IDW, MACK BOLAN AND ROGUE ANGEL - TOM WALTZ EXPLAINS ALL

[MattBrady]

Beginning in February, the IDW family of titles will grow by two – Rogue Angel and Don Pendleton’s Mack Bolan, The Executioner. Both properties are getting the comic treatment from IDW thanks to the publisher’s deal with Gold Eagle Books. An original, five issue Rogue Angel miniseries will begin in February, while an original five issue Mack Bolan miniseries will begin in April.

We spoke with IDW Editor Tom Waltz about the deal, the properties, and the plans ahead.
Newsarama: First off, let’s talk about the deal with Gold Eagle Books – IDW has had many licensing relationships over the years, so what brought this one about for these specific properties?

Tom Waltz: Funny thing is, with all the thought and planning we normally put into what licenses to pursue, the idea to approach Gold Eagle came about based upon what honestly amounts to a dare by IDW Publisher and Editor in Chief Chris Ryall. IDW Controller Matt Ruzicka, Ryall and I were discussing various license possibilities in Ryall’s office one morning, when Ryall joked, “Be careful, or you’ll get Matt talking about Mack Bolan next.” Little did Ryall know that I’m also a huge Mack Bolan fan (been one since I first discovered the pulp action novels when I was a pre-teen), so when I said, “Hey, yeah… Bolan would make a sweet comic book,” Chris (who, admittedly, was not familiar with all things Bolan at the time) just laughed and said, “Yeah, right,” thinking I was joking. He realized I was serious, however, after listening to Ruzicka and I wax nostalgic for ten minutes straight about all the awesome Bolan adventures we’ve read over the years. Finally Ryall said, “Okay, Bolan Boy, if you feel that strongly about it, and if (IDW President) Ted Adams is cool with it, go ahead and talk to the Gold Eagle folks.” Well, long story short, Ted gave me the green light and I immediately contacted Gold Eagle.

To my pleasant surprise, not only were the Gold Eagle folks excited about the thought of doing Mack Bolan comics, they threw out the possibility to us of doing comics based upon their newest (and extremely popular) adventure hero, Annja Creed (a.k.a. Rogue Angel), too. I wasn’t familiar with the Rogue Angel books at the time—had only seen them on store shelves next to the Bolan stuff—but quickly fell in love with the idea of doing both titles at IDW after reading the first Rogue Angel novel, Rogue Angel: Destiny. So, one thing led to another, and before long all the appropriate paperwork was signed between Gold Eagle and IDW… and here we are today.

NRAMA: Let’s hit the two properties themselves – it’s probably no stretch to say that Don Pendleton’s Mack Bolan is the more popular of the two, but can you sketch them both out?

TW: Well, Mack Bolan’s been around since 1969, when the character was first introduced to the world by his creator, Don Pendleton, in The Executioner: War Against the Mafia. Pendleton presented Bolan as a Vietnam War hero who returns to the States to seek out bloody revenge against the mafia after they’ve committed murder against his family (sounds familiar, eh? ‘Nuff said). Initially, Bolan works outside the law in his crusade against the crime families, but in time he joins forces with the government against all types of evil (terrorists, drug cartels, etc.), up to the point now where, hundreds and hundreds (and hundreds) of adventures later, he works as a kind of freelance special operative, both within and without legal boundaries, doing whatever it takes to continue his war everlasting against the evil forces that threaten the world. It’s a wonderful testament to the late Don Pendleton that his character has been so popular for so long, and that the evolution of the concept continues to this day.

Rogue Angel is a much newer incarnation of the adventure hero type that Gold Eagle is so well-known for, and though Annja Creed and Mack Bolan are not directly connected, there is no denying that the same formula—smart, timely and exciting action with a memorable lead character—exists between the two. Rogue Angel is the story of Annja Creed, an archeologist who stumbles upon a centuries old mystery surrounding the lost sword of Joan of Arc. As it turns out, Annja is fated to be the heir to the now-mystical sword, able to conjure up the sword from thin air whenever she finds herself in need of its protection—which, for Annja, happens quite a bit. Kind of a cross between Indiana Jones and Lara Croft, Annja is an intelligent, sassy and naturally sexy heroine who seeks out the mysteries of the past while living her very own mystery life in the present.

NRAMA: What makes these two good prospects for comics now? Mack Bolan’s been adapted before, but Rogue Angel is relatively new…what does IDW see in them in regards to today’s marketplace and their prospective performance in it?

