26 04 2011
Barry Reese is a great writer, and Iâve had the privilege of being well-versed in a lot of his work before he became one of the leaders of the new pulp revolution. And itâs interesting to see how heâs grown as a writer since then.
The Rook features five stories, each of them starring the eponymous vigilante who operates out of Atlanta. Max Davies is a rich man haunted by visions of his deceased father. Possessed of some psychic abilities and armed with a mystic dagger and guns that rarely run out of bullets, Max spends his nights donning a bird-like mask and calling himself the Rook.
This first volume opens with âLuciferâs Cage,â a great story that sets up the Rook in his new location. We find out that the Rook once operated in the north but fled when people began to suspect he and Max Davies were one and the same. This of course poses a problem in which why wouldnât that same suspicion arise once the Rook curiously shows up in the exact same city Max has moved to? You may think this is a critique and it partly is and isnâtâBarry addresses this in âThe Gasping Death,â at least in a fashion. But that one mention doesnât satisfy my curiosity and I hope this is dealt with in future Rook tales.
As far as heroes go, the Rook is an interesting blend of both the pulp characters like the Shadow and modern-day comic book heroes like Batman. Although the Rook does adopt a more merciful stance on criminals, he has a history of killing them and his âmercyâ isnât as merciful as you may think. Setting the tales in the 30s also allows Barry a chance to explore history in hindsight, which he does very well. Itâs interesting when there are references to historical events, such as mentions of the Nazis and the conflict in Europe or a statement that down in the south, the Civil War was still very much alive in the hearts of the people. And it also gives Barry a chance to utilize some other creations of that era, particularly public domain ones. This leads to one of the best stories in the collection, the previously mentioned âThe Gasping Death,â in which the Rook teams up with another pulp hero, the Moon Man. There are also references to numerous other pulp characters, but Iâll allow you the pleasure of discovering those little Easter eggs on your own.
Barry also does something interesting in these stories. In âLuciferâs Cage,â Max meets Evelyn Gould, a beautiful actress and the two are immediately taken with each other. In the bookâs second tale, âKingdom of Blood,â theyâre married and Evelyn is even working as Maxâs partner. There are both positive and negative aspects to this and it really depends on your mood. On the one hand, itâs nice to be spared the cliché of the damsel in distress pining for the hero and never noticing the man behind the mask, and Iâm glad we donât have to be subjected to forced gags of Max trying to make up pathetic excuses for why he and the Rook are never in the same place at the same time. And seeing a love interest who not only challenges the hero emotionally but also proves to be if not his equal than at least very capable on her own physically is a nice treat. Evelyn isnât the type to be tied down to any railroad tracks or thrown off any bridgesâsheâll use her own fighting skills before Max even has a chance to save her. And thatâs a very good change, especially for the period these stories are set in.
Now for the flipside to that argument. While it is refreshing to see a hero in a married relationship handled in a realistic way, we do skip over a LOT to get them from the point they meet to the point theyâre married and working together. These are story collections, however, and itâs just as likely that Barry will write tales set in those eras as well. Same goes for the Rookâs pre-Atlanta adventures, which I find myself really intrigued by. And this is only the first bookâBarry recently released volume five of The Rook series at the time Iâm writing this review, so maybe heâs already addressed these things.
There is one thing that did bother me, though, although it is minor in the larger scheme. âAbominationsâ is a tale which features a villain named Warlike Manchu (another cool reference to a famous pulp villain). My issue here is that Warlike Manchu is described as being from a family on the losing side of the Boxer Rebellion, which would make him Chinese. But then later, Warlike Manchu is seen employing ninjas (Japanese warriors) and refers to himself as a âsenseiâ (an honorific word in Japanese for teacher or doctor). As someone who knows about Asian cultures, particularly Japanese culture, this is something that took me right out of an otherwise very enjoyable story and itâs a mistake that could have been avoided with just a tiny bit of research.
My other complaint has nothing to do with the stories, but has more to do with the format. I understand this is something Barry probably had no control over, but the large size (9.8Ã7 inches according to Amazon) and the double-column printing is not something Iâm a fan of. I felt like the text was a bit tight in those columns and there were some spacing issues with it. I understand Wild Cat Books is trying to emulate the pulp style of old with this printing method, but for someone more accustomed to reading novels, itâs something that annoyed my eye.
