PRO ON PRO: THE SPIRIT OF THE SAMURAI TEAM BY ROB WORLEY You’re a normal teenage girl, getting ready for all the dilemmas of high school and then one day you find out that your family is part of an ancient legacy dealing with Samurai warriors. What’s up with that? If you’re Kat Anderson, that day came and she found herself immersed in legends, myths, and worst of all, responsibilities. Actionopolis presents SPIRIT OF THE SAMURAI and here’s writer Gary Reed and artist Rick Hoberg to discuss this illustrated novel that is a coming of age story for younger audiences.
THE PULSE: First off, tell us about Spirit of the Samurai. What’s it about?
GARY REED: It’s about a young girl, Katherine, Kat for short, who discovers that her family is part of an ancient struggle that goes back to the days of the Samurai in feudal Japan. She didn’t even know she had Japanese blood, much less being part of this legacy. It is actually her brother that makes the discovery and it leads to tragic results, which only she can do anything about. So, it’s a story of the past as well as the present and Kat is the one that is straddling both of those worlds.
I don’t want to reveal too much as this initial book is a discovery for Kat as everything unfolds and so I’d like the readers to experience that along with her. But she will be linked with a legendary Samurai from the past and together; they have to stop the Clan of the Black Rings from restoring their power. Yes, they’re the bad guys.
THE PULSE: Most action and adventure stories usually deal with male leads, did you find working with a female lead to be that different and what was the impetus for that?
RICK HOBERG: That was the one thing that really made me want to do this story. So much of this genre is aimed at a male audience, it's time to give the chicks a break. I love that idea that this is a really male thing that Kat is thrown into. It will be very interesting to she how she prevails in the end.
GARY REED: I was given a rough idea, maybe a page or two, about what the original Samurai storyline was about when it was going to be a comic series. I went through the existing storyline which was more of an adult police procedural. It was to be retooled for a young audience and pretty much, discard everything except the concept of tying into the legacy of the Samurai. I wanted the lead to be a girl which is probably because I have four daughters who all grew up any preconceived gender roles. I thought it would be good to put a girl in the place to make the tough decisions and to be the lead in an action/adventure story.
THE PULSE: Was it difficult to tackle Samurai, knowing that many others have also worked on the ancient samurai legends? Is there an approach you tried to take to make it different?
GARY REED: That falls into Rick’s category more since he has to give the look to it. As for references, I tried to keep it coherent with what we know about the Samurai. More of that aspect will play up later in following books more than this one which is primarily the introduction. I’m fortunate in that my mother-in-law was born and raised in Japan and didn’t move to the United States until she was 20 or so. That can help on some of the Japanese aspects although not much on the Samurai.
RICK HOBERG: Actually, I tried not to worry about what others have done and just did some research on actual samurai armor as well as Japanese culture. I can only hope I got a bit of it right.
GARY REED: Rick’s a bit modest.
THE PULSE: What was the process of collaboration between you two?
GARY REED: Essentially, I wrote it and then he illustrated it. Rick is a veteran of animation and comic illustration and he captured the look and feel very quickly and easy. Every time a writer sees the artwork coming in, there’s always a trepidation of how your vision is going to match his or hers. I was very happy with it. He believes in getting everything just right and it shows.
RICK HOBERG: What can I say, it was a pure pleasure? I have yet to hear him complain about anything I came up with, even when the illustrations don't exactly jive with the written work.
THE PULSE: How did you two end up doing Spirit of the Samurai together?
GARY REED: I became acquainted Shannon Denton, co-founder of Komikwerks and Actionopolis when we were both doing material for Byron Preiss. One thing led to another and he asked if I had time to write one of the young adult novels he was launching in the Actionopolis line. I had just finished some graphic novels for Penguin that were aimed at a younger audience so I made sure I had the time. Having Rick on board was a big, big plus, of course.
RICK HOBERG: It was offered via Shannon at Actionopolis, I knew of Gary Reed's reputation, and once I read the story, I was in. Great material, wonderfully different from the testosterone fueled material that I deal with in regular comics or cartoons.
THE PULSE: Who is this book for? Who is the intended audience? Who will WANT to read this?
RICK HOBERG: Teenage girls and boys, but I am hoping this is the one the girls get into and turn their friends onto.
GARY REED: Even though the lead character is a girl, Kat’s other persona is the great Samurai warrior, ToHo, and so in one person, you have two different and distinct personalities. I don’t think it will be limited by gender at all.
THE PULSE: Rick, when you read the story, how did you decide on the look of the characters?
RICK HOBERG: Kat was easy, as was her brother and Grandfather. Her father took a bit more thought. The samurai spirits were where I spent the bulk of the design time. I wanted actual armor that reflected the inner good or evil of each character.
THE PULSE: You've been successful in comics, Gary. Why write prose for the Young Adults audience?
GARY REED: I’ve been diverse in most of the comic work I’ve done. I’m probably best known for more mature work such as Baker Street, Saint Germaine, or Deadworld now…but I’ve always try to write what interested me. This interests me. And a lot of the books I wrote for Tome Press were text heavy, you know, things like Jack the Ripper, True Spy Stories, the adaptations of Jack London stories. I also wrote a few prose stories for Negative Burn, so this isn’t that much of a stretch. I’ve never felt trapped into a specific genre or format.
THE PUSLE: Is this a one-shot book or do you have bigger plans for book?
GARY REED: This is the first book in a series of four. The first, Of Swords and Rings, lays the groundwork for the legacy being explained and how Kat gets involved. But there are a lot of secrets in the past and many of them will be revealed in the series. For example, in the first book, Kat meets her father for the first time. Can the mother be far behind?
THE PULSE: What projects do you guys have coming up?
RICK HOBERG: I will continue to work in the animation field for the time being. No real special projects at this point, but I am looking forward to part two of SAMURAI
GARY REED: I’m kinda on the opposite end of the spectrum with Samurai as I’m doing the series of the much more mature Deadworld for Image. I have a few books coming out such as Red Diaries and Renfield will be announced shortly. There’s lots of stuff in the works but I prefer not to announce anything until they’re ready to go.
”Spirit of the Samurai” is available in the June Diamond Previews catalog, listed under Komikwerks (ordering code JUN06 3238).
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We had a little discussion about this at another site that led to my pre-ordering it for our library. I'm looking forward to it!
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