TW: Honestly, I think in the case of Mack Bolan, the property has long been ready to be adapted again—it’s just that there have been so many copycat properties in comics over the years that launching The Executioner out into the direct market would have been futile at best. Now, with the wider audience available in the mainstream book market, we feel we have the opportunity to not only reach existing fans of both properties (and there a many of these who have already expressed excitement about the fact that the characters are expanding to mediums outside the prose arena), but to expose the titles to those who aren’t familiar with Mack or Annja—or who may have a passing knowledge of the two and are looking for a reason to jump on board. We’d certainly like to see direct market success for the titles (and with the fantastic work our creators are churning out, both books definitely deserve it), but our confidence in bringing these titles into the graphic format at this time lies in our ability to get the trades into bookstores and in front of an audience who is more willing to explore titles and concepts that fall outside the realm of tights and capes.

NRAMA: So tell us about Rogue Angel: Teller of Tall Tales first – what’s going on in there?
TW: Rogue Angel: Teller of Tall Tales is plotted and written by Barbara Randall Kesel and is an original Rogue Angel story, not an adaptation of any of the published novels. This is a five-issue arc wherein Annja goes to Virginia City, home of the Comstock Lode and the early years of Mark Twain’s writing career, to help an old friend in search of a rumored manuscript that could change the public perception of Mark Twain. This puts them in danger from a powerful man who doesn’t care what the truth is. A gunfight, ambush, betrayal, ghostly apparition and cave-in later, they hold the answer in their hands…

NRAMA: And over to The Devil’s Tools – can you sketch out that miniseries a little?

TW: Don Pendleton’s The Executioner: The Devil’s Tools is also an original story and is plotted and written by popular Executioner prose novelist, Douglas P. Wojtowicz. As previously mentioned, Mack Bolan is the inspiration for countless payback warriors since 1969, and in our story, Bolan returns in an explosive five-issue mini-series that brings the character back to the comics medium and pits him against a conglomerate of enemies who are representative of the Executioner's many literary conflicts—from his War Against the Mafia to his battles with the KGB in the 80's and modern organized crime and terrorism.

NRAMA: What went into finding the creative teams for these titles?

TW: Oh, man, let me just say up front that it’s a blast working with Barbara Randall Kesel. I’ve been a big fan of her stuff for a while now, and to be editing something she is working on is a true pleasure. Not that she needs a lot of help from me—if anything, I’m learning more from her.

We wanted Barbara for the Rogue Angel gig because, as mentioned before, the greatest strength of the Annja Creed character isn’t her sexy looks, but rather her intelligent mind and her courageous demeanor. Yes, she’s a beautiful lady, but we wanted that to be the icing and not the cake, so to speak. So I was very deliberate when I approached not only Barbara to write the first story arc, but when I contacted the talented Renae De Liz to do the interior artwork, as well. At the risk of sounding sexist (and I’m most definitely not), I really felt that the very best way to show a smart, confident female protagonist was to have her adapted by smart, confident female creators. Does that mean Annja’s sexy factor goes out the window as a result? Heck no! It’s just presented in a realistic fashion rather than some pre-adolescent teenage boy version of the same. Barbara, Renae and colorist Ray Dillon are easily proving my gut instinct right with every page they turn in, I’m happy to report.

As for our Mack Bolan book, I was frequenting a popular Mack Bolan message board, feeling out the posters there for what they would want in a Mack Bolan-based comic book should one ever be published. Well, turns out Doug Wojtowicz was one of the members of the board, and he also happens to be one of the current crop of Bolan prose writers, not to mention a very popular one… not to mention a guy who was itching to script Bolan comics, given the chance to do so. With this in mind, I immediately contacted Doug and let him know that, yes, we were planning on doing a Bolan comic and, yes, we’d love for him to pitch to us. He did, and we (and Gold Eagle, who is actively involved in the approval process of our comics) loved what he sent in. Not only was it a great Bolan story, we had the added bonus of working with a creator who was already deeply entrenched in the Bolan-verse and was (and is) very familiar with everything Bolan related. It was an easy decision to hire him on as the writer. Bringing in SL Gallant as the interior artist followed a more routine path, wherein SL had expressed an interest in working with us in the past—we loved his stuff and were quick to ask him if he’d like to draw The Executioner. He shot us some character pages and we knew he was the person for the job. Colorist Louis Antonio Delgado is out of Mexico City and is proof positive of the networking value inherent to attending comic conventions, as I became aware of his stuff through a chance meeting at the 2007 San Diego Comic-Con. Loved his samples then and love the work he’s doing on Bolan for us now.

