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Mike Wolfer Talks War Goddess

Keith Davidsen talks for Mike Wolfer for Bleeding Cool;

Keith Davidsen: We've talked a bit at conventions, and whenever WAR GODDESS was mentioned, you always lit up and talked about how much fun you've been having on the project. Let's start there – what is it about writing WAR GODDESS that has you feeling so elated?

MIKE WOLFER: Back in the late 1990s, when many of the characters seen in WAR GODDESS were riding the "bad girl" wave, we were writing our stories for a very specific niche market. PANDORA, WIDOW, HELLINA, and a bunch of others were targeting the adult super-heroine adventure crowd, and understandably, the stories we were writing were quite silly, heavy on the smut / bondage / domination / "They meet, they fight, they get naked" kind of tales. So what we ended-up with were great characters who were kind of one-dimensional, in very one-dimensional stories.

There was a huge market for that at the time, and there still is. Most of it was really titillating stuff and by that criteria, it was great reading, but this new series is a bit more "grown up" (and by "grown up," I don't mean "adult themed"). So what I'm doing in WAR GODDESS is taking a very real-world approach to the characters and putting them into situations which will highlight their strengths of character, rather than their sexual abandon. I guess you can look at it as a vindication of those women and the horrible sexist wrongs we subjected them to a decade ago! Keep in mind, though, WAR GODDESS is heavy on the "sexy," and there is quite a bit of gore, language, and elements of horror that keep it firmly in the mature category.

The whole thing has been exciting for me, to be able to take these established characters and give them voices that we haven't heard before. But just as exciting is the concept itself. When I was growing up, my number-one favorite comic was MARVEL TEAM-UP, so this is a bit of a dream gig. I was always fascinated by the dynamics between characters in team-up scenarios, and personalities meshing or clashing usually led to some very interesting character development. There's a lot of fun in that, and I think readers are going to be able to tell how much I'm enjoying the writing; it will be apparent in the finished product. The locations are exotic, we've got some cool science mumbo-jumbo going on, and we're seeing Pandora and her allies in a way we haven't seen before.

Keith Davidsen: For those folks who aren't aware of the premise, how would you describe the ongoing WAR GODDESS series?

MIKE WOLFER: Pandora is "the" Pandora, the Greek mythological figure who opened the box and let all out the evils that assailed mankind. We all know that story. Having been on this Earth for several millennia, she's amassed incredible wealth and has an enormous, multi-national scientific research corporation called "Promethea."

After centuries of battling the evils that she released, we're picking up her story after she has succeeded in imprisoning all of those demonic forces back in "the box." She's now turning her back on everything – her corporation, everything – in order to live life as a woman for once, rather than this mythological super-heroine. She's tired, and she's missed a lot in life. The problem is, Promethea is involved in some very incredible, scientific research-and-development experiments around the world (of which she's not even aware), and one of those experiments is a supercollider on a small island in the southern Bahamas. During the course of the supercollider's operation, a portal is opened which taps into the parallel dark matter universe which dwarfs our own, which in turn permeates the Earth and creates a multitude of other portals, through which the horrors of that universe invades our own.

So in essence, another "box" has been opened, and Pandora holds herself personally responsible, feeling that if she had lived up to her responsibilities as corporate head of Promethea, she would have seen this coming and could have prevented it. But as a result of the extraordinary and totally unknown nature of the energy and creatures invading our realm, Pandora finds that she not only needs to charge headlong into battle once again, but she cannot possibly fight these threats on her own. And that's where our supporting cast comes in, other mythological or super-powered female warriors who Pandora calls upon to meet very specific threats. Every battle is different, and can be best met with a tailor-made strike team, but the recruits aren't always willing or necessarily on the best of terms with Pandora, so that makes for some interesting character dynamics.

Keith Davidsen: You're re-imagining classic indie heroines (using the term loosely) Pandora, Hellina, and Widow. What do readers need to know about what came before, as far as the previous publications?

MIKE WOLFER: My approach has been to side-step everything that's happened in the pasts of these women. We're not excluding it; we're just not addressing their history through an in-your-face kind of way. No flashbacks, no editor's notes in caption boxes referring to past issues. These are still the same women you remember, but they're in different places in their lives, and we wanted to insure that anyone picking up the book will feel like this is the first-ever appearance of the characters. I don't want anyone thinking they've been missing anything, you know? So, this is either a fresh, new start, or the next chapter in their lives. Whichever way you want to look at it will work.

Keith Davidsen: No doubt, there's going to be a fan base eager to see your return to the character of Widow in the pages of WAR GODDESS. What can you tell us about your history with this femme fatale, and her continuing character development?

MIKE WOLFER: WIDOW was one of my early self-published series, which was later published by Avatar Press. Simply put, she's a woman-spider, a cross-mingling of human and arachnid DNA which was the result of the experimentation of a typically mad scientist. Widow was always a tragic figure, someone who was continually searching to find her place in the world and was always the target of dark forces, fear, and hatred. To make matters worse, her incredible physiology is the result of a mutated virus which can be transmitted to others through saliva, blood, or sexually. Naturally, this makes her an outcast, always fearful of what she could unintentionally inflict upon others. She met and fought at Pandora's side on several occasions, but even though the two were like oil and water, there was still a mutual respect for each other's battlefield prowess.

