Conceptualising The Witch Doctor

The villain for Hoodie 2: Witch Trials is called The Witch Doctor. The Witch Doctor came from many different influences but first I want to share with you the main reason why he did not appear in the first book. I have long been an avid comic book fan and believe that often it is best to let your greatest villain shine later on in your series. Lets look at film versions of comics. Batman Begins works much better than Batman (not just because it has an awesome script, Nolan, brilliant cast etc) but because Batman has the air time to shine. In Batman he had to share it with his arch nemesis that meant that his characterization was completely void. Batman Begins no-over overshadows The Dark Knight. Further when the time came to bring the Joker in it was just as effective because the character was so well built up: he was rounded, three dimensional.

I wanted to try and do something similar with Hoodie. I am not sure whether The Witch Doctor is his greatest villain but everything that happens in this book will effect Hoodie in book 3 and 4: everything is down to The Witch Doctor and his influence. When writing Hoodie I want this series to show every action has a consequence: just look at his origin! Therefore someone as lethal as The Witch Doctor will have huge effects on Hoodie, his life, and the city he lives in.

So how did I come up with the character you might ask?

Well first of all I remembered back to my childhood and I thought about how I watched wrestling. At the time there was a character called Papa Shango. He was a voodoo character and he scared me like never before.

Papa Shango

From here onwards I started to think about Witch Doctors. I thought about how they are always seen as great and good figures: I wanted to do something different. I wanted to take their opinions and show how someone completely screwed up could mess around with them. I was already taken by Papa Shango’s costume but I wanted to do more research. Once I saw another picture of a Witch Doctor I knew I had the right villain for book 2.

traditinonal Witch Doctors

As soon as I saw the mask and the hair I knew that I was onto a winner. I loved the way they looked. I thought to myself that here is a character that could look truly terrifying at night if modeled right. I wanted to modernise the costume though and decided that the mask was the best thing to keep. I want to take what I will call the hair and use dreadlocks instead for greater effect. So the mask itself has a huge role in the book and the story.

Here is what I think the mask would look like in the book.

If you want to check out Hoodie in the UK click here and in the US click here

If you want to check out Hoodie 2: Witch Trials in the UK click here and in the US click here

Hero of the World Cover Up Black Justice Phone Hack

Everyone knows the rumours that were spread by Hero of the World newspaper about the second Black Justice and his kid sidekick, Kid Truth and the horrific repercussions it had on their lives.

 

With the recent fall of Hero of the World, it can be revealed that the paper illegally hacked into Black Justice’s phone calls and in fact falsified testimonies.  The people responsible for these hackings have all been accounted for and are being held in prison till further action can be taken. It is a bittersweet victory taking into consideration what happened to Kid Truth after the incident.

 

To find out what happened, check out  Living With The Edge: The Autobiography of the First British Masked Heroine, Val Phillips

Wanted Terrorist Erik The Red

A police officer’s artist interpretation of the wanted terrorist Erik The Red have been found. Erik, a known Zionist, has fought for Israel all of his life after being brought up in a world where he felt that he could not trust outsiders. His grandparents suffered in concentration camps before moving to Israel. After he was born, Erik watched as his family were blown up in a bus attack. After this he felt enough was enough and the only way to battle back was to fight, not to stand there defending.

To find out more about Erik The Red, check out Living With The Edge: The Autobiography of the First British Masked Heroine, Val Phillips

The Story of The Ubermench’s creator

We are all aware of the character The Ubermench and its downfall. But what happened to the character’s creator Frederik Faber?

