JMS: POLICING THE DREAM

[MattBrady]

by Chris Arrant

After months of rampant rumor and speculation, the details behind writer J. Michael Straczynski's next project is unveiled this month. Published under Marvel's prestigious "Icon" imprint, this creator-owned graphic novel features artwork by his Amazing Spider-Man collaborator Mike Deodato, and is scheduled for release in July wit. Here's the official description of the story:

In the very near future, Detectives Joe Thursday and Frank Stafford patrol the surreal landscape of Los Angeles. But theirs is not just any beat. Their beat is the dreamscape -- a neo-noire landscape populated by trolls, dinosaurs, and things that go bump in the night, a place where it’s not too uncommon to find oneself late for the big test, completely naked at work, or trapped in an endless, repetitive loop. And that’s where our Detectives Stafford and Thursday come in. Tonight’s patrol roster looks like it’ll be quite a doozy: Sister Mary, whose convent becomes a playground for a sinister force . . .“Two-Pack” Benny, who’s trying to keep his hand in the dream-molding game . . . and little Albert, who unleashes the monster under his bed on his little suburban neighborhood.

With a description like that, it's bound to give you more questions than answers about this intriguing tale. And instead of leaving you to wonder, Newsarama has contacted J. Michael Straczynski to talk about this upcoming book, as well as some other unasked questions.

From reading that description, one of the most obvious questions is simple: what is 'the dreamscape'? Although some of our readers can attest to the unique qualities that the city of Los Angeles does possess, what Straczynski has planned seems far and above what even our idea of what the "City of Angels" has to offer. We've already got a glimpse of it from the description as featuring "trolls, dinosaurs and things that go bump into the night", so it seems pretty open-ended kind of place. But there's bound to be some rules, right?

"The dreamscape has rules: echoes play the parts of other people in our dreams, imps and ethers mold the dreamscape which is constantly changing, everyone has their job to do," Straczynski revealed. "When someone doesn’t do it right, or causes a breakdown in the dreamscape, it’s up to the Dream Police to set things straight."

"The dreamscape has been used by a lot of writers and artists over the years, " Straczynski continued," and the powers that be in these places have tended to be supernatural in attitude and appearance, so I thought, wouldn’t it be fun if these guys were more like beat cops? Nothing stuns or staggers them, it’s all part of a day’s work, no matter how weird things may get."

The beat cops in question are detectives Joe Thursday and Frank Stafford. Fans of Straczynski’s previous works have consistently pointed out the rich characterization that he brings to his creations, and Dream Police is no different.

"[Detectives Friday and Stafford are] totally deadpan," Straczynski explains. "If you think Tommy Lee Jones in Men in Black, or just about anybody from Dragnet, or Humphrey Bogart in the Maltese Falcon, you’ll get some idea of what these guys are like. So I’m keeping that very clipped, hard-boiled, stylized kind of dialogue and characterization, but transplanting it to a world that is just utterly insane."

Some of our more "mature" readers might be reading something extra in what's going on. The title, "Dream Police", is bound to bring back memories for some of our readers as a popular song from the rock band Cheap Trick. Combine that with the name of the policeman Joe Thursday in relation to famous TV cop Joe Friday of Dragnet, and you're starting to see a pattern.

"In the case of Cheap Trick, I had actually not been aware of that particular song, but on reflection I can't think of another way to title it that says it so directly, " Straczynski said. "As for the Joe Thursday thing...that's a nod of the cap to Dragnet, but only in the sense that the flat-affect dialogue you got in shows like Dragnet, Adam-12, and Cannon is what I'm kind of parodying a bit here. So the name is a nod to that style of writing." For the unaware, Dragnet was a popular TV series focusing on Los Angeles detectives, Sgt. Joe Friday and Officer Bill Gannon as they work together and track down criminals. Called the grandfather of all of today's police dramas, it has been revived several times in TV and movies.

Looking at the two major elements of the story and they seem opposed; the mundane, realistic quality of two beat cops unceremoniously thrown into this supernatural dimension. For Straczynski, these contrasts only make the story that much better.

