Interview: Swinging the SWORDS OF SORROW with Emma Beeby

The mighty crossover of women from across the Dynamite Universe has arrived, with the first issues of Swords of Sorrow hitting comic book stores last week. We continue to  feature interviews with the talented writers who are penning the voices of these pulp giants.

Writer Emma Beeby made headlines as the first woman to write stories for Judge Dredd in 2000 A. D.  as well as craft adventures for Doctor Who. Now she takes on a classic literary character turned comic pulp maven, Jane Porter and the cursed Egyptian priestess, Pantha. Comicosity got a chance to talk to Emma about Swords of Sorrow: Pantha vs. Jane Porter. Before we dive in, let’s learn more about these two characters.

Jane Porter is the classic Edgar Rice Burroughs character the was shipwrecked and saved by the Lord of the Jungle. However, now she is proving that she can hold her own.

Jane Porter is the classic Edgar Rice Burroughs character the was shipwrecked and saved by the Lord of the Jungle. However, now she is proving that she can hold her own.

First appearing in Vampirella, she is the cursed Egyptian, doomed to live forever, after a killing spree. Might as well use immortality and the ability to turn into a panther.

First appearing in Vampirella, she is the cursed Egyptian, doomed to live forever, after a killing spree. Might as well use immortality and the ability to turn into a panther.

 

Jessica Boyd: The jungles are colliding in your story of Pantha & Jane Porter. Both of these women were created as support characters, Vampirella & Tarzan respectively. Pantha has since received her own series of books. How will your story help them step out from the shadows?

Emma Beeby: The first thing I did was get them out of the jungle! I really wanted to do something special with these two characters and Dynamite were great in giving me a lot of freedom with them for my story. I got thinking about what an early Pantha would be like – she’s got this great origin story. Over the years she’d understandably become the more tempered character we’re used to, but I wanted to see her before that: the wild Pantha with the attitude of a war goddess living a cursed life among mortals. For Jane, I thought about how her time in the jungle would have changed her. My take on Jane is that she found her strength there, and wanted to be more than the role expected of her (something I reckon Tarzan would support!) so that she can handle almost anything – as an explorer, a fighter, basically an adventuress. The clash I saw wasn’t of jungles but of cultures: throwing the ancient and mystical in with the modern and mechanical.

 

Main title artist, Sergio Davila, recently unveiled on his blog the designs for each character's ebon blade. Here is the design for Jane Porter's Sword of Sorrow.

Main title artist, Sergio Davila, recently unveiled on his blog the designs for each character’s ebon blade. Here is the design for Jane Porter’s Sword of Sorrow.

JB: Pantha has always had an anti-hero vibe, willing to cross a line that others might not dare. How will that play against Jane Porter’s decision making process?

EB: That’s one of the things I like most about Pantha. She’s a more upfront and violent character in this story, clearly willing to do whatever it takes to defeat her enemies, and will cut down anyone in her way. The story is set in the manners-obsessed early 20th century England. Pantha is definitely not going to fit in, even more so than an independent-minded woman like Jane. They don’t exactly ‘click’, both find the other’s attitude quite irritating! But by the end their attitudes kind of rub off on each other, which was fun to write.

JB: Do you think Pantha’s ability to turn into a panther is going to make Jane feel “more at home?”

EB: It definitely makes Jane less afraid, but it’s actually turns out to be a liability. She can’t treat Pantha like some jungle creature and just get away with it!

JB: Let’s talk clothing for a second. Pantha’s look has been rather consistent throughout the years. Jane, on the other hand, has been shown in everything from long dresses to the tattered remains after living with Tarzan in the jungle. Which will we see in this series and does that reflect her adventurous personality?

EB: This was one of the most fun parts of pulling this story together. Dynamite have been fantastic and gave me a lot of freedom with these characters, including the costumes. I’ve no problem with a strong and sexy character with an outfit that brings that out, but I’ve never been a big fan of the thong and thigh-high boots look for Pantha. It’s part of the history of this character, but I jumped at the chance to do something a bit different with this early version of Pantha. She gets more than a new costume, she looks how she is at that time: kind of terrifying! Jane’s tattered dresses made sense as a result of the trials of the jungle, but now she’s beyond that: prepared, confident, pragmatic. So she’s got a totally awesome adventuress makeover; scandalous for her time. I think it’s a great look. I can’t wait for people to see them!
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JB: What about this series do you think could draw new readers in, or surprise readers who have been reading these characters for while?

EB: When Gail invited me to be part of this series, I was just blown away. It’s doing something never done before with this pantheon of characters from so many different worlds. Being all female characters and all female writers was ridiculously exciting – I don’t think that has ever happened before. I loved writing it, and I was so struck at how different an experience it was, which I don’t know if I expected. Female leads, a female villain, page after page of only female characters interacting. It was sort of wonderful and awful at the same time realising that it felt so unusual. It shouldn’t be, there should be a balance of stories. There’s nothing threatening about that. It’s enriching for the comics world. I really think this series will prove that’s it’s not only possible but popular.

JB: You’re previous work has included some reality bending characters. What are the challenges of working in the pulp world of Dynamite verse the other science-fiction worlds you’ve tackled?

EB: Every world has its own rules, but once you get your head around those, ultimately, for me anyway, I’m just trying to find a story in that world that excites me, that I can’t wait to throw myself into. I find it hard to try to write something that doesn’t do that, so I’m picky about what I’ll work on. I think science fiction gets a bad rep as too, well, ‘sciencey’, slow or inaccessible. Similarly pulp could be seen as overly violent or disposable, but I don’t find it has to be true for either. Both in things like Doctor Who stories and this series there’s plenty of monsters and violence, and there are different ways to solve those problems that are the conventions of the world, but there’s a bit more beneath the surface of those stories too, about morality, mythology, death, culture. I find exploring those ideas in stories just as exciting as planning big action set pieces!

JB: Is there anything else you’d like to tell Comicosity’s readers?

EB: I’m working with Gordon Rennie on developing a Doctor Who mini-series for Titan Comics. That’s all I can say just now!

JB: Looking forward to hearing more! Thank you very much.

EB: Thank YOU!

Swords of Sorrow: Pantha vs. Jane Porter has not received it’s Diamond order code yet, but will be featured in the June issue of Previews.

If you’d like to make sure your store is getting copies of Swords of Sorrow #2, reference Diamond Code: APR151325. The book hits shelves on June 3, 2015. Swords of Sorrow #3 is available July 8, 2015 using Diamond Code: MAY151221A.

If you’d like to read more about Emma’s work you can find her on Twitter @emmabeeby

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