Overall, The Rook is a great introduction to this new pulp hero in a classic setting. Barry has created a character who can stand shoulder to shoulder with not only new creations from the modern-day pulp renaissance, but also with the old favorites heâs clearly inspired by.
COMING FROM MOONSTONE IN AUGUST 2011!
The gears of justice roll on in a new miniseries by best-selling SF author Mark (Doc Savage, Outlanders) Ellis, David (Batman/Superman, Infinity, Inc,) Enebral and Mar (Atomik Mike) Dégano
Four awesome stories that are sure to make you laugh and cry! Easily the greatest 21 letter titled comic in history- that has zombies and cheerleaders! Featuring a Mandy cover by Dean Yeagle! Also, covers by Jeremy Dale, Rich Bonk and Jose Jaro.
-Jaro (50%) Yeagle (20%) Dale (20%) Bonk (10%)-
32pgs, color, $3.99
    THRICE the Action, as Captain Actionâs Season 2 concludes with two new episodes of the new Captain Action & Action Boy plus a new Captain Action Classified spy thriller!
   Â
 HONEY WEST calendar: Â
!
We got tired of Superman getting all the Christian metaphors, so we’re showing you a secular Easter story… the origin of Batman, re-enacted with marshmallow Peeps.
We could call it “You’re the Easter Batman, Brucie Wayne!”
The only thing missing is a Bob Kane signature, and don’t think Kane wouldn’t have tried to get it on there.
Hat tip: Geek Tyrant.
Closing windows on my computer so you can open them on yours:
Ugh– and I still have dozens of tabs open. But this should do for a start.
The voice cast has been revealed for the animated version of Frank Miller’s [[[Batman: Year One]]], which premieres in July at the 2011 San Diego Comic-Con. Heat Vision reports that Ben McKenzie (The O.C.) will provide the voice of Bruce Wayne/Batman, with [[[Breaking Bad]]] star Bryan Cranston portraying Lt. James Gordon. Katee Sackhoff ([[[Battlestar Galactica]]]) is voicing Detective Sarah Essen, and Eliza Dushku ([[[Dollhouse]]]) will voice Selina Kyle/Catwoman, and Alex Rocco (Moe Greene from The Godfather) will be the voice of Carmine Falcone.
Tab Murphy ([[[Superman/Batman:Apocalypse]]]) adapted the script, and Sam Liu and Lauren Montgomery ([[[Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths]]]) are directing. Miller’s original novel lends itself nicely to a film adaptation, and large hunks of the story were used in Christopher Nolan’s [[[Batman Begins]]]. Executive producer Bruce Timm points out:
“The source material is surprisingly cinematic; it’s a pretty straight forward literal retelling. [David] Mazzucchelli’s artwork is beautifully composed and we were able to refer to the comic for about 80 percent of the camera setups.”
Miller’s Year One storyline– along with Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, which is also being adapted into an animated version– were both pivotal in restoring a dark and gritty style to the Caped Crusader.
To refresh your memory on Miller’s original 1987 four-issue story arc, “Batman: Year One”:
A young Bruce Wayne spent his adolescence and early adulthood traveling the world so he could hone his body and mind into the perfect fighting and investigative machine. But now as he returns to Gotham City, he must find a way to focus his passion and bring justice to his city.
Retracing Batman’s first attempts to fight injustice as a costumed vigilante, we watch as he chooses the guise of a giant bat, creates an early bond with a young Lieutenant James Gordon, inadvertently plays a role in the birth of Catwoman, and helps to bring down a corrupt political system that infests Gotham.
Batman: Year One comes out on Blu-ray and DVD on September 27th.
We’ve received all the covers for DC Comics July solicitations, including the long awaited Games, the New Teen Titans graphic novel from Marv Wolfman and George Pérez. And when I say long awaited, I mean two decades long– which kinda ties in with all the DC Retroactive titles coming out, including our favorite, Green Lantern reuniting the team of ComicMix contributors Dennis O’Neil and Mike Grell.
Take a look.
Sometimes great minds think alike and even simultaneously. Two noted modern pulp writers within hours of each other sent ALL PULP an email, one asking to do an interview, the other wanting to submit an essay. Each of these writers wanted to use these vehicles to dig deeper into their own creative processes, to pull back the shade and show where some of the influences for their characters and some of the reasons behind creative decisions they made came from. The writer who requested the interview was Mike Bullock and that interview was posted yesterday on MOONSTONE MONDAY. The writer who’d written the essay is ALL PULP’s very own Barry Reese and it will be posted below to officially kick off BEHIND THE VEIL.
