Tripwire Winter Special 2020/ 2021 by Joel Meadows

Indiegogo and Kickstarter Thanks Thanks to everybody who supported this project first on Indiegogo and then Kickstarter. Here’s a list of everyone who supported us in both of these campaigns. We couldn’t have done it without you Michael Abbott Mark Abnett Alan Juan Alloza Auricdor George Bastow Brian Michael Bendis Julian Bignell Norman Blasdel Stefan Blitz Steve Borock Lynda Bowen Scott Braden Christopher Brosnahan Frazer Brown Steve Brown Keith Burchett Richard Butchins Chris Call Fraser Campbell Laurence Campbell Cast Iron Books Sarwat Chadda Nikki Chard John Charles Jonny Colman ComicScene Dave Cook Corvus The Creative Fund By Bac Stephen Dalton Luke Dealer Bill DeSimone Andrew Duffy Paul Dunne Peter Elliott

Nicholas Everhart Graham Field Lucy Fisher John Freeman Kerry Frey Mike Gold Damian Gordon Edward Green Gabriel Gribbin Laurence Hand Veronica Hannon Michael Hansen Sam Hart Tim Hayes Mark Haynes Joseph Hedges Jonathan L Howard Joseph Illidge Stephen Jewell Dan Jolin Craig Johnson Calum Johnston/ Strange Adventures Matthias Lamm Mike Lee Kitty Lewis Marek Losey David Macho David Manley-Leach Jeff Mariotte James J Martin Colin Mathieson Mark Mazz Bram Meehan Melissa Meszaros Chip Mosher Nonie Veccia McDonald

Stuart Moore James Murphy Duncan Nimmo Mitchell Noodle Russell Mark Olson James Palmiotti PaperFilms John F Pannozzi Michael Perkins John Perlmutter Iestyn Pettigrew Mark Peyton Carol Pinchevsky William Potter Proprog Ron Randall David Rankin Ian Rankin Chris Ryall Tim Sale Andreas Scheffel Cavan Scott Michael Shovlin Mike Smith Pete Taylor Richard Teminski Lewis Tyson Bas Vermeulen Hans Verschooten Robert Wells Dave West Windmill Chaser Dirk Wood Don Zalewski Matt Zitron

Editor-in-chief: Joel Meadows Senior editor: Andrew Colman Consulting editor: Scott Braden Contributing writers: Ed Brubaker, James DC, Tim Hayes, Roger Langridge, Olly Macnamee, William Simpson Contributing Artists: Andy Bennett, Roger Langridge, Sean Phillips, William Simpson Design and layout: Joel Meadows Thanks to: Mark Chiarello for his advice and support, David Hyde, Steve Rotterdam at Aftershock, Kris Longo at Heavy Metal, Matt Parkinson at Dark Horse, Axel Alonso at AWA, Ross Richie at Boom Studios, Eric Stephenson, Dirk Wood and Kat Salazar at Image Comics, David Dissanayake and Damian and Adrian Wassel at Vault Comics, Alex Ross, Jimmy Palmiotti, Mark Waid, Gene Ha, Stuart Moore at Ahoy Comics, Russell Walks, IDW, David Morris, Roger Langridge, Steve Geppi and Sammi Cohen at Diamond Comic Distributors, Jeff Vaughn at Gemstone, Ian Rankin, Biff at Ace Comics, Calum at Strange Adventures, Andy Bennett and anyone else we have forgotten Dedicated to the first James Bond Sean Connery Tripwire Winter Special 2020 Published by Tripwire Magazine Limited, Flat 5 Crescent Lodge, 15 Sunningfelds Crescent, Hendon London NW4 4RD, UK ©2020 Tripwire Magazine Limited. All Rights Reserved. James Bond cover illustration by Russell Walks. Flash cover illustration by David Michael Beck. Flash ™ & ©2020 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved. No part or parts of this magazine may be reproduced on any media without the prior permission of the Publishers and infringements may result in prosecution. All characters and affilliated material©2020 their respective creators and copyright holders. Printed in the UK ISSN 1759-2585

editorial

elcome to the first Tripwire print magazine in nine years. It hasn’t been easy to get this out this year and we have already put it back from the spring. But we are very proud of what is in it and while creating our website is great, it’s hard to beat publishing in print. The magazine features a cross-section of content and writers,covering comics, film and TV. We have gone for two covers this time too for the first time: a Russell Walks James Bond image and a David Michael Beck Flash 80th anniversary piece. We also utilised crowdfunding to make this a reality. This magazine also marks my comic writing debut with Sherlock Holmes And The Empire Builders, an alternate world Holmes tale illustrated by Andy Bennett, which has been twenty years in the making. With any luck, this series will find a home at a comics publisher but I am

very proud of the work here that myself and Bennett have created. A lot has changed in nine years in the worlds of comics, film and TV and hopefully we have reflected that here. The hope is to do a new print special at least once a year. If you have seen Tripwire in print before, welcome back. And if this is the first time that readers have seen our print version, then it’s good to have you on board. Thanks for supporting us and thanks for reading. Joel Meadows editor-in-chief Tripwire

Lost Tales: The Kingdom

Happy 80th Birthday Clown Prince Of Crime

Taking a look at the epic DC series that never was with the help of its creators Alex Ross, Mark Waid and Gene Ha page 5

State Of The Industry Key players like Image’s Eric Stephenson, Boom’s Ross Richie and AWA’s Axel Alonso reveal the impact of the coronavirus on their publishing companies and retailers talk too page 10

Celebration of 80 years of DC’s most iconic and infamous villain and Batman’s greatest threat page 44

Crossing Universes Looking at the phenomena of the intercompany crossover over the years in comics page 52

Dream Career

One More Mission For 007

Casting our eye over the career of The Sandman co-creator, fantasy author and TV showrunner Neil Gaiman page 22

Still Trekking The Light Fantastic

Arguing that Star Trek: The Original Series has never been topped by any other Trek shows that have come along since page 28

A look back at Daniel Craig’s previous missions as Bond and offers some hints for his final one, No Time To Die and notable comic creators offer their favourite onscreen 007s page 60

Thinking Differently Writer Ram V on approaching creating comics and work like no other creator currently working in the industry page 68

Speed Kings

English Beat

Offering a potted history of DC’s The Flash in the year of the character’s 80th birthday page 32

Casting A Huge Shadow Jimmy Palmiotti talks about his friend Darwyn Cooke, a creator whose impact is still felt four years after his passing page 38 4 TRIPWIRE

Writer Kieron Gillen on Once & Future, changes to the comics industry, tackling Marvel’s The Eternals and much more page 94

Stripwire The return of Tripwire’s strip section featuring Ed Brubaker, Sean Phillips, Roger Langridge, William Simpson, Joel Meadows and Andy Bennett page 122

Scott Braden’s Lost Tales

The Kingdom Scott Braden talks to creators Mark Waid, Alex Ross and Gene Ha about DC’s The Kingdom, an epic series that never was from DC in the latest of his popular Lost Tales feature series…

fter the phenomenal success of their best-selling Kingdom Come prestige format series for DC Comics, the dynamite creative team of Alex Ross and Mark Waid wanted to revisit the events foreshadowing their apocalyptic story with the proposed ongoing series The Kingdom. According to Ross: “The genesis of the project was that post-Kingdom Come, DC brass, Paul Levitz, and Mike Carlin met with Mark and me at San Diego in 1996. They only had in mind at the time that we could continue some spillover project of a possible Magog series. I proposed to everybody that the use of Superman in the series was the best thing in our work, and a focused Superman series like Legends of the Dark Knight would be better for our talents. We had initially discussed the title Man and Superman. They definitely wanted a Kingdom Come conceptual tie-in and shot that idea down. After this, DC scheduled a meeting with Mark and me in New York with the editor and Paul to discuss other possibilities, and I plotted behind all their backs a prequel series called The Kingdom. I made a painted teaser piece, as well as character sketches of new versions of Black Adam, Blue Beetle and Gog, plus images of Superman having nightmares about the Joker. I dumped all this on Mark and DC in person, so I could steer the direction of the potential project.” “Whereas they all agreed to this creative course, they jumped the gun and offered the series art chores to an artist I had no recommendation for or input in. I had been thinking of Gene [Ha] the whole time and know that

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I had mentioned his name, and later fought with them over letting the other person down to get Gene back in. The editor of the project saw fit to let that artist know I was exactly who to blame for his losing the gig.” To help chronicle what could have been an event project, Ross enlisted Ha, a then-new talent to draw the proposed series; the same man who would go on to work with comic book legend Alan Moore on the beloved super-heroic police drama, Top 10. “Alex picked me,” Ha said about his joining the proposed series as its illustrator. “He entered comics before I did, but we’re about the same age and met at comic conventions. He liked my art, and obviously I liked his. Annoyingly, he’s an even better and faster caricaturist than me!” According to Ha, the would-be creators of The Kingdom met once in New York City to discuss the proposed series. The artist admitted that although they were together in the same room, 6 TRIPWIRE

“I made a painted teaser piece, as well as character sketches of new versions of Black Adam, Blue Beetle, and Gog, plus images of Superman having nightmares about the Joker.” – ALEX ROSS very little had been decided there. “Instead of creating a framework,” Ha confessed, “we ended up just planting ideas that we developed later by phone and fax.” The original iteration of The Kingdom would have focused on the early days of Kingdom Come’s Magog, a complex character Waid referred to in the preliminary series bible (dated November 8, 1996) as “gullible” and

“a villain who thinks he’s a hero.” And although not privy to the first conversations between Waid and Ross concerning Magog, Ha came to understand the “anti-hero” – for want of a better term – from viewing Ross’ initial designs and notes on the role he would play in the series during its preliminary stages. “Magog is younger and unscarred [than what we saw in Kingdom Come],” Ha revealed, “and still brimming with optimism.” The series would have also introduced an all-new Fourth World character named Gog. Gog, having been jointly agreed upon by Ross and Waid in the preliminary series bible, is “impossibly powerful” and would have been from the original world of the Old Gods; the massive planet that had split in two to become Apokolips and New Genesis. He is also the sole survivor of the original pantheon of divine giants. This enormous Fourth World spin-off character has seen many things in his lifetime, and supposedly doesn’t want Earth to follow in the same manner as his once great world did. It was also a concept that wasn’t used later in the Waid-helmed fifth-week event. More on that later. As far as the two characters, I asked Ha what was Magog’s relationship with this mysterious, Kirbyesque “hero?” “Gog is definitely the senior partner,” revealed Ha. “I think it would be fair to call young Magog the sidekick to Gog. I think Alex planned Gog to be a messianic revolutionary – full of good intentions, but ruthless in achieving them.” Those good intentions would turn out to be a lie, though. Yes, according to Waid’s preliminary bible, Gog – who had told Magog that he didn’t want Kingdom Come to come to pass 20 years in the future – was telling the truth about his motivations…in a sense. Instead, though, the Fourth Worlder wanted Kingdom Come to come to pass right now – in all its apocalyptic glory. And for his treachery, Gog would eventually be murdered by Magog who, according to Ross, was not happy with the future role he was fated to play in Kingdom Come. Their climatic battle would leave Magog scarred – physically, mentally, and emotionally. Ross pointed out, though, that he and Waid did not agree on the creative destiny of their Magog. “It’s important to note that Mark and I had no common point of view on the Magog/Gog

relationship since he could not envision the giant Fourth World version that I was proposing,” explained Ross. “He incorporated it into the first series bible, since there was nothing else on the table at the time. “Mark was entirely responsible for the biblical references to the Book of Revelation in Kingdom Come being such a large reference point in that series,” Ross also said, “thereby how he incorporated Magog as a character name. Researching that, we knew there were twin cities of Gog and Magog, so any follow-up project would seem likely to need to answer what happened to the other possible character concept.” The creators also tossed out a raft of other potential storylines in their initial series notes. Among these was having DC Comics’ Man of Steel somehow involved with overpopulating The Kingdom with super-heroes and/or super-villains. That, of course, never happened. “Both Alex and Mark have a profound love and understanding of Superman,” Ha said unequivocally, “even deeper than my own. I can’t really predict what those two would have come up with, as I learned by exchanging ideas with them and getting patiently schooled on Clark Kent. Waid and Ross’ understanding of Clark Kent is truly epic.” Waid’s preliminary bible once again clarifies this while shedding some light on some of the motivations behind the lost tale. According to the document, a “forbidden fruit” was to be devised out of Supes’ molecular code – creating darker “heroes” like Manotaur, Nuculoid, Phoebus, Trix, Von Bach, and legions of others seen in the pages of the critically acclaimed Kingdom Come story. As Waid once again states in the bible, Superman’s DNA “is the original sin that each day continues to spread and infect the world.” “Just as Kingdom Come was about what happens when Superman’s influence is absent, there is something thematically fulfilling and thematically right about The Kingdom ultimately revolving around Superman’s direct and active influence on the next generation of super-humans,” Waid wrote. Another concept that was thrown out involving Superman – or rather iterations of him – was Ross’s idea of having the Man of Tomorrow literally confronting his future self. Ross followed this up by writing “Superman only truly makes sense at times of ongoing crisis.

“It’s important to note that Mark [Waid] and I had no common point of view on the Magog/Gog relationship since he could not envision the giant Fourth World version that I was proposing.” – ALEX ROSS

It doesn’t have to be a ‘comic book combat crisis.’ After all, he was born during the Depression, an economic crisis.” Waid also suggested that readers could discover the transformations of their favourite heroes into their Kingdom Come personas through standalone issues peppered throughout the series. These ‘Untold Tales of Kingdom Come,’ as Waid coined the special oneoff issues in his story bible, would be similar to James Robinson’s “Times Past” episodes from his fan-favourite Starman title. The proposed ‘Untold Tales of Kingdom Come’ would have allowed high-profile guest artists to contribute TRIPWIRE 7

“Just as Kingdom Come was about what happens when Superman’s influence is absent, there is something thematically fulfilling and thematically right about The Kingdom ultimately revolving around Superman’s direct and active influence on the next generation of super-humans” – MARK WAID

their talent to what ended up being a never-released series of stories. So what happened to The Kingdom then as it was described above? The project – which never happened in its original form due to creative differences – did not totally die on the vine. Without Ross and Ha, The Kingdom instead evolved into a special comic book event that found Gog, a vindictive survivor of the holocaust that consumed the farmlands of Kansas, working his way back through time in an attempt to wipe Superman out of existence. The future heroes of Kingdom Come find themselves joining forces with the super-powered denizens of the current DC Universe (or at least as it stood circa 1998) to save the Man of Steel from this driven madman. 8 TRIPWIRE

Later collected in a trade paperback, the superstar event of the late ‘90s featured Waid joining such talented artists as Jerry Ordway, Ariel Olivetti, Frank Quitely, Barry Kitson and Mike Zeck, among others, to tell stories that broadened the Kingdom Come mythos. However enjoyable it was, though, the project as it was released was arguably not as ambitious as what Ross, Waid, and Ha had originally planned. “When The Kingdom proceeded without me,” said Ross, “Mark redirected the Gog idea to fit a whole different backstory, as well as a humansized Magog-identical character. It’s worth noting that, if you talk about the series of one-shots they did back in ’98, that I fulfilled my version of The Kingdom within a storyline running within the Justice Society of America

series in 2008. There, I put the giant version of Gog I had always imagined, as well as his [Kirbyesque] origins. And the series writer, Geoff Johns, saw it as necessary to directly negate the prior Mark Waid version of Gog out of existence. This series project included a Kingdom Come Superman one-shot that I both wrote and illustrated, as well as multiple painted pages that tied into the Kingdom Come series and showed how the future of that storyline would go in the years, decades, and centuries that followed.”

“Whereas this may represent a giant creative split between myself and my original collaborator, we both got a chance to do our versions of how we would follow our successful project and are not embittered toward each other. I don’t want to register any ill will toward Mark” – ALEX ROSS

Waid, who went on to say he was sorry the project didn’t happen as he and Ross originally imagined it, explained that with the sequel, his collaborator wanted to go “big and cosmic, which is a terrific and perfectly valid approach to have – giant-scale stories about entire civilizations of Old and New Gods, a setting with galactic scope.” “That’s not my wheelhouse, however. I think I do my best work with smaller,

emotional stories, and I knew I could never do justice to an approach as cosmic as the one Alex was envisioning. For me, the evidence is in how The Kingdom turned out. The bookends didn’t hold together as well as I’d hoped – and DC editorial at the time couldn’t wait to kill Hypertime with a shovel – but I’ll stack the Gog, Planet Krypton, and Offspring tie-ins against anything I’ve ever written. If they’re all that really came out of The Kingdom, I can live with that.” Hypertime, for those who may not remember it, was a fictional concept invented by Waid and comics superstar Grant Morrison in which all stories are “real” and exist somewhere. This would have replaced DC Comics’ oncehonoured “multiple earths” tradition and

allowed stories now considered out of continuity back in the timeline of the DC Universe. At the same time, Ross wants it to be noted that: “Whereas this may represent a giant creative split between myself and my original collaborator, we both got a chance to do our versions of how we would follow our successful project and are not embittered toward each other. I don’t want to register any ill will toward Mark.” After reviewing their hard work in building the original concept – while also considering what was ultimately released to readers – The Kingdom, as it was first imagined, was nothing less than glorious. TW copyright©2020 Scott Braden. artwork©DC Comics. All Rights Reserved

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State Of The Industry With the coronavirus affecting everything earlier this year including the comics industry, Tripwire spoke to a number of people at the top of a cross-section of comic publishers including Image, Aftershock and Boom to find out how they have adapted in a year that has seen so many huge changes including no comic conventions taking place and the comic shops temporarily shutting down. Then we took a look at how comic retailers have been coping in the US and UK with the changes that the virus has brought to their businesses… clearly see who has their back. And I get that just sounds like a standard dig at our competitors, but the truth of the matter is that comics retail is not an easy business. There are publishers who have made that business more difficult by their actions, and when things are more difficult for the stores, it’s more difficult for all of us. Sure, publishers compete with each other in this marketplace, but we also exist alongside each other in the same space. Taking a wrecking ball to any part of that space without consideration for how it affects everyone from readers to retailers to business partners and even to competitors is irresponsible. Everyone has had to pick up the TRIPWIRE: How did Image react once though, and I’m happy to say we’ve slack, and for our part, we’ve been adapted quite well to working within the coronavirus hit and the comic working hard to make sure that shops temporarily shut, with Diamond the limits of current restrictions. Not stores understand we have their best shipping for two months wasn’t ideal, forced to close down distribution of but what we’ve seen is that readers are interests at the forefront of our minds. new comics? Like most stores, the nature of how still hungry for content. We’ve gone ERIC STEPHENSON: It was a shock. we operate means we’re a small back to press on a lot of our books, It certainly wasn’t something we’d and we’re seeing sales climb on many business, too – and that extends to anticipated or prepared for, and I think series. Right now, September is shaping the creators we work with. We get everybody was caught off guard by how up to be one of our best months of the that we’re part of a larger ecosystem quickly and dramatically things changed. year, and I put that down to the quality and that stores can’t get by without To some degree, I think we’re all still our help and vice versa. of the talent we’re working with, and reeling a little bit. the dedication of the Image staff, all TW: With comic cons currently TW: How has Image adapted to a post- of whom have more than risen to the challenge of working remotely. suspended, how long do you think coronavirus comic market? it’ll be before they start up again? ES: Considering COVID-19 is still very TW: What has changed in the comic ES: I’d be surprised if there are cons much a part of our lives here at the market in the wake of the virus? before a vaccine is approved. The end of the summer, I think it’s going smart move would be to sit things to be a while before we’re in the “postES: Well, sadly, the biggest change out until 2022 I would think, but coronavirus” phase of things. The comics is that some publishers have become market has proven surprisingly resilient, more craven, but the bright side of that who knows how that will play out. is that retailers and readers are able to 10 TRIPWIRE

TW: With cons playing such a major “Overall, I think some of the changes we’re going part in comic publishers’ business through, some of the upheaval we’ve endured and models, just how do you adapt to a continue to deal with, will result in new opportunities world that temporarily doesn’t have for all of us.” comic cons in it? ES: It’s funny – I haven’t heard anyone responsible for hundreds of comics Greene and David Walker’s Bitter complain about the temporary absence of comic book conventions from their lives. Most people seem happy to have had a year off from it. Does it hurt business? They’re marketing endeavours, more than bonafide sales events, and while it’s good exposure to be there, it’s also usually a big chunk of the budget that we’re able to re-distribute elsewhere right now.

TW: Is there anything positive that will come out of the impact of the virus in the medium and long term for Image and the comic market? ES: In the short term, I think we’ve had a chance to kind of catch our breath and re-evaluate some aspects of our business in a way we probably wouldn’t have done otherwise. As you know, we all work in a very hectic business. As an industry, we’re

a month, and it just never stops. It’s a high stress job that doesn’t always leave room for a lot of reflection inbetween the constant deadlines. So as unfortunate as this whole situation has been, having the ability to slow down and take a step back to reassess things has been very valuable, and I would hope that goes for others as well and not just Image. Overall, I think some of the changes we’re going through, some of the upheaval we’ve endured and continue to deal with, will result in new opportunities for all of us. I often say that one of the things I’ve always found most appealing about Image is that we look almost completely different from one year to the next, because we’re constantly working with different creators and those creators are constantly doing different things. That’s how you get Eisner-winning work like Chuck Brown, Sanford

Root, or Ian Bertram and Darcy Van Poelgeest’s Little Bird. That’s what our industry should like, too – all-new, alldifferent, all the time. There are certain points in our history this business has looked kind of like a bug trapped in amber, but right now, I think the opportunities in front of us point to a period of tremendous change that will benefit all of us.

TW: What is the one thing that Image has learnt that is invaluable to reacting to a major worldwide business disruption like the coronavirus? ES: As sappy as this might sound, I think the most vital lesson we’ve learned from all this is to “keep calm and carry on.” www.imagecomics.com TRIPWIRE 11

How we are dealing with this, though, is to meet the problems head-on with a renewed enthusiasm we might not have seen in years. It’s a horrible time in many respects and no one should make light of that, but it is also an exciting, challenging time. We’ll meet those challenges.

Steve Geppi, Diamond Comic Distributors TW: How did Diamond react once the coronavirus hit and the comic shops temporarily shut, with the company being forced to close down distribution of new comics? STEVE GEPPI: I never thought I would be the person to decide to stop shipping comics, but those were the circumstances that confronted us. At first, the only other option seemed to be burying retailers in debt when so many of them were literally forced to close, but then we were forced to close many of our locations as well. Much of our workforce very quickly transitioned to working from home and immediately began preparing for when we could again ship comics. We were able to keep supplying the retailers that were open with back stock items, but of course the goal was being ready to ship new comics as soon as we could. TW: How has Diamond adapted to a postcoronavirus comic market? SG: I don’t think that can accurately be answered as past tense question. First, we’re not yet actually post-coronavirus. Second, our family of companies has adapted and will continue to adapt as the topography continues to change. We have identified many difficulties facing us, some obvious and some not-so-obvious. But there are almost certainly additional speed bumps ahead that no one has foreseen. 12 TRIPWIRE

TW: What has changed in the comic market in the wake of the virus? SG: Many retailers are trying to find their new balance as things have opened back up. Some have already succeeded brilliantly in doing so, but the circumstances are still evolving. There isn’t any road map for what we’ve been through, and the solutions mostly will not be one-size-fits-all. That said, we’re all ambassadors of the most exciting entertainment medium ever created. The general public now knows and loves our characters. We collectively just have to do a better job of getting them to know the source material for all of the hit movies and TV shows. Where would Hollywood be without comics? This can be and should be an exciting time for us. TW: With comic cons currently suspended, how long do you think it’ll be before they start up again? SG: It’s certainly something missing in our industry, isn’t it? I’ll leave it to others to prognosticate as to when and how our conventions will get up and running, again, but I’ll be one of the people looking forward to them. TW: With cons playing such a major part in a comic publishers’ business models, just how do you adapt to a world that temporarily doesn’t have comic cons in it? SG: It’s anecdotal at this point, but many of the collectors I’ve spoken with have told me that they are spending their travel money on comics and other collectibles. That seems to make sense to me. If there’s a big ticket item you were thinking about, and suddenly you no longer have

“ I don’t know that it’s specifically good for Diamond, but I think it’s incredibly good for the market as a whole that many dealers have seen a spike in back issue sales. ” that hotel bill or air fare charge for a big convention, then that big ticket item (or even a series of smaller ones) might be in your budget. As I said, it’s anecdotal, but I’ve heard similar stories from a lot of fans. TW: Is there anything positive that will come out of the impact of the virus in the medium and long term for Diamond and the comic market? SG: I don’t know that it’s specifically good for Diamond, but I think it’s incredibly good for the market as a whole that many dealers have seen a spike in back issue sales. I advocated for retailers to start thinking that more than two years ago in my speech at C2E2, and in all humility it seems to have been a bit prophetic. It’s not been all recordbreaking sales, but it also hasn’t been all 50¢ box material either. It’s been very interesting to watch. On the plus side for Diamond, I really do believe that many people out there have used the pause to rediscover the things they love, and that certainly includes comics. TW: What is the one thing that Diamond has learnt that is invaluable to reacting to a major worldwide business disruption like the coronavirus? SG: I am so proud of how quickly my team reacted to this situation. We faced so many difficult decisions. No one wanted to sidestep them; everyone wanted to take things head-on. I don’t think any other industry has people who are invested the way comic book people are, and that goes for our team here, too. I wouldn’t want to tackle this kind of event without a great team and steadfast business partners.

www.diamondcomics.com

Adrian F Wassel, editor-in-chief, Vault Comics TRIPWIRE: How did Vault react once the coronavirus hit and the comic shops temporarily shut, with Diamond forced to close down distribution of new comics? ADRIAN F WASSEL: We kept working. We told our creators that we would stand by them, communicate with them daily, and supply them with steady work for as long as the shutdown lasted. And that, if the worst were to happen (which it did not), and that work could no longer be sustained, they would know with ample warning. It was the most stressful situation I have ever had to navigate. But we refused to put pencils down on a single project. Our creators deserved that commitment from us. TW: How has Vault adapted to a postcoronavirus comic market? AFW: We shuffled our releases a bit, but honestly, our catalogue has been so laser-focused and comparatively trim from day one that we’ve never been encumbered by anything extraneous. Our team is small, adaptive, and already accustomed to working remotely. We’ve always put a premium on being quick and lean. Our way of adapting was to double-down on what we already knew how to do—and speeding up plans for direct audience engagement that we’d already had on the docket. For instance, new fans can now buy our classic series DTC through our partnership with Heavy Metal. TW: What has changed in the comic market in the wake of the virus? AFW: There’s a lot of negativity swirling around, but one positive I can point to is that independent publishers and retailers are taking their partnership in this industry to new heights. Retailers

are investing in indie comics—and the stories creators are truly excited to tell— and we’re working tirelessly with those retailers to supply the tools they need to make our stories attract substantial audiences. The kind of audiences that will keep everyone thriving. TW: With comic cons currently suspended, how long do you think it’ll be before they start up again? AFW: Prognosticating about anything outside my immediate reach seems silly at best, dangerous at worst, so all I’ll say is this: until I know that my team and our creators are safe, I patently refuse to put them at risk. TW: With cons playing such a major part in a comic publishers’ business models, just how do you adapt to a world that temporarily doesn’t have comic cons in it? AFW: Cons are where Damian and I cut our teeth. I’ve worked the front of

“I don’t go in for the idea that the best work comes through hardship. But I do believe that applying an equal measure of focus and compassion can help see you through hardship.”

the booth at every show where Vault’s exhibited. And, honestly, their absence has only given me more time to focus on the work that matters most, curating excellent books. Moreover, we live in a time when reaching out to audiences and new talent has never been easier. Is it the same as interacting face-toface? No. Is it actually that difficult to make interactions over social media or zoom or slack meaningful and fulfilling? Not really. Also, a lot of the toxic and dangerous spaces we, as an industry, cultivate and allow to persist at conventions are finally being dragged into the light. I think the relief of knowing that the next convention is not, in fact, just around the corner has given us the time to do that necessary work—to examine our behaviour as an industry and as a community. When we return, conventions will need to be not just safer, but completely safe for marginalised persons, or we will have failed as a community. TW: Is there anything positive that will come out of the impact of the virus in the medium and long term for Vault and the comic market? AFW: I don’t go in for the idea that the best work comes through hardship. But I do believe that applying an equal measure of focus, diligence, and compassion can help see you through hardship. The positive would be emerging on the other side of this pandemic as an industry focused, first and foremost, on supporting creators so that they can tell new and meaningful stories, rather than focusing, first and foremost, on playing custodian to the old. TW: What is the one thing that Vault has learnt that is invaluable to reacting to a major worldwide business disruption like the coronavirus? AFW: Your personnel—that is, your team—is always going to be the difference maker. Nothing in business is as valuable as a good team. www.vaultcomics.com TRIPWIRE 13

Ross Richie, Boom Studios TW: How did Boom react once the coronavirus hit and the comic shops temporarily shut, with Diamond forced to close down distribution of new comics? ROSS RICHIE: We were committed to supporting our retailers and creators. We were the first to eliminate risk for retailers. BOOM! was the first to announce a comprehensive Retailer Support Service program. We made every new comic book and graphic novel fully returnable through August. We immediately created the most comprehensive interactive map of safe shopping comic book stores, which garnered us coverage in the New York Times. We launched a paid #BoostYourLCS campaign on social media to drive customers to comic shops. We sent out a selection of rare variant covers at no cost. We guaranteed a one-per-store “thank you” variant every

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single month through to the end of the year. We expanded the program a month later as part of our “Day One” initiative, adding additional deep discount sales and affiliate sales opportunities. We were the first to announce a revised schedule so retail partners and fans could count on a consistent, exciting slate of comics and graphic novels every single week. We didn’t go “pencils down.” We “doubled down.” We recommitted to the Direct Market comic book store. We’ve been the publisher that fans and our retail partners can count on. We recently announced we’re making this program even stronger. First, we’re doubling the number of “thank you” variants every month from September through December. Now instead of every participating store receiving a “thank you” one-per-store variant on one new launch series, we are guaranteeing a “thank you” one-per-store variant on at least two series every single month. We aren’t stopping there. We were the first publisher to extend our line wide retainability through the end of August and we were proud to be the first to extend our line wide returnability through the end of the year. Every single comic book, every variant, every collection, and every graphic novel will be fully returnable through the BOOM! Guarantee program. No minimums, no fees, and nothing to mail back. Some publishers tell you they expect their books to be successful, but we’re guaranteeing hits every week from

“We committed to supporting our retailers and creators. We were the first to eliminate risk for retailers. BOOM! was the first to announce a comprehensive Retailer Support Service program.” BOOM! Studios. We are making 2020 the biggest and best year in BOOM! Studios publishing history. But we’re not just taking care of our retailers so they can take care of fans in their stores, we’ve also focused on taking care of and adding value for our creators by aggressively translating their amazing comics into movies and TV shows. Since COVID impacted the world, we’ve continued our incredible momentum in Hollywood beginning with the announcement of our first-look deal with Netflix. They already had all of Mark Millar’s comics and a first-look deal with Dark Horse Comics. It wasn’t enough. They needed BOOM! Netflix doesn’t just option material. They make it. It’s the quickest path in comics to getting a hit TV show for our creators. We announced our series Just Beyond by R.L. Stine and Kelly & Nichole Matthews was greenlit as a TV show for Disney+.We’re developing The Woods by James Tynion IV and Michael

Dialynas as a TV show at Universal Content Productions. The screenwriter of the next Batman movie, The Batman (whose trailer dropped at DC Fandome), Mattson Tomlin, is adapting Memetic by James Tynion IV and Eryk Donovan and we’re producing it with Seth Rogen at Lions Gate as a movie. We sold Snow Blind by Ollie Masters and Tyler Jenkins as a movie in a bidding war to Apple TV with Jake Gyllenhaal attached to star and produce. We’re developing Bolivar by Sean Rubin with the Executive Producer of Stranger Things and director of Night at the Museum, Shawn Levy. We’re going to have some exciting news to announce soon on The Last Sons of America by Philip Kennedy Johnson and Matthew Dow Smith, which we’re producing with Peter Dinklage who is also starring. We have brought an incredible movie star on to play opposite Peter that everyone will love. Cullen Bunn and Jack T. Cole’s The Unsound is being directed and produced at Netflix as a movie by the director of Shazam, David F. Sandberg. Rashida Jones is directing and Kerry Washington is producing Goldie Vance by Hope Larson and Brittney Williams. We just announced that HBOMax has optioned Lumberjanes as an animated series with a script-to-series order. She-Ra and The Princesses of Power creator and showrunner, Noelle Stevenson is attached to showrun and executive produce the

series, as well as to write and direct the special that will launch the series. We’re in business with Nickelodeon on another kids’ property from our KaBOOM! imprint. I’m going to tease you and let slip that something Greg Pak made for us is getting turned into a show. I’ll let you guess which one. Imagine Agents by Brian Joines and Bacan is still rocking with Richie Keen (Fist Fight) directing and Shawn Levy (Stranger Things) producing, we’ll have an exciting update on that soon. And I am pleased to announce to you, exclusively with Tripwire, that Netflix has optioned Bury the Lede by Gaby Dunn and Claire Roe with Brad Falchuk (American Horror Story, Glee) producing with us. We have 10 unannounced TV shows that we’re developing with every single streamer: Peacock, CBS All Access, and multiple projects at HBOMax, FX, Apple, Disney+ and Amazon. There’s a total of 21 movies and TV shows in the script phase right now. We’ve got our own movie, based on The Empty Man by Cullen Bunn and Vanessa R. Del Rey, releasing into cinemas in October. On top of this, we announced a first-ofits-kind deal with one of Universal’s TV studios, Universal Content Productions. You would know them as the studio that financed the production of Umbrella Academy on Netflix and Happy on SyFy. UCP approached us wanting a home at BOOM! and suggested we collaborate in a co-publishing deal that would give them an imprint, the first of which will be written by Grant Morrison and called Proctor Valley Road. So that’s an exciting initiative that will unfold over time and give us some cool new publishing projects.

