Jeff Parker is a busy guy – he’s currently wrapping up “Kings Watch” for Dynamite, as well as launching an ongoing Flash Gordon series, which spins out of “Kings Watch.” Over at DC, he writes the digital adventures of the classic “Batman ’66” characters, and recently took over as writer on “Aquaman,” one of the unqualified successes of the New 52. Parker took time out of his busy schedule to talk to us about all of those projects, in that very order!
“Kings Watch” has been one of my absolute favorite minis of recent memory; the way that you’ve been able to adapt these amazingly timeless, classic characters into a modern day tale that doesn’t feel overly reverent or nostalgic is pretty amazing. What was your history with these characters before getting the “Kings Watch” gig?
Jeff Parker: Thanks. I think reverence can easily kill a character, it leads to giving them no failings or putting them as a perfect unstoppable force in a plot so there’s no surprises or thrill to it. I have to revere them first to take the job, but then put that aside when building the story so that they’ll matter to the reader. But I had read all of them for years, in reprints when they became available and in the Phantom’s case, in the daily paper. I’d also watched the Flash Gordon serials and of course the 1980 movie long ago. Bringing them together wasn’t hard at all, they all feel of the same universe. It helps that two of them were created by Lee Falk.
It’s funny you mention the 1980 film – for folks of my generation, that was our first exposure to Flash. Do you have any affinity for that version of the character, and did any of that seep into “Kings Watch?”
JP: Around that time there was a Filmation cartoon too, I forgot to mention that I liked that. But yes, I do like the DeLaurentis Flash. And I do take an important aspect from that version, his relentless positivity. I love how upbeat Flash is in it. It works for our story, where he’s very young and idealistic, contrasting to the older, wiser Phantom.
I wasn’t aware of the Filmation cartoon, but I was a fan of Defenders of the Earth, the series that most closely resembles “Kings Watch” in terms of the cast. When this project came about, was the cast already set in stone and, if so, was Dynamite trying to bring together those old Defenders of the Earth characters? Or was this something that you had brought to the project?
JP: I was originally talking to them about doing only Flash Gordon, and they liked the plans for that. And very soon into the process they asked if I could bring him together with the other big King Features heroes for the first story. After a little thinking I realized that it wasn’t only not impossible, but could be really cool to do it that way. So “Kings Watch” is the start point for Flash, but Mandrake and Phantom have already been operating for quite a while. Hundreds of years if you count Phantom’s legacy.
What was interesting about “Kings Watch” versus Defenders of the Earth is that Defenders is all about Flash and his son, whereas “Kings Watch” starts out with Flash and his father. Was there something inherent in a younger Flash that appealed to you more than a more experienced, “veteran” Flash?
JP: Yes. I felt the problem people have had in approaching recent version of Flash are because they treat the character as venerable, having been around so long and being one of the primary leads of this kind of escapist fiction. I thought to blast all that away we needed to make Flash the new guy, with no experience just a lot of skill and achiever attitude. He flies against conventional wisdom, especially on points like “Ming cannot be defeated.”
His dad was a character in radio first I think, then added into the newspapers. Mr. Gordon sees his son as a big disappointment, legacy-wise. He wanted him to run Gordon Enterprise, be a pioneer of business, a magnate. But Flash cares about everything that isn’t important that way. He excels at archaic sports like fencing and polo, and travels the world to go diving and mountain climbing and caving. None of it adds up to much on Earth, but on Mongo it makes him THE force to be reckoned with. He’s the right guy for the time and place.
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It was just announced that you will be continuing to write Flash’s adventures in a new ongoing with Evan “Doc” Shaner on pencils. He and Marc Laming have different styles, but are both pretty incredible collaborators, and both bring out the classic pulp tones in different ways. I know you and Evan probably aren’t too far into your working relationship yet, but how has his more playful approach differentiated the type of stories you want to tell versus Marc’s more traditional style he brought to “Kings Watch?”
JP: It fits perfectly, because Flash was always going to be like that, in my mind. “Kings Watch” couldn’t be, because the concept is the takeover of Earth, and it would be weird if that wasn’t handled pretty seriously- we have fun in it, but Marc’s art lends itself really well to the tone of the story. And he makes it hold all together, you believe that the best chance Earth has is a jungle hero, a stage magician, and thrill seeking kid just out of college.
With Flash it’s him and Dale and Zarkov loose on the colonies of Mongo, giving Ming a huge headache. So we can go much lighter, though there are certainly scary bits. But I am tailoring to Evan just like I did with Marc. Pretty lucky to work with these guys!
What sort of challenges does writing a character like Flash, that pre-dates Superman and the very concept of superhero, but still exists somewhat in the superhero milieu, present? Does the huge backlog of stories limit what you feel you can do, or does it free you up to do whatever you like?
JP: That’s why I wanted to go young and new with him – he’s one of the oldest characters in comics, and I think too many people let that inform how they approach his stories, very stoic, somber, etc. I’m just stepping back and setting it all up from square one again, mostly like it was the first time, and really focusing on the characters through a modern lens.
