Peter J. Tomasi: Follow the Light

By Tim O'Shea

Peter J. Tomasi is a better writer than he is an editor. And I consider him to be one of DC’s best current editors. Every once and awhile I lament the fact that the industry lacks the presence of the late Archie Goodwin. Tomasi is one of the present day presences at DC that carries on the spirit of Goodwin, however. It didn’t strike me just how true this was until DC’s Adam Philips sent me the black and white previews for Light Brigade, the four-part Prestige Format project created by Tomasi and artist Peter Snejbjerg (with incredible colors from Bjarne Hansen). It is my genuine hope that Light Brigade revitalizes the war comic genre, much in the way that Frank Miller’s Dark Knight Returns changed the perception of superheroics in the mid-1980s. Don’t take my word, consider Garth Ennis’s reaction: “Light Brigade is my first must-have book of 2004.” Or take James Robinson’s perspective: “Tomasi’s opus is ripe with unforgettable characters and explosive action—perfectly visualized by the genius of Snejbjerg’s artwork. All in all a bravura work.” Before diving into our interview, a little background on the miniseries, the first issue of which goes on sale this Wednesday, February 25:

“Get ready for an original supernatural action adventure/horror story set against the backdrop of World War Two! … After learning about the death of his wife in a stateside accident, American soldier Chris Stavros has only one objective: to get back home to his young son. Unfortunately, the fates have other plans for him, as a blinding white hot energy mass hurtles to earth just as German troops advance on their position. Inside this energy mass, two mighty figures wage a battle over a gleaming, timeless object.

Fierce fighting reveals that many of the Germans are impervious to bullets and bayonets! How do you fight what you can't kill? Chris and the surviving G.I.s don't stick around to find out, because they are led by a mysterious and enigmatic American soldier to safety, only to be told that evil moves across the land and the smoldering crater the American soldiers now find themselves staring into contains the battered and torn bodies of two Archangels.

The Sword of God, the object they were fighting over as they fell, has now been lost. And so, Chris and his group of ragtag G.I.s, now given a mission to retrieve The Sword, are sucked into a maelstrom of horror and destruction against an arcane, unstoppable, and unholy foe intent on using The Sword to storm Heaven's Gate. These American soldiers, this "Light Brigade," is now on a supernatural crusade that will determine the fate of the world...one bullet, and one soul at a time!”

Tim O’Shea: How did you and Peter Snejbjerg come to develop this project?

Peter J. Tomasi: Well, Tim, I had written a chunk of the story just because I needed to get it out so to speak, it was one of those stories that kept nagging at me, begging me to put pen to paper (which is how I usually write my first draft). It sat on my desk at home staring at me for quite awhile. Finally, I figured what the hell, let me show it to an artist. That artist was Peter Snejbjerg. I hired him for 'Starman' a few years back and also had him do assorted titles for me recently. I've always loved his stuff, and considered him to be one of the most underrated artists around. Not only that, he's a really nice guy to talk to and bounce stuff off of.

I gave Snejbjerg the script and he loved it and agreed to attach himself to it. So I put together a proposal and away we go...

O’Shea: Given the spiritual meets war element to the tale, why set it in the DC universe, rather than Vertigo?

Tomasi: I originally thought it was a better Vertigo fit, but Vertigo decided there was too much war product due in part to the Garth Ennis War Story stuff, so they passed. I then showed it to Joey Cavalieri, who not only does mainstream DCU books, but also prestige projects that don't necessarily tie into the DCU. Joey really connected to it and decided to run it up the flagpole. So, it was accepted as a creator owned DCU project.

And, honestly, now that all is said and done, I've come to like having a DCU bullet on it. The DC war comics and westerns were big favorites of mine growing up, so it feels like a natural fit, organic really, along with the fact that I didn't intend on using four lettered expletives anyway. The 'mature' label was placed on it because of subject matter and violence.

O’Shea: Are you a WWII historical buff, and if not, how much research did you do for the book?

Tomasi: I'm a World War Two buff (Revolutionary War, Civil War, World War One, Korea, and Vietnam buff). I'm really a voracious historical nut, actually. I eat and sleep history. In another life I would've been a history professor. Research, for me, is one of my favorite aspects of writing. I love getting into another time period and immersing myself in it.

O’Shea: What past war story writers influenced your approach on this miniseries? Am I correct in sensing some of Archie Goodwin's influence?

Tomasi: Absolutely Archie Goodwin when it comes to war comics, along with Bob Kanigher, and even Russ Heath and Joe Kubert as artists really pulled me in visually. I had many a talk with Archie about American wars and history when he was still bouncing around the DC halls. Definitely some of my fondest memories are yapping away with Arch. When it comes to military history non-fiction and fiction novels, hell, there are so many great writers out there: John Keegan, Shelby Foote, Bruce Catton, Robert Graves, Richard Ketchum, Lyn Macdonald, Stephen Ambrose, Gerald Astor, Stanley Karnow, Philip Caputo, and dozens of others that have made an impact over the years.

