When Simon Oliver (the series’ writer and creator) agreed to put his John Hancock on Exterminators Vol. 2: Insurgency here at The World on release day, we knew that only one man was up to grilling the sick mind of Oliver; our own Mikey Tolentino. Take it away Mikey!

Mikey Tolentino: Simon, first off, I really enjoy the book. It’s one of, if not my favorite non capes and tights book. If you can, give a quick pitch for those who chose not to heed my warning and didn’t pick up the book.

Simon Oliver: As a species we’ve taken to thinking of ourselves as masters of this planet, but in reality we’ve built our civilization of borrowed land. When the time comes Mother Natures not going to hesitate to serve us notice, and send in the pests to evict us. 

When you look at the fall of all the ancient civilizations, Mayan, Egyptian, Roman, there’s always a pest lurking in the shadows. Rat, roach, or flea they’re always in the story somewhere. 

The only defense we have is the Exterminators. 

MT:

One of the greatest things you do in the book, besides constantly giving the readers the willies is you have a great spectrum of characters. Who do you have the easiest time writing and who do you have the most difficulty writing?

SO: Henry’s always been the hardest. The central character always tends to get lost around the more “colorful” supporting characters. It was hard to find his voice at the start of the book. All the others where easy, Stretch is my favorite. 

MT: Okay, your Literary Fetish house…inspired by real life or just a fantasy of yours?

SO: From the earliest pitches it was going to be an S&M brothel, and then when it came time to write it, I realized that S&M stuff is so kind of mainstream now, CSI all those shows like to titillate with that kind of stuff, so I felt I had to come up with the next level and so that’s what I came up with. I haven’t had a chance to put it in later but I would like to do a whole issue with just that location. 

MT: Are any of the events in the book inspired by real life stories that you either lived your self or heard of second hand?

SO: I rode with a pest guy for a day, read a bunch and I’ve pulled some of the incidents from news clippings. 

I have to say after a day with the pest guy it seemed like a pretty good job compared with some I’ve had. 

MT: As far as story goes, do you see EXTERMINATORS as an ongoing series, or do you have a clear ending in sight like Y THE LAST MAN?
SO: clear ending….even “Happy Days” had to end sometime.

MT:

I know EXTERMINATORS was originally conceived as a HBO series, how much different is it now compared to your original pitch?

SO: the original pitch was pretty dense, so we changed up some stuff for different pacing, but it’s pretty much the same untamed beast.

MT: I understand that this is your first comic book, what are some other writings credits that you have under your belt?

SO: I’ve written a movie and a couple of un-produced TV scripts. I’m still pretty green, I started writing 4 years ago and the Exterminators came along pretty soon. 

MT: After you finish with the fellows at Bug-Bee-Gone, what are your plans? Do you have another comic book on the horizon?

SO: I have a OGN I’m starting at Vertigo, a crime noir set on our southern border, a couple of other comic projects in early but pretty encouraging stages. Two movie scripts that need more work, but I feel pretty good about.  

MT: If you could tackle any superhero book, which one would it be?
SO: Being a comics neophyte, I don’t really know that world, Batman jumps out as my 4 year old son keeps asking if I know him. But I think that any existing character, in tights or not would be fun to do.

MT: Thanks again. Simon!