Tag: interview

Bruce Boxleitner’s Lantern City: An Interview with the Creators

Bruce Boxleitner’s Lantern City is a new TV show being worked on by Bruce Boxleitner (who you might know from Tron, Scarecrow & Mrs. King, and Babylon 5), Trevor Crafts (Executive Producer), and Matthew James Daley (Writer). It is a stempunk story which is sure to get genre fans popping. A Lantern City graphic novel is also being worked on. I had the opportunity to sit down at C2E2 with the three gentlemen in charge of the project.

From left - Mathew James Delay, Bruce Boxleitner, Larry Poupard, and Trevor Crafts. We discussed Bruce Boxleitner's Lantern City at C2E2.

From left – Mathew James Daley, Bruce Boxleitner, Larry Poupard, and Trevor Crafts. We discussed Bruce Boxleitner’s Lantern City at C2E2.

Larry Poupard: Why did you pursue the steampunk genre for Lantern City?

Trevor Crafts: I think that one of the things we found interesting about the steampunk genre is that we found a huge tidal wave of people who were building and making and creating. I have always been a fan of historical fiction and I felt it was something which was right on the cutting edge right now and nobody had really cracked the code. Nobody had figured out how to do something which would be a really dynamic show or film which really embraced the steampunk ideals.

So we decided to go about it in exactly the opposite direction with Lantern City than what people usually do with. We decided to engage the fan base first and talk to the steampunk community about what they wanted in a show. We wanted to get the ideal of the visual look and the feal. That was one of the jumping-off point. I had the idea of Lantern City and brought Bruce Boxleitner in during the very early stages. This composed most of our very early conversations in just seeing what this group of people had done and knowing this was the group we wanted to engage with.

Bruce Boxleitner: I was always fascinated by it [steampunk] but I just didn’t know what it was called. Steampunk? I thought “What does that mean? Steampunk?” I do not think that there is one definite definiation. I think ours is just going to be an interpretation. I think Hollywood has used it by dancing around it with League or Extraordinary Gentlemen and Wild Wild West. I think ours is going to be a unique world which is going to blend all interpretations and people who really love stempunk are going to see something they like in Lantern City.

Larry Poupard: The write-ups so far about Lantern City talk about how the land is ruled by a totalitarian family. Many steampunk stories incorporate political commentaries about totalitarianism, fascism, or other types of fringe political beliefs. Is political commentary going to be a major talking point for Lantern City or is it simply going to play in the background?

Matthew James Daley: It is impossible for that [political commentary] to play in the background of Lantern City because it is too prevalent in the world we created. Now we are not going to spend half of every episode talking about politics around a parlor. The politics of this world, which is a totalitarian world, runs so deeply in everyone from the top to the bottom. We did not set out to make political statements in Lantern City, it is in our world and it needs to be addressed in every episode more through the characters and through the action.

Trevor Crafts: One thing I would like to add to that is that Matt has created this wonderful three-tiered society. The Grey Empire is the top tier. The “worker class” is at the next tier down and they basically make and function. Now we find out there is this growing underground where you live entirely on your own without any rules and it is a very violent place. You can starve to death or die very quickly in this part of Lantern City.

Going back to your first question, I think the society in Lantern City is interesting because we can showcase all of the different styles of steampunk within each of those three strata of society where all of that political pulling and pushing happens.

Matthew James Daley: With the underground, the main question you would ask yourself if you fled from society to live there is “What price is my freedom?” because every day is a battle to survive. You are not under the federal regime, but you can’t trust anyone who says they have your back. Even for the people organizing and running it, it is a very dangerous place but very exciting too.

Bruce Boxleitner: We can definitely reflect on current stories. Science fiction has always been very good in that way because you can comment on modern society without slamming a message in your head about how we are taking a side. This Lantern City is a world unto itself but I believe we can reflect modern anxieties without an issue.

Matthew James Daley: The aspects we look at such as the loss of freedom and what you are willing to give up are key in Lantern City. That [giving up for freedom] is one of the central questions of the show.

Bruce Boxleitner: You security would be a big thing. In all strata in society, people have to wonder how secure they are in that particular strata. This particular question is a movement in all societies throughout the years. Not just in the modern, but during Bolshevism and other times as well.

Larry Poupard: Most of the people you have signed for the show so far have worked on science fiction in the past. Did you go after these actors specifically to share in their fan bases or because they might have more of an open mind to use for understanding the world of Lantern City? Is it an amalgamation of the two?

Trevor Crafts: It is definitely an amalgamation of the two. I was thinking from the very beginning about who I would cast in the various roles for Lantern City, and there are still very many left to fill. Matt built a world in which there is over forty different characters that all intertwine together.

I think, for me, there is a unique aspect of television where you can innately understand when people are really working well together. The group of people we started to put together for Lantern City has people who already know each other and have camaraderie. You are right, these people have a base understand of the genre and a love for the genre which comes through.