"One is fanciful, the other gritty and realistic," said Straczynski. "One always accents the other more elegantly by way of contrast. A white panel against a black background stands out more than a gray one. And it's a guarantee of conflict, and conflict is the key to any kind of writing. And...well, basically, I just think it's funnier than hell."

Industry watchers might remember Dream Police as a project originally announced under the banner of "Joe's Comics", an imprint of Top Cow Comics. After a fallout between Straczynski and Top Cow, the future of Dream Police looked in doubt for awhile. But the book has navigated that storm, and found a home in Marvel Comics' creator-owned imprint, Icon.

"As a writer, there are times when you know you’ve nailed it, and times when you know you may have come a’cropper," Straczynski joked. "I’ve always loved Dream Police, always felt it was some of my best work. So I was determined to get it away and to a place where it could see the light of day." After all those years and all the tribulations, it's a testament to Straczynski's dedication to his own work that he's able to bring it to fruition.

J. Michael Straczynski has called Marvel Comics home for several years, coming to be the first writer to simultaneously work on both Amazing Spider-Man and Fantastic Four since industry legend Stan Lee. Now that he's adding Dream Police, a creator-owned book, it's interesting to think of how he approaches writing Marvel's most popular characters compared to something he's forged with his own hand, such as in Dream Police.

"On a certain level, clearly, you always have a lot of affection for the characters you create yourself, but on a much broader level, I don’t tend to look at them differently," Straczynski reveals. "I have a creator’s investment in Dream Police, but I have a writer’s responsibility with Amazing Spider-Man and the Fantastic Four not to screw it up. So I try very hard not to do that. The difficulty, of course, is that people want to see new things done with those characters, but when you do something new, you are automatically taking a chance that some people won’t like it.

"See, that’s the two-headed dragon you deal with every day when you write for an established character. Do you do what’s been done before, repackaged, just more of the same-old same-old, which has the benefit of being familiar? Or do you strike out in different directions and risk alienating people? Personally, I’ve never been risk-aversive," said the author of the controversial Sins Past storyline in Amazing Spider-Man. "I think you have to take chances, knowing that you’re going to fail from time to time, but that the successes when they come will be greater than if you just played it safe the whole time. The only way to succeed spectacularly is if you’re willing to fail spectacularly from time to time.

"I’m a big believer in what Theodore Roosevelt said," Straczynski continues," about always trying to be the one 'who strives valiantly, who errs and comes short again and again, who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, and spends himself in a worthy cause, who at best knows achievement and who at the worst if he fails at least fails while daring greatly so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.'"

As mentioned earlier, the artwork on Dream Police is handled by a familiar face to Straczynski and his readers, Amazing Spider-Man collaborator Mike Deodato. Mike Deodato has worked for various companies throughout the industry, but recently he too has found a home at the House of Ideas, working on such books as The Incredible Hulk and Witches.

"Mike has been a joy to work with," Straczynski gushed. "He brings a textured, realistic edge to his work that give the pages a certain sense of gravitas. I don’t recall if it was Axel [Alonso, Marvel Editor] who first mentioned him for Dream Police or if it was me, but for the sake of argument and the good of the commonweal, I will assume that it was me and leave Axel to defend his good name in a duel at a time yet to be determined."

"I think that Mike’s done some of his best work here, it’s just so stylish and noir and moody...but nuts. Sometimes I’ll just fire up a page of his Dream Police art and just admire it, which is rare for me."

But as the two creators get more comfortable and in-tune with each others work, this partnership also accentuates any small details that a casual glance might dismiss.

"I will admit, however, to tweaking Mike just once," Straczynski revealed. "After he came onto Amazing Spider-man, I began to notice, in little posters here and there, or on a t-shirt in a panel, he was plugging Witches. So finally, after several issues of this had gone by, I wrote my next script and, when it came to a room description, said, “And by gosh, there’s absolutely nothing here with the word 'Witches' on it.” A few pages later, “He’s wearing a shirt, and sonuvagun, once again, there’s nothing here with the word 'Witches' on it, what are the odds of that happening?” Subsequently, the Witches references stopped. "

"But that’s it. Otherwise, it’s been a splendid collaboration."

