Team Superfriends|Fighting the good fight

One of the most exciting new offerings this month is Logan’s Run: Last Day, a 24-issue limited series from the folks at Bluewater Studios.

Having discovered the Logan’s Run novel by William F. Nolan and George Clayton Johnson back in high school, I was pretty psyched to hear about this adaptation. It looks like this adaptation will stay true to the novel, rather than the 1976 movie starring Michael York.

I had the chance to interview William F. Nolan about the new adaptation, his plans for other series with Bluewater, and the state of a new Logan’s Run movie:

TFAW.com: It is nice to (virtually) meet you, Mr. Nolan.

William F. Nolan: Thanks, glad to (virtually) be here!

TFAW.com: We were really excited to hear about Logan’s Run: Last Day, the new comic book adaptation of your novel. How did the comic come about?

Nolan: My good friend and author/filmmaker Jason V. Brock (Charles Beaumont: The Short Life of Twilight Zone’s Magic Man) and his wife Sunni saw an article about Bluewater in the local Vancouver, WA paper. Jason does some agenting on my behalf and contacted Darren G. Davis, the president of Bluewater.

We scheduled a meeting at their offices in Vancouver, and they were very excited about the Logan property. Jason (who is also an artist and the Art Director/Managing Editor of Dark Discoveries magazine) and I assisted in working on the designs and costumes for some of the characters, which they are using in the final comic. Also, Jason had come up with a great storyline for a new Logan book we are outlining that uses the original book and expands on the backstory, updating it significantly.

That’s where Paul J. Salamoff comes in: he was chosen to adapt the novels into comic format, but none of us really wanted a “straight” adaptation of the books–it’s been done by MGM, Marvel, Malibu Graphics, and so on. It was time for a fresh take on Logan. Paul was perfect for the job. Not to mention that the four of us–Darren, Paul, Jason, and myself–all work well together and have gotten to be friends.

TFAW.com: Logan’s Run isn’t a stranger to comics. Other publishers have done mini-series adaptations over the years. Is there something special in today’s world that prompted you to move forward with an adaptation?

Nolan: I was not happy with Marvel or Malibu’s versions. I very much disliked the art in the Malibu edition, though they were faithful to the books. As far as the Marvel version, it was just too “superhero”: Logan is a real character, not a superheroic one, and I was never that pleased with it. In addition, they were really adapting the MGM movie, which is flawed, not the book that I wrote with George Clayton Johnson.

Given the current trend of Hollywood getting interested in comic book works, I feel that this is the perfect time to get a really great version of Logan out there . . . and this is the one.

TFAW.com: To what degree are you involved with the Bluewater Productions adaptation of Logan’s Run?

Nolan: I have final creative say-so over the artwork and storyline, as well as writing for some of the other titles we have planned.

TFAW.com: Will Paul Salamoff be staying pretty close to the original story or have you given him some freedom to move about in the world you’ve created?

Nolan: Paul is working off the outline that we provided, but has added a couple of elements. He is actually being faithful to the first two books (Logan’s Run and Logan’s World) at the start of the series. All of us are excited about the directions that we could go after these first six or so issues.

TFAW.com: What has Daniel Gete brought to the table in terms of art for Last Day?

Nolan: His work is very good. Jason and I both like his rendering and layouts a lot. His vision is in concert with ours: strong and direct–perfect for Logan.

TFAW.com: For someone who might only be familiar with the 1976 film version of Logan’s Run, what differences can they expect to see in the comic?

Nolan: We wanted as many things as possible to be different from the film, for legal and artistic reasons. We went back to the source material as much as possible, and built on that. You’ll see very soon!

TFAW.com: Awhile back, I heard that the series was scheduled for 24 issues. Is that still the case?

Nolan: Yes, 24 issues is correct. We have a lot planned for the series.

TFAW.com: Are you planning on working with Bluewater Productions on any other series?

Nolan: Yes. I signed on to do have an adaptation done of Sam Space, my future-noir character, for a run of four to six issues, and Dark Universe, a run of six issues utilizing my horror stories as source material. I am slated to adapt at least two of these, and Jason Brock has been tapped to adapt three of my stories.

TFAW.com: There have been whispers of a remake of the Logan’s Run movie. Are there any plans to move forward on a film project?