“Many publishers, including storied titans like Marvel, paused or slowed down their releases schedules when the shutdown ended. We doubled down.” During COVID we have been working hard every single day in Hollywood to get our creators’ comics sold as movies and TV shows. We knew that the best path forward would be to recommit to the core of our business, our lifeblood: retailers and creators. TW: How has Boom adapted to a postcoronavirus comic market? RR: Pre-coronavirus, at the ComicsPRO Annual meeting in February, we announced our “Must-Read” slate of the year. First: Si Spurrier’s Alienated with Chris Wildgoose. The second Must-Read was a sequel to the smash hit Faithless from Brian Azarello and Maria Llovet. Third, we announced a Must-Read from Tom Taylor and Daniele Di Nicuolo and fourth, a new ongoing from Al Ewing and Simone DiMeo. But at the end, we teased that we had a huge new project that could be even bigger than all of these… Pre-coronavirus, our first Must Read series, Alienated, launched over 18,000 copies. Kicking off the year with a series that sold 70% higher than Spurrier’s previous series told us it was going to be BOOM!’s year. Then the virus hit. When the market re-opened in midMay, we were ready with our second Must Read launch - Brian Azzarello & Maria Llovet’s Faithless II. Faithless II launched at 23,000 copies, higher than Alienated, which was a tremendous vote of confidence when the future of the market was unknown. The Must-Read list kept building and selling better. Other publishers pulled back on their release schedule or changed distribution strategies. But we knew comic shops needed fresh excitement to bring customers in. So we added a surprise Must Read series with James Tynion IV and Michael Dialynas’s Wynd. In order to get this new series into stores immediately, we skipped solicitation and offered the series at Final Order Cutoff. TRIPWIRE 15

“BOOM! saw the crisis as an opportunity to come together with fans and retailers to deliver an exciting slate of Must-Read comics risk-free. And the market embraced that.” This meant retailers only had 5 days between learning that the project existed and when they had to place orders. It was a risk that paid off. Wynd became our highest ordered original series in the history of the company and has gone on to sell over 42,000 copies! The Must-Reads were on a roll. We didn’t just deliver on the hits we guaranteed in February, we made new ones after COVID hit. Then we released Seven Secrets, the first original series from hitmaker Tom Taylor and Power Rangers artist Daniele di Nicuolo. Only two months after Wynd, Seven Secrets became our highest ordered original series in the history of the company. We’ve sold over 50,000 copies so far and there’s already a third printing of the first issue. And then a month later, the first ever original series from The Immortal Hulk’s Al Ewing with artist Simone di Meo, We Only Find Them When They’re Dead, unseated Seven Secrets as our highest ordered series in the history of the company. We Only Find Them When They’re Dead has sold over 90,000 copies! In February, we guaranteed that our final Must Read series would have everyone talking. How did BOOM! pay off on the series we were teasing? By delivering BRZRKR, created and co-written by none other than the iconic Keanu Reeves. Based on the early response, we’re confident that BRZRKR will end up being our top ordered comic in the history of the company. And beyond our original Must Read series, we’re seeing tremendous sales numbers for licensed series like Mega Man, our upcoming Dune series, and the relaunch of our Power Rangers comics with a two-fisted attack of a new ongoing book entitled Mighty Morphin and its twin ongoing series Power Rangers, both of which together will reshape the franchise.

When stores reopened, they had fewer titles to sell from other publishers, but we were there to supply our MustRead hits. So BOOM!’s sales are up. We recommitted to comic shops and they have seen that and responded by committing to our creators and series with major support. One of the ways we’re supporting comic shops in an innovative way is our Kickstarter campaign for Keanu Reeves’ BRZRKR. We’re using Kickstarter as a digital distribution platform to pre-sell all 3 volumes of the collections to people who have never read comic books before and don’t go into comic book shops. Once the campaign is complete, we will serialize BRZRKR just like every other BOOM! series in comic shops first. Only this time, we’ll have a list of thousands of people who backed the Kickstarter campaign and we can send them messages saying, “You’ll get the TPB collections when they’re printed, but if you want to read the first chapter of this epic right now, the only place to get it is in the comic book shops. Here’s a list of retailers to visit!” We’re preserving the Direct Market comic shops as the first window to get the series and working to drive thousands of new readers there. Shops will then get the volume 1 collection in the second window of release, the book trade gets the first TPB in the third window, and then in the fourth window we will fulfil Kickstarter orders. Before we launched, we called Kickstarter and worked hand-in-hand directly with them. Keanu was really excited to use Kickstarter as a way to reach out to people who have never read comics.

TW: What has changed in the comic market in the wake of the after effects of the virus? RR: Many publishers, including storied titans like Marvel, paused or slowed down their releases schedules when the shutdown ended. We doubled down.

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TW: With comic cons currently suspended, how long do you see before they will be starting up again? RR: I have no idea. Only time will tell.

programming, put together a BRZRKR panel with Keanu Reeves, Matt Kindt, and Ron Garney for New York Comic Con’s Metaverse, and have organized panels with Baltimore Comic Con. We’re also embarking on our biggest virtual book tour event with The Sacrifice of Darkness by Roxane Gay, Tracy Lynn Oliver and Rebecca Kirby. Lastly, during COVID, we launched a regular video series call BOOM! Chats where we give fans a short panel-like experience with the creators of new BOOM! Studios series. In the meantime, we are continually evaluating opportunities to host digital panels. TW: Is there anything positive that will come out of the impact of the virus in the medium and long-term for Boom! and the comic market? RR: BOOM! saw the crisis as an opportunity to come together with fans and retailers to deliver an exciting slate of Must-Read comics risk-free. And the market embraced that. I believe when things are chaotic and uncertain, you meet that challenge head-on with courage and certainty. We became closer to our retailers and our fans during this crisis. During the crisis, we announced a Netflix TV deal and a partnership with one of the largest media companies in the world, Universal Studios, via UCP, and continued to work every day to translate our creators’ series into movies and TV shows, announcing an exciting slate of new deals. BOOM! is bigger than before the pandemic and coming out of it stronger. TW: What is the one thing that Boom has learnt that is invaluable to reacting to a major worldwide business disruption like the coronavirus? RR: Act with courage and believe in your community. We are the only major publisher not to let a single staff member go. We supported the creative community by keeping a strong schedule of books shipping when distribution turned back on, so the freelancers we employed could count on us. We made our product returnable because we believed in it, the retailers, and the fans. And it’s paid off big time. I am so grateful and thankful for the fans and retailers and the industry. When the chips were down, they have supported BOOM! more than ever.

www.boom-studios.com

Mike Marts, editorin-chief, AfterShock TW: How did Aftershock react once the coronavirus hit and the comic shops temporarily shut with Diamond forced to close down distribution of new comics? MIKE MARTS: It was certainly disappointing to see the industry shut down temporarily… and heart-breaking to witness our retailer partners have to adjust so drastically… but these were unprecedented times, and as a company we decided we needed to work alongside Diamond, our creators and our printers to strategise the best possible way to handle the delay and plan for how to best emerge from it. As a publisher, we held an extremely firm stance that we were “open for business” and continued on the production of comic series we already had in progress. We didn’t want our creators to suffer in any way from any type of “pens down” nonsense. We also took steps to aid our retail partners by creating our free S.O.S. anthology which we distributed to comic shops in late spring.

Stuart Moore, AHOY freelance publishing ops director TW: How did Ahoy react once the coronavirus hit and the comic shops temporarily shut, with Diamond forced to close down distribution of new comics? STUART MOORE: The distribution shutdown forced us to stop and take stock of Ahoy’s situation. We played with a few possibilities, but our overriding goal was to keep the trade paperback collections on schedule. So once Diamond was back up, we started issuing two of the books— Ash & Thorn and Billionaire Island—in single issues on an accelerated schedule, to catch up. I think that actually worked better than expected; the faster releases, with an issue coming out every two or three weeks, seemed to drum up more interest in those books. We switched Captain Ginger to digital-only publication, partly as an experiment and partly because it was at an awkward point in the middle of its run—we didn’t trust numbers to stay up on issue #3 after a several-month hiatus. We postponed a fourth title, Penultiman, until the fall, cancelling all previous solicitations.

TW: How has AfterShock adapted to a postcoronavirus comic market? MM: We’ve had to remain more flexible than ever. As a smaller publisher, we’ve been fairy nimble and allowed ourselves to bend with market trends and industry ups-anddowns…but now, more than ever, we had to adapt intelligently. This meant an extra overhaul of our production schedule. We wanted to ease back into the market once the initial quarantine period came to an end so that retailers were not overwhelmed with too much product at once.

TW: With comic cons currently suspended, how long do you think it’ll be before they start up again? MM: It’s tough to speculate exactly when we’ll return to 100% normality when it comes to cons…and I expect we’ll see things roll out regionally as opposed to an all-atonce approach. I think what’s amazing is seeing how cons have adapted so quickly to the events of the world. Virtual cons might have seemed a far-out idea one year ago, but now we’ve already seen so many ways in which this method has succeeded.

TW: What has changed in the comic market in the wake of the virus? MM: I never thought we’d still be discovering what the effects are in September…but here we are! As everyone knows, the virus and all of the disruption it’s caused is far from over. So we’re still adapting, still attempting to stay a few steps ahead of it. At this point, a half year, we’ve experienced the various ways that publishers, retailers and creators have adapted. Some companies condensed their product…others stopped shipping completely. No one company reacted the same. At AfterShock, we decided early on to remain true to our mission statement of creating high quality stories from the most talented creators in the business.

TW: Is there anything positive that will come out of the impact of the virus in the medium and long term for Aftershock? MM: Yes--as we let the creative community know that we were “open for business” we saw a new wave of creative talent walking through our doors with great stories to tell. So it’s made our already amazing creative family grow that much more—which is great in so many ways.

TW: How has Ahoy adapted to a postcoronavirus comic market? SM: I don’t know if anybody knows the answer to that yet. We’re still reacting, month by month and week by week.

SDCC or a NYCC—the hordes of people, the hundreds of different little fandoms coming together—is exactly what we cannot have right now.

TW: What has changed in the comic market in the wake of the virus? SM: So far—and that’s a big qualifier—I’ve been impressed by the ability of comic shops to keep their business moving. And they’re paying attention, too. Our initial orders have not substantially dropped, and we’ve seen heavy reorder activity too, particularly on Mark Russell & Steve Pugh’s Billionaire Island. The thing that’s surprised me is that singleissues sales seem stronger than trades; I thought it would be the opposite. Some of that is down to management changes in chains like Barnes & Noble, but it looks to me as if comic shops are prioritizing single issues, trying to keep Wednesday going (or Tuesday-Wednesday now, I guess). Of course, trade paperbacks are designed to stay available, so cash-strapped shops can always go back and order them later on. TW: With comic cons currently suspended, how long do you see before they will be starting up again? SM: I’m not really concentrating on that. I can see small local cons opening up before the big ones do. Everything great about an

TW: What is the one thing that Aftershock has learnt that is invaluable to reacting to a major worldwide business disruption? MM: Remain true to your mission statement and to your reader base.

www.aftershockcomics.com

TW: And on a related question, with cons playing such a major part in comic publishers’ business models, just how do you adapt to a world that temporarily doesn’t have comic cons in it? SM: Ahoy’s business model was never that heavily based around cons. Personally, I miss them—I have friends on the other coast whom I see a few times a year—and it’s fun and gratifying to hand-sell books, to make that sort of connection with fans. TW: Is there anything positive that will come out of the impact of the virus in the medium and long term for Ahoy and the comic market? SM: It’s too soon to see. I think the disruptions around DC will have a greater immediate effect on small publishers and, of course, on Diamond. TW: What is the one thing that Ahoy has learnt that is invaluable to reacting to a major worldwide business disruption like the coronavirus? SM: Be smart, be flexible, challenge your assumptions constantly. I guess that’s three things.

www.comicsahoy.com

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Axel Alonso, chief creative officer, AWA TW: How did AWA react once the coronavirus hit and the comic shops temporarily shut, with Diamond forced to close down distribution of new comics? Axel Alonso: Our first five series hit stores the week they shuttered. Really bad timing for a new publisher to launch. Rather than hang our heads, we decided that we wanted people to be able to read our books even though they couldn’t get to the stores to buy them. To do this, we reformatted them as vertical scroll comic books and released them on the internet – for free. Every week, a new chapter of a story came out. We planned to do this for as long as the stores were closed. Luckily, the stores opened a couple of months later and when they did, there was enough buzz about our books that they sold out. On our first five series, all sold out. Retailers reported that they were happy with the quality and performance of our series, and each month, they have more confidence in AWA/Upshot. TW: How has AWA adapted to a post-coronavirus comic market? AA: Well, for starters, we all work remote. We are constantly on Zoom calls with each

other and the writers, artists, colourists and letterers we work with. We are in good spirits because the buzz on our titles is very good and our books are selling out. We are happy with our numbers. TW: What has changed in the comic market due to the virus? AA: A few stores went under, but most are back in business and still going strong. Rumours of comics’ death were, once again greatly exaggerated. As for the publishers, DC and Marvel put a lot of series on hold and delayed shipping during the worst months of the pandemic. At Marvel, Kevin Feige took a much larger role in the company, some staff were “furloughed’ during the pandemic and the rest of the staff worked remotely; at DC, there were lots of layoffs. So there’s been a lot of change. TW: With comic cons currently suspended, how long do you think It’ll be before they start up again? AA: I hope patience and common sense prevail. I wouldn’t expect there to be any big cons until a real vaccine is available. TW: And on a related question, with cons playing such a major part in a comic publishers’ business models, just how do you adapt to a world that temporarily doesn’t have comic cons? AA: We will lean heavily on the internet and retailer/fan buzz to keep the momentum we’ve already attained.

TW: Is there anything positive that will come out of the impact of the virus in the medium and long-term for AWA and the comic market? AA: Personally, I hope it puts to bed all the doom saying about comics’ inevitable death. Our industry took a hard punch from Covid-19, but it’s still on its feet, like a boxer. As long as people continue to push the boundaries of the medium, we’ll survive. Comics offer a unique entertainment experience, after all. As for AWA, we’ve got a great board and great investors that bring a lot of expertise and really respect what we are doing. I am very excited about the future. TW: What is the one thing that AWA has learnt that is invaluable to reacting to a major worldwide business disruption like the coronavirus? AA: Push through. When Covid-19 hit, we didn’t hang our heads. Like Mike Tyson says, “Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.” Covid-19 was that punch, and we altered our fight-strategy. We knew we had good content; the challenge was getting people to see it when the stores were shuttered. Rather than hemming and hawing about the possible side effects of releasing our series for free on a mobilefriendly format, we just did it. We got it out there for people to see, they liked it, and when the stores re-opened, they went TW and found it. www.awastudios.net

Adapting To Change Tripwire’s consulting editor Scott Braden takes a look at the impact of the virus on comic retailers in the US and UK

oneyWise ‘s Doug Whiteman wrote in his October 13 2020 article that “America’s stores were in rough shape even before the coronavirus hit, but the pandemic has worsened the toll on traditional retailers.” Whiteman continued to report that forecasters predicted business would never go back to “normal,” as many shops have had an extremely difficult time coming back from this year’s lockdowns. A record 9,500 stores went out of business in 2019, which seemed massive — but as many as 25,000 could shut down permanently in 2020, mostly in malls, says an estimate from Coresight Research. So far in October of 2020, more than 8,000 traditional retail locations have closed down for good, Coresight reported. Over in England, comic specialty shops have been put under lockdown for four weeks starting in November 2020, forcing them to weather the challenges of COVID-19 once more. However, there are recent reports that the graphic novel market has been remarkably good this past year – and shows no signs of stopping. This has helped comics specialty shops on both sides of the Pond

A new reality: Ace Comics in Colchester, Essex (top right) and Gosh Comics in London (bottom left) have had to adapt to outlast the more traditional retail store. “The first couple of months of the pandemic were certainly stressful and tumultuous but thankfully we had our eBay store and our shipping services to fall back on,” said Josh Thomas of

‘Over in England, comic specialty shops have been put under lockdown for four weeks starting in November of 2020, forcing them to weather the challenges of COVID-19 once more.’ New Dimension Comics’ Ellwood City, Pennsylvania, USA, location. “The statewide shutdown forced us to close our doors to the public, but our shipping staff were still able to safely come in and fill mail orders. We definitely saw a rise in the number of people ordering books to be shipped to their homes as in order to find entertainment to pass the time during the lockdown(s).” “We were very glad to we added the Comic Hub Point of Sale system to our arsenal a year before. This let us stay in touch with our customers and process their mail orders quickly and accurately through its customer and store stock web portals.” said Jon Engel, Regional Manager of the six-store chain of New Dimension Comics in the Greater Pittsburgh Area. Meanwhile, in the United Kingdom, Martin “Biff” Averre of Ace Comics reported that sales in his two stores are 30% down, but this is being achieved TRIPWIRE 19

“Industrywise…it’s been kind of monumental yet still status quo to a degree.“– Josh Thomas, New Dimension Comics

Safe shopping: Comics, Cards And Collectibles (top left, bottom left and bottom right) in Reisterstown, Maryland, USA have made their shop covid safe for any customers coming in there by opening only three days a week. Most customers call in for their comics and other product, but some they mail out or home deliver books and other collectibles. Averre went on to say that due to the furlough payments they receive Ace Comics did not have to make anyone redundant. “Our business model has changed by opening three days a week and not seven,” Averre said. “Sales are down a bit, but this is offset by lower running costs. We reached out to customers via Facebook, twitter and our website and e-mails. Contact has been good and the base has remained solid, no-one as yet has stopped their pull list.” “[The pandemic] had a pretty

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catastrophic effect to be honest,” said Andrew Salmond of Gosh in London, England, “though thanks to assistance from various quarters we’ve been on a fairly stable footing throughout. That being said, we have had to make painful decisions, including redundancies, in order to best ensure our future. Nothing compares to the earliest stages of the first lockdown, where there was no new product and we didn’t have a webstore with our full inventory, but since then we’ve slowly been crawling back into viability with increased mail orders and the godsend that is the steady stream of income from our new comics standing orders. Going into the second lockdown, we’re in a much better position [though obviously turnover is still battered].” As far as the comic book industry as a whole is concerned, the coronavirus had made its mark on 2020. “The pandemic has massively affected the industry as DC Comics have tried to decimate the American supply chain by cutting Diamond USA out of their loop,” Averre said. “Stores in America have found their running costs jump as their discounts fell and shipping costs shot up. Many are refusing to stock DC Comics on their shelves, while just buying for pull lists. The UK is luckier as we still get supplied by Diamond UK and still get the same discounts. However, some customers are stopping buying DC and moving to other publishers using this disgraceful stance they have taken as a dropping off point. “We’ve certainly seen some dramatic changes,” said Gosh’s Salmond, “most notably DC’s break with Diamond. In many ways, though, the industry has settled back into something approaching normality, with regular shipping product and so on. The initial contraction of

lines from Marvel and DC seems to be reversing now.” “We’ve instituted a number of new policies to accommodate our customers and comply with the mandates put into place by [Pennsylvania] Governor Wolf and the Department of Health,” said New Dimension Comics’ Thomas. “We have a limit on the number of customers permitted in the store at any one time as well as a policy for face coverings. For those customers unable to use a mask or those who don’t want to enter a store at this time we’ve made a few options available for their convenience - they can place an order over the phone or online and pick it up with our curbside option, or they can have their orders mailed directly to their homes through our shipping department. “Social media and email have been a saving grace during these times. It allows us to reach our customers with information they need to get the products they want into their hands. Whether it’s updates about the variety of ways they can get their products or just an update on changing store hours, it’s been a valuable tool to stay in touch with the people who count on us to get them the titles they want to read, the cards they want to collect, and the figures they want to display. Our point of sale system, Comic Hub, also has built-in tools for contacting our customers about products, arrivals, or general announcements, which makes handling a chunk of our outreach that much easier for us.” “Industrywise,” said Thomas, “it’s been kind of monumental yet still status quo to a degree. Changes with distributors and the pause in distribution, series being pushed to digital-only or having their print debuts pushed far back, titles being

“Many [publishers] have reached out to ask how they can help sell their books as have many creators“–Andrew Salmond, Gosh Comics

New Dimension Comics in Ellwood City, Pennsylvania, USA (above) has weathered the storm too as has Gosh Comics (below right) cancelled and staff laid off from the publishers, online announcement events (e.g., DC Fandome) - it certainly seems like it forced the publishers to focus exclusively on their efforts and titles.” “Some of the publishers -- BOOM! Studios notably comes to mind right away -- had plans in place that they went out of their way to change in order to get more product out to stores quicker to maintain a steady flow once things got restarted. Several publishers have been putting out anticipated releases or big attractors to help garner attention and interest, which has certainly helped.” “Most people would say Image Comics or BOOM! Studios [came to the rescue],” said Marc Nathan of Cards, Comics and Collectibles in Reisterstown, Maryland, USA, “because they have been very helpful. Specifically the Skybound part of Image, with everything Robert Kirkman has done with The Walking Dead and shipping things free. Aftershock did a book also like that. But, I have had other publishers just simply check in on us and ask if there was anything we need that haven’t been as visible to the general stores. We had a lot of people checking in on us regularly throughout the entire process. Marvel Comics has been very good, too. But, we all know who the elephant in the room is . . . a publisher who switched distributors in the middle of a pandemic – a worldwide pandemic.” “Many [publishers] have reached out to ask how they can help sell their books,” said Salmond, “as have many creators. The resumption of regular publishing certainly helped, as did the slow phasing in of an increased number of titles. And by assuming more risk themselves through returnability, they’ve helped stores shoulder the financial burden. I should also point out that Diamond UK - who often cop an unfair amount of flak from people (people who usually don’t

have the first idea about what’s involved in distribution) - have been fantastic throughout this. They’ve worked hard to return to some normal form of service while operating under tough safety measures and have achieved it very well.” “The vast majority of the ‘major’ publishers outside of the ‘Big 2’ have offered returnability on their products or free exclusive variants or other benefits to help make it easier on shops with their ordering and to help bolster sales,” Thomas said. All that is interesting and important, but let’s get down to the nitty gritty: What titles and products have sold best during the pandemic? “Sadly to the other side of your question,” said Nathan. “What were the best books you are selling? It’s Batman. In spite of everything, Batman is two a month and everybody buys it. It’s fortunate and it’s unfortunate, because it shouldn’t have gotten to that point where we had to struggle to get them. Or change them. “At Marvel, it’s Thor and Venom. Donny Cates. That comes out twice a month.

And, Spider-Man, Fantastic Four, and X-Men – all that stuff sells well, too.” Averre said: “Dark Nights Death Metal, Empyre, and X-Men have held very strong. Image Comics and BOOM! Studios by creating a few retailer thank you covers have brought in extra money for us. The best thing they can do and in the main have done is to publish good, intelligent, well-drawn comics.” “During the earlier days of the shutdown,” explained Thomas, “it was definitely sets and graphic novels of all kinds, especially after the pause in distribution stopped new releases. Now that things have gone back to being “more normal,” it’s really the main heavy hitters – Batman, Detective Comics, Empyre, Batman: Three Jokers, Dark Nights Death Metal (and its associated one-shots), Amazing Spider-Man, Immortal Hulk, Spawn, Venom, most of the X-Men line, etc. that have sold in good numbers. BOOM! Studios’ Something is Killing the Children has been a title that’s had a lot of buzz about it as well.” “Across all six stores it’s captivating,” added Engel. “Not only have comic sales come back to close to normal, but our gaming and toy sales have seen a nice boom. Apparently, everyone in shut down must be teaching their kids to play Pokemon, as the last few releases we just cannot keep in stock. Our Magic the Gathering and Dungeons & Dragons releases have been solid, which was a relief as we are not currently running any in-store play events. Many of our play groups have started playing over Discord. We are just glad our customers are finding ways to continue their hobbies in a safe way while still supporting us.” “Overall, we are looking to 2021 with a good feeling,” concluded Averre. TW https://acecomics.co.uk/ https://ndcomics.com/ https://goshlondon.com/ http://cardscomicscollectibles.com/

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Dream

Career

Neil Gaiman has had a career that started with comics but has encompassed novels, radio, television and films. Olly MacNamee takes a look at the writer’s impressive body of work…

RR Tolkien, C S Lewis, J K Rowling and Neil Gaiman. All authors who have left their indelible mark on the celebrated British world of fantasy, myth and legend and in doing so created many magical worlds in their wake. Worlds that have given countless readers so much escapist pleasure over the years. And, in the case of both Rowling and Gaiman, continue to do so. Neil Gaiman is a modern master storyteller who has spent a career – thus far – working his magic in the genre of fantasy, not to mention his efforts in the world of capes and cowls and other genres too. He even got to write 22 TRIPWIRE

an episode of Doctor Who. Unlike Tolkien, his is a contemporary fantasy setting, albeit informed by the myths and archetypes of antiquity. And, like Tolkien, Gaiman has created a shared universe with his work on The Sandman for Vertigo that will no doubt endure. It’s clear from DC Comics’ launch of a Sandman Universe line the other year that his legacy is manifest and for the ages. His interests in folklore, stories of yesteryear and all things Joseph Campbell shine through as he weaves his signature themes on the real and the imagined into his work. His masterful ability to blend the supernatural with the naturalistic is beguiling and mystifying. It’s this title – The Sandman - that Gaiman, arguably, is still best known for among us comic book aficionados, and one that brought him superstar status across pop culture. It was a book that wasn’t quite like anything DC Comics was publishing at the time, and a great way to launch a new more mature imprint at a time when DC Comics were looking to create a brand for their heavyweight writers like Alan Moore, whose Swamp Thing had kickstarted the move towards It. Karen Berger, who had read Gaiman’s interpretation of Black Orchid and his repositioning of the character as an ecowarrior, immediately offered Gaiman a chance to write and oversee his own series. Lest we forget, at this time there hadn’t been that much radical reworking of older characters, as there is today, and his take on Black Orchid was inspirational. Dave McKean’s artwork cemented this as a title not to ignore. Berger initially wanted him to refit and re-imagine the Sandman character created by Jack Kirby in his short time at

‘His characters still loom large and join a scant few comic book characters that are truly iconic. I mean, can you think of too many characters from the last twenty years or so of the 20th century that still endure today? It’s a very small list indeed.’

franchises in the late 20th century. And, while Gaiman is best known for his work for American publishers, his stories have more than a touch of the English fairy tale tradition about them. His worlds are filled with ancient woodlands, vistas of rural landscapes (check out Stardust for a great example of this) and Arthur Rackham-esque goblins, pixies and brownies. Having worked on Miracleman after his mentor Alan Moore, Gaiman was a known entity. His run on that muchmissed title is still highly rated among older comic book readers, with Marvel having neglected the property, having previously promised us a completion of his ‘Silver Age’ storyline. It remains to be seen whether Gaiman will ever finish his work on the title. Sandman allowed Gaiman to explore many of his interests while also remaining grounded in the more familiar world of superheroes. But these masked vigilantes rarely intruded on the Sandman universes. Although the Sandman Gaiman has left as a legacy to DC very much had one foot in the DCU when he was revealed to be the son of old-school 80s heroes Silver Scarab and Fury, themselves children of Silver Age characters Hawkman and Wonder Woman respectively. And, with Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo’s Dark Nights: Metal series the Sandman is once again well and truly rooted in the DCU, while the Sandman Universe of books - a Vertigo-light DC Comics imprint TRIPWIRE 23

The Sandman #50 (left) and Norse Mythology (top right) showcase his versatility as a writer doesn’t seem to be so in any obvious way. The Sandman is a character that Gaiman has been persuaded to return to time and time again, with his most recent stint being the prequel miniseries The Sandman: Overture, in 2013, with J H Williams III providing the artwork. Gaiman has always been canny enough to ensure his writing is paired with some of the best artists available, while calibrating his storytelling to their strengths. Such creative partnerships have of course led to his characters remaining in the forefront of the medium ever since. It was no surprise, then, to see Gaiman quickly transform into the best-selling author he has since become, and with

‘Gaiman’s love for mythology saw him take on the mammoth task of adapting the surviving rag-tag tales of Norse gods and monsters into another bestseller, Norse Mythology (2017).’ American Gods (2001) he once again created a world of myth, monsters and gods living amongst us from scratch. Although, as before, folkloric stories and worlds were mined for inspiration. Like a magpie, Gaiman, with his encyclopaedic knowledge of such things, picked and chose from ancient stories, pantheons and legends handed down through the centuries as the foundation for his

hallowed, transcendent works. For example in American Gods and the 2005 follow-up Anansi Boys, we have the key theological idea of ‘tulpa’ at the heart of the plot whose premise is “What happens to gods when they are no longer adored, no longer praised?” Well, they fade out and, in some cases, die. It’s a story still being told through

In 2019, Gaiman adapted Good Omens, the book he co-wrote with the late Sir Terry Pratchett for television starring David Tennant (left)and Michael Sheen (right) 24 TRIPWIRE

American Gods (top left), adapted into two seasons for Starz TV/ Amazon Prime on television and it was also adapted into a successful comic series from Dark Horse (right)

the successful, if not troubled, television adaption that STARZ TV/Amazon Prime are currently developing a third season for, so I won’t give away any spoilers at the moment. Although, I doubt anyone who likes the show has yet to read the excellent source material. At the heart of this novel, and in a lot of Gaiman’s work over the decades, is this fascination with the power of imagination and its ability within all of us to create. Such a concept informed many of the Romantic poets and writers of the Gothic movement that inspired Gaiman’s own philosophies and themes. It can be seen in such poems as William Blake’s The Marriage of Heaven and Hell, Coleridge’s The Rime

of the Ancient Mariner and Shelley’s Frankenstein. Indeed, the influence of these early Gothic writers have been significant in DC Comics’ most recent relaunch of Lucifer by writer Dan Watters, clearly a fan of both Gaiman and the Romantics. One would aver that Morpheus himself is a mix of Gaiman and Goth culture of the modern era, the Dream King resembling a raven-haired creature of the night. Underpinning everything in his oeuvre is the transformative power of tulpa, the Buddhists’ belief that we can create something from nothing with the power of our beliefs. The more we believe – and the more of us who do believe - the more real something becomes.

Not only is this belief at the centre of Buddhist teachings, but I would argue it is also the foundation of all organised religions. In children it’s a magical power indeed as we spend our childhoods in a state of innocent bliss believing in Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny and the Tooth Fairy, only to be told in later life to put such childish notions away in favour of more powerful and developed belief systems like Catholicism, Judaism and Islam. It is this childhood awe and wonder that Gaiman taps into, creating modern day parables and fairy tales for a more mature audience. It’s the power of tulpa that keeps Wednesday (Odin), in American Gods, on the road

‘A pastime of many of the Romantic poets and writers of the Gothic movement that so clearly inspire Gaiman’s own thoughts and themes. It can be seen in such poems as William Blake’s The Marriage of Heaven and Hell, Coleridge’s The Rime of the Ancient Mariner and Frankenstein.’

