Countless creators have mined the Hollywood of the ’40s and ’50s for inspiration. The fallout of the Second World War, the golden age of American cinema, the rise of organized crime, and the rise of McCarthyism all combine to make an incredible setting for some truly compelling fiction. Comics like Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips’ The Fade Out and novels like James Ellroy’s L.A. Confidential have made excellent use of the era to weave fascinating crime fiction stories. Now, Author Nate Cosby and artist Jacob Edgar are teaming up to throw superheroes into the mix in Alter Ego, a new self-published project that just launched on Kickstarter.
Alter Ego tells the story of Ace Adams, a Hollywood stuntman who transforms himself into two separate superheroes. During the day, he battles villains as Whiz-Bang, a symbol of hope and optimism. When the sun sets, Ace becomes The Black Dog, a grim hero fighting from the shadows. Author Nate Cosby recently spoke with CBR about his collaboration with Jacob Edgar and their numerous influences. Cosby also gave readers a glimpse into his alternate version of golden age Hollywood.
CBR: How did you begin Collaborating with Jacob Edgar, Kike J. Diaz, and Rus Wooton?
Nate Cosby: I met Jacob [Edgar] on Twitter while I was searching for new artists. My “day job” is freelance editing, and I cast Jacob on a James Bond one-shot, a Red Sonja special, and an Army Of Darkness miniseries. He and I have also created a western together, Fantastic Bandits, that we hope to continue someday. We hit it off pretty quickly due to our mutual love of old movies and everything Darwyn Cooke ever wrote or drew.
Kike [J. Diaz] reached out to me online a few years ago, looking for coloring work. I’ve probably assigned him to close to a hundred issues at this point. When I put him and Jacob together on a previous series, they really seemed to click. As for our incredible letterer and designer Rus Wooton, I’ve known him since my days working at Marvel. He lettered Thor The Mighty Avenger for me, and I feel really lucky that he’s making the time to be a huge part of Alter Ego because the guy is a lettering genius.
How did you and Edgar go about designing Whiz-Bang and The Black Dog?
It was a really fun, creative process. Before the two heroes, we needed to think of Ace Adams, the Hollywood stuntman that’s both heroes. For that, we started with our mutual love of Singin’ In The Rain, and particularly Gene Kelly’s performance as Don Lockwood. Kelly had this incredible physicality to how he danced — strong but elegant, fast but smooth. We combined that with the presence of Sidney Poitier, one of my favorite actors. Mr. Poitier’s performance in In The Heat Of The Night knocks me off my feet. I wanted to try and have a person that could control every room he walks into, even if he’s not saying a word.
For each of the costumes, we were heavily inspired by some of the first superheroes, particularly the Justice Society [and] the original Captain Marvel — that era where everybody looked like they were part of a carnival or circus. We didn’t want anything fitting too tight, or [feeling] overly functional. Overall, we wanted a Whiz-Bang costume that complemented the daytime and a Black Dog outfit that blended into the night.
What appealed to you about Hollywood of the ’40s and ’50s as a setting?
It’s the era where most of my favorite films were made: Casablanca, Singin’ In The Rain, The Third Man, The Adventures Of Robin Hood, Meet Me In St. Louis, Sabrina, Only Angels Have Wings, 12 Angry Men, [and] The Bad & The Beautiful. It’s also the setting for some of my favorite films: LA Confidential, Chinatown, Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, and The Rocketeer.
Aside from mine and Jacob’s love of classic cinema, it just made sense to me to set our story in a time and place where an entire city was centered around “putting on a show.” My working premise is that being a superhero is largely about performance… The main goal is to help, sure, but if you’re throwing on a cape or mask and beating people up in public, you’re trying to show people something — hope, fear, whatever. It’s acting. What better place for acting than the glitzy, grimy, Golden Age of Hollywood?
Can fans expect any cameos from Golden Age Hollywood personalities?
Not actual people, because our version of Hollywood is not factually accurate. Quite the opposite… We’ve come up with a version of La La Land that’s comparable to Disney World. There are entire sections that have been taken over by genre film studios. You’ve got entire areas totally devoted to Westerns, a Sci-Fi section, [and] a Noir world. There’s a neighborhood that only makes Bollywood films, another that shoots Korean movies, one for Japanese cinema, and many more. We wanted to build a bigger, blown-out melting pot of a city where every kind of movie is being made.
What resources did you look to for inspiration for the setting of Alter Ego?
Movies! And our favorite comics. Jacob and I talked a lot about our favorite series, and [tried] to figure out how to emulate the joy that we felt when reading them. Most prominently for me, there’s Astro City by Kurt Busiek and Brent Anderson, DC: The New Frontier by Darwyn Cooke, Tom Strong by Alan Moore and Chris Sprouse, Gotham Central by Greg Rucka, Ed Brubaker & Michael Lark, Batman: Year One by Frank Miller and David Mazzucchelli, and All-Star Superman by Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely. In all of those, there’s a lived-in quality and a curiosity about what the world is like around the main characters. Each has a great centralized story, but the creators in all of those books seem to really care about building a sense of place.
What’s the biggest distinction between Whiz-Bang and The Black Dog? Was it difficult to maintain some trace of Ace Adams’ voice while crafting his two separate crime-fighting identities?
The biggest distinction between Whiz-Bang and The Black Dog is day and night, literally. The “rule” for Ace is that Whiz-Bang only operates in the day and The Black Dog only comes out at night. That rule will be tested very often.
As for the crafting of identities… There’s a great bit in Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely’s Batman & Robin where Dick Grayson is fretting to Alfred about being Batman… No one takes him seriously. He can’t do what Bruce Wayne did. He hates wearing a cape. Alfred tells Dick to think of Batman as a great role and to play it to suit his strengths. That really speaks to my thoughts on the superhero genre, that there’s a fake-it-til-you-make-it aspect to all this.
Ace sees the two heroes as parts to play. For Whiz-Bang, he keeps his back straight, chest stuck out, grinning and bounding around the city for all to see. As The Black Dog, he thinks of himself like a wounded, haunted beast. He lurks, he sticks to the shadows, he shuns the light. Ace, as a frustrated actor, actually finds joy in being able to play different people in front of such eager audiences.
After a while, it becomes clear that Ace hasn’t fully thought through the consequences of his actions and the responsibilities that come with creating personas that are relied and depended on. His priorities get blurry, and he’s faced with a hard question: When you’re working so hard to be three completely different people… Who are you, really?
What can you tell us about some of the villains Ace will have to face?
We’re building up a big rogues’ gallery for both our guys, including The Neutron (huge Kirby-inspired sci-fi robot), Sky God (a crazy crime boss that lives on a never-landing airplane), The Wand (a two-bit thief that lucks into magical abilities), Baby Grand (a nightclub owner that has her heart set on running a criminal enterprise), and The Man O’ Wars (a football team that robs banks). Our goal is to keep both heroes on their toes, never fighting the same type of villain twice.
Are there any other superheroes in the Alter Ego Universe?
There are a handful — some inspired by Whiz-Bang, others that were there before and haven’t had as much success, which will lead to some professional jealousy. Aside from heroes and villains, pretty much every main and supporting character is going to be seen through the prism of identity. We really want to examine the idea that you don’t have to wear a costume in order to have a secret part of yourself.
The Kickstarter for Alter Ego launched on March 14th
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