Rumor columns and comic forums have been running rampant at the idea of future J. Michael Straczynski projects such as Dream Police, and since we're here we might as well peek into Straczynski's bag of tricks. Coming in September from Marvel is The Book of Lost Souls, a monthly series with artist Colleen Doran (Orbiter, A Distant Soil). J. Michael Straczynski is an admitted "long term fan of her work", and this collaboration between these two industry stars is bound to be something. Not much has been revealed as to what the series is about so far, so we asked Mr. Straczynski for the low down.

"One of the recurring themes in my work, almost but not quite to the point of being tedious about it, is the degree to which we have been kind of desensitized to each other as humans," Straczynski said. "Politically, ethnically, economically, we’ve been marginalized and factionalized and tribalized to within an inch of our lives. That was one of the underlying themes, perhaps the dominant theme, of Midnight Nation...the lost and the dispossessed, the run-aways and the thrown-aways of society. And the thing is, you can have a home, and a family, and a job, but be as utterly lost as some guy living under a bridge.

"When I was working in Vancouver on the TV show Jeremiah, I used to hang out a lot downtown, because it’s a beautiful city," Straczynski explained. "On a long stretch of Granville and other streets, you see kids -- teens into twenties -- runaways, thrownaways, living on the streets, dozens at a time, every few blocks. Sometimes, I’d see a few of them wander into the comics store there, and look around...and walk out empty handed, having found nothing that related to the lives they were leading, lives of quite desperation, where hope is something you gave up long ago. I wanted to write a story for them, and for others out there on the razor’s edge between light and dark. Because sometimes having all the money in the world won’t move you one inch closer to what you really want out of life."

"So we’re three issues into this book, which follows a fellow named Jonathan, who committed suicide by drowning -- or tried to do so -- over a hundred years ago, and resurfaces (literally) in the present, with a big book of names and a mission, to be the force that tilts the balance in people’s lives one way or another, " Straczynski said. "It’s kind of a dark book, but with a certain hopefulness in it. He also has a talking cat named Mystery, who is perhaps more than he appears. "

[KSChris]

Looks really good!!

But.. Joe Thursday?

[Blind Assassin]

Gee, with the news of this project, along with JMS' upcoming ICON project w/ Colleen Doran in September, I am quite psyched to see this banner/imprint grow.

[Blablabla]

Wow this looks very interesting to get. I like fantasy alot and if i read it right it will be a GN and not a serie??

[SpyGuy]

Originally posted by MattBrady
"In the case of Cheap Trick, I had actually not been aware of that particular song, but on reflection I can't think of another way to title it that says it so directly, " Straczynski said.

Wow. A writer his age (and not too far away from mine) and he never heard Cheap Trick's Dream Police? What, was he busy watching episodes of Hee Haw instead?

Anyway, I'm looking forward to this one-shot, although the premise would be worthy of a monthly series. (Maybe a series of one-shots, perhaps?)

[BlueThunderArmy]

I've not been impressed with JMS's recent work, but I'm a big fan of dream-logic stories so I might check this out. Go Icon.

[Bakema NL]

Too.........much.........cool........... comics...........have............to..... ....restrain..........myself..........

Screw that. I'm getting this.

[MatthewSmith]

I'll more than likely give this a shot, but I don't see myself adding it to my pull list right off the bat.

I'll pick up the first few issues or so and see how it goes from there.

It seems like an interesting premise, but its not screaming out for me to buy it just yet.

[Christian Otte]

Both Dream Police and Book of Lost Souls sounds very interesting and I'm glad to see an addition to the Icon imprint, which has been long over due.

[ATKokmen]

For the unaware, Dragnet was a popular TV series focusing on Los Angeles detectives, Sgt. Joe Friday and Officer Bill Gannon as they work together and track down criminals. Called the grandfather of all of today's police dramas, it has been revived several times in TV and movies.

And, for what it's worth, Dragnet been homaged in comics before, notably in Max Allan Collins' brilliant Ms. Tree series, where it was hinted that Joe Friday was the protagonist's father.

Man, I'd love to see Ms. Tree back in print...

