The following is an interview with Green Archer Comics’ Allan and Benn Liska regarding their Kickstarter campaign launch for the comic book series, The Press Guardian & The Clock: 1942. In this interview, Fanbase Press Editor-in-Chief Barbra Dillon chats with the Liskas about their shared creative process for breathing new life into the public domain characters, why crowdfunding has been such a valuable resource for independent creators, and more!
Barbra Dillon, Fanbase Press Editor-in-Chief: Congratulations on the recent Kickstarter campaign launch! For those who may be unfamiliar, what can you tell us about the series’ premise?
Allan and Benn Liska: The Press Guardian is a character that appeared in PEP Comics for 11 issues in 1940 and was created – at least in that iteration – by the great Mort Meskin. The Press Guardian was the Defender of the 4th Estate. The Clock was created by George Brenner in 1935 and first appeared in Funny Picture Stories, but moved through several publications in his 7 year run.
Both of these characters only ever appeared in pulp anthology comics, so they never got their own issues and both fell into the public domain. We wanted to bring them back and give them a chance to shine in a full issue.
BD: The creative process of adapting a prior work can be a daunting experience. How would you describe your approach to breathing new life into these two public domain characters, and what did you find to be most rewarding/challenging about the process?
AL & BL: A big part of the challenge is getting the dialogue correct. Setting the comics in 1942 means the characters had to talk like it was 1942, and we had to watch our phrasing and catch phrases to ensure that we stayed authentic to the time and the characters. That is the great thing about having both of us work on the script, we can bounce ideas off each other and double check each other’s work before we hand it off to the editor.
BD: What do you feel will be most appealing about Press Guardian and Clock’s adventures and their legacies to a new generation of readers?
AL & BL: There is a lot of talk in the industry about superhero fatigue. We’re not sure if that’s true, but we feel that characters like The Press Guardian and The Clock are antidotes to superheroes. We often use the phrase “suits, not tights” to classify ordinary people who go above and beyond, without necessarily having super powers. That’s what these guys are, two heroes who know that they have to stop bad guys who may be more powerful than them.
BD: What makes Green Archer Comics the perfect home for this series, and what do you feel defines a Green Archer title?
AL & BL: We love breathing new life into classic characters that may be forgotten. Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar; The Green Archer; and now The Press Guardian and The Clock – we don’t just want to slap the name on a comic, we want the comic to ring true to fans of those heroes, we want to honor the original creators.
BD: In light of the Kickstarter campaign, are there any specific backer rewards that you are most excited to feature?
AL & BL: Because this is a Make 100 on Kickstarter, we kept the rewards very simple, just three tiers. We will say if you get the signed reward, your comic will travel from Washington DC to London and be signed in an authentic British Pub. Most people can’t say that about their signed comics!
BD: Are there any other projects – past or current – that you would like to highlight for readers?
AL & BL: Our first entry into the world of The Press Guardian was with The Press Guardian #1 which tells the story of the original Press Guardian’s granddaughter carrying on his legacy and defending press freedom around the world. We are about to release the 2nd issue in that series. So, if you like comics about bad-ass redheads fighting against disinformation and for press freedom, you might want to check it out.
BD: Lastly, what would you like to tell readers who want to learn more about The Press Guardian & The Clock: 1942 and your other work?
AL & BL: Not many of the original The Press Guardian and The Clock comics survive today. We’ve had to hunt them down all over the place. If this campaign is successful, we hope to be able to put together what we’ve gathered as an add-on to a 2nd issue down the road. There is still a lot to explore with these characters.