In the coming weeks, Perry Constantine, ALL PULP guest columnist will be contacting some pulp creators with a list of interview questions, not the basic questions, but some real get tough and deep type questions about relationships these writers have with particular characters they have created or have written. If you prefer, however, to do an essay as Barry did, then please do so and send that to allpulp@yahoo.com Both interviews and essays will be featured in BEHIND THE VEIL.
MIKE BULLOCK, Writer/Creator
AP: Mike, welcome back to ALL PULP.
Mike Bullock: Thanks! [looks at the new blinds] I love what you’ve
done with the place.
AP: Ha! Catch everyone up on what you’ve been up to and what you’re working on.
MB: Well, I have a lot of irons in the fire, but the ones that AP’s
readers are most likely interested in include putting the finishing
touches on the first Black Bat/Death Angel graphic novel, which heads
to the printer this week.
AP: You’ve been involved heavily in Moonstone’s pulp comic line,
including bringing your own character, Death Angel into the mix as
well as working with well known characters from Pulp’s Golden Age. In
general, what appeals to you about these types of characters as a
creator?
MB: Since the first moment I saw the Michael Whelan cover on A
Princess of Mars back in the ‘70s, I’ve been a pulp fan. There’s just
something about speculative fiction created in the early 20th century
that’s always captivated my imagination. I think it has something to
do with the sheer sense of wonder many of those tales possess. Those
stories were also more clear-cut, in that you always knew the hero,
always knew the villain and were never bogged down in the “shades of
grey” trends and anti-hero shtick that’s so prevalent these days. I’ve
since become greatly intrigued by the creation process many pulp
writers went through back then and how they combined elements from the
real world with what we now call “fringe science,” melding both into a
bubbling concoction of imaginative zeal.
AP: Let’s narrow the scope here. You are the writer behind
Moonstone’s BLACK BAT. This iconic character is credited for being the
inspiration for many heroes that followed him, most notably Batman and
Daredevil. Who/what is THE BLACK BAT?
MB: He is a DA, a hero, a man who burns with a desire to use
everything at his disposal to bring the guilty to justice. In his
pre-Bat life, Anthony Quinn was nearly single-minded in his pursuit of justice through the legal system. I’ve often found that those who truly excel at what they do share this trait, and sometimes it takes them to heights those of us who tend to multi-task can never hope to achieve. That was true of Anthony Quinn, which put him directly in the crosshairs of organized crime. After an attempt to destroy evidence
goes horribly wrong, blinding Quinn in the courtroom that was his battlefield, he learns to adapt, (with that same single-mindedness) and move outside the confines of the system he so diligently defends by taking on the persona of the Black Bat.
AP: When you were given the BLACK BAT to write, what sort of feelings
went through your head, how did you feel about taking on a character
that, although not well known, had a definite established history,
personality, and a loyal fan base?
MB: Whether I like it or not, I’m no stranger to dealing with a
character with a decades-old, passionate, vocal fan-base. I mean, you
can’t write a character like The Phantom and not have that ghost
hanging over you every time you work on a story. So, that part of
taking on Black Bat didn’t faze me much. I’m cognizant of the fact
that some people will love what I’ve done, some will hate it and some
will find themselves indifferent. The only group I really fret over is
the last one.
AP: What’s the creative process you used when you started working on
BLACK BAT? Any special techniques, rituals, etc. that you go through
when writing a character for the first time and/or when developing a
story line?
MB: First, I dig around and read as much as I can about the character
such as past stories, online bios, information by knowledgeable fans,
etc. Then I sit down and try to imagine what was going through the
original creator’s mind when coming at the character for the first
time. Once I have a handle on how I feel the character will react to
certain situations and themes, I then turn around and try to concoct a
series of events I can transform into a story based on how the
character will interact with them.
AP: As you considered the directions you might go with the character, what stood out to you the most from the BLACK BAT’s story? What aspects hooked you as a fan that you then wanted to bring out to the readers?