Faber, born in 1902 was brought up in New York City. His father had believed often that there was only one way of doing things and that meant that people like him and his son should always be on top. Faber grew up in a family that believed that difference was wrong. When Faber saw Crime! Comics emerge, he fell in love with the medium straight away. A good artist, he taught himself how to get better and better until finally he pitched his idea of an omnipotent god like being called The Ubermench in 1929. With the Wall Street Crash just occurring, Crime! Comics saw this as the perfect time to bring in this new hero, this superhero. The Crime! Shareholders believed that the character could be used to show the struggles of the common man and to help people whatever race, gender and class in anyway he could. Unfortunately for the character and the company, Faber had different plans. Being a strong Nazi sympathizer his early stories showed a truly racist depiction of the world with only White, middle class Americans being shown as the ones that were suffering. The Ubermench, who looked more like a Nazi propaganda tool then anything else, often saved the blonde hair, blue eyed children whilst shunning anyone else that looked different. The concept of The Ubermench was a tremendous success with many parents buying their children the books for what they thought was light entertainment. However after a couple of issues, Crime! Comics began to receive many complaints from irate parents who had read Faber’s material. As the book was such a success, Crime! Comics decided to keep with Faber until issue 6 where the content had gone too far. The Ubermench was shown joining the Nazi Party. With this act, issue 6 was never released to the public, Faber was fired and The Ubermench was removed from publication to be replaced by The US Angel, the kind of character that the shareholders had intended The Ubermench to be.

Faber was irate with the decision and soon began attempts to create his own comic book line and publication. His next character, Mr White was a hard line detective who once again was unbelievably racist. Unlike The Ubermench this character was a huge flop. With parents being aware to check the content of the comic books they were buying for their children first and with new characters such as the black Dark Justice and The US Angel, children were not interested in this character.

On the outbreak of war, Faber created one more character known as Swastika. Again, the character (more than ever before) was clearly a toll for Nazi propaganda and failed even more so then Mr White. In 1945, after hearing that Hitler had killed himself, Faber did the same, firing a bullet straight into his head.

Read more about Crime! Comics and the other heroes in Living With The Edge: The Autobiography of the First British Masked Heroine, Val Phillips

The ASBO Army

The ASBO Army, a gang of thugs who are controlled by a ruthless businessman. They are known for donning white hoodies that they wear when they are committing crimes.

 

Check out Hoodie here

Lolita

A forgotten memory, Lolita is a savage mercenary willing to do whatever she has to. As she and her boss watch Sam and Jessica, they realise that they must be stopped. Lolita is sent after them. A seductress, a killer who enjoys her work.

 

Check out Forgotten Lies here

Jessica McInytre

Jessica is a Private Investigator. She decided to become one to get at her father, Jim McIntyre (a police detective). Jessica is a  lapsed catholic, who had her child Benny when she was very young. She is a single mother, struggling to provide for them both yet at the same time is unbelievably strong willed. She does not suffer fools gladly.

Read about Jessica in Forgotten Lies

Rich Nicholas, Hoodie

Rich Nicholas is Hoodie. After a devastating childhood, Rich dons a big black hoodie naming himself after the attire. He has a range of custom weapons from a mace repellant gun to a paint gun to a rape alarm. Rich is notorious for getting into trouble. Rich is an obnoxious teenager. A good kid at heart but prone to making the wrongs choices and going off the rails.

Check Hoodie out in Hoodie

Sam O Hara

Journalist Sam o Hara lives in his own little world. He is unaware how his habits can become tedious for people around him. Always drinking coffee, he lives life in the fast lane, running from one job to the next. When it comes to journalism, if Sam has a story there is no stopping him. He is good friends with some members of the police such as Jim McIntyre. A confessed geek, Sam longs for the day that his life will actually become a motion picture where he can be the action hero.A quick witted, odd ball.

Check out Sam in Forgotten Lies

The Edge, Val Phillips

Val Phillips has been obsessed with comic books ever since she first was introduced to them in her teenage years. As more and more people were becoming her favourite comic book heroes, Val decided that she would make her own identity known as the Edge based on her Straight Edge Punk beliefs. The Edge believes that drugs and alcoholism are the great evil in life and has dedicated it to trying to save people. She carries nun chucks as her weapon.

Check out Val in Living With The Edge: The Autobiography of the First British Masked Heroine, Val Phillips