The Steel Ring - Rise of the Centaur Universe

Today it gives me great pleasure to present this interview with comics and novel writer R. A. Jones. Some of you may remember him as the writer on many Marvel and DC comics. Others may remember his public domain inspired series from Malibu, The Protectors.

 What prompted this interview is that I discovered RA has written a prose superhero novel called The Steel Ring which features many of the Centaur Universe superheroes. (The Clock, Amazing Man, The Ferret, The Eye, The Blue Lady, ect…)

 Being a fan of public domain heroes, I eagerly devoured the book. Afterwards, I found myself curious about a couple of things, so I reached out to RA for an interview. He graciously accepted my offer and here’s what he said:

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Jim: The Steel Ring is set during World War II which sets it apart from many modern superhero prose novels in a nice way. How did you happen to take that approach?

RA: Credit for the story in The Steel Ring being set in the time of World War II in large part should go to editor Jeff Deischer of Westerntainment, the company that published the novel. Jeff had been a fan of the work I did using the old Centaur characters in the Protectors comic book series I wrote back in the 1990s.  He contacted me a couple years ago and asked if I would consider re-visiting the Centaur heroes used in that series, only this time in the form of a prose novel.  His only other request was that I consider setting any such story during the time period when the Centaur comics had originally been released: the late 1930s, early 1940s.

The more I thought of it, the more excited and interested I became at the prospect and challenge such a book would present, and accepted Jeff’s generous offer to work with him. Deciding early on to tie the plot of the story into actual events of the time, it became evident that the biggest event of 1939 was clearly the start of WW II, when Germany invaded Poland.
From there, I was off to the races!

Jim: Of the characters involved in the story: Amazing Man, The Witch, Man of War, The Fantom of the Fair, The Clock, The Ferret, Iron Skull and The Eye, who did you enjoy writing about the most?

Amazing Man, Man of War, The Clock

RA: All of the Centaur characters hold their own appeal to me, but naturally I do have my favorites.  Ferret was probably the most fun for me to write in the comics, and he’s just as enjoyable in the novels. Fantom (that character’s original name: we called him “Gravestone” in Protectors) has also proven to be an intriguing character for me; as has the Witch. And I’m actually enjoying using Amazing Man even more than I did in the Protectors.

Jim: I also remember you wrote about many of the same characters in Malibu's Protectors from the 90's. What is it about the Centaur heroes that you find so attractive?

RA: As you mention, I used all these same characters when I was writing the Protectors comic book series back in the 1990s. But The Steel Ring is not just a rehash or continuation of those stories, and not just because it is set in a different time period. Westerntainment has graciously allowed me to essentially make this a total reboot of the Centaur heroes and their universe.

As I described it to Jeff: You can essentially consider the original Golden Age comics and stories to represent Centaur’s “Earth-1.” The version I wrote in the ‘90s could be thought of as Centaur’s “Earth-2.” And the stories I plan to tell now, in an entire series of novels, can be thought of as Centaur’s “Earth-3.”  It is similar in many ways to the first two versions, but significantly different in other ways.

As was common in the Golden Age, some of the Centaur heroes never had what we would consider to be real “origin stories.”  I’m giving them one now (or expanding and embellishing those origin stories that did originally appear in the comics).  With the help of my old friend Tom Derenick (the first artist on the Protectors comic book series), I have even redesigned the visual look of the heroes.

My hope is to stay true to the spirit of the originals and never disrespect them or their original creators – but otherwise to produce a new Centaur universe that could be said to be more truly and fully “mine.”

It may surprise you to learn that, until I began my preliminary work on the Protectors – I had never even heard of Centaur or its heroes! The editors at Malibu Comics had somehow gotten word of this stable of old heroes and the fact that they had been allowed to lapse out of copyright and into public domain, and decided they would serve as an excellent vehicle to launch Malibu’s first full-color superhero title.

I was flattered and grateful that they believed I was the freelancer on their roster who would be best suited to write such a series. Initially, all my knowledge of the Centaur heroes came from a sort of essay comics historian Ron Goulart had written. Additional assistance came from my old pal, writer Michael Vance.  He had donated a collection of Golden Age comics on microfiche to one of our local universities; among them were reproductions of a few Centaur comics.