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Neil Gaiman hosting his own online writing masterclass from 2019. Photo courtesy of Masterclass and looking for more power to consolidate his place in this world. His love of mythology saw him take on the mammoth task of adapting the myriad tales of Norse gods and monsters into another bestseller, Norse Mythology (2017), remixing the Poetic Edda and the Prose Edda which together tells us the tales of Thor, Freya, Loki and Odin, as well

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as the twilight of the gods, Ragnarök. It seem to have taken off as a sub-genre within the literary world of fantasy, with comedian and writer Stephen Fry having followed suit with two adaptions of Greek mythologies – Mythos, and Heroes, that follow in a similar vein. I suppose there’s no better compliment than to be imitated. With the TV show, new mini-

series from Dark Horse based on American Gods, and a new interest in these characters, it will be interesting to see whether Gaiman is tempted to return to this febrile world of mythological also-rans and forgotten souls for further literary adventures. Time of course will tell. Needless to say, Gaiman’s legacy hasn’t been confined to the more heady heights

The Sandman has been adapted as an audio drama for Audible this year with a stellar voice talent list that includes James McAvoy, Riz Ahmed, Taron Egerton and Gaiman himself as the narrator, adapted by radio veteran Dirk Maggs and a Netflix TV show is coming in 2021.

of adult fantasy and with works like his children’s novel Coraline (2002) – adapted by Laika into a stop-motion film in 2009 - shows he can capture the interest of arguably literature’s most stringent critics – kids. Pulling no punches, Coraline sees Gaiman once again explore dark and mystical realms, exhibiting an assured understanding that children don’t need to be spoon fed. After all, Grimm’s Fairy Tales are replete with such gruesome details, so why not modern day storytelling? Gaiman realises this and never shies away from grittier themes and never patronises his young readership in this novel, or has other words for children such as The Graveyard Book. Coraline was awarded the 2002 Bram Stoker Award for Best Work for Young Readers, the 2003 Hugo Award for Best Novella, and the 2003 Nebula Award for Best Novella. The early noughties were a turning point in Gaiman’s writing career with books dominating both children’s and adult literature. Gaiman was ready to climb an even higher, loftier peak in his ultimately distinguished career, as a bona fide established fantasy author. In between all of this, Gaiman has also found the time to adapt his collaborative 1990 comedic novel Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch (1990), into the successful show it has become. Good Omens was famously written with accomplished author - and no stranger to world building himself – Terry Pratchett, who they both concurred did most of the groundwork at the time (‘At an educated guess, although

‘From journalist to comic book writer to highly esteemed author, Gaiman’s talents have continued to see new audiences discover him, whether it’s through the perennial favourite The Sandman, or through his novels and television adaptations. There seems to be no end to his limitless talent. Long may that last.’ neither of us ever counted, Terry probably wrote around 60,000 “raw” and I wrote 45,000 “raw” words of Good Omens’ – Neil Gaiman). A clear parody of The Omen (1976), but with other references thrown in, it was also another excuse to add further musings and treatises about deities and devils. Here Gaiman provided considerable subtext to the surface comedy, mainly found in the dialogue between the angel Aziraphale and the demon Crowley. Fast-forward 29 years and we finally got a faithful adaption that even added to the original, as Gaiman was given the opportunity to helm the project as showrunner. Another feather in his cap of achievement and a true insight into where Gaiman sits. Author, poet, and now televisual guru on one of last year’s most critically-acclaimed series. From journalist to comic book writer to highly esteemed author, Gaiman’s talents have continued to see new audiences discover him, whether it’s through the perennial favourite The Sandman, Promotional image from Netflix’s or through his novels and television The SandmanSandman is coming Netflix forthcoming TVtoshow adaptations. There seems to be no end to in 2021 his talent. Long may that last. TW

From book to screen: Gaiman’s Coraline came out as a novella back in 2002 and was adapted as an animated feature in 2009 from Laika. TRIPWIRE 27

STILL TREKKING THE LIGHT FANTASTIC... James DC takes a look at why the original Star Trek series is still light years ahead of any Trek shows that have come after Kirk and co’s adventures…

cience fiction is ubiquitous in today’s world: many people know and ostensibly understand its basic tropes and even its wellworn cliches. Indeed, we are currently living with and employing many of the radical concepts and technologies that were predicted, in all their variegated forms, by the science fiction revolutions of the 20th century. It was decidedly different in the 1960s when mainstream culture generally pigeonholed the SF genre as the sole preserve of either geeks, or children. But after the niche SF series Star Trek appeared on American television screens in 1966, it changed everything. As its popularity gradually built, this scintillating and spectacular show was all the rage among SF cognoscenti, and wide-eyed children, everywhere. In hindsight, the modern generation may acknowledge and venerate Star Trek as a seminal icon of pop culture but its often difficult for them to fully grasp what a big deal it was at the time. Even during the

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frequent re-runs on British TV during the early-to-late ‘70s, for a child like myself it was always an unalloyed thrill to hear those first, few musical bars and the now-famous intro by Captain James T. Kirk: ‘Space, the final frontier...’. What now seems like aeons before the internet and multi-choice streaming came along, we kids really did stop

‘What now seems like aeons before the internet and multi-choice streaming came along, we kids really did stop playing to run inside and catch our one-and-only weekly fix of Trek at 6pm.’ playing to run inside and catch our one-and-only weekly fix of Trek at 6pm. The excitement at the prospect of 50 minutes’ worth of ‘strange new worlds...’, ray guns, space battles, bug-eyed monsters and all manner of dynamic action was positively rapturous. The unbridled escapism was all the more poignant because the relatively grey and mundane TV landscape of the 1970s was rarely punctuated by such colourful and astounding fare. It had a seismic effect on many kids who saw it and the original run of 79

episodes, over 3 seasons, still retains its sparkle and joy for them. Moreover, despite its faults the original is still vastly superior to the numerous sequels, which are not in the same league of planet-shattering importance, invention and craftsmanship however good or fine-tuned certain episodes may be. Naysayers will traduce this assertion as rose-tinted nostalgia but it’s simply a matter of fact that on a conceptual, artistic, intellectual and downright fun level the original Star Trek – notwithstanding a few awful, dud episodes – well and truly beats all the rest. There are manifest reasons why ‘60s Star Trek stood the test of time and led to the huge cultural phenomenon it is today. One is the boisterous, effervescent interplay between the

talented and driven actors, producers, directors, technicians and crew (too numerous to mention here) there was a roster of ingenious SF writers like Harlan Ellison, Theodore Sturgeon and Norman Spinrad who were brought in to add literary gravitas to accomplished, regular writers like Dorothy C. Fontana and Gene L. Coon. Then there’s the stirring and celestial theme tune by Alexander Courage, arguably the most recognisable TV anthem of all time, along with a team of composers who provided some of the most eloquent and evocative incidental music ever written for TV drama. And although the show’s resplendent visuals and special effects were of a piece with other terrific SF TV serials like The Twilight Zone (1959 - 1964), The Outer Limits (1963 - ‘65) and the British Doctor Who (1963...)

whole of the cast but specifically the three pivotal characters Kirk (William Shatner), Spock (Leonard Nimoy) and McCoy (DeForest Kelley). To paraphrase a certain well-loved Vulcan, the psychological tussles and camaraderie between this trio were utterly fascinating – whilst anchoring the bizarre and outlandish goings-on, every week. In addition to the show’s exceptionally

they broke new ground and still enthrall and delight, today. Encapsulating it all, the series plucky and optimistic outlook was like a breath of fresh solar wind at a time when wars, civil unrest and fractious politics were dominating the day-to-day news. (Plus ça change!) Furthermore, original Star Trek’s liberal and progressive politics played well with the ‘turned on’ youth of

‘‘60s Star Trek used Soft SF devices to challenge the sociopolitical mores and orthodoxies of the time, while the recent versions attempt to maintain that noble tradition.’ the time, hence it’s remained largely approachable and relevant today. But there’s the rub: a crucial reason newer versions are generally so inferior to ‘60s Trek is that they’re mortally weighed down by that intransigent albatross of our divided times, identity politics which, ironically, ‘devolved’ from ‘60s liberalism. In the same way that most TV dramas nowadays are interminably infected to one degree or another by this ideological malady, a sizable percentage of modern Trek’s scripts and plots are dominated by narcissistic virtue signalling, ersatz political lecturing and trendy woke propaganda, whether subtle or not. These pompous and hectoring narratives feed and accentuate the soapy, melodramatic elements (which were always inherent to each story but nevertheless kept in check). Such a preponderance of woke themes and undercurrents necessitates a primary focus on human relationships, issues of identity, and their moral entanglements - to the detriment of almost everything else. All of this is bad news for modern iterations of Star Trek, like Discovery (2017...), which is already hampered by a feeling of raking over oft-trodden space dust, as it is. Undoubtedly, both Hard and Soft science fiction deserve their rightful places within the genre. Soft SF authors, especially, have deployed its tropes to study and dissect the myriad

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‘Aesthetically speaking, many aspects of ‘60s Trek were driven by the ‘60s psychedelic counterculture. Science fiction typically tends to use hallucinogenic imagery to enhance or elaborate certain plots and ideas.’ ethical and anthropological aspects of the human condition. Likewise, ‘60s Star Trek utilised Soft SF allegory to challenge the sociopolitical mores and orthodoxies of the time. The recent versions attempt to maintain that noble tradition, but in tune with the toxic and divisive culture wars more widely, once the poison of sanctimonious identity politics has tainted a given SF narrative – as it has done with the majority of mainstream SF literature, TV and film, nowadays – it dilutes the genre’s peculiar strength which is to experiment with more obscure, complex ideas and philosophies (alongside, admittedly, the requisite elements of human drama and unashamed entertainment). Trek’s current producers have allowed their progressive politics to take over the whole shebang, effectively bogging down much of the excitement and ‘cosmic wonder’ of the initial concept with political grandstanding and soap opera tedium. Invariably, there’s a tenuous balance between art for art’s sake and using said art mostly as a vehicle for turgid moralistic pronouncements. But Trek’s current creators, in the main, seem to have ignored or forgotten such tried and tested principles. Sure, a few of the original episodes may grate against the politically correct sensibilities of today’s holier-than-thou generation: consider 1969’s Turnabout Intruder, which can be denounced as an unpleasant, misogynist 30 TRIPWIRE

tract, if one so wishes. But let’s not get too many bees in our space-bonnets over this; historical context counts for a lot, so any reactionary, censorious ‘wokefilters’ whilst viewing ‘60s Kirk and co. are wanton and unnecessary. Aside from the deadening spectre of political correctness infiltrating and sabotaging the artistic parameters of contemporary Trek, fundamentally the original series was more inventive, stylish and multifaceted than any version since. It would juggle serious-themed moral tales and metaphysical scripts with more lightweight, comedic and weird fare, to impressive effect. This isn’t the case with, say, the often pofaced, overwrought series Discovery, much of whose narrative trajectory is necessarily dictated by long-form and thus somewhat repetitive plotting. Then there’s the cumbersome weight

of five decades’ worth of complex, interwoven world-building, which will be harshly critiqued by hardcore fans if any stories fall foul of the Trekker ‘rules’. All of this kipple hinders a more adventurous modus operandi when it comes to the ultra-cautious, multimillion dollar corporations ultimately pulling the strings. In parallel with the other, all-conquering Star franchise – that of Skywalker and Vader – perhaps the somewhat bloated and jaded Trek mythology has simply gotten too big for its boots. Nonetheless, the tonal balancing acts and venturesome creative routes taken by ‘60s Trek (etc.) are possible in the modern era: take the best horror/ fantasy TV series ever made, Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997 - 2003), which was the brainchild of Joss Whedon. As with Trek’s mastermind Gene Roddenberry,

‘1960s Star Trek wholeheartedly embraced the uncanny and freakish, plus horrific and macabre aspects of the best in science fiction… But what equivalent sequences have you seen recently in Discovery?.’ Whedon’s auteur touch, singular vision and determination helped him get his progeny funded and developed. But although they also had to fight their corporate masters to eventually attain a semblance of their visions, such creative freedoms – apart from a few exceptions – are even less prevalent nowadays. The predominant pressures of corporate-financial diktats on intellectual properties like Star Trek can hugely constrain artistic expression, leaving a dwindling remit to experiment with risky plots or atypical ideas. (The latest version of The Twilight Zone is testament to this crippling trend; it isn’t a 100th as good as the ‘60s original!) Conversely, decades ago it was still possible to find and exploit a few creative ‘cracks’ in the industrial entertainment system to produce something genuinely innovative and unorthodox. Aesthetically speaking, many winning aspects of ‘60s Trek were fueled by the ‘60s psychedelic counterculture. Science fiction typically uses hallucinogenic imagery to enhance or elaborate certain plots and ideas. But like its fellow ‘60s competitor, the comic book and Pop Art-inspired TV show Batman (1966 ‘68), Star Trek doubled up on this trait

by borrowing the trippy visual effects, surrealism and mysticism favoured by the pill-popping hippies, to help tell its stories. The luminescent colours, multidimensional jumps and far-out phantasmagoria of psychotropic states were prevalent throughout the whole series, with most episodes simulating drug-induced reveries or dreamscapes in one form or another. In return, this made Star Trek extremely popular with that bohemian LSD-taking generation, itself. By 1969 the counterculture had infiltrated much of western mainstream media, and its blatant presence was brought to the fore via the retrospectively embarrassing yet hilarious ‘space hippies’ episode The Way to Eden. Apart from such novel visuals, another vital contributing factor to Trek’s unearthly ambience was the subtle yet acute sound design which elaborated a delightful array of baroque and peculiar bleeps, twangs and blips; the constant, allencompassing soundscape made you feel as if you were standing right there on the bridge, next to Kirk himself. Indeed, ‘60s Star Trek wholeheartedly embraced the uncanny and odd, as well as the horrific and macabre, aspects of the best in science fiction. The brilliant 1966 episode The Enemy Within (written by famed author Richard Matheson) where Kirk is accidentally split into his ‘good’ and ‘evil’ sides, a la Jekyll and Hyde, is surprisingly but refreshingly dark; the scene where he almost rapes Yeoman Rand is pretty disturbing, yet entirely apposite. Charlie X, also from 1966, is also one of the very best in that it plays like a sombre and gruesome Greek tragedy, essaying themes of primal

lust, ambition and hatred to glorious but unsettling effect. When Charlie concentrates his supernatural powers by glaring like an uncaged animal at his victims, whilst the menacingly discordant music soars, it is uniquely creepy, thrilling and eerie. I can’t comment on Picard because I haven’t yet seen it, but what equivalent scenes have you recently witnessed in Discovery? Can it muster even a few seconds to spare – in between spiraling plot exposition, CGI-bombast, rapidly edited sequences and woke virtue signalling – to evoke any sense of intrinsic atmosphere or authentic, characterful asides? No doubt the overly cautious, PC-conscious script development committee will have effectively banned or cut any potentially ‘awkward’ or ‘overly’ bizarre scenes, prior to filming. Despite all of these negative trends, a raft of new Star Trek TV series are in development - but some may yet capture a modicum of the original’s everlasting alchemy, if we’re lucky. However, I’m not taking my spacehelmet off to hold my breath! There’s so much more to say but we must leave it there, for now. Ultimately it’s the extraordinary and sublime spectacle, driven by the upbeat idealistic ambition, which makes the original Star Trek eternal, and nothing will ever diminish its pride of place in our hearts. TW Star Trek: The Original Series (T.O.S.) is currently broadcast and streamed in the UK on the Horror Channel and Netflix. The restored DVD/Blu-ray box-sets are available via CBS/Paramount Home Entertainment. TRIPWIRE 31

Speed Kings Tripwire’s senior editor Andrew Colman casts his eye over the various incarnations in the history of DC’s Scarlet Speedster in the year that The Flash celebrates his 80th anniversary…

he Flash has always been the misfit in DC’s roster of top-level heroes – perennially in the shadow of Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman, his chequered history and multiple iterations have ironically provided him (them?) with longevity, despite being somewhat expedient on occasion. However, to diehard fans, The Flash is a remarkably overlooked figure in the DC pantheon – a mainstay of the Golden Age who

‘It all began in January 1940, when National Periodical Publications (later DC)’s associate company All-American Comics published Flash Comics 1, which, among other strips, contained the origin of Jay Garrick’s original Flash.’ readers of the new medium, and before long Jay Garrick was appearing alongside Flash Comics alumnus Hawkman in the Justice Society of America, which first appeared in All-Star Comics 3. He also got his own solo series, All-Flash Comics, the following year, as well as appearances in anthology title Comic Cavalcade. The Flash’s golden age stories are

somehow survived the vagaries of the comic industry’s peaks and troughs and multiple refits over the decades. In one form or another, the concept has remained intact, if amended significantly. It all began in January 1940, when National Periodical Publications (later DC)’s associate company All-American Comics published Flash Comics 1, which, among other strips, contained the origin of Jay Garrick’s original Flash. Having imbibed a heady cocktail of hard water (barely any scientific context was needed back in 1940!) the reader was informed, before it actually happened, that the academic and part-time football player had suddenly developed super-speed. It never gets much more involved than that. Within a few pages Garrick sported a red and blue costume with lightning bolt motifs and a Mercury-like helmet and immediately began chasing villains and stopping bullets. There never was an explanation for the costume or how it was made. Not that it mattered – this most basic of superpowers, the ability to run super-fast, appealed to wartime 34 TRIPWIRE

reasonably standard for the era – the plots are silly and perfunctory, while the art, by illustrators such as Harry Lampert, E.E. Hibbard, and Lee Elias, not to mention new arrivals Joe Kubert and Carmine Infantino (both a very long way from reaching their classic style) was passably cartoony but not a patch on the Silver Age version – there was little dynamism apart from the obligatory speed lines, although there’s a certain naïve fun to many of the tales, even though one could say that about a lot of Golden Age output.

By the end of the 1940s, super-hero books were dramatically losing market share and their readership, forcing publishers to move to other genres. This sea change, which saw many more comic imprints spring up, meant the end of Golden Age staples such as Flash Comics and All-Star Comics, with both ending in 1949 and 1951 respectively. The unregulated, hothouse period that came to be known as the precode era attracted a lot of opprobrium and scapegoating from self-seeking establishment mavens and political figures, which led to the demise of horror and crime books in 1955 with the stringent, family-friendly new Comics Code. With most of the competition consequently decimated, editors Julie Schwarz and Bob Kanigher decided the following year to bolster DC’s superhero line (which by then consisted of just three heroes) with a new character. With National having gained the rights to all of All-American’s properties, the pair chose The Flash to spearhead the revival. With Kanigher handling writing duties, Infantino and Kubert were asked to completely overhaul The Flash – gone were the drab street clothes from the Golden Age version, replaced by a skintight red and yellow masked costume for the space age. Debuting in Showcase 4 in 1956, The Flash’s first appearance, origin and follow-up stories were more logically delineated, couched as they were in science-fiction, something which DC had begun to excel at. The character was now Barry Allen, a police scientist, who gained his powers by being bathed in a cocktail of chemicals that were imbued with the power of a lightning

‘The trouble with many (but by no means all) Silver Age DC characters like Barry Allen is that they, for the most part, lacked psychological depth. ‘ bolt (all right, it’s still hokum but it does seem considerably better). And Jay Garrick was now a character in a comic book that Barry Allen was perusing. What had vastly improved was the art, with Infantino and Kubert providing the reader with some excellent storytelling which would reach classic status by the time The Flash’s title was revived. After three further try out issues in Showcase 8, 13 and 14, DC realised that other Golden Age characters could be retooled for the post-code ‘50s – Green Lantern, Atom and Hawkman. By 1959, The Flash had his own book back, continuing the numbering from the cancelled Golden Age version. And by 1960 DC had revamped the JSA as the Justice League of America, with all major heroes on board, and the new age of heroes was in full swing. The Flash in the Silver Age benefitted from definitive penciller Infantino and new inker Joe Giella’s excellent artwork, with writers Gardner Fox and John Broome also returning to the fold (Kubert and Kanigher had by this time moved over to DC’s Big 5 war books and subsequent brilliance in that genre). Unlike his Golden Age forebear the new speedster was given

additional strings to his bow – he could vibrate through objects, and travel through time by running on the spot faster than the speed of light. Despite the often clunky, exposition-heavy plots that were typical of this period, a lot of classic tales and villains came to the fore, such as The Flash of Two Worlds from issue 123. Rather than position Jay Garrick’s original Flash as old and retired in Central City, DC opted to retain his backstory from Keystone City and more importantly have him come from a different planet (Earth 2) that co-existed with Barry Allen’s one (Earth 1) on a “different dimensional plane”. This may have seemed progressive and compelling at the time, given how prevalent science fiction’s fascination with alternative worlds was back then, but it proved to be a major issue TRIPWIRE 35

‘Of course Barry Allen’s happiness was short-lived, as he perished trying to save the world in issue 8 of 1985’s Crisis on Infinite Earths not long afterwards. ‘

regarding timelines and continuity later on, but more of that in a tick. Having gone in this direction, there therefore had to be corresponding versions of all DC’s Silver Age characters in this newly created fictional Golden Age world. Of course the annual JLA / JSA team-ups thereafter proved to be a consistent hit, while the two Flash’s regular team-ups were always worth the reader’s dime. Other celebrated villains also appeared in the first five years of the title, such as Mirror Master, The Trickster, Gorilla Grodd who lived in Gorilla City (DC loved their gorillas in the Silver Age), The Pied Piper, Captain Cold, Captain Boomerang, The Weather Wizard, (yep, quite barmy) and the returning Vandal Savage. Best of all was the first appearance of Professor Zoom, The Reverse Flash, in issue 139. An evil inversion (with a costume to match) of the Flash from the 25th century, the erstwhile Eobard Thawne would prove to be the Scarlet Speedster’s chief nemesis as the series progressed into the Bronze Age. The trouble with many (but by no means all) Silver Age DC characters like Barry Allen is that they, for the most part, lacked psychological depth. Some superheroes from that time like Green Arrow, Green Lantern and indeed Batman were all retooled with noticeably more developed characterization and context by the early 1970s, while Superman, Wonder Woman and The Flash were not, as such. Allen was a bit of a wooden sort, a stoic, wholesome chap with blond hair and chiselled features whose powers and ingenuity were what kept you reading. What DC eventually did to keep sales ticking over with the Flash was to make his domestic life key to his trajectory, 36 TRIPWIRE

with the aforementioned Reverse Flash becoming the motor of this development. Having married Iris West in issue 165 in 1966, the couple became one of the most conventional in the DC canon, but after a decade or so Professor Zoom’s interest in Iris (not reciprocated) became pathological, which culminated in him murdering her in issue 275, thirteen years later. In what was a tortuous but engrossing story arc, Barry Allen eventually found out who killed his beloved, but not without going through hell first. By this point Barry Allen’s Flash was, according to writer Cary Bates, a marked character, with him accidentally killing Zoom in issue 324, three years after he lost his wife Iris. The series was wrapped up in issue 350 in an even more convoluted and bizarre storyline which saw Barry Allen and Iris back together (sort of). Oddly enough, despite the labyrinthine plotting and science-fiction underpinning everything, this grand finale worked presentably well. Of course Barry Allen’s happiness was short-lived, as he perished trying to save the world

‘For a character whose only proper super-power was the ability to run faster than the speed of light (something which Superman could also do, don’t you know) he has proven to be more than durable.’

in issue 8 of 1985’s Crisis on Infinite Earths not long afterwards. Like many other characters in the DC multiverse, The Flash was killed as a means of simplifying the publisher’s continuity by writer Marv Wolfman, in what has become one of the most celebrated and influential of all event series. Many earths were destroyed in order to recalibrate the DC universe into one reader-friendly solitary world, and The Barry Allen Flash was just one of myriad casualties due to this, albeit a key one. He never should’ve met that Jay Garrick bloke who started all this mess in the first place. With Barry Allen gone (well, for 23 years) Wally West, a character who first appeared in Flash 110 as Kid Flash, assumed the role of the senior Flash in his own series in 1987. Having appeared regularly in the Flash title over many years as well as in The Teen Titans, West was primed for succeeding his mentor and did so in the final episode of Crisis on Infinite Earths. In this new series, Wally West (now in Allen’s costume) had his powers considerably diminished in an attempt to provide a measure of scientific realism to the character – he could only run as fast as the speed of sound, and had to consume vast quantities of food to control his metabolism. He was also more of a devil may care, mercurial and youthfully exuberant character. Paradoxically, The Flash’s stock had risen due to dying in Crisis. His character had been given weight due to his willingness to self-sacrifice, while he had once again been pivotal in what was an ensemble story of hitherto unmatched scope. This, along with his Silver Age tales being reappraised, drew some

serious talents to the second series, such as Mike Baron and Jackson Guice, along with Mark Waid, Grant Morrison, Mark Millar and Geoff Johns, all of whom had an affinity for the character and his predecessor but were keen to reframe him in a radically different and contemporary setting. His backstory was regularly revised, returning him to Barry Allen level powers, clashing with the (somehow not dead) Reverse Flash, altering his costume and abilities and eventually bringing in composites of older villains, not to mention Barry Allen himself. The series lasted almost exactly the same amount of issues as the Silver Age one. The Flash’s profile grew exponentially throughout the Wally West period, leading to a television series in 1990 and again in 2014, when the Barry Allen Flash had a spin-off series from the Arrowverse, facing off against his usual adversary the Reverse Flash. The series itself borrowed extensively from the original source material, including Crisis, and was reasonably well-received by fans and critics.

Throughout several further universe reboots over the last decade or so (DC’s persistent urge to kick start a new wave of readers by paring down continuity every five years) The Flash remained a key player, be it the Barry Allen, Wally West, Bart Allen or other versions. For a character whose only proper superpower was the ability to run faster than the speed of light (something which Superman could also do, don’t you know) he has proven to be more than durable, primarily through the way he reflected the tone of each era while retaining his essential escapist trappings. But it was the concepts of time-travel, science fiction, bizarre villains and ambitious yet thoroughly entertaining storylines that kept him at the forefront of the medium, and indeed what drew this writer to comic books in the first place. Long may TW the speed king continue.

TRIPWIRE 37

Tripwireâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s contributing editor Scott Braden spoke to industry veteran Jimmy Palmiotti who offers his unique memories about his friend Darwyn Cooke, who passed away back in 2016â&#x20AC;Ś

Comic book legend and animator Darwyn Cooke was a shooting star in the comics industry, shining brightly in the four-color medium. But he also brought a noir sensibility to the various comic book titles he crafted – making them instant classics. And, as his friend and favourite contributor, Jimmy Palmiotti, reminds us, he was a great and unique talent the likes we will never see again.

“We officially met over a drink at a Chicago Comic-Con in the 2000s at the hotel bar. I thought he was funny, smart and charming. ”

TRIPWIRE: How long have you been working in comics? JIMMY PALMIOTTI: Unofficially, I did ink some comics when I was in high school in 1979. I ghosted for a few inkers that were having deadline troubles and worked on titles such as Invaders, Howard the Duck magazine, and some random DC horror, sci-fi, and war books – all under other people’s names. I didn’t come back to comics till about 1987 - 88 working for an indy publisher called Eternity Comics on a number of small-selling titles like Ex-Mutants and Ninja. I then got my first Marvel Comics work, where I made a decent rate, around 1990 - 91. Since I broke into Marvel, I have been working full-time on just about every job a creator can hold in comics. The only Eisner I ever won, in fact, was for editing. As far as how long I have been working in comics, I really do not want to do the math and have it thrown back in my face since ageism, in one form or another, is still a big part of any business. TW: How did you and Darwyn meet? JP: We officially met over a drink at a Chicago Comic-Con in the 2000s at the hotel bar. I thought he was funny, smart, and charming. That night, in front of all 40 TRIPWIRE

of us, he told off a publisher to his face which I thought was reckless and brave as well as entertaining and admirable. I told him if he ever came to visit New York (he lived in Toronto) to ring me up and I’d take him for a night on the town that he would never forget. He did just that a few months later, and I took him to my local haunts – then to some places for drinks that were very off the grid where you had to know people who knew people to get into. Well, after a crazy night where we closed down the city, we became good friends for life. TW: In your own words, what was the basis of your friendship? What did you have in common? JP: The basis of our friendship is we both grew up kind of poor, understood what hard work was and were not afraid of it, and we both understood that

working for comic companies is fine, but they own your soul after a while and a creator has to do their own thing to make a career for themselves. We both loved classic comic art and we both appreciated the time away from the board as much as on. We were both extremely outgoing social people. We loved big dinners and enjoyed a small pack of like-minded friends- something we managed to collect over the years, made up of the most funny, loyal, and wonderful people you could ever know. We both grew up watching tough guy movies, loved Noir and westerns, and had brothers growing up. As we grew closer over the years, we had a very deep appreciation and respect of each other’s work. He was probably the only friend I had in the business that read every single book I ever wrote. He encouraged me and gave me advice and I did the same for him whenever I could. We had each other’s backs and understood how important friendships are. We both understood that our time was limited and worked like maniacs and vacationed the same way. In later years, he and his wife Marsha bought a place near Amanda and I so we could all hang out more, which was the ultimate compliment. We both were creators that lived in the moment and

always looked forward to what new challenges would come to us. TW: What was Darwyn like as a person? An illustrator? JP: As a person he was easy going, funny, fun to be with, appreciated his friends and family and understood that what he did for a living was just one part of him. He wished it was 1953 again, and that things were simpler. He had a temper and no patience for stupidity or people that acted like children – but he loved the hell out of kids. He wore his feelings on his sleeve, good and bad, and you always knew where you stood with him, mainly because he would tell you to your face. He loved his friends, protected them, encouraged them, and supported them all. To me, he was a pussycat, but that was because of the respect we had for each other. He loved the fans so much, but would not put up with them being disrespectful. He had an opinion on everything and would let you know about it. He would love to poke the bee’s nest with people that could take it and test those that couldn’t. He loved the holidays, with Christmas being his favourite. He was happier giving than getting. He was so sweetalways thinking of others while trying to hide behind his gruff exterior. He was a man of contradictions and opinions and was always the centre of attention, even when he was quiet. The key word is passion. He had a passion for everything he enjoyed. He was a wonderful friend, a total pain in the ass and I would give my right arm to have him back with us. Seriously. TW: What is one of your fondest memories of Darwyn? JP: I have a ton of them. Honestly.

“When my friends and I get together to talk about Darwyn, we always wind up telling stories we forgot about and each one is more outrageous than the last.” Times together laughing come to mind and so many of them. I have stories for sure, but they are not for everyone. So many. So many drinks. So many nights out. So many embarrassing situations. Each time I think of one, I laugh and know there is no way I can explain it adequately. The time we had dinner with some DC people and he made them buy him the biggest lobster and steak the restaurant had because he felt he was getting shafted out of money, so he wanted to make them pay for it. The time he interacted with a Walmart greeter. The time he said the wrong thing to the wrong person. The time we all got in costume for a party in San Francisco to celebrate Jonah Hex’s 50th issue. The time he dressed as Winnie the Pooh at Dragon Con. So many things…Darwyn would never turn down a dare and that alone, especially with a person like me, is a boatload of stories. When my friends and I get together to talk about Darwyn, we always wind up telling stories we forgot about and each one is more outrageous than the last. My simple fondest memories of the man are just the quiet moments where I saw this sensitive, caring, and loving guy emerge, his heart- to -heart talks, and his way with framing a situation, which was the best. I am blessed to have so many

great memories. I think of him several times a day. TW: You worked with him throughout his career. How was he as a colleague? JP: If I asked him to design something for me, I knew whatever he did, it was simply going to be the best. He was a brilliant designer and he brought that skill into every single image he created. He was easy-going and so good at his craft, he needed little direction. He was opinionated and at times difficult on some things, but I learned early on how to navigate him. It was all based on mutual respect. He was a pleasure and one of the few artists that could make anything I wrote seem 100 times better when he put it down on paper. He was a writer’s dream artist and could write his own ass off. He was a one-man army of comics – he could write, draw, letter, edit, and design the hell out of any project he set his mind to. He never said no to me when asking for a cover or some help, never a hesitation. He had so many ideas all the time …and we all got cheated of some great stories by him leaving us so early in life. TW: What is the greatest legacy that Darwyn left as a creator? JP: He showed DC Comics singlehandedly that the characters they have did not need gimmicks of any kind. New Frontier is a tutorial on understanding TRIPWIRE 41

what works in superhero comics and how important it was to have them inspire hope and understanding. Darwyn’s work will live on forever simply because it is timeless and one of the best at showcasing what makes the art form truly great. Like the man himself, his storytelling always had heart- and celebrated what made these characters so enduring. His influence is everywhere and I see it in so many new creators now, all of them inspired by the deceptively simple line work and design sensibilities that he crafted. TW: What do you miss most of your friend, Darwyn? JP: I miss him for a lot of different reasons. Half the year he lived only a few minutes away so I would see him daily. It’s hard to have that for so many years and then it’s completely taken away. I still process his death and the

Palmiotti with Cooke at a comic convention (second and third in the back row here). Palmiotti’s wife Amanda Conner, also a close friend of Darwyn, is second from the left in the front too 42 TRIPWIRE

“His sense of humour and affection for his friends and family was intoxicating. I miss him walking up to my back deck of my home in the morning holding a couple of coffees and wanting to start the day by telling me an idea he had or how comics were screwing it all up again. ” months leading up to it all the time, wishing there was more I could have done. I lost more than a friend, I lost a brother. What I miss are the simple things… grabbing dinner, having a few drinks and a ton of laughs, complaining about things, catching up on each other’s projects and travelling to shows and so on. The simple things. Amanda and I were close to him. Amanda might have been closer than me in a different kind of way. He looked at Amanda as a sister and would speak to her and treat her differently than anybody else. He was protective of her, admired her work, and would defend her to anyone that dared say anything negative about her in his

presence. Darwyn’s wife Marsha and I found this amusing and admired that about him. We had a joke that Darwyn knew he went too far if Amanda was pissed off at him. We also understood that Darwyn and Amanda had the same taste in cars, furniture and design and Marsha and I should stay out of the way if those two were on a rant or expedition together. I miss his passion for everything he was interested in. He encouraged me to experiment more in comics, to push more books out and he backed it up all the time by offering to do art for my projects. He never said no to me about anything and it was mutual. Most of all I miss his laugh. When you told him a joke, his whole body laughed and contorted… and then laughed some more. His sense of humour and affection for his friends and family was intoxicating. I miss him walking up to the back deck of my home in the morning holding a couple of coffees and wanting to start the day by telling me an idea he had or how comics were screwing it all up again. It’s the TW little things.

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TO THE DEATH is ™ & © 2020 Simon Furman and Geoff Senior, KORA, copyright © 2019 White Hart Comics, All Rights Reserved. SOULWIND is ™ & © 1997, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2018 Scott Morse, SHIFTER, its logo and characters are ™ and © 2013 Anomaly Productions, Inc. All rights reserved. FOOT SOLDIERS is ™ & © 2020, Jim Krueger HUNGRYVILLE is ™ & © 2020, Warwick Fraser-Coombe, TINY ACTS OF VIOLENCE is ™ & © 2020 Martin Stiff. All other contents and properties, SHIFT name and logo are copyright © 2020 Shift Publishing Ltd.

