DF Interview: Doug Wagner returns everyone’s favorite serial killer to comics in ‘Plastic: Death & Dolls’

By Byron Brewer

Everyone's favorite serial killer has returned! Learn how Edwyn came to his first kill at 10 years old and how that set him on a blood-soaked path of decapitations, sporks, and dolls on his way to finding the one true love of his life... a sex doll named Virginia.

From Image Comics comes Plastic: Death & Dolls by writer Doug Wagner and artist Daniel Hillyard, and the return of Edwyn Stoffgruppen! I sat down with scribe Doug Wagner to discuss the new miniseries.

Byron Brewer: Doug, after seven years it is good to see you return to your creation, serial killer Edwyn Stoffgruppen from Plastic. Why is now a great time in the industry to reexamine a character and series that Walking Dead’s Robert Kirkman once called “the weirdest sh*t I’ve ever read”, followed by “I love it”?

Doug Wagner: Well, I can’t pretend the timing is any sort of magical fortunetelling prowess or the like. (Although, I HAVE recently been working with tarot cards on the side.) For Daniel and me, it’s simple. We choose stories we LOVE, and we keep our heads down producing books. When those books come out is all relatively just luck. Typically, when we’re about halfway through the project we’re currently working on, we start pitching ideas on what we’d love to work on next. When we were deep into issue 4 of Plush, we started kicking around ideas. Daniel said something along the lines of “Don’t you have another Edwyn story you were tinkering around with?” I admitted I had indeed been playing footsies with Edwyn and Virginia. Daniel then confessed that he’d always dreamt of returning to Edwyn and that the quirky serial killer was maybe his favorite character we’d ever created. That’s all he had to say. Whether it’s a good time or bad time to release said book is all in the hands of the muses… well, that and when Eric Stephenson says we can.

Byron: Hahaha!… You’re also re-teaming with original artist Daniel Hillyard on the coming Plastic: Death & Dolls. Talk a bit about your collaboration with this awesome artist, and what Hillyard’s art brings to the book.

Doug Wagner: I met Daniel back around 2014. He had sent in some sample pages to Keven Gardner and Brian Stelfreeze. Both of them told me I should check his work out. That’s rare. As a matter of fact, I think it’s the only time those two have ever recommended the same person to me. I immediately fell in love with Daniel’s work, so I reached out to him. We talked quite a bit and found we had very similar story approaches, similar goals, and oddly similar views on humor. I’ve been working with him continuously ever since. He may be the easiest collaborator I’ve ever worked with. We just have this connection. We leave all ego at the door when we’re working together. Our sole focus is the story and how to deliver it in the best possible way. We push each other to not only do our best but to try to get better with every page. I can only speak for me, but it’s like having an angel on your shoulder that you know wants nothing but success for you pushing you to constantly test your limits. You and I wouldn’t be having this discussion if it wasn’t for him.

As far as what his art brings to the story, I could go on for days. But somehow, Daniel manages to find that perfect mix of playful and whimsical injected with heartfelt emotions and horror. I can’t imagine anyone else pulling off what we do in the books we’ve done. I honestly don’t think Plastic, Vinyl and Plush would have received the accolades they have without his art.

Byron: For those (you know who you are) unfamiliar with Plastic and Edwyn, can you sum up the original five-issue April 2017 miniseries here please?

Doug Wagner: Oh, lordy! That’s never an easy task. I’ll do my best to keep it short. In the original Plastic miniseries, Edwyn is a retired serial killer that just so happens to be in love with a blowup sex doll named Virginia. Some douche-bags in Louisiana take Virginia hostage in order to get Edwyn to kill the local sheriff for them. Unfortunately for them, they don’t know Edwyn is a very strange and eclectic serial killer, and instead of doing what he’s told, he decides to hunt each one of them down, remove their heads, put said head in a Ziploc baggie, and get the love of his life back.

Byron: Death & Dolls is, in part, an origin story of sorts for Edwyn. Describe in broad terms (so as not to spoil) what readers will learn about the character as a 10 year old.

Doug Wagner: As you know, Plastic: Death & Dolls follows Edwyn through two timelines. Him as an adult just as he’s beginning his relationship with Virginia. This is full-on serial killer Edwyn, so prepare to see a lot of quirky, disturbing, and very necessary decapitations.

The other timeline follows 10-year-old Edwyn. Oh, the fun we had playing with this character. You’ll get to see the foundation that is everything Edwyn. Why does he decapitate his victims? Why does he put their heads in baggies and write monikers on them? What’s his obsession with plastic? And, of course, how did Mom’s head end up in one of the aforementioned baggies?

Byron: Ooh, cool!… What, if anything, can you tell us about Edwyn’s first victim?

Doug Wagner: Nothing. My lips are sealed. To say even the smallest hint would ruin it.

Byron: And Virginia is in Death & Dolls, correct?

Doug Wagner: In more ways than one.

Byron: Doug, what other upcoming projects, inside or outside comics, can you tell readers about?

Doug Wagner: Well, as you know, I’m not really allowed to say much. I can tell you I currently have three other miniseries that are scheduled to come out in the next 12 months. Besides those three titles, I can tell you Daniel Hillyard and I are already working on the next book after Plastic: Death & Dolls, and Doug Dabbs and I are working on a new book as well.

Dynamic Forces would like to thank Doug Wagner for taking time out of his busy schedule to answer our questions. Plastic: Death & Dolls #1 from Image Comics is slated to be on sale June 12!

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