The series focuses on Destroyer, a character who is credited as being the first superhero ever created by Stan Lee. The premise for the story puts Destroyer in his 80's now -- an aged yet still-tough-as-nails superhero who just found out he's dying, so he's kicking villain butt and tying up loose ends in ways that are best housed in an adult-level MAX series.
Newsarama talked to Kirkman about how he turned a '40s superhero into a high-action, violent character worthy of the MAX imprint. And as the writer explained what he likes about the series, we found out that this is "by far" Kirkman's favorite thing he's ever done for Marvel.
Newsarama: Robert, this is a pretty unique idea -- taking a Golden Age superhero, aging him and putting him in a MAX series. Where did this idea come from?
Robert Kirkman: After I'd finished on Ant-Man, Aubrey Sitterson, the editor, came up with the idea of possibly bringing the Destroyer character back and having him be old. He had recently read Battle Pope and the Brit paperbacks -- the books that I did at Image -- and he really liked how I wrote old characters. So he said, "Oh, you know what? Let's do an old guy at Marvel." Because old characters are a lot of fun. People don't realize that. So he came up with this Destroyer character and bringing him back and possibly making it a MAX book. He was the one who suggested using Cory. This will be the first thing that Cory Walker and I have done since Invincible, which has lasted more than an issue or two. This will be the first full Robert Kirkman and Cory Walker trade paperback since Invincible Vol. 1.NRAMA: Have you and Cory started on the project?RK: Yeah, yeah. Cory's knee-deep in the issue right now. Cory and I have worked together dozens of times -- it's just been small projects since Invincible, like a couple issues of Marvel Team-Up and Irredeemable Ant-Man. We've got a great working relationship. Cory's one of the few artists I work with who draws pretty much exactly how I'm picturing things while at the same time making them better. So it's a lot of fun to be working with him again.
Newsarama: What is the story about?
Robert Kirkman: It's about Destroyer, which is the first character Stan Lee created, according to Wikipedia. He was kind of a Captain America type character in the '40s. He was posing as a Nazi soldier, then at night, he would go out and run amok behind enemy lines to undermine the Nazi occupation of somewhere. So it was a pretty cool premise for a 1940s comic.We are operating under the assumption that the character was a prominent superhero from the '40s until now. So when we pick up the book, he's in his 80's and has a wife and children and grandchildren. And we're going to be exploring the last years of his life to show the end of his superhero career. In our first issue, he finds out that his heart is about to give out. He's had a number of heart attacks before, and his doctor is warning him that if he doesn't stop doing his superhero stuff, it will kill him. And he can't quit because he's got a bunch of villains out there that he needs to take care of. So the mini-series is about him taking it upon himself to kill all of the villains that are out there who can pose a threat after he is dead.
Newsarama: Thus the "MAX" imprint.
Robert Kirkman: Yeah. It probably has more violence in it than anything I've ever done. The opening sequence of the first issue is just crazy. The first page is him just punching a hole through a guy's head.
Robert Kirkman: He's super strong and super fast and super cool. He does Captain America stuff, although he's probably a little stronger than Captain America. I'm keeping it vague just in case I want him to do anything cool.
Newsarama: Are you keeping with the stories that were told about him before, or is this kind of a new take on the character?
Robert Kirkman: I'm going on the assumption that he's had an ongoing series since the '40s, so I'm basically writing Issues #701-#705. So it's along the lines of, over time, he's had changes made to his character. And he's had supporting cast members added and taken away. I think if you compare Captain America comics now to Captain America comics of the '40s, there's not a lot that connects with what was going on back then. So I'm kind of doing that with Destroyer. It's the same character that was around in the '40s, but it doesn't really connect because there is a large gap of stories that are only hinted at in the mini-series.
Robert Kirkman: No. All stories like this, they usually do flashbacks, and I'm trying to avoid that kind of stuff. We're only going to see him in modern times.
Newsarama: Since you're getting to kind of recreate his universe separately from the Marvel Universe, is he going to be the only superhero running around? Or are there other superheroes in his universe?
Robert Kirkman: We're not really going to show anybody else, but you know, they could be around.
Newsarama: So it's kind of implied that he lives in a place where there are superheroes?
Robert Kirkman: Yes.
Newsarama: Tell us about Destroyer a person. It sounds like he's a family man, right?
Robert Kirkman: Keene Marlow is his real name. His family is a very important part of the series. Just about every story focuses on different things that have happened to his wife and his daughter. So it's kind of fun because we're doing this ultra-violent, hyper-action series with this character. He wears this mask as a superhero, so you don't really see him as this old guy, but as soon as he gets through punching holes in people's heads and kicking people's jaws off, he goes home to his granddaughter's birthday party and he's this sweet old man who has his granddaughter bouncing on his knee and stuff.
Newsarama: Does his family know that he's the Destroyer? And do the villains know how old he is?
Robert Kirkman: His family knows. And there are a few villains out there that know who he is, which is part of the problems he's had over the years. But for the most part, his identity isn't known. He works for the government. So as far as his neighbors and what-not are concerned, he just works for the government. But every now and then, if a helicopter lands in his back yard, they just assume that something's going on with the military.
Newsarama: Has he always been a hero who kills? Or has he not killed up until this point?
Robert Kirkman: He's not opposed to killing, but if he can take a guy in he'll take a guy in. He's not a murderer, but if he needs to kill someone, he's a pretty violent killer. He was a soldier in World War II, so he's pretty much operating on the same mindset as a soldier would. If he's got to kill, he'll kill. But if he can take prisoners, he will. Not exactly a cold-blooded, murdering son of a bitch, but he's not afraid to get his hands dirty like some other superheroes.
Newsarama: It sounds like it's got to be fun just letting loose like that with a character.
Robert Kirkman: It's my favorite thing I've ever done at Marvel.
Newsarama: Is it really?
Robert Kirkman: Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. By far. I'm really exciting to do it. It's a lot of fun getting to work with Cory. I get to create pretty much an entire continuity. I get to play with it all by myself, so that's pretty cool. The Irredeemable Ant-Man was probably my most well-received book I've done at Marvel. And that pretty close to an Image project as far as freedom and things go.
Newsarama: You mean getting away with murder! There didn't seem to be a limit to what Ant-Man would do.
Robert Kirkman: [laughs] Yeah. Being able to do whatever I wanted to do with the character, and getting my hands dirty and really having fun with it. Destroyer, I think, is the next step past Ant-Man. It's almost exactly like doing an Image book. And that's pretty cool.