That is one of the reasons why Firefly was so popular. It was a good show, but there was this “perfection” in casting where you had this group of people who you learned to love or hate depending on their character. That is something we are trying to replicate. We want to have that group…that cast that loves going to work every day and loves what they do because that is going to come through in their performances. They are all genre fans, and they have genre fan bases so that is all factors in.

Matthew James Daley: They have not had any genre-based questions and questions about genre elements, which is great, because I was expecting to have to explain things. That is just great. They got it, especially John…

Bruce Boxleitner: John Ryes-Davies. I originally met him in London. I worked with him back on Scarecrow & Mrs. King back in 1984 so I did have a small acquaintance with him. We met up with him at Dragon Con and we gave him a script. He wrote us, I don’t know how many pages.

Trevor Crafts: He came up to you first, didn’t he? He said “I heard about this new show you are working on.”

Bruce Boxleitner: Yes, he was dressed very nicely and was a proper British gentleman. Here is was in the hot summer sun in Atlanta in a full suit, and he was great. I want this to be gotten straight…he came to us. Most of the actors have done so including, just recently, Gigi [Edgley from Farscape].

I am the only one at this table who has been in a sci-fi ensemble, and I know that is what I want to relive again. Maybe from a different aspect. During the best years of Babylon 5 we had the best cast. To find that is like lightning in a bottle. I think that when we have actors from this genre, there is identification right away with them from the audience. We don’t have to introduce them necessarily before or during Lantern City. There will be a couple we might have to, but the audience will get it right away with Lantern City. We are targeting an audience right now, and they will bring all the others in with them. My experience at Babylon 5 is what turned me on to this project when Trevor brought it to me. I want to go through this again.

Larry Poupard: You stated that you took this project to the fans first. How are you preparing yourself to deal with a fan base which can get very technical about a type of technology which has never truly existed?

[All three men laugh]

Bruce Boxleitner: Exactly!

Matthew James Daley: I think with where we are right now in production I fell – and I have always felt this way and am very specific about this – is that there has to be a blending of the real and the created. By “the real,” I mean real sets and the Lantern Guard in Lantern City needs to be real and touchable. We have built some of those sets and some of those costumes already. Things like the skyline can be CGI.

Somebody asked us when we were building the plan if Lantern City was just going to be a CGI show. To some extent, what show is not a CGI show these days? If you think about a show like Star Trek or Babylon 5, there were elements which were CGI-created, but there were aspects of “the real” there. Some great movies like District 9 have CGI, but there is a lot of “the real.” We have made many great pieces and augmented them.

What that means for production, where are we going to go for production? There is a lot of great production happening in Eastern Europe where wider spaces are a little bit more attainable. Like in Dune, we will build as much as we can for “the real,” and then we can simply augment with CGI.

Bruce Boxleitner: What is great is that we have the technology now to help us create these worlds. We can make these cityscapes now. Years ago, it would have been so expensive; a project like Lantern City would have never gotten off the ground.

You can learn more about Bruce Boxleitner’s Lantern City by following this link to its official site.

Personally, I am looking forward to seeing more about Lantern City in the near future.

Interview with John Layman About Detective Comics and Processes

While I was covering C2E2, I had the opportunity to sit down with John Layman and talk about various aspects of his career and the titles he writes for.

John Layman

John Layman

Larry Poupard: You write for both DC Comics [Detective Comics] and Image[Chew]. What unique challenges and conflicts do you face in creating product for two companies which creators who only write for one company do not face?

John Layman: Well, at Image, you don’t have an editor. You are writing on a tightrope without a net. Whereas with Batman, you are not only writing for an editor and a wider audience, but Batman has five other books in the whole interconnected universe. You have to worry about tying in other events and crossovers because there might be something big happening in Scott Snyder’s book or in someone else’s. With one book, I am playing God while I am playing a ship’s captain in the other in which I have to guide the ship and avoid the icebergs.

Larry Poupard: You mentioned the continuity with Batman over multiple titles. Do you find yourself communicating more with other writers about what is being done or with the main offices of DC Comics?

John Layman: Both. I try to keep myself as open as possible with other writers. Everyone knows my aim and anyone can do a drive by or call me to ask me any kind of questions. The writers are very good about coordinating that. I used to be an editor so I am very aware of how to roll with the punches. You gotta be willing to make things mesh.

There is a thing I like to do myself. In the current thing I am writing right now I’ve got this jump cut of Batman doing various fights. I might say to someone that I don’t know what to have drawn in this particular frame. I don’t want Batman just fighting a bad guy so tell me who he should be fighting [to go along with] who he is fighting in another book. When people read that they will say something like “Oh that is what is going on in Batman & Robin #21,” or whatever. This helps with the overall system of continuity.

Larry Poupard: In Detective Comics, you introduced Man-Bat while tackling the 900 story. Is there a difference between introducing a previously developed character in the New 52 than there is with introducing a new character which has never seen print before?

John Layman: The thing is that these characters all work and everyone knows them. In some ways, you are revisiting familiar ground but it is also an opportunity to wipe away the statements people might ask about “Do you have to read 70 years of Batman?” No, because that is the glory of the New 52.

