Gary Phillips Talks Vigilante: Southland

Adrian Chase will be appearing on this season of Arrow as vigilante, but he’s not the guy you’ll see using that name in the comics.

Crime novelist Gary Phillips and artist Elena Casagrande have created a new Vigilante for a new generation (in a new city), and along with colorist Giulia Brusco and cover artist Mitch Gerads, the team will bring Vigilante: Southland to comic shops in October as a six-issue miniseries.

Phillips joined ComicBook.com during Comic Con International: San Diego to talk about Vigilante: Southland.

All right, now I think one of the most interesting things about this is every time they’ve had a big relaunch for this character, it’s usually been Marv. Is that kind of an interesting thing as you’re kind of looking through the back matter trying to track what the trajectory this franchise has been?

Yeah, not so much that, although I’m aware of the trajectory. I go back, in terms of my experience with this character, I go back to the days of when it was Greg Saunders, just you know, modern cowboy in the 40’s, riding this motorcycle with a mask and a 6-shooter.

Not only am I aware of that, but you’re right, in terms of where the story is now or where I take the story, I pull from some of that original stuff, I pull from some of those 80’s early 90’s Vigilante Adrian Chase stuff, as well as I guess, there’s actually a couple iterations of that version as you said. There’s actually been some more modern iterations of the old-school Vigilante, right, as well, so you’re right.

Obviously, when you tackle this kind of character, you’re aware of all that and you try to pull from some of that, but also you want to do things that are going to make it unique. In this case, he’s set in the Southland of the greater Los Angeles area, the Southeast LA area, parts of town that don’t normally get shown, both on TV and film and certainly not in comics beyond the beaches and what have you. All that comes into play I think when you’re telling the story.

One of the things I think that happens in DC is that everything is a fictional city, and so you can craft kind of the identity of the city to match your character. You’re now taking the character to a real place. Are you crafting his identity kind of around Southland?

That’s a damn good question, yes. The answer is yes, so you’re right, so that in fact I do call on very specific areas of the greater Los Angeles area as the story unfolds where those settings are. In fact, when discussing this with the artist, Elena Casagrande, was very clear to give her reference materials of those areas, so you’re right.

It wasn’t just as we know it, LA looks a hell of a lot different than Manhattan or Central City or Gotham City, and so it’s got to look like LA. There’s a scene of an office building in Wilshire, well, I got to show what Wilshire Boulevard looks like because it doesn’t look like, it’s not Madison Avenue, it’s not whatever, you know, so you’re right. We want to be very specific about the look and feel that it does look like the LA I know or the greater parts of LA as well as then sort of these hidden parts.

Not to give anything away, but there’s hidden parts of Korea Town we explore, and there’s other areas where we sort of get behind the façade, and sort of show these other parts of the underworld.

With Vigilante, was part of the kind of pitch, when they talked to you, was part of the pitch, “Okay, we’re going to get an entirely new Vigilante, we’re going to withdraw from all of the history,” or was this ever a thing where you looking at Adrian Chase and going, “Can I make this work?”

It was actually the former, that is to say that when Dan DiDio and I first discussed were several iterations, when we finally got to this iteration, no, I was told I could just do what I felt, take this character’s name and totally revamp him and it was really my decision to want to pull from some of that history so we don’t lose all of that, and so some of that does come through even with this iteration, but that.

As you said, it was a great point about how the character is really shaped by the geography and the territory that he finds himself in. He’s a guy, when we first meet him, he’s a kind of slacker guy. He’s just getting along, he’s an easy-going guy, he plays b-ball, he’s got a nice, sweet little gig at the big private university as a maintenance man, he’s got his medical marijuana card, life is sweet. Something happens. His girlfriend gets killed and now he’s got to figure out, “Well shit, do I just ignore that, or do I step up?”

I think one of the interesting things about Vigilante as a property is that he’s shaped by tragedy in the same way that like the Punisher or Batman is or something, but historically, the character has responded to that in a way that feels much more real-world than Batman or the Punisher, because realistically, you’re not going to go kill everything.