Nolan: It’s more than a whisper–it’s been in “pre-production” for 13 years! Joel Silver is involved, as well as Bryan Singer, among others. They still plan on making it, but when . . . that is the question. We’re hoping that the direction that we plan on taking the comics will light a little fire under Hollywood, as well as give them a bit of direction for a possible way of doing justice to the spirit of the books. It is a great candidate for a remake, as the technology has improved dramatically since 1976 and they could really do a lot with it.

TFAW.com: One last question: At TFAW.com, we’re always looking for ways to go above and beyond for our customers . . .

Nolan: I think I know what you mean . . . would you like some signed copies of the comics? I’m sure Darren would be happy to supply some for you guys, and I love to sign for fans! How about 15 or so copies for you guys?

TFAW.com: Absolutely. I think our readers would like that very much. Thank you for taking the time to chat with us about Logan’s Run: Last Day, and thanks for signing some books for us!

Nolan: No problem: any time!

—————-

You heard what the man said, we’re getting 15 signed books, and we’re offering them up to 15 random people who pre-order any Logan’s Run: Last Day issue by 1/24/10. Winners will be announced in the TFAW.com Newsletter on 1/28/10!

In the meantime, check out the four-page first look and whet your appetite. ;0)

Part man. Part machine. All cop. The future of law enforcement returns!

Dynamite Entertainment presents the dynamic debut of their Robocop series written by Rob Williams (Cla$$war) with art by Fabiano Neves (Marvel Zombies vs. the Army of Darkness)!

Dynamite goes back to basics as it unveils the dystopian, deeply satirical, and all-out violent world of Robocop.

This Robocop series picks up where the first movie left off and boasts high action and extreme violence with a touch of conspiracy theory.

Plus: the return of ED-209!

We couldn’t be more excited to see our favorite crime fighting future policeman back in print, so we put our noggins together at TFAW Headquarters to give him an appropriate send-up.

While supplies last, you can pick up the first issue of Dynamite’s new Robocop series and get a FREE mini Robocop figure complete with busted ED-209!

The Robocop #1 Book and Figure Set is the same price as the the comic by itself (just $2.80 when you pre-order), but most customers will see $0.50-$1.00 difference in shipping (since we can’t send the figure in a flat mailer).

Stay tuned to future TFAW.com Newsletters to learn about the next Robocop Book & Figure set! Click here to sign up for the TFAW.com Newsletter.

If you’ve been following the events in the DCU, you know that exciting events are unfolding! Coming at you this November are seven very special DC issues. Each of these Blackest Night crossover issues will ship with a different Special-Edition Lantern Ring.

The cool thing is that we’re offering these sweet little rings to you at no additional charge.

The bummer thing is that we can’t ship them in flat mailers, so you’ll incur a small price jump in shipping. (Most customers will see only a $.50 or $1.00 difference.)

If you’d rather just order the comic book issue by itself, no problem! For those of you who do want the ring, just make sure the product title says something like: “Outsiders #24 w/ Violet Lantern Ring” and you’re good to go.

Didn’t get the Black Lantern ring the first time around? How about this: if you pre-order all seven of the Comic/Ring combos in a single order, you’ll be automatically entered into our Black Lantern Ring Contest to win one of 25 Black Lantern rings!

What do you think of DC’s Ring Promotion? Are you ordering any of these issues? Let us know below!

The Anchor. Holy warrior, unholy war. Freak of nature, beast of burden, hulking outcast, medieval prize fighter, Viking raider, God’s leg-breaker.

One thousand years ago a hulking outcast sought refuge in the crumbling ruins of an ancient monastery, offering in return the one thing he had to give–his fists.

Transformed into an immortal warrior monk standing at the gates of Hell itself to keep our world free from its invading armies, The Anchor is mysteriously tricked into centuries of slumber. But today, this holy warrior rises to battle all the unholy monsters unleashed during his slumber.

We had the chance to chat with Phil Hester and Brian Churilla, the creators of this exciting new series from Boom Studios! Here are the fruits of that chat.

TFAW.com: Phil, you’ve spent a lot of time writing complex, dark stories and The Anchor certainly looks like it’s going down a similar road. What can you tell us about the tone of the book? What’s it going to feel like?

Phil Hester (PH): In the same vein as The Coffin or Deep Sleeper, but with an emphasis on action. In the past most of my protagonists have been everyman types thrown into bizarre situations. In The Anchor, the main character is the bizarre factor thrown into our world. So, while I hope fans of my work find the same kind of thoughtfulness they found in my other books, there will be a lot of balls-out fight scenes. I’d say “teeth rattling” would best describe the feel of the book.

TFAW.com: Little saint, God’s leg-breaker? Is it safe to say that religion will play a key role in The Anchor?

