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Curtis Clark Talks Working On Frank Beddor's 'Looking Glass Wars: CrossFire'

Kaleb Thomas writes,

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland turned 150 years old this year. Countless musicians, authors, soul sucking corporations, and artists have paid tribute to Alice and her historic voyage. The world is celebrating Charles Lutwidge Dodgson's, better known as Lewis Carrol, legendary story in many different ways. You can visit The British Library has an Alice in Wonderland exhibition and pop-up shop through next April. You can Google "Alice 150" and find countless articles within the last month talking about what kind of impact the book has had the last century and a half.

Others have recreated and taken the story to new heights, but few have stood out from the rest. Frank Beddor is one of those exceptional authors that have struck a cord and hasn't stop after 15 years of publishing stories about his idea of Wonderland. Beddor has finally completed the sequel to his New York Times bestselling Looking Glass Wars trilogy. He enlisted Curtis Clark to co-write CrossFire—the long awaited Wonderland adventure six years since the last novel was published.

Hatter M and Queen Alyss are in for another adventure and things haven't gotten easier for them. Alyss is more scared than she's letting on because she's still relatively new to being queen, but this is the first time in her young reign where there is a chance for lasting peace. Alyss has to do this the hard way. She's going to make mistakes. She's going to try to make friends out of some enemies and in the process make enemies out of some friends. CrossFire follows a series of crises at the start of Alyss's new reign that she must overcome in order to maintain both her never-more-vulnerable position as queen and the fragile state of peace in Wonderland.

I spoke with Clark about what can we expect from CrossFire, and what it was like to collaborate with literary sleuth and world creator, Frank Beddor.

How did you and Frank meet?

We met in Hollywood at a bowling alley I worked at in LA. Frank saw me editing a script. Only way it could have been a more cliché Hollywood meeting is if we were at a Starbucks.

What was it like to collaborate with Frank and Sami?

A lot of fun, as always. Frank and I have worked together for years. One of the best things about him is that he gives quite a bit of latitude when working with him. He trusts himself to pick the right people, which in turn gives you a lot of confidence to take the wheel and drive. Frank is also very hardworking and passionate about his world and the fans of The Looking Glass Wars. It makes it easier to work with someone when you know how much they care.

Sami's work initially struck me as an amazing blend of chaos and vibrancy. When you have an artist that is so unique, you need to give them space to operate and let him or her bring their perspective in. Once I figured out the best way to deliver for Sami's style, I think we really churned out great pages. When I look at Sami's work now, I'm floored. As a comic fan I think it's unique, yet somehow familiar. Which is a pretty good sweet spot.

What's going on in Wonderland post ArchEnemy?

A lot. A dictator was ousted in King Arch. A tyrant was destroyed in Redd. For the first time there is no longer an all-powerful conjuring queen. And that's just in Wondertropolis. The neighboring Boarderlands are in strife. The vacuum of leadership left by Arch has thrown them into chaos. Other nations like Unterlan and Morgavia are watching very carefully to see how things shake out. Maybe they'll make a move of their own. Who knows?

We've followed Alyss all her life. Where are we in her reign?

We're having growing pains. Following the conclusion of the LGW trilogy, Alyss created the Everqueen, spreading imagination to all. While that was a noble choice, she had to sacrifice her ability to conjure imagination to do it. She's no longer the ultimate weapon. She's no longer able to snap her fingers and solve a problem for her city. Alyss really forced herself to start over as queen. She is now just a monarch and the ladies of her rival suits know this. They're pressuring her to make changes to how the Queendom is ruled. So this is the start of a new era for our Alyss in Wonderland. In the trilogy, she had to come to grips with her past, her faded memories, and learn to conjure so she could battle Redd and Arch. It was the battle for imagination. Now the Everqueen exists and imagination has been gifted to all. Alyss is rightfully queen, but she's never been weaker. And there is something else that maybe she didn't consider. Alyss gifted imagination to all. So as people slowly learn how to tap into the Everqueen, imagination will flourish inside everyone, even her enemies…

Hatter M must be really old in this story. Has time slowed him down?

If time has slowed him down, you wouldn't know it. Maybe he's lost a step, but anything he's lost physically he's more than made up for in experience. Hatter won't be hanging up his hat anytime soon. He's still Alyss's most dependable warrior. With a millinery to rebuild, a rebellious teenage daughter to raise (if she'll let him) and a queen more in need of protection than every before, there are plenty of Hatter stories yet to be told.

What new characters can we expect to see?

Quite a few. We get to meet the new chessmen and see how they're now used. We get to meet Wonderland's new defense strategist, Gryphon Marx, a genius who makes sure everyone knows it. And we get to meet Ovid Grey, Wonderland's wisecracking, adrenaline junky mix of James Bond, Indiana Jones and Robin Hood.

What was it like to play in Frank's toy chest that thousands of people have loved and cherished through out the years?

First, there is a bit of responsibility to it. You don't want to break your friend's toys. Once you get comfortable, it's really great because the world is very large and still has plenty of room to grow. And again, Frank tends to give you a good amount of freedom.

LGW is unique in that while it's a fantasy world more or less, it retains a lot of the quirkiness and playfulness of the original Alice in Wonderland. LGW doesn't take itself too seriously, which is part of the charm. In a LGW story you can have cutesy creatures, big action, surreal Wonderland twists, quippy banter, high political stakes and personal character struggles. You can pretty much go wherever your imagination takes you. You just can't lose sight of the things people fell in love with to begin with.

What are some of your comic book and literary influences?

I started reading my older brothers' comics when I was six. Tons of Chris Claremont X-Men and also goofy books like Groo the Wanderer and even Marvel's What The–?!. As I got older I moved into the classic comics you must read like Alan Moore's Swamp Thing and Watchmen and the litany of Batman staples.

But… I also read a ton of terrible comics written in the 90s that shall not be named…

These days there's really been a renaissance in comics and I try to keep up with everything I can. Writers like Brian Michael Bendis, Brian K Vaughan, Mark Millar, Warren Ellis, Matt Fraction and too many others to list here have really taken comics into a wonderful era of storytelling.

Book-wise I've ripped through almost every sci-fi staple you could name, Dune, Neuromancer, Martian Chronicles, Ender's Game, everything Philip K Dick. I've also enjoyed more off the wall stuff like Rudy Rucker's Ware Tetralogy. In fantasy I've read the classics like Lord of the Rings, but also a ton of D&D novels. Growing up playing Dungeons and Dragons and other RPGs like Shadowrun were some of the greatest influences on my storytelling and world building. My nerdom knows no bounds.

Are you working on any new comics or novels?

I work in film, TV and comics, so there are always a lot of balls in the air. I have a few things going on with TV pilots, a short film called RUN: and a few comics I'll be moving on to after I finish UnderFire, the sequel to CrossFire. Frank and I also have a few other collaborations in various stages. So, yes, stay tuned.

Click here to check out the Looking Glass Wars: CrossFire Indiegogo campgain.

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