Writer Mike Kennedy got his start writing comics on Dark Horse's long-running paranormal thriller series Ghost, and he's since made his mark on the Star Wars franchise, as well. When editor Randy Stradley set about looking for the perfect writer to pen the series that would follow in the bloody footsteps of Kojima and Koike's seminal manga, his thoughts immediately fell to Kennedy. Luckily for Stradley, Kennedy eagerly bit at the offer.
So, dear readers, it's time to set your inhibitions aside and take a good, close look at what may well turn out to be the most surprising -- and satisfying -- new adventure read of 2001, Lone Wolf 2100.
Shawna Ervin-Gore: How is Lone Wolf 2100 related to the original Lone Wolf and Cub manga? And how did the idea for this series come about?
Mike Kennedy: Lone Wolf 2100 is related to the original manga only in core concept and spirit. The characters and situations are new, and share only the common element of the skilled warrior traveling across a harsh wilderness with an innocent child in tow. The spirit of this new series will hopefully ring very true to the original, upholding the essence of Bushido in the presence of treachery and injustice. There is no direct link between the two stories -- no esoteric time travel or dimension hopping gobbledygook that would sully the authenticity of Koike's masterwork. There is nothing to suggest, however, that Koike's original tales couldn't exist as part of our future's history (or our own present history, for that matter)...
From what I understand, the series originated with Dark Horse president Mike Richardson as a sci-fi concept about a genocidal plague and the infant child whose genetic structure contains the cure. At some point, the similarity between this child and her guardian running from hostile forces resembled to a degree the seminal works of Kazuo Koike, which Dark Horse has published with great faithfulness. The idea of tying the two together, if only to acknowledge the great influence and atmosphere of the original, seemed the logical thing to do. And after talking with Megahouse and Kazuo Koike himself, that decision was enthusiastically made.
SE-G: Why were you, as a writer, interested in working on this series and what are your biggest challenges as the writer of this series? Are you a Lone Wolf and Cub fan to start and were you at all intimidated when this whole thing started?
MK: The original Lone Wolf and Cub is arguably the most influential and recognized comic book title in the world, and I followed it religiously when First Comics brought it to the States the '80s. The muddied ethics, the strictly coded logic, the gray morality -- it was fantastically gripping historical drama surrounded by amazingly visceral action sequences. I've always preferred the anti-hero, which beneath his code of honorable justification, Itto Ogami defined. They are unpredictable and engaging, and the most challenging fun to write. I like to think Elisa Cameron was a wonderfully under-rated anti-hero in Ghost, and exploring her conflicted nature helped blanket those stories in an appropriate noir-ish haze. Lone Wolf 2100 will hopefully capture that same intriguing unease, which I personally love.
Granted, that's not to say I didn't immediately recognize what a precarious undertaking this would be. I was skeptical at first -- American manga fans are the most diehard fans in the world (even moreso than Japanese manga fans), and the idea of "screwing with a classic" runs the risk of (literally) violent backlash. All we can do, however, is make the most entertaining stories and characters we can, and hope the readers, whoever they might be, find it interesting and enjoyable. It worked for Adam Warren's Dirty Pair, and hopefully we'll find an equally avid and open audience with Lone Wolf 2100. Megahouse was incredibly encouraging, and Kazuo Koike has reacted to what we've done so far with humbling enthusiasm. So we've got that going for us.
SE-G: Please tell me a little about the story -- who are the players? And what is everyone up to?
The year is 2100, obviously. Industrial Biotechnology has advanced from the infancy we see today, for both better and worse. Artificial lifeforms, called "Emulation Constructs"(or "EmCons"), have become relatively common as manufactured labor, and each subsequent generation becomes more and more lifelike. In fact, the most recent EmCons are built with human anatomical design as a model, with ceramic skeletons, myo-electric muscle fibers, and organically-cloned neurons working in complex harmony. Their personality and behavioral matrices are astoundingly advanced, compared to what we're seeing across the chessboards today.
