In the international comic-book universe, John Layman is a well-known name. Layman has written iconic titles for DC and Marvel, as well as others, including Chew, which is one of his most popular titles. Layman, who will be at Kolkata Comic Con this weekend, chatted with t2 from his home in the US.

Have you been to Calcutta before?

No. But this my fifth trip to India. Comics have led to a pretty amazing life... the childhood me would have never imagined that I would get to go to India five times!

What has the experience of being part of Comic Con India been like?

The first time was terrifying. There was a lot of culture shock. Everything in India is turned up to 11... the colours, the smells, the crowds, the speed of things. But by my last time there, I was taking tuk-tuks by myself and eating anything I wanted. I can’t wait to come back!

What are you looking forward to in Calcutta?

I am always looking forward to the food! India is so big that the food is never quite the same. Also, by this point, I have been to four India Comic Cons. Comics are huge, but it is also a small world. I have friends I am looking forward to seeing... my Indian comic-book friends that I only get to see at Indian comic shows.

Is the crowd at Comic Con India different in any way from that in other parts of the world?

No, honestly. Comic Cons are kind of the same, no matter what. I find that refreshing because nerds are strong, and we are the same everywhere. It is cool that no matter where you go, it is the same kind of people with the same kind of passions. Some of them could be into anime, some into superheroes... it could be fragmented, but they are all passionate nerds.

In India, the culture is different, the food is different and the comics are a little different but, ultimately, it feels the same.

How much do the interactions with nerds and fans at the various Comic Cons you attend all over the world contribute to bettering your work?

It is like fuel. The energy and enthusiasm from fans energise and enthuse me. Representation matters and one doesn’t really see Indian characters in American comic books. I had one in my comic book, Chew, and people were so happy about it. He wasn’t a cliche... he wasn’t a badass, kickass NASA administrator. When I went to my first Indian Comic Con, I was asked that why there aren’t Indian characters in American comics. I was like: ‘Look, I have an Indian comic character in my comic book Chew!’ People went crazy! I have to admit I pandered a little when I came back and I wrote more Indian characters. Comics have to represent people of every colour, religion, nationality... comics have grown in the last 15 years. Earlier, they were only about white dudes. Now we have a lot of women and people from other races and nationalities. There is a place for everybody in nerd pop culture.

Has the acceptability for these characters gone up even in more traditional and established markets?

Yes. I wrote Chew with an Asian lead (Tony Chu). When I first wrote it in 2009, we took it to Hollywood and they told us that Asians don’t sell and that we needed to change it to a white guy. But now, they are like: ‘Oh, we are so glad he is Asian.’ More diversity and multi-culturalism is better for everybody... it is better for readers, it is better for a little brown girl who sees a superhero looking like her instead of a white guy. For me, it is really cool to go around the world and experience that first-hand, seeing how that touches people.

What was your inspiration for Chew?

Chew was a bunch of really different ideas. The jokes on Saturday Night Live about people of colour then were one-note and almost all of them centred around food. I realised that if I take all my little different ideas in my notebook and combine them, then it becomes a rich tapestry. Few things are as universal as food... it doesn’t matter what culture, religion or race you are from. It doesn’t matter if you live now or a thousand years ago... everyone knows what it feels like to be hungry, to be full, to have a good meal, to have a terrible meal... everyone has to eat and hence, everyone can relate. I didn’t purposely write a book that would appeal to everybody, but once I wrote it, I realised why Chu was so popular.

Food is a great unifier as well as a great leveller...

Yes. What unifies us also is every aspect of the human condition, whether it is courting, child-rearing, even funerals. What we do socially revolves around food, no matter what culture you are in. Once I nailed this, I realised that I had limitless story ideas. I really struck gold without meaning to.

Is it safe to say that being a foodie helped?

Yes. But I am a trash foodie, my wife is the real foodie. I am the kind who enjoys a really expensive meal, but I also enjoy KFC and Taco Bell. I just like food!

You have a prolific body of work. What would you pick as the highlights of your career so far?

I am a big Godzilla fan, and I think my Godzilla story, Godzilla Gangsters and Goliaths, is one of the best Godzilla (features). It has been reprinted five times by IDW (Publishing), and so clearly it struck some notes.

I am kind of an indie guy, I am subversive and I never thought of myself as mainstream. So when they handed me Batman and Spider-Man, I couldn’t believe it! My philosophy on Batman was to write as many of the villains I loved before they sobered up and fired me! (Laughs)

I am writing Spawn and Titans now, which people probably know better as Teen Titans. Sometimes, I can’t believe that this is my job and I get to do nerdy stuff with these fun characters, and that I get to go to conventions all over the world. It is wonderful.

Even though it is so diverse, is there anything that ties your work together?

I have done a lot of ‘weird’ crossovers. I did Marvel Zombies vs. The Army of Darkness, Predator vs. Judge, Dredd vs. Aliens, Red Sonja vs. Mars Attacks... The one unifier is that I take a lot of weird, disparate elements and combine them. I am really proud because on paper, these are crossovers that shouldn’t work, but they do every time!

You have worked with both DC and Marvel. How did you manage to bring these ‘disparate elements’ together?

I was a Marvel kid growing up and to get to write X-Men characters, Spider-Man and Deadpool was a thrill. Though I wasn’t a DC guy, I have learnt to appreciate DC. Part of it is because of the kind of freedom they have given me. At this point, I have written a lot more DC than Marvel, but I do love both. I got to write Wolverine, Superman and just this month, I wrote Wonder Woman for the first time. So I am getting to check boxes. I have a bucket list of characters I want to write.

What is on that bucket list?

I have written almost every Marvel character that I had on my bucket list. So now, it is mostly DC characters. What I want to do is Superman. I have written Superman before. Recently, I wrote Swamp Thing, John Constantine and Deadman. What is left is the characters that are left field like Etrigan and Firestorm. My dream comic book is to do the John Carpenter movie. If I can write a comic book in the live universe, my life will be complete. I have reached out to companies and told them to get the licence for it and I will even write it for free!

While growing up, which comic-book character impacted you?

I was an X-Men kid and I grew up loving it. There was an independent comic book called Cerebus that I started reading as a kid. It ran 300 issues and then went off the rails. Cerebus would get me into the comic-book store once a month.

Are you a fan of anime?

More manga than anime. I am not a big TV guy. I am a reader. When I do watch TV, it is K-dramas. Anime is mostly bigger with younger people and I know it is very popular in India... I am not a TV person as I said, but anything that brings people to Comic Cons is always welcome.

There are some comic-book people who look down on cosplayers or anime people, saying that they are not comics. I say that it doesn’t matter. We are all nerds, man!

Kolkata Comic Con will take place on February 22 and 23 at Biswa Bangla Mela Prangan from 11am to 7pm