@’s by David Liss
Writer of Dynamite’s THE SPIDER!!!
KletusCassidy here. After a great run on BLACK PANTHER, the awesome David Liss has returned from a multicity book tour for his latest novel THE TWELTH ENCHANTMENT and in May he will be giving us his take on the pulp hero THE SPIDER for Dynamite Entertainment. I got a chance to talk with him about wild & crazy book tours, taking Garth Ennis in a bare knuckle brawl, reading & interacting with fans and haters on message boards and a whole lot more…KLETUS CASSIDY (KC): Last time I spoke with you, you were about to go on a book tour. How was it? Motley Crue-type parties? Signing various body parts? Groupies? Fill me in...
DAVID LISS (DL): Man, it was insane! One time I even ate the Pringles from the mini bar. Yeah, so author book tours – at least this author’s book tours – are not particularly crazy. You wake up, fly to a new city, go to an event, go back to your room, and start all over again.
KC: How many cities did you do?
DL: I think it was eight. When I first started out, that was a fairly small tour. Now it counts as a large tour. Go figure. But I stopped in some nice cities, saw friends, sold books, and discovered that Tulsa, Oklahoma is actually kind of a cool place.KC: Any crazy stories from the tour?
DL: Did I mention the Pringles? I ate the entire can, but, to be honest, it was one of the little cans.
KC: What attracted you to writing THE SPIDER?
DL: I love classic pulp characters, and the Spider is one of the greats, even if he isn’t as well remembered as some others who have received better film attention. The thing I’ve always liked about the Spider pulps was that they involved destruction and mayhem on a huge scale. The Spider’s enemies did not mess around – they engaged more in acts of war than in crime. Standing against all this was one man who risked everything he cared about because he believed (and rightly so!) that he could make a difference. The Spider, unlike a lot of other pulp heroes, suffers because of what he does. He puts his friends at risk. He can’t marry the woman he loves. He’s dark, brooding, resourceful and ruthless. He also brands the foreheads of the guys he kills. So, I guess the real question is why would anyone not want to write the Spider?
KC: What attracts you to pulp characters?DL: There is something very basic and primal about the pulps. They offer a kind of pure narrative satisfaction, and while I think it is very cool that comics have become more complex and sophisticated and the worlds in which contemporary heroes live are broad and interconnected, I also think there is something lost when it becomes difficult to tell a story about a single guy fighting injustice and facing down impossible odds. Pulp characters translate perfectly to the comic book medium because they get at what so many comics readers, including myself, are looking for -- stories about cool guys who have something to lose and are willing to risk anything to fight colorful bad guys. The pulps emerged because they offered a kind of story that people find instantly compelling and absorbing, and that hasn't changed even if the approach has, inevitably, evolved.
KC: What kind of research did you do for THE SPIDER?
DL: I read a lot of Spider pulps. Also, I shot people and branded their foreheads.
KC: Is this an entirely new take on THE SPIDER, with new supporting characters and settings, or will you try to retain a lot of what has been done in the past?DL: I think of this as a reboot, so it is the original characters doing the kinds of things they originally did, but I've made changes because the world of the 1930s is not the world of 2012. I wanted the characters and their motivations to be believable and seem modern and relevant. I know some pulp purists will complain, and there's nothing wrong with that, but I thought it would be a disservice to try to shoehorn the characters, precisely as they were, into a contemporary setting.
KC: You mentioned THE SPIDER has risked a lot for his life as a hero, so without spoiling your story, why is that? What motivates THE SPIDER?
DL: My feeling is that the Spider is motivated by the knowledge that he can make a difference, and if he opts not to, then people get hurt and people die. It's as simple as that. Richard Wentworth, the Spider's alter ego, has money, resources, connections and intelligence to track down bad guys and stop them more quickly and efficiently than the police. Once he accepts the truth of that, he can't walk away from the burden. Essentially, he's a moral guy, if an extreme one. The standard line is that he's a sane man in an insane world, and I really took that to heart.