It was actually in one of these that I discovered the Ferret character (he had not been mentioned in Goulart’s overview).  Anyone who has ever read one of the original Ferret stories will realize just how much I changed him for the new version.  In fact, Malibu initially thought I had created Ferret just for our series (as I did for most of the female characters who appeared in that book). And I also actually know more about Centaur’s Golden Age characters now (Thanks, Internet) than I did when I was writing the Protectors!

Part of what makes them attractive to me is the raw energy they possessed, shared in common with many of the Golden Age comic book heroes who took their cue from the pulp characters of the time but then moved off in directions unique to them.

I hope to capture that same “primitive” appeal, while presenting it in a form and style that will be attractive to a 21st century audience.


Jim: Do you plan on writing a sequel to The Steel Ring? If so, might we see some other characters from the Centaur universe?

RA: I have indeed written a sequel.  It is entitled The Twilight War.  It is now in the final editing stages.  Tom Derenick has kindly agreed to again supply us with cover art (as he did for Steel Ring), so we hope to have the book ready for release by early Fall of this year.

In Twilight War, we have moved forward in time to 1940; a great deal of the action revolves around the pivotal Battle of Dunkirk. Several heroes I used in the Protectors, but who did not play a role in the previous novel, now make their first appearance in this “new” universe I’m creating: Airman, the Arrow and Prince Zardi, the Eternal Man. This book also introduces my version of a Centaur hero who never appeared in the Protectors series: Phantom Princess.

 Also for the first time in this book, I make use of a couple of Centaur super-villains. I’ve had so much fun working on these two books that, Westerntainment willing and I live so long, I hope to write several more sequels that will not only carry our heroes through the entire length of World War II but also continue to (re)introduce additional Centaur heroes and villains along the way!


Jim: Are there any other projects you have in the works you can tell us about?

RA: For the last several years, most of my writing has been done in the form of prose novels.
As mentioned above, I’ve just wrapped up Twilight War, the sequel to The Steel Ring.
Like most of my novels, those who are interested can find them for sale on Amazon and, in some cases, Kindle.

Among the novels I’ve done are three that I co-wrote with Michael Vance (with whom I also collaborated on the 1980s comic book series Straw Men): The Equation, a modern day suspense thriller; Global Star, a sort of sci-fi parody of tabloid journalism; and Motor City Manhunt, a 1930s crime drama due out later this year from Airship 27.

Also for Airship 27, I wrote the solo novels Deathwalker, which is a bit in the vein of Robert E. Howard’s sword-and-sorcery writings – but featuring a hero who is a Cheyenne Indian in the days before Europeans came to America; and Gun Glory, the story of a bounty hunter in the Old West.

I am currently well into writing Comanche Blood, a sequel to the above-mentioned Gun Glory.
Nor have I given up on attempting to contribute to the comic book field.  Tom Derenick (who not only drew Protectors but also the Wolverine & Capt. America mini-series I wrote for Marvel) and I are currently shopping around a proposal for a new, original comics series.

Jim: As a writer with experience working at Marvel, DC and many independent publishers, who did you enjoy working with the most?

RA: As you say, I’ve been fortunate enough to do at least a little work for several of the major comics publishers of my day: Marvel, DC, Dark Horse, Image and Malibu. As with all companies, in all fields of endeavor, there is an upside and a downside to working for just about anybody.  In general, though, my experiences have been pretty good. But without a doubt I enjoyed my best (and longest) association with Malibu Comics.

It was very fulfilling creatively, because they allowed me to tackle such a diverse spectrum of genres: superheroes, sci-fi, fantasy, adult-oriented, manga-inspired, Westerns, pulp adventure.  I loved being able to jump back and forth from one type of storytelling to another. And I also enjoyed a great personal relationship with them.  Besides showing appreciation for my work, they made me feel like I was part of the “family.”  All of them – from publisher Scott Rosenberg to Dave Olbrich, Tom Mason, Chris Ulm, Dan Danko, Mickie Villa, Roland Mann and others – treated me not just as an employee but as a friend. And the feeling was definitely reciprocated. And still is: to this day I try to maintain contact with some of the old gang – both staffers and freelancers with whom I worked!
I still consider them all to be friends.


Jim: Do you have any thoughts about the current comics scene?

