April 1st 2009... and to celebrate, here's a panel Cory Walker posted over at his blog.
DESTROYER #1 (of 5)
Written by ROBERT KIRKMAN
Penciled by CORY WALKER
Cover by JASON PEARSON
For sixty years, Keen Marlowe has been a super hero, taking down bad guys, fighting the good fight. But it's is about to come crashing to an end. See, Marlowe is dying -- maybe today, maybe tomorrow, the only question is when. But Marlowe isn't about to go quietly into the night. Before he goes, he intends to leave the world a safer place for his family. And if that means hunting down -- and murdering -- every super-villain he can, so be it.
They don't call him "Destroyer" for nothing.
Do you just take the general concept and powers without researching a lot of the stories of his past?
Actually, I'm kind of operating on the—and this is very odd to explain—but I'm operating on the assumption that there's a 700-issue run of this book that doesn't really exist, and so I'm writing #701 to #705. And I'm just assuming that the comics that happened in the '40s actually existed and continued from that point until now. And so you'd have your retcons and continuity fixes and little bits and changes here and there and different side characters added in along the way. I'm just assuming that all that stuff took place and writing the last five issues of this imaginary series. That's where I'm taking it, and because of that I'm excited that we'll have a series that in four or five issues you'll be getting little pieces of this guy's vast history and all the different things that have gone on and all the different things that have happened. It's not until the end of issue #5 that you'll have a full understanding of everything that's been happening. I think it'll be kind of neat.
So are you going to be throwing in little fake text elements like "*See issue #538 for So-and-so's last battle"?
No. I'm trying to stay away from anything that could be viewed as retro in this series or lighthearted and fun. I have a bit of a reputation for doing lighthearted and fun, semi-retro comics. Since this is a MAX book, I really wanted to do something—I don't know if it's necessarily overly dark, but it's something that is very mature and modern. Something like what we do in The Walking Dead. There's nothing retro about that, but I just haven't done anything like that at Marvel yet. We're trying to do something new here. So there won't be any captions or anything, as much as I really want to. I'm fighting my own instincts on that kind of stuff. I want to do at least one book that is fairly serious.
What can you tell me about the rest of the Destroyer cast? Since there's an entire unseen history there, I'm assuming he's accumulated a few other characters to be around at the end.
Well, he's got a lot of villains out there. The main thrust of the series is him realizing that his heart's about to give out and deciding to hunt down and kill all of his villains so they can't cause any trouble after he's dead. And so we'll get to see a lot of his villains that he's fought over the years. The main supporting cast is his wife Harriet and his daughter whose name escapes me at this point. It's a new series for me, so I haven't memorized everybody's name yet. [Laughs] But it's basically his family. He's got a daughter who's married and they have a kid, and so he's got a grandchild. He's a fairly old person at this point, and so his family is the main supporting cast. His brother makes an appearance, and he's got quite a long list of arch enemies to deal with. They'll all be showing up in this book.
I know some people think that Cory just did the initial issues of Invincible, but he's remained quite involved there in terms of character designs and other elements. Was getting back on a monthly much of a change for how you guys work and interact?
Not really. Cory and I have been working together non-stop since before we did Invincible. I know he did some things here or there for DC and some things at Marvel I wasn't involved with, but we did two issues of Marvel Team-Up together and two issues of Ant-Man. And still from time to time, Ryan [Ottley] and I will get him to do character designs on Invincible. He's very much involved with that book even to this day. So that's cool. But this is the first thing we've done that's a long term, real project. The other stuff he's done with me was just fill-in stuff, so I'm pretty excited to work with him again and get to have another Kirkman/Walker trade paperback eventually. It's pretty exciting.
Because this is a MAX book, has there been anything he's been specifically requesting in terms of violence and over-the-topness that he wants to draw in Destroyer?
He was asking for a lot of penises early on, but I believe he was told that we couldn't cross that line. [Laughs] No. As far as the violence goes, he's not requesting anything specific. That's all coming from me because I am a big fan of graphic violence. He hasn't refused to draw anything yet, and we've done some pretty heavy stuff already. So that should be pretty cool.
This is one of those tricky situations where you're relaunching a franchise and a character to hopefully catch on with the readers, but you're also sending him on a storyline where he's sure he's going to die. At this point, what's your non-spoilery reaction to the idea that the series is a hit and warrants a sequel?