Because of their stunningly convincing behavior, a group of radicals calling themselves The Coalition for Universal Life took it upon themselves to fight for basic EmCon rights. Their goals were noble, but their means were anything but. Guerilla uprisings and commando terrorism against high-profile EmCon "oppressors" began to spread across the globe, threatening to culminate in WWIII. But then The War Spore was released in a terrorist attack gone sour, and everything went downhill.
Accidentally developed while researching a cure for Parkinson's Disease, The War Spore killed nearly everyone it infected within 96 hours of contraction, and being an air-borne virus, it soon spelled global epidemic. Institutions around the world scrambled to find a cure, but none seemed forthcoming. Then one Dr Josef Ogami, working for the Cygnat Owari Corporation, discovered what he believed to be the solution. Unfortunately, however, forces within Cygnat Owari seemed to want this solution to remain a secret... Knowing Humanity's clock was ticking, Dr Ogami reprogrammed his Guardian EmCon to wisk his infant daughter Daisy -- and the key to the cure she carries in her bloodstream -- away from Cygnat Owari, hopefully to a place where that key can be extracted and disseminated freely to the people. But that trek could be a long and dangerous one ... And so our tale begins.
SE-G: That's definitely a departure from the original Lone Wolf material. How much of this was directly influenced by the work of Kazuo Koike? Did you keep his writing style and other stories in mind as you developed the details of this new series?
MK: The core character of Itto (our Guardian EmCon) and the child, Daisy, weren't originally developed as clones of the original Ogami and Diagoro, but we've consciously gone back to pattern some of their behavior to reflect Koike's title characters. Some of Koike's writing style was adopted, but oddly, not all from Lone Wolf and Cub. Megahouse suggested we incorporate some (other, more marketable) elements from Koike's other works, such as Crying Freeman, by supporting the central cast with a host of "fantastic" villains and gadgetry. Being set in the future, this is done pretty comfortably without jeopardizing any "historical accuracy," but we're still striving to make sure everything fits well in the world. Having read a lot of Koike's books (beyond Lone Wolf), I'm hoping the characters will act in a way that is honest to his sense and style.
SE-G: Based on what you've said, it sounds like you've been working pretty closely with Koike. And what about your editor, Randy Stradley? I know you two are good friends, and I believe he may have hired you for your first comics-writing gig. How much has he helped you develop your comics-writing skills?
MK: Koike's reaction to all of this has been astonishingly positive. More than just the modest nod of approval, from what I understand -- he's apparently rather excited by it! His input has been very minimal, but we're respectful enough to send him the material for approvals before declaring them ready for print. Randy Stradley, on the other hand, has been nothing but a pain in my ass from day one. I'm kidding. Randy is great to work with. He steps back and lets the creative team do their thing, then comes back with not only excellent and accurate feedback, but fantastic suggestions as well. Although the initial story concept was Mike Richardson's, they've both been wonderful about letting Francisco Velasco and I take the ball and run with it on our own.
SE-G: What element of this series makes you feel happy you took the job? And how do you predict fans will respond?
MK: If it weren't for Francisco's mind-bogglingly stunning artwork, I might still feel somewhat daunted by this whole prospect. But the pages and designs he's turning in are absolutely gorgeous. Granted, his is a completely different style from Goseki Kojima's original pen-and-inks, but this is a completely different series. I think we're all hoping that people will find themselves intrigued and absorbed by the story and artwork, whether they're fans of the original or not. And if Kazuo Koike's reaction gives any indication how the Japanese audience will respond when it's released over there, then I think we could be in a good position! This series is just the first in what we hope grows into a trilogy of mini-series that will complete the larger arc being introduced. That's not to say there aren't a hundred smaller tales that could be told scattered throughout that period, but we're being cautiously optimistic about whatever future the property might have. I'm just happy to have had a chance to work with Francisco again, and the idea that a giant like Kazou Koike was excited by something I've been a part of makes it all worthwhile.
Join writer Mike Kennedy and artist Francisco Ruiz Velasco as they embark on the adventurous new series Lone Wolf 2100. The first four-issue storyarc starts on May 22, and each full-color issue in this series retails for $2.99.