B-boy Craig is a DJ, an artist, and above all, a comic fan extraordinaire. His love for the funny books started in the '70s and it has kept growing since then. Nowadays, Craig blends his love of music and comics with “Fantastic”, his music project. After a long interview, in which we spent ninety minutes interviewing and two hours sidetracked with typical fanboy discussion, I was sold on “Fantastic” and what it hoped to become.

29-95: What came first, your love for comics or for music?
B-boy Craig: The comics definitely. One of my first comics was incredibly weird - it was the old “Outsiders” and not the Batman team, but it was DC. It was actually before that [Batman team] and it was about a group of mutated teenagers. At the same time, I also picked up Turok: Son of Stone which was an excellent series.

29-95: You have the influence of comics on artists such as Public Enemy, Wu-Tang and MF Doom, but what are some prime examples of hip-hop influencing comics?
B-boy Craig: As a minority kid, you’d never find anything relative to you. I always felt like Peter Parker. I mean he was just like me, but he wasn’t black. So then came Luke Cage, and wow, this guy took no crap from the man even to this day. They had Black Panther, but he was too regal, too out of reach, but Luke Cage you could relate to. He was someone from the block you could look up to.

On the DC side, you’ve got Black Lightning; he worked in the hood. Also, DC’s Milestone Comics line is probably the most prime example of hip-hop comics. The line featured all black characters like Blood Syndicate, Static, Hardware, and Icon whose origin was similar to Superman’s except his ship was found in the 1800’s by slaves. Those are true hip-hop comics. I even remember the Fresh Prince having a poster of Icon in his room.

29-95: As a huge music fan, what music do you listen to while reading or creating comics?
B-boy Craig: Usually hip-hop, but sometimes I listen to classical. Sometimes something funky for theme song purposes, and even soundtracks, especially the Superman soundtrack.

29-95: What do you think about the comic industry’s push to go digital?
B-boy Craig: It’s funny, the animated digital comics remind me of the old ‘70s animated series where the images are still but the mouths move. But as the industry as a whole, its kind of like asking me “what do you prefer, vinyl or MP3?” I try to use nothing but vinyl at my gigs because I like the idea of it being tangible. I love holding a comic, I love even smelling a comic. It feels like people are going to be missing out on a lot. I’m a collector and a reader, but for someone that’s strictly a collector, digital comics might be to their advantage. They could keep their copy pristine but, so they wont miss out on the story, they can read it digitally.

29-95: They each had their own comic, but who do you think Public Enemy and KISS would fight if they had a team-up one-shot?
B-boy Craig: Nowadays? Well, Public Enemy was always fighting The Man and KISS would fend off the forces of evil. So it would probably be some sort of evil stockholders, like the AIG group, with a cult-like hidden agenda.

29-95: What’s the state of the comic scene here in Houston?
B-boy Craig: It’s actually bigger then people think. I can easily get into a really good conversation about comics wherever I go. It’s just like good non-mainstream music; the good stuff is out there, you just have to look for it.

29-95: What’s “Fantastic”?
B-boy Craig: It’s a monthly nexus for hip-hop music and comics. They go hand in hand together, so I like to showcase a lot of hip-hop artists and blend it in with comic book imagery. I like to think of it as The World’s Greatest Hip-hop Showcase (anybody get the reference?), but its been going on for about a year and I love putting it on.

29-95.com: If you could have any three hip-hop artists, and three comic artists/writers do a “Fantastic” night, who would they be?
B-boy Craig: That’s a tough one. For the music I’d have to say Felt (Murs & Atmosphere), Vou, and Del The Funky Homosapien. The comic industry would be represented by Stan Lee, just because he’s such a cool guy, John Byrne and George Perez.