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Tripwire’s senior editor Andrew Colman stares into the abyss and takes a look back at 80 years of DC’s most infamous villain, The Joker…

ost characters or tropes barely survive a decade in pop culture, and in order to gain longevity, they have to have some kind of timelessness and ability to constantly adapt to current mores. The Joker however really is the wild card in this instance – a gimmicky, garish, larger than life yet monolithic villain brought in for the fledgling medium that offered no backstory or empathic qualities whatsoever. And yet here we are, eighty years after he first appeared in Batman #1 in 1940, and the grotesque clown with the rictus grin is at the top of the tree as far as universal bogeymen are concerned. From the deviously sinister criminal of comics’ golden age to cinema’s perennial evil outsider, The Joker has evolved with the pulpish vision of sadistic villainy throughout the decades, until he became its ultimate symbol, separate from the hero he was meant to define, and in certain ways an icon of societal breakdown. And with his green hair, purple suit, chalk-white face and rouged lips, his look became as familiar as the

Conrad Veidt in the Man Who Laughs, a 1928 film that the Joker is based on (above right) Right: The Joker’s origin is told in Detective Comics 168 (1951) Below left The first appearance of the character in Batman #1 (1940)

46 TRIPWIRE

‘The Joker’s roots of course dated back to middle European folk tales – a major influence being the German Expressionist film The Man Who Laughs, itself based on a classic 19th Century novel by Victor Hugo about class inequity.’ blue and grey of his archenemy. Back in 1940 DC, flush with success regarding their flagship anthology title Detective Comics, decided to give lead character Batman his own book. Almost as important as Detective Comics 27 (Batman’s first appearance) Batman 1 needed some new nemeses for the costumed crimefighter, and in keeping with Batman’s baroque stylings (soon to be airbrushed out with the arrival of Robin) The Joker, along with The Cat (later Catwoman) fitted the bill perfectly. The Joker’s roots of course dated back to middle European folk tales – a major influence being the German Expressionist film The Man Who Laughs, itself based on a classic 19th Century novel by Victor Hugo about class inequity and the cruelty of the aristocracy. Creators Bill Finger

and Jerry Robinson combined Conrad Veidt’s tragic protagonist with the playing card and the character was born. As a character who, like many early golden age properties owed a great deal to the pulps, The Joker was ruthlessly visceral, killing with brazen alacrity, inhabiting a criminal demi monde that echoed The Shadow. At this stage in the comic timeline there was no code, although when sidekick Robin appeared in Detective Comics #38 it was abundantly clear which direction DC wanted the title to go in. Within a year the tone of the stories had gotten lighter and more reliant on slapstick and sillier plots, and The Joker became far removed from his first iteration. With Dick Sprang now on board, the Batman title diverged from newspaper noir, while developing a more cartoonish style that would see The Joker remain a cackling yet essentially harmless trickster until the early 70s. By the time the comics code was enforced in the

Cesar Romero (above left) played The Joker in the 1960s TV show. Batman 251 (right) introduced a brand new version of the Joker by Denny O’Neil and Neal Adams mid-1950s, DC barely missed a beat, such was their innocuous product. Nevertheless The Joker retained his popularity throughout, with Bill Finger providing his origin story in Detective Comics 168 in 1950. Such was his popularity that DC introduced a similar character in Detective Comics 140 with The Riddler, who was as obsessed with Batman as The Joker was. Up until the early 1960s, The Joker became ever more bland and ludicrous, although this period was the nadir for the Batman titles – even the Mort Weisinger daftness so prevalent in the Superman stable had bled into the Bat books. The Joker, Two Face and The Riddler had long absences during this era, and when Julie Schwarz assumed control of the Batman line his aim was to ensure that they would not often feature, despite the stories and art improving slightly. When the Batman TV show premiered in 1966, Cesar Romero’s convincingly theatrical turn as the clown prince of crime was a massive hit with viewers, which inevitably led to The Joker reappearing in the comics. Of course when the series was cancelled in 1968, the Batman titles once again lost momentum and readership, although by this point pivotal changes were finally afoot. By the late ‘60s Batman’s tales in Detective Comics had gradually become more serious, despite the T.V. show, but the genuine sea change occurred in 1969’s Detective Comics 395, when writer Denny O’Neil and artist Neal Adams refitted the character as a gothic, hard-bitten crime fighter exclusively dealing with Gotham’s underworld.

Five issues later and Batman, battling the misshapen Man-Bat, had completed his transformation, returning to his night time roots while leaving the camp buffoonery of the ‘60s behind. Of course the new-look dark Batman demanded an equally deconstructed and nastier Joker for contemporary tastes, and, (after a considerable hiatus) such a version reappeared in 1973, in Batman 251. At the time the tale of The Joker poisoning his former henchmen in order to entrap Batman (in a shark tank, no less) was a decent outing with some Bond-style trappings, but The Joker was no longer the knavish prankster but a taller, surreally angular and above all psychotic murderer. This turned out to ‘Two years after this landmark The Joker turned up in a decidedly odd nine issue solo series, which attempted to blend the camp hijinks of the TV version with the recently returned dark, skewed one.’

be one of the key books in the canon, with O’Neil deliberately refitting him as the Golden Age ghoul that no doubt frightened young readers thirty years earlier. The end of the tale involved him being dragged back by Batman to what would later be known as Arkham Asylum, where our incorrigibly recidivist chum would of course regularly escape from. One wonders why Batman didn’t just kill him and have done with it, but we’ll get to that in a moment. Two years after this landmark The Joker turned up in a decidedly odd nine issue solo series, which attempted to blend the camp hijinks of the T.V. version with the recently returned dark, skewed one. The Joker was still killing and generating mayhem with abandon, but for the one and only time in his career as bat-villain he was the focal point of the story rather than the impenetrable antagonist. And no Batman either. Worth investigating, as the stories are indeed fun and quite witty attempts at subversion, but without Bats to define his position, it all came across as a bit aimless. Far more significant was the late 70s series in Detective Comics 471476 by Steve Englehart and Marshall Rogers. This celebrated (and not long enough!) run not only added to the Batman / Joker mythos, but couched it in a brilliantly retro milieu. Throughout the ‘70s DC had vainly attempted to get the feel of the Bat books to be redolent of the 1940s, but this time the duo nailed it. The Joker, now decked out in a fedora and trench coat, was even more violently deranged, but more importantly he implied respect for his foe, demanding his presence in what he saw as a game TRIPWIRE 47

‘The Killing Joke on the other hand may have been as close to a definitive delineation as any. Moore and Bolland’s creepy little penny dreadful is a tour de force of numbing, wilful psychosis. ‘

The Joker appeared in three successful epic Batman tales in the 1980s: (Clockwise from top) Dark Knight Returns, The Killing Joke and A Death In The Family that he had to win. It was this theme, coupled with the look of the series that propelled The Joker further into the wider sphere, and indeed was a template for the Batman movie a decade later. During the 1980s, as comics’ readership matured (well, got older) there were three crucial series that continued to keep Batman in the foreground as a bankable property, all of which were event stories that featured the Harlequin of Hate – Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, The Killing Joke and A Death In The Family. Frank Miller’s chiaroscuro take on The Joker was faithful to 48 TRIPWIRE

the contemporary version, but he was, despite one particularly grisly sequence (when he murders everyone in a theatre) a sideshow emblem of the media’s obsession with monsters like him (although Miller was on point here!). He also gets back at Batman by committing suicide, which is definitely out of character. The Killing Joke on the other hand may have been as close to a definitive delineation as any. Moore and Bolland’s creepy little penny dreadful is a tour de force of numbing, wilful psychosis that expounds heartily on the fabled duality and mutual death trips of the two leads, but is an icy, detached tale that offers little beyond

the joke at the end, and how it was all at the reader’s expense. Nevertheless it was a virtuoso effort that would cast a very long shadow indeed. A Death In The Family, from Batman 426 – 429, played on the basis that the reader was in charge of then-Robin Jason Todd’s fate. It’s certainly an above average arc, with an interesting appearance from the Ayatollah Khomeini, and The Joker is as murderous as ever. But this four part story proved that The Joker’s star was never higher, and any Bat-tale would attract far more readers when he featured in it. And by that point, at the end of the ‘80s, Hollywood finally took notice. The “Dark Age” Batman was finally going to garner the serious, big budget event movie he deserved, and of course The Joker was going to be there too. Ultimately the transfer to cinema would prove seismic for The Joker, even more than Batman, although the process (as we all know) was slow. Tim Burton’s garish gothic-lite production captured the essence of some of the source material, but was too twee and studiobound and lacked intensity – like too many of Burton’s movies, it opted for a fairy tale quality that played it safe by straddling the Adam West and Bolland versions. Jack Nicholson’s Joker of course was the major draw here, far more than Michael Keaton’s strangely subdued turn. A heavyweight, Oscar-winning actor slumming it in a super-hero flick was unheard of at the time, but Nicholson’s enormous pay packet (another marketing point in what was the most hyped movie of the year) brought him on board, wherein he proceeded to ham it up even more ludicrously than Romero, while still effectively being himself. It didn’t make for a particularly challenging turn, even though he was clearly the star of the show, but then in 1989 it was too early for a Batman movie to be anything other than a widescreen, baroque pantomime, entertaining though it was. The three Batman films that followed in its wake were prime examples of the law of diminishing returns, with the last movie in particular (Batman and Robin) almost destroying the franchise permanently.

‘It was around the early noughties when the clown, previously considered to be a tragicomic yet generally harmless man-child throughout mainstream and pop culture, became revised as a scary, subhuman, and deadly entity.’ It was around the early noughties when the clown, previously considered to be a tragicomic yet generally harmless man-child throughout mainstream and pop culture, became revised as a scary, subhuman, and deadly entity – whether The Joker had much to do with this shift in the perception of these circus entertainers is conceivable, but it was duly noted across the board – clowns from thereon were candy-striped, fright-wigged terrorisers and gleefully antagonistic creatures. This was ironic considering Heath Ledger’s Oscar-winning performance as The Joker in The Dark Knight, which portrayed the super-villain as a down-at-heel, itinerant, mercurial force of nature who lived perpetually in the moment. Gone was Nicholson’s mountebank, replaced by a Joker who owed a little to his version but also to his Randall McMurphy from One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest, minus the empathy. Ledger’s Joker was more of an introverted outsider concerned with fomenting disorder, and far more unpredictable with it, while his desire to crush Batman psychologically was all-consuming. There was an element of street-urchin resentment to him, his need to hurt and gaslight society borne not through the desire for attention but misanthropic loathing. It was an amazing bit of work from the fragile young star, which tragically ended up tipping him over the edge, his Oscar awarded posthumously. One could say that the character took centre stage with this movie but also in Hollywood in general – it was a demanding and (as Joaquin Phoenix would find out a decade or so later) damaging role. In the end Christopher Nolan’s second Bat-feature would also be the best of all super-hero or comic-related movies, one in which genre was transcended, with the audience genuinely uncertain of what would happen next. This was The Joker as an agent of such axiomatic change, which had little to do with the gurning jester of yore. In the last decade The Joker was rarely out of the public eye, appearing in various animated films as well as

Three film faces of The Joker, two Oscar winners: Jack Nicholson from Batman (1989), the late Heath Ledger (Batman: The Dark Knight (2008) and Joaquin Phoenix in Joker (2019) the Batman origin series Gotham, and Suicide Squad, which showcased Jared Leto in the role – a retrograde step certainly, as the occasionally excellent actor completely missed the point of the character, devolving him into an irritating, unctuous cartoon brat.

And then there was Todd Phillips’s Joker movie, starring Joaquin Phoenix in an Oscar winning turn. This event film marked the moment when the comicbook character’s arc dovetailed with contemporary politics and mores, as he became the fictional avatar for (male) TRIPWIRE 49

The Joker in 2020: Jim Lee’s cover to DC’s Joker 80th Anniversary Special; Andrea Sorrentino’s cover to Joker: Killer Smile from DC’s Black Label imprint and Tony Daniel’s cover to Batman #89 failure culture, specifically Incel. The movie blindsided cinemagoers by not just straying from formula, or indeed the canon, but by anthologizing every outsider film since the heyday of such works – the 1970s. Splicing classic loner movies such as Taxi Driver and The King of Comedy with the brutal, fourcolour claustrophobia of The Killing Joke, V For Vendetta or Watchmen, Joker often veered into hysterical comic tropes (not least when our non-hero was interviewed by De Niro’s prosthetic chat show host) but was also an unsparing, uncompromising treatise on the mismanagement of mental illness and the societally marginalised. As dark and lacking in hope as any mainstream movie ever made, Joker is an essay in despair and delusion, which at times does border on the gratuitous, such is its need to

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‘As dark and lacking in hope as any mainstream movie ever made, Joker is an essay in despair and delusion, which at times does border on the gratuitous, such is its need to hammer its message home. And for the first time, the Joker didn’t need the Batman – the duality of their trajectories pretty much an irrelevance, in his schematic move from invisibility to infamy.’ hammer its message, such as it is, home. But what is remarkable is Phoenix’s intensely committed, naturalistic performance that went beyond mere acting. There were a few nods to the myth, with Thomas and Martha Wayne, and their son Bruce making cameos, along with Alfred, but they are so brief

that they feel unnecessary. This is a standalone movie that confounded expectation by providing catharsis without seeking approval. And for the first time, the Joker didn’t need the Batman – the duality of their trajectories pretty much an irrelevance, in his schematic move from invisibility to infamy. In the end, for such a simplistic, instinctive character The Joker has proved quite multi-faceted over the last eight decades since his first appearance – from super-villain to clown to wilful psychopath to icon – from nemesis to trickster, he will always be the last word in comic-book villainy, and is as much a part of contemporary culture as realworld demons. He is the durable stuff of nightmares, and we certainly haven’t seen the last of him. TW

RED ATLANTIS

From writer STEPHANIE PHILLIPS (Butcher of Paris, ARTEMIS AND THE ASSASSIN, DESCENDENT) and artist ROBERT CAREY (Aliens: Resistance, James Bond) comes a fast-paced political thriller that explores the dark history of US/Russian relations.

AT COMIC SHOPS NOVEMBER! www.aftershockcomics.com

CrossingUniverses Universes Tripwire’s contributing writer Scott Braden takes a look at the history of that phenomena, the intercompany crossover…

here is no “I” in team. That is saved for intercompany crossovers. In comicdom, an intercompany crossover (a.k.a. crosscompany or company crossover) is a comic book or series of comics where characters that at the time of publication are the property of one company meet those owned by another company (for example, DC Comics’ Superman meeting Marvel’s Spider-Man). These usually occur in “one-shot” issues or limited series. Some crossovers are part of canon. But most are outside of the continuity of a character’s regular title or series of stories. They can be a joke, a gag, a dream sequence, or even a “what if” scenario (such as DC’s Elseworlds). Although Avengers/JLA is in canon – which is the exception – most Marvel/ DC crossovers are not. They include those where the characters live in alternate universes, as well as those where they share the same earth. Some fans have posited a separate “Crossover Earth” for these adventures. In the earliest licensed crossovers, the companies seemed to prefer shared world adventures. This was the approach for early intercompany crossovers, including 1976’s Superman vs. the Amazing Spider-Man and 1981’s Superman and Spider-Man. A number of other DC/Marvel adventures take place on a “Crossover Earth,” but later intercompany crossovers tend to present the DC and Marvel Universes as alternate realities, bridged when common foes make this desirable, as the interest in overall continuity has become a major part of even crossover comic books. Characters are often licensed or sold from one company to another, as with DC acquiring such characters of Fawcett Comics, Quality Comics, 52 TRIPWIRE

Charlton Comics, and WildStorm Productions as the original Captain Marvel, Plastic Man, Captain Atom, and Midnighter, respectively. In this way, heroes originally published by different companies can become part of the same fictional universe, and interactions between such characters are no longer considered intercompany crossovers. According to Wikipedia: “Although a meeting between a licensed character

and a wholly owned character (e.g., between Red Sonja and Spider-Man, or Evil Dead’s Ash Williams and the Marvel Zombies) is technically an intercompany crossover, comics companies rarely bill them as such. Likewise, this is the case when some characters in an ongoing series are owned or to some extent controlled by their creators, as with Doctor Who antagonists the Daleks, who are not owned by the UK television

network the BBC, even though the character of the Doctor is.” One tremendously successful intercompany crossover that comes to mind is 1982’s X-Men/Teen Titans one-shot by longtime X-scribe Chris Claremont and superstar artist Walter Simonson. Published by Marvel Comics, the special found the two titanic teams against DC Comics’ Darkseid and the House of Ideas’ Dark Phoenix with the fate of the universe at stake. Then, there is the exceptional Batman/Starman/ Hellboy with script by the enormously talented James Robinson and illustrated by comic book master Mike Mignola. With talent like that, ‘nuff said! Speaking of Hellboy, another example to consider is Dark Horse Comics. It may be true in the stark reality that the publisher’s “Comics’ Greatest World” titles or “Dark Horse Heroes” line, whatever you the reader prefer to call it, arguably failed to garner a larger readership on its own – but that doesn’t change the fact that the line’s crossovers with other properties proved to find substantial sales success and fan appeal.

The Ghost/Hellboy Special twoparter has proven to be one of the more successful “Comics’ Greatest World” crossovers over time, having been collected in a prestige formatstyle trade paperback that continues to generate great collector interest in

‘One tremendously successful intercompany crossover that comes to mind is 1982’s X-Men/ Teen Titans one-shot by longtime X-scribe Chris Claremont and superstar artist Walter Simonson. Published by Marvel Comics, the special found the two titanic teams against DC Comics’ Darkseid and the House of Ideas’ Dark Phoenix with the fate of the universe at stake.’ the comic book aftermarket. A reason for this may be that the tale – which had Hellboy travel to Arcadia to see if Ghost was, in truth, a honest-to-God gun-toting apparition and femme fatale – wasn’t TRIPWIRE 53

‘It was the alien hunter’s first meeting with the “Distinguished Competition’s” resident Dark Knight in late ’91 (a story that proved successful years before the “Dark Horse Heroes” event) that captured the imaginations of those who loved both the comics and the films. .’ just a special one-off featuring comic book legend Mike Mignola’s “World’s Greatest Paranormal Investigator,” but in fact an important chapter in the Hellboy canon. The unlikely heroine Ghost also found herself teaming up with her DC Comics’ counterpart, Batgirl, as well as

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the classic pulp hero, The Shadow. In other news, there was even supposed to be a crossover between Mike Baron & Steve Rude’s Nexus and Vortex, but the project was canceled before release – remaining an untold tale to this day. In July of 1995, Dark Horse Comics pitted its size-changing sentinel against

Toho’s “King of the Monsters” in the fan-favourite match-up, Godzilla Versus Hero Zero #1. After this must-have one-shot, and within the “Dark Horse Heroes” mythos, San Diego, California – and its world-famous comic book convention – would never be the same! One month later, the “Hunting the Heroes: The Predators Attack!” event was released to a virtual standing ovation by comic book fans worldwide. An intercompany crossover of selfcontained stories, the “Hunting the Heroes: The Predators Attack!” event ran through all four of the comic book publisher’s August 1995-dated “Dark Horse Heroes” titles. The participating comic book issues included: Agents of

Law #6, Ghost #5, Motorhead #1, and X #18. The individual action-packed stories were unrelated and could be read in any order, but collectively revolved around a group of Predators arriving on Earth and hunting Dark Horse Comics’ homegrown heroes. It is no secret that Dark Horse Comics was aiming for significant financial success with this crossover event. Although the first crossover between 20th Century Fox’s Predator franchise and another property in comics was the ever-popular Aliens vs. Predator strip that began in Dark Horse Comics’ award-winning anthology title, Dark Horse Presents, in the late 1980s, it was the alien hunter’s first meeting with the “Distinguished Competition’s” resident Dark Knight in late ’91 (a story

that proved successful years before the “Dark Horse Heroes” event) that captured the imaginations of those who loved both the comics and the films. Written by Watchmen co-creator Dave Gibbons and illustrated by the ultra-talented brothers Adam and Andy Kubert (X-Men and Wolverine, respectively), the three-issue Batman Versus Predator mini-series proved the immense monetary potential that could be found by teaming Fox’s interstellar killing machines with a comic book publisher’s hero – or heroes – of choice. In layman’s terms, it brought wads of cash to the crossover’s publishers, retailers, and distributors – as well as major cache to the characters themselves. To further make this highly anticipated crossover even more desirable to comic book buyers, Dark Horse Comics enlisted top talent to produce eye-catching covers in an effort to make its books stand out on the shelves. The acclaimed cover artists enlisted to add to the crossover’s overall sales potential included Simon Bisley on Motorhead, Adam Hughes on Ghost, Frank Miller on X, and the team of Doug Wheatley & Mark Farmer on Agents of Law. By the culmination of the event, although the alien hunters were defeated by the majority of Dark Horse Comics’ heroes and heretics, the megalomaniacal Law (first introduced in Division 13 #1), as well as his title Agents of Law, both met their untimely end at the hands of the Predators. A onetime continuation of the series Catalyst: Agents of Change, the cancelled Agents of Law focused on a powerful individual of dubious motives who took over Golden City. Although the “Hunting the Heroes: The Predators Attack!” event was never collected in either a hardcover or trade paperback edition by Dark Horse Comics, the individual issues are still affordable enough that both loyal Predator and/or “Comics’ Greatest World” fans – or even new readers just wanting to enjoy a fun, thrilling read – can get their hands on all four issues of the crossover by searching them out at well-stocked comic book specialty stores everywhere. As is the majority of the many “Comics’ Greatest World” (or “Dark Horse Heroes”) releases waiting to be discovered by comic book readers like you. Other crossovers, of course, follow suit. TW TRIPWIRE 55

The Best Unofficial Crossovers Scott Braden takes a look too at some of the best unofficial team-ups over the years too…

ome of the best intercompany crossovers are the unofficial ones; the ones that sneak up on you and surprise you when you read them. The ones you know couldn’t – or because of the companies or creators involved, wouldn’t – get done any other way. Ones like these. Besides bringing up homages to comic book heroes from other companies in satirical 1960s humour magazines like Marvel Comics’ Not Brand Ecch and DC Comics’ Inferior Five, among others, characters like Fawcett Publications’ “World’s Mightiest Mortal” – or an iteration of him – found himself in a onepanel appearance in July of 1963’s “The Monkey’s Paw” story from Superman’s Girl Friend, Lois Lane #42 – many years before Shazam! was acquired as a DC character. Four years later, in Action Comics #351-53, Superman met a villain called Zha-Vam, whose powers and name were derivative of the then Fawcett-owned Shazam! and the magic word that empowered him. There were also the early fist-flying meetings of the House of Ideas’ Avengers and the publisher’s version of its Distinguished Competition’s Justice League of America – known as the Squadron Sinister and later, Squadron Supreme. Their first battles erupted within the pages of Avengers (Volume 1) #70, 85-86, and 147-48. Meanwhile at DC, writer Bob Rozakis joined artists Dick Ayers and Jack Abel to bring The Crusaders to life on Earth X in the story, “Blitzkrieg at Buffalo!” – an homage to Marvel’s modern-day team creation of Timely Comics’ Captain America and Bucky, the Human Torch and Toro, and the Sub-Mariner…otherwise known as The Invaders. All this could be found in the pages of DC’s four-color Quality Heroes combination, Freedom Fighters #9. But although the fun started in the 1960s and ‘70s at Marvel and DC, it didn’t stop there. In the early 1980s, two titanic teen team comic book heroes -- namely The Original Universe’s New Teen Titans and the now-defunct Eclipse Comics’ DNAgents – “met” in each other’s books as strangely familiar versions of each other’s members. In the pages of Tales of the Teen Titans #48, for example, writer and New Teen Titans co-creator Marv Wolfman joined soon-to-be superstar and

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‘Some of the best intercompany crossovers are the unofficial ones; the ones that sneak up on you and surprise you when you read them.’ Nexus co-creator Steve Rude in turning the DNAgents into the “RECOMbatants,” and created comic book chemistry above and beyond. Not to be outdone, DNAgents creators Mark Evanier and Will Meugniot transformed the members of the Titans into the pastiche super-team codenamed “Project Youngblood” in DNAgents #14. Just as an aside, Rude was the only creator to draw both teams in the above landmark Tales of the Teen Titans and the hard-to-find Surge #4 from 1984. Later that same decade, DC continued the tradition in the pages of Detective Comics #572, where its Dark Knight met an unnamed Sherlock Holmes in a memorable cameo illustrated by the great Alan Davis. There is also the now landmark Thor #341, where comics superstar Walter Simonson had Marvel’s resident Thunder God travelling back to Midgard, where he is forced to take on a new civilian identity after he loses the power to change into his longtime alter ego, Donald Blake. Thor works with spymaster Nick Fury to create the secret identity, Sigurd Jarlson, which comes with a cover story that he is a blue collar construction worker. For the finishing touch, Fury hands Thor a pair of glasses and tells him how they worked wonders concealing the identity of that “other guy.” As if the glasses and the “other guy” reference don’t completely sell the joke of Jarlson being similar to Superman’s Clark Kent, Thor and Fury bump into a group of reporters – including one that bears an uncanny resemblance to mildmannered Kent. Then, in the year 2000, DC Comics acquired Jim Lee’s WildStorm Productions, including The Authority by the amazing creative team of Mark Millar and Frank Quitely. In the now classic The Authority #13 and #14, WildStorm’s extreme superteam fights a sadistic covert action team resembling Marvel’s “Earth’s Mightiest Heroes.” According to Millar, they included: The Commander, Storm-God, Atlas, The Hornet, Tank Man, Titan, Street Panther, Jackflash, Cheeta, Samson, Huntsman, and Disco Phantasm. They were bad people doing bad things – until The Authority kicked their asses. For good. And so it went, and so it goes…. TW

Creating Our Flash Cover Tripwire spoke to illustrator David Michael Beck to find out how he approached creating the Flash 80th anniversary cover for this very issue of Tripwire…

TRIPWIRE: How did you approach composing the cover at the start? DAVID MICHAEL BECK: I based the content of the illustration on a basic history of the Flash, from the Golden

Age Flash, to the introduction of Kid Flash and up to the present day iteration, all the while researching the varied costume designs as well. I then worked up some very rough thumbnail sketches using the prescribed format,

“ I believe my strongest work is derived from the trust and creative freedom one gives me to come up with an original creative, impactful and entertaining visual solution.” masthead, and tertiary copy areas. TW: How much guidance did you receive from Tripwire’s editor-in-chief Joel Meadows? DMB: Initially, I was guided by Joel’s suggestions and desires as to what the content would be. He was familiar with my compositional skills, thus giving me carte blanche to compose a working design.

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TW: How much art direction do you prefer when you are creating a cover image or a single illustration? DMB: I work with the essential material, and suggestions given by an art director. I believe my strongest work is derived from the trust and creative freedom one gives me to come up with an original creative, impactful and entertaining visual solution. TW: Did you look at any comic covers for inspiration at all? DMB: Not at all. I essentially follow my instincts. Like most artists I have underlying influences from an array of artists, both past and present that have over time allowed me to develop an original visual voice.

TW: With every job, do you try and push yourself as an artist? DMB: I strive every day to be more accomplished in my creative critical thinking, ability of applied skills, and risk taking philosophy. There isn’t enough time in a day, a week, a year, or a lifetime to do all I would like to do with my art. I keep going, trying to make each day count with the emphasis being to never give up, and never give in no matter the odds. TW: Talk us through the various stages of the cover from rough to completed? DMB: I start with small rough brainstorming thumbnail sketch work in a proportion to the final format, followed by reference searches, sometimes utilizing a list of word associations,

“I strive every day to be more accomplished in my creative critical thinking, ability of applied skills, and risk taking philosophy. There isn’t enough time in a day, a week, a year, or a lifetime to do all I would like to do with my art.”

coalescing it all into a comprehensive preliminary sketch with masthead indication, which is the launch point to the final artwork. TW: How different is it creating a cover for a magazine than for a comic itself? DMB: Producing a cover for a magazine or a comic book entails very similar constructs of design. Each application requires understanding of conveying an impactful narrative with a quick read capability. A cover’s impact has only a few seconds to grab a viewer’s attention in competition with other publications on a retail shelf. The cover visual needs to stand out with creative clarity in design, conveying a sense of entertainment and gained information to captivate a customer, forcing them to open the publication for a quick review and compelling them to reach into their pocket and lay down their money. TW

visit www.davidmichaelbeck.com TRIPWIRE 59

ext year, 2021, marks the fifth and final appearance of Daniel Craig as James Bond in No Time To Die. When he was announced as Bond in 2005, the franchise was in need of invigoration as it periodically does. In 2002, Pierce Brosnan appeared as Bond for a fourth and final time in Die Another Day. Even though it did moderately decently at the box office, grossing $413m, it received mixed reviews. Brosnan stated after his fourth outing that he would have been happy to have made more but the decision was made not to rehire him and in October 2005, Daniel Craig was officially announced as the new 007. Craig has admitted that he was aware of the challenges of playing Bond, which he saw as “a big machine that makes a lot of money” but he intended to bring “more emotional depth” to the part. The actor admitted that he didn’t initially agree to do it when he was offered it in an interview from 2007 on Friday Night With Jonathan Ross: “I walked away from it just because I couldn’t wrap my head around it and I didn’t see myself doing it.” He continued about why he initially made this decision: “As an actor I’d never envisaged myself playing it so I genuinely thought they were having a bit of a giggle when they called me. It really wasn’t on my radar at all.” However he did agree in the end and the rest, as they say, is film history.

Daniel Craig in his debut as Bond in Casino Royale (2005) Casino Royale, when it was released back in 2006, garnered a positive critical reaction and it also saw Craig get nominated for a Bafta for Best Actor. The producers brought director Martin Campbell, who had helmed Brosnan’s debut Bond film Goldeneye back to oversee Casino Royale. It also cleaned up at the box office, making a very impressive $606.1m. Featuring timehonoured Bond glamourous locales, well-delineated action sequences and a classy supporting cast that included Jeffrey Wright, Mads Mikkelsen and Eva Green, Casino Royale set out its stall to be a different sort of Bond after the

silliness of Brosnan’s final film. After a lacklustre predecessor, Bond was definitely back. Eon wasted no time in announcing Craig as Bond again, this time in Quantum Of Solace. A direct followup to Casino Royale, Quantum of Solace directed by Swiss director Marc Forster, made almost as much as the previous installment although critics were less keen on Craig’s turn on this occasion. Craig felt that acting in this was physically much tougher than the first film, which he described as a “walk in the park”. A little bit of trivia here:

“As an actor I’d never envisaged myself playing [James Bond] so I genuinely thought they were having a bit of a giggle when they called me.” – Daniel Craig

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Daniel Craig on the piste in Spectre (2015) director Forster’s friends, Oscar-winning fellow directors Guillermo del Toro and Alfonso Cuaron, both had cameos in Quantum. Cuaron played a Bolivian helicopter pilot while del Toro provided several voices in the film. Despite the fact that it wasn’t as well received as Casino, it still made almost as much at the box office – a respectable $589.5m. This may have been due to the film being affected by the writer’s strike in 2007. Craig was a lot blunter about how that disrupted the film in an interview at the time with Time Out London: “On ‘Quantum,’ we were fucked. We had the bare bones of a script and then there was a writers’ strike and there was nothing we could do. We couldn’t employ a writer to finish it. I say to myself, ‘Never again,’ but who knows? There was me trying to rewrite scenes – and a writer I am not.’” Interestingly, Craig had more clout than any of his Bond forerunners as he was involved with bringing director Sam Mendes in to helm Skyfall, his third outing as Bond, which hit cinemas four years after Quantum Of Solace in 2012. In an interview he did with Rolling Stone back in 2012, Craig admitted that he wanted Skyfall to be his final outing for Bond: “I’ve been trying to get out of this from the very moment I got into it,” he told the magazine.” But they won’t let me go, and I’ve agreed to do a couple more, but let’s see how this one does, because business is business and if the shit goes down, I’ve got a contract that somebody will happily wipe their ass with.”

“I thought, ‘Is this work really genuinely worth this, to go through this, this whole thing?’ And I felt physically really low. So the prospect of doing another movie was just like, it was off the cards. And that’s why it has been five years.” –Daniel Craig Skyfall exceeded most people’s expectations, grossing an incredible $1.109bn internationally. With Javier Bardem as villain Raoul Silva and the Judi Dench appearing as Bond’s boss M for the final time, the success of Skyfall guaranteed that there would be at least one more Bond with Craig. It featured Craig improvising the train stunt in Turkey as he revealed in his usual colourful fashion in an interview with GQ this year: “It wasn’t in the script,” Craig says. “I realised why that came in, why he did it: because he’s scared. He’s fucking terrified. He’s just jumped off the back of the train. He’s just like, ‘Everything’s fine.’ Otherwise he’s just shooting his fucking cuff. ‘Isn’t he cool?’ He’s not cool. He’s really not cool at that point.”

