Often it seems like we've pretty much seen every idea possible. Stories have been told over and over and it's hard to imagine something with a different twist. That's what Jeremy Bernstein has done. Known for writing for television and video games, Jeremy is now taking on comics with a detective noir story featuring none other than Santa Claus.
Santa Claus as a detective? That's exactly what SANTA CLAUS: PRIVATE EYE is about. We took the chance to ask Jeremy more about this series and where it can be found.
COMIC VINE: How do you describe this series?
JEREMY BERNSTEIN: I would describe it as a modern day noir detailing the adventures of a down and out Santa Claus as he struggles to make ends meet on the mean streets of the city.
CV: Where and when did you get the idea for this?
JB: It was actually a couple years ago. I remember I was brushing my teeth in the bathroom and I was trying to come up with an idea. I was interested in writing a supernatural detective story. I started thinking I’ve seen supernatural detective stories. I’ve seen vampires, I’ve seen wizards, and I love them. But I’ve seen all those kind of things. I wanted to do a supernatural being I hadn’t seen before. A little voice in the back of my head said, “Santa Claus.” And I laughed at it because that’s ridiculous. The more I thought about it, the more I was like, “Well, he knows if you’ve been naughty or nice. He can climb in chimneys. He’s really good at breaking into places to poke around. If Santa needed to moonlight, this is not a bad job for him.”
The question soon became, “So why does Santa need to moonlight?” Once I started thinking about that, I started getting into the character and developing this notion of the jolly Santa Claus, the symbol of happiness…at least for the Western world, what makes him happy? What does he do when he’s feeling glum? How awful must it be, year after year after year, for everyone to be expecting you to bring them cheer and nobody’s doing that for you?
Once I had that character, I was like, “Alright, I gotta know about this guy.” It seemed like a great fit for the genre, for noir. Noir heroes are always down on their luck. They’re always dealing with the seedy underbelly of the world. It really seemed like a down on his luck Santa Claus, trying to deal with the seedy underbelly of life…that seemed like something I would want to read.
CV: Is this how Santa funds his entire operation at the North Pole?
JB: No. The North Pole operation is self-sustaining. There’s other reasons Santa needs to make ends meet. I don’t want to say too much about that without spoiling some of what’s coming.
CV: You said this was like a crime-noir, how would you describe the overall tone of the series?
JB: My goal was to write something that if you did a cut-and-replace with Santa Claus and Sam Spade, it would still read just fine. Dark noir is really what I was going for. At the same time, it’s Santa Claus. There’s kind of an inherent absurdity to it, but it’s an absurdity to the readers, and not the characters.
CV: What other characters will we see in the series?
JB: We’ll definitely see Jack Frost in the course of it. He’s one of Santa’s street snitches because he likes to peek in windows, basically. So he’s the guy Santa goes to for tips, when he’s looking. I was looking for the obvious noir crossover elements to play with the genre troupes. The street snitch is always a noir element. Likewise we’ve got Cymbaline, who is an elf. She’s Santa’s secretary. Being the elf that helps him on the sleigh run, with the list of names of children, she’s got a very good head for facts and figures. She sits at the front desk at the office. She’s his girl Friday. And of course we’ll have our client that will help kick our story off.
CV: How much of the series do you have planned out?
JB: We have a twelve-issue story arc. For a volume one, which has started and will run every Monday from now until Christmas. Depending on the response to it, I have a few more story arcs in mind. I have some solid ideas. I know what stories I want to tell for volume two and volume three. I could see it going on longer than that, depending on reception.
CV: Do others at the North Pole, like Mrs. Claus, know about this job and what he’s doing?
JB: They know he’s doing something, but they don’t know the details. In fact, Mrs. Claus will play pretty heavily in volume two. She decides if Santa isn’t giving this thing his full attention, then, dammit, she’s going to take over. And nobody quite knows how that’s going to work.
CV: How deep are you going to go into the mythology of the character, like with his magical abilities and so forth?
JB: His magical abilities play into it. I try to keep them very very light. I was interested in a supernatural detective dealing with normal everyday problems. I’m interested in making him human, making him feel real and relatable. I’m not as interested in the myth and the magic. A lot of it is hand-waving. He knows if you’re naughty or nice but he doesn’t know exactly what you’ve done. Otherwise he’d be an uninteresting detective. I sort of put some limits on the rules where I need them in order to be able to tell stories. It’s more about the person and less about the magic.
The first two chapters are now available at Thrillbent.com with new chapters every Monday. Head over there to check it out.
Here's some more preview pages to give you a taste.
