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TONY LEE: Andy, ever since we've known each other you've been in my eyes one of the go-to guys for work-for-hire spandex, earning critically acclaimed runs for DC and Marvel, but real world espionage and crime have always seemed to be your favorite genres. What was it that interested you the most about this project?
ANDY DIGGLE: I guess it felt like the best of both worlds - I can do the gritty action stuff without being too bound by what's "plausible". It keeps the readers guessing and that's always a good thing. Anything could happen.
TL:We're five issues in and things aren't looking good for Weaver. I know you've said you'd be around for at least twelve issues, but in your head how far does the story go, and with a whole world of Actives to choose from, does Weaver figure in it until the end?
AD: Weaver is more personally tied into the wider conspiracy than he knows. Issue 7 opens with a flashback to his childhood, which raises even more questions than it answers. So the reader will be going on this journey with him as he tries to figure out his place in the big picture.
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TL: One thing I noted from the start was the first person narration that runs through the story, reminding me of a Raymond Chandler novel. Was this a fluid progression or something you envisioned from the pitch?
AD: I'm not usually a big fan of internal monologue - the only time I felt comfortable using it was in HELLBLAZER and GREEN ARROW: YEAR ONE, both of which are about very solitary people, where you needed to get inside their heads. UNCANNY is similar, in that Weaver isn't someone who confides in other people. He's a bullshitter, so you need to peek inside his head to figure out what's really going on. Plus, I wanted to make sure his "power" didn't look too visual - I wanted it to be something happening inside his head, rather than some kind of visual effect, and internal monologue was a perfect way to suggest what was happening. I think it's worked out pretty well.
TL: Forced on the run, having to drop off the grid, working out elaborate heists, Weaver follows a lot of traits that The Losers did. How did it feel to be back in that wheelhouse?
AD: It's always fun. At the same time, I'm enjoying undermining some of my own clichés. Weaver isn't as cool, as tough or as capable as he pretends to be - it's all stolen from other people - and I'm gradually stripping away that fake persona to reveal the slightly pathetic, broken man hiding inside. Not even his name is real. So I'm tearing him down to the bare bones, and then building him back up into someone else - his true self.
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TL: Although Weaver's the main narrator, Maggie is every step his equal, if not even his superior in skills. Which one is the more fun to write?
AD: Maggie is actually much more capable and together than Weaver, although we haven't seen much more of her than the "tough gal" surface yet. She's just as fiercely private as Weaver, but because we don't have access to her internal monologue, she's more of a mystery. We'll be getting to know much more about her private life, her inner life, in the second arc. I'm looking forward to that. I actually like Maggie much more than Weaver.
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TL: 2014 is going to be a busy creator-owned year for you. What's next on your plate?
AD: Lots of stuff I can't talk about yet, both creator-owned and work-for-hire. Plus in addition to UNCANNY, I'm currently writing THIEF OF THIEVES with Robert Kirkman, and the forthcoming crime thriller CONTROL with my wife Angela. I'm busier than I've ever been in my career. 2014 is going to be crazy.
UNCANNY #5 by Andy Diggle is now on sale. BATTLESTAR GALACTICA: STARBUCK #2 but Tony Lee is also on sale now.