It is cool if you already know Man-Bat because you have the opportunity to see this classic story again. You can watch as we revisit something old and reinvent it at the same time. In some ways it is a cheat because some of the work has been done for you. The most liberating part, though, is not having to worry about what happened in 1974 or in Detective Comics #681. I am a bit of a lazy person so it is really good.

I always site someone like Mark Waid who is just a living encyclopedia and has all these trivia questions and knows everything. I don’t. Even if I read something, I don’t necessarily retain it. So the fact that I don’t have to adhere to all of this archaic continuity is a good thing for me.

Larry Poupard: Each Batman supervillain is unique and creates interesting types of challenges for Batman. Which member of the Rogue’s Gallery which you have not worked with is at the top of your list to work with in the future because he or she would fit in best with your story and which fit would be the most difficult?

John Layman: Two-Face, yes. I am kind of glad that Joke is kinda off the books for right now. Joke is too dark at this point for my story. When Joker comes in, he does horrible things and sends out his “psychic reverberations. I was glad I got to touch on that, but he is the one I want to work with the least. Since Scott Snyder just did this history Joker story [Death of the Family], I don’t really have to for a while.

Two-Face is the one I have been dying to use for long time now. I keep trying to. I keep trying to squeeze him in, but then I say “No, it is not time now.” I am going to get Two-Face before the end of my run.

There are many different aspects which make [Two-Face] interesting. There is the “law” aspect and the split personality aspect which Batman has too, just in a less obvious way than Two-Face. He is someone I am going to use before the end. I just don’t know when the end will come.

Interview with Chris Burnham on Death of Damian at C2E2

While covering C2E2, I had the opportunity to sit down with Chris Burnham and discuss his artwork on Batman Incorporated and the death of Damian Wayne. I was expecting insight into the story, but also received insight into being a creator of a major comic and the struggles they often face in today’s market.

Chris Burnham

Chris Burnham

Larry Poupard: Shortly before the death of Damian hit reader’s hands, Dan Slott began receiving death threats for “killing” Peter Parker in The Amazing Spider-Man. In the days leading up to the release of Batman Incorporated #8, did dread of repercussions from fans go through your mind?

Chris Burnham: (Laughs) Ya, I think I was a little disappointed that no one wanted to kill me! I guess they were threatening Slott, but it was Ryan Stegman drawing the book. It was all targeted towards Dan Slott who is very vocal and is always out there getting into Internet fights with people so I think he brings those stories and that kind of stuff on himself. Nobody is going to threaten Grant Morrison because he is not going to read it. I don’t even think he owns a computer. I think that if you don’t engage people in that way you can kill the fire before it even starts.

Larry Poupard: With the increase in passion among comic book readers in the last few years, do you believe some fans have difficulties separating creators from the stories they create?

Chris Burnham: Yes. You know, I can understand that. There is a strange disconnect even with me as I have my fanboy side and my professional side. I know all of what is going on and sometimes I just have to tell people to leave us alone because we are doing our best.

People have all kinds of weird continuity issues and I think it is all a miracle that it [the work] finally gets done. You have 52 books which means there are about 200 people all working on them at the same time and it is a miracle that we are able to get Bruce Wayne’s hair black.

As a professional working behind the scenes, I understand what is going on when I read a Marvel book and it does not jive with my fanboy side and it turns that side of me off. I want to yell “What the Hell is wrong with you people? Why can’t you get it right?” Then it clicks and I remember that perfection in this job is basically impossible.

Larry Poupard: Since Damian was killed, the Internet has been filled with rumors about what is going to happen and many readers believe they know what is going to happen next. Do these preconceptions and rumors place creators at a unique disadvantage and apply a different type of pressure than should usually be faced?

Chris Burnham: That is a really interesting question as I am definitely stupid enough to go on the forums and look at where people think the story is going and asking “What does it all mean.” Sometimes I read some of the theories and think “Oh, man. I don’t think we are that smart.”

I really try hard to make sure that kind of stuff [theories and rumors] does not get into my head. I am sure it does get in a little bit. We have tried to have our story planned out for a few years now and are not going to take a hard left turn because some guy on the Internet figured out the ending.

If you get enough people screaming on the Internet, one of them is going to be right. Other people will say “Oh that is the stupidest idea I ever heard” and “Oh that will never happen” and I find myself chuckling and saying “He got it.” We just need to put our heads down and stick to the plan.

Larry Poupard: The death of Damian will probably follow you throughout your career. Can you think of a positive and negative to the notoriety you will forever receive for your work on Batman Incorporated #8?

Chris Burnham: Well, people know who I am now, and that is pretty neat. The convention this weekend has been my busiest ever and I have signed about a billion comic books this weekend. The vitriol behind the death has died down at this point. I think things would have been different if I had a convention experience a few months ago when the book came out. It would have been a nightmare for me and it would have been a rough one as I got all sorts of advice from angry guys.

Since it is a couple months past, people can respect it now as a dramatic story and not a shocking and offensive event. I think it is going to go down as a classic Batman story and not a horrible and traumatic experience.