Not a word of my writing has ever been changed by another person's hands, and I don't think many screenwriters can say that.
I write the book for one person — for Fiona [Staples, the artist]. I spend a lot of time just thinking how she'll react to things and manipulating her into drawing perverse, horrific things. It's a really weird job but I enjoy it.
To try and imagine that I'm another person is always going to be hard - whether I'm writing about a truck driver or someone who is gay, who's trans, who is of a different ethnicity or creed. But it would be boring if I always had to write about myself and my limited viewpoint.
Immigration confuses and terrifies me, so why not try to write a comic and make some sense of it?
After 9/11, I knew I wanted to write about power and identity and the way Americans on all sides of the political spectrum often mythologize our leaders, which are themes that the superhero genre has always handled really well.
I start with something that makes me angry or confused, and then I write about it. It's a form of self-help.
All writing is the same: It's just making up lies until it starts to sound like the truth. That's what I do.