The Liberty Files: Part One - Tony Harris

By Chris

CHRISTOPHER IRVING: What can you tell me about JSA: THE LIBERTY FILES?

TONY HARRIS: It’s the JSA the way they should be done, set in the second World War. We’ve taken three of the more recognizable characters throughout their roster’s history, namely Batman, Hourman and Doctor Midnight, and put them together in a group known as “The Unholy Three.” They’re operating as spies for the Allies in Northern Africa and throughout Europe for a period of years; this is one of the stories from that one team. Batman comes in as a second-stringer when the original third of the group, Wildcat, is killed in action.

Basically, they’re chasing down this paste-faced albino smuggler named Jack the Grin, who has intercepted a Nazi communique with some big-time information on it that could turn the entire tide of the war. Their job is to stop him at all costs.

CI: Sounds pretty dramatic. I’ve noticed that they’re each referred to The Bat, The Clock, and The Owl.

TH: That ties into the whole spy aspect of the story, where spies have code names. instead of these guys running around in Northern Africa calling themselves Batman and Hourman, and stuff that would be kind of cheesy...we’re trying to approach this with a kind of realistic tilt on things. We decided that if these guys are spies, and we’re using recognizable icons, that it would be cooler if they went by single names that would have something to do with the character’s original name, hence The Bat, The Clock, and The Owl.

CI: So it’s more boiling them down to their absolute essentials?

TH: Absolutely.

CI: Was that also to get more of a pulpy feel to it?

TH: Absolutely. I’m a huge fan of the Golden Age, that’s really the only superhero-esque stuff that I give a crap about. With Hourman, when he takes the Miraclo pill, he not only gets stronger but grows about two feet, he becomes physically larger.

CI: What is it about the Golden Age that appeals to you more than the Silver or Modern ages?

TH: I think that characters had, again, a more realistic look to them. The guys actually looked like they were wearing suits and costumes, and it didn’t look like painted-on spandex. They had these big clunky boots, and masks were real thick and heavy. Belts were real big; it looked like you could put that together yourself and wear it, and wasn’t something that was too completely far-fetched. I understand that you have to suspend your belief system to read comics in the first place, but for those people who enjoy a realistic slant on things, I think they’ll enjoy this take on them.

CI: Of course, Batman was an honorary member in ALL-STAR COMICS...

TH: We’re taking that slant here, since Wildcat was an original member of The Unholy Three and, upon his death, Batman is brought on as a second-stringer for this mission, only because he is the only one of the JSA who has dealt with Jack the Grin on a previous basis. He has some inside information on how the guy acts and operates, and what they should expect from him.

CI: Will there be any other JSAers in this?

TH: Black Canary makes an appearance. The story is that none of them are superheroes, but were all spies for the Allied Forces, and she’s retired from active service and living in Cairo, and is a part-time owner of a nightclub called “The Gray Swan” as a singer there, and everyone calls her The Canary. Mr. Terrific is in there, and I’m not even going to go into that, because there’s some super-cool stuff with him.

CI: He’s a super-cool character.

TH: Much more than he ever was in normal continuity. Without giving anything away, we really punch up his origin and character, and he is an ultra bad-ass.

CI: Do you plan on going back and telling more of these JSA Elseworlds stories?

TH: If DC will allow it. Right now, that’s not my decision to make. We have a very well hammered-out sequel to this, the only thing that I can say about that is that the roster changes slightly. If we’re given the opportunity, I’d love to come in and do a prequel or a sequel with the characters using the same premise. We’re sort of carving a little niche in this particular Elseworlds continuity. The response so far has been positive.

CI: How did you go about redesigning these characters?

TH: Their costumes are really not that different than from the 1940’s, when the original ALL-STAR COMICS were being published. They’re in Africa, so I wanted to tailor their costumes to the climate but, at the same time, try to be true to the original looks as much as possible. With Hourman, he’s wearing a turban wrapped around his head, no gloves, and a turban with all of these coins attached to the front with a large coin in the center with a very large hourglass symbol on it. He also wears the hourglass around the neck and black trousers tucked into the boots, and military webgear and pouches, which would have been indicative of that time period. Batman is essentially exactly the same as he was in the forties, except he doesn’t have a big bat across his chest, for covert ops reasons. His costume is jet black, there are no blues and grays in it, and it’s a combination of cotton and leather. The front of his chest has a Rocketeer flap that folds over with buttons on the side. He doesn’t have the fins that come across the gloves, just big, clunky black leather gloves, and he wears goggles to keep the sand out of his eyes.

CI: I notice that you turned the cowl into more of a helmet.

TH: The approach I tried to take was that Batman got a hold of an old leather aviator’s cap and sewed a couple of piece on the side and made them look like ears. For the front of the mask, he attached a piece with a nose bit on it, and aviator goggles right on top. It’s just a modified aviator cap.

