Hot Shot of the Week Companion Feature
Ten Question About The Man With No Name With Christos Gage
Russell Burlingame reporting for Comic Related
Christos Gage is the writer of Dynamite's new ongoing series, The Man With No Name. He has written for both Marvel and DC, and gained critical and fan acclaim for his work on StormWatch PHD for DC's WildStorm imprint. He took some time to talk about the first issue of The Man With No Name, the start of the series' The Good, The Bad and the Uglier story arc.
Comic Related: How has the success of the Jonah Hex and Lone Ranger series made it easier or harder to write a Western in mainstream comics right now? On the one hand, it proves that the genre is still viable, but on the other hand you'll immediately be measured against some stiff competition!
Christos Gage: It's always nice when there's a good creative energy going on in a particular genre, but I don't think other books matter as much as the success the comics industry has had recently in making inroads into bookstores and other mainstream markets. I think there's always been a strong audience for westerns, it's just not necessarily the same audience that hits the comic shop every Wednesday. Now publishers don't have to worry about making all their money through the direct market, they know they can also sell to bookstores, etc. So I think that opens up more opportunities for a western comic than we might have seen in the past few years.
CR: As far as licensed properties goes, this is one of the ones I don't know if anyone would necessarily connect to comics. How hard has it been to write a character who is not only iconic, but who rarely speaks?
CG: It's challenging, but you just go back to the old screenwriting rule of "show, don't tell." I don't let the iconic aspect of it worry me because there's not much I can do about it--either it'll work, or it won't. I'm trying to be kind of zen about it.
CR: From the preview pages, it looks like you don't screw around here. Much like in the films, there's a gunfight almost as soon as the story opens. Was that important to you--to get the violence and the mayhem started right off?
CG: I wanted to preserve the feel of the movies and, as you noted, they usually start with action!
CR: A zombie variant? Is that a marketing thing, or more of a commentary on how Clint's looking these days?
CG: I wasn't involved in the decision making, but I think it's a way of taking advantage of Arthur Suydam's skill in the genre and also of reprsenting that the Man is always followed by the specter of death.
CR: So where does this take place relative to the timeline of the films?
CG: Very soon after The Good, The Bad and The Ugly.
CR: The look of this book is less slick than most of what you see from Dynamite--it's almost an updated version of how a lot of older, mainstream Western comics used to look (akin to Jonah Hex, but maybe even a little more pure than that). How involved were you in the artist search?
CG: Dynamite consulted me, but they did the legwork. I approved the first choice they sent me, which was Wellington. The films had a kind of gritty and dirty feel, and I think his art captures that well.
CR: Is this an ongoing series, or a mini? And if it's a mini, what's the situation? Will we see more featuring this character or is The Good, The Bad and the Uglier really it?
CG: Ongoing. The initial arc is six parts.
CR: I remember back when this was first announced, a lot of the people who commented on it on message boards immediately wanted to know whether we would see a Man With No Name/Lone Ranger crossover. Any chance of that in the future?
CG: I honestly have no idea. It makes sense, but there might be legalities involved...I guess we'll just have to wait and see.
CR: So although Leone has always said that they aren't necessarily a series, you're using elements of A Fistful of Dollars, For a Few Dollars More and The Good, The Bad and The Ugly. Will we see any hints toward Pale Rider or High Plains Drifter?
CG: No, Dynamite only has the rights to the MGM trilogy.
CR: Of all the things going on in this series, what's the highlight for you? What's the one scene that you think would sell a jaded fan of the old movies who says, "The Man With No Name in comic books? What the hell?"
CG: One scene...that's a tough one. I think I'll let the book speak for itself and hope for the best.
Click here for Hot Shot of the Week Review of
The Man With No Name: The Good, the Bad & the Uglier #1
Page last updated on May 9, 2008