MB: As I mentioned upstream, it’s the single-mindedness of Quinn. I’ve been fascinated with people many consider “game changers” for years
now, studying how they approach things. One commonality I’ve seen in such people, from sports icons, to filmmakers, to inventors, is their
single-mindedness. Men such as Robert E. Howard, Bruce Lee, Dale Earnhardt, Steve Jobs, Michael Jordan and George Lucas all embody this
trait and it’s something that jumped out at me about Black Bat; a laser-like focus on the task at hand. While none of these men are striving to be the absolute best at what they do as an end game, their dedication to the craft brings that about as a by-product.
AP: A major discussion that goes on all the time in various media, but
particularly it seems where pulp characters are concerned, is why
modern creators change the classic characters in some way when they
write them. Did you come to BLACK BAT intending to change it, to
update it, to make it fit with modern stories? Or was that more of an
organic process, change happening as you put the idea together?
MB: I certainly didn’t set out to do that, but somewhere along the
line I think I did re-imagine him to a certain extent, or possibly a
more accurate way to say it would be ‘re-create’ him. My fascination
with the old pulp writers, combined with the study of game-changing
men made me stop and take a hard look at just what I thought a man
like Norman Daniels might do with Black Bat were he to create the
character now instead of the 1930s. He’d have the backdrop of the
early 21st century mindset to work from, with our lessened societal
moral code: what was considered “R” rated in the 20th century is “PG”
these days. He’d also have a solid working knowledge of post-traumatic
stress disorder and how it can ‘cause personality fragmentation. He’d
know how personality fragmentation works and how it manifests. He’d
also know that rarely is a man who is so driven justified with what
most consider normal.
All those factors lead to a perfect storm of sorts, ignited by the
acid that hit Quinn in the face and brought the genesis of the Black
Bat.
AP: One change, subtle to some, glaring to others, is that your BLACK
BAT is a killer. Even though BLACK BAT did sometimes use maximum force in the original stories, your take on Tony Quinn is definitely more savage, more ruthless. What was the motivation behind this? Was it because these types of characters sell or was it more to do with the character itself?
MB: I don’t do anything because I think it will sell, because honestly
I have no clue what will or won’t sell. If I did know, I wouldn’t need
to write anymore, except to sign my name to royalty checks at the bank [laughing]. The decision to go there with this incarnation of Black Bat was nothing more than the logical progression of what I mentioned above: A single-minded, traumatized, fractured man who views criminals as a disease that needs to be cured. Or, maybe it’s all part of a larger campaign to strike fear in the powerful men behind those Black Bat encounters? Since the original Black Bat vowed to use fear as a weapon, it makes sense that he would communicate that fear in a language his adversaries speak. In the interests of not spoiling what’s to come, I don’t want to say which way it’s really going…
AP: Is your version of BLACK BAT more relevant today than the
original version? Does relevance even matter?
MB: I have no idea. Relevance is in the eye of the beholder. Some
might only find it relevant if I adhere exactly to what’s come before,
others might see it as me doing something that fits into modern times,
others might only consider it relevant if they’re entertained. That’s
another one of those questions, like “what sells” that I’m just not
smart enough to answer.
AP: One of the arguments many of the pulp purists have when discussing
changing existing characters is “If you want to make him different
than what he was, give him a different name and create a new
character!” What are your thoughts on that? Why are creators looking
at these old, largely forgotten properties and tweaking and changing
them instead of creating whole new characters from top to bottom?
MB: I couldn’t speak for why anyone else does that other than creators create, it’s in our DNA. For me, I acknowledge that no one will ever write a Black Bat story as good as the ones already in print written by the Bat’s creator. No one will ever write Conan as well as Howard, no one will ever write Doc Savage as well as Lester Dent and I never wrote a Phantom story that measures up to one from Lee Falk. So, instead of trying to do the impossible, I felt led to try and sit in Daniels’ seat, think inside his parameters, but include what we know these days in regards to the psychology of fear.
All the old tales, and all the news ones as well, always have a
certain degree of social commentary, a certain amount of the writer’s
worldview and life experience built into them, sometimes overtly, but
more often than not subconsciously. I think we have to acknowledge the
age old adage: Life imitates art. It’s hard to imitate certain aspects
of a life we’ve never led, while striving to remove aspects of the one
we do lead.
There’s also the real possibility I’m simply off my rocker…
And, to touch on the other point, I did create my own pulp character
from top to bottom with Death Angel.