Surprisingly, when we again meet Widow in WAR GODDESS, she's now working for Promethea as Head of Security at the Little Inagua Island facility which houses the supercollider. And here's an example of what you asked, about how we're handling past continuity – what's in Widow's past is still in her past, but her supporting cast is gone, as she's in a new place in her life. What became of her former friends and allies isn't important, because she's grown and matured, as we all do. At some point, we might find out what has transpired between her last appearance and WAR GODDESS #0, but who she was isn't as important as who she is now.

It's tough, being the creator of a character and carefully crafting a life for them over the years, only to just ditch it all and start fresh, but in many cases, that's exactly what's needed to revitalize and enrich a character. What worked in 1990 doesn't quite work now, if you know what I mean. In a sense, that's what we've done with LADY DEATH, and it's proven to be incredibly popular with her fans.

Keith Davidsen: Let's talk a bit about the nature of evil. If you see Pandora (the titular "War Goddess" of the series) as the embodiment of "Good", how would you define the threat she faces in the series? In the world of WAR GODDESS, what is Evil?

MIKE WOLFER: I guess you'd need to ask Pandora herself about that word, "good." If we look at all of the characters in the series, Pandora will obviously be perceived by the reader as "good," but that's something which I'm exploring in the story. What is "good" and what is "evil"? It's all subjective, and quite often, it's not clear-cut. What we'll be seeing is an exploration of good and evil, duty vs. morality. Is someone necessarily "good" because she wears the tiara, looks like a princess, and always pets the dog? Is someone "bad" because she eats humans in order to survive, even though that is the very nature of her being? It's not always easy to assess, and as I get deeper into the heads of these characters, I'm finding that regardless of the greater good of which each of them is capable, they still have their flaws and their hidden secrets, which aren't always pleasant.

Obviously, though, the definitive "evil" would be the dark beings who are invading our dimension. Their motivations are pure and untainted by morality. They seek domination, destruction, and pain. But again, our human perception is that they are "evil," despite the fact that it's just how these creatures are wired. And it's not just other-dimensional threats Pandora and her allies will be facing. The next arc, beginning with #5, introduces several new characters who are ancient Greek figures: Theronia the huntress, Ello and her blood-thirsty Harpie sisters, and our "big bad," Satheeno, the Gorgon. I wish the reader luck trying to figure out the dynamics of that rumble, because whether they're considered "good" or "evil," there's a lot of bad blood between Pandora and all of them, and it's not going to end as anyone might suspect.

Keith Davidsen: You've worked on lots of horror titles – GRAVEL, NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD, the upcoming STITCHED (based on the Garth Ennis film), and some might even consider LADY DEATH to fall under that category. Does the atmosphere of WAR GODDESS differ significantly from your other works, or do you feel like there's a parallel?

MIKE WOLFER: The titles you mentioned all have their own unique feel, a definite flavor, even though they're all supernaturally themed. There might be some crossover, but really, they're all pretty different. NOTLD tends to lean more toward exploitation, GRAVEL is heavy on military and political aspects, LADY DEATH relies on fantasy themes, and STITCHED… well, you'll see soon enough. WAR GODDESS, I think, is its own animal, because even though it's supernaturally based and has some extreme gore, there's still a real playfulness about it. I'm balancing the more extreme aspects with very light-hearted moments, and in this way I'm hoping to connect with readers who want their horror but don't want to feel weighed-down by despair, if that makes sense. That's another reason why I'm enjoying writing this one so much, because I get to sit down and just do whatever I want, get crazy, do some major property damage in some exotic locations, and still be able to wedge in some sarcastic dialogue and "wink" at the reader. It's like going on an incredibly dangerous vacation in the company of some very sexy women, if that's your idea of a good time.

Keith Davidsen: As I understand it, you drew inspiration from a real world scientific experiment as the source of evil in WAR GODDESS. Care to elaborate? Should we view the new series as the Mike Wolfer Manifesto on the dangers of technology?

MIKE WOLFER: Ha! No, actually I think science is cool. I mean, really, how many new discoveries or scientific achievements have resulted in immediate and unprecedented destruction that has threatened our entire world? It's usually what we do with these things, or when we tinker around with them to find other applications after they're discovered, that creates a problem. When the CERN supercollider was gearing up to make its first test run, everyone was freaking out. "It's gonna open a black hole!" "It's going to kill us all!" "It's going to rip a hole in the space / time continuum!" Okay, fine. Let's see what might have happened, but take it to the next level, leaning more toward science-fiction than science-fact, because that's more fun.

Keith Davidsen: WAR GODDESS is the first creative property to expand the Boundless Comics line beyond its flagship title, LADY DEATH, a series which you also write. What are your thoughts on your contributions to Boundless as a growing brand?

MIKE WOLFER: It was a real honor to be asked to work on LADY DEATH when Boundless was being formed, so that in itself was awesome, but to then be asked to steer WAR GODDESS? That was the icing on the cake. For a couple of years, William Christensen and I had talked about bringing back the Avatar characters who have been in limbo, bringing back WIDOW, and just generally thinking, "Wouldn't it be cool if…" That's where our roots were, but we were perplexed about how to fit them into Avatar's current line-up, and just how to approach a reintroduction. By launching Boundless Comics, it eliminated so many of Avatar's concerns and it's refreshing to have a totally open, clear playing field in front of us. Hopefully, the strong showing and overwhelming approval by fans of what we're doing with LADY DEATH will carry over to WAR GODDESS, to make Boundless the destination for "femme fatale" comics.

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