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07-12-2007, 11:52 AM
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#1 |
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CHRISTOS GAGE ON DYNAMITE'S THE MAN WITH NO NAME
 by Matt BradyIt’s been a little over 40 years since his last appearance, but later this year, The Man With No Name will return, this time to comics. The new series will be published by Dynamite, who is licensing the rights to the character, based on the classic Sergio Leone “trilogy” starring Clint Eastwood, from MGM. The character appeared in A Fistful of Dollars (1964), For a Few Dollars More (1965), and The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966). Not truly a chronological trilogy, the three films were united by Eastwood’s serape-wearing presence as the enigmatic loner, following his own path, whose name was unknown, or, at best, only a nickname given to the character. The films defined and influenced a generation, and Eastwood’s character has been seen in echoes throughout popular fiction, since. The comic series should begin in November or December of this year, and while the artist is yet to be determined, Newsarama has learned that Christos (Stormwatch PHD, Annihilation Conquest: Quasar) Gage will write the series. The writer agreed to discuss the project with Newsarama. Newsarama: First off Christos, how do you end up with an assignment like this? While it's admittedly an older property, the character's influence is felt heavily throughout comics. Seems like there would've been some kind of cage-match to see who would be able to write the icon… Christos Gage: Well, remember, it's not who's strongest, it's who gets out of the cage first! In all seriousness, when I first spoke to [Dynamite Entertainment President] Nick Barrucci about this, it was part of a general conversation discussing various potential projects we might do together. When he mentioned that Dynamite had landed the license to The Man With No Name, I couldn't have been more excited about the prospect of writing it. Unfortunately, I realized my busy schedule wouldn't allow me to begin writing until later than they wanted to start seeing scripts. But Nick saw how enthusiastic I was and said he wanted to try to make it work…and we did. I'm not sure if I beat out anyone else, or if I did, what I did to win the prize…it might have just been that I was in the right place at the right time. But there was definitely a chemistry, a feeling that Dynamite and I wanted to do the same kinds of things with the character. In the end, I think that's what made it happen. NRAMA: That said, what made you say yes to the offer from Dynamite? What is it about the character that appeals to you? CG: You said it yourself - this is one of the most influential, iconic characters in any medium. His echoes are felt everywhere from comics to films to media that didn't even exist when the films were made, like video games. This is the guy who originated cool, who embodies the anti-hero. How could anyone say no to that? I sure couldn't! NRAMA: Just so we're on the same page here - there have been a few “man with no names” throughout the West - from Clint Eastwood in the Leone films to Charles Bronson in Once Upon a Time in the West, and others - what continuity/character are you talking about here? CG: We're talking about the character who appeared in A Fistful Of Dollars, For A Few Dollars More and The Good, The Bad and The Ugly. NRAMA: Leone himself didn't see the three films as a trilogy - but does looking at them that way work for you? CG: It definitely does. But at the same time, each stands on its own. That's the approach I'd like to take with the comic…rather than a continuity-heavy approach, I'd like each story to work by itself; if a reader's first exposure to the book is our third story arc, it shouldn't prove confusing for them at all. Having said that, there is a mythology to draw on. We might reveal how The Man (as I like to call him for short) first met Angel Eyes, for example. But enjoying and understanding the story won't depend on a prior knowledge of who Angel Eyes is. NRAMA: Okay then – with the mention of Angel Eyes, what's the order of the films? If we're going to get all trivia, he got his hat and serape in The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, but that's the final film… CG: As some have pointed out, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly can be viewed as a prequel to the two Fistful films, almost an “origin story” showing how the Man got his signature serape, hat and other items. That would mean the Fistful films take place after the Civil War. But really, I think getting too fixated on continuity runs counter to the point of the character: his being a nameless drifter and an archetypal figure. The stories can almost happen in any order…and, as you point out, it need not even be the same character. We're taking the position that it is, but at the same time we want to keep that iconic feel to each story…almost as if the Man With No Name didn't exist until he drifted into town, and ceased to exist when he rode out… NRAMA: As the writer on the series, you're de facto a Man With No Name expert to a degree - for those who may read this news and say, "huh?" Can you educate us a little on why the Man With No Name is important, not just in popular fiction, but specifically genre fiction and comics? CG: Before him, the Western hero tended to be more upright and square-jawed, or even friendly and outgoing, like the “singing cowboy” embodied by Gene Autry or Roy Rogers. You did have characters that could be considered anti-heroes, like John Wayne