RA: Whether they like me as a person or as a writer, I don’t think anyone who knows me at all would deny that I possess a true love for the comic book art form. I have been deeply involved in comic books – first as a fan, then as a commentator, editor, writer and retailer – for 50 years!

I still love the medium and try to keep up with what’s going on in the field: including visiting one of the local comics shops virtually every week and reading several different titles each month.
While I’m delighted to see so many comics-inspired movies appearing and doing so well at the box-office (I know I never miss one!), I really wish the actual books themselves could regain the strong sales they once enjoyed.

One of the things I check out each month in the Diamond Distributors ordering catalog is their listing of the Top 100 selling titles. If the market was truly strong, the Top 10 would be composed of whatever the current issues were of the various regular monthly titles (Batman, X-Men, etc).
All too often in recent years, though, that Top 10 is actually heavily dominated by the current “Big Event” book and its spin-offs.

Remember the Fear Itself event?

I’m not wise enough to know how it could be accomplished, but I wish that consistent and strong sales could be achieved without the need for such nearly continuous “blockbusters” – for fear that if the buying public ever tires of them, they’ll stop buying comics all together.

That’ll never happen to me, though – I’ll remain a supportive fan of comics till the end!


In closing, let me just say thanks, Jim – for showing an interest in my work and me.
I hope some of your followers will check out some of that work and that they enjoy reading it as much as I’ve enjoyed writing it.


Jim: Thank you RA for that fantastic interview!

The Clock Strikes - Part 2

Today we present Part 2 of Caines Adventures of the Golden Age hero The Clock! You can read part one here.

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When the clock inside the Brunswick Towers struck 10:00 a white cloaked figure entered through the front doors. Locking them, the woman moved to the desk. Lifting up the security guard's head a quick inspection was performed to ensure man was unconscious. Once satisfied, the new visitor dropped the guards head back down on the desk with a soft ka-plunk.

As the guards head plunked down on the front desk, the woman removed the key ring from his belt. Within a few seconds she had indentified the elevator access key, called an elevator and was traveling up to the top of the building.

As the elevator rumbled up to the penthouse, the woman unlocked the access hatch at the top of the elevator car and launched up through it with the grace of a world class gymnast. Quickly, as the car was nearing the end of its journey, she produced a small container and squirted the control box of the elevator car. For a minute or more nothing happened.

Hoping her calculations were correct, she held her breath as the elevator continued to travel towards the top of the shaft. If she had miscalculated, she knew she would be crushed flat by the roof of the building. As the hard steel outcroppings loomed ever nearer, the elevator control box began to spark and smoke. Slowly the car ground to a silent stop six inches below elevator doors that led to the penthouse floor.

"Perfect." The woman stated in a nearly inaudible voice. Removing tools from beneath the cloak, the woman pried the elevator door shaft doors open and entered the penthouse suite. Moving with firsthand knowledge of the layout the woman passed by the display case that was built to display the Onyx Amulet, currently empty, and exposed the safe sunk into the hard floor and covered only by an expensive rug.

The Clock, who stood silently in the shadows, noticed that the woman didn't even attempt to bypass the safe's security. The figure kneeling over the safe knew the combination. With a creek of the hinge the safe was open. As the woman reached into it, The Clock flipped on the lights with a hiss catching the mysteriously cloaked woman by surprise.

"Given time, all things are revealed." The Cloak shouted - his cane and .45 at the ready. He lunged into action from the now nonexistent shadows. Caught off guard, the mysterious woman rolled backwards, retreating behind the heavy safe's door, now standing upright from the floor. A moment later the woman peeked out from behind her cover as she threw three matte black objects that sliced the air on their way to The Clock. The Clock stabbed his cane between the heavy oak floor panels and used the safe door to alter his trajectory in a downward direction firing two shots from the big .45 as he hit the floor.

"KROONG, KROONG,"

From the concussive force of the shots the big heavy safe door crashed to the floor. The Clock spun around, removing his cane from the floor, and getting a fix on his adversary, found her lunging through the air boot first. Deflecting with his left forearm he punched at her with his right, only to have the woman grapple his right arm with hers and pull him so hard that she was able to flip his mass over her and on to the floor. Hard.
"Unfortunately time only flows in one direction." The woman stated politely with a smile.

