Good Guys Go Bad In Nick Spencer's The Fix

by Vince Brusio

Nick Spencer knows how to write crime comics. Just read Thief of Thieves. The proof's in the pudding. But what if Nick wrote a crime story that took all convention and chucked it into a trash compactor? And what would happen if he blew up that trash compactor with plastic explosives? You'd say you have a mess on your hands. Exactly. That mess is the same as the lives of homicide detectives Roy and Mac. What started out as a conventional crime story went straight into the sewer when Nick Spencer threw caution to the wind, and made The Fix #1 (FEB160465) for Image Comics. No apologies were given. None are coming anytime soon. In this interview, Nick explains this is the kind of story that has no chance for redemption. And he likes that.

The Fix #1 (FEB160465) is in comic shops April 13.

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PREVIEWSworld: Without the constraints of paragraph solicitation text, can you give us the scope and depth of your new ongoing series, The Fix? Tell us what's fixed, and who's broken.

Nick Spencer: The Fix is about two LAPD Robbery Homicide Detectives, Roy and Mac. They've gotten themselves into a bit of trouble, and in trying to get themselves out of it, they've gotten themselves into a bit more. From there, the story spirals out city-wide, touching Hollywood, organized crime, local politics, and the news media. It's like The Wire, if The Wire were primarily focused on jokes about … “manhood” envy. I really wish David Simon would've tackled that more head-on. 

PREVIEWSworld: If you had to offer a psychological profile of your characters, how would you go about explaining what goes through their heads? Who can we trust? Who should be in a cell? And what was the inspiration for these characters?

Nick Spencer: You can't trust any of them, and they should all be rotting in a cell somewhere, so of course the inspiration comes from within. And as such, explaining what goes through their heads mystifies even me. Maybe especially me. 

PREVIEWSworld: This isn't the first collaboration you've done with artist Steve Lieber. Tell us why you enjoy working with him.

Nick Spencer: Steve is an extraordinarily gifted storyteller with a fantastic sense of comic timing. He is also the only person willing to draw some of this stuff without those annoying moral objections, so there's that. 

PREVIEWSworld: If you could geek about any particular scene in issue #1, what would it be?

Nick Spencer: There's a conversation at a bar that I suspect people will respond to. And by respond to, I mean they'll yell at me. 

PREVIEWSworld: We'll give you the last word on this one. Tell us what makes The Fix something that a reader and fan should put on their monthly pull list.

Nick Spencer: If you liked Superior Foes of Spider-Man, there's at least a five percent chance you'll like this, too. It's me and Steve doing what we love — telling stories about characters beyond redemption trying to avoid getting killed, and in the process learning absolutely nothing. To me, that's what good stories are really all about: giving the reader a chance to say 'I'm not as bad as that guy.'