve worked with him already on both GLAD and Superman and the experience has been terrific. Giving him the chance to take the gloves off on his own would be fun to see. I’d also like to see Joe Gru take a shot and both SCU and Superman. He’s got a terrific handle on relationships and dialogue and I know he’d only enrich Tony and Lisa’s relationship more…ditto on Clark and Lois. If I could do half the amount of justice he does with Wally and Linda then I think Superman would be 20x better than what it is now.

What are some of your favorite titles or characters at DCA (besides your own of course) and why?

E: Teen Titans, because TC’s bringing some fun adventure to the book while taking a chance to mature the characters and make their relationships more complex. Supergirl, because Clayton really loves to deconstruct his characters and rebuild them better, stronger, faster with the pieces already available to him, but in a really unconventional fashion. Batman, because I really loved Steve’s pairing of Allen and Montoya. It reminded me a lot of what I loved about Claudette and Dutch’s partnership from THE SHIELD. But, since the relaunch I’ve come to like all of the books we have here. After all I had to accept most of them in the first place, so there had to be something I dug about them.

Who would win in a fight: Green Lantern Anthony Drake or Superman?

E: Tony Drake, hands down. Superman is damned powerful, absolutely, but I think there’s some real power in a person who can not only take a planet apart (which Clark can do too) but to put it together again. Superman is limited to what his body can do, while Drake is limited only by his imagination. His ring can heal and protect him…and if Superman gets really uppity Tony can turn Superman’s blood to Kryptonite.

Any final thoughts on anything in particular?

E: I’m just happy I got around to being interviewed. I’m pretty opinionated so any opportunity I get to spew my thoughts is a fun opportunity for me.

Thanks for your time, Erik!

E: Hey, if you’ve made it this far then thank you.