It is interesting that you’re working on modernizing Flash Gordon while, simultaneously, digging into the very specific world of “Batman ’66” for DC Digital. What was your relationship with that particular iteration of Batman before taking on the assignments?
JP: Well I loved it as a kid, and a highlight of childhood was meeting Adam West in costume at a car show. I always thought it did a great job of being entertaining to a wide age range.
The book has been a ton of fun for someone like me, who would watch Batman reruns after school and who has seen, I believe, every episode of the show’s run. The book remains funny and campy, but never feels like you’re making fun or poking holes in the world, which would likely be the approach others take. Is there a difficulty in hitting that tone, or does the specificity of the book make that easier to achieve than it may look?
JP: Yeah, on a certain level I take it all as its presented very seriously so that it has its own laws of physics and developments that can and can’t happen. And I’m not sure that I could break that down into a list of rules, you’d have to ask me for each thing and I’d say yea or nay. Which still leaves a lot of room to anywhere with the stories. It’s got a ton of humor, but in a meta sense, Batman is in on the joke, it’s never really at his expense. That may be the overall rule, if there is one. And that’s because I thought the weakest episodes were ones where they actively tried to be funny. It’s better to let humor roll out of the execution of the story rather than build on an obviously wacky plot.
How involved is DC editorial in terms of what you can bring to the table in this book? Do they have a specific list of do’s and don’t’s in terms of characters that can be brought in, or is just about anything fair game? Please tell me we’ll get a campy Bane in a scarf!
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JP: There were a lot more rules about how I couldn’t mimic certain things on the show before, but now they’re mostly gone with the announcement of the home video collection. Which means the rest of the rights they needed are secured, I believe.
Mike Allred doing covers offers a nice bit of consistency for these issues, but the interior artists aren’t exactly slouches either: Jonathan Case, Ty Templeton, Joe Quinoes, and Colleen Coover, just to name a few. Obviously, the ’66 show has a ton of fans out there, and it allows the artists to play in a very specific sandbox, but what has been one of the biggest surprises of seeing how these great artists render the classic characters in the book?
JP: I think the biggest revelation is just how many different approaches and styles have been able to completely work, and feel right for the book. That’s pretty great. Another neat thing is that sometimes Mike gets inspired to do a certain cover and it’s based on nothing we’ve discussed yet, but I always try to make a story happen to accommodate it, because it’s going to be great.
Give us a little tease of what we can look forward to in the next few arcs of the book.
JP: More Batgirl, and more of the formidable women villains, wich the show was very good about. It used a lot of actresses.
Your new gig at DC, “Aquaman,” started back in December, and is following up DC CCO Geoff Johns on the title. The character has had a resurgence under the pen of Johns, who took Arthur from a much-maligned character to one of great importance in the DCU. However, the character has grown to be a more serious and, in some ways, dour character in the New 52. As a writer who has a, well deserved, reputation for bringing levity and humor to your books, is that one of your charges for your time on “Aquaman,” or are you happy to keep him in the more serious mode he has been for the past few years?
JP: He’s still pretty serious, and there’s heavy stuff to come, but I do try to show more sides of him. There is more humor, because I feel like that plays against tension really well, they come from the same place. But in general, and with most things, I try to have a tone that lets us get the range of emotion and drama, I don’t want too much of any one of them.
Paul Pelletier is a holdover from Johns’s run on the book. What has it been like working with Paul thus far?
JP: Paul is the best, he’s a fantastic artist and has good ideas to incorporate in stories. I was so glad he was staying on, I feel he really portrays Aquaman and Mera about as well as anyone can. He can do huge action, and subtle character work, he’s extremely versatile. Also he can draw Aquadog better than anybody.
Since you came on the book, a second Aquaman title, “Aquaman and the Others” has been announced. Does this new title change your assignment at all? Does this limit the locations you’ll be using (e.g. – will “The Others” be more Atlantean and the solo book be more surface-based), or does it free you up to do stories that maybe wouldn’t be ideal if only one book existed?
JP: The only thing I’ve had to do is a bit of coordination with Dan Jurgens and the editors, but nothing that’s made me alter story arcs. They fit together well, and its cool that a new team is getting such attention.
Similarly, Arthur is an important character in “Justice League” which, apparently, is set to kick of the “Rise of the Seven Seas” arc this year. Will your book be standing on its own for most of 2014, or will it be a part of the various crossovers (like, whatever is happening in the “Dark” line teaser) coming to DC this year?
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JP: I don’t want to spoil!
Mera has been a near-constant in the book since its inception – what can we expect for Aquaman’s not-quite-wife during your run?
JP: Expect even more of her, she has a big role going forward. Such a great character, I think she could support her own book easily.
Finally – what else can readers expect from your “Aquaman?”
JP: Expect some new and recreated characters to burst forth, because they’re on the way. I want to add a lot to the DC universe.
