In addition to the bevy of excellence that Monkeybrain currently has in their output, last week saw the release of a brand new series entitled “Anti-Hero.” Written by Jay Faerber and illustrated by Nate Stockman, “Anti-Hero” is a new superhero crime series in the vein of “Incognito,” with a nice twist on the general genre and absolutely killer artwork.
Today we sit down with writer Jay Faerber to talk about the series, its inspiration, where it’s headed and working with flawed characters.
So – and I know some people hate getting this question for interviews – but for people who are unaware as to what “Anti-Hero” is about, how would you describe it for them?
Jay Faerber: Anti-Hero is all about hard choices. It’s about what happens when a low level mobster named Callum Finney discovers the secret identity of the super-hero Paragon, and decides to use that information to his advantage. In short, he blackmails Paragon into going to work for him, committing various crimes and acting as Callum’s muscle. If Paragon refuses, Callum will “out” him, thus endangering Paragon’s friends and family. So the book is all about seeing just how far Paragon can be pushed.
At this point in your career, having written numerous made-up superhero characters, what is your process in creating new ones? I ask only because it doesn’t seem you have any reliance on modeling them after famous heroes from certain companies, which is a trait not often seen.
JF: Yeah, I’ve never had much interest in creating thinly veiled knockoffs of Marvel and DC heroes. I mean, there’s only so many super powers, so sure, there are going to be some similarities. But for me it’s all about the combination of powers and personality. The lead character in Anti-Hero is called Paragon, and there have been other characters with that name before. He’s not got the most original super-power on the planet, either. He’s basically just really strong and durable. But sometimes the simple ideas are the way to go. I wanted an iconic, archetypal character in this specific instance. But my stories are rarely about the character’s actual powers. It’s all just window dressing. In this case, it’s window dressing for the real story, which is just how far a hero will go to protect his secret. How many compromises will he make?
Some characters I’ve had in my head for years. Rainshadow, who we meet in issue #2, is one such character. I’ve just always thought “Rainshadow” was a cool name, and it immediately seemed perfect for a character who’s equal parts Batman and Storm. I had a clear idea of the character and his personality, so it was just a matter of Nate Stockman coming up with a cool, iconic design for him (which he did wonderfully).
One thing that is notable, something you talk about in the backmatter of the first issue, is that the book is essentially a mix of the two types of work that made you famous. In merging crime and superhero fiction, beyond creating some appealing to all of your fans, what were you hoping to accomplish?
JF: Anything I write is designed first and foremost to be something I’d wanna read. I don’t try too much to predict what an audience will like. I don’t like to jump on trends. I’m not one of those guys who knocked out a zombie book when Walking Dead first took off. So Anti-Hero is really just a combination of two genres I really love — super-heroes and crime. The two have always been mixed, of course. Super-heroes fight crime, after all. I’ve just never approached a book this way, where I’m very conscious of the two genres at work. In some scenes, it’s very much a super-hero book. In others, it’s very much a crime book. But to answer your question directly, the only thing I’m really hoping to accomplish is to entertain people. At the end of the day, that’s what we’re here for.
Working with super-characters again, are you pulling anything from your “Noble Causes”/”Dynamo 5” days out of your toolbox in crafting the series? Or is this closer to “Near Death” and “Point of Impact” in how you’re looking at the overarching story?
Continued belowJF: I’m probably pulling more from the Noble Causes / Dynamo 5 stuff, but not just because they’re super-hero books, but because they were very serialized. Near Death was very episodic and Point of Impact was serialized, but was also a short, finite story. With Anti-Hero, I liken it most to an old serial. It’s got short chapters, and every one ends on a big cliffhanger. The story moves along at a very brisk pace with lots of twists and turns and hopefully a lot of moments that make you gasp.
I get a general vibe of Brubaker’s brand of crime fiction in this series, but are there any particular crime/noir stories or films that you find are influencing you here?