To top it off, we’ve got the super-talented (and super nice) Rebecca A. Wrigley doing cover art for both series, which means the exteriors are going to be just as fantastic as everything on the inside.

NRAMA: Compared to other properties that you publish comics of, how do the respective approval processes for these measure up?

TW: Like with all other licensed properties, IDW stays in constant contact with the license owner throughout the entire process, in this case Gold Eagle books. I’m being totally honest here when I say everyone I’ve worked with at Gold Eagle has been awesome. The approval process has been quick and concise, with Gold Eagle letting us know what specifics we have to adhere to, but also showing us respect and confidence in our successful comics publishing history, allowing us some creative flexibility. When all is said and done, the Mack Bolan and Rogue Angel comics will be equal parts Gold Eagle and IDW Publishing, which I feel makes for a fantastic partnership and high-quality comics that should appeal to pre-existing fans on both sides of the equation, not to mention new readers.

NRAMA: Since these are properties that are coming from the bookstore so to speak, it goes without saying that the collected editions of these miniseries have the best shot at reaching the audiences of the respective novel series. Why not just crank out all the work from the team and issue a 96-120 page OGN of stories?

TW: IDW could handle this type of production, and the plan, ultimately, is to collect the mini-series into high-quality trade paperbacks that we feel have great potential for success in bookstores, particularly with existing Mack Bolan and Rogue Angel fans. That said, we don’t want to totally discount the value of the direct market. We’d be doing a disservice to comic book fans if we didn’t give them the opportunity to check out these great books and these great characters at their local comics shop. And, who knows—the direct market, though mostly predictable, does have its surprise sleeper hits from time to time. I’m hoping these books will fall into that category eventually, but we won’t know unless we try.

NRAMA: Are there more Golden Eagle books coming as a result of this deal? There are plenty of other properties that GE publishes, after all…

TW: The simple answer to that is, yes, there have been surface discussions about other Gold Eagle titles, but, for now, our focus is making Don Pendleton’s The Executioner and Rogue Angel the best comic books they can be.

NRAMA: The larger trend here – adapting novels/literary properties into comics. IDW has done this before, obviously, with Clive Barker and Richard Matheson, but now, it seems that the industry is really catching up with more coming from the Dabels, Marvel expanding their line of literary comics, and others touching upon these books without pictures as well. Is this a case of a “good property is a good property” no matter where it starts from, or is there a specific push into literary properties for their own unique reasons?

TW: We’d be lying if we said we aren’t hoping to attract the existing fans of the characters/concepts, but that’s only part of it. Ultimately, we (and the license owners) are hoping to expand the fan base—using the comics to draw interest to the prose novels, and vice versa. In a perfect world, we not only cross-pollinate fans across the two mediums (i.e., Mack Bolan prose fans become Mack Bolan comics fans) but also expose the characters/concepts to new readers, thus creating more fans in general.

On the business side of things, this obviously looms well for future sales in both mediums, which is good for the bottom line… but I think it’s just as important in enabling the expansion of the creative potential for the properties. Look, I’m an editor, but I’m a fan, too, and I’d love for more people to dig what I dig, because that means there will be a bigger demand, which means I’ll get more of what I like. Yeah, I’m greedy that way (laughs).

[wordballoon]

I'm a huge Mack Bolan fan, this is great news.

[kevinmellon]

Renae De Liz is definitely someone to watch. She's doing damn good on this, and will only get better and better.

-mellon

[strangernpar]

Rogue Angel looks cool I will check it out

[00scotty]

Been reading the Rogue Angel books since they came out just over a year ago. The ones by Mel Odom are fantastic (#'s1,3,5,7) It's been compared to a Tomb Raider meets Witchblade

[AbacusComics]

Yet another solid offering from IDW. Good job guys!

[Kel Nuttall]

Originally Posted by kevinmellon

Renae De Liz is definitely someone to watch. She's doing damn good on this, and will only get better and better.

AGREED!! Renae puts a lot of personality into her characters.

[TomWaltz]

Thanks for all the nice comments, folks -- these are really turning out to be nice comics that I'm very proud to be a part of.

