Christos N. Gage: Straight Shooting

By Tim O'Shea

Deadshot’s second issue (in a five-part miniseries from DC) went on sale today, the perfect time to catch up with writer Christos N. Gage. In a comic book market saturated with convoluted continuity, Gage’s main focus for this miniseries is refreshingly straightforward: “Deadshot fights to make a crime-infested neighborhood safe for his daughter and her mom.” SBC thanks Gage for the interview and DC’s Adam Philips for facilitating it.

Tim O’Shea: How do you straddle the line between writing a sympathetic villain without going too far and making him a hero instead?

Christos N. Gage: It’s a tough line to walk, but I think the answer lies in staying consistent with his established character. Deadshot’s actions in this story are as villainous as ever --he’s killing people left and right, which is how he makes a living and why he’s a wanted man. But this time he’s doing it for a reason most of us can relate to: to protect his family. That’s what makes him sympathetic -- we’ve all felt the desire to protect those we love, sometimes to the point where we’d like to just “eliminate” any potential threat. We don’t resort to murder, of course; but for Deadshot it’s second nature. The fact that his motivation is something we can understand, even if we don’t condone his methods, makes it easier to sympathize with him than, say, when he’s been hired to assassinate a witness in a mob trial. In that case we root for Batman to stop him; in this case, we hopefully root for Deadshot to come out on top. Same guy, different situation.

My goal was never to make Deadshot into a hero, or even a vigilante anti-hero like The Punisher. Deadshot could care less what crimes occur the next town over. Rather, what I hope I’ve accomplished with this story is similar to what Brad Meltzer did in showing Captain Boomerang relating to his son in Identity Crisis; in other words, without sugar-coating the kind of person he is, give readers enough insight into a villain’s psyche and personal life that we see him as more than just a foil for the heroic community. This is something I think John Ostrander did brilliantly Suicide Squad, and it’s an approach whose time seems to have come around again. More importantly, it makes for good stories!

O’Shea: While this series draws upon the grave nature of Deadshot's past (including a son who was killed by a pedophile), there is also a subtle comedy element to some scenes. Did you script the fire and ice exchange between Killer Frost and Firebug in issue one, or is that something that artist Steven Cummings suggested?

Gage: That vignette of Frost, shall we say, cooling Firebug’s ardor was scripted, but there are plenty of instances where Steven added something of his own that enhanced the story --subtle elements that really made the characters come to life. He was wonderful to work with --every time he wanted to change something he asked me first, which I appreciated even though I trusted him to do a great job regardless. I really can’t say enough good things about the art team as a whole. Steven started the miniseries as a rising talent, and I firmly believe he will end it as one of the hottest new pencilers in the business (and if you think that’s just a writer hyping his artist, try seeing what original art pages are left on the market after I’ve had my shot at them). And what can one say about inker Jimmy Palmiotti that hasn’t been said already --the man’s won so many awards, someone should check his ink for performance enhancing drugs!

But to return to your point about the comedy element, while this is far from a light-hearted farce, I think occasional humor --if it’s consistent with the overall tone of the story --can provide a nice contrast, keeping things from feeling too one-note and relentlessly grim. Like everything else, though, humor has to come naturally from character and story, not be shoehorned in.

O’Shea: In one scene, were you trying to convey that as a hit man, Floyd can never get his guard down, given that he feels compelled to reach for his gun, even while visiting his son's grave?

Gage: Definitely. To my mind, Deadshot never goes anywhere without his guns. Not that he cares if someone kills him (although he’s sure as hell not going to lie down for anybody), but he is always ready for violence. Violence the only real way he expresses himself; all his other emotions are suppressed. Or they were; for the first time in a while, Floyd’s feeling something other than numbness. Whether that’s good or bad depends on which end of his guns you’re on.

O’Shea: It would appear that your television writing career has well prepared you for the brunt of miniscule criticism that comic book writers face from critics. A visit to TV Tome reveals that your plot for one episode motivated a response from a Planned Parenthood official in Iowa. Is it maddening or flattering when viewers pay that close attention to your work?

Gage: Really, I’m just flattered that people care. When no one is paying attention, that’s when you worry! I have to say that thus far, everyone I’ve interacted with on the DC message boards, my forum at http://www.paperfilms.com, and elsewhere has been very respectful, even when pointing out things they didn’t like or consider a mistake. For instance, I based my characterization of Killer Frost on the most recent Suicide Squad series, but several readers pointed out that’s not necessarily how she behaved in earlier appearances. But they were nice about it, and in almost every case they’ve been as respectful of me as I try to be of them. Like I said, I’m just happy to know people are reading!

