Spurred by an insistent EiC with nothing but good intentions, I had the chance to talk to Tommy Hancock about his recent addition to Artifice Comics. Within, Artifice Comics itself is discussed, Tommy's place in it, and Hancock's feeling on fanfiction itself. Enjoy.
Alex Cook: For those that might not know what group we are talking about, explain what Artifice Comics is, to you, before we cover your involvement with it.
Tommy Hancock: Well, I believe I see Artifice a bit differently than it has been explained. Some say it's an extension of fanfiction, a homage even. But it's not. Artifice is as far away from fanfic as, well, fanfic is from the ideas that inspire it. We are riffing on the ideas we garnered from fanfic, yes, but those ideas are age old. Siegel and Shuster didn't invent a superhuman from another plane saving humanity from itself. They just put cotton tights and an S on his chest. So, Artifice is an original take on already known concepts. But it ain't fanfic.
AC: Now, what do you actually do within Artifice?
TH: I'm not sure I have a title, but I am basically building the Artifice Golden Age. AC's editor in chief, Jac Milnestein, felt that this universe needed an anchor in the past and wanted a golden age for it. He approached me for a book that would alternate between the modern day and the 'historic' artifice period. When I brought my own characters, some 140, into the mix, however, I ended up with my own imprint.
AC: Ok, let's go into that a little. What is Freelancer Chronicles?
TH: Basically, Freelancer Chronicles is one of three books I intend to use to bring Artifice's Historic Age into being. It is a series focusing on the 'lost' manuscript of a well-known author, Ramsey Long. Long, who the world has known for years was also the Historic hero, the Freelancer, vanished in 1955. It was rumored he'd written one last book on super beings. That book has been mysteriously discovered and now AC is publishing it in pieces, making up the issues of the Freelancer Chronicles. It basically tells stories of the origins of heroes and villains from the Historic Age and gives you both the public conception as well as some secrets and skeletons behind the scenes.
AC: How does this Golden Age your constructing effect AC's present timeframe?
TH: that's an interesting question... the Historic Age will have a great effect on the present of AC, BUT it doesn't affect what's being written currently. There will be revelations and secrets come out of the AC Historic Age that will be surprises and shocks to the writers of present day stuff, and it will be stuff I hope they address in their books, but it will not fundamentally alter what they are doing. I'm not going to have America taken over by subterranean nude women warriors or anything. Everything written in the modern day will be kept intact. But the secrets revealed from the Historic Age should have a staggering effect on everyone.
AC: This is almost a dream project for ya. Who makes up the cast of Freelancer Chronicles? You also mentioned Freelancer being one of three books, care to speak of the others?
TH: The cast list for Freelancer will be too long to mention... when all is said and done... FC will have over 150 characters stagger through it. It is basically the intro vehicle for the Historic Age. And I've got two other titles coming at AC, both in the Historic Imprint. One is Artifice Giggles, which is up already. It is a humor book that has both Historic Age and Modern Day comedy pieces in it. The other, and the one that will actually have direct ties and links to things in the modern AC is Artifice: Legacies. It will be the book I was originally asked to do, taking a look at modern heroes who are inspired by those from the Historic Age... and drawing comparisons/parallels between the Modern and their predecessors.
AC: What about Artifice do you like so far? Which series, characters, concepts, etc... have you taken to? And, the flip-side of that is obviously what you think could use further work?
TH: hmmm...questions all that I haven't given much thought to. Primarily because at the moment most of the work I'm doing is so divorced from the rest of Artifice in setup and such that I've not really analyzed a lot of stuff. A lot of the Millennium Man stuff not written by Jac needs work, a lot of work. The MM issues Jac has penned, along with a couple of others, are outstanding. TargetFox is a great read, really twisting in and out of itself. The Cheetah stuff is laugh out loud funny. The rest of the stuff, particularly Dragonet and Silver Shadow, I'm waiting to see more of to make any judgments. This site is for writers who can take difficult to translate into prose concepts and translate them into flowing silk and honey. Not saying every story has got to be best of its kind, just a writer's best effort.
AC: Alright, time to spill... give us some hints of the future of ACs past.
TH: Well, I'm extremely tight lipped... and it's due to the breadth of the story as well as not ironing out all my ideas with Jac yet.. but here's five riddle like spoilers...
1. Two heroes at the beginning won't be heroes when they end.
2. The key to an invasion that will rock the modern world lies in the starry dreams of a now old woman.
3. The Project enjoys Manhattans. The drinks, not the city.
4. A man is stalking heroes in the modern day. A man tied to a clown and cop of the Historic Age.
5. Poseidon Industries went belly up in 1990....but it didn't.
I know i know, very little of that makes sense now, but in the next four-to five issues of all my books, each one of those will be that much more confus-er, uh, clear.