[idkidd]

On a long stretch of Granville and other streets, you see kids -- teens into twenties -- runaways, thrownaways, living on the streets, dozens at a time, every few blocks. Sometimes, I’d see a few of them wander into the comics store there, and look around...and walk out empty handed, having found nothing that related to the lives they were leading, lives of quite desperation, where hope is something you gave up long ago

Or maybe they didn't have the $3.95 for an IDW book!

[ChrisArrant]

Originally posted by MatthewSmith
I'll more than likely give this a shot, but I don't see myself adding it to my pull list right off the bat.

I'll pick up the first few issues or so and see how it goes from there.

It seems like an interesting premise, but its not screaming out for me to buy it just yet.

Keep in mind that this is a one-shot, or graphic novel. So there's only one issue, a self-contained story.

[Vyper]

This looks and sounds promising - I think Straczynsky works best on his own properties, so this will definitely make its way into my pull bin

[Arsenal3]

Originally posted by MattBrady
Some of our more "mature" readers might be reading something extra in what's going on. The title, "Dream Police", is bound to bring back memories for some of our readers as a popular song from the rock band Cheap Trick.

"Mature" readers? I'll have you know, I LOVE Cheap trick, and I'm VERY immature.

[Robert]

Big fan of JMS so for sure I am picking up both titles. Look forward to it and the interview has left me excited to get my hands on them both. Nice to see ICON adding to the roster. Hope it continues to grow.

[Vyper]

Originally posted by Arsenal3
"Mature" readers? I'll have you know, I LOVE Cheap trick, and I'm VERY immature.

I think he meant "old"

[Duke Jupiter]

That bit about JMS being "the first writer to simultaneously write AMAZING SPIDER-MAN and FANTASTIC FOUR since industry legend Stan Lee" is not true.

That honor was first awarded to Gerry Conway, WAYYYY back in the day, who was writing ASM, FF and THOR at the same time almost up until he left Marvel the first time for DC.

Len Wein was the second writer to do that afterwards and was also writing the adventures of the Thunder God in addition to HULK at the same time, albeit briefly. His FF run wasn't too lengthy, but it overlapped with his longer-term Spidey run.

Marv Wolfman was the third writer to write both Spidey and the FF at the same time, going so far as to do a crossover with the wallcrawler in FF #207.

So take out "Stan Lee,"insert "Marv Wolfman" and the sentence about JMS is slightly more accurate. Or, acknowledge that JMS is actually the fourth writer to blah, blah, blah, so forth and so on.

- DJ

[BradyKiller]

whenever I hear this title I think of the song by Radiohead called "Karma Police"...it has that moody, eerie feeling to it that I imagine around this JMS project.

[Sunless]

I cant get that Dream Police song out of my head nooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!

[Dyuta]

I'm glad Dream Police is finally out of limbo... much as I like JMS' work on Marvel characters (i.e. Spidey and - soon - FF), I love his work even more when he's doing his own thing (i.e. Midnight Nation, Rising Stars, Supreme Power). I, for one, think he has the Midas Touch (debatable as Sins Past may be). Definitely putting these on my pull list.

Oh, and "Karma Police" is an amazing song.

[samnoir]

Originally posted by Dyuta
I'm glad Dream Police is finally out of limbo... much as I like JMS' work on Marvel characters (i.e. Spidey and - soon - FF), I love his work even more when he's doing his own thing (i.e. Midnight Nation, Rising Stars, Supreme Power). I, for one, think he has the Midas Touch (debatable as Sins Past may be). Definitely putting these on my pull list.

Oh, and "Karma Police" is an amazing song.

I'm very much looking forward to finally seeing this book!

I wonder if there will be clever references to Neil Gaiman's Sandman.

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[LD18]

do they get to beat the crap outta Sleepwalker? I hope so.

[stlfan79]

For some reason I still thought this was going to resurface at Top Cow since it seemed that things were resolved when Rising Stars was completed. Maybe Dream Police being printed somewhere else is one of the stipulations involved in the completion of RS.

[majorjoe23]

Originally posted by LD18
do they get to beat the crap outta Sleepwalker? I hope so.

At the very least, Marvel can dust off the old Sleepwalker ad: "It's Sandman done right!"

Always good for a laugh.

[arthur]

Dream Police sounds and looks really good and I can't wait to see some Colleen Doran art previews from the Book of Lost Souls.