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" I like high fantasy as much as the next guy, but I also like a bit of grit and grime with my faux-medieval trappings. "
Antony Johnston
Next
Fantasy
Grit
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" Imagine a music business where all the music press talked about, all day long, was cover bands of old rock and pop groups. Beatles cover bands, Rolling Stones cover bands, The Who cover bands, Led Zeppelin cover bands. Cover bands, cover bands, everywhere you go. "
Antony Johnston
Rock
You
Music
" So, yes, 'Codename Baboushka' is all-action and over-the-top, at least by my standards. But it also has a complex, multifaceted protagonist, a deep mystery at its core, and a kind of humanity that, through all the bullets and high-kicks, is really the soul of the book. "
Antony Johnston
Humanity
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" As we were developing 'Umbral', and I was delving into the mythology and legends, I had a sudden realisation. 'Wasteland' is about people who fervently believe new myths and legends, but they turn out to be false; whereas 'Umbral' is about people who reject ancient myths and legends, but they turn out to be true! "
Antony Johnston
True
Be True
Believe
" Contessa, a.k.a. Baboushka, was a leader in the Russian mafia. Hardnosed, ruthless... very much her own woman. She's a martial artist, marksman, and good with guns and gadgets as any good pulp spy should be. She's supported by her constant companion Gyorgy Gyorgyov, an old friend of her family who was, in fact, her KGB handler and inventor. "
Antony Johnston
Good
Leader
She
" That's right; I was watching 'From Russia With Love', one of my favourite Bond movies, and suddenly thought that I'd love to see a version of this from Tatiana Romanova's point of view. Or, better yet; what if she was the hero? What if this was her story, and Bond was just a side character? "
Antony Johnston
Love
Character
Thought
" Honestly, dialogue is a weird area for me. It just comes naturally; I know I'm quite good at it, but I can't actually tell you why or how in any detail. "
Antony Johnston
Know
Detail
You
" I'd say 'Codename Baboushka' has been a slightly more difficult process for me, but I think that's precisely because it's quite different to my usual fare. And even then, being difficult doesn't make me prefer it, or not, to anything else. I like a challenge. "
Antony Johnston
Me
Say
Think
" The Purple Man helps Matt understand that his powers are unique, and maybe he is cut out for the hero biz after all. And Mr. Fear challenges Daredevil's very philosophy; how does a Man Without Fear deal with a man who induces terror in everyone he meets? "
Antony Johnston
Hero
Challenges
Man
" Our main character is Klem Ristovych, the most senior detective in the MCPD. Klem's a dinosaur, the oldest cop working the Fuse, and nobody can believe she hasn't retired yet. Hell, she can hardly believe it herself. But what else is she going to do? Sit at home and watch soap operas all day? She'd throw herself out of an airlock first. "
Antony Johnston
She
Believe
Character
" My process is kind of intuitive - I think about how a character will speak according to their station and personality, occasionally making notes with guidelines for their mannerisms, and then I just sort of crack on and write it. "
Antony Johnston
Character
Think
Personality
" When someone says 'comic book movies', what they inevitably mean is a summer superhero blockbuster, with heavily-muscled and tightly-gluted men (plus the occasional token woman) in tight-fitting costumes punching the living daylights out of one another for two hours. "
Antony Johnston
Men
Movies
Living
" Journalists constantly ask Metallica if the success of their new album means they've had 'the call' to record a Zeppelin cover album yet. "
Antony Johnston
New
Call
Ask
" The Fuse is a solar energy station in orbit 22,000 miles above the earth. But it's more than just a big solar panel array. The Fuse is also home to Midway City, a technically illegal settlement that grew out of a bunch of engineers who decided they'd rather make a new life in space than return home to earth. "
Antony Johnston
City
Life
Space
" I like SF environments that seem used, and lived in, every day; not just rolled off a props truck. Look around you! Everything is scuffed, scratched, dinged, faded, even rusty. "
Antony Johnston
Truck
You
Day
" Advertising is a nebulous beast at the best of times. "
Antony Johnston
Advertising
Times
Beast
" Scrivener can be a tricky beast to get your head around. When you do, a bell rings, and suddenly it all seems perfectly clear. But to reach that stage you have to understand what it can do, and try it out for yourself. Which can be daunting. "
Antony Johnston
Reach
You
Understand
" The general public has been conditioned to think 'comics = superheroes' for as long as caped crusaders have been around - by critics, mass media, and Marvel and DC themselves, who have what you might call a vested interest. "
Antony Johnston
Media
Interest
You
" Quite simply, we're re-telling the very first adventures of 'Daredevil', as originally seen in DD #1-6, but in a modern style and setting - being faithful without being slavish. And I'm using those adventures as a framework to delve into Matt's psyche a little, as he learns to become a hero. "
Antony Johnston
Faithful
Become
Without
" 'Codename Baboushka' is an action-packed modern pulp spy thriller, in the sort of British tradition of 'Modesty Blaise', New Avengers and of course James Bond. It's a book about Contessa Annika Malikova, the last of a noble Russian line and an enigmatic, mysterious figure in New York high society. "
Antony Johnston
Book
Tradition
Society
" I was wrapping up my stint on 'Daredevil' co-writing with Andy Diggle during the Shadowland story, when Marvel asked if I was interested in doing something else with DD but a bit different. When they explained the purpose of the 'Season One' books, I was intrigued - I'm a big advocate of books for people new to the medium - and said yes. "
Antony Johnston
People
Story
Said
" If you do approach a comics publisher, make sure it's one that publishes the kind of book you want to make. Don't take your literary fiction to Marvel or DC; don't pitch your Spider-Man epic to Image. "
Antony Johnston
Kind
Book
Epic
" 'Daredevil: Season One' is kind of in-between. On the one hand, sure, it's a graphic novel. But on the other, it's beholden to existing continuity, and we're still telling the story in issue-length chapters. So it's not that different to writing a miniseries, and I've done plenty of those. "
Antony Johnston
Done
Story
Kind
" I've always loved 'lived-in' sci-fi. We take it for granted now, but it was a revelation in the late '70s - '80s, when movies like 'Alien', 'Escape From New York', and even 'Star Wars' introduced us to the idea that the future could, in fact, look old. "
Antony Johnston
Loved
Future
Look
" 'Modesty Blaise' is not well known in the United States, but in the United Kingdom, she's an institution - especially for a comic book reader of a certain age. She's a wonderful creation, and her strip ran in newspapers for a long time. So whenever female spies come to mind for us, they think of 'Modesty Blaise'. "
Antony Johnston
Mind
Age
Book