It was midmorning on a Sunday in October. By luck of the draw, it is the day after Todd Dezago's birthday. He apologizes for being late but Craig Rousseau and some other friends from the convention had gone out to celebrate the night before.
Jesse Willey, CT:
I've decided to give you the best birthday present you can get . . . free publicity.
Dezago:
I hate doing interviews. I'm horrible at these things. You should asked Craig (Rousseau) . . .
JW:
Dezago:
JW:
Where did the idea for The Perhapanaughts come from?
Dezago:
Some of it came from rejected Young Justice stories. Then Craig said my next project should be something I truly wanted to do. I've always been fascinated by the paranormal. Devil's triangle. Sasquatch. I threw ideas at him. He threw drawings at me. It took off.
JW:
So you've studied real urban legends?
Dezago:
I follow everything. I don't like the term 'urban legends'. Sasquatch, the Loch Ness Monster- there is nothing urban about them. I tend to think of them as folk lore of the land. I'm drawn to it.
JW:
Since we're in the D.C. and Baltimore area- any chance of any of the locals showing up? The Chesapeake Bay Monster or Goat Man?
Dezago:
We just did the Loch Ness monster so I don't think we'll do Chessie. I would love to do Goat Man. There is a book called Weird Maryland. It's by the same guys who did Weird New Jersey. I have all their books. They're a great resource. Weird Maryland has quite a bit about Goat Man. His metamorphosis is really weird.
JW:
I know. About ten years ago, another paper I wrote for had me covering Goat Man for awhile.
Dezago:
JW:
In the original 1957 sighting, he was just sort of hairy man with small horned protrusions coming out of his forehead. By 1961, he was a centaur who mauled pets and is an actual person of interest in a double murder.
Dezago:
Woah. See what I mean. That's really really weird. If I can get the Perhapanaughts back to the United States- they should definitely look into that.
JW:
What comics things you've read influence you?
Dezago:
On Tellos it was any number of things. Perhapanaughts- is a team book. When I get stuck I look toward the old Claremont X-men. He is the master of team books.
JW:
Finally - what would Choopie do for a Klondike Bar?
Dezago:
He'd stand still in a field of goats and not eat anything for ten minutes.
JW:
Dezago:
You're right. That's wrong- five minutes.
JW:
Reallly? Three . . . maybe . . .
Dezago:
You're right- you're right a whole three minutes.
