Posted in: Comics | Tagged: chris roberson, codename action, Comics, Dynamite Entertainment, mark waid, the shadow

Mark Waid Chats With Codename: Action And The Shadow's Chris Roberson

Published Mon, 03 Feb 2014 18:00:56 -0600

Dynamite Entertainment loves doing peer-to-peer interviews and then sending them over to us. Well, all this week we get to see Mark Waid in action as interlocutor on behalf of Bleeding Cool. Here he sits down with Chris Roberson the writer on the Codename: Action and The Shadow series.

Mark Waid: Chris, I pity you because you're too young to have been a first-generation Captain Action fan. That's not really a question, I just wanted to tell you how I pity you.

Chris Roberson: Mark, that's only one of many reasons to pity me, I'm sure.

MW: You've done a great job of making this series stand on its own, as it should. It's hardly a "toy tie-in." That said, is there anything about past incarnations in any media that's informed your take, however subtly?

CR: Primarily I went back to the material about the character that shipped with the original toys, or was carried in advertising, stuff like that. I've read and enjoyed a lot of the previous comic book adaptations, but as much as possible wanted this new series to stand on its own. But there are some fantastic poses on those Gil Kane pages in the series DC published, aren't there?

MW: Talk to me a little about the cast. Who's there, how do they relate to one another, and what about them (if anything) are you drawing from your own life?

CR: The focus of our attention is on a trio of superspies: Operator 5, Operative 1001, and Black Venus. This is a jet-age supersonic adventure, and I very much wanted to capture the feel of the superspy movies and TV shows of the era. There are masked heroes and vigilantes in the mix too, of course, but they play a supporting role.

MW: What is it about this story that makes you passionate to tell it? What's the most fun part of the gig?

CR: Dude, this is a story in which secret agents have to infiltrate the secret island stronghold of a cabal bent on world domination. What's NOT fun about that?!

MW: Fill in the blanks for me: If you're a fan of ____________ and _____________, you will really like Codename: Action.

CR: If you're a fan of things that are awesome and explosions, you will really like Codename: Action.

MW: How familiar were you with The Shadow walking into the job? (Like I really had to ask.)

CR: I've always been a huge fan of the pulps, ever since I was a kid. Growing up in the 70's I was able to catch the tail end of the big pulp revival that started in the 60's, as well as the general nostalgia boom that put old time radio shows back on the air and Saturday morning serials from the 30's on UHF channels at odd hours. I remember listening to the Shadow radio show with my dad at a pretty young age, and it wasn't until high school that I went back and read the pulps.

MW: Talk to me a little about the cast as if you and I didn't already know it like family. Who's there, how do they relate to one another, and what about them (if anything) are you drawing from your own life?

CR: The Shadow is the weird avenger of the night, a mysterious figure who dresses in black and dispenses leaden justice with his twin .45s. By day he poses as wealthy socialite Lamont Cranston, and is aided in his mission by a huge network of agents and operatives, most notably Margo Lane. And he's got a fantastic look.

MW: What do you find yourself drawing from more when you write the character–the pulps? The radio incarnation? Kaluta and Chaykin? Alec Baldwin? The 1960's Archie comics?

CR: You joke, but I've got an issue of the Archie version on my shelf! But I think my approach is equal parts radio and pulp. In my head, the Shadow sounds like Orson Welles, and his relationship with Margo is much like it was on the radio. But he's also got the network and resources from the pulps that didn't make it onto the radio show.

MW: What is it about the Shadow that makes you so passionate to tell his stories?

CR: The Shadow is one of the main sources of the "dark avenger" type that proved to be so popular in comics and elsewhere, and getting a chance to play around with the Original Version, as it were, is impossible to resist!

MW: Who'd win in a fight: Batman or the Shadow?

CR: Why would they fight? They're both implacable instruments of justice. They'd team up, of course!