PH: Only obliquely. The Anchor is a Christian monk, but we’ll see in the first issue that he doesn’t even know what a psalm is. His training, we’ll come to find out, is very unorthodox. As far as he knows his powers come from the almighty and that’s good enough for him. We don’t dig much deeper than that. There’s no time for navel gazing in his world or our funnybook. It relates to Christianity about as accurately as The Mighty Thor does to worshipers of Odin, but there’s certainly no effort to demean it at all.

As Chris Walken said in defense of The Prophecy when some interviewer bemoaned the idea of evil angels (paraphrasing): “I’m sure real angels are good. This is a film.”

The Anchor #2 (Cover A)

TFAW.com: Starting a brand-new series and establishing mythos must be very exciting and exhausting.  What can you tell us about our hero and how’d you come up with his name?

PH: The Anchor doesn’t have a full recollection of his own identity in issue #1, so we’ll be learning along with him. I hate to spoil plot points, so I’ll just say that every time The Anchor kills a monster, he gets a little bit of his memory back. Here’s what we know: He’s basically Gandhi’s soul in The Incredible Hulk’s body, his soul is in hell preventing demons from invading Earth, the wounds he suffers in hell show up on his body on Earth, and he’s on a mission to destroy any demonic critters that make it to our world.

The name came from stumbling across the practices of Anchorite monks, who walled themselves up in the foundations of churches to prevent outside influence. That extreme commitment to a cause is both startling and inspirational. What kind of person does that? A person who has rejected the world as he or she sees it and is looking for something else. Also, we’ll see that our main character has other reasons for the nickname when we get a flashback in #2. In the end, it implies a rock-solid base, unwavering strength–that’s our guy!

TFAW.com: Has this idea been simmering for awhile or did inspiration hit you recently?

PH: It’s pretty recent. I cooked it up just for Brian to draw.

TFAW.com: How did you two come to meet and work together?

PH: I’d been an admirer of Brian’s work since I saw it in the Archaia book, The Engineer. I emailed him to buy some pages and we hit it off well enough to work together. I sent Brian my list of 20 or so unpublished proposals and he rejected them all! As I said earlier, my heroes tend to be average Joes, and Brian wanted to draw an iconic character. I was turning all that around in my head when I saw a travel special about anchorite monks at Lindisfarne. He seemed to dig it and away we went.

TFAW.com: Brian, you’re a relative newcomer on the comics scene, where have you been hiding? I mean, your art is pretty incredible. How is it that we haven’t seen a lot more of you?

Brian Churilla (BC): I’ve been around, cutting my teeth for a while now. I started out doing a graphic novel with Fred Van Lente called Watchdogs, went on to do The Engineer for Archaia, Dark Horse Presents, Rex Mundi, Creepy for DH and We Kill Monsters with Red5, to name a few. I’m definitely doing my best work in The Anchor because aesthetically, it’s smack dab in the ol’ wheelhouse, so I feel very inspired.

The Anchor #2 (Cover B)

TFAW.com: How has the character design process gone?  Has The Anchor changed a lot since his initial inception?

BC: There have been some changes for sure, but overall, he’s retained his likeness since his initial design. There are a lot of monsters to design, a lot, and who wouldn’t want to draw monsters all the time?

TFAW.com: Anything else we should expect to find in The Anchor?

PH: I think there will be a more romantic bent to this than anyone might suspect looking at the previews and first issues. Also, I can’t help myself, even though this is billed as a punch-up kind of comic, it will get heavy and/or touching when you least expect it!

TFAW.com: Let’s say I’m a reader who’s on the fence about The Anchor. How are you going to push me over the edge?  What’s your used-car salesman pitch?

PH: There’s an under-served market in comics, and that’s readers craving smart action. We get plenty of dumb action from superhero comics and plenty of smart shoe gazing from lit comix. We’re trying to wrangle the best of both worlds. I think we offer thrills and spills coupled with plenty of emotionally resonant moments and witty dialogue. Imagine Michael Chabon writing play by play for a demolition derby. That’s us.

Thanks for taking the time to talk with us about The Anchor, guys. We’re eagerly awaiting October 28th.

For those of you who’d like to see a bit more of the book, check out the First Look. The first issue is available for pre-order now, so hurry and get your copy while you can.

Phil and Brian were also kind enough to give us some signed copies, so be sure to pre-order The Anchor #1 or comment below and we’ll throw your name in the hat to get one of those coveted copies!