Dig Boston interviews Jay Piscopo about new Captain Midnight comic book

EARTH PRIME TIME: CAPTAIN MIDNIGHT & COMMANDER X PREVIEW WITH JAY PISCOPO
March 28, 2012
by CLAY FERNALD

Listen to the audio of this interview at this link.

Moonstone Books will co-publish a cross-over one shot with local publisher Nemo Publishing to rebirth the legendary golden age hero Captain Midnight in December 2012. We’re huge fans of the collaborators, Jay Piscopo (Nemo, Capt’n Eli) and Brian Augustyn (DC Comics, Gotham by Gaslight). Jay was kind enough to take us to the skies and give us a birds-eye view of what to expect!

I am here with Jay Piscopo, from Maine! Why don’t you tell us about your Captain Midnight book?
My character, Commander X is going to meet the Golden Age version of Captain Midnight. We are also including cameo appearances of the Airboy and the Airfighters.

It’s all that Brian and I have wanted to see from an aviator World War II comic. One way we describe it is Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid in WWII facing Nazi Super-Science. It’s a dream come true.

I’m not familiar with Captain Midnight but you were kind enough to send me some history. He first appeared nearly 75 years ago!
He’s always been a favorite character of mine, and the reason I zeroed in on him was exactly what you just said, you hadn’t heard of it. A lot of fans and lovers of comics and superheroes don’t realize that these pulp heroes are where they all came from.

Recently with John Carter, we have a situation where since the story and characters are so original, and that everything was derived from these pulp stories, the audience says “I’ve already seen this before.” What I found relevant about Captain Midnight is that we are still in a world of war.

There are issues brought out by World War II about what democracy is, and what war is all about. We can talk about these issues today, using something from the past.

Captain Midnight is visually interesting to me as well. Like a lot of people I watch YouTube more than I watch TV now. I love watching BASE jumping. Looking at the wing suits they wear I said, “Wait a minute…that’s Captain Midnight!” I like the fun of having a dogfight between a Nazi jet and a guy with cloth wings between his arms as wings. I thought those scenes would be fun for a modern comics reader without being too pastiche-y. Click HERE to continue reading the interview on Dig Boston.

Captain Midnight Returns to the Skies in December

The new Captain Midnight comic book is in the works. Click HERE to read all about it on Forces of Geek -- Commander X Meets Captain Midnight in a Pulp Comic Spectacular!

This 28 page, full-color book will be written by longtime DC Comics writer and editor Brian Augustyn. Artwork and co-plotting will be by Jay Piscopo.





View more artwork at these links:
Captain Midnight Gallery
Airboy and the Airfighters Gallery

Coming in December. Published by Nemo Publishing and Moonstone Books.

Read the full press release HERE.

Captain Midnight Returns in New Comic Book Coming in 2012

Take to the Skies with Captain Midnight and Commander X: New Comic Book on the Horizon from Moonstone Books and Nemo Publishing

At the end of this year, Nemo Publishing and Moonstone Books will publish a cross-over one shot comic book featuring the legendary Captain Midnight and Commander X from Nemo Publishing’s “The Undersea Adventures of Capt’n Eli” graphic novel series. This 28 page, full-color book will be written by longtime DC Comics writer and editor Brian Augustyn. Artwork and co-plotting will be by Jay Piscopo, author and illustrator of “Capt’n Eli.”

"When real life casts long shadows over us and time seems to be running out, that's the time to look to the skies for the antidote to modern worries,” said Augustyn. “I couldn't be happier to be working with Moonstone, Nemo, and my great friend Jay Piscopo on this thrilling and timely project.”

This new book will feature guest stars from other Moonstone books, including Airboy and the Air Fighters, and will pay homage to the great heroes of yesteryear, particularly aviation heroes.

“I’m a huge fan of Captain Midnight and what Moonstone has done with the character. I see this as an opportunity to introduce new fans to this once very popular hero from American pop culture,” said Piscopo. “Working with a friend and a creator I admire so much and to team up with Moonstone is a dream come true.”

Captain Midnight is relevant today because he existed in a time similar to our own when the United States was in the midst of economic upheaval and the world was at war.

Augustyn noted “Captain Midnight has been a multimedia legend for 70 years and remains as vital today as when he first took wing. As ever, Cap delivers sky-high adventure and heroism in the classic style. Commander X is completely in sync with those ideals and will be the perfect partner in crime-fighting. Featuring the Air Fighters only makes it all that much more thrilling.”

Piscopo think it’s perfect timing to reawaken these WWII era characters and see what made them strong and interesting. “These characters stood for ideals; particularly the ideals of freedom, equality and fighting against fascism. The superhero genre blossomed during WWII because this is what they stood for.”

More about Moonstone Books: Moonstone publishes fine and distinct comic books, graphic novels, and prose featuring classic and new heroes in thrilling tales of adventure, mystery, and horror including wayward thriller-adventure heroes like Kolchak the Night Stalker, Buckaroo Banzai, Captain Action, The Green Hornet, The Avenger, The Spider, The Saint, The Justice Machine, Domino Lady, Zorro, The Phantom, Operator 5, G-8, The Green Lama, Honey West, Sherlock Holmes, Airboy, Zeroids, Secret Agent X, The Phantom Detective, and more. www.moonstonebooks.com

More about Brian Augustyn: Augustyn is an award-winning comic book editor and writer. He got his start in the industry in 1984 as an editor for Tru Studios’ “Trollords.” He then edited “Syphons” and “Speed Racer” for NOW Comics. In 1987, he joined DC Comics, starting out as a co-editor on “Action Comics” during its period as a weekly title. He then went on to edit “The Flash,” “Justice League” and the “Impact Comics” line of titles. Augustyn was recognized for his work in the industry with the Wizard Fan Award for Favorite Editor in 1994.

More about Jay Piscopo and Nemo Publishing: Piscopo is the author and illustrator of Nemo Publishing’s “The Undersea Adventures of Capt’n Eli” graphic novel series and “The Sea Ghost #1: The Sea Ghost in the Machine” comic book. Captain Midnight and Commander X are similar and unique in that they both were created as a vehicle for advertising a product. In the case of Captain Midnight, it was Ovaltine in the 1940s. Commander X is part of the Capt'n Eli universe of characters tied to the Capt’n Eli’s line of hand-crafted sodas from Portland Maine. Capt’n Eli is the namesake of real-life World War II veteran Eli Forsley who was also the inspiration for Capt’n Eli’s soda. Read the story behind the story at this link. On the web at www.captneli.com and www.theseaghost.com.