Matthew Rosenberg is the writer behind the new popular Black Mask Studios titles: We Can Never Go Home and 4 Kids Walk Into A Bank. His unique voice is what brings life to these new comics and I was lucky enough to sit down for an interview with him.

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IQ: What was the first comic you bought?

MR: A $200 copy of the Scrooge McDuck comic.

IQ: How do you deal with critics?

MR: I think art is for specific people. It's not for everyone. Good criticism tends to make me really self-conscious. People who have problems with my work I like to read it and study it and figure out what of their stuff I agree with and take it to heart.

IQ: Where did you get the idea for 4 Kids Walk Into A Bank?

MR: I wanted to make a comedic book about kids getting into trouble. It became a crime story with funny hi-jinks.

IQ: Where did the idea for We Can Never Go Home come from?

MR:We Can Never Go Home is autobiographical in some ways. I was a weird teenager and had a strange run away experience when I was 17. I put a lot of the elements of that in there. It’s an allegory for growing up.

IQ: Why did you decide to add superpowers to the story line?

MR: The superpowers are a metaphor for being different and teenage potential. It’s what you have the ability to be when you’re young. There’s a bunch of books out there that I’m very passionate about like Stray Bullets and Love and Rockets that do coming of age stories very well. I wanted to differentiate myself in some ways. Plus I’m a huge superhero fan.

IQ: What is your advice to young comic book writers?

MR: Make sure you’re passionate about comics. That means understanding yourself and emotionally investing in other people’s work. It’s not an industry where you make a lot of money or get a lot of accolades. You have to care about the medium and want to see the medium move forward along with peers and contemporaries.

IQ: Thank you.

MR: No problem.