Skyfall marked the fiftieth anniversary of Bond on film and it overall was very well-received, gaining a 92% rating from film website Rotten Tomatoes. Its grittier approach really connected with audiences and critics alike. So with a film that was the highest grossing of any of Bond’s big-screen outings, it was unlikely that Eon would change horses in midstream. Inevitably Craig was still in the tuxedo for his fourth foray as 007: Spectre. Director Sam Mendes returned after the huge impact that Skyfall made on audiences and they recruited Christophe Waltz as its villain, legendary Bond adversary Ersnt Stavro Blofeld. However it could have been the film that saw Craig’s final screen appearance as Bond as he stated very firmly when he was doing the publicity for it: “Now? I’d rather break this glass and slash my wrists. No, not at the moment. Not at all. That’s fine. I’m over it at the moment. We’re done. All I want to do is move on.” In fact, it was the physical injuries that Craig suffered (he damaged his ACL, the band of tissue that joins the thigh bone to the shin bone, and he had to wear a neck brace) on Spectre which is part of the reason as to why there’s been quite a gap between it and No Time To Die: “I was never going to do one again. I was like, ‘Is this work really genuinely worth this, to go through this, this whole thing?’ And I didn’t feel… I felt physically really low. So the prospect of doing another movie was just like, it was off the cards. And that’s why it has been five years,” he states in his GQ interview from this year. Despite a weak plot and a mixed critical reception, Spectre still earned a very healthy $880m. So a new Bond was always going to be on the cards. Craig is now 52 and Bond has taken up 15 years of his life. Prior to joining Casino Royale, he did have a very respectable career as a serious actor in things like the BBC’s Our Friends In The North and Love Is The Devil, a biopic of painter Francis Bacon. No Time To Die, Craig’s fifth James Bond and the 25th film in the series, was originally scheduled to come out in April this year. However, as with every other major film release of 2020, it fell foul of the coronavirus. So as of this writing, it is due to be released in April next year, on the 2nd in the UK and a little later that month in the US. The world of cinema is still fairly chaotic at the moment but it could still meet this current release date. TRIPWIRE 63

Daniel Craig in the latest Bond, No Time To Die (centre) with Lashana Lynch (top left) as new British agent Nomi and Rami Malek (bottom right) as new threat Safin Even before the virus hit the world, No Time To Die lost its original director but Craig seemed very philosophical that it was still going to go ahead as he admitted in the GQ interview back in March: “It feels like, ‘How the fuck are we going to do this?’” Craig said. “And somehow you do.” He shot his final Bond scene back in October 2019 but Craig felt very sanguine that this was probably the end of his connection with the role, as he revealed in the same GQ interview: “You can ignore these things in life or you can sort of... It’s like family history, isn’t it? The story kind of gets bigger and bigger. I feel a bit like that with movie sets: this legend builds up.” He seems happy that he got to play the part one last time as he revealed in the same interview: “I’m OK, I don’t think I would have been if I’d done the last film and that had been it. But this, I’m like...” He dusted his hands. “Let’s go. Let’s get on with it. I’m fine.” With competitors pulling and delaying their films like Warner Bros. and even Disney, it is likely that if No Time To Die does still stick to its April date, it will have a clear run at the box office. Bond has always fought against adversity and 64 TRIPWIRE

“For me as a writer and a director, it was essential to rediscover Bond. Where is he? After five years of retirement, who has he become? [James Bond] is a wounded animal, struggling with his role as a 00” – Cary Fukunaga there have been times when it seemed as if the franchise was finished. It is comforting that even in this strangest of years, we get to see a new adventure from Ian Fleming’s creation, the world’s most famous spy. And if this is the final Craig Bond, it certainly looks like it’s going out on an explosive high with Oscar-winning actor Rami Malek as its villain Safin and Lashana Lynch as a fellow British agent, Nomi. Director

Fukunaga offered a few snippets about its plot in a video released back in February: “For me as a writer and a director, it was essential to rediscover Bond. Where is he? After five years of retirement, who has he become? [James Bond] is sort of a wounded animal, struggling with his role as a 00. The world has changed, the rules of engagement aren’t what they used to be, the rules of espionage are darker in this era of asymmetric warfare.” He went on to offer a few more clues about it too: “The people close to Bond, those he considers to be family, are at great risk and now there is someone new out there, more dangerous than anyone he has ever encountered, and whoever they are is smarter and stronger than Spectre.” One thing is certain: You can’t keep a good 007 down for long. TW

Comic Creators’ Favourite 007 We also asked a few key comic creators to give us their favourite Bond actor ever “I grew up with Roger Moore and his “Of all the Bonds I think Pierce Brosnan is slightly more light hearted brand of Bond, actually my favourite.” - David Morris, artist, Time but I’d have to say Connery. I think Daniel Bomb Comics Craig does a great job of playing the role with muscle but there’s just something too alluring about the Connery era, McGinnis posters and all!” –Jock, artist, Batman, 2000AD

“I was born in the early 60’s and at the ripe age of 6 my parents took me to a drive-in to see You Only Live Twice and I was hooked. At the age of 12, my local theatre had a Saturday “Of the Connery pictures, I’m only certain triple feature that was showing Dr. No, From that I’ve seen Dr. No and Goldfinger. I Russia with Love and Goldfinger. My brothers might have seen Thunderball, but I can’t and I got there early in the morning and say for sure. Never seen any of the Roger because of that screening and believing that Moore Bonds – including the one I drew Sean Connery was James Bond, the Bond films for Marvel, the title of which escapes me. became my religion and the only real bond for One maybe of the Daltons, and one of me was Sean Connery. The guy was dangerous, the Brosnans, but neither do I recall well had chest hair, so handsome women chased enough to remember which, or whether after him, knew how to shoot and had the this is a screened memory. I’ve seen all of coolest gadgets, and no matter the situation, the Craigs. I’ve read all the novels, but all he got out of it with class and style, saving before Fleming died.” – Howard V Chaykin, the girl and saving the day. Growing up, no creator American Flagg, Time Squared matter who the actor was, I always thought “who are they going to get to replace Connery “I grew up with Moore and Connery. I still now’…and for me, the 70’s was a time where enjoy the Connery pictures to this day, but I couldn’t wait for the people in charge to I have to go with Daniel Craig. I think he’s get a replacement for Roger Moore, mainly been great in the role. I believe his because the franchise became an overblown intensity and if all the Bonds, he seems like cartoon featuring snappy one liners to me. Till the most lethal.” – John Paul Leon, artist today, all the films have been hit or miss for me, but Casino Royale featuring Daniel Craig have come closest to what Connery bought to the role. That said, Sean is still James Bond, no matter how dated those films from years ago get. Early impressions stay with you a lifetime.” – Jimmy Palmiotti, writer/ artist “Daniel Craig is closest to the James Bond in the novels.” – Mark Chiarello, illustrator TRIPWIRE 65

The Music That Shakes And Stirs Us Tripwire cover artist Russell Walks shares his love for one particular aspect of James Bond: the one consistent thing that ties together every Bond from Connery to Craig

he Spy Who Loved Me and Casino Royale are two of my all-time favourite movies. Although they were released nearly thirty years apart, both films follow the same general formula established in sixties spy films like Goldfinger and Thunderball; a healthy, heady mix of adventure and excitement seasoned with a hint of sex. There are cool cars, gorgeous girls, and a dynamite pre-credit sequence establishing the basic nature of the hero we’ll be backing for the next 120 minutes; the dynamic British agent tasked with saving the world twenty-four (soon to be twenty-five) times in the last sixty years: James Bond. But while the essential template is the same, the key ingredient is different. In The Spy Who Loved Me, Roger Moore plays Bond. Daniel Craig embodies the character in Casino Royale, and to a viewer watching the films for the first time, it might seem as though the only thing the two versions have in common is their identity and gun they both carry in a shoulder holster under their jacket. I’ve always felt that Moore’s Bond is sort of a collaboration between actor and audience; that we’re all in on the same joke. Moore plays Bond with an implied wink, never actually addressing the camera, but often seeming as though he is just about to. There are occasional moments of danger in the Moore films, of course, particularly in the early outings, but, ultimately, we are never particularly concerned for James Bond’s safety when Roger Moore is the man pointing the PPK. That’s never been the case with Craig, who seems to me to be not only deadly serious about the mission at hand, but realistically human as well, with breakable bones and a heart to match. (Although I’ll admit with a certain sadness that SPECTRE occasionally edged dangerously close to the later Moore films when they descended into parody. 66 TRIPWIRE

‘If we place the actor playing Bond in the centre of the universe he inhabits, then I suppose it’s also fair to argue that the rest of the film must orbit around that particular portrayal’ If we place the actor playing Bond in the centre of the universe he inhabits, then I suppose it’s also fair to argue that the rest of the film must orbit around that particular portrayal. I simply can’t see Daniel Craig’s Bond riding a tiny white jet ski, or battling a giant with metal teeth. It’s equally difficult for me

to picture Roger Moore in tears over Vesper Lynd’s death, not because Moore couldn’t act the part, but because his version of Bond wasn’t created to exist in a world like that, and for me, that’s the basic difference between The Spy Who Loved Me and Casino Royale. And while you can certainly argue the merits of each movie – like I said, I love them both – it’s hard to reconcile the idea that they exist in the same universe. Except.... There is something other than the great Ian Fleming which ties these wonderful movies together - One consistent, fantastic thing that has, over the last six decades, linked together Connery’s charisma, Lazenby’s charm, Moore’s restraint, Dalton’s intensity, Brosnan’s urbanity, and Craig’s menace. It’s the music, in particular the five notes, originally written in the late fifties

‘Over time, I’ve come to appreciate Fleming’s original novels more than the films, I find myself bringing a little movierelated baggage with me when I sit down with the books.’ by Monty Norman and arranged by John Barry as The James Bond Theme in 1962. I’d wager you’re humming it right now, possibly counting to make sure it’s actually five notes. It is, and Wikipedia tells me what I already suspected: The James Bond Theme has been used in every movie since Dr. No in 1962. For me, it’s not the Walther, the Aston Martin, the bespoke suits, or even the actor mouthing the words “Bond. James Bond,” that make a movie a Bond Film. For me, it’s hearing the Bond theme. I love it, and as, over time, I’ve come to appreciate Fleming’s original novels more than the films, I consistently find myself bringing a little movie-related baggage with me when I sit down with one of the books. As I read, I hear, more often than not, John Barry’s wonderful compositions – not just the Bond theme, but other familiar motifs like 007. These things were what I had in mind as I created the Bond-themed “album covers” you’re currently browsing. I wanted to ground the Fleming novels in the specific era in which they were created, doing my best to remove any association with the particular actor that may have appeared in any given novel’s adaptation. It’s my hope that you’ll see these as though they’re the covers of imaginary soundtracks to the books rather than the movies, and that in place of a different Bond for every title, you’ll see your favourite Bond actor, or, perhaps, someone else – Fleming saw Hoagy Carmichael, for example. Or, like me on those rare occasions when I feel stylish and confident, when I have a cool martini on the table next to me and a gorgeous 60’s era Pan Edition of Moonraker in my hand, you’ll see yourself. TW All art created by Russell Walks see more at www.russellwalks.com TRIPWIRE 67

Thinking Differently In just four years, writer Ram V has ascended to prominence in the comics industry. With a CV that now includes regular work for DC, Image and Vault, Tripwire’s editor-in-chief Joel Meadows caught up with him recently to talk about his career, his approach to writing and more…

am V’s rise has been fairly stratospheric. Since getting noticed with his self-published anthology Black Mumba back in 2015, he has won acclaim for series like the award-winning These Savage Shores at Vault Comics and Paradiso at Image. Over the past couple of years, he has moved into working for DC on books like Catwoman and Justice League Dark. He does have a career path of sorts, he informed me when we spoke recently. “I am reminded of a Neil Gaiman essay in which he says ‘the way he looks at his career path, he saw what he wanted to do as this mountain in the distance and just kept walking towards it’. And I suppose on some level I look at my career path like that in that I want to write in as many media, genres and formats as I can. I want to create comics, I want to create novels, I want to write plays, movies and TV shows, in fact pretty much anywhere they’ll let

“So my aim really is to just enjoy myself and try as many things as possible and see how each of those things are different and entertaining in their own way.” 68 TRIPWIRE

picture©Charlotte Knee Photography

me tell a story. So my aim really is to just enjoy myself and try as many things as possible and see how each of those things are different and entertaining in their own way,” he explained. He has approached the current situation in his own uniquely philosophical manner. “If your plan is based off milestones or hitting aims and goals that are not in your control then I suppose you have to decide to make changes. But if your plan is one of internal creative fulfilment like just wanting to write a novel, I don’t have to have anyone give me permission to do that. Or if I want

to write a screenplay, no one has to give me permission to do those things. So in terms of the creative process, even though the world has changed in many drastic ways, on the creative front there hasn’t been much change in that I have always had the freedom to create and write as and when I want to. Sure, on a professional front, there’s always going to be changes. But I suppose you really have to compartmentalise that and the creative drive needs to be kept separate from the more professional things that you need to do to have a career,” the writer revealed. For him as a writer, it is essential to keep the creative goals separate from the financial or more mundane considerations: “They’re two very different things. One of them I do because I have a creative goal in mind and the other thing is what I need to do once I have fulfilled my creative goal is to see it published and to see myself remunerated for the time and effort that I’ve put in. But they’re two separate things and I’m lucky to be in a position where I don’t necessarily have them tie in to each other. Obviously that doesn’t mean I have the ability to make a movie on my own. But I suppose no-one’s preventing me from writing a screenplay and then going ‘Okay I have made this thing that I think is good now let’s see if I can find a publisher’.” Comics have always attracted creators from different backgrounds. They began with predominantly Jewish figures and over the years, they have been dominated by immigrants of all kinds.

Ram V does have a theory as to why this has always been the case. “To be honest I don’t think it’s just comics, I think all kinds of writing attracts people from various backgrounds but if you look at traditional publishing structures, immigrants really haven’t been given an opportunity to talk about their experiences until much more recently. And then when they have been, you look at them and go ‘Oh there are untold stories and perspectives that haven’t been written about before’. So really we should be celebrating the fact that we’re living through a time and an era where we’re more aware of the fact that there are these stories and voices that exist and need to be given a platform. Now that said, I do agree that comics attract a certain adventurous underground mindset and so it does attract people who seek to subvert these structures of classical publishing. I think it has a lot to do with that intersectionality between being a niche medium and also a medium that doesn’t have too many eyeballs on it compared to something like lierature or film and TV. So this makes it conducive to people coming to it and going ‘I can do whatever I want because there’s no one who’s going to tell me that I can’t.’ So because of that kind of niche, almost bootstrap culture that lies at the foundational level of making comics, we tend to find more writers and artists and creators from diverse backgrounds and especially from backgrounds where they haven’t been able to bring their voices to more mainstream media.” These Savage Shores, Ram V’s highly rated series from Vault created with artist Sumit Kumar, took a number of traditional literary forms and subverted them. For the writer, the subversion of these forms was at the heart of how the series was shaped. “It exists in a sense to subvert the thing that it seems to be based on.”

“Because of that kind of niche, almost bootstrap culture that lies at the foundational level of making comics, we tend to find more writers and artists and creators from diverse backgrounds.” However, Ram V is no one-trick pony and his work isn’t always about subverting the form as he was keen to point out to me. “I wouldn’t say it’s a main motivating factor. I think that story that we did in Savage Shores is was produced was that it lent itself to subversion from conventional literary tropes. But if you take something like a Grafity’s Wall, it’s not doing anything but telling a story on its own. I suppose These Savage Shores as an idea had that subversion built into it but it isn’t my main motivator generally.” The writer enjoys experimenting with his work and its format. Take his original graphic novel, Blue In Green, reteamed with artist Anand RK from Grafitys Wall. The genesis of that was unique, he informed us. “Both Anand and I have had a history of being immersed in music and comics. They were there in Grafitys Wall. We’ve been working on another

project which has musical themes and I’ve always been fascinated by the idea of music and comic book visual designs coming together in stories. So that is part of what this idea is. The other part is that I have loved jazz for as long as I can remember. One of my earliest experiences of travelling abroad was living in Philadelphia where I discovered this place called Ortliebs Jazz Haus which doesn’t exist anymore. But it had this sense of everyone knowing everyone else, and the jazz listening and playing community was almost an insider thing. So I wanted to explore that culture. I felt like jazz almost had an aesthetic of its own and I wanted to focus on that in storytelling as well. I suppose in some parts it was also the fact that when I listen to jazz, I find tracks that I think are haunting or jarring in certain ways. So all of those things came together in a perfect storm and I had this idea about writing a character in a downwards spiral trying to pursue the promise of some artistic genius that he feels he is owed. So all of those things came together to create this

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“I had this idea about writing a character with a downwards spiral trying to pursue the promise of some artistic genius that he feels he is owed. So all of those things came together to create [Blue In Green].”

project. So Anand and I talked about it. He comes from a painting background so I thought he had a style that I thought would fit this book. And actually we worked for two months just trying to figure out how we wanted this thing to look. And then we had a few pages done and sent it over to Eric Stephenson at Image. He saw it and he said: ‘this is great. I’m not sure you want to do this as single issues. I think it would work better as a reading experience start to finish. I would hate to have to stop in the middle’. So I totally agreed with that. So right at that point we said ‘Yeah we’re going to do this as a one shot.’” Even though the artist is not an experienced comic illustrator, his confidence in creating comic art has grown hugely since he drew Grafity’s Wall with Ram V. “People forget this is only Anand’s second major comic. He’s only done Grafity’s Wall before this and so really 70 TRIPWIRE

his experience has been predominantly working with me. So I think we’ve built this kind of new working style where he and I don’t have to discuss a page as he knows where I’m coming from.” Blue In Green also plays to RK’s strengths as an artist, since he is more experienced now than he was at creating comic art, the writer confirmed. “More for Anand than for me simply because I think he was more comfortable with how a comic book is made and how collaboration works. I think he will agree with that too because I’ve heard him say it. From my perspective, what I’ve done on this book is what I do on all of my books which is to ensure that it has a unique artistic point of view that stands out when you compare it to the things around it,” he told me. Ram V has also become very wellknown for bringing in artists from other backgrounds for his work. This has always been a conscious decision for him. “To an extent. I feel like when I first started making comics there were people around me who pushed me and encouraged me to have my own voice which was culturally reflective of where I was from. People like Kieron Gillen, Chris Staros – all of these guys were very encouraging of me writing stories about where I was from and bringing that to a readership that might not have seen it before. So I suppose on some level I am doing the same thing with the art as well and I am going: ‘Hey this artist comes from a place that you are not familiar with and this is what he can do.’” However, his choices have mainly been based on who will work best with him. “But beyond that, I don’t necessarily think of myself as an ambassador. I don’t particularly go out of my way to try and pick artists that are from my background or anything like that. My eventual choice is just based on who will work with me firstly and secondly whose work is unique enough that it will stand out. I think that’s the most important thing for me, that I want to work with someone who has their own voice, whose work doesn’t look like anyone else’s.”

As well as writing his creator-focused work, he has also moved into the arena of company-owned titles, taking over DC’s Catwoman this autumn. He admitted that he was a little bit reticent about writing for hire. “I was always a bit nervous in terms of diving into the superhero side of things because – and I have told this to my editors multiple times as well – as a kid growing up in India, although I was fascinated by superheroes and the comics associated with them I didn’t quite have access to a lot of Marvel and DC books so I don’t necessarily have the almost encyclopaedic knowledge of these comics that a lot of people do. I talk to someone like James Tynion or Steve Orlando and you realise that these guys have read pretty much every issue that came out. So I think it’s a very different thing coming with that kind of knowledge or trying to create a story when you don’t have that kind of background,” he revealed. “But I have found at least in my experience working with DC and Marvel, the editors are more interested in what you bring to the table than what kind of familiarity you have with the stuff that’s already happened. I found that to be very encouraging and very invigorating because they genuinely want my version of Catwoman, they don’t just want a continuation of what they have been publishing before as well. So I thought that was very encouraging and so I have run with that and I have greatly enjoyed doing so. I get to experience things I have been keen to do, so my crime noir itch gets scratched when I’m writing Catwoman, my crazy fun magic itch gets scratched when I am writing Justice League Dark and I intend to continue working on creator-owned projects especially as I see them as a way of doing more intimate quieter kind of stories which may not fit into that superhero bracket”. When it comes to writing established characters, his background prior to comics has granted him a different perspective on the work. “Not having that childhood background in comics means I approach it with adult criticisms. I can criticise something without it being attached to a form of childhood nostalgia whereas I think it’s very hard to do that if you’ve grown up with something. I don’t know what the established norms are and I don’t worry about breaking rules. Also I think inherently trying new things with a creative motivation is part of what I do. That’s part of my endeavour with making anything whether that is comics, prose or with film and TV, I have always been trying to do something that I thought was new and hadn’t been done before. And I think that comes less from being an outsider to comics that just comes from being an outsider to being an artist. I was a chemical engineer before and you can’t really deviate from the norms and rules there otherwise you end up causing accidents. So when

“My crime noir itch gets scratched when I’m writing Catwoman, my crazy fun magic itch gets scratched when I am writing Justice League Dark and I intend to continue working on creatorowned projects.” you start working in a creative medium, your brain is excited and going ‘Ok cool what rules can I break?’” He first got noticed writing short stories so there is a kind of circularity with him contributing shorter pieces to James Tynion IV’s Razorblades horror anthology. He explained the appeal for him of writing short comic stories. “The key to doing shorter pieces is you have to be clever, you have to be impactful. You know you have a certain amount of real estate to do what you need to do and so whatever you’re doing there needs to be the kind of thing that people will look at and it will linger with them. They will remember it, whereas with something longer, you have more time and more room to build to that. And I think they are two very different things. I enjoy them both quite a lot and the reason I enjoy doing anthologies especially with creator-owned stuff like James’ anthology is it’s more forgiving on experimentation and so I can do stranger, weirder things that I might not try with something that’s 120 pages long although that’s probably not true. But I love experimenting, I love doing strange things that aren’t things that people have seen before so I quite enjoy that

aspect of working on an anthology.” The writer has penned two of DC’s Future State books coming in the beginning of next year: Swamp Thing and Catwoman. Even though his workload is already fairly full, he has a number of other projects happening too. “I’ve got more unannounced things at DC, one of which is more solidified. That is very exciting for me personally. It’s one of those kind of projects that I imagine that someone with my background would get into comics to do. I have been discussing another thing at Image which will be announced all in good time. I’m working on a creator owned project currently at Dark Horse, Boom and Vault as well. So I’ve got a long list of projects that are waiting to happen. I am currently working on two creator owned projects aside from all the other stuff that I am doing. So it looks like my plate is pretty full through most of next year.” Ram V is a comics creator who will continue to push what the medium can achieve and it will be interesting to see where he is this time next year. TW

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Harnessing Technology

Many artists use Wacom or Cintiq tablets to create their work. Here we spoke to Jock, Tommy Lee Edwards, Frank Quitely and PJ Holden to find out the pros and cons of using these in their art… Jock

TW: What are the advantages of using a Wacom or a Cintiq tablet? JOCK: They’re incredibly versatile and bring a very natural feel to digital drawing. TW: Do you just use a tablet to draw or do you draw physically as well? JOCK: I still draw traditionally too – I draw comics with pen and ink before scanning them in and augmenting digitally if required, and for film work I paint entirely digitally using the Cintiq. TW: If you do still draw physically as well, is it the fact that you utilise both physical and digital drawing that offers you the most flexibility as an artist that appeals? JOCK: Absolutely – they both have advantages. Nothing can quite replicate the happy accidents of ink on a page, but then digital can offer you a level of control that just isn’t possible in the same way with traditional media. TW: How long have you been using one for? JOCK: Around 15 years. TW: How have the tablets changed over the years you have been using them? JOCK: The biggest change is moving to a Cintiq and drawing

directly on the screen. Though right now I’m using the Cintiq as a tablet rather than a screen, and it still feels fantastic! TW: How have the pens that you use with the tablets evolved over the years? JOCK: I’ve always been happy using them, so I can’t say I’ve noticed many changes. TW: Is there anything you can do by drawing physically that a tablet still can’t replicate? JOCK: The accidents. When something unexpected happens on paper that works it’s just magic. TW: Also, what is the most important or useful thing that a tablet does that drawing physically doesn’t for you as an artist? JOCK: The power to edit. Very very useful for film concept work, where you might have to work on several variations of the same image. TW: How easy is it to use a Wacom or Cintiq in tandem with something like Adobe Photoshop? JOCK: Very easy. Never had any issues. TW: How often do you update your drawing tablet? JOCK: I keep it up to date all the time. TW: There used to be a little bit of a snobbery about artists using a graphics tablet but now it is just seen as another drawing tool. When do you think the attitude changed to drawing tablets? JOCK: You mention it in the question — it’s just another tool. It’s how you use it that matters…

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Tommy Lee Edwards

TW: What are the advantages of using a Wacom or a Cintiq tablet? TOMMY LEE EDWARDS: Although I had been colouring comics and stuff in Photoshop with the use of a Wacom tablet for several years, I could never actually draw digitally before the Cintiq was released. For me, the advantages of working digitally include the ease of revisions and drawing/painting on separate layers. TW: Do you just use a tablet to draw or do you draw physically as well? TLE: I work digitally on a Wacom Cintiq Pro 32. I also work with analogue ink, watercolours, coloured pencils, gouache, acrylics, etc. TW: If you do still draw physically as well, is it the fact that you utilise both physical and digital drawing that offers you the most flexibility as an artist that appeals? TLE: It depends on the project, and is usually dictated by how I’d like to approach the storytelling. While working on conceptual work for movies, I like to work digitally so that I can utilize separate layers, add effects, tweak colours, import textures, copy, paste, etc. It’s a very versatile way to work. My latest comic, Hazel And Cha Cha Save Christmas, was illustrated 100% digitally. Other comics, such as Mother Panic and my latest series Grendel, Kentucky are drawn with an analogue brush and ink on paper. I then scan the pages and tackle the colour in Photoshop. TW: How long have you been using one for? TLE: Since 2007. I bought the very first Cintiq 21 and it lasted me 12 years. TW: How have the tablets changed over the years you have been using them? TLE: Modern tablets are much more pressure-sensitive, and react to the actual tilt-angle of the pen. Advances in custom brush technology combine with that intuitive feel to deliver some amazing results that look and behave like analogue tools. The resolution and colour-accuracy is insanely good now, too. TW: Is there anything you can do by drawing physically that a tablet still can’t replicate? TLE: There are happy accidents in painting that can’t quite be replicated digitally. It’s mostly a tactile and psychological difference to me. My relationship with a physical canvas can be very powerful. There’s a deep connection to my art when working analogue that doesn’t seem to be present while working digitally. TW: Also, what is the most important or useful thing that a tablet does that drawing physically doesn’t for you as an artist? TLE: Knowing that you can think in colour is a big advantage. Knowing that you can tackle revisions digitally is amazing and

calms a lot of anxiety when I’m working on an established property like Star Wars or needing to effectively capture an actor’s likeness. TW: How easy is it to use a Wacom or Cintiq in tandem with something like Adobe Photoshop? TLE: It gets more intuitive as the technology advances. So it’s not hard. It took me about a year until I felt that I was “good” at it. TW: How often do you update your drawing tablet? TLE: I’ve only owned two since 2007, so almost never. TW: There used to be a little bit of a snobbery about artists using a graphics tablet but now it is just seen as another drawing tool. When do you think the attitude changed to drawing tablets? TW: Since computers are meant to help make our lives easier, some people in the public perpetuate the idea that “digital art” somehow means “easier to make” via some magical software or something. That “professional snobbery” is still there among artists who haven’t used digital tools. It’s just ignorance, and not their fault. TW: Can you please talk us through your process for using a tablet when you begin a job and the process you go through? TLE: My initial rough drawings are scribbled on the story/ script I’ve printed out to work from. Once I’ve got a handle on the basic storytelling and composition, I’ll then switch to working on the Wacom Cintiq, drawing in Photoshop. This is where I do my final layouts/sketches. If it’s a comic, I then send these layouts to my pal John Workman to handle the lettering, which he does by hand either on paper or a Wacom tablet. While John’s working, I typically spend a week gathering reference and inspiration for the story’s time period, locations, costumes, vehicles, etc. I then work from my layouts (either by digitally or analogue means and then scan the work), combine John’s lettering layer with my art layers, and upload the files to the publisher. You can see more about how I work by visiting my website and by watching a series of videos I made in conjunction with Wacom.

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Frank Quitely

TW: Is it less demanding physically to do it on a Wacom or a Cintiq tablet than it would be to sit with watercolour paper and actually do it physically? FRANK QUITELY: I don’t think so. I think there’s swings and roundabouts in both. One of the downsides to working traditionally is if you put a wash of colour on a scan or a face anywhere and it’s not quite the colour you wanted you have to overpaint it or try and remove it. It’s a lengthy process to change it whereas if you’re working digitally it’s very easy to change it. But one of the disadvantages of working digitally, and this is from speaking to other artists who work digitally, and this is quite a common issue - you can get drawn into that thing where you zoom in and just forget that you are working on something that’s going to print up to be the size of a postage stamp. You could be drawing people in the background and you’re investing huge amounts of time. Then when you zoom back out, you see that it’s just a load of pixels and you don’t have that problem working on paper. TW: So there are pros and cons to working both ways? FQ: When you’re working on a piece of paper, you’re zooming in as you’re leaning closer to the page and using a sharper pencil or a smaller brush. But you can only do that to a certain extent and you can always see the rest of the page while you’re doing it. There are definitely advantages and disadvantages to both ways of working. TW: How often do you upgrade your tech? FQ: I am hopeless. When I started learning Photoshop, it was Jamie Grant who taught me it. I worked with Jamie a long time and he owned Hope Street Studios. I remember quite distinctly when I was learning Photoshop, I was so excited. It seemed limitless. And it’s still like that. The novelty has somewhat worn off because I’ve learned a bunch of different ways of skinning a cat if you like. When you speak to other artists, we’ve all got different ways of using Photoshop or

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manga studio or clip art or whatever. I know artists always find it amazingly interesting to sit and talk to each other about these things just as we do about the types of pens and pencils and paper we use and writers roll their eyes. But I don’t update stuff often enough. TW: There used to be a little bit of a snobbery about artists using a graphics tablet but now it is just seen as another drawing tool. When do you think the attitude changed to drawing tablets? FQ: I think it was pretty gradual. It was the same as brushes in the 1970s. Some people are early adopters and they see this as a new tool and others see it as being a little bit of a cheat like tracing and then gradually it becomes more and more accepted. It’s the same with acrylic paint replacing oil paint. When I was at art school oils seemed to be a more serious medium to use than acrylic. It might be the same with Polaroid or Instamatic photography as opposed to dark room or getting your photographs developed in a chemist rather than in your own darkroom. But there’s no doubt about it. There were people who jumped on it pretty early on like the idea of drawing on a tablet seemed like a great new way of doing it, and there were other people who thought ‘that’s for hobbyists’ but gradually it became more and more acceptable. I think it’s fine and I think there’s plenty of space for both. What will happen I think is that there’s going to be fewer comics in future that are produced on paper, the artwork is done on paper.

PJ Holden

TW: What are the advantages of using a Wacom or a Cintiq tablet? PJ HOLDEN: In comparison to a standard graphic tablet, the Cintiq allows me to see the art on the screen and draw on it - it’s not quite pen on paper, but it’s close. TW: Do you just use a tablet to draw or do you draw physically as well? PJH: All drawing is physical! But I do digital art, traditional art and various combinations of the two. Depending on the job, really, and my mood. TW: If you do still draw physically as well, is it the fact that you utilise both physical and digital drawing that offers you the most flexibility as an artist that appeals? PJH: I like the tactile nature of pen on paper, I like seeing a page of art physically appear as I draw on it and I like knowing it exists. BUT, drawing digitally means I don’t have to wrestle with the drawing tools and I can pick up the pen and start drawing without worrying about whether the paper is a bit damp, the ink has gone icky or the nib is blunted. TW: How long have you been using one for? PJH: Around a decade, I think. I remember a friend got the 12” tablet, and I tried drawing something on it to see if I could get the same sort of texture with it that I could on paper. After that I got one as soon as I could! TW: How have the tablets changed over the years you have been using them? PJH: I started with a small graphics tablet – and went through a few, where you drew on an area away from the screen. It was ok for small edits on art, but I could never get the knack of drawing with it. Upgrading to the 12” Cintiq as soon as I could, I started digital drawing though it was never big enough to fit a whole page of art on to draw. I then went on to the 27” Cintiq which has been great and I’ve drawn hundreds of pages on It. TW: How have the pens that you use with the tablets evolved over the years? PJH: To be honest, I haven’t really paid a lot of attention to

the pens, they’re just a tool I need to make the mark, happy to use a Cintiq. TW: Is there anything you can do by drawing physically that a tablet still can’t replicate? PJH: Owning a physical piece of paper that I can sell! TW: Also, what is the most important or useful thing that a tablet does that drawing physically doesn’t for you as an artist? PJH: They’re pretty great at being instantly useable, brush inking, pen inking, etc. All of them need me to check the tools are ok, the ink hasn’t gone too thick and the paper hasn’t warped or gotten damp, and I never need to dip a nib pen when drawing digitally. TW: How easy is it to use a Wacom or Cintiq in tandem with something like Adobe Photoshop? PJH: My tool of choice is clip studio, which is pretty seamless. TW: How often do you update your drawing tablet? PJH: When budget and the technology have reached a point that it makes sense too. It’s more limited by budget if I’m honest. TW: There used to be a little bit of a snobbery about artists using a graphics tablet but now it is just seen as another drawing tool. When do you think the attitude changed to drawing tablets? PJH: I think they’ve proven their worth as a tool. TW: Can you please talk us through your process for using a tablet when you begin a job and the process you go through? PJH: Every job is a little different. For the most part, I’ll start by creating a document in clip studio, creating a multipage document and adding a few extra pages on the end for layouts. Then I’ll do digital layouts and usually print those out. Working on paper I’ll pencil, then scan the pencils in, convert to blue line – adding panel borders – and then print that out for inking. Finally I’ll scan the final inks in and add some textures (ink splatter or benday dots) maybe some tone, and occasionally redraw bits (frequently just resizing things and filling in any broken gaps) And that’s it. Some jobs I’ll spend all the time at the digital drawing table, but I do still enjoy the feel of pencil on paper. TW

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THE

POWER LIST 2020

Back after a nine year absence, Tripwire presents the return of its Power List. Forty key figures in the worlds of comics, film, TV and genre, this list has been assembled from the various writers of Tripwire. These are the key luminaries of their respective fields, many of which overlap with one another. Of course readers are wont to disagree with us but that’s part of the fun of lists like this...

40 MARC NATHAN

Marc Nathan wears many hats in the comics industry. He is a retailer and the owner of the long-running Cards, Comics and Collectibles comic store in Reisterstown, Maryland, USA. He is the owner of the celebrated annual Baltimore Comic-Con. He Is also a veteran Overstreet official advisor.

37 TODD MCFARLANE

Besides continuing his role as one of the prime movers of the incredibly successful Image Comics, Todd McFarlane became an unofficial spokesman for advance comics and graphic novels in 2020. He’s still a major player in comics with Spawn continuing to be published nearly 30 years since it first started.

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39 DONNY CATES

Thanos. Cosmic Ghost Rider. If it’s big and cosmic at Marvel Comics, it’s probably written by comic book phenomenon Donny Cates. Now, Cates continues to provide event comics such as his Watchmen-esque look at intercompany crossovers with the aptly named Crossover at Image Comics.

36 TZE CHUN, TKO

Chun is a TV writer/ director and producer of shows like Gotham. He launched new comic publisher TKO Presents in December 2018. The company has already won plaudits for titles utilising top-name creators like Garth Ennis, Joshua Dysart, Jeff Lemire and more. So in just two years, Chun has made TKO a comic company to watch.

38 AL EWING

Al Ewing has come a long way from his work writing “Future Shocks” for 2000 AD. His breakthrough series for Marvel Comics, Immortal Hulk, earned a Diamond Gem Award the previous year as “Best New Comic Book Series”. It has garnered legions of fans.

35 WALTER SIMONSON

The veteran with over five decades in the comics industry is still one of the bestloved figures in it thanks to a strong work ethic and his creator-owned Ragnarok from IDW. One of the reasons why he continues to be admired is the fact that his work is still evolving. He still keeps his hand in with work for the big two.

34 FRANK MILLER

Even though he’s not as big a name as he used to be, having his moniker on a project still helps quite a bit. Arthurian TV show Cursed didn’t exactly set the world on fire but it still got attention with a second season in the works. A little bit like his 1980s contemporary Alan Moore, he is still a creator with cachet and whatever he does continues to gain interest from readers.

31 BILL SIENKIEWICZ

Starting his career back in the 1980s, it is his work on movie posters and his exceptional cover art that has put him on our list. The man with the hardest name to pronounce in comics is still subverting the form with a style all his own. No one composes covers like him and his presence on a project instantly gives it a touch of extra gravitas.