O’Shea: Given the gravity of the series, I appreciated that you imbued the characters with a sense of humor in the face of death. Did you feel it necessary to counterbalance the tone and nature of their ultimate mission?

Tomasi: I wouldn't say there was a need to counterbalance it. It kinda flowed naturally from the characters themselves. I never said to myself: "I better lighten this moment up a bit cause there's a lot of horror and pain coming." All the material I've read, and veterans I've talked with over the years, humor/levity is always present. It's part of every moment in our lives, in dire situations to the mundane. And hell, drama and humor is always a good mix after all. It's real.

O’Shea: Were you concerned that by injecting an element of religion to the series that DC might shy away from publishing it?

Tomasi: I'd be lying if I said that didn't cross my mind, but I made sure the objectives of the series were clearly laid out in the proposal so Paul Levitz wouldn't be surprised at the twelfth hour. And I don't think DC has trouble tackling religious issues, just look at the output over the years be it DC or Vertigo, regarding religious themes. Sure, there's been a hiccup or two, but in the scheme of things, there's no other mainstream comic book publisher that has taken the risks that DC has with subject matter.

O’Shea: As much as this book delves into faith, it does so in a sense through a crisis of faith. That being said, would have been more realistic to have more than just character questioning faith in a religion? Or would that compromised your ability to elevate the drama through the perspective of one Doubting Thomas (in the guise of Stavros)?

Tomasi: Yes, you hit it on the head. At first I had thought about exploring other religions through different soldier's belief systems, but it became unwieldy and felt forced, It started to come across like a thesis paper instead of a story, so I jettisoned it all and narrowed my focus to one soldier who had a crisis of faith.

O’Shea: Quite often in biblically based tales, numbers or the symbolism in numbers play a major role. Did you attempt such a story device in Brigade? What made me ask is, unless I miscounted, the ultimate brigade platoon for the bulk of the tale consists of 12, plus Stavros (as the Chosen One, I guess).

Tomasi: Yes, in a superficial manner, I did want The Light Brigade soldiers to consist of 12 for the obvious relation numerically to the number of apostles. But it begins and ends there. I didn't juxtapose any further relationship between the Light Brigade soldiers and the apostles.

O’Shea: What inspired the use of the one brigade member's affinity for Golden Age comics in the story?

Tomasi: Because I've never seen it done in a war film of that period. Sure, there's been shots of a G.I. reading a comic or passing one to a pal, but I've never seen a supporting character so enamored of comics in that era and especially in the context of World War Two, that it figured prominently in his character arc. Also, it made sense historically, being that comics were massive sellers at that time and a large part of the reading material sent overseas to the troops from stateside consisted of paperbacks and comics.

O’Shea: War scenes, given their often chaotic nature, can be hard to realistically script. In saying this in terms of Light Brigade, I'm struck by the pacing and challenges of some of the aerial fight scenes. What scenes did you find to be the biggest headaches to write for you?

Tomasi: None, actually, especially when you have storytellers like Peter Snejbjerg and Bjarne Hansen (who's coloring the books) on your side. If there are any headaches throbbing away, I'm sure Snejbjerg was feeling them the most, cause he's the one who had to put pencil to board and keep track visually of all the characters (especially in the final issue, where it's' wall to wall action).

I come at an action sequence in a specific way: What's been done before and how can you do it differently, how do you spin it so it's fresh and compelling? I chart each character in a battle scene and give them specific emotional beats that I want them to hit along with what I hope is action based on character. I hate stories where over the top action or violence is done for no reason whatsoever. If you care about the character going through the action you're tied to him emotionally, so there's more resonance.

Sure there's plenty of violence in this series, but I hope that it's perceived as being in service of the story.

O’Shea: Having been an editor for a number of years, do you think that editing some of the top creators at DC, the process has helped you to become a stronger writer along the way?

Tomasi: Of that I have no doubt. Writing is a muscle, the more you work it the better it gets. I've been writing long before I came to DC (specifically screenplays and short stories), and over the years I can definitely see that not just writing on a regular basis, but talking through story and structure, working out plots and character arcs, thinking visually 10 hours a day, has improved my skills immeasurably.

O’Shea: Any interest or plans for an encore after Light Brigade? Do you hope to collaborate with Snejbjerg in the near to long term?

Tomasi: I have some DC stuff in the works that I'm hoping to hear about soon. And it would be my pleasure to work with Peter Snejbjerg and Bjarne Hansen again. Peter's great to work with and I think we're definitely on the same wavelength. I've sent him some material that I hope he enjoys, because I'd love to get another project up and running with him as soon as possible. And Bjarne Hansen is an artist who has enriched this project and working experience. My thanks to Joey Cavalieri for getting him on the book.

O’Shea: Anything else folks should know about Light Brigade?

Tomasi: It's a story with a lotta heart and a lotta action, and I hope people give it a try. Comics are an amazing medium, and I'd love for mainstream companies to start doing more genre comics again. Obviously I love superhero comics, but it'd be a shame if the market narrows their tastes to just those types of stories because the possibilities are endless.