One quick correction to the article, though (and this was my bad) -- the colorist for Mack Bolan is LUIS Antonio Delgado, not Louis. Sorry about that, Luis.



Thanks again, everyone!

Best,

Tom Waltz

[CitC]

Slightly off topic question. Anyone know if Mack Bolan is the series of books used in the "Book Club" episode of Corner Gas? It has been at least 3 years since this episode and I may be completely wrong about the whole show.

[Jason Seaver]

That Rogue Angel comic sounds like a kick; I'll definitely be looking into this. Also, I don't think we've heard much of Barbara Kesel (when did she start including all three names) since CrossGen folded, and I've generally liked her work.

[Sunless]

I have about the first 80 Bolan books! This is damn cool.

[nwspencer]

As a kid, I devoured the Mack Bolan books. This should be great.

[Akcoll99]

Oh, this is awesome! My Dad loves the Mack Bolan books and I like the Rogue Angel series, so I'll be picking both of these up. Now if IDW can give me Deathlands and Outlanders in comic form, I will love them forever...

[Somebody]

Do IDW have any plans to go after Dark Angel?

I mean, they have Angel, Fallen Angel and now Rogue Angel. Might as well complete the set .

[johnstumbo]

I use to read the Mack Bolan books when I was young. I will try this out. Preview pages looked really nice.

[Kody]

Renae is doing a brilliant job with this stuff. Truly looking forward to it.

[idkidd]

As a comics fan, I have never heard of either of these properties or even Gold Eagle so the cross pollination / awareness is already working.

In regards to why IDW doesn't go straight to trade, if the comic serialization just breaks even, the production work will be able to be subsidized and you basically have 5 months of "advertisements" for each series to hype the trade. Since the production cost of comics greatly eclipses the printing cost, serialization seems to continue to be a wise decision.

[G Dog]

Originally Posted by CitC

Slightly off topic question. Anyone know if Mack Bolan is the series of books used in the "Book Club" episode of Corner Gas? It has been at least 3 years since this episode and I may be completely wrong about the whole show.

I'm pretty sure it was, yeah.

[De Martini]

WOW!

I read all the GOLD EAGLE books when I was a teenager: Mack Bolan, Phoenix Force, Able Team, the Stony Man books as well... Always wanted to see them in comics form, but since The Punisher already ripped off the Mack Bolan concept.... er, paid homage, I mean... I never thought I'd see the day.

I haven't read Rogue Angel but I'll check both comics out. But bring on PHOENIX FORCE!! That series was my fave.

[Ryall]

Originally Posted by Somebody

Do IDW have any plans to go after Dark Angel?

I mean, they have Angel, Fallen Angel and now Rogue Angel. Might as well complete the set .

That's a much better call than the Criss Angel comics someone proposed...

[TomWaltz]

Originally Posted by Ryall

That's a much better call than the Criss Angel comics someone proposed...

Is that another dare, Ryall?

[Green Llama]

I've been a huge fan and reader of Mack Bolan for years and years and a frequent poster on the (now defunct) Mack Bolan message boards...I can tell you they picked the perfect Bolan author to adapt The Executioner to comics in Doug W!

In addition to being a Bolan author, Doug is one of us...a comics fan...his novels are full of homages and easter eggs for comic fans!

These will rock!

[MichaelTown]

About time! The Executioner's influence on the Punisher is undeniable: He's a Vietnam War veteran whose family was murdered by the Mafia. Don Pendleton even did an interview in a Marvel mag featuring the Punisher talking about his "indirect" influence on the character. Good luck guys!

[Blackbeard]

Originally Posted by Ryall

That's a much better call than the Criss Angel comics someone proposed...

I can see it now: "Criss Angel: Histrionic Superstar."

I think it has a lot of potential.

[Doug Wojo]

Originally Posted by Green Llama

I've been a huge fan and reader of Mack Bolan for years and years and a frequent poster on the (now defunct) Mack Bolan message boards...I can tell you they picked the perfect Bolan author to adapt The Executioner to comics in Doug W!

In addition to being a Bolan author, Doug is one of us...a comics fan...his novels are full of homages and easter eggs for comic fans!

These will rock!

Whoa, I guess Tom WASN'T pulling anyone's leg when he called me popular.

Thanks to Tom and Chris for keying me in on this project too. You guys rock.

And heck, why not ask the BBC if IDW can do a Ballykissangel comic book?