AP: To follow that tangent, tell us about that. What makes Death Angel
fit into the pulp world?
MB: Death Angel is a combination of unquenchable drive, righteous anger and fringe science all balled into one package of “night stalking” vigilante. ‘Angel is my tip of the hat to the great writers who heralded the golden age of speculative fiction from the 20th century. My chance to create my own take, do with it as I want, and tell the sorts of stories that have no place in my other creator-owned properties like Lions, Tigers and Bears or Timothy and the Transgalactic Towel. So far, reader feedback has been very positive, so I think I’m doing something right… for once [laughing]
AP: All right, soapbox time. You have as long as you want to pitch
BLACK BAT to the purists, to the readers and fans who feel like you should have left BLACK BAT as is. Why should they read what you’re doing with the character? What will they find that they can connect to in your take on this character?
MB: All I’d ask is that everyone waits for the story to unfold before jumping to any conclusions. I know it falls under the “not your Father’s” cliché, but I love the character and really tried to imbue that into the stories. I really want to show people who never read
Black Bat stories why he’s such a great character, and hopefully, that
will lead them back to the source material. Unlike some people who
have taken on older characters of late, I truly love the pulp “genre”,
truly love the characters and want them to regain the spotlight they
deserve. If you disagree, then by all means, speak your mind, but I’d
ask that you give it a fair shake before deciding it is or isn’t for
you. That’s all I can ask.
AP: What else do you have cooking, pulp wise and beyond, in the future?
MB: Well, I’m looking forward to doing more with Black Bat and Death Angel, as well as Captain Future and a few other things. Joe Gentile and I are slowly laying the ground work for a Return of the Originals: Battle for LA sequel, of sorts (not really a continuation of what CJ Henderson wrote, but just another epic tale featuring a multitude of pulp heroes). On the pulp event-horizon you’ll find Savage Beauty, our new jungle girl book, and Air Vixens, featuring a new tale with Bald Eagle, Black Angel and Jasmine LaForge of Iron Ace fame.
I’m working on another “brought back to life” property that I can’t
talk about just yet, but I can say the last time the character was in
comics, he was one of the five most popular comic characters on Earth.
For anyone into all-ages comics, my own Lions, Tigers and Bears is
roaring back into book stores in May, with the debut of volume III,
followed soon thereafter by re-issues of volume I & II. I also have
another all-ages property I’m creating right now that will hopefully
hit stores in 2012.
AP: Thanks, Mike!
MIKE BULLOCK, Writer/Creator
AP: Mike, welcome back to ALL PULP.
Mike Bullock: Thanks! [looks at the new blinds] I love what you’ve
done with the place.
AP: Ha! Catch everyone up on what you’ve been up to and what you’re working on.
MB: Well, I have a lot of irons in the fire, but the ones that AP’s
readers are most likely interested in include putting the finishing
touches on the first Black Bat/Death Angel graphic novel, which heads
to the printer this week.
AP: You’ve been involved heavily in Moonstone’s pulp comic line,
including bringing your own character, Death Angel into the mix as
well as working with well known characters from Pulp’s Golden Age. In
general, what appeals to you about these types of characters as a
creator?
MB: Since the first moment I saw the Michael Whelan cover on A
Princess of Mars back in the ‘70s, I’ve been a pulp fan. There’s just
something about speculative fiction created in the early 20th century
that’s always captivated my imagination. I think it has something to
do with the sheer sense of wonder many of those tales possess. Those
stories were also more clear-cut, in that you always knew the hero,
always knew the villain and were never bogged down in the “shades of
grey” trends and anti-hero shtick that’s so prevalent these days. I’ve
since become greatly intrigued by the creation process many pulp
writers went through back then and how they combined elements from the
real world with what we now call “fringe science,” melding both into a
bubbling concoction of imaginative zeal.
AP: Let’s narrow the scope here. You are the writer behind
Moonstone’s BLACK BAT. This iconic character is credited for being the
inspiration for many heroes that followed him, most notably Batman and
Daredevil. Who/what is THE BLACK BAT?
