Interview: Warren Ellis Discusses PROJECT SUPERPOWERS: BLACKCROSS
Writer Warren Ellis is coming to Dynamite and entering the Project Superpowers world with his new book BLACKCROSS. Ellis answered a few of our questions about the upcoming series debuting in March.
COMIC VINE: What is PROJECT SUPERPOWERS: BLACKCROSS about?
WARREN ELLIS: In the quiet Pacific Northwestern town of Blackcross, something terrible is happening. A man has burned himself to death by the lake, but there's no body. A man under witness protection is under threat. A serial killer is murdering his way towards the town limits. And supernatural figures stare out through mirrors and windows, haunting their own doppelgangers. The alternative history of Blackcross is reaching out through the mist to lay its claws on the real world.
CV: Was there anything you wanted to bring to the Project Superpowers universe?
WE: It was more about what it could bring to me: I'd had an itch to play around with those public domain characters since the 1990s. There's a weird magic to the pulp-inpired characters of that era, and I'd wanted to dig into that a little bit and bring out some of what are, to me, their essential qualities.
CV: How did you get involved in this series?
WE: Nick [Barrucci] and I had been talking about doing something together for a while, and we ended up generating a list of possibilities. I think I was sitting outside a hotel in the Pacific Northwest of America, looking at the trees, when I realised I had a take on these characters. I sent Nick an email, and here we are.
CV: Tonally, how does BLACKCROSS differ from your other recent projects?
WE: It's more of a ghost story than I've done lately: more grounded than SUPREME BLUE ROSE, but with a little of its surreality.
CV: Have you worked with artist Colton Worley in the past and how has it been working with him on this series thus far?
WE: I haven't worked with him before, but I really like his style. There's something classical about it. As we've gone on, his style has probably led me to make the story a little more ground-level and realistic than perhaps it might have been. Colton should be drawing brilliant drama newspaper strips in the 1950s/1960s mode. I lover getting his pages back.
CV: What is the connection or ties to past Project Superpowers volumes, if any?
WE: You will find out. I can't answer that without giving some essential stuff away. We all still want to be surprised by the fiction we read, so let's keep some secrets.
CV: What would you say to people on the fence about this new series?
WE: You make it sound like I should be going door-to-door with my hat in my hand. Vote for me! I'm not like those other people. I am your friend.
Thanks to Warren Ellis for answering our questions and check out BLACKCROSS when it comes out in March. Also, check out our early review by clicking here!
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