I think if this book does well, we wouldn't have any trouble at all doing a sequel. He may or may not die in the last issue—I'm not going to come out and say it—but despite the premise of the book being that he's dying, who knows how long he's going to last? He's, I'm sure, lived through a lot of things already being that he's over 80 years old. He's probably got some life left in him. But if this ends up being fairly successful, I'd love to come back and do some more with the guy...even if he's dead. We do have that 700-issue gap that we could fill in at any point.
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.
While many comics starring World War II heroes take place during the mid-20th Century conflict, Kirkman is going a different route with "Destroyer MAX." "It's a MAX book so it takes place out of continuity but I'm not scrapping everything that came before," Kirkman said. "I'm coming at this series with the assumption that the book started in the 40's and has been published semi regularly for the last sixty some years. So the issues I'm writing would be like 'Destroyer' #764-768. I'm just assuming all those comics that don't exist actually do and we're picking up from there. There will be a sense of how these characters changed and evolved over time."
The chance to cut loose and do some over the top violence was just one of the reasons why Kirkman took the "Destroyer MAX" assignment. The other reason was the project reunited him with friend and "Invincible" co-creator, Cory Walker. "Cory is one of my most favorite artists to work with," Kirkman said. "With Cory, when I get back a page 99% of the time it's exactly the way I wanted it to look. Any time I get to work with Cory I get very excited."
Kevin "Keen" Marlow was an American journalist who'd gone inside Nazi Germany to investigate the horrors of that regime and report back to his States-side newspaper. Unfortunately, Marlow was a better reporter than investigative journalist (or, to put it less politely, spy), and he was caught snooping by the Germans and thrown into a concentration camp. In the camp Marlow meets fellow prisoner Professor Eric Schmitt, a German scientist who'd refused to cooperate with the Nazis and was imprisoned for his troubles. The dying Schmitt gives Marlow a formula he's created himself: a version of the Super-Soldier Serum which would later empower Captain America. The Serum works on Marlow, giving him the same speed-strength-endurance-prime-of-human-potential which Steve Rogers would later put to such good use as Cap. Schmitt, unfortunately, dies just then.
The newly empowered Marlow breaks out of the camp, avenges Schmitt's death, and goes on a rampage behind enemy lines, working as the costumed Destroyer. He ranged across Europe and even Japan, although mostly he worked in Germany. At times he was aided by the Allied agent Florence von Banger. And when the war ended and the Golden Age drew to a close, the Destroyer disappeared.
Then, during the 1970s, the Destroyer was brought back. The Invaders heard tell of someone operating behind enemy lines, wearing the Destroyer's costume and calling himself "the Mighty Destroyer." On investigation, however, it was revealed that the man underneath the Destroyer's mask was Brian Falsworth, the brother to the heroine and Invaders member Spitfire. Falsworth was moreover the son of James Montgomery Falsworth, who had been active during World War One as the Union Jack (I).
Brian Falsworth had gone through the same experiences as Keen Marlow, having gone into Germany to investigate the horrors of the Nazi's rule and been imprisoned next to Professor Eric Schmitt. Schmitt had given Falsworth a version of the Super-Soldier Serum, this time chronologically after Captain America (I) got his Serum dose. Falsworth, like Keen Marlow, escaped from the camp and waged a guerrilla war on the Germans as the costumed Mighty Destroyer. Falsworth eventually put aside the costume of the Destroyer and became Union Jack (II).
Falsworth's close friend Roger Aubrey, who had been the Dyna-Mite, put on the Destroyer's costume and began calling himself the Mighty Destroyer. For the rest of the war Aubrey served as the Destroyer.
The Destroyer (Kevin "Keen" Marlow) is a fictional superhero in the Marvel Comics universe, who first appeared in the 1940s during what historians and fans call the Golden Age of comic books. He is significant as being one of the earliest creations of industry legend Stan Lee. As comics historian and former Marvel editor-in-chief Roy Thomas notes: "Stan's most popular superhero creation before the Fantastic Four was the Destroyer, debuting in Mystic Comics #6 (Oct. 1941).
One of the World War II-era heroes of Marvel's Golden Age predecessor, Timely Comics, the Destroyer was less popular than the company's stars, the Human Torch, the Sub-Mariner and Captain America.
Yet the Destroyer's sleek, dark costume with a skull motif, his skin-tight blue mask that made him appear inhuman, and his occasional cover appearances worked to make the character more memorable than many others of his era.