in The Searchers… NRAMA: Sure – he was basically one of the first of the anti-heroes – he came in at the beginning, and left at the end, still an outsider… CG: Right, but it was The Man With No Name became the embodiment of the anti-hero. It was lightning in a bottle - the combination of Eastwood's acting, Leone's directing, Morricone's music, the whole package…something was born that affected virtually everything that came after. And not just in Westerns - sure, Jonah Hex draws from The Man With No Name, but so do Han Solo, The Punisher, Vic Mackey from the TV show The Shield, and any number of other characters. Let me put it this way - there were sci-fi films before Star Wars, but once it came along, every sci-fi film after it couldn't help but feel its influence in some way. The same is true for The Man With No Name and anti-heroes. NRAMA: What time period are you looking to tell stories in, relative to the films? CG: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly took place in New Mexico during the Civil War, and that's certainly a milieu I'd be interested in exploring further; New Mexico's Civil War involvement is short but fascinating. As for time periods, the “Old West” is generally considered to be the post-Civil War era, and there's plenty to explore there in terms of history. I wouldn't rule out bringing The Man to a big city of the time, though I wouldn't make a habit of it. What I absolutely don't want to do is insert him into specific historical situations…for instance, The Man With No Name vs. Wild Bill Hickock would not be a story idea you'd see me pitching. I think that would feel contrived, and run contrary to the spirit of the character, who moves almost ghostlike through the West. NRAMA: On that same front, which eras are you itching not to explore? That is, what stories about the Man With No Name should never be told as you see it? CG: It's almost something you know in your gut. I already addressed not involving him in specific historical events. To pick a more extreme example, I'd never bring sci-fi or the supernatural into a Man With No Name story - you won't see him fighting zombies. And he's not a superhero. He shouldn't get shot in the shoulder, leg, torso, etc. in every adventure and show no ill effects by the next issue. He's iconic, but part of what makes him iconic is that he's a man; he bleeds. The line's hard to define, but I like to think that if I cross it, I'll know…and if I don't, Dynamite and MGM will tell me! NRAMA: Along those lines, what about the Man’s past and/or origin? Can you touch that at all, or better question - should you ever look into the past of the Man and try to give him a "human" history? Obviously, with the Eastwood feel, it seems there would almost be a gravitational pull towards making him Josey Wales in his later years, but the again, a part of my brain starts screaming "wrong, wrong, WRONG!" at me for just saying that... CG: Great question...and the jury's still out. We've talked about doing a "year one" type story, but whether that's an "origin" per se or just Man With No Name as a more youthful enigmatic drifter has yet to be determined. My wife wants me to write the last Man With No Name story, showing him as an old man in a world that's passed him by. And in A Fistful Of Dollars The Man responds to the question of why he helped a family with a young boy by saying, in essence, "because when I was his age there was no one there to help." That's a story that's almost begging to be told, but at the same time, would revealing these things and making the character less mysterious take away some of what makes him so cool? NRAMA: It’s interesting in a way, to bring it back to comics, that Wolverine took so much from The Man throughout the years of stories being told with him, and now Wolverine can serve as a cautionary tale to The Man in some ways – large chunks of his origin are known which, arguably, do take away some of the mystery which made him cool. CG: Yeah - I think this is something we'll approach with the proper level of caution and respect when the time comes, if it comes. But it'll be down the road a ways. NRAMA: What are the characteristics of a Man with No Name story? What has to be in it? CG: Again, I don't see a list of hard and fast rules; it's more something instinctive. He shouldn't be a talkative guy. He should always feel apart from everything; he's not one to put down roots. And he should kick ass. NRAMA: But of course. What are the particular challenges of writing an “icon” such as this? The Man is seen as an icon because he…well, is iconic, and almost stands like a statue, unchanging in the field of popular fiction. It seems that making the icon move again could be seen as…dunno…risky? CG: Oh, of course…everyone agrees that the films are masterpieces, and the character is an icon. I feel a tremendous sense of responsibility to be true to that and not disappoint the character's fans. I'm not worried about “ruining” the character; a bad story or two couldn't do that any more than my writing a bad Batman story could ruin Batman. But I'd hate for people to read the comic and say, “This isn't him.” Or even just “That was lame.” Obviously, we're not doing movies here; we don't have Ennio Morricone music or Clint Eastwood speaking the dialogue. But you can still be true to what the movies set up for the character, and that's what I have to do. It's intimidating, but that's not a bad thing. It'll push me to do my best work. NRAMA: What are you drawing on for inspiration for this? Are you going back to look at Yojimbo, and get the purists angry? CG: The license is for the three Eastwood films, so my