Bruce G. Costa: Please tell us: Who are The Star Slammers?
Walter Simonson: The Star Slammers are a bunch of space mercenaries that I created, gee, 25 years ago. If you will permit me, I could do no better than to read the last-page copy of the original graphic novel that Marvel put out about 12 or 13 years ago. It really summarizes the whole thing much better than I could do and it's much pithier than anything I could say these days. [Laughter] So I'm willing to quote myself in this regard. It says:
"Once upon a time there was a race of men that could out-shoot, out-fight, and out-kill anybody. They were paid fabulous sums to act as mercenaries. The practice became so lucrative they decided to go into business. They became the most successful businessmen in history. And they called themselves... The Star Slammers."So that's who The Star Slammers are: a planetful of guys who will take your money and fight your fight.
Costa: Right! A whole planet of mercenaries!
Simonson: It is. The idea I had was that there was a home world, a planet, not unlike earth with a variety of races. But basically, the inhabitants are all really tough, kick-ass guys, and because of their particular gift, they actually are able to act as one. They wouldn't necessarily think as one. But they have a -- it's not really the Vulcan mind meld, but you might think of a mind meld in terms of millions of individuals. Essentially, as a fighting unit, all the information every individual person sees is relayed to everybody else. This group gestalt can organize this information, then analyze and use it, so that the army, as it were, can function virtually as a single individual. That's called the Silvermind, and that's what really makes them hard to beat. But physically they're also extremely tough -- among the toughest of the humanoid species in the galaxy. So even without the Silvermind they would be very difficult to handle for any normal humans or aliens out there in the great beyond.
Costa: You know, two things have always struck me about The Star Slammers. They've been over the top since well before "over the top" was an expression... [laughter] (I mean the concept of one, two, or three individuals taking on a whole army and making it believable that they could win was what got my attention. I specifically remember flipping through the original [Marvel] graphic novel on the comics rack before I bought it, and rather than putting it back, just having to buy it!) The other thing is that these are, well, they're bad guys!
Simonson: Well, the way I play them out, in a sense they're not. I mean conflict certainly exists between good guys and bad guys and has forever and is the stuff of drama -- and may be the stuff of comedy, too, for that matter! But it's probably the romantic in me that permits me to use them as good guys. One thing that I've always kept in the back of my mind was that money [by itself] is not good enough. They analyze the request they get to go out and kick somebody's ass and try and figure out whether this is going to be a) in their interest, b) in their client's interest, and c) in the interest of people in general, or, more specifically, against the interest of people or of the galaxy. If they were hired, for example, to blow up the one magic oil field that runs every spaceship in the entire universe they'd say well, maybe not. Or if they were hired to go capture it and give it to somebody else who could then use it to squeeze the rest of the galaxy, that would not be their kind of job. This gives me a little flexibility in the writing to make them kind of the "tough good guys."
Costa: [Laughter] But Washington, DC, of course, which they were hired to attack in a 1974 DC fanzine, was okay!
Simonson: That's right. Well, sure! I mean, it's just Washington! It's just a capital, you know? What's the big deal? I have no problem!
Costa: So the Dark Horse Special is the fifth chapter...
Simonson: Yes! "Chapter 5: The Contract" of "The Minoan Agenda" storyline. I am doing a special four-page introduction to this issue, which is going to be a summary of the story to this point.
Costa: I think that'll be helpful.
Simonson: Mike Richardson has very graciously allowed me to put this last issue out as a solo issue, and it's really for me because some folks did buy those first four issues; I'd like them to be able to get the end of the story without having to buy a trade paperback. That might or might not make any sense, but I'm one of those guys -- when I see a "Best of" CD by one of my favorite artists that has two new cuts -- I go Arrgh! Rrrrr! Rah! Grumble! Grumble! So we talked about it and worked out a deal where we could do it. But they are putting it out as a special issue rather than #5 a year and a half late.
Costa: Are you going do a trade paperback?
Simonson: Assuming that the market doesn't crash and burn further, and that Mike is idiot enough to throw in enough money to put out a trade paperback, by God, we'll do it. That's really his decision. But we have talked about it, and I have every hope that there will be one, probably just a few months after the last issue comes out.
Costa: You've given me the impression that you have a special affection for The Star Slammers, not only because they've been with you for so long, but the enthusiasm in your voice is palpable. How do you feel that this compares with your other work?
Simonson: The last time I got asked that question was when the Slammers were starting up. One of the things I suggested was that, at least for me, in science-fiction comics or for comics that involve science fiction -- The Fantastic Four would be a good example of a more mainstream comic -- somehow I feel liberated graphically to try things or do things, storytell in ways that I might not do in other comics. I don't know how to express that more clearly other than to say the storytelling approach that I take I try to tailor to the project I'm working on, whatever it may be.
Costa: How do you feel about joining Legend?
Simonson: Well I feel that the name's pretty funny... [Laughter] "Are you a legend?" "No, I'm just an old hack. Leave me alone!" [Laughter] I'm delighted. These are all guys I've known for a long time with one or two exceptions (Paul Chadwick I've only known fairly recently, but most of the other guys I've known at least for ten years and in some cases for much longer). It's kind of like hanging out with a bunch of old friends. Which is really a pleasure because there are a lot of places in comics for me where that would not be true. There are a lot of people in comics that I just don't know. The field expanded so rapidly (and I guess now it's collapsing so rapidly) that there are tons of comics coming out, a lot of them by people who are awfully good who I've just never met. I don't get to a lot of conventions, and thanks to Fedexing and faxing and the fact that companies now are all around the country, you don't have to live in New York to do comics. When I got into comics, a person had to live in New York. As a result, I really know all the guys in my generation, because we all lived within a few miles of each other twenty-five years ago. So this, in a way, I guess in the modern information-age fashion, is a little akin to being able to go back and live in New York again with a bunch of friends. One thing that happens that's really pretty cool is I get to see stuff that Arthur [Adams] is working on or Frank [Miller] is working on or John [Byrne] or whomever because we're faxing stuff around. You can't actually be in the same studio with the guy at the time, but you get a chance to see what he's working on often a number of months before it comes out. That's exciting and it's also really good because it does sort of keep you on your toes.
Costa: What are your future plans under the Legend imprint?
Simonson: Well the next thing I'd like to do is another story arc for The Star Slammers that I have ready to go, essentially. What I really have is two tales with the same characters. One tale will introduce the characters, introduce a bunch of questions, resolve a bunch of those, and in resolving those will ask some new questions that will have to be resolved in kind of a second part of the story. I have at least a working outline for that whole storyline. So when I wrap up this Star Slammer Special, which is going to be in about five days, I've got that lined up to go next, and that's what I'll be starting. I've got a bunch of other projects, some of which I've had sitting around for as long as The Star Slammers or almost as long, that have never been done, and I wouldn't mind doing those either.
I'm hoping that we can just keep putting these out and not lose Dark Horse or the retailers any money. If we can make a few bucks and keep doing it, that would be just wonderful.