O’Shea: Along those lines, how much research was entailed in developing this miniseries?

Gage: Well, I re-read the entire run of Suicide Squad (both series), the 1988 Deadshot mini, and many of his other appearances. Apart from that, this particular story didn’t require a lot of technical research the way an episode of Law & Order: SVU does. But I did put those researching muscles to work on my next project, a Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight arc which emphasizes Batman’s skills as the world’s greatest detective. In it, he has to investigate a decades-old murder spree which a true-crime writer has blamed on none other than Thomas Wayne, Bruce’s late father. Batman’s investigation into this cold case is complicated by a mysterious figure who’s killing anyone with relevant information, not to mention enemies like Clayface and the Penguin. I watch Court TV shows like Forensic Files obsessively, so it’s nice that I get to put that obsession to productive use every now and then!

O’Shea: Given the main thrust of the first issue (the discovery of a daughter he never knew he had), will you be revisiting the unresolved issues that Deadshot has regarding his dead son indirectly with the father/daughter plotline?

Gage: The death of Deadshot’s son informs his every action in the story. In issue #2, we see exactly how Deadshot deals with enemies threatening his daughter. His response should put to rest any questions about whether he’s going to become a hero, and make it clear that he’ll destroy anyone, including himself, to make sure what happened to his son doesn’t happen again. Deadshot #2 should be out by the time you read this, so I’ll let people pick up the book to see for themselves what I mean.

O’Shea: Issue 2 features a guest appearance by Green Arrow, can you hint at what other DC characters might cross Deadshot's path?

Gage: Green Arrow is the big superhero guest star; I felt that it was high time the DC Universe’s two best marksmen faced off against each other! Their battle, which takes up a big chunk of issue #3, was a ton of fun to write, and Steven and Jimmy really did a beautiful job on the art. Future DC character appearances will consist of an army of super-villains who longtime readers will recognize from the John Ostrander Suicide Squad era--all of whom bear a grudge against our Mr. Lawton. It all culminates in a brutal battle many won’t walk away from.

O’Shea: Other than writing the complexities that make up your lead character, which person or plot element has been the most challenging/enjoyable for you to create so far?

Gage: Writing Deadshot himself has been both the most challenging and fun --putting him in situations where we see a side of him that hasn’t been explored that much, and yet is consistent with how he was portrayed in the John Ostrander Suicide Squad title. And the challenge of writing the fight with Green Arrow --how a battle between two guys who never miss can last more than two seconds (it ended up lasting seven pages, a real brawl) --was one really I enjoyed tackling.

But aside from the main man, I guess liked writing Michelle, the mother of his child. Since Deadshot is a fatalistic, emotionally closed-off person, I wanted to juxtapose him with a woman who is very open with her feelings, and optimistic by nature. I enjoyed the interplay between them a lot. Steven’s favorite character was our new villain, The Closer. He recently told me that he based The Closer’s look on a more muscular version of Vanilla Ice, which makes me root for Deadshot even more when he faces off with the super-strong, bulletproof brute in issue #4. Word to your mother.

O’Shea: Does your wife, Ruth Fletcher Gage, have any interest in collaborating with you in comics, or will those collaborations remain with screenplays? How helpful is it to have a fellow writer under the same roof to help troubleshoot sticky plot points?

Gage: Ruth didn’t grow up reading comics like I did, so for the moment she’s leaving them to me. But never say never. If we did collaborate, it would probably be on an original idea of ours rather than a company-owned character. However, as you astutely mentioned, it’s tremendously helpful to have a fellow writer to bounce ideas off of and help with problems. The funny thing about being married to your collaborator is that we don’t pull any punches in our criticism, because we trust each other enough not to take any of it personally. She often tells me that if she ever heard someone else saying the things about my writing that she says, she’d kill them! But it’s tremendously helpful to have that level of honesty; we definitely raise each other’s game and the end result is much better for it.

O’Shea: Is there anything else you'd like to discuss that I did not ask?

Gage: Well, at the risk of sounding corny, I would like to thank my collaborators on the book for making my first job in comics a delight across the board, especially Dan DiDio and Joey Cavalieri for their invaluable creative input and editorial guidance, not to mention taking a big chance on someone who’d never written comics before! And, of course, Jimmy Palmiotti for introducing me to the folks at DC in the first place and making it all possible. I also want to express my gratitude to all the readers who gave Deadshot a try and invite them to post their thoughts at http://www.dccomics.com or http://www.paperfilms.com. I’ll be at Wondercon and Wizard World Los Angeles if you’d like to come by to say hello and let me thank you personally. You guys are the best, and I truly appreciate your support.

Discuss this interview on the Feature Fiends Forum!