NOIR #1 went on sale last week and is a prelude to MISS FURY. The series also features the Black Sparrow as well as the Shadow and is written by Victor Gischler with art by Andrea Mutti.
ELLIOTT SERRANO: Hey Victor! Thanks for chatting with me about NOIR #1! Where do you see the book fitting in with Dynamite Entertainment's other books in the "noir" line?
VICTOR GISCHLER: Dynamite has an excellent stable of pulp books and this fits squarely into that period pulp genre of the 1930s-40s. It's what makes it so cool to be able to have a book in which we have both the Shadow and Miss Fury. Dynamites pulp line includes some of the strongest most entertaining books out there if you ask me.
ES: Did you have a choice in the characters you could use in the debut issue?
VG: It was actually a discussion of the characters that led into the idea for NOIR, so they came first. I was casually kicking around the notion of Miss Fury and Black Sparrow getting together with Joe and the idea just seemed to take on a life of its own. He later tossed in the idea to kick things off with The Shadow as a guest star which I thought would be very cool.
ES: How familiar were you with The Black Sparrow before you started writing her adventures?
VG: Actually, nobody was familiar with her at all. I invented her for my run on The Shadow and she came together well enough that we wanted to see her again. I take it as a compliment that she seems like the sort of character that's already been around for a while. I'm not sure what the future is for The Black Sparrow, but I'd love the opportunity sooner or later to delve into her back story.
ES: We see as much of the "heroes" out of their costumes as in them. Do you find them to be more compelling as "civilians" than as their alter-egos? Or vice-versa?
VG: Both. I find Cranston just as interesting as The Shadow. We know what the Shadow's powers are, but I wanted to explore a little bit what it means to be a wealthy man about town and what sort of "powers" that entails. Some issues of the arc have them almost entirely in costume ... less so in other issues. Also, when a couple of characters go for a drink or something like that, it just seems slightly silly to have them in costume. Also it's kind of fun to dress up the characters in 1930s-40s attire. I spend an odd amount of time Googling women's vintage clothing.
ES: It's funny, but doesn't The Shadow have the ability to "cloud the minds of men"? Does the power not work on women? (Insert joke here)
VG: I'm not going near a joke here with a ten foot pole. I'll let readers invent their own. But it was established in the REVOLUTION arc of The Shadow (in which the Shadow was having a little trouble with his powers) that The Black Sparrow was one of those rare individuals who is immune to Shadow's powers. I think that makes for much more interesting interactions between them if he doesn't have all of his usual advantages.
ES: How much research did you do in coming up with the story of the Knights Templar?
VG: I actually saw something on the History Channel about the Newport Tower and from there Google and Wikipedia took me the rest of the way. I used the basics of the research but then twisted things around for my own purposes. Anyone who knows about the different theories of the Newport Tower will easily be able to see what I've used and where I've departed to create my own kick-ass action adventure story.
ES: There are betrayals, double-crosses and constant changes in alliances. How do you keep track of everything?
VG: Character things like alliances and betrayals I have no problem remembering. It's details I often forget, and I'm constantly checking previous issues to remind myself what I've done. It's not so bad for something like a 5-issue mini, but if I ever do a five-year run on a book, I'll probably have to dedicate a wall in my office for some kind of elaborate flow chart.
ES: There's a very cinematic, serial adventure feel to your story. What films, if any, influence your storytelling?
VG: Absolutely. Adventure "treasure hunt" films like Indiana Jones and National Treasure provide a very basic blueprint of the style of story I'm going for. But the difference here --as the title suggests -- is the tone. A little grittier. A little more noir. What if Raiders of the Lost arc had been directed by Billy Wilder? I like to think of those possibilities. What if National Treasure had been directed by Sam Peckinpah?
ES: What's your dream line-up in the "noir line"?
VG: I don't really know what the plans are beyond this first arc. But the real dream for a book like this is that the line-up could always be changing. Sparrow and Miss Fury this time ... maybe Miss Fury and Green Hornet next time. Or The Back Sparrow and Doc Savage. You could crack open a beer and daydream about the possibilities all day.
ES: Thanks for taking the time!
VG: Happy to!
NOIR #1 is now on sale, as is ARMY OF DARKNESS: THE KING IS DEAD, LONG LIVE THE QUEEN TPB by Serrano.
Elliott Serrano is a freelance writer and resident "geek specialist" for the Chicago Redeye (redeyechicago.com/geektome). He has been dubbed the "King of Geeks in Chicago" by tv/radio personality Laurence Holmes (NBC5/WSCR 670AM) and "Chicago's Clark Kent" by Eisner Award winner Gene Ha. You can follow him and learn about the ways of the Force on Twitter (@ElliottSerrano).
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