The Clock couldn't help but notice her incredible beauty as she removed the hood covering her head just long enough to unclasp the Onyx Amulet and slip it around her neck. Immediately her jade green eyes went black as she spun and left the room with a speed The Clock had never seen.

"Wait!" The Clock shouted, getting to his feet.

He marked her entering the stairwell and was there before the big door had a chance to close half way. Taking the stairs two at a time The Clock caught site of most of the woman as she made the next landing around the next set of stairs. As The Clock reached that very landing he saw even less of the woman as she rounded yet another set of stairs. Again, at the bottom The Clock saw little more than moving shadows. It would seem that time was no longer on his side.

At the bottom of the fourth landing The Clock leaped out into the hollow area between the stair cases and dropped to the sub basement into a rolling fall. Righted, with his .45 out, fired two more times toward his target, which was now little more than a blur in the darkness.

"Eeiiyyee!" The woman screamed as she crashed into the staircase's cement wall. The Clock ran over the sound and found the woman sitting on the floor holding her shoulder. He extended a hand to help her up, only to have her knee him in the face. Bounding back The Clock deflected another kick and three quick punches.

Before The Clock could strategize further the woman attacked again. Leading with a round house, He ducked back into the stairwell and then shoved her off balance. The woman used the momentum to push off the wall and swing back around with a back fist that The Clock caught with his big gloved fist.

From under her cloak, the woman whipped out an angled dagger and sliced at The Clock. He brought up his cane, parried and with the flick of his wrist smashed the bulbous head of the cane on her slicing hand. Stepping back the woman jabbed at his neck. The Clock took a step back and she cart wheeled backwards to the staircase railing. Leaping up on the railing, she waved at The Clock.

"Time's up," The woman spoke softly and jumped off the railing as if a pool of water awaited her at the bottom. The Clock ran over the rail and looked over. He expected to see the woman lying dead on the floor, but instead she was waving at him. He stared in disbelief. Apparently, the rumors of the strength-giving Onyx Amulet were true. No normal person could have survived such a fall.

"That's my line!" The Clock grumbled, collecting his pistol and cane, he began taking the stairs two at a time again in hopes of catching up to her.

By the time he reached the street, he saw the angelic woman reach a white sedan, its front passenger door hanging open. The Clock scanned for an accomplice. Finding none he turned his attention to the injured woman and her getaway car. She climbed behind the wheel and the car's ignition rumbled to life as the woman reached over and pulled the passenger door shut before blasting off like a rocket leaving two rubber trails on the street behind her.

The Clock ran out into the street, gun hand extended, he hoped the Onyx Amulet's effects didn't extend so far from the wearer that the sedan was in its range and he'd know in a second. Taking a knee he watched as the woman turned the car east, which brought it's drivers side directly in The Clock's line of sight as she skidded through the turn. Reaching deep, to secret knowledge that Brian O'Brien had discovered in his Naval tour in the Orient, The Clock grasped time itself and held on to it for a mere second as he fired the .45 two more times.

The Clock heard the sedan screech to a halt and crash. Catching up to it he found the woman, thrown clear, unconscious a few feet from the sedan which had impacted with Baron's department store. A few inches from the woman lay the Onyx Amulet, much more powerful than even he understood before tonight.

A few blocks away the Justice building's big clocked chimed that it was midnight.

The Clock Strikes! - Chapter 1

Editor's Note: Today we present the first of a two part pulp story written by Caine Dorr and featuring The Golden Age Hero - The Clock. Hope you enjoy it!

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Chapter 1 - The Clock Strikes!
Mark Stash leaned against the guard station located in the lobby of the Brunswick Tower.  Just finishing his nine o'clock rounds, and finding nothing out of the ordinary, he pulled out a bottle from his desk drawer and poured two fingers of bourbon into a glass.

"It's just you and me tonight Jimmy boy." Stash saluted the glass of amber liquid and took a large swig.

On the desk sat a clipboard with his rounds check sheet and notes from the clients that resided in the tower.  While some evenings there would be building business to observe, like construction or moving, tonight he literally had nothing to do but walk around the building and talk to himself. 

He hated his job and wished he liked reading a bit better - at least then he could bring a good book with him.  Picking up his glass Stash finished the amber liquid inside and began to pour another when...