33 MIKE MIGNOLA

Even though 2019’s movie with David Harbour didn’t work, Hellboy is still one of Dark Horse’s main staples. Mignola continues to write new tales of the character with other artists like Adam Hughes. Hellboy: Krampusnacht won an Eisner award in 2019 and Mignola was inducted into the Hall of Fame at the Harvey Awards the same year. He has also been added to the Tripwire Awards Roll Of Honour.

30 MIKE MARTS, AFTERSHOCK

Mike Marts brought Jim Shooter back to Valiant for the now “Lost Tale,” Unity 2000, and he helped bring Grant Morrison’s vision for Marvel Comics’ Children of the Atom to vivid life in New X-Men. He has recently been building Aftershock, the company he now heads, with much success.

27 CHIP MOSHER, COMIXOLOGY

DIRK WOOD

After a decade at IDW, Wood was invited to join Image Comics. With four issues as editor of ground-breaking anthology Full Bleed under his belt there, bringing his unique set of skills to Image means that he will continue to impress the industry. There is no-one else like him currently in comics which is why he deserves his place here.

Comixology is pretty much the only game in town when it comes to digital comics but in recent years it has expanded to creating its line of Originals. Helmed by Mosher, the line has attracted the likes of Jock, Andy Diggle, Alex Segura, Erica Schultz and Johnnie Christmas. Originals has proven that their model works, which is thanks to Mosher’s experience in the industry.

JAMES TYNION IV

A former protégé of Scott Snyder, James Tynion IV is best known for his work on the Batman and Justice League franchises at DC Comics. Readers also know him for his top-selling books for Image Comics (Department of Truth) and BOOM Studios (Something is Killing the Children).

29 CHRIS RYALL

Ryall may have left IDW earlier this summer (for the second time) but he is one of the best connected people in comics. Developing his own publishing company, World of Syzygy, while also dabbling in some writing. Whatever his plans might be, they are bound to make a splash in comics as he usually does.

26 ZACK SNYDER

Hype and controversy are no strangers to filmmaker Zack Snyder. The director is planning to raise his profile with Zach Snyder’s Justice League. The director’s cut of the 2017 film, the movie is reportedly as Snyder intended it before he left production and Joss Whedon took over. Scheduled to air on HBO Max in 2021, Warner Bros. is positioning it for a win.

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25 KIERON GILLEN

Gillen’s profile in 2020 has remained fairly consistent thanks to the continued success of Boom’s Arthurian adventure series Once & Future with artist Dan Mora and Image’s perennial seller Die with artist Stephanie Hans. Add Marvel’s Eternals book coming in January to the mix and a Warhammer one-shot out now also for the House Of Ideas, and Gillen’s not going anywhere soon.

24 SCOTT SNYDER

New York Times bestselling scribe Scott Snyder has written comics for DC Comics, Marvel Comics and Image Comics including: American Vampire, Batman and Undiscovered Country. He teaches writing at Sarah Lawrence College, NYC, and Columbia University. According to outside sources, he is a dedicated and un-ironic fan of Elvis Presley. His series Nocterra with artist Tony Daniel for Image raised an impressive $218k on Kickstarter this year.

21 GRANT MORRISON

SCOTT DUNBIER, IDW

One of comicdom’s longest-serving veterans, Scott Dunbier has revolutionised and reinvigorated the comic book marketplace with his inspired Artists Editions. He has captured the essence of comic book creation at its earliest stages – and consumers approve.

19 MIKE RICHARDSON, DARK HORSE

The year 2020 saw Dark Horse Comics publisher Mike Richardson has made sure that his company has retained prominence in the industry – especially with hits like Umbrella Academy, Black Hammer and Hellboy. He also broadened the mass appeal of Dark Horse’s properties by securing a development deal with Netflix.

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Grant Morrison has spent his career writing top-grossing super-team books like JLA, New X-Men, even Seven Soldiers. There was his look at the future and how it ended in the ‘90s with The Invisibles. And now he’s got the greenlight from fans on both sides of the Pond with Green Lantern Season Two.

18 JIM LEE, DC

DC has had a rather tumultuous year with two rounds of layoffs in the summer but Lee is still there. AT&T hasn’t made life easy for the home of Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman but Lee is now the last of those at the top of the DC hierarchy (Didio, Johns, Harras) who is still there. It will be interesting to see where he and DC are this time next year but he is still a man of influence.

ROSS RICHIE, BOOM

Ross Richie’s BOOM Studios has recently diversified into film. With properties like Klaus, Something is Killing the Children, Faithless and Once & Future, among others, there are a lot of irons in the fire. His work with retailers during a difficult year and his ongoing projects means his company is on the upswing.

20 LYSA HAWKINS

Valiant Entertainment Senior Editor Lysa Hawkins has over two decades worth of experience in the comics industry. Her career in the four-color medium began as an editor at Marvel Comics. She then moved to DC Comics, where she was responsible for bringing in acclaimed writer Gail Simone to pen Birds of Prey. Her Valiant credits include, among others, the fan-favourite Rai and Bloodshot series.

17 AXEL ALONSO, AWA

Axel Alonso was a driving force for DC Comics’ Vertigo imprint In its prime, and brought a new generation of comics and creators to Marvel Comics in the early 2000s. Now he’s aiding Bill Jemas at investor’s favourite AWA and attracting creators like Peter Milligan, Rob Williams, Benjamin Percy and others with brand-new series and concepts.

MARIE JAVINS, DC

JEFF LEMIRE

CB CEBULSKI, MARVEL

Although today he is Marvel Comics’ editor in chief, C.B. Cebulski started his comics career in 1997 editing manga for Central Park Media. In the early 2000s, Cebulski did his first work at Marvel by assisting Associate Editor Brian Smith as a consultant on Marvel Mangaverse. As he rose through the ranks, he oversaw the launch of titles such as Runaways, among others. He’s enjoyed runaway success ever since.

13 RAM V

Ram V has just taken over writing DC’s Catwoman series and he has a brand new OGN, Blue In Green, out from Image now. His acclaimed horror comic These Savage Shores, which came out from Vault last year, is still winning plaudits and he has contributed to James Tynion IV’s horror anthology magazine Razorblades. DC has just announced he is writing a brand new Swamp Thing series drawn by artist Mike Perkins too. 2021 will see him continue to cement his reputation as a writer to watch.

Javins has risen rapidly at DC since she joined back in 2014 from group editor to co-editor-in-chief in August of this year. From November, she was made sole editor-in-chief of the company. In a year with little good news for DC, Javins has a pedigree for working with creators so it will be interesting to see how she shapes its new direction.

DAMIEN/ ADRIAN WASSEL, VAULT

ERIC KRIPKE

The brothers Wassel started Vault in 2016 and in only four years they have created one of comics’ most intriguing and thought-provoking companies. With books like These Savage Shores, The Plot and Giga winning critical and fan acclaim, Vault is definitely a place that has gone from strength to strength in a very short time indeed.

9 MARK MILLAR

GERARD WAY

The former My Chemical Romance frontman is still firing on all cylinders thanks to the success of Dark Horse’s Umbrella Academy, which he created with Gabriel Ba. A third season is coming for the TV show and Umbrella Academy is one of the big genre hits of Netflix since it launched just in 2019.

The co-creator of Dark Horse’s burgeoning Black Hammer comic line, Lemire also returned to Sweet Tooth at DC, soon to be a TV show on Netflix. Plus Black Hammer is in development as is his Image book, Gideon Falls with Hollywood director James Wan attached to it. As well as that, Lemire’s Essex County has also been optioned for TV.

Jupiter’s Legacy, based on the comic by Millar and Frank Quitely, will be coming to Netflix in 2021. Empress, Shark The Bounty Hunter and Huck are all in development as films too, all of them being Millarworld properties. American Jesus is also coming to TV at some point. So while he has been quiet this year, behind the scenes Millar has been working on a lot that will start to appear in 2021 and beyond.

Eric Kripke is a writer and producer, known for the CW’s long-running Supernatural (2005), which takes its bow in 2020, and the critically acclaimed adaptation of Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson’s The Boys (2019) for Amazon Prime. The Boys had a successful second run with a third season and a spinoff show coming off it too.

8 KEVIN FEIGE, MARVEL

He was the man who helped to build up Marvel Studios into a massive worldwide brand with a huge box office to match. 2020 saw the coronavirus hit Marvel’s movies hard but he is now in charge of Marvel TV, offering a range of shows like Wandavision, The Falcon and The Winter Soldier and Loki on Disney Plus as a way of keeping Marvel’s profile high until the cinemas come back. He’s still a major figure in genre.

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7 ROBERT KIRKMAN

6 NEIL GAIMAN

5 STEVE GEPPI

The Walking Dead may not be as popular as it once was but with a limited series, World Beyond, and a TWD spin-off coming once the main show ends with its eleventh season, the concepts aren’t going anywhere soon. Comic series Tech Jacket and Fire Power were well received too and an animated Invincible series is coming soon too.

The co-creator of DC’s cult comic The Sandman, 2020 has seen his star rise thanks to the hit Audible adaptation of the aforementioned comic. With Netflix also in pre-production with Gaiman’s Sandman and a third American Gods season coming in Jan 2021, he is a no-brainer for this list in 2020.

When it appeared comics were going to go dark because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Diamond Comic Distributors, Inc. President and Chief Executive Officer Stephen A. Geppi, Sr. was a beacon of light for retailers around the world. Geppi and his successful enterprise, Diamond, is the world’s largest distributor of English-language comics, and serves as the exclusive distributor for many of the industry’s leading publishers. Geppi also runs Gemstone Publishing.

2 TAIKA WAITITI

ERIC STEPHENSON, IMAGE Image’s publisher and chief creative officer Stephenson has had an amazing year, with the company seeing hits like The Department Of Truth and Crossover. Also, Image became Diamond Comic Distributors’ second biggest comic publisher after Marvel. Stephenson continues to be their ace in the hole.

JON FAVREAU

Favreau has always been a very canny operator, improving his profile through helming two of Marvel’s Iron Man films. Thanks to the success of Disney Plus’ Star Wars spin-off show The Mandalorian, which he is showrunner on, he has parlayed his clout into something even bigger.

In just over five years, Waititi has gone from a cult comedy figure to one of the most influential players in modern film. Thor: Ragnarok made $853m at the world box office back in 2017 and he has gone from strength to strength since then. He has appeared in Disney Plus’ successful The Mandalorian show and has signed on to direct another Thor movie, Love and Thunder, which is scheduled for 2022. He is also attached to a Star Wars cinematic film as well.

CHRISTOPHER NOLAN

No other director in 2020 could force a major film studio, Warner Bros., to release their high-concept sci-fi movie in the current odd world climate. Very few films have had the level of mystique attached to them and Tenet, which has grossed just over $350m as of this writing worldwide, is why he deserves to be at the top of this year’s Power List. 80 TRIPWIRE

SelfMade Attitude

Tripwire’s contributing writer Tim Hayes takes a look at the history of British graphic novel house, SelfMade Hero, which started back in 2007 and has gone from strength to strength…

ounded in 2007, during the same period of strong growth in British comics publishing which saw the arrival of Markosia and Nobrow among others, SelfMade Hero has built a multifaceted catalogue of graphic novels covering biographies, science-fiction and horror, with its books reaching successfully into the book trade as well as the comics market. The original impetus behind the publisher’s creation was a need to

adapted by Ian Edginton, Jamie Delano and D’Israeli, among other standout British comics creators. Crime Classics followed in 2009, telling some of Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes stories

SelfMade Hero founder and current managing director Emma Hayley provide more literary graphic novels and comics to British readers, filling a space in the market that Emma Hayley, SelfMade Hero founder and now managing director, believed was an obvious opportunity in the UK scene. Coming to comics publishing from a background in journalism and PR, she intended from the start that SelfMade Hero should take its literary aspirations seriously, and the company duly launched with series interpreting non-comics literature in graphic novel form. Manga Shakespeare took a selection of the classic plays and retold them through Japanese-style comic storytelling, while Eye Classics began with a volume of Edgar Allen Poe stories 82 TRIPWIRE

‘The original impetus behind the publisher was a wish to provide more literary graphic novels and comics to British readers, filling a space in the market that Emma Hayley, SelfMade Hero founder, believed was an open opportunity in the UK scene.’

adapted by the team of Ian Edginton and INJ Culbard, regular collaborators on strips for 2000AD. The decision to start with Manga Shakespeare was based on solid business numbers. In 2007 the market for manga was growing rapidly, and had doubled in size during the two years before SelfMade Hero was launched. It had become “no longer a pursuit for Japan-obsessed geeks, but a pursuit for multicultural geeks of all flavours,” commented Emma Hayley at the time. A failure of Manga Shakespeare to find an audience with the publisher’’s first effort for the UK market would have caused SelfMade Hero considerable headaches. But the series, which kicked off with Emma Vieceli drawing Hamlet and Sonia Leong adapting Romeo and Juliet, was an immediate hit, and found a receptive audience for its splicing of familiar plotlines with the flamboyant stylings of manga-style art, an alternative to the relatively straightforward comics adaptations of the playwright’s work in the past. Hayley commented that she

had wanted the Manga Shakespeare stories to “shock” rather than be associated directly with retelling of Shakespeare stories, and the plan paid off. SelfMade Hero sold out of its original print run of the books within six months, with Hayley winning the UK Young Publishing Entrepreneur of the Year award in 2008. In the years since then, SelfMade Hero has regularly collected awards for its output, and received industry recognition for several of its flagship books. Ruins, Peter Kuper’s story matching the migration of a monarch butterfly towards a Mexican forest with the parallel trek of an American couple heading for Oaxaca, won the Eisner Award for best reprinted graphic album in 2016, while the previous year The Motherless Oven by Rob Davis collected the Best Book prize at the British Comics Awards. The Kitschies, a set of awards backed by booksellers Blackwell’s and created to specifically recognise progressive and innovative fiction, awarded SelfMade Hero its 2011 Black Tentacle award “for their 2011 body of work and their contribution to elevating geek culture.” That success also led to a business

connection between the publisher and New York-based Abrams Books for access to North American markets, providing SelfMade Hero with an international presence. This partnership was successful enough that in 2011 plans were announced for Abrams to acquire SelfMade Hero outright, but in the event that deal was called off. Instead, the North American distribution deal remained in place, giving the publisher a strategic partner in that territory and the chance to sell books in the US with its own name and branding retained. “That was always my plan,” Hayley has commented. “To publish under the SelfMade Hero banner in the States.” Another stated intention for the company from its founding has been to bring non-English language titles to the UK market in translated editions, often for the first time. Examples have included four books by David Beauchard, the French comics creator known as David B., who made an international splash with his 2006 story Epileptic. SelfMade Hero has translated three volumes of his and Jean-Pierre Filiu’s graphic history of US and Middle East relations, Best of Enemies, which delves into geopolitics

and complex recent history through stylised and striking cartooning. Other international works arriving in English from the publisher have included Judith Vanistendael’s poignant story of generational love When David Lost His Voice, and several volumes of Swiss artist Frederik Peeters’ sci-fi series Aama. And a continuing relationship with German creator Rudolph Kleist has seen a group of Kleist’s graphicnovel biographies brought into English, including his books telling the life stories of Fidel Castro, Johnny Cash and Nick Cave. Kleist also drew The Nick Cave Art Book, a collection of portraits and illustrations of the singer, reinterpreting Cave’s image and persona into his own stylised vision. This international aspect of the business would not be as successful for SelfMade Hero were it not for a

‘This international aspect of the business would not be as successful for SelfMade Hero were it not for a changed attitude on the part of British readers to works originating in a foreign language.’ changed attitude on the part of British readers to works originating in a foreign language. According to Emma Hayley, the intrinsically international nature of the graphic novel market has now been in place for long enough that publishers are fully prepared to licence – and readers enthusiastic to read – books from foreign creators in a translation of their original form. This in turn has made the translation process an essential part of the publishing operation for many SelfMade Hero titles. Political thinking has also featured regularly in the company’s line up, and besides the implicit progressive outlook in many of the works in its catalogue, a few partisan books have also taken a place in the publisher’s inventory. SelfMade Hero made the headlines in 2017 by calling for submissions for The Corbyn Comic Book, an anthology of comic strips relating to the then-leader of the Labour Party, which became an opportunity for up and coming cartoonists to appear alongside established figures such as Martin Rowson, and receive a share of the book’s royalties. Rowson, editorial cartoonist of the Guardian, himself created SelfMade Hero’s comics adaptation of The Communist Manifesto, and called it “a rolling tsunami, made

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up in equal parts of blood-and-iron industrialised steampunk and mounting fury, before breaking on the beach of history and turning into straightforward stand-up comedy.” Emma Hayley commented while attending Comic Con India in 2013 that “We always intended to create a profile for SelfMade Hero that encompasses a mainstream audience, by which I mean that we publish books on a variety of subjects. Once the mainstream realises that you can read a graphic novel on any topic and that they can be high quality, that’s

when books on subjects like politics, history, and literary adaptations can all cross over and break through. I feel it’s an achievement to have built a unique company from scratch, and to have gone from strength to strength even in such a rocky economic climate.” TW

https://selfmadehero.com/

Five from SelfMade Hero

Five key titles from SMH’s publishing history Pachyderme

Moebius called Pachyderme, from Swiss creator Frederick Peeters, “the perfect example of a vivid and poetic graphic novel.” Filled with dream imagery and surrealism, it involves the married life of piano teacher Carice, but the book has as much to do with her inner imagination as it does with anything prosaic. Peeters has remained one of SelfMadeHero’’s headline authors, with translations of his four-volume sci-fi series Aama appearing between 2013 and 2015.

The Good Inn Not a conventional graphic novel, but a prose story by Charles Francis (aka Black Francis of The Pixies) and Josh Frank, with illustrations throughout by Steven Appleby, the cartoonist who also created The Pixies’ Trompe Le Monde album art. Although it’s not really a conventional prose story either, more a blend of imagined screenplay and alternative history. It follows a young soldier who slips in and out of reality in Jazz Age Paris, running into film pioneers Luis Bunuel and Bernard Natan along with some early players in the French pornography industry. The Good Inn is a niche product, but an example of SelfMade Hero choosing to put out more challenging work and allowing it to find its audience.

The Sculptor Publishing the UK edition of Scott McCloud’s 2015 500-page tome meant that SelfMade Hero’s name was front and centre when the book caught international attention, and also when it divided critical opinion. A fantasy of creativity and loss centring on an artschool dropout who trades his remaining 84 TRIPWIRE

life-span for the ability to become a master sculptor, its high melodrama rendered in McCloud’s sharp line work makes for a hybrid effect that only the medium of comics could pull off. Whether the simplicity of the characterisation and the difficult-to-love protagonist are on a par with the execution was a point of contention, but the arguments did the book’s profile no harm.

The Nao of Brown Glyn Dillon’s book won the Special Jury Prize at Angouleme in 2013, automatically making SelfMade Hero a publisher to be reckoned with. Dillon, a regular contributor to 2000AD and DC’s Vertigo imprint, as well as a storyboard artist for recent Star Wars films and brother of the late artist Steve, combined sensitive handling of mental health and some diverse storytelling tactics in a plot about an English-Japanese artist prone to murderous fantasies. Beautifully rendered and poignantly sad, the book transferred Vertigo sensibilities onto a broader social canvas, deserving the Angouleme recognition and more besides.

At the Mountains of Madness: A Graphic Novel INJ Culbard has created four adaptations of HP Lovecraft stories for SelfMade Hero, of which this was the first. His colourful cartooning and animation-influenced style might not seem the best fit with Lovecraft’s bleak cosmic horrors, but Culbard’s control of colour and lighting means he’s also in firm control of the story’s mood, even when Lovecraft’s more outrageous creations such as the blind giant penguins arrive. The artist has more recently partnered with Dan Abnett for 2000AD’s ongoing story Brink, in which hints of unthinkable Lovecraftian creatures lurk in the margins of a sci-fi police procedural, and the earlier SelfMade Hero books show that the alignment between Culbard and Lovecraft is no accident.

Brothers In Art Robin and Lorenzo Etherington are two British comic creators, writer and artist respectively. In their career, they have worked for some of the biggest media franchises in the world and created the most successful comics kickstarter ever. Tripwire caught up with them to talk about about their career, their art and their approach…

Lorenzo and Robin Etherington at The Lakes International Comic Art Festival in 2018 pic: Joel Meadows TRIPWIRE: Working as brothers together, is there much sibling rivalry? Robin: NO! Lorenzo: YES! I mean NO! Robin: Hey, we have our moments, but it’s not rivalry. I think the decision to focus on different disciplines really helped avoid any familial confrontations. We’ve had many heated discussions over the business side of things but never the creative side. Lorenzo: Except when it comes to upping each others’ game! I’ve always 86 TRIPWIRE

“We have our moments, but it’s not rivalry. I think the decision to focus on different disciplines really helped avoid any familial confrontations.” –Robin Etherington enjoyed throwing something exciting on the page just to see Robin’s reaction. Interpreting his scripts has been great fun as he leaves a lot of room for pure creation. Robin: Yeah, I definitely try and surprise Lorenzo. I’ve enjoyed making

him jump through artistic hoops! TW: Lorenzo, how did you get your professional start in comics and illustration? Lorenzo: I went to Falmouth College of Art and studied fine art. Robin and I began making our own self published comics after I graduated. About three years later I got my first gig with DreamWorks and Titan. I worked on the Madagascar and Kung Fu Panda comics and then the DFC (first form of The Phoenix Weekly Story Comic)

from scripts for Kung Fu Panda to Transformers and Star Wars. TW: You have both run incredibly successful Kickstarter campaigns. How do you approach these campaigns and how do you build on each one? Robin: I’m letting Lorenzo – the campaign MASTER – field this one!

approached us to create our own IP and I moved over to that full time. TW: Robin, how did you get your start in comics and writing? Robin: Lorenzo and I had always enjoyed creating things together and one day he wrote to me and mentioned that he wanted to try to make a children’s book or something like that. It started from there and the conversation spread to comics! After he began working on the DreamWorks’ titles I followed him to Titan and moved

“If you don’t love the [crowdfunding] process, it’s unlikely your campaign will be all that successful. Having a ‘name’ is not enough.” – Lorenzo Etherington Lorenzo: I’ll take that! It really breaks down to three elements. One: community. We spent years sharing our work digitally before we even considered building a project such as this. That time is invaluable and the conversations we had with people engaging with our work gave us a lot of confidence to bring these books to market. Two: material. Whatever you’re trying to create, it needs to really stand

out. You have to build something to an exactingly high standard (especially as you’re accountable to no one but yourself!) and keep that standard high. We love this creative space because we love making beautiful things. Kickstarter allowed us to share that passion as far and as wide as geography allows. Three: treat the campaign like a profession. You cannot drop in and

Robin Etherington at The Lakes International Comic Art Festival in 2019 pic: Joel Meadows TRIPWIRE 87

any subject matter can work in the all ages market and there’s no reason why a comic that appeals to a 7-year-old can’t also be appealing to a 70-year-old. When we started out, our early frames of reference were Asterix and Futurama. We liked the idea of visually appealing worlds that could be built into engaging spaces for grand stories. Lorenzo: We also like blowing things up and watching characters flee from marauding comedy monsters. Robin: That too. TW: Would you ever pursue any comic ideas aimed at a slightly older audience?

drop out and hope it will succeed. You have to live it and breathe it for a long time, and after it closes … that’s when the REAL work begins! It’s a passion of mine, I love doing this and doing it well, and I love the confidence our audience has in our ability to deliver what they want, where they want, within a pretty short time frame. If you don’t love the process, it’s unlikely your campaign will be all that successful. Having a ‘name’ is not enough.

“If I’m making things with my brother, then I’m NOT making them on my own, which is part of the reason i love making the How To Think Tutorial Series.” – Lorenzo Etherington about animation and comic art. A truly inspiring workspace.

TW: Is there ever any temptation to go off and work with other creators for each of you?

TW: You both work in childrens comics. What is it about creating for a younger audience that you find the most satisfying?

Lorenzo: Nope! If I’m not making things with my brother, then I’m making them on my own, which is part of the reason I love making the How To Think tutorial series. Robin: Ha – that is true! I on the other hand have worked with lots of different artists across lots of projects and I love the experience. Everyone brings something exciting to the page. No two artists have the same vision or approach. It keeps things fresh!

Robin: We never grew up. Lorenzo: That about covers it! Robin: Seriously though, there’s a slight misconception at work here. We create for the ALL-AGES market. Kids’ comics suggest something simplistic (and plenty of titles take the easiest path) but truthfully I never wrote a story for Titan or the DFC or the Phoenix or the Dandy that I didn’t create with a potential adult reader in mind. Almost

TW: Robin, you used to work for Aardman animation. What did you learn from working there? Robin: No, I rented a desk in their old Banana warehouse! I didn’t work for them – just to clear that up. It was fantastic working in their space because you had access to all these incredible creators right up to the top. Peter Lord was one of the most approachable people I’ve ever met. I was also lucky enough to work down the corridor from the legendary Richard Williams and we had some great discussions 88 TRIPWIRE

Lorenzo: Maybe. It’s unlikely but I’ll never say never! Robin: Yes, it’s definitely something I’d like to tackle at some point. TW: You have worked for anthology comic The Phoenix. What is it about creating episodic work that you enjoy as creators? Robin: Ah, that cliff-hanger feeling! Lorenzo: It was necessity mainly. It takes a long time to make these books and being able to drip feed the content directly to the audience is a satisfying stop gap. Robin: As a boy I really liked the WHAT HAPPENS NEXT? panic that set in at the end of an anthology comic story. Having to wait seven days seemed like torture but actually my mind created a million possible outcomes in that interim time. That was imagination at work in the most fascinating way. TW: You have both worked on a number of huge licensed properties like How to Train Your Dragon and Star Wars. What are the pros

and cons of working on licensed material like that? And how much creative freedom do you have on such projects? Lorenzo: Very little freedom! Ha! But my time at that desk was short and pretty limited. Robin: I think my experience was quite different because I was building the stories from scratch and had the opportunity to do so for a number of years. I had a lot of freedom (more on Star Wars than anything else) and was allowed to follow my own compass. I thoroughly enjoyed playing in someone else’s sandbox and would happily do it again, but sadly there aren’t many opportunities left. The market has shrunk again. The other major con is the pay. There’s no way to mince words on this issue, it’s not great.

“I thoroughly enjoyed playing in someone else’s story sandbox and would happily do it again, but sadly there aren’t many opportunities left.” – Robin Etherington

TW: On a related question, you have worked on licensed properties and your own creator-owned work. Do you have a preference for working on either or do you enjoy the variety of working on both sorts of projects?

developments but I’m not ready to reveal them quite yet. Robin: I’ve a mixed bag at the moment. My ongoing comic series Paper Planes with Scoop magazine is building towards a book-length collection. I’ve a very exciting comic puzzle book called Skulk coming out in September. I’m working on the second volume of How To Think When You Write and I’ve a number of book and comic projects in negotiation. We Etheringtons really don’t like talking about projects until they’re live. Sorry! TW

Visit the Etherington Brothers online http://theetheringtonbrothers.blogspot. com/

Lorenzo: I’ve said this before but it was never my intention to work on those properties. I always wanted to be independent and make my own series, but the DreamWorks job was a way to get out of the part time job and get experience. I quit DreamWorks after 6 months when Robin and I got the opportunity to start being paid to make our comics together. Robin: I find both engaging in different ways. As a writer there’s something great about adding to an existing universe where you don’t have to build everything! But our own work is something else. It’s US, undiluted. TW: What are both of you currently working on? Lorenzo: All systems go on the How To Think series as we build up to the ‘Draw’ Book 3 Kickstarter campaign. After that, some new and exciting TRIPWIRE 89

Head Into The Vault Tripwire’s editor-in-chief Joel Meadows spoke to Vault Comics’ CEO and Publisher Damian Wassel about the company’s meteoric rise to prominence and its genesis… TRIPWIRE: What was the genesis of Vault? DAMIAN WASSEL: There’s a long and short version of this story. Adrian and I have told the long version so many times in interviews that I’ll stick to the short version. We loved this medium, and wanted to build a publisher that could attract a diverse audience united by a desire to read extraordinary science fiction, fantasy, and horror comics. TW: What was your business model when you started to put the company together? DW: Since our inception, we’ve sought to develop a compact, genrefocused catalogue of which it is both conceptually and practically possible to be fans. We worked to cultivate returning readers, who enjoy multiple titles across our inventory, thereby steadily raising the sales floor. We continued to take bets on the types of books that can be breakout hits, which allowed us to raise the bar. TW: What is it like working with your brother on the company? DW: We have complementary skillsets and a long history of collaboration; furthermore, we have the sort of trust that can only come from decades of mutual respect and affection. Frankly, it’s the easiest working relationship I’ve ever had. TW: How important has it been for Vault to continue remaining family 90 TRIPWIRE

owned rather than bring in an outside partner for publishing? DW: We’ll always do what’s right for the stories we tell and the people with whom we work. While it’s important to me that Adrian and I remain at the helm of this business until the plans we laid out have reached fruition, I’d never compromise what we were working towards out of some misplaced acquisitive impulse. The fact of the matter is, Vault doesn’t belong to us, we’re its stewards. It belongs, in the only real sense I know, to

“From our inception, we’ve sought to build a compact, genre-focused catalog of which it is both conceptually and practically possible to be fans.” the artists and writers who have trusted us with their stories and to the readers who have embraced them.

“These genres permit their authors to attack conventional thinking with a scalpel, a hammer, a bulldozer, or a space-age weapon, as they wish.”

TW: Your remit is science fiction, fantasy and horror rather than superheroes. What made you decide to stick with these particular genres? DW: The full answer to this question can be found in a lengthy memo I wrote in early 2016. The very short answer is, nearly every successful publishing company in history began with a very clear and narrow editorial and curatorial mandate. And we saw a position open in the comics market to focus on these genres. TW: Vault is also described as offering voices to the silenced through publishing science fiction and fantasy. What is it about these genres that makes it possible for creators to do this? DW: Genres like science fiction, fantasy, and horror require a more expansive

suspension of disbelief than straight literary fiction. When a reader comes to a story already prepared to suspend their preconceptions of something as fundamental to their understanding of the world as the laws of physics, they’re that much more likely to feel a certain easing of their moral or sociocultural convictions. Basically, these genres allow their authors to challenge conventional thinking with a scalpel, a hammer, a bulldozer, or a space-age weapon, as they wish. TW: Are you avid comic readers and if so, what are your favourite comics? DW: Yes. Currently, I’m on a kick of rereading some older Vertigo gems. But the comic that won me over for ever was Arnold Drake’s Doom Patrol. TW: In just four years, you’ve had one of your series turned into a TV show and won a number of awards. What are your plans for the next five years? DW: We are tremendously excited for the launch of our middle grade line, Wonderbound. Beyond that I have a reputation for being reserved about prospective future plans. This is the part where I say no more.

TW: If you had to choose just one Vault series or book to hold up as your favourite that Vault has published since its inception in 2016, what would it be and why? DW: I’m not sure I could answer this question as it’s written. So, if you’ll indulge me, I’ll tell you instead about two series that fill me with a sense of— dare I say it as the publisher, rather than the creative force behind the works— accomplishment. Retrospectively, the sheer creative audacity and unrelenting brilliance of Wasted Space are, in a word, monumental. I invite anyone to read the first volume and disagree. I would claim that we achieved a level of horror in the The Autumnal which I don’t think has ever been equalled in the medium. To test the mettle of this claim, I suppose you’ll have to stick with us for all eight issues. TW

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“Tripwire is research done right celebrating and investigating the love of comic books.” -– writer/ artist Jimmy Palmiotti (Harley Quinn, Jonah Hex, Pop KIll, Paper Films) “Tripwire is a vibrant part of entertainment coverage - specifically comics and geek culture. Supporting them, we support ourselves.” – Alex Segura (writer, Pete Fernandez book series) “Tripwire is always well researched and enthusiastic, by people who truly care about the importance of story. It’s analytical without losing heart.” - JH Williams III (artist, Promethea, Batwoman) Tripwire covers such a wide variety of topics in the world of news, entertainment and the arts, and covers them so well, that it’s pretty much become my go-to source for what’s going on in media. I know if Tripwire is covering a subject, it’s not only interesting, fun and informative, it’s also legit.”- Blll Sienkiewicz (legendary artist and illustrator) “If you’re a media fan, Tripwire has you covered. With articles and reviews full of insight covering the entire range of pop culture, and interviews with folks like Howard Chaykin, the Prince of Comics, Tripwire dissects, analyses, and reconstructs the world in which we all live.”– Walter Simonson (veteran writer and artist, Thor, Ragnarok, Manhunter) “In an industry and a world full of uncertainty, the constants that Tripwire offers in all its forms — great reporting, interesting information captivatingly presented, beautiful graphic design — are always a welcome thing. Joel Meadows and his team never fail to remind me why I love comics as much as I do, and why I feel the same about Tripwire, too.” – Chris Ryall (former President, Publisher, and Chief Creative Officer of IDW Publishing, and writer)

Visit Tripwire’s home on the web

www.tripwiremagazine.co.uk

What Comic Professionals Have Said About It “Joel Meadows is the right guy with the perfect voice to continue the adventures of the world’s greatest sleuth, Sherlock Holmes.”– Jimmy Palmiotti,

writer/artist, Harley Quinn, Jonah Hex, Pop Kills

“Meadows conjures up a classic tale of truly classic Holmes, with a dash of cutting edge hipness.” –

Mark Chiarello, acclaimed illustrator

“Joel Meadows and Andy Bennett have cracked the code on how to tell a compelling Sherlock Holmes tale. Their comic has all the grit, edge, pathos, and mystery any fan could want, and is a welcome addition to the Holmes canon.” – Chris Ryall,

former president, publisher and chief creative officer, IDW Publishing

“At once familiar and something entirely new, Joel Meadows and Andy Bennett’s take on Sherlock Holmes is just what the good Doctor (Watson) ordered. Just a few scant pages in, and it hits all the right notes. A dash of From Hell should appease the discerning comic fan, as well as those who crave any of the myriad incarnations of Doyle’s famously complicated genius. Can’t wait to see where they take this.” – Dirk Wood, Image Comics “Intriguing and engaging, this story certainly delivers on the Holmes front…A fresh approach to an old favourite.” – Ian Edginton,

writer, Scarlet Traces, Aliens, Fiends Of The Eastern Front

“An extraordinary debut of comicdom’s new ‘Dynamic Duo’-- writer Joel Meadows and artist Andy Bennett. They bring Sherlock Holmes into new worlds while reminding us of his classic origins.” – Scott

Braden, writer, Kent Menace

English

Beat

10 years writing full-time in comics has seen writer Kieron Gillen go from strength to strength. Here Tripwire’s editor-in-chief Joel Meadows speaks to him with assistance from our contributing writer Scott Braden about Once & Future, Marvel’s Eternals and the weird year that has been 2020. Photos: Joel Meadows (shot in February 2020)…

ieron Gillen is proud of his Britishness. A British comic book writer and former computer game and music journalist, he has set imaginations alight with series such as Wicked + Divine as well as his much-lauded Once & Future. We asked him about the former first. TW: What is it about the myriad Arthurian legends and concepts that still fascinates people in 2020? “It’s one of those answers where the identity of England is still being discussed to literally go Arthurian on it,” Gillen said. “It’s what Arthur is about. [For example], comics and stories about the Joker and Batman evoke the time they are in. And Arthur has been used as a mirror and a cultural device for the hopes and aspirations of the British Isles as long as it has existed. Whether you’re talking about circa 500 AD, the ‘historical Arthur,’ and then how he was treated in 1000 AD and 1300 AD, and how the Victorians treated him. These are different portrayals of how people think about Englishness. That’s what drives it. For me, what was interesting about the story is it’s a device to study that, to study how these visions of the British Isles came to exist, how they have evolved, and what they mean now. I had the idea long before Brexit. You could have done this story at any point in the last thousand years because that’s how important the legend of Arthur is, and you can write a story about how Arthur’s meaning has changed for the people of Britain and that’s where the story came from. I was interested in Arthur specifically.. TW: He’s like the ultimate super-hero. KG: As a character he is aggressively written that way and he’s got that kind of weight to him. He’s got his rogues gallery as well. In some ways Once & Future is The Dark Knight Returns.