JF: Brubaker’s mix of super-heroes and crime in books like Sleeper and Incognito is definitely an influence. I also find myself thinking about Breaking Bad a lot. And I know it sounds incredibly pretentious to even cite that as an influence. I’m not trying to flatter myself and it’s kind of insufferable to even mention my work in the same breath as a masterpiece like that show. But here’s the thing. One of the many things Breaking Bad does really well is put the screws to its characters. It puts them in terrible situations and never looks away as they have to squirm and figure a way out. In this book we’re going to put Paragon into a corner quite often, and see just how far he’ll go — just how much he’ll compromise his values — as he tries to get out.
A lot of your previous work has dealt with characters making difficult decisions, and “Anti-Hero” is no different. What is it about these flawed characters searching for truth that you find so appealing?
JF: I think it tells you a lot about a character when you see how he reacts to tense situations. It’s just fun, as a writer, to come up with seemingly impossible choices and then demonstrate why your character makes the decision he does. It’s what drama is all about. And it’s especially fun when the character makes the wrong choice.
How did you and Nate Stockman come together to work on this?
JF: I was turned on to Nate’s work by Paul Little, who colors the book. I was looking for an artist who could handle the super-hero stuff that Paragon’s involved with, but also the more grounded stuff in Callum’s world. Paul didn’t hesitate to suggest Nate, and after taking one look at Nate’s stuff, I was sold. He’s super enthusiastic and also really fast. The first issue went on sale last week and Nate’s already drawn up through issue #5. I couldn’t be happier with Nate, and the whole team (Paul, plus letterer Charles Pritchett).
You had a relationship with them before due to your series “Denali,” but what about this series made it perfect for Monkeybrain?
JF: Denali was sort of me dipping my toe into the digital water. I liked the idea of doing something digitally. Something with short chapters that we could sell for 99 cents, but that would come out on a regular basis. Again, something like an old serial or the old pulp magazines. Chris and Allison are both really smart and really easy to work with. The thing I like most about creator-owned comics isn’t actually that I OWN the properties (and would therefore benefit if they get adapted into other media). I know that’s a big deal for a lot of creators. But for me, it’s all about creative control. I’ve been spoiled by working at Image, where they’re completely hands off. And Chris and Allison are the same. They have a good infrastructure in place and they know what they’re doing in terms of publishing and distribution, but they also stay out of the way creatively.
You’ve been working in print comics for quite some time now, but how do you feel about the bigger push towards the digital medium that we’ve seen over the last few years?
JF: I don’t spend a lot of time thinking about the business side of things, or what’s going to happen with the print market. I’m much more interested in focusing on the creative aspects of the business. But I read a lot of comics on my iPad. I love the convenience. I still buy books in print, but they tend to be more hardcovers and trades, and less single issues. So while I want all our local comic book shops to stay in business, I also can’t deny that I really love the digital delivery system.
Continued belowHave you found the challenge of working on a digital comic any different than working in print?
JF: I really haven’t encountered any differences, honestly. And we still plan on releasing a print collection of Anti-Hero. Either a hardcover or a trade paperback. But we definitely want the book available to those readers who aren’t as crazy about digital stuff as we are. We don’t want to exclude anyone.
If I was doing the book strictly for the digital market, we’d probably create the book in a landscape orientation instead of portrait, like Mark Waid’s doing on Thrillbent (to name one example). But there haven’t really been any challenges I can think of because of the delivery method.
A last thing I want to discuss is that the page count in the second issue drops to about half of what the first one was. Is the series designed this way moving forward – start with a double-sized issue and then bite-sized issues from there? You mention that you’d like to see this in print eventually, so what is the breakdown in terms of chapters?
JF: Yeah, we wanted to make the first issue larger than normal. Issue #2 came in shorter than the planned norm. Issues 3-5 are 10 pages each. Issue #2 is 8 pages. I could’ve extended it, but every effort just felt forced and padded. So I decided to leave it at 8 pages. But yeah, the standard length will be 10 pages. We’re planning to do at least 10 issues, which will give us about 100 pages — which is a good length for a trade paperback. At that point, depending on sales, we’ll decide if it’s worth continuing the book. But the first 100 pages will be a nice “season” of Anti-Hero.
“Anti-Hero” #1 is available now on Comixology.