“VRANG, VRANG, VRANG”

...Stash fell out of his chair and smashed his head on the marble floor.  Sitting up he could see, high up on the wall nearly to the ceiling, the huge clock mounted to the wall struck 09:10 and it was chiming!  In all his time at Brunswick, it had never chimed before.

“What the hell?” Stash rubbed his head, grabbed his flashlight and dashed up the stairs trying to ignore the splitting ache that invaded the back of his skull.

Ordinary people off the street couldn't get up past the thick security door that laid in waiting at the top of the third stairwell.  Access to the higher floors required use of the lift, which was of coursed manned by an operator every day. 

Stash fumbled with the huge ring on his belt, sorting through the dozens of keys, as he frantically tried to get the elevator door open.  Sparing a second for a quick glance up Stash noticed something. The big clock had stopped chiming just as suddenly as it had started.

“I aint putt'n this in my report.” Stash grumbled.

Turning around he headed back down the stairs to his bottle of Jim Beam when the very shadows seemed to move around him. From the other side of the landing, he heard a rumbling sound.

“The Clock strikes.” A rough voice cut through the air.

“Who's there”" Stash clicked on his flashlight and splashed light on the opposite wall.

Out of nowhere a thick arm flew out and a glove covered fist smashed Stash in the jaw.  From the floor, with the flashlight rolling back and forth, Stash saw a menacing figure in a suit standing over him in the dancing light.  It was a tall, broad shouldered man wearing a suit and fedora, with his face hidden by jet black veil.

During normal hours, Stash would have taken the man to be one of the many faceless businessmen who worked Brunswick Towers. Except that this man radiated strength and confidence in a way those men never could.

With the ease of picking up a babe The Clock lifted Stash by the lapel on his shirt and braced him against the wall just far enough away from the rolling light that it was torturously out of his reach in darkness.

“You’re out of time Stash.” The clock grumbled, the two men face to face in the dark.

“What!?  What!?” Stash pleaded, his breath reeking.

"The amulet, the Onyx Amulet Stash, who did you tell about it?" The Clock tossed stash over a foot and a half and allowed him to drop to the floor in a frump.  At the same time he produced a cane that clacked on the hard floor next to him.

"How did you know about that?" Stash asked in frustration.

The clock swept Stash’s legs out from under him with his cane, and jabbed hard at the floor mere inches from Stash's head.

“Tick, Tock.” The Clock bated.

“Ok, ok.  Just let me get another drink will ya?  I can't think straight with you toss'n me around up here!”  Stash shouted and produced a small pistol from beneath his uniform.  Rolling slightly Stash came up firing.

BLAM! BLAM! BLAM!

With time on his side The Clock dodged out of the way. Spinning his cane he steadied it in his arms like a rifle and fired.  The thick handle launched and struck Stash square in the face knocking the man out. 
Ordinarily gun shots would be a problem but The Clock knew the Brunswick Towers only employed this one guard.  Picking him up The Clock threw Stash over his shoulders and hauled the man back to the guard station.

Placing the unconscious guard in his chair behind the desk The Clock removed the lapel pen from his jacket and sprayed the man in the face with a custom gas he’d discovered while serving in the Navy.  He laid Stash on the desk with his half full glass of Jim Beam.  It would look to anyone else as if the man had drunk too much and passed out on the job.

Quickly, and with an intense focus, The Clock went through the guard’s station.  In his daytime identity of Brian O’Brien, District Attorney, The Clock had discovered that Marcus Stash had been looking to sell security information regarding the Onyx Amulet which was currently only invitation on display upstairs. Rumor had it that someone had paid for the information and was planning on snatching the Amulet tonight.

The Clock found what he was looking for in the form of a dingy notepad with the corners folded in all directions.  Taking a pencil from the drawer he scribbled over the notepad until he nearly covered its page with graphite, holding up to the light he saw the notes that had been last made on it. 

He chuckled at what he found:  Miss Terry - 10:00 PM.  The note was underlined with dollar signs drawn around the words. Apparently, Stash was unaware of the concept of incriminating evidence.

Considering his options, The Clock began putting the elements of his trap into place on the fly.  He moved to the front doors of the Brunswick Towers and unlocked them.  It was unlikely that there would be a different intruder other than Miss Terry and The Clock didn't want her having any troubles getting into the building and finding her contact passed out drunk at his station.

Moving toward the stairs The Clock picked up the