Broken Frontier

We all know what happened in 1775 and 1776....  The United States of America was forged in war and a new nation was born.

We have read the history books, been stuck in the history classes, and committed names and dates to memory.... But what if something different happened? What if a New York business man and newspaper editor broke the mold and became the hero known as the Black Coat?

Jason Berek-Lewis: Ben, Welcome to Broken Frontier and Industrial Evolution! Before we get to the details of the book, fill us in on what has happened in the past few months and your efforts to ensure The Black Coat makes it into the hands of fans.

Ben Lichius: The last several months for us have been all about producing the book. But a lot has happened lately so I’ll try to keep it brief and just hit the highlights.

Last summer, we had printed a preview book, but we only had about 8 pages of issue 1 done. Since we were all working on it in our spare time, we decided to shoot for a March release for issue 1 through Speakeasy. We wanted to make sure that we would have the time we needed to get all 4 books done, so they would not be late.

So, from the very beginning, it’s been important for us to not make fans wait and to deliver a quality book on a regular schedule. And up until about 4 weeks ago, it looked like we were ready to do that. We never could have known how bad our timing would turn out to be.

The Monday before issue 1 was supposed to be released, Speakeasy closed its doors. Since then, it’s been a mad rush to see what, if anything, we could salvage from our existing preorders, and who else might be interested in printing The Black Coat. No one on the team ever thought about giving up on the book, though. We all had worked too hard to do that. More than that, I think we honestly just wanted to do what we told everyone we would do—which is get it out to the fans. 

How did the book end up at Ape Entertainment?

When I made my first post on a message board about The Black Coat, I included a synopsis of the character and some concept sketches. Almost right away, I got an email from Ape that said if I was serious about publishing the book to give them a call. So they’ve been Black Coat fans from day one.

We emailed back and forth, but when the Speakeasy deal came along, our team decided to move on that. The guys at Ape have always been supportive though, and when Speakeasy fell through, I heard from them again. I knew they were great guys and all, but when they also signed U.T.F. (Undead Task Force, also a former Speakeasy title) and announced that they were going to fill Speakeasy’s existing preorders, I started to get excited.

Here was a chance for us to get the book back on track!

I wrote to Dave Hedgecock and asked if he could do the same thing for us—and what can I say? Thanks to Ape, fans can read the book next month instead of later this summer. They made it happen.

What have been some of the ways you have sought to build fan anticipation for this title?

We’ve been doing all of the usual things—going to cons, posting around on message boards, talking to retailers.... We even had a contest for one of our fans to appear in the first issue. So much of promoting an independent comic is about word of mouth, so we’re mostly just trying to get the word out as best we can. I’m brewing up another contest right now that I’m hoping will get fans excited.

What has been the fan reaction?

The reaction has been very positive. We get emails from fans all over the world,
and they all say how much they love the concept and the artwork. We had one guy write in requesting to buy some of Francesco’s pages, because he collects ship art and thought page 1 from issue 1 was one of the best pieces he had ever seen.

We’ve been promoting the book for a long time now, so most fans are just excited to finally get to read the books. That’s what I hear the most: “I can’t wait to read issue 1!”

I ask because I think you are doing something very unique with this book. This is a tale set at a time of pivotal historical evolution. How much research did you do when creating the world of The Black Coat?

Building a believable and accurate world for The Black Coat has always been an important part of the book, so we do a lot of research—both for the story and the art. It’s fictional, of course, so we bend things here and there, but one of the goals is not to break the facts.

So much of that time period is well documented, and we don’t want to betray what people are familiar with. What we like to do is to take those familiar things and put a new spin on them. Since the Black Coat is a spy and deals with a lot of secret things that the rest of the world doesn’t know about, we have some room to play around and get a little crazy. It’s a lot of fun.

Talk us through the process that you went through when you came up with the concept for the book.

I wish it was more interesting, but I was on my honeymoon in Williamsburg, VA (ding!) and my wife and I went out one night to see “The Mask of Zorro” (ding!). It was on a tour of the Magazine and Guardhouse that I learned about a potential insurrection that the British had to put down, and I realized for the first time what a volatile world Colonial America must have been.

It didn’t take long for me to ask why these oppressed colonists didn’t have a Zorro. From there, it all seemed to click. When I learned about the spy rings that existed in New York City during the war, I found a place where the need for my swashbuckling hero would be the greatest—right on the front lines. The monsters and the occult elements came in later to heighten the tension and give BC a real run for his money, but I got the core of The Black Coat out of that Williamsburg trip. A hero for the people, fighting to liberate them—even if they don’t know it.

What are challenges you face as a creator and writer in developing a book like this?

Well, there are several. Some of them are inherent to the subject matter and so are hard to get around. But it’s all good, because our first concern is being able to tell our story the way we want to, and we’re getting the chance to do that.

The main challenge is that historical fiction has, historically, been a hard sell. We’re hoping that we’ve hit on something unique enough that it can rise above all of that and find a larger audience, but only time will tell.

Independent comics are niche market, and indy books about historical stuff are even more niche. We understand that, but we work hard to let people know that, just because our book has a historical setting, doesn’t mean that it’s stuffy or boring. There’s as much action and adventure in our books as there is in a big-budget action movie.

Who else has joined you in this effort? What roles have they played in the project?

We’ve got an amazingly talented crew on the book. Francesco came on first and has just been performing miracles when it comes to bringing the world of BC to life. He’s so talented, you almost don’t need to write a story. But we didn’t let that stop us—we wrote one anyway. I think it’s a great one too since Adam Cogan (Villains) came on board.

I worked out the big picture plot points, and I wrote most of the first issue, but he’s come in and really carried the story and developed the characters in such a way that I think the story’s going to get some real attention. Chris Studabaker (Under the Midnight Sun) has been doing a bang up job with lettering the books as well. We’ve been real glad to have him onboard.

We’ve also got great guys like Jeremy Colwell (Night Club, Project Eon) helping out on inks for issue 1 and doing inks for me on the back covers. Jim Charalampidis (Danger Girl) has done all of the color work on the back covers as well. And Euan Mactavish has been doing all of the color work on the front covers. He has been a great match for Francesco’s style.

Everyone’s very dedicated to the book, and I know that whatever success we see will be because it’s been a true team effort.

Who is the Black Coat? What are the characteristics that define him as a hero? How is he different to other heroes who operate in the modern world?

I mentioned Zorro earlier, but their similarities drop off pretty quickly. The Black Coat is actually a brilliant scientist and inventor named Nathaniel Finch. As a spy, he uses all sorts of gadgets and contraptions, along with his network of agents, to gather information and fight off British attempts to further tyrannize the colonies. He’s a man of action too, so he’s pretty handy with a pair of flintlocks and a saber.

As for characteristics, he’s not your usual brand of swashbuckler, I suppose. He’s there with the one-liners, but he knows when he’s beaten as well. He’s calculating and methodical and more of a detective in that way.

In a lot of ways he’s ahead of his time, so to answer your last question, he is actually very similar to a lot of modern hero archetypes. I think he’s a character that modern readers can relate to. (I call him a mix between James Bond and Batman.) He is different in that his world is shaped by the volatile nature of a country on the verge of a revolution.

This series takes place right before the war starts. If we get a chance to do more, I can promise that things are going to get very interesting.

When can fans get their hands on issue #1?

Issue 1 should be out the first week in April. It was originally slated for March, but I’m hoping that readers will forgive us for being a little late with that one, seeing as how our original publisher is no longer in business. After that, the book will be back on track.

Thanks for joining Industrial Evolution!