AC: Who, amongst your cast, would you say is the special one?
TH: That's hard to answer because I have literally created a Universe of characters, actually two universes worth, if you take into account the Historic Period and their 'descendants' The favorite character I have is The Freelancer, because he is literally me in the story. He's the collector of tales and the guy who watches it all happen.
AC: How does it feel to be writing original fiction, after railing us all to attempt it once or twice before?
TH: Well, it feels all right, I think. It's a bit different writing original fiction and then fitting it into a context that is typically fanfic-like in nature. But I'm adjusting.
AC: How is AC's approach to fiction different from fanfiction?
TH: The overall approach thus far isn't all that different. The primary difference right now is that its all original. Other than that, this site has a fanfic feel to it, and that's ok in the beginning. Like I've said before, I don't like this being referred to as fanfiction, but the majority of writers on board thus far are fanfic veterans. I think as my work comes out you will see me shedding quickly that fanfic writer skin and see my true abilities and the stories I really want to tell come out. And I think you'll see that in others on the site too.
AC: Does prose, fetterless as AC and others like it are, allow for greater, or lesser flexibility as a writer?
TH: It allows for a lot greater flexibility, in my opinion. Writing is a complete and totally manipulative control of language, down to the period and sweep of the pen. You can do anything you want with it, cut sentences off where you wish, throw in whatever you like. Now, people may criticize you for it, but damnitt you're the writer. And in your work, that makes you God.
AC: Your known within the fanfic circles most of travel in, give us a breakdown of what else you've got happening besides Freelancer. Is there a dream project you've yet to do?
TH: In fanfic, I've cut back the load quite a bit... I've taken myself out of DCF and really am down to DCUnChanged and YesterYear in its second phase. At DCUn, I'm doing All Star Squadron, and that is my dream project, to write DC's Golden age the way it should have been done had Crisis never happened. I'll have a few other small projects there as well. At YY, I'm doing A MAN NAMED KENT and a few other incidentals.
AC: What do you do with your work to stay challenged with such a lengthy resume as yours?
TH: To stay challenged in my work, I essentially keep reading... and I reinvent myself... not in dramatic, sweeping ways, but in tiny shifts here and there that build up. That is how I made Renaissance different from All Star Squadron and Allies IFS. They all share similar premises, but they are different substantially.
AC: Did being asked to pen AC's Historic Age help spark the idea of resurrecting YesterYear, or vice versa?
TH: Concerning YY, Artifice and the Historic Age definitely put me back in the mood, but what sparked YY's rebirth was the dirge of cries I've gotten lately to bring it back so various series could see the light of day and so a few others would get finished.
AC: With the new site opening, care to take a chance to plug any?
TH: Well, basically what we did at YY is invite the best of what we had back. That included Ali's Gotham Knights, Mark Peyton's Sand and Stage Mist, D. David Lee's Indiana Jones and the Golden Age. KENT of course is returning, just cuz I run the site ;-) as is Last Train to Murania. Two series waiting in the wings are Erland Larsen's Transylvania Express..and Alex Cook's Slayer :-)
AC: :-D With the subtle shift of fanfic names from fic sites to original, what are your thoughts on the hobby as it is today?
TH: FanFiction is finally I think undergoing a silent revolution that has been needed for awhile. It's one of those 'hobbies' that by its nature should not contain people for too long, especially as long as it has some of us. It's long past time that many of us graduated. And as that is happening, other new takes on concepts that are now old hat in fanfic are being reworked.
AC: Is fanfic a boon, or hindrance to a writer?
TH: Depends on how you use it. Mostly its a boon for a variety of reason. Although its few and far between, it can get you noticed. Now, I didn't say it could get you jobs in the comic field, but it can get you noticed. I've received emails from a couple of known professionals who have read my stuff without my solicitation, so I know some are out there reading. It can be a hindrance when you allow it to become all you write. Because, at the essence, we don't own our fanfic.
AC: Last question, and its fitting that it is. You're scribing Artifice's past, but close with your thoughts on what it's future could and should be.
TH: Well, the future of Artifice right now is a day to day proposition, just because it's in its infancy. But Artifice has the potential to be a well organized juggernaut of Heroic Fiction. That's going to take, however, a lot of care and attention to make sure it flows the way a site people will want to come back and read day after day. Fanfiction or original, doesn't matter, serial fiction lives and dies by the readers who give their characters life.
AC: Thanks for your time Tommy