KC: Speaking about purists and pleasing them, Is that something you think about while writing characters like BLACK PANTHER or THE SPIDER that have been around for some time and have a solid fan base with certain expectations?DL: Of course, Characters who have been around for a long time have survived because they have a fan base, and I think it's crazy to disregard what it is readers enjoy about those characters. When I was writing BLACK PANTHER, I paid of attention to what fans were saying on-line, both the good and the bad, and if criticisms made sense to me, I'd take them into account as I worked on future scripts. All writers should be open to input and criticisms. That said, I'm not going to back away from taking a character in a direction I feel good about because I think some fans won't like it. It's also important to recognize the difference between the loudest voices and the majority opinion. Ultimately, I'd say that fan opinion is always one factor among many. With the Spider, there were some changes I made thinking the whole time, "The hardcore fans are going to complain about this." I just hope that, in the end, those same fans will see those decisions were made out of a desire to make the character current and preserve the spirit of the character in a new setting. Sometimes fans want their characters preserved in amber, but that isn't always the best move.
KC: Wow, you actually read what people were saying online about your comics? I always thought that would be completely demotivating and somewhat depressing to read that stuff. Do you care to share anything that was said? Were there any completely ridiculous assertions?DL: I actually formed some good on-line relationships with the Black Panther fans on the CBR boards. I think those guys really appreciated being listened to and being taken seriously. There were, of course, lots of assholes too, but for the most part, being active on-line was a good experience.
KC: Do you find that same thing when meeting fans of your novels, where someone might say "Hey! So and so wouldn't do that," or "You bastard! How could you do that to Timmy," even though you created those characters?
DL: No, I've never had that with the novels. Sometimes readers will express surprise or disappointment with things characters do or how certain plot points develop, but I suspect that with my novels, readers are more apt to see the characters are belonging to me. With pulp or comic book characters, readers feel -- and rightly so, I'd say -- that they are part owners of the characters and so their voices ought to count. I agree with that.
KC: How would you describe the art?
DL: I love Colton Worley's art on this book. On the one hand, he had a very precise and realistic style, but there's also something ethereal and impressionistic about it. I think it's a fantastic look for a pulp character, and I know the art is going to bring us fans. People who have never heard of the Spider are going to pick this up, flip through it, and lay down their money. It's arresting stuff.KC: I've always thought that the covers for THE SPIDER pulps looked really cool and unique. Are you guys planning the same thing for the covers of this series?
DL: Absolutely. I'm sure you've seen the line-up for the first issue covers: Alex Ross, John Cassaday, Ron Lesser and, of course, my BLACK PANTHER partner-in-crime, Francesco Francavilla. Brilliant art and gripping images. They look great, and I'm thrilled to have my work associated with these guys.
KC: I read that when THE SPIDER was originally created it was done so to be in direct competition to THE SHADOW. Now Dynamite is publishing both. Basically what I’m getting at is, when the chips are down do you think you could take Garth Ennis in a one on one bare knuckle brawl?
DL: Garth Ennis has a huge fan base, and rightly so -- I'm part of that fan base. He's much more established in comics than I am, and the Shadow has better name recognition than the Spider does, so I don't feel the need to compete with him. He's out to do justice to a well-known character, and personally I can't wait to read his take on the Shadow. I, on the other hand, am looking to give a lesser-known character more recognition. It's apples and oranges. Anyhow, there's room enough for all of us. There are certainly writers with whom I'd love to get into a grudge match, but he's not one of them.KC: Seriously, though: who would win in THE SPIDER vs. THE SHADOW?
DL: The Spider. No question about it.
KC: I love Spider-man, some people love Indiana Jones, some folks love Harry Potter…is there a certain character (not limited to comic books) that has stricken such a chord with you that you’ll always follow their exploits? A character that you just always love, no matter the incarnation?
DL: Doctor Who. There, I said it. Conan is up there too.
KC: Any new projects you want to tease?DL: Nothing I can, but I'll be happy to talk to you more about future projects when I get the green light.
KC: Well, i guess that's all i have, anything else you'd like to say about THE SPIDER?
DL: No, I think we've covered it.
KC: When does the first issue hit the stands?
DL: May. I'm not sure which week. I'm sure Dynamite can help you with that.
KC: Thanks for doing the interview, I'm looking forward to reading THE SPIDER and really anything else you have coming out.
DL: Thank you. I really appreciate it.
KC: If you’d like see more of what David Liss is up to out check out his website here.
UPDATE: THE SPIDER BY DAVID LISS & COLTON WORLEY FROM Dynamite Entertainment IS IN STORES MAY 2ND!
Proofs, co-edits & common sense provided by Sleazy G
