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Fred Van Lente is the New York Times bestselling author of Incredible Hercules (with Greg Pak) and Marvel Zombies 3, as well as the American Library Association award-winning Action Philosophers. His other comics incldue Comic Book Comics, MODOK's 11, X Men Noir and Amazing Spider-Man.
Wizard magazine nominated him for 2008 Breakout Talent (Writer). Comics Should Be Good named Fred one of the 365 Reasons to Love Comics. He's been called "one of the most idiosyncratic and insightful new voices in comics."
He agreed to answer 5 Quick Questions
1) What would you say is your greatest achievement in comics?
Doing ACTION PHILOSOPHERS wound up being a profoundly moving experience, both through the process of reading through all these great thinkers and their lives and ideas in order to do funny comics stories about them, and me being able to apply their wisdom to my life, and also through the astounding fan reaction artist Ryan Dunlavey and I continue to receive from it. To have people tell you that your comic literally changed their life is a very special thing and something I'll cherish always. To know that your work is being used to help students at the high school level, at the college level, and is being used at the U.S. military academy in West Point in cadets' ethics classics, is indescribably satisfying.
2) Who was your favorite writer or artist that you worked with & why?
I don't think it's fair to single out an artist because I've worked with so many wonderful ones-- Ryan Dunlavey, my ACTION PHILOSOPHERS co-creator, Steve Ellis, without whom I never would have gotten my start, now Dennis Calero, Rafa Sandoval, Barry Kitson, Kev Walker, Leonard Kirk, Khoi Pham, Scott Koblish, Michael Ryan, Clayton Henry, Francis Portela, Colleen Coover, Salva Espin, Andea Di Vito, the ladies of Gurihiru... I could go on and on and on. One of the great privlidges of working for a powerhouse like Marvel is being able to work with talent individuals all around the world, from Japan to Brazil to Italy to Mexico to the UK to Canada to Spain.
In terms of writers, what Greg Pak and I are doing together on INCREDIBLE HERCULES is some of the work I'm most proud of, taking the old Greek myths and adapting them to modern day. It's a great journey we've been going on together and it's one of the few books I've worked on where I feel like I'm as excited -- if not more excited -- to find out what happens next as the reader. The presence of a co-writer contributes to that thrilling sense of not-knowing.
3) What character you have never worked .., would you like to do & why?
I wouldn't mind doing a run on the mainstream Fantastic Four. I had a bunch of ideas during my run on MARVEL ADVENTURES FANTASTIC FOUR that weren't appropriate for a short-form kids title but would work really well in the MU.
4) Who are your influences?
Kafka, Dracula, Alan Moore, Grant Morrison, Shirley Jackson, The Wire, Kirby, Ditko, Lee, Jack "Jaxon" Jackson, Mad magazine, Two-Fisted Tales, Raymond Chandler, John Byrne's Alpha Flight, Gruenwald and Ryan's DP7, O'Neill and Cowan's The Question, The Sopranos, The Prisoner, the great historical fantasy novelist Tim Powers, Monty Python, Willingham's Elementals, Jules Verne, Flannery O'Connor, Woody Allen pre-1994 or so.
5) What hero or villain would you like to change if you could and why?
The Chameleon. Why? Because he should be awesome. Read AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #602-604 and see if you agree with what I did.
Check out Fred's website at fredvanlente.com.
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