In an exclusive interview with Dynamite Entertainment, PREVIEWSworld gets the dirt on what lies ahead for the re-emergence of an old Harris Comics character. Pantha will soon be a part of the Dynamite family this June. The new book is written by Brandon Jerwa with illustrations by Pow Rodrix. But we wanted to know more about the title, and how it would configure into the Dynamite universe with other female characters. So we took out our digital recorder, hit the red button, and took in the details from Dynamite Entertainment’s Nick Barrucci.
PREVIEWSworld: Though Pantha has been a part of the Vampirella mythos for many years, she's a lesser known character. What are you doing to make Pantha stand out on her own? What hook does Pantha have for today's readers? What niche does she fill in today's marketplace?
Dynamite Entertainment: We feel that Pantha is actually a strong character. There has been many times where a character that may have been a lesser known quantity could be brought to the forefront with the right creative team on board. We feel we’ve done that. Our series delves into Pantha’s past, yet has it grounded in the present. It plays off of similar themes we’re exploring in the Vampirella books. She is very self-assured, and we believe that we have the right writer and artist on the book to help her stand out in the marketplace. The niche that she will fill is one that Dynamite has worked on time and time again: to have a strong female character stand on her own.
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PREVIEWSworld: Vampirella and Pantha will be central characters in Dynamite's Prophecy crossover this summer. What can you tell us about the project?
Dynamite Entertainment: We’ve been talking about doing a crossover for a long time. With the Mayan prophecy of 2012 on the minds of everyone the world over, we thought this would be the ideal time, as no one else has tackled it, and it’ll be our first earth-shattering series of this magnitude. We discussed this internally and it was always about finding the right writer. Ron Marz is that person.
PREVIEWSworld: Will readers need to be familiar with the characters to "get" the story? Or can readers jump right in and, hopefully, come away from the series jazzed for the solo adventures of Vampirella and Pantha in their own books?
Dynamite Entertainment: Ron Marz has been doing crossovers for years, and he knows how to weave a tapestry for a crossover where fans will ease into the story right away. What he’ll do is very similar to the way X-Men: First Class allowed you to be introduced to the characters so you didn’t need to know all of the background. I believe this series will excite new fans to try Vampirella and Pantha.
PREVIEWSworld: You have Jennifer Blood, Pantha, and Vampirella in your roster of heroes/anti-heroes. Do you think this line-up of characters lends itself to a future crossover?
Dynamite Entertainment: Yes. We want to explore organic storytelling and crossovers as best we can! We’ve been fortunate that a good deal of these characters lend themselves to intermingling.
PREVIEWSworld: What can you tell us about future plans for Pantha in the Dynamite universe?
Dynamite Entertainment: Her series stands apart, but as you’ll see from where Brandon Jerwa takes over the main Vampi title (issue #21) that Pantha, Vampi, and the pantheon of their friends and enemies will be intermingling in a most cosmic and scary sense. Let me also add that we’re in talks with a few people including a show runner in Hollywood about doing such stuff on the big screen. Like anything else in Hollywood, anything worth doing takes time. And so, going with that, time will tell.
Pantha #1 (APR120996, $3.99) is scheduled to hit stores June 6th.
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| Pantha goes up against Mamba in issue #3 hitting stores in August. |