Everybody, exactly right. Right, exactly. Survive as much, punishment is the Punisher is taken, or even Batman has taken for God sakes, so you’re right. That’s a good point, so that I think for the Vigilante, part of his arc is even though he’s an athletic guy, part of his arc is he’s got to figure out, you know, street fighting is a hell of a lot different than being in shape and throwing up a basketball and running up and down the court. Being in shape helps because now, but there’s a kind of mentor figure that comes into the context of the story, so this will help him start to bridge that gap.

You’re right, I also wanted that when he does get, there’s a passage where he does get hurt, he gets hurt and it lays him up and now he’s got to try an recover and still go forward.

As a novelist, you probably are a little bit more familiar with kind of story-telling fundamentals than you are with superhero tropes. Does it help you to be able to have a scene like that where it’s like, “Yeah, most superheros don’t get this, but in my world they do.”

Yeah, think that’s a good point, and you’re right, you still have to thread that needle, right, because you’re right, he is a costume guy. To me, it’s more of a street-level kind of character, he doesn’t have any super powers, and so he does rely on his brawn and his fists and his gadgets, but even then, it’s not like he’s not that advanced.

He isn’t Batman. He’s aware that he’s not Batman, he is nowhere near that kind of level of prowess and skill and what have you, and so he is going falter. I think that’s part of the beauty of the story, where we see his growth as this character of the Vigilante from book one and by the time we get to book six.

I know that this is kind of a fallacy because you can have stakes and you can have fear without the fear of death, but because he is like the seventh Vigilante, and because he’s a guy with no powers, does it help to kind of build that environment where it’s like, you know, this guy could die?

I agree. I think that’s another good point. The idea that he could mess up, that he could screw up, not only that he could die, but that he could mess up the mission that he’s on. There are these bigger stakes in play, and what if he doesn’t succeed? What if he does fail?

Or in the case of, not to give anything away, but it’s clear that there are other characters in the story, you figure in the story who had paid a price for their involvement in sort of extracurricular activities and involvement in trying to bring justice where there hasn’t been justice, and there’s a price to pay for that, and he’s aware of that, exactly right, and that hangs over him.

Because Vigilante is kind of a dark character, most of these questions have centered on violence. Superheros at their core are still kind of inspirational and aspirational stories. What is it that kind of drives him to want to do good? What is it that motivates him to be that guy and not to just say, “Hey man, I told the cops, it’s not my problem.”

That’s right. I think for him, and this is again, the reason why it’s got to be I think as we were talking about, both for Batman and the Punisher and let’s face it, for a lot of superheros, it’s always about the personal cost in the beginning, and the altruism sort of comes later, right?

The altruism comes as you make that transition to being a superhero, or understanding the responsibilities that you have for putting on that costume. For Donnie Fairchild, I think it was important that as I said, that he starts out as kind of a happy-go-lucky guy, everything is kind of cool in life, he’s got this great girlfriend, he’s got this okay job, and he’s got no stress, no strain.

When that thing happens that makes him have to have that turn, you need to turn the lever, you turn to the right, like you said. “I called the cops, I’m out of it.” Or, “I called the cops, but I also understand that this is a bigger thing. This is more complex than what they’re going to be able to deal with, and I’m the guy on the inside, I have to do something.”

For him, that’s what propels him forward, and actually what probably pushes him through at least this first generation, and hopefully at sales warren, there will be another chance to get back at him where in fact, exactly, to make that journey to being the altruistic character.

What you touched on something that’s interesting to me, again, as a novelist, is it nice to you to have the format of like, “We’re going to do a mini-series that’ll be basically a book,” instead of you having like the soap-opera of the ongoing series?

Of course, there’s nothing better than having an ongoing series, but you’re right, to be able to say, “Knowing that it’s going to be book in at least this regard,” and you’re right, so this is one story. I’m just telling you there’s one story.

Hopefully people will respond to the character, but you’re right, there is a kind of, but I think it’s also the benefit of where we’re at now obviously with comic stuff we have on TV now where you don’t have to have all these long episodics or self-contained, but you can tell one story over a period of time. Exactly right, or a span, that’s right. Exactly.