The Best Graphic Novels Ever #14 -- The Crusades

14. The Crusades
by Steve Seagle and Kelley Jones
Published by Vertigo Comics

In The Crusades, Seagle and Jones build a better Batman.

No, seriously.

Take a generic dark knight, make him an actual knight -- on a horse, with the lance, the whole nine yards -- and set him loose in a dark and depraved city much like Gotham. Then make the poor deluded fool think he's actually a time-weary knight of the round table (or maybe he is?!). Then add a Bettie Page look-alike reporter assigned to the story. Mix and pour.

There you have it, one of the bleakest and coolest adult vigilante fantasies ever. Toss in a few sprinkles of Jones odd (in a good way) and creepy art, and Seagle's ear for offbeat dialog and unexpected story curves, and this one is truly one of the best comic book series collections ever.

The Writer Will Take Your Questions Now (#260) -- Why Redemptive Stories?

Why do you love redemptive stories so much?

The simple answer? Because of my faith. As a Christian believer (albeit one on the outskirts and fringes of the Christian subculture), I'm a sucker for a story about someone being changed for the better.

The Squadron Supreme

The writer answer? Because at their core, stories are about the growth and changing of people, and what's a better or bigger change than a redemptive one? The same could also be said of a "fall" story, in which a character does the opposite and goes bad due to situations and choices. Two of the greatest are Darth Vader and Faust in Michael Oeming's new Dark Horse series The Victories. But who gets left with a good feeling after that kind of tale?

Some of my favorite redemptive stories in comics include:

• The Thunderbolts initial run
• The Sandman in the various Spider-Man books (before he was turned bad again)
• Heatwave in Superboy (yes, the Flash villain)
• Moloch in Watchmen
• Thief of Thieves
• Saga
• Squadron Supreme (the folly of forced "redemption," kind of like Fundamentalist politicos trying to enforce Christian moral stances in gray areas)
• House of Secrets (the Steve Seagle Vertigo run)

The Writer Will Take Your Questions Now (#16) -- Dream Comic Gig

If you could collaborate on a project with any comic industry professional (living 

or dead) who would it be and what tye of project would it be? -- Comics Brew

I actually get asked this question a lot, mostly at conventions, but my answer is almost always the same. I'd love to collaborate with Steven Seagle and Ken Hooper on a revival of Primal Force for DC Comics. That's one of the series that only a few fans seem to remember at all, much less with the reverence and fascination with which I remember it, but it's a short-lived series that really grabbed a hold of me somehow. The characters and the story just meshed in a way for me that many comics don't.

I think too I'm drawn to the book because it consisted completely of fringe characters (or new characters) who normally don't get any play in the brightly colored world of Superman, Flash, and Green Lantern. And if you know me at all, you know I'm a fan of the C-List characters at DC, even moreso than the A-List and most of the B-List.