CI: Of all the climes to set this in, why North Africa?

TH: We wanted to set this story in a real seedy, nasty, quasi-INDIANA JONES climate. There’s a lot of action in Northern Africa during the second World War, so we’re throwing in a lot of actual history with the battles that took place.

CI: When you actually sit down and draw, how extensively do you plan the pages, and do you use photo reference?

TH: We have a pretty good group of guys here at the studio, and a few good friends as well, so we pick and choose people who are the appropriate facial structure and physical build for the character I need, and I shoot what’s neccesary and I don’t shoot what isn’t necessary. I do research and have books to make sure that costumes are correct and that military gear was done properly.

CI: What about STARMAN, looking back, how do you view the experience of working with James Robinson and reviving Golden Agers?

TH: I think that was my second step in the direction of falling in love with the Golden Agers, because I had already had an interest when I started STARMAN. It gave me an opportunity to really delve into them, and then we did that “Talking with David” issue where Jack had dinner with all of them, and I really started to develop an affinity for particular characters, namely Dr. Midnight and Hourman, my two favorite guys. As far as working with James goes, it was fine, and I had a great time. I think James wrote some good stories. I’m not particularly happy with the direction the book is going in now, with them killing Jack and cloning him, and that garbage, so much so that I’ve wanted to divorce myself from that property for a while (but not permanently, because I love that character). I stopped doing the covers recently.

Actually, Ted [the Golden Age Starman] was going to be in THE LIBERTY FILES, in the same kind of role that Canary had, where he was more of a contact for information. At the last minute, we decided to not do it and not muddle it down with too many characters. I would not trade my experience with STARMAN for anything. It was great for my career, and garnered me an Eisner [award] in the process, so I can’t complain about that. It gave me a four-year opportunity to really work on my drawing and become a better artist.

CI: Would you ever go back to it?

TH: No. If I ever went back to it, it would be a special project like LIBERTY FILES, and would have to be a prestige format thing. I would have to be the writer and artist, or I’d have to co-write it with James if he’d be interested in doing it. I’d want more of a collaboration than what I had on the series.

CI: How would you rate working on a monthly grind to doing a prestige format book?

TH: It was good and bad: obviously, you’ve got that constant pressure since the book has to be out when it’s out, and that’s all there is to it. Like I said, I wouldn’t trade my experience because it taught me perseverance and following through on things. But I think I’d prefer to do prestige format stuff, since I have more time to develop the story and hopefully find all of the holes and problems that you’re going to have, hopefully before we start drawing the book. By working on projects that I’m cowriting, I have the added luxury of being able to alter sequences during the process of drawing the book, whereas a lot of times you don’t have the opportunity to do that otherwise.

Not to say that I wouldn’t do another monthly, ever, but it would have to be the right vehicle.

CI: What other projects do you have planned, after THE LIBERTY FILES?

TH: Currently, I’m working on a creator-owned series for DC Comics, and that is called LAZARUS FIVE, and I’m cowriting it, and am the co-creator with Dan Jolley and Ray Snyder. The three of us created this
thing and wrote it together, and I painted the covers to the five-issue miniseries. Dusty Abell is the penciler, and Jim Royal, one of our studio guys is the inker on the project. All five scripts are written, and I believe Dusty just finished penciling the last two pages on issue #5, and Jim is inking either the end of issue #3, or the beginning of #4. That, I believe, is slated to come out at the beginning of next year.

Aside from that, I’ve just pitched a SUPERMAN prestige format one-shot, that I co-wrote and will be drawing if it gets approved. We’re waiting to hear on that now. If that happens, I’ll do that immediately
after THE LIBERTY FILE. If that doesn’t happen, I’m also doing another creator-owned project for DC called OBERGEIST, and all six issues have been written (which I co-wrote, as well) and I’m slated to start on that when I feel like it.

CI: It sounds like DC is giving you much liberty.

TH: Yes, and I’m very fortunate, because the market has changed a bit since I secured the deals. I don’t know if it would have been as possible to get those deals now, as it would have been two to three years ago.

CI: How would you rate your work on THE MUMMY?

TH: I worked from designs that were sent to me from Industrial Light and Magic, and I did fifteen to twenty illustrations based on concept illustrations that they sent me. It was a thing called a style guide, which all of the merchandising is pulled from, so I’ve seen my stuff on t-shirts for the film, and temporary tattoos. That was a fun little gig, since I got a sneak preview of the CGI stuff, and they sent me videotapes of all the screentests with the actors. That was fun, and if I ever get that chance again I’ll take it.

NEXT TIME: MORE LIBERTIES ARE TAKEN...

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