Waiting For Godot, the classic Samuel Beckett play of futility and alienation, is coming to Marvel Comics, courtesy of writer Brian Michael Bendis and artist Alex Maleev.

“It’s a natural,” says editor-in-chief Joe Quesada. “In all my years in the business, I have rarely seen a more natural fit of talent and material.”

Godot, for the edification of comics fans who haven’t heard of it, is the story of two men, Vladimir and Estragon, who wait at length for the arrival of a third, the unseen but much-discussed Godot. Their conversations are circular and repetitive, often ending with exchanges like, “We can’t leave.” “Why not?” “We’re waiting for Godot.” Godot never shows up, and we last see the two leads after they decide to leave, but remain standing in the same spot, doomed to remain there forever.

In an interview, Bendis wrote, “I am tremendously excited about this project. I learned all I know about dialogue and dramatic pacing from the play, and have long done whatever I could to bring its intensity and suspense to the superhero genre.”

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Matt Forbeck is a creative powerhouse. Over the past twenty years, he has created games of all sorts (including board games, roleplaying games, and computer games), has written novels and comics, and has won several awards – and has just been nominated for two Scribe Awards. But despite his decorated success, Matt is a very personable guy who is very devoted to his family. I recently had a chance to ask Matt some questions about his impressive career.

What first piqued your interest in gaming and comics?
I learned how to read with comics, especially the old Spidey series Marvel published with the Electric Company. They hooked me young and for life. Given that, I suppose it’s not surprising I became a voracious reader and got into fantastic fiction of all kinds. That set me up to fall hard for D&D. I first ran into the game when a friend’s mother bought it for him for Christmas on a Blue Light Special at K-Mart. Our mothers got us together to play, and we didn’t stop for months.

You are a very busy man. Do you still find time to game?
Not as often as I would like. I play lots of games with my kids now that they’re old enough to appreciate them. Like me, they’ll play just about anything, from Jenga or Blokus to Super Mario Smash Bros or Rock Band. Between my kids and wife and my work, though, I don’t have a whole lot of time for anything else.

When you do game, do you play your own games primarily, or do you check out things written by your industry colleagues?
I play other people’s games. I only play my own games when I’m working on them. Once they’re in print, I’m usually on to something else. I play them for game demos or when I’m thinking about an expansion for the game, but that’s about it.

I normally only play a game once or twice, and I’m rarely interested in who’s winning or losing. I’m there to pick it apart and see how it works, to learn what I can from it and figure out what the designer put into it. There are so many great games out there, it’s hard to dedicate myself to just a few.

Many people, including fans, look very closely at media tie-in work. Is there a lot of head-butting or other challenges that are not present with designing your own world?
Yes, although it’s not as bad as some might think. The toughest part is usually the outline stage. That’s when you’re trying to read the minds of your editor and your licensor’s approval stamper and figure out what they want. There’s often some miscommunication because the writer rarely has access to everything in the original creator’s head, so it’s like charging into a room blind. But if you can work it out in the outline stage, you save yourself lots of time and headaches down the road and make sure that everyone winds up happy.

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