Writer and artist Bob Fingerman sits down and discusses the long-awaited return of his series Minimum Wage!
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Den of Geek: Can you tell me a little bit about puttingMaximum Minimum Wagetogether?
But, you know…
Well, some.
Were getting a lot more inside Robs head.
Were really getting into some of his thought processes and those are the most explicit.
You talk about going back and tweaking the art and tweaking the script.
Does that go through your mind?
Maybe even as a freebie.
I dont think that Ive had any moments like that.
I hope that the majority of readers will feel the same way.
Being back surrounded by that world while preparingMaximum Minimum Wage, what brings you back?
What makes you want to come back?
Is it a sense of unfinished business?
Is it something that you want to say with these characters?
What takes you to the point where you are starting this new series?
Yeah, all of the above.
The sales were never spectacular and I had kinda hit a wall.
Really, it was kind of a confluence of events that lead to making doing it seem feasible.
What are the elements of theMinimum Wagestory that you think will play well on television?
I think it is such a good ensemble piece.
It is his story at this point.
There really was nothing comparable to it when I was drawing back in the mid to late 90s.
But even there,Girlsis a very specific kind of story.Louieis a very specific kind of story.
There is something very stripped down about their lives.
Even a show likeGirls, where its still pretty glamorous.
Were in the year 2000 with the book right now.
Obviously, its a very different city from what you wrote the first time around.
No, I really dont.
But no, I dont want to see him middle-aged.
I dont want to see him when hes gotten where hes going.
To me, for him, as an interesting character, its about the journey.
I dont want to show him actually arriving.
Is it a happy ending?
Is it that you dont think people want to see that?
Yeah, thats partly it.
For one thing, I also like to leave the door open for myself to experiment.
Who wants to read about that?
Now, youve got 18 books planned right now, as I said, were in the year 2000.
In general, is there any big statement or social commentary that you want to make in the book?
Anything that is going to push boundaries like issue 3 of the original, the abortion themed issue.
Is there anything like that that you have coming, or that you want to speak on?
But by the same token, thats not a reason to avoid it forever.
I dont like sticking my head in the sand either.
Do you want to go past 18 issues?
I think that remains to be seen.
Yeah, that remains to be seen.
Talk to me in three years and well see how I feel.
I get very restless.
I ask because, Rob is now 25.
Would Rob feel the way that the world was back at that point?
Him becoming more interested in politics and so forth.
Is this new chapter less biographical for you now then the originalMinimum Wage?
I think that there is more of a mixing and matching.
Do you worry that theyll say thatMinimum Wagehas lost some of its honesty and its realism?
I dont know that I worry about it, but Im aware of it.
Again, if Ive done my job well, I dont think that theyll be thinking about that.
I think that theyll just be enjoying the story.
All of a sudden, theres a pet dragon… Or Rob takes a job at the NSA and he becomes a super spy or whatever.
That might be fun to write, but its not goona happen.
Thats where I have an opportunity to composite people.
Youve said that youre not going to go back and show the end of the marriage.
Did that happen in this story, or is that just dismissed at this point?
Oh no, no.
I would say that, yeah lets go with the word canon.
That chapter definitely begins to show some fissures in the relationship.
So as a writer, I think its actually more interesting to just skip ahead.
And if that was the case back then, what was it that made you change your mind?
Is it just the realization that it wouldnt be any fun for you and for the readers?
Yeah, a bit of that, yeah.
It was the plan, the next book would have definitely been the whole dissolution of the relationship.
I just said, I gotta do something else.
He has to make a living.
So thats always been kind of an important factor to the character of Rob.
Minimum Wage #2is out now.
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