MB: He is a DA, a hero, a man who burns with a desire to use
everything at his disposal to bring the guilty to justice. In his
pre-Bat life, Anthony Quinn was nearly single-minded in his pursuit of
justice through the legal system. I’ve often found that those who
truly excel at what they do share this trait, and sometimes it takes
them to heights those of us who tend to multi-task can never hope to
achieve. That was true of Anthony Quinn, which put him directly in the
crosshairs of organized crime. After an attempt to destroy evidence
goes horribly wrong, blinding Quinn in the courtroom that was his
battlefield, he learns to adapt, (with that same single-mindedness)
and move outside the confines of the system he so diligently defends
by taking on the persona of the Black Bat.
AP: When you were given the BLACK BAT to write, what sort of feelings
went through your head, how did you feel about taking on a character
that, although not well known, had a definite established history,
personality, and a loyal fan base?
MB: Whether I like it or not, I’m no stranger to dealing with a
character with a decades-old, passionate, vocal fan-base. I mean, you
can’t write a character like The Phantom and not have that ghost
hanging over you every time you work on a story. So, that part of
taking on Black Bat didn’t faze me much. I’m cognizant of the fact
that some people will love what I’ve done, some will hate it and some
will find themselves indifferent. The only group I really fret over is
the last one.
AP: What’s the creative process you used when you started working on
BLACK BAT? Any special techniques, rituals, etc. that you go through
when writing a character for the first time and/or when developing a
story line?
MB: First, I dig around and read as much as I can about the character
such as past stories, online bios, information by knowledgeable fans,
etc. Then I sit down and try to imagine what was going through the
original creator’s mind when coming at the character for the first
time. Once I have a handle on how I feel the character will react to
certain situations and themes, I then turn around and try to concoct a
series of events I can transform into a story based on how the
character will interact with them.
AP: As you considered the directions you might go with the character,
what stood out to you the most from the BLACK BAT’s story? What
aspects hooked you as a fan that you then wanted to bring out to the
readers?
MB: As I mentioned upstream, it’s the single-mindedness of Quinn. I’ve
been fascinated with people many consider “game changers” for years
now, studying how they approach things. One commonality I’ve seen in
such people, from sports icons, to filmmakers, to inventors, is their
single-mindedness. Men such as Robert E. Howard, Bruce Lee, Dale
Earnhardt, Steve Jobs, Michael Jordan and George Lucas all embody this
trait and it’s something that jumped out at me about Black Bat; a
laser-like focus on the task at hand. While none of these men are
striving to be the absolute best at what they do as an end game, their
dedication to the craft brings that about as a by-product.
AP: A major discussion that goes on all the time in various media, but
particularly it seems where pulp characters are concerned, is why
modern creators change the classic characters in some way when they
write them. Did you come to BLACK BAT intending to change it, to
update it, to make it fit with modern stories? Or was that more of an
organic process, change happening as you put the idea together?
MB: I certainly didn’t set out to do that, but somewhere along the
line I think I did re-imagine him to a certain extent, or possibly a
more accurate way to say it would be ‘re-create’ him. My fascination
with the old pulp writers, combined with the study of game-changing
men made me stop and take a hard look at just what I thought a man
like Norman Daniels might do with Black Bat were he to create the
character now instead of the 1930s. He’d have the backdrop of the
early 21st century mindset to work from, with our lessened societal
moral code: what was considered “R” rated in the 20th century is “PG”
these days. He’d also have a solid working knowledge of post-traumatic
stress disorder and how it can ‘cause personality fragmentation. He’d
know how personality fragmentation works and how it manifests. He’d
also know that rarely is a man who is so driven justified with what
most consider normal.
All those factors lead to a perfect storm of sorts, ignited by the
acid that hit Quinn in the face and brought the genesis of the Black
Bat.
AP: One change, subtle to some, glaring to others, is that your BLACK
BAT is a killer. Even though BLACK BAT did sometimes use maximum force
in the original stories, your take on Tony Quinn is definitely more
savage, more ruthless. What was the motivation behind this? Was it
because these types of characters sell or was it more to do with the
character itself?
MB: I don’t do anything because I think it will sell, because honestly
I have no clue what will or won’t sell. If I did know, I wouldn’t need
to write anymore, except to sign my name to royalty checks at the bank
[laughing]. The decision to go there with this incarnation of Black
Bat was nothing more than the logical progression of what I mentioned
above: A single-minded, traumatized, fractured man who views criminals
as a disease that needs to be cured. Or, maybe it’s all part of a
larger campaign to strike fear in the powerful men behind those Black
Bat encounters? Since the original Black Bat vowed to use fear as a
weapon, it makes sense that he would communicate that fear in a
language his adversaries speak. In the interests of not spoiling
what’s to come, I don’t want to say which way it’s really going…
AP: Is your version of BLACK BAT more relevant today than the
original version? Does relevance even matter?