“As a character [Arthur] is aggressively written like that and he’s got that kind of weight to him. He’s got his rogues gallery and he’s got that. In some ways Once & Future is The Dark Knight Returns.” TW: There have been other avatars of Britishness, such as John Bull and Britannia and other patriotic figures – historical or mythical characters who embody the spirit of a particular country or place. Obviously America has Uncle Sam and of course you’ve been playing with that while subverting it in Once & Future. Again is that something else that interested you as you were starting the series – and as the series has progressed? KG: Obviously it’s about Arthuriana, but Once & Future is very specifically about the British mythology of the British Isles. And there’s a bit in the second arc, or rather the first arc when Bridget actually lampshades because this is about a series of myths from one place and they all interest me. There are various myths which aren’t about Arthur in the second arc and they start being played with. We’re not dealing with the American legends but the idea of something like Columbia. The idea of Columbia is this personification of America that was very popular for about 100 years and then faded away. The idea that this goddess of America, this Columbia, was kind of forgotten. And that’s interesting TRIPWIRE 95

“If you could say one thing about all my work including Wicked + Divine and Die and Once and Future is how the stories that we tell ourselves delude and confuse us."

because there are others. Arthur’s relevance to particular eras of history is also discussed. There was a time when he wasn’t a big deal. You talk about the Anglo Saxon period, and how after he was forgotten for 1000 years - he was written out around 1000 AD. And then his profile rose in the Victorian Age, due to the notion that he represented the then contemporary British experience, or rather his myth captured the country’s 96 TRIPWIRE

collective imagination. So, all of those themes are floating around in there. It’s a bit lighter than other things I have done; it’s about Britain as an entity but it’s also an adventure comic. So when I sent it to Alan [Moore], I pointed out to him that it’s lighter than my usual material. It’s very light…especially when compared to something like Die, but not in a bad way. I wanted to write something which was actually fun but as always it’s got to have some weightier themes.

TW: As you say Arthurian legends fall out of favour. I know the Victorians were obsessed with Arthur, as were the Pre-Raphaelites. What’s interesting is someone like Walter Scott who mythologized and by extension altered Scottish history. Is there an element of that in Once and Future, regarding the concept of British history and folklore? KG: If you could say one thing about all my work including Wicked + Divine, Die

and Once & Future is how the stories that we tell ourselves as people delude and confuse us. That’s Arthur. You mentioned the Victorians but you didn’t mention the French. You’ve also got very Germanic elements, with people taking the myth of Arthur and running with it. Lancelot for example was added to the legend when the French people needed someone to empathise with. And he’s the best knight. As a work-for-hire writer, that’s the sort of shit I would do at Marvel. So, a lot of my work is about how these stories are very powerful but they should be treated with suspicion. If I wanted to describe the 21st century, I would say that we are a culture that’s being driven mad by stories and a lot of my work is about trying to inoculate people against that. The idea of trying to encourage critical reading and awareness…. because the problem is that we live in a world where even genuinely rationalist positions have entirely become dogmatic nonsense and we need to be aware when a story has manipulated us. TW: Have you been working more closely with Dan? Obviously you’ve worked quite closely with him on things like character designs from the start but how different is your working relationship on the second arc when compared with the first? KG: I know his rhythms just like I know Tamra’s rhythms. I hadn’t actually met Dan before Once & Future. BOOM wrote to me and said, ‘Hey, Dan Mora’s free and he’s a great artist and would love to work with you. ‘And I thought, ’Yeah this fits in my schedule and I love Dan’s work.’ So yeah, Klaus and Buffy and I have loved him since his first book, Hex was it? So I thought that’s interesting. So it was me reverse analysing his style. Once & Future is the closest I’ve come to doing something like Doctor Aphra but it’s mine. The Doctor Aphra story has an amoral lead character and Bridgette’s a bit like Aphra, if Aphra had a moral centre. Bridgette is the classic hard man doing bad things but as an old lady – and that changes the dialogue a little. For Dan, my writing is closer to that of my Marvel mode. I don’t tend to dictate panel layouts. I wrote incredibly complicated scripts when I was writing for Jamie McKelvie on Wicked + Divine because our Marvel method is like a commission. I write Jamie a letter, saying ‘Ok, this is what I want us to try and do. When it’s Marvel method it’s easier not to write a script rather than say ‘This is what we are going to try and do,’ while my full scripts on Wicked + Divine are

“Arthur was written out around 1000 AD and then it was the Victorian age, the idea that he was part of the ongoing British experience that isn’t true but we have that in our heads.” really heavy. Not Moore heavy, but I have diagrams at the top of the page describing panel grids. Metronomic. When I am writing for Marvel, especially with an artist who clearly has energy like Dan does, I don’t want to constrain him. So, I write the minimum number of panels, and I do the minimum amount of stage direction. I tell them everything they need to know and very little else, really trying to get out of the way. So, this is our horror take on Arthur and this is going to feel like this and now give us something cool. The cool factor comes in. The thing that’s changed with Dan with the second arc is I’ve got slightly more space. The first arc was pacey and a lot happens but there are some bits which

give Dan the chance to really go to town. My philosophy with artists is try to find what inspires them and then try to bring that to the page. If an artist is having fun the page is usually pretty good and if the pages are good it means that people think I can write. As with Wicked +Divine I like to put a lot of references into the script and I like to provide the artist with them. So, for example, when there’s that scene when they’re walking towards Bath Abbey for the coronation of Arthur, I gave Dan lots of shots of Bath. TW: From talking about using the Marvel Method with Mora to writing the House of Ideas’ all-new Eternals series. What was the appeal for the comics scribe of taking on Kirby’s Eternals for a new series? KG: Speaking generally, if I was to come back and do super-hero comics, I know it’d have to be something I hadn’t done before. Taking a classic car that’s been in a garage for a few years, replacing its engine, adding a lot of chrome and putting it on the road, seeing how fast it could go? I want to do that. I’ve never done a clean relaunch with a movie either. Speaking specifically about the Eternals, it’s a book which hits a bunch of my core themes - the possibility of change, death (Eternals is about death because immortal beings are so against it, if you TRIPWIRE 97

see what I mean), historical games, nature of the story and so on. I could have a lot of fun. Also, Esad. TW: You are a writer known for his dedication to research. How much research was required for you before you felt confident enough to start writing this? KG: On the Marvel side, my main texts are the original Kirby issues and the most recent Gaiman/Romita Jr series, which had the core things to integrate. Then I looked at them in Marvel Universe history, and how various writers have treated them, the

big events in their history, and looked for ways to reconsider what it all meant. I also gathered every single Eternal I could find, as I wanted to have huge family trees similar to those in Game of Thrones. But the art for this is really about having nods to the above, while trying to weave it into its own thing. Where to edit to be clear and accessible is the trick. Outside of the Marvel Universe, there’s a fair chunk of my usual searching through history. One of the things I wanted to do was ground the Eternals in real world history as much as Marvel Universe history. A lot is me playing

with periods I’m fond of, so this isn’t necessarily too onerous. TW: What is your take on these characters? KG: Marvel has one of my typically heaving bibles about what I think about the Eternals, how to tweak their mythology and so on. To boil it down, I’ve been looking for a few key stories which are exclusive to the Eternals. When there’s actual gods in the Marvel Universe, the core idea of the Eternals, that of being mistaken for gods, sits awkwardly. So I went and looked closely at the Kirby work, and noted what they actually were was different from how everyone always describes them. The Celestials are the gods. The Eternals are immortal beings created by a higher power, incapable of change and sent over to protect earth, especially from the forces of “Devils.” Eternals are the Earth’s Guardian Angels. That’s what their niche is.

“Speaking specifically about the Eternals, it’s a book which hits a bunch of my core themes - the possibility of change, death, historical games, nature of story and so on. Also, Esad.” 98 TRIPWIRE

that clarity has led to some people making interesting choices – but this has been a hell year, and any conversation about the upside seems misjudged.

The other core aspect is the Deviants – the Eternals as unchanging beings, and the Deviants being species of one. Deviants are mostly Fraggles, but occasionally they become monsters. This means the basic set up of the Eternals is “A species of Eternal Buffy the Vampire Slayers guard earth from a species of Mogwais who occasionally spit out a Gremlin.” That’s the core. The rest is layers of mythology and scale, plus a whole lot of secrets. The above is explained in the first episode, leaving the rest to be unveiled in the story. It’s all emotive Marvel-Universe epic drama. TW: With a film coming out in 2021, is there any extra pressure on you regarding the extra attention on the series because of the film? KG: Probably, but I don’t tend to think of the expectations. I’m just excited about presenting something smart, big and accessible to people who have been turned onto the Eternals from the movie. TW: What can you reveal to us about the third arc of Once & Future? KG: Well, in the same way the first arc had the post-credits big change of status quo, the second arc – Old English – does the same. The last page very much is a “Oh wow. They’re going there” moment, and makes me cackle. The third arc is all the fallout from that – plus digging into the unanswered questions from the first arc. It’s all set in the day or two before New Year’s, so we’ve got that seasonal vibe throughout. Rose is also really key. She’s been very much the support character, but here she takes on a much bigger role. TW: How much can you tell us about what’s coming up in Die over the next few months? KG: We finish off the third arc, The Great Game, in November, and the trade is out by Christmas. Then there’s the gap, before we’re back for the fourth volume. The third arc is our War of The

“WicDiv was basically five years of me interrogating what sort of writer I wanted to be next, and thinking about how I saw my life.”

TW: As a professional writer, how much do you plan the path of your career? And how much has this year thrown you off course?

Ring, and it’s really big – countries go to war, big plot elements, everything on a huge scale, grounded personal drama. The fourth arc is going to be all about digging inwards, trying to find the bottom of this. That the character drama and the conspiracy of the world are dovetailing is a real pleasure. TW: Warhammer 40,000 is Marvel’s first ever Warhammer comic. As a long-time gamer, how did you approach bringing the world of gaming to comics? KG: Me being a gamer is really about an understanding of the material. By which I mean, that raw love of this world. I use the developed skill of me as a writer to work out how to translate that berserk passion into another form. It’s an adaptation. What makes 40k great? What of that translates to comics? What areas of the world can be particularly well portrayed by comics? That. Do a whole lot of that. TW: How much has the comics industry changed after the impact of the coronavirus? KG: I won’t be able to answer this until the dust has settled, and we’re still in the middle of this sand storm. The safe answer would be “a lot.” I’ve been in the unusual situation where my personal plans have not changed much - I was already doing these two marvel books, was deep into Ludocrats, and just planned to keep doing my two creatorowned ongoing series. It’s what next that will have to change. TW: And on a related question, are there any positive things that will come out of this year for comics? KG: No. Honestly, I can probably work out a few angles of attack – it has made creators think about their future, and

KG: Well, this year has shown how planning makes fools of us all. It’s more about goals than planning however. What do I want? What do I really want? I’m ambitious, but that’s a personal thing. Back in 2013 or so, after five years at Marvel, I wanted to have a big signature work which was an actual success by the time I was 40. I wanted something to go between my names when people referred to me, instead of Kieron “Phonogram” Gillen. That was Wicked + Divine, and was a big line drawn through my bucket list. In some ways, everything after Wicked + Divine is a victory lap. In other ways, Wicked + Divine was the end of my life and I had to do something else. Wicked + Divine was basically five years of me interrogating myself about what sort of writer I wanted to be next, and thinking about how I saw my life. I came out the other side, with a sort of dual mode. I wanted to at least flirt with playing on a larger stage, while also doing ever more esoteric and weird work. So I’d take the TV meetings and try that stuff, while also doing comics which have fully written tie-in RPGs. Flirt with being Kirkman, flirt with being Moore. Clearly, I’ll be neither, but I’m interested in those areas, as they’re the areas I haven’t done. I just get bored. TW: Wicked + Divine has ended and I know Jamie McKelvie has a few health issues to contend with. But are there any plans at any point to reteam with him again? KG: Never say never, but I’m just excited about seeing The Killing Horizon drop. TW: What else are you working on? KG: I’ve done a bunch of short comics in various anthologies during the hell year, normally for charity. I’m working on a few other things I can’t talk about. The Die RPG continues. I also just have finished a short and very silly Come Die With Meinspired RPG I’m going to lob online. Art for art’s sake, whatever that means. Also, I’m trying to work out what comes next. Same as it ever was. TW TRIPWIRE 99

From The Archive

Tripwire has existed as a print magazine and as a website since 1992. So we thought it would be fun to dip into our extensive archive and offer readers a small taste of what has gone before both in print and online. First up is our classic Alan Moore interview from 2000â&#x20AC;Ś 100 TRIPWIRE

Alphabet Soupçon Here is our interview with Alan Moore (League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Watchmen), which was originally published back in Tripwire Volume 4#1 Spring 2000

t the moment, if it carries on like this, I’m happy to continue because I’d like the ABC line to continue”, Alan Moore informs me in the surroundings of his favourite pizza restaurant in the centre of Northampton. This is the same place that we visited the last time that I interviewed him and I was beginning to experience a sense of deja vu about the whole day.1999 was a very interesting year for Alan Moore and it seems as if he’s come to terms with dealing with the devil, figuratively speaking, in DC’s publication of his America’s Best Comics line: “I’ve invested a lot into it, as have the readers and the artists and what I’d really like in an ideal world would be for me to able to continue doing ABC for another few years and establish it as a thriving, vital comic line.” After the first year of America’s Best Comics, Moore has decided to bring in some other writers to enable him to continue the momentum of the line. This decision has meant that the Net is rife with rumours that he’s not going to be writing the titles anymore and even his frequent collaborator Eddie Campbell commented on this recently to him: “I asked Eddie if he fancied trying his hand at writing a Tom Strong story and he reacted by enquiring whether the rumours were true. He had heard rumours that I was using ghost writers which obviously isn’t true. Having said that, I am going to have to get other writers in but hopefully I’ll be able to work closely enough with them to keep the stamp of what makes an ABC comic consistent.” 2000 sees some changes in the ABC line and Moore is happy to share the news during mouthfuls of garlic bread: “I have to preface what I’m about to discuss

by pointing out that at the moment I am completely at the end of my rope in terms of deadlines. I’m under such tremendous pressure so the fact that I’m talking about additional work sounds suspiciously mad to me, so the readers should bear in mind that I might very well be incarcerated and sedated by the time this stuff comes around,” Moore informs me, with only a slight glimmer of mischief in his eyes. “Firstly, it’s very likely that Tom Strong will be going bimonthly simply because Chris Sprouse isn’t able to keep up with a monthly schedule but he would still like to draw the whole book himself. However, Tom Strong is the most popular book in terms of sales, as far as I know, and in some ways, he’s the line’s flagship character. So I wouldn’t want to give any signals that suggested that we were less enthusiastic about the character. With that in mind, what we’re planning to do is launch another Tom Strong

bi-monthly book, with a working title, at present, of Terrific Tales.” Moore pauses to take some mineral water but, buoyed by his own enthusiasm, he resumes soon after: “Terrific Tales would have three stories in it every issue. Two of which would feature Tom Strong and one which would be Tom Strong-related. The plan, as they stand at the moment, is that I would write the lead story, which would be illustrated by Alan Weiss. This lead story would be a series of 8 page self-contained adventures. Then we have a backup strip, written by Steve Moore. I’m getting him in so that we can work out concepts between ourselves and Steve would then script them because I am going to need some help. The first backup would be ‘Young Tom Strong’, which would detail Tom Strong’s adventures between the age of 8 and 20, growing up on Attabar Teru. The

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subject matter of this is pretty irresistible, natives and jungles. The third strip would also be written by Steve, co-plotted by me and this would be a science fiction strip. We thought that the ABC line was missing a pure rocketpack and raygun sci fi comic. Science fiction in comics has had a very spotty career. There have been some excellent highlights and yet it never seems to actually work in the present day. So we’re looking at our favourite comic sci-fi: A lot of Adam Strange, Wally Wood and the early stuff from Avon. So we thought that we’d try and distil some of that and mix with some more exotic elements. So the strip that we’ve come up with is called Jonni Future. The idea is that Terrific Tales is to Tom Strong what Action Comics is to Superman. I used to like Action Comics back when you had a couple of Superman stories in the front and at the back you had Aquaman, Green Arrow or another character. Myself and Steve have got ideas loosely plotted for about two years on a bimonthly schedule.” The change to Tom Strong isn’t the only one for America’s Best Comics either. Top Ten, perhaps ABC’s oddest title, is seeing some alterations ahead, as Moore explained to me: “Gene Ha is starting to feel a little bit burnt out, understandably with that amount of detail needed in every issue of Top Ten. He would like a break, so the plan is at the moment, Top Ten will be ending with #12. We’re calling it the end of Season One, to carry on the cop show analogy. There’ll be a hiatus for a while but Top Ten material will appear. Gene and myself will work on a graphic novel which is provisionally called ‘The Forty Niners’, which would be set in 1949 and chronicle the building of Neopolis. It would have an Untouchables vibe with superheroes thrown in for good measure. The oldest Top Ten characters would appear as youngsters and you’d get the chance to see a lot of people who’ve been mentioned but never seen as yet. Also, so that Zander [Cannon] is kept in gainful employment, the plan is to produce a three issue Jeff Smax miniseries drawn by Zander. In it, Smax has to return to his home continuum to attend his uncle’s funeral. The working title, which probably won’t be the final name, is Smax The Barbarian.” Moore intends to use the gap created by Top Ten not to relax but to script another ongoing title: “With Top Ten off the schedule, I can probably write another regular title. My idea for the new title is something that I’m currently calling America’s Best Comics Cascade, which’ll be a showcase title, featuring two or three part stories drawn by artists who wouldn’t be able to commit to a longer run.”

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“A lot of what was thought of as forward thinking that was decided upon sometime in the eighties, fifteen or twenty years ago. A lot of comics still seem to be mired in eighties thinking.” Moore then proves that ABC’s been very beneficial for his creativity, as, announcing the departure of a strip from Tomorrow Stories, he then proceeds to fill me in on its replacement: “As of Tomorrow Stories #12, as it stands at the moment, Rick Veitch will be leaving Greyshirt”, he informs me as we are halfway through the main course, pasta for Moore, “I understand that Rick still has some unresolved problems with DC and he feels that when he’s done his twelve issue stint, he’s honoured his commitment. So, rather than get someone else in to draw it, we have a space in Tomorrow Stories, which will be filled by two alternating series. John Totleben called me recently, he’s now got two kids and he pointed out that we haven’t worked together in ages. He likes the ABC stuff and he’s been hinting about an underwater character, probably a woman because he loves drawing women. I happen to agree with him that the underwater landscape in comics has never been exploited to its fullest potential. So we came up with a character idea and a name, Pearl Of The Deep, which for me, is a great name. It’s a great name because it sounds familiar and new at the same time.” He stops speaking for a minute to collect his thoughts and then continues like the proverbial steam train: “On the other strip for Tomorrow

Stories, I would be working with John Coulthard and this would feature a female occult investigator or adventuress from around 1910 and the name of this figure, as this is very much the symbolist, decadent period of art, is The Soul. This is what they used to call the young women who were the models and the inspiration for the symbolist artists. John’ll be illustrating it digitally, which is something that seems to be a little bit in vogue at ABC at the minute, because we’ve got digital artist Jose Villarubia illustrating a section of Promethea as well as John drawing his strip that way. It strikes me that, if it’s used properly, you can do something wonderful with the technology. If the ABC line is about anything, then it’s this synthesis between past and future. “ Moore finds the hectic pace that he has been writing at strangely stimulating: “The way that things are getting in terms of writing has meant that I’ve been pushed into new areas. There’s a sort of frantic desperation and energy to the work because you’re working too fast and the conscious mind can’t edit. You tend to get a raw, unfiltered gush that comes straight out of your unconscious. Generally, if something feels fresh and funny, then I’ll go for it and worry about how I’m going to validate it later. It seems to be working, as the buzz on The Net, so I’ve been told, has been pretty positive so far.” Now that the dust has settled and the titles have been coming out for a number of issues

now, each title seems to have found its feet. Moore seems to be pleasantly surprised by the way that the readership breaks down: “We tend to get a lot of women reading the books and enjoying them. Top Ten, incredibly, has got a phenomenal amount of gay supporters, which I wasn’t expecting at all. “ Moore hopes that America’s Best Comics will encourage other people to look at what they create in a different way and he sees a lot of the problems of today caused by creators stuck in an old mindset: “A lot of what was thought of as forward thinking that was decided upon sometime in the eighties, fifteen or twenty years ago. A lot of comics still seem to be mired in eighties thinking. I feel that there is an energy about the ABC line which is fresh. People should create comics that aren’t bogged down in ideas that somebody else had fifteen years ago. It’s time to change that.”

It’s a subject that Moore obviously feels very passionately about and he appears to feel that the comics industry has got what it’s deserved in terms of the size of the market and the quality of the titles out there at present: “In the comics industry, people tend to talk about ‘The State of The Market’ as if it was something that was being done to them. They are responsible for it themselves. Unfortunately, most people do tend to play it safe and wait for somebody else to take the risks, so that they can rush in and do a cheap copy of it. Having said that, there are people out there doing some amazing work.” Moore is more than happy to talk about those creators who get him excited: “If you look at Chris Ware and he was the only comic creator you saw, then you’d think ‘My God! Comics must have reached an Olympus!’. But, as the football terrace chant goes, there’s only one Chris

“In the comics industry, people tend to talk about ‘The State of The Market’ as if it was something that was being done to them. They are responsible for it themselves.”

Ware. The Hernandez Brothers are also doing great stuff.” Moore seems to have a theory as to how modern comics could be helped: “I believe that the only real sustainable way out of our difficulties is to have a healthy comic mainstream, both financially and creatively healthy. If you’ve got a creatively healthy mainstream, then the money side will look after itself. The biggest problem is that we’ve ghettoised ourselves and comics is too small a medium to do that. You need to be able to show the wonderful beast that is comics in its entirety and although the devices that we use in Greyshirt would be more at home in something like Chris Ware’s work, why not bring these devices into the mainstream?” “Something like Watchmen has got a lot of plot, continuity and background and I’ll probably never do another project that’s as dense or complex. Having said that, I’ve just done From Hell, so give me a couple of years and I’ll probably do something equally as demanding. But at the moment, there’s a nice whiff of ozone with the ABC stuff and a continuity if I can remember it.” As the writer of Swamp Thing, it could be argued that Moore was the progenitor of the Vertigo line but his comments on Vertigo are less than glowing, he revealed: “Atmospherically, you could talk about a ‘Vertigo’ book and people would know

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what you were talking about. I think that atmosphere is now old and it was something that was exciting and novel back in the eighties. It’s something that was avant garde twenty years ago and the avant garde is supposed to be a moving phenomenon. There’ve been some great pieces of work, having said that. Work like Garth Ennis’s Preacher, for example, but I can see why he’d want to pack it up this year because he’s being doing it a long time and there’s no concept that you could carry on indefinitely without it getting stale. If this is an illegitimate child of mine, it’s one that I’ve not acknowledged, doesn’t resemble me and I’ve not submitted to a blood test. When I wrote Swamp Thing, as well as the dark horror, I put in stories like ‘Pog’ or ‘Rite Of Spring, which were lighter tales. You have to get some balance otherwise, to use a musical comparison, they’re just playing the notes down one end of the piano. Personally, I find Vertigo a one note line, atmospherically and emotionally. Having said that, I don’t want to dismiss it

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completely, as there’s some good writers and artists who work for them and Karen Berger’s a very nice woman, who I still like and still speak to.” One of Alan Moore’s most highly regarded works, From Hell, was collected in a single volume last year. He still has some engaging things to say about it: “I was really pleased with it and I think that’s a work I would stand behind. But I never want to do it again because I never want to go somewhere that dark for ten years again. It intruded on my life for that length of time because you’re reading books about nothing but bloody serial killers who are the most boring and ugly individuals in the world. “ Moore sounds quite unnerved when speaking about the book. Although described by some as a study of The Ripper, Moore sees it as less a work about the Whitechapel murderer than the social climate at the time: “It’s a fascinating phenomenon. From Hell is not looking at Jack The Ripper so much as

it’s looking at the phenomenon of Jack The Ripper. I took suppositions and downright lies and tried to put all of the pieces together in one big picture.” It was announced recently that From Hell is being made into a Hollywood film. Moore seems fairly sanguine about seeing one of his most ambitious works end up on the screen: “I believe that the filming of From Hell started in Prague in June, and it stars Johnny Depp, Nigel Hawthorne and Heather Graham, who plays the chirpy cockney prostitute Mary Kelly. I thought that perhaps we could do it as a musical and get Dick Van Dyke to reprise his charming cockney accent. But seriously, there’s also Robbie Coltrane as Netley, even though I would have cast him as Abberline. He’s a good actor. It’s directed by the Hughes Brothers, who made Menace II Society and Dead Presidents. To their credit, they’ve gone out and bought hardbacks of From Hell for all of the cast, so they’re at least trying to get them into the book’s atmosphere. I’m sure that it will be, as Hollywood films go, good fun. But that’ll be more down to the Hughes brothers and the cast rather than me because it’s not really that connected with my work.” Alan Moore is well-known as a believer in magic and mysticism. He feels that it plays a very important part in his life: “The most overt stuff in my writing is in Promethea, which is becoming a tract for my insane ideas. Magic becomes more important to me every day in a lot of respects. I believe that the concepts that it offers are probably vital in steering through this new world that we’re in.” Moore sees magic as something not only significant but actually very pragmatic to follow: “I think that it grounds people to reality. People might think that statement is strange, when we’re talking about something that’s infested with gods and demons. For me, magic isn’t about new alien worlds, it’s about different ways of seeing this world and those ways of seeing it are often more sophisticated than current methods.” You may have thought that Moore might have been drinking or at least smoking something at this point but the only thing that he’s touched is mineral water and coffee, amazingly. Moore actually sees magic as rounding off his personality: “I diverge from a lot of magicians who feel that to work magic is to become a god, whereas I’d say that to work with magic is to become a complete human being. Also, when I think about art, I believe that creativity itself is magical. The next spoken word album that I release will be called Snakes And Ladders, which I performed at Red Lion Square last year. Ironically, it’ll be appearing as a comic, drawn by Eddie Campbell, like The Birth Caul, before the

CD comes out. It’s more overtly magical than The Birth Caul. It’s about Arthur Machen and about Holborn, where we did the reading. We talk about the history of the earth, the universe, mankind, Oliver Cromwell, the Pre Raphaelites and a lot of different threads that end up making a sort of sense.” For Moore, he feels ambivalent about the passing of the twentieth century but obviously feels that it was a century like no other before it: “What a fucking century that was! Look at all of the art, the horror, the war, the music and the philosophy! You had Hitler, Stalin and Van Gogh all in the same century. When I was at the farm in Wales over last New Year, once I had taken a lot of magic mushroom admittedly, I started thinking that perhaps civilisation started here in Wales. It definitely started where the glaciers receded and that would have been Northern Europe. So, if you’re in the right mood, you could construe that the hill where the farm is might have been where everything started. We may be under the same stars, looking at the same landscape as we were 10,000 years ago.” Getting back down to earth for a moment, we return to the subject of comics. The scheduling for The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen has been sporadic, to say the least, but Moore still seems as full of vigour for it as he did before it started. He provides me with a few choice snippets about the content of the next series: “I’ve just started writing the second volume. Obviously as some of the characters are still in copyright, I can’t confirm for definite all of the characters that we are using but in the part that I’ve written already, we see Gulliver Jones of Mars meeting another prominent Martian hero. They are planning to combine their forces with those of the Sauns, from Out of The Silent Planet, by CS Lewis, to drive The Tripods, from HG Wells’ War of The Worlds, off Mars. The Martian race that Jones encounters were called The Hithers and they live in a city that was built in the ruins of a pre-existing settlement, thousands of years old. So I remembered that Michael Moorcock, under the pen name of EP Bradbury, wrote Mars stories which were set in the 1960s. This would move it out of the time period that we’re dealing with but, having said that, the main character doesn’t just travel in space but also in time. So I got someone to contact Michael Moorcock and ask him if it’d be alright. He said that he’d be honoured, which is too kind because Moorcock is a brilliant writer. Much of the first issue probably won’t take place on Earth at all.” Moore sees the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen as a creative playground where the possibilities are endless: “We could carry this on forever. I had a really perverse idea the other day, and I’ll

“The most overt stuff in my writing is in Promethea, which is becoming a tract for my insane ideas. Magic becomes more important to me every day in a lot of respects. I believe that the concepts that it offers are probably vital in steering through this new world that we’re in.” probably never get around to doing it, but it would be funny to have one series set in the 1950s where you have Sal Paradise from Jack Kerouac’s On The Road and his crazy wired-up driver friend, Dean Moriarty, who of course is the great grandson of James Moriarty, or I could say that he is. Then there’d be Doctor Sax, a Kerouac character based on William Burroughs and The Shadow but who owes a lot to Fu Manchu. You could set it in Interzone with the Burroughs centipede people appearing all over the place. You could even have a couple of members of the Victorian League still around. Having said that, we might be completely sick of it by the second volume.” Moore reveals to me that he feels quite optimistic about the twenty-first century: “I feel good about this next century. I feel that we’re going somewhere in our minds and our minds are evolving into something. I think that imagination and the world of the imagination are at a premium in these coming times. People’s lives have become increasingly virtual and less material. The technological side is only a material echo of something that’s going on anyway. I don’t know when but probably in the first twenty years of this century, we’ll reach a point of information saturation.” Moore disagrees that the problem with

comics is tied in with the fact that they could be perceived as a twentieth century creation: “Surely everything, except for something that they’re going to come up with in the next week, is tied into the twentieth century. Films are, and so is mass produced music. Video games and computers are a bit nineties, aren’t they? I think that the comic book industry is as good as the people who are working in it.” Whether you agree with what Moore has to say or not, about magic, comics and society, it’s very hard not to get caught up and you’re always guaranteed a diverting conversation. Moore may look a little unapproachable but he’s one of modern comics’ characters. On the way back to the station, we bump into a woman who Moore knew as one of his aunts, even though she wasn’t a blood relative. He chatted to her for a little bit and then we headed down towards the station. The absurdity of this six foot man with a huge beard, some scary rings on his fingers and carrying a ceremonial staff sharing small talk with a very ordinary middle aged woman didn’t fail to strike me. But it proved that Moore had more than one facet to his personality and whatever he writes in the future, it’s guaranteed to be of note. TW

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Artistic

Endeavours

Scott Dunbier is IDW’s Special Projects Editor and Tripwire’s editor-in-chief spoke to him back in September 2015 on tripwiremagazine.co.uk about his work on IDW’s Artists Editions and Artefact Editions…

TRIPWIRE: What was the genesis of the Artists Edition idea? SCOTT DUNBIER: Years ago I was in an original art APA. APA stands for Amateur Press Association and it’s a very small, private publication, they can range from as few as 20 members to

as many as 100 or more. Each member contributes a set number of pages each issue on a variety of topics related to the main theme —for this APA the theme is usually by artist —and sends a central collator 60 copies. The collator then sorts through and makes 60 issues from all the contributions and then mails them out to everyone. It’s a true labour of love kind of thing. So in 1995 an APA dedicated to Neal Adams was announced. I’m a life-long fan of his

