We've seen many revivals when it comes to classic comic book characters. The easy way is to just try to update the characters and tell the same sort of stories. The more impressive way is to add an interesting new twist. That's what we've been seeing at Dynamite Comics. Rob Williams' first issue of MISS FURY is now on sale and instead of simply telling the story set in the original time period or updating the character into the present, he does both.
Comic Vine: When it comes to re-introducing the pulp characters, the decision is made to either tell the stories in the past time period or give them a modern take. What made you decide to have Miss Fury time travel from the 1940s to today?
Rob Williams: Exactly that. I figured doing a 40s pulp book with the character had been done, time travelling these characters to our time had been done, so why not do a book where the lead is constantly travelling between her past, our present and even our future. Miss Fury falls into a Nazi time machine and is cast adrift in the time stream. At any point she can switch to another era and she has no control over it. She gets to see a terrible vision of the future where the Nazis win World War 2 in 2013, and then she has to try and stop it. Basicallly, it's trying to do something kind of fresh with the book that isn't another Captain America - bringing a 40s character to modern day.
CV: Will we find out how she time traveled right away or will that be a mystery in the beginning?
RW: You see Miss Fury fall into the time machine in #1 but her lack of control over her time jumps lead to a sort of fractured narrative for a fractured mind. She isn't sure if she's time travelling or if she's still in 1943 and insane. And her time jumps flip the way our thoughts do, when memories pop into our heads. There's a real sense of this story being the product of a broken mind. It's a jigsaw puzzle where we hopefully get all the pieces of three-dimensional character at the end. But yes, the truth of what's happening will be revealed by the end of the initial arc.
CV: Is it an easy adjustment for her character?
RW: No, anything but. You'll see from #1 that when we meet her she's a very traumatised character anyway. Kind of overcome by nihilism and a deep hurt, and then something very emotionally crushing happens to her, which pushes her even further off the edge. Add being thrown through time and manipulated into becoming an assasin and it's enough of an adjustment to break a sane mind.
CV: It's probably a safe assumption new readers can dive into the series but how will the character compare to her original roots/origin?
RW: She's roughly the same character as her initial origins. Still Marla Drake, rich Manhattan socialite who dons a catsuit to head out onto the rooftops of an evening. The titulating edge of the character's still there. But this is a fresh launch. You can jump on board with #1 here having never read a Miss Fury comic before and you'll be fine. Her origin tale is laid out in #1, and it's a brand new one. We welcome new readers!
CV: Will she set up an alter ego in the present? She was a rich society girl in her time. Will she have access to any of that fortune?
RW: She's very rich in 1943, but that doesn't stop her being a rather bored jewel thief. She doesn't need the cash. She's grown up the daughter of one of the wealthiest men in America. Marla Drake's problem is she doesn't really care about anything. She's dead inside. The book's called 'Miss Fury' so her journey here is find something worth fighting for. Something that will make her angry. Everyone should be a little angry, i think. It's healthy. It shows you care about things.
CV: What sort of enemies will she face in the comic?
RW: Time travelling, shape-shifting armoured Nazi super agents. What more do you want? Although part of her problem here is she doesn't know who to trust and if she's fighting on the right side.
CV: Do other costumed heroes and villains exist in the modern age she ends up in?
RW: This is all part of Dynamite's Pulp Heroes line, and Miss Fury appears in Chris Roberson's excellent MASKS too. But you don't see any of these guys in the initial arc. There may be crossovers down the line, but straight out of the blocks we thought it best to establish Miss Fury so she can fight her own battles.
CV: Will we see any repercussions of Miss Fury leaving her time and ending up in the present? Is there any evidence that Marla Drake mysteriously disappeared back in her time?
RW: There's very dramatic repercussions for what is effectively a time war. Nazi super science tech suddenly arrives in 2013. By the end of #1 we see a flash of a destroyed Manhattan and Nazi future-bombers hovering overhead. They've been using time travel to find the future tech that will allow them to win World War 2.
For Miss Fury the repercussions are more emotional. Can she keep her mind from fracturing? Is she a good person or an amoral killer? Is all this time travel really happening? She's a very different person by the close of our first arc.
MISS FURY #1 is now on sale. Issue 2 is on sale May 1.