MB: I have no idea. Relevance is in the eye of the beholder. Some
might only find it relevant if I adhere exactly to what’s come before,
others might see it as me doing something that fits into modern times,
others might only consider it relevant if they’re entertained. That’s
another one of those questions, like “what sells” that I’m just not
smart enough to answer.
AP: One of the arguments many of the pulp purists have when discussing
changing existing characters is “If you want to make him different
than what he was, give him a different name and create a new
character!” What are your thoughts on that? Why are creators looking
at these old, largely forgotten properties and tweaking and changing
them instead of creating whole new characters from top to bottom?
MB: I couldn’t speak for why anyone else does that other than creators
create, it’s in our DNA. For me, I acknowledge that no one will ever
write a Black Bat story as good as the ones already in print written
by the Bat’s creator. No one will ever write Conan as well as Howard,
no one will ever write Doc Savage as well as Lester Dent and I never
wrote a Phantom story that measures up to one from Lee Falk. So,
instead of trying to do the impossible, I felt led to try and sit in
Daniels’ seat, think inside his parameters, but include what we know
these days in regards to the psychology of fear.
All the old tales, and all the news ones as well, always have a
certain degree of social commentary, a certain amount of the writer’s
worldview and life experience built into them, sometimes overtly, but
more often than not subconsciously. I think we have to acknowledge the
age old adage: Life imitates art. It’s hard to imitate certain aspects
of a life we’ve never led, while striving to remove aspects of the one
we do lead.
There’s also the real possibility I’m simply off my rocker…
And, to touch on the other point, I did create my own pulp character
from top to bottom with Death Angel.
AP: To follow that tangent, tell us about that. What makes Death Angel
fit into the pulp world?
MB: Death Angel is a combination of unquenchable drive, righteous
anger and fringe science all balled into one package of “night
stalking” vigilante. ‘Angel is my tip of the hat to the great writers
who heralded the golden age of speculative fiction from the 20th
century. My chance to create my own take, do with it as I want, and
tell the sorts of stories that have no place in my other creator-owned
properties like Lions, Tigers and Bears or Timothy and the
Transgalactic Towel. So far, reader feedback has been very positive,
so I think I’m doing something right… for once [laughing]
AP: All right, soapbox time. You have as long as you want to pitch
BLACK BAT to the purists, to the readers and fans who feel like you
should have left BLACK BAT as is. Why should they read what you’re
doing with the character? What will they find that they can connect to
in your take on this character?
MB: All I’d ask is that everyone waits for the story to unfold before
jumping to any conclusions. I know it falls under the “not your
Father’s” cliché, but I love the character and really tried to imbue
that into the stories. I really want to show people who never read
Black Bat stories why he’s such a great character, and hopefully, that
will lead them back to the source material. Unlike some people who
have taken on older characters of late, I truly love the pulp “genre”,
truly love the characters and want them to regain the spotlight they
deserve. If you disagree, then by all means, speak your mind, but I’d
ask that you give it a fair shake before deciding it is or isn’t for
you. That’s all I can ask.
AP: What else do you have cooking, pulp wise and beyond, in the future?
MB: Well, I’m looking forward to doing more with Black Bat and Death
Angel, as well as Captain Future and a few other things. Joe Gentile
and I are slowly laying the ground work for a Return of the Originals:
Battle for LA sequel, of sorts (not really a continuation of what CJ
Henderson wrote, but just another epic tale featuring a multitude of
pulp heroes). On the pulp event-horizon you’ll find Savage Beauty, our
new jungle girl book, and Air Vixens, featuring a new tale with Bald
Eagle, Black Angel and Jasmine LaForge of Iron Ace fame.
I’m working on another “brought back to life” property that I can’t
talk about just yet, but I can say the last time the character was in
comics, he was one of the five most popular comic characters on Earth.
For anyone into all-ages comics, my own Lions, Tigers and Bears is
roaring back into book stores in May, with the debut of volume III,
followed soon thereafter by re-issues of volume I & II. I also have
another all-ages property I’m creating right now that will hopefully
hit stores in 2012.
AP: Thanks, Mike!
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