“I have farreaching tastes and I think that is reflected in the Artist’s Editions that we’ve done.” 106 TRIPWIRE

work and I conducted a fairly long interview with Adams for the issue. Additionally, I made copies of a number of pieces in my art collection by Neal for inclusion. But the photocopies looked lousy, especially the ones of his lovely pencil work. So I decided to do something a bit silly—I made 600 colour copies (10 pages x 60) and included them in my contribution. Remember, this was in 1995, color copies were expensive, it cost hundreds of dollars. But the end result was so much better than it would have been… it was worth it to me. I sort of feel like that was my first Artist’s Edition. A couple of years later a book came out called Batman Collected, by Chip Kidd. In it there was a page, coincidentally, of Neal Adams art from one of his classic Batman stories. It had been photographed in color and you could see the white out, the blue pencil editorial notes, and random stains—it was great—and it made me remember my earlier APA effort. After that it was only

a matter of time before I found a way to do a book like this. TW: What’s interesting is that other companies seem to have taken a similar approach to their books now too. Why do you think the idea of this format appeals to readers and aficionados of comic material? SD: I think everyone who loves comic art, whether they buy the books or not, likes the idea of them. Being able to see art in its rawest form, almost an exact replica of the original, and with all the little nuances and intricate details that makes a page unique—it’s sort of irresistible on some level. That’s the appeal to me, at least. TW: When selecting a project or series for an Artists Edition, what is your criteria? SD: Basically it boils down to whether or not I can find the art, the complete stories, and if the rights can be attained from the copyright holder. The rest of it is purely subjective—my personal tastes. TW: You have put out quite a cross section of material already. Was it always your intention to make it this diverse? SD: Absolutely. I have far-reaching tastes and I think that is reflected in the Artist’s Editions we’ve done. I love all kinds of comics and there are so many artists whose work resonates with me— honestly, it’s more a question of how could I not make it this diverse? TW: You have had a career first as an art dealer and then as an editor in comics. How much did your impressive career in comics help to get the range and reputation of the creators and companies on board to make these books happen? SD: Art dealing has been of immeasurable help. My former career put me in touch with a vast number of collectors and dealers, many whom are close friends of mine to this day. Very often, if I don’t know where something is, I know someone who does. I can’t stress enough how helpful collectors and dealers have been in making these books a reality. As far as editorially, I had pitched the Artist’s Edition line to my previous employer, before I came to IDW, but was turned down. And that is completely understandable, I was asking them to trust me to do an unproven format of a book that would be $100 bucks to buy… looking back, it does sound like a stretch, doesn’t it? But I believed in the idea, I thought there would be a market for it. Luckily, when

I came to IDW, Ted Adams believed in me enough to let me do it. He and Greg Goldstein (and everyone at IDW) have been very supportive of the line since day one, and for that I will always be thankful. TW: As well as the Artist’s Editions, you have also put together Artifact Editions. What factors dictate whether a book is an artifact or an artists edition? SD: An Artist’s Edition collects complete stories and an Artifact Edition has individual pages by an artist. John Byrne was happy with the way his Fantastic Four book came out and suggested I do an X-Men volume. I told him there weren’t any complete stories of his X-Men work, that they had all been broken up and the originals scattered. He said, “Why TRIPWIRE 107

“These books, I hope, introduce artists and fans to a new world. It’s like when I was a kid and saw the Steranko History of Comics.”

does it have to have complete stories?” And I thought, “he’s right.” so thanks for helping me see the light, John. TW: You have already been involved with a very impressive range of titles in the line. Have there been any projects that you have been unable to bring to market in this format as yet? SD: Plenty, I would love to do something with Corben, Jaime Hernandez, Frazetta, Jack Cole, Crumb, the list stretches on and on. Some artist’s aren’t interested in doing an Artist’s Edition, but usually it just boils down to not being able to find the work. TW: Each project looks like a massive undertaking in terms of sourcing material and then all the cleanup work to make the art work in this format. As someone who has come from a more traditional publishing background, as an editor who commissioned

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new material from current creators, what is the appeal for yourself for working on something like an Artists Edition? SD: Well, I come from a mixed background… comic book art dealer and comic book editor, so it’s the best of both worlds for me. There’s nothing like reading a great comic story by creators at the top of their game, but to read it from the original art (or something very close to it), well, that’s just a huge kick for a guy like me. Actually, a funny story… I was a big fan of Preacher from the first issue. But I’ve only ever read one of the Preacher comic books—After reading the first issue and laughing my butt off, I called up Steve Dillon and struck a deal to buy all the Preacher art from then on. And I read each story from the original art—each one was like my own private Artist’s Edition! TW: You have become an archivist,

preserving and presenting some of the best and most significant series in comics history. How important is it for you to make people aware of the body of work of creators like Jack Kirby, Joe Kubert and Wally Wood? SD: As a lover of comic art it is extremely important to me. These books, I hope, introduce artists and fans to a new world. It’s like when I was a kid and saw the Steranko History of Comics, or the old Big Apple Comix EC reprints in the early 1970s—those two things broadened my comic horizons tremendously. I hope Artist’s Editions have a similar impact on fans who may not have been exposed to classic original art. We have a unique, rich history, and it’s important to make it available everyone. TW: What other Artists and Archival Editions can we look forward to for the rest of this year and beyond? SD: Herb Trimpe’s Incredible Hulk Artist’s Edition, Joe Kubert’s The Return of Tarzan Artist’s Edition, Star Wars Artifact Edition, and Sam Kieth’s Maxx Artist’s Edition are all scheduled to come out in 2015—yikes, I better get back to work! TW check out www.idwpublishing.com for the latest list of artist and artifact editions

Ian Rankin’s Favourite Comics It is no secret that best-selling author Ian Rankin (Rebus) is a huge fan of comics and graphic novels. Here are his 10 favourite series of all time in particular order from tripwiremagazine.co.uk back in 2015

2. Swamp Thing – That man Moore again. Started reading this from issue 21/22 on, as Moore got his teeth into the characters and themes. Environmental horror that also introduced us to… Hellblazer.

1. Watchmen – This blew the top of my head off when I first read it. Poetic, morally complex, definitive. Having devoured each issue, I then bought the complete graphic novel when it came out, only because it contained a page or two of Moore’s original scripts – I needed to see exactly how he had done what he’d done.

3. Hellblazer – John Constantine is brilliant, isn’t he? Private eye, shaman, exorcist, occultist, smoker. Not sure which of these makes him a maverick. When Vertigo asked me if I fancied trying to write a one-off graphic novel featuring one of their characters, he was my first choice.

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4. Dark Knight Returns – These are all pretty mainstream choices, right? And many of them come from a certain era. But hey, they’re MY favourites. And Batman had been such a far-fetched and ‘cartoonish’ hero that it was eye-opening to watch Frank Miller reinvent him as someone older, doubt-filled, and trying to operate within an ugly dystopia.

5. DR and Quinch – oh, I know, it’s Alan Moore AGAIN, but this is very different – achingly funny, clever, satirical. I remember the original one-off story in 2000AD, and was thrilled when Moore extended the adventures of the two goofy frat-boy aliens. The one where they go to Hollywood…I’ve probably read that a dozen times or more and I still laugh. Mind the oranges, Marlon!

6. Faust I think this was originally a six-parter. I know I couldn’t find every issue when it first appeared. Story and art were over the top – violent, filthy, visceral. The vivid monochrome art worked really well. I actually quite liked the eventual live-action film version too, which puts me in a distinct minority.

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7. The Losers Another great example of British practitioners working in an American idiom, this was the A Team on steroids and I was rooting for them every actionpacked step of the conspiracythriller way. We all thought it would make a great film. We were nearly right….

8. The Fade Out

I could have gone for Criminal or Fatale, but this is the latest winner from the Brubaker/Phillips partnership. I love the Hollywood setting and the sense of period. The plot keeps you guessing and the characters are complex, the morality dubious. The series hasn’t quite concluded as I write this, but it’s been a hell of a ride so far.

9. Judge Dredd Though I’d been reading comics from the age of five (most of them coming out of the DC Thomson stable – Beano, Victor, Hotspur, Commando, etc), 2000AD was my gateway drug to the world of adult comics, and Dredd was always a weekly highlight, not only for the figure of Dredd himself but because Mega City One was such a vivid creation, it’s lifestyles and crimes satirical takes on our own world. And some of the long form stories within the series were as good as anything done in the U.S. or elsewhere. DC and Marvel knew: the Brits were coming.

10. Elektra Assassin – Miller again but this time with jaw-dropping art by Bill Sienkiwicz. Even when the story seemed to make no sense to me, I could just stare at those pages, bathing in their use of colour, the psychedelia of it all. Great comics stimulate the eye and engage the brain. That’s why I love them. TW TRIPWIRE 111

To Hell And Back Here Mike Mignola talks about Hellboy: Almost Colossus, taken from Tripwire Volume 1#16, published way back in Spring 1997â&#x20AC;¦

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TRIPWIRE: What’s the story behind Almost Colossus then? MIKE MIGNOLA:Let’s see. In issue three of the last miniseries, Wake The Devil, I introduced a homunculus character that killed a guy and jumped out through a wall. It was also in this scene that Elisabeth Sherman was fucked over, so I am dealing with that. Liz Sherman is dying from something and the only possiblity of curing her is to track down this homunculus and reverse what’s happened. This is kind of like my big Frankenstein epic. It’s not a big epic, it’s only two issues but that’s the kind of imagery I’m playing with and the idea of artificial man.

“There’s a wonderful story by Clark Ashton Smith called ‘The Colossus of Ylourgne’ . It’s the story of this evil dwarf who gets all the local dead guys, deceased people to come up to his castle and he melts them all down and makes them into a giant human living flesh colossus. So this story is very heavily inspired by that.”

TW: Is it a quest story at its heart? MM: Not really.This is the first story I’ve ever done when Hellboy actually has to go out and save a friend of his. I’ve got to say that when I first sat down to do this thing, I was going to kill Elisabeth Sherman. It really didn’t occur to me until this story was all plotted and thumbnailed that it would actually be a stronger story if we didn’t give her up for dead on page 1. It slipped my mind that he’d really want to get this homunculus if there was some chance of saving this woman’s life. I thought ‘Waitaminute,

maybe he could save somebody’. Other than that baby in ‘The Corpse’ he hasn’t really gone off and tried to save anything . Generally he just goes someplace and he survives because he’s tougher than everybody else. I got a lot of grief from people for the last miniseries because I killed off so many people. So I thought that maybe we needed a more positive one. TW: Isn’t a homunculus like a demon? MM: A homunculus actually is created

by alchemy. It’s, as I said in the last mini-series, like a medieval version of a test-tube baby. TW: Like a golem? MM: But it’s generally a really tiny one. Whereas the Golem is a magic thing, the homunculus is an alchemy creation. Those little characters in the jars in ‘The Bride of Frankenstein’ are homunculi. It’s just a word I’ve always liked. TW: Why is the story called ‘Almost Colossus’? MM: There’s a wonderful story by Clark Ashton Smith called ‘The Colossus of Ylourgne’ . It’s the story of this evil dwarf who gets all the local dead guys, deceased people to come up to his castle and he melts them all down and makes them into a giant human living flesh colossus. So this story is very heavily inspired by that. TW: How does the homunculus come into the story? MM: He meets another homunculus, his brother homunculus, and this guy has a scheme to make them into more than just two separate lonely miserable unhappy Frankenstein monster TRIPWIRE 113

“We’ll get to see Hellboy really angry in this one and usually he doesn’t get really angry, he jokes stuff off. This is something I have to keep reminding myself about: he’s got to treat this stuff very very seriously in this one because there is his friend’s life hanging in the balance.” homunculus.His scheme is to make them become one big giant. TW: Who made the homunculus that attacked Liz Sherman? MM: They never mention his name. He is referred to as the man and as the creator. We don’t get his name. It’s not really that important to the story. Information like that I would love to give but it just didn’t work. What I would love to do somewhere down the line is a card set that would be all the extra information about guys like that. We’d have a card about a book mentioned in the Wolves of St August and it would be a nice appendix to the Hellboy stuff. So someday we’ll find out. TW: So Almost Colossus goes some way towards fleshing out Hellboy’s emotional landscape and character a little? MM: I guess so. Hellboy isn’t a guy who talks about his feelings too much. If he talks about his feelings, he talks about them to Abe Sapien the fish guy. In this one he doesn’t really say much. At one point the character he’s travelling with turns to him and says ‘You’re thinking about Liz’ so he says ‘Yeah’ and that’s the extent of it. But we’ll get to see Hellboy really angry in this one and usually he doesn’t get really angry, he jokes stuff off. This is something I have to keep reminding myself about: he’s got to treat this stuff very very seriously in this one because there is his friend’s life hanging in the balance. But he’s seen so much of this horrible crap that he accepts it and doesn’t generally get himself too worked up about it. But I would imagine that, if you were in this guy’s job, you would need to have that kind of detachment. TW: So Liz Sherman is dying from 114 TRIPWIRE

the poison of this homunculus? MM: It had something sucked out of her. She’s definitely dying of something. She’s had something removed from her, something that’s invisible. TW: Are you talking about her soul? MM: Something like that.Her powers are gone. For all these years she’s hated these powers she has and they’re gone now,and apparently she can’t live without them. That was an idea that was touched on in the last miniseries, the whole idea of accepting what you are and making the best of it. TW: The irony is that now she’s got rid of it she can’t live without it. MM: Exactly. That’s really what it comes down to. So if she got rid of it into the homunculus, then we’ve got to somehow get it out of the homunculus, and we don’t even know where the homunculus is and then, if we do find him, how the hell do we get this thing back out of him? TW: So how do you get the ball rolling, with them looking for the creature? MM: Hellboy and Kate Corrigan, who was in The Wolves of St August, are just out there looking around and they come across a string of cemetaries that have all been desecrated. Something has gone in and dug up these cemetaries and it’s all happened in the last week or so, which is the amount of time that this homunculus has been out there. Is he doing this and if he’s doing it, why? How is he doing it? There’s hundreds of bodies that have all disappeared. Where would he be doing whatever it is that he’s doing? So they have to look for a big haunted place where no regular humans would go and then they run into all this spooky stuff. TW: So the homunculus does have quite a significant amount of knowledge of alchemy and magic? MM: There’s two homunculi and one of them knows a lot. I really like this story because, as it’s growing on me I realise that, after this one I will have created a really good villain that can come back, and I will have created a really good good guy. So there’ll be an extra team member. TW: How, with a story as potentially ambitious as this, do you keep it under control? MM: Well, it’s a pretty small focused story, unlike the last miniseries, which involved so many people.This one is

much more along the lines of ‘The Wolves of St August’, where we just have two characters and they go into some big creepy place and some awful shit happens. So it’s not nearly as ambitious as I make it sound. There’s a lot of ideas in it but it goes pretty fast.

so many different things I want to do with Hellboy. Almost Colussus is dedicated to Boris Karloff and James Whale. I want to do more things like the last miniseries, a UFO story, a subject that I’ve never been that keen on before and I want to do the folklore stuff.

TW: So after this will there be a one-shot next year? MM: Yes. I’m really excited about the next one-shot, which’ll be along the lines of ‘The Corpse and The Iron Shoes’, except it’ll be two stories set in Japan. The two stories are ‘The House of Seven Heads’, which is very much based on a Japanese folktale and the other one is going to be a little short story called ‘The Kapa’ which is a mythological Japanese creature that’s particularly fond of cucumbers. I feel like I’ve strayed off the folklore path a lot and I’m going to go back and forth. There are

TW: Are there any plans to do other work? MM: I’ve got two other paranormal investigator characters I want to do. But I don’t have any immediate desire to do them. I’ve got so much Hellboy stuff right now plotted out that I want to do that these other characters can wait. I’m just waiting for the right opportunity to do them. I’ve also got at least one solo Abe Sapien story that I’d like to do. The next long Hellboy miniseries, after the Japanese thing, is the origin of Abe Sapien and a lot more of the origin of Hellboy sort of. Hellboy is killed and

“I’ve got so much Hellboy stuff right now plotted out that I want to do that these other characters can wait. I’m just waiting for the right opportunity to do them. I’ve also got at least one solo Abe Sapien story that I’d like to do. The next long Hellboy miniseries, after the Japanese thing, is the origin of Abe Sapien and a lot more of the origin of Hellboy sort of. ” goes to hell and meets his relatives. So I’m really excited about that one. It will flesh out the Abe Sapien character sufficientlyso that there’ll be enough background to Abe Sapien that I feel comfortable doing a solo story. I’ve got at least five miniseries plotted, it’s just a matter of juggling what order to do them in and there’s so many short stories I want to do. It’s just a matter of how much time I’ve got and I’m hoping that the comics industry doesn’t disappear. TW: I was wondering if you thought that things were in a slightly better state than when we spoke six months ago. MM: I haven’t heard anybody say that they are. I’m waiting. Every time I go into a comic book store I ask people “Is there any good news?” and I haven’t had anybody say “yes“ yet. So I sure wish they were in a better state. But I’m in no hurry to do anything but comics and I’m in no hurry to do anything but Hellboy. I’ll do it as long as I can. Until the wife looks at me and says “We haven’t fed the baby in a couple of weeks”. On that happy note I’ve probably said all that I can about Almost Colossus and Hellboy. TW

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Speaking

Frankly Dipping back into our archive again, we represent our chat with Frank Miller about Dark Knight Strikes Again, which ran way back in Tripwire Volume 4#9, December 2001 TRIPWIRE: How do you feel being back at DC after fifteen years? FRANK MILLER: It’s good I had this much time away from superheroes. Off doing Sin City and 300 and Martha Washington with Dave Gibbons and all that crazy stuff with Geof Darrow, I got to travel wide and far. So, to turn around and take another gander at Superman and Batman and Wonder Woman and the rest, well, I can only say I have fresh eyes. Fresh as a little kid’s. TW: When Dark Knight Strikes Again was first announced last year, some people looked upon it as a retrograde step, a step back rather than a step forward. What are your feelings on this comment and how would you counter such criticisms? FM: Watch and learn. TW: Was there anything in particular that motivated your decision to return to DC and Batman? FM: Yeah. I had a story, and I had the itch to tell it. I love superheroes and

“I don’t care about the sad parts of their childhoods. I don’t care about the quarrels in their marriages. Let them shrink. Let them run. Let them fly. Let them shine.” always have. And I found a fresh way to look at them. I think it works. Besides, Schreck was just sitting there in his editor’s office, with nothing to do. So I gave the poor bastard a break. I mean, the man was reduced to spending his off-hours passing out leaflets on the street for nightclubs where people do very strange things. It was pathetic. TW: Has your basic concept of a sequel to Dark Knight Returns changed since it was first mooted a few years ago? FM: I don’t know what “mooted” means. TW: It’s been pointed out that both Dark Knight Returns and Moore & Gibbons’s Watchmen were both works of fiction with an ultimately uplifting and positive message at their core and that since then, some creators have taken their cues from the more negative elements, discarding the positive ones. Would you say that’s a fair comment? FM: It seems strange that anybody could find superheroes a depressing idea. If I could fly, if I could bend steel in my bare hands – hell, if I could throw a batarang with verve – it would be damn hard to feel sorry for myself. Never mind “positive” and “negative”, whatever the hell they’re supposed to mean. What’s cool about the Flash is that he moves fast. What’s cool about the Atom is that he gets really small. I don’t care about

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the sad parts of their childhoods. I don’t care about the quarrels in their marriages. Let them shrink. Let them run. Let them fly. Let them shine.

done – check out Azzarello & Corben on Banner, or Kevin Smith, Phil Hester & Ande Parks on Green Arrow. But the sheer profusion of superhero comics, and the demands of continuous, monthly publication, whether or not anybody’s got any good ideas, has made the good stuff the exception that tests the rule. The idea seems tired because it’s done too often, and by people who don’t do anything else. Flying solo, I’ve been astounded at what comics can do. I do Sin City. Me and Lynn do 300. The sky’s the limit. Now I’m using that freedom to go right back at the heroes of my childhood, and I’m finding I love them as much as I ever did – and I can write and draw them better than I have before.

TW: The last time that Dark Knight came out, it was at the end of a bust and the beginning of a boom period. Dark Knight Strikes Again comes at a similar time. Do you find that intriguing? FM: Naw. Just doing my job, sir. If I start thinking that way, I’ll end up doing a bad job and acting like a total asshole. TW: How much has the industry changed since Dark Knight Returns? FM: Got a week? TW: Also, how much have you changed as an artist and creator in the last fifteen years? FM: Got a year? TW: Was it the fact that you could work with Bob Schreck as editor again one of the motivating factors in creating the series? FM: Yeah. I found him in the gutter. It was sad. For some reason, he was dressed like Robin. I didn’t ask. But yeah, me and Schreck – nobody who knows him reasonably well calls him by his first name – me and Schreck, we’d been talking for some time, and he knew I had DK2 brewing. Once he was in charge of Batman, I knew I had a good shot at doing something worth doing. It wouldn’t have been possible, before. Besides, it was just so pitiful,

seeing the poor wretch lying there in that Robin costume. TW: What do you think the most important thing you’ve learnt on Sin City and 300, ie your creator-owned work, and how have you applied this to your work on Dark Knight Strikes Again? FM: Got a decade? If I can distil it…I’ve learned that comic books are still trapped under the rubble of old, bad stuff done by people working under unconscionable conditions. The superhero comics are, anyway. Good stuff’s been done across the decades, and good stuff is being

TW: In terms of tone, is it similar to its predecessor? FM: You tell me. Batman’s in a better mood. That is not necessarily good news. The format is three eighty page issues rather than four 48 page issues. TW: How much has the format this time around dictated a different approach to the work? FM: The work dictated the format. It was my idea. DC has been very agreeable. Gee Whiz, you think they just called me up and told me the page count? They didn’t last time, nor this. When I came up with the first Dark Knight format (they’ve taken to calling it “prestige format,” but it took them a good year

“I’ve learned that comic books are still trapped under the rubble of old, bad stuff done by people working under unconscionable conditions. The superhero comics are, anyway. ”

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“Batman’s one of the few gods in the superhero pantheon. Most of the rest –Spider-Man, The Flash, etc., – fit the classical definition of heroes, not gods. He’s the dark, passionate, volcanic god, Nietzsche’s Dionysus– in conflict with Apollo, the god of reason and order, aka Superman.” to come up with that), it was the first of what has become my several attempts to get us past the 32 page pamphlet, which, I’m certain, is one of the major dumb things we do that keep us from developing as swiftly as we should, as a story form and as a business. The pamphlet made sense when it cost 10 cents or 12 cents. But two or three bucks? Come on. This a big, fat story, involving a whole bunch of DC’s pantheon. It’s told in big, fat chunks. TW: Also, last time you were inked by Klaus Janson and this time, you’re inking yourself. Has this led you to approach the visual side in a different way? FM: It’s been fifteen years. Klaus has grown as an artist. So have I. And we’ve turned out to be very different artists. Were we to collaborate again, which would be fun, I’d want to stay out of his way and just be the writer. TW: Last time, the setting was a flawed world made better. This time around, it seems that the improved world is actually as corrupt and as flawed as the world it replaced. It’s almost as if it’s a reverse situation to the first series. Would you say that’s fair comment? FM: No. The world hasn’t improved. It just thinks it has. Things are worse than ever. And there’s hell to pay. TW: You’re known for your epic works (300, Dark Knight Returns). What is about such 118 TRIPWIRE

ambitious material that appeals to you? FM: Just the way I’m built, I guess. I envy artists who can write and draw small, personal, even autobiographical comics, just as I envy artists who can do any other kind of work I can’t. These are the kind of stories that buzz around in my head. I haven’t any better explanation than that. TW: As a series that’s been fifteen years in the making, do you feel any of the pressure of expectation from external sources? FM: Heck, no. Sequel to Dark Knight Returns? No pressure there! I don’t imagine there’s gonna be a single fan who comes up to me and says “this didn’t make me feel like I did when I was 10”. No chance of that. Come On. No matter what I do, there’s gonna be a chunk of the audience who’s going to think I betrayed DK1. It’s inevitable. But it takes leather balls to play rugby, doesn’t it? Still, I’m strangely confident. I know I’m doing something very strong here. It’s a feeling you get, when a job is on this kind of roll. DK2 is fundamentally different than DK1, while faithful to it. It has to be different: almost a third of my life has gone by between the two novels. I’m a different artist, and a different man. TW: The trade paperback has really come into its own in the last ten years. Do you think the inevitability that this series will be collected will hurt the sales of the individual issues at all?

FM: I can’t think about stuff like that. Not my line of country. TW: What is it about Batman that appeals to you as a character? FM: Batman’s one of the few gods in the superhero pantheon. Most of the rest –Spider-Man, The Flash, etc., – fit the classical definition of heroes, not gods. They haven’t the same stature. Zeus may have fathered them, but they have human mothers. They haven’t the stature of gods. But Batman has that stature. And he’s the only superhero god with no overtly superhuman power. He’s the dark, passionate, volcanic god, Nietzsche’s Dionysus– in conflict with Apollo, the god of reason and order, aka Superman. That’s one side of Batman. Then there’s the Year One Batman, the young, rough-and-tumble crimefighter who exists among us, who is one of us, a man who might’ve been normal but for his parents’ murder. A guy driven by that calamity to hunt down criminals. A vigilante, but a human one. A guy who makes mistakes, who is kind of disturbing to be around, not the kind of guy you’d want to have a pint with, necessarily. But he manages to do the right thing and save the right people when the chips are down. Those are just two of my versions of Batman, and I’m just one among many others who have a take or two on Batman. A great character.

TW: Moving onto other matters, this spring, you made the keynote speech at the Harvey Awards in Pittsburgh, where you berated the comics industry for kowtowing to Hollywood. Can I ask if this opinion was formed by a particular experience that you had with the film industry just prior to April of this year? FM: No. I’ve had a great time with my Hollywood adventures. It’s a fun, sexy business. Not much crazier than comics. I was just trying to give everybody a heads-up that Hollywood wasn’t gonna save our sorry butts. And a movie option isn’t a ticket to Nirvana. A movie option is nothing but a possibility. It isn’t a movie. TW: What are your feelings on the new regime at Marvel? Do you think that Quesada and Jemas have put things in place which are good for the industry as a whole? FM: We’ll see. TW: Also, do you think that the increased legitimacy of graphic novels like Jimmy Corrigan and From Hell has meant that, in some ways, the comics industry is in a stronger and more stable, long term, position than it was in 1988? FM: Goodness. I would hope so. But why do you cite 1988? DK1 was 1986. Am I missing something? TW: Once you finish Dark Knight Strikes Again, I’ve read that you’re moving onto another Sin City oneshot. Having produced a series of Sin City tales, do you still feel as moved by the material and genre to create something new in the setting as you did say five years ago? FM: Of course I do. If I didn’t, I’d let Sin City lie fallow until I did. I only do stories that bug me so much, I’ll sleep badly until I do them.

TW: What are your feelings on Marvel’s new self-imposed ratings system? I remember that you, Alan Moore and some other creators spoke out against something similar that was suggested by DC in the eighties. FM: Marvel’s rating system is misguided, stupid, wrongheaded, boneheaded, useless, and pathetically impotent. Not to mention suicidal – though impotent at selfdestruction as well, I suspect. I’d call it treachery, but that would give them too much credit. It’s a crappy publicity stunt. Ratings on comics – my god, why must we be the first branch of publishing to surrender the underpinnings of the First Amendment? And to such trashy purpose? Just to show off how shameless, how pandering comics are willing to be? So Iron Man can say “fuck”? So Wolverine can show you the intestines of his latest victim? So we can see Elektra’s tits? DC’s own system, which properly withered to unreadable size on its covers, was a lambskin-thin condom compared with Marvel’s screaming advisory boxes. It’s stupid and it’s horrible. They blew it. All for publicity. Shameless. Luckily, the enmity between Marvel and DC will make for rating system chaos, so there’s hope. At least the damned old Comics Code is dead. That much, they did right. But only that much.

it made your career harder or has it been a bit of a mixed blessing? FM: There’s nothing mixed about it. I make a good living at the job I love. What’s to complain about? TW: As someone who has achieved a lot in his working career, is there anything else that you would still like to do? TW FM: Tons.

TW: Do you ever feel that you’re misquoted by the press? FM: Only when I am. Doesn’t happen much. Mostly, you folks seem to do your job. TW: Do you almost regret the attention that both you and Alan received in the comic and mainstream press in the 1980s? Has

“I’ve had a great time with my Hollywood adventures. It’s a fun, sexy business. Not much crazier than comics. I was just trying to give everybody a heads-up that Hollywood wasn’t gonna save our sorry butts. ” TRIPWIRE 119

The Game’s Afoot Again Scott Braden finds out more about Sherlock Holmes and The Empire Builders, a new comic series making its debut in these very pages by Tripwire’s editor-inchief Joel Meadows and artist Andy Bennett

herlock Holmes: The Empire Builders looks at how history could have taken a different turn for the real world using an iconic fictional figure,” explained writer Joel Meadows from his London home. “It is an alternate world story that I was working on originally around 2003. It deals with a world where Sherlock Holmes is an old man and has fallen out

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with James Watson. Within the story, Arthur Conan Doyle’s Great Detective is a diminished figure” To that end, Holmes is no longer in his flat at Baker Street. Why the change of venue? Meadows replied: “Holmes has to deal with losing his standing while losing his friend – and being forced out of the place where he made his reputation makes his move sting all the more.” Meadows is no stranger to comics and pop culture fans. The founding voice of Tripwire: The Genre Magazine, as well as a journalist and photographer for over a quarter century, Meadows teamed with artist Andy

“Holmes has to deal with losing his standing while losing his friend – and being forced out of the place where he made his reputation makes his move sting all the more.”

Bennett, whom he met at a comic convention in Pittsburgh, PA, around 2002. But what was it about Andy Bennett that made Meadows decide on him as the artist of this comic book adventure? “I first got chatting with Andy around 2001 or so,” Meadows said, “and it was his distinctive linework and his grasp of character that meant he was the perfect choice.” With the creative team formed, it was there that Meadows began to formulate what would become

“Watson’s son will play a major role in the story but I can’t say too much more because I want to save some of the surprises for the reader.” his engaging alternate history story. “The two scientists who discovered the DNA double helix in the real world were Francis Crick and James Watson. So, this got me thinking: What if this was the same James Watson who was Holmes’ confidante? The story does deal with cloning and experimentation, so the wheels in my head started turning.” What was the terrible thing that found Watson leaving his longtime friend, Holmes? “Watson decided to choose scientific research over his longtime friend,” Meadows explained, “and this is something that created a huge schism between the pair.” Another important character in the story is Oswald Mosley. Meadows explained, “Mosley was a real figure, a particularly unpleasant pro-Nazi politician and rabble rouser in England who was pro-Hitler, and I thought it might have been interesting to introduce a real-life historical figure into the fictional world of Holmes and The Empire Builders.” Why did Meadows choose Mosley as a Holmes foe? “Mosley was chosen because he was a real-life historical figure,” the acclaimed journalist said, “a rather unpleasant British Nazi, so that gives the story a kind of realistic resonance for readers.” Watson isn’t the only hero

singled out in this alternative epic. There’s also his son. “Dr. Watson’s son knows they have somehow unraveled the secrets of DNA to create an army of seemingly unstoppable super soldiers, controlled by Mosley,” said Meadows. “Watson’s son

will play a major role in the story but I can’t say too much more because I want to save some of the surprises for the reader.” Read Sherlock Holmes And The Empire Builders in the “Stripwire” section of this issue of Tripwire starting overleaf. TW TRIPWIRE 121

stripwire The return of Tripwire’s acclaimed strip section WILLIAM SIMPSON p123 William Simpson is a comic artist and illustrator from Northern Ireland who got his start in 2000AD. His comic career includes Batman, Aliens and Rogue Trooper. From 2010 to 2019, he was a storyboard and concept artist on HBO’s Game of Thrones. He has recently returned to creating comics with VMT, a new vampire graphic novel series previewed here coming soon from Renegade Press. JOEL MEADOWS p128-133 Joel Meadows is a journalist and writer with over three decades of experience on newspapers, magazines and books. His CV includes some of the most renowned publications in the world including Time Magazine, The Times, The Sunday Times, The Telegraph, Financial Times, The Guardian, Guinness World Records and The Observer. He has also written extensively about comics, film, TV and culture for publications like Playboy, Time Magazine, Esquire, Variety, Empire, Big Issue In The North, Comic Scene and Comic Heroes. He is also the editor-in-chief of Tripwire. Sherlock Holmes & The Empire Builders marks his published comic writing debut. He lives in London. ANDY BENNETT p128-133 Andy Bennett was born in southern Ohio. He is a graduate of Shawnee State University in Portsmouth, and The Columbus College of Art & Design in Columbus. Today he serves as a digital media designer at Highlights for Children in Columbus, as well as offering freelance design and illustration work for a wide range of clients. He currently lives in Columbus with his wife Lisa. http://www.b3nn3tt.com/ ROGER LANGRIDGE p134 Roger Langridge is a New Zealand-born comics writer and artist who came to prominence with his work on Judge Dredd Megazine, The Straightjacket Fits with writer David Bishop. His creator-owned work on Fred The Clown has won him fans around the world and has been nominated for a number of awards including an Eisner. He has also worked on The Muppets comic and Snarked for Boom! Studios and is also a working illustrator. http://hotelfred.blogspot.com/ ED BRUBAKER p135-138 Ed Brubaker is an award-winning comic writer and cartoonist who began his career working on indie comics like Lowlife and The Fall. He went on to work extensively for DC on books like Batman and The Scene Of The Crime for its Vertigo imprint and he completed a run on Marvel’s Captain America as well. He has collaborated with artist Sean Phillips on a number of highly regarded series including Sleeper, Criminal, Incognito and Fatale. Brubaker also worked as a writer on the first season of HBO’s Westworld show and he partnered with Nicolas Winding Refn to release Too Old to Die Young, a 10-part noir miniseries for Amazon in 2019. Relentless marks his latest collaboration with artist Phillips. SEAN PHILLIPS p135-138 Sean Phillips is a British comic artist who began his career working on girls comics when he was only 15 years old. He went on to work for New Statesmen, Straitgate and later Devlin Waugh for Fleetway. He also completed a long run on Vertigo/ DC’s Hellblazer series. In 2005, he moved over to Marvel’s Icon imprint where he co-created Criminal with Brubaker. He has collaborated with the writer almost exclusively ever since. His work has also appeared on Blu ray covers for boutique houses Criterion and Arrow. Relentless is his latest collaboration with writer Brubaker. http://www.seanphillips.co.uk/ 122 STRIPWIRE

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