Most of my heroes and villains in MortalMan are based on someone I know. This is M, Scourge of I-80. She jumps from automobile rooftop to rooftop on I-80 through the Midwest, stealing the change from people’s ashtrays. In this way, she is no longer relevant because who keeps change in their ashtrays? Cars don’t even have ashtrays anymore. Anyway, She’s based on my dear friend Emilie, who used to sign her notes “M,” which strikes me as something you could do with a sword. And if anybody I know in this world swashbuckles, it’s her.

I’m not good with likenesses, but I do a lot better when I’m not consulting a reference.