position is that those are the main source of inspiration. I've intentionally avoided watching Yojimbo again because we're not licensing that, we're licensing the MGM films - though I may check it out again once I'm more “in a groove” as it were. Having said that, in a general sense, I like to draw inspiration from everywhere. Real life, other media, other stories… whatever helps me tell a good story is something I'm going to use. NRAMA: What about any post Leone stories/interpretations? Would you look at them to see how others have handled a similar character? CG: Well, officially, they're not part of the canon. But like I said, I take inspiration from everywhere. Some people have said they view Will Munny in Unforgiven as an older Man With No Name. NRAMA: Along with the Preacher in Pale Rider… CG: True, but I'm not viewing it that way because my focus is on the three MGM films. But Unforgiven is one of my favorite films of all time, so how could it not influence me in some respects? It's a hard thing to pin down. I'd rather just focus on telling good stories. NRAMA: What kind of latitude do you have, given that this is a license based on films? Can you refer to the events in the films? CG: It's up to MGM; they have approval over storylines. But my understanding is that we can refer to the films, and use supporting characters from them. At some point I'd like to tell the story of how The Man met Tuco and Angel Eyes. Having said that, I don't want to get caught up in minutia or resort to navel-gazing. There will be stories that have nothing to do with the films. What I can't do, and wouldn't want to do, is tell stories that are not true to the character. NRAMA: How much into The Man’s head can you get? Thought balloons are out, right? CG: Definitely, as are the “inner monologue” captions that have replaced them in modern comics. He speaks through his actions. If you look at my work on Deadshot, that's the approach I took there…you don't get to see what he's thinking. You see what he's doing. You can infer or guess at The Man’s thoughts, but an air of mystery is part and parcel of who he is. NRAMA: Wrapping things up, how about teasing out your first story a bit…where do things start, and where do they roll from there? CG: We're waiting for MGM to sign off on this, so it's not yet official, but this is what Dynamite and I have submitted as the first arc. It's a six-issue arc that functions as a sequel of sorts to The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. The Man has a hundred thousand dollars worth of Confederate gold; that's the good news. The bad news is, the Union Army is after him for blowing up the bridge they were trying to seize and the Confederates are after him because they know he has their money. So he's trying to stay off the beaten path. Riding through the desert, he comes upon a dying priest who tells him that the Catholic Mission seen in The Good, the Bad and the Ugly - whose monks saved his life - is under siege by an army of bandits, primarily deserters from both the Union and the Confederacy. They're after a treasure the mission supposedly has. The monks and the wounded men they care for are in terrible danger. The priest begs The Man for help, then dies. The Man tells himself it's none of his concern; he has his own problems. He starts to continue with his journey…then, cursing, he turns and heads toward the Mission. That's the setup. There will be one character in the story who we also saw in The Good, the Bad and the Ugly - Father Ramirez, Tuco's brother. But our story should stand on its own for new readers; anyone who hasn't seen the films - putting aside the fact that they should! - will be told all they need to know to follow the story. |
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07-12-2007, 12:02 PM
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#2 |
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Sweet, first post!
You have to really be careful with this character. By being THE "Man With No Name" (MWNN) he is inherently a characater without an origin. No ties bind 'Blondie' in any ordinary sense to either the society or people of his time. It is these to fascets that build the mysticism behind him, the power of his entrance and exit in any story. If done well this could be a glorious undertaking. I must say, as a huge fan of the movies (hell my mother even claims that the only thing that would get me to shut up as a baby was replaying 'The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly' over and over untilt he tape wore out) I would revel in more tales of his adventures, if told well. For that fact alone I guess this would seem to me to be one of the roughest jobs as a writer to approach... I guess I would just implore Mr. Cage to NOT tell a definite origin story and that even in telling the MWNN's 'final story' (which I see as having a great deal of possibilities) I'd hazard another plea not to end the tale in his death. From where 'Blondie' has come and to where he goes when the tale is through are always left ambiguous for a very good reason. Last edited by johnchrist : 07-12-2007 at 12:12 PM. |
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07-12-2007, 12:02 PM
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#3 |
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oh dear god.
THIS IS GOING TO DESTROY MY LIFE. I know it's just a licensing warehouse, but damn, is Dynamite doing it right. |
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07-12-2007, 12:05 PM
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#4 |
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Brilliant idea, Nick!
Great license, great writer... Looking forward to it and a great companion to LONE RANGER. Dave |
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07-12-2007, 12:06 PM
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#5 |
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I wonder how much all these licenses are costing them
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07-12-2007, 12:13 PM
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#6 |
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Well that's... weird.
Cool, I guess. Gage is a good writer. |
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07-12-2007, 12:13 PM
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#7 |
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There needs to be a crossover with Lone Ranger and Man with No Name..
that would be a great mini-series.. or better, a maxi-series..  |
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07-12-2007, 12:14 PM
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#8 |
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Tickle me excited, this sounds awesome.
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07-12-2007, 12:16 PM
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#9 |
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Really looking forward to this one. I'd love to see 1st confrontation between The Man With No Name and Angel Eyes. I can already hear Morricone's iconic The Good, the Bad and the Ugly theme playing in my head!
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07-12-2007, 12:18 PM
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#10 |
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Good God, this is going to rule!
Let's hope there's a crossover with Lone Ranger... |
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07-12-2007, 12:18 PM
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#11 |
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Great news!!
Cool writer plus cool character equals a ton of potential. Just get a cool artist on something like this and we've got a genre 'hit' on the shelf.... -Don |
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07-12-2007, 12:18 PM
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#12 |
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Hot effing damn, this is the best comics news of the week.
Wow! Christos Gage....writing the Man with No Name?! How awesome can you get!!!! Sign me up! How am I going to wait until November or December for this?! |
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07-12-2007, 12:18 PM
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#13 | |
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Quote:
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07-12-2007, 12:21 PM
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#14 |
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My God thats awesome. Dynamite is taking all my extra comic money lately. Which is fine since its no longer going to Marvel much
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07-12-2007, 12:22 PM
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#15 |
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I'll buy anything Mr. Gage writes, but I'm happy he's writing a property that actually has me excited! Is it just me, or is he going for the record of writing for the most companies by such a "new" comic writer? Arcana, DC, Marvel, Wildstorm, Dynamite; I guess that's not a huge # of companies, but it seems like it.
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07-12-2007, 12:25 PM
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#16 | |
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Quote:
MattB |
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07-12-2007, 12:29 PM
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#17 |
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Wasn't he called Joe in one movie and Manco in another? Unless those are alias's, I always thought they were his name.
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07-12-2007, 12:32 PM
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#18 |
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wow, do I have ZERO interest in this property. TGTBATU is a great movie, but I don't need to read a comic about it.
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07-12-2007, 12:33 PM
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#19 | |
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Quote:
They were probably nicknames. In Fistful, you get the feeling that the guy who calls him "Joe" calls every anglo "Joe," as people overseas sometimes did with the GIs in WWII. And "Manco" literally means "someone who's missing a hand," which has been interpreted as referring to the fact that he has one hand on his gun at all times. |
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07-12-2007, 12:35 PM
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#20 | |
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Quote:
I never knew Manco meant anything; that's interesting. You're definitely the man for the job if you can rattle off info like that in a second.  |
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07-12-2007, 12:36 PM
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#21 |
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Chris is a hell of a good writer, and Nick is a very smart man. Congrats.
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07-12-2007, 12:39 PM
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#22 | |
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Gotta Call you on this one
Quote:
No, his name in the film is Harmonica - wait for the credits or the fact that Morricone wrote a theme called "Harmonica's song" that plays most of the times he comes on screen. His parents may not have named him that, but it has become his name. Blondie, on the other hand, is only a name Tucco calls Eastwood in the GB&U And they really need to get the artist who drew the first arc of Loveless on this - is that Frusion? |
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07-12-2007, 12:42 PM
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#23 |
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I'd say this was a bad idea except for one thing:
Christos Gage The dude can write. I'm so there for this.  |
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07-12-2007, 12:45 PM
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#24 | |
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Quote:
In Fistfull of Dollars, Eastwood was listed in the credits as "Joe," and GB&U revised soundtrack has a previously unreleased track on it called "The Bandit Monco" - but Eastwood's still the Man with No Name. Bronson didn't have one either. I'll agree to disagree with you at this point. MattB |
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07-12-2007, 12:47 PM
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#25 | |
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Quote:
It does seem like a bad idea, but after reading the interview this seems like it could work out nicely. I'll have to plead for no origin story either, though. I know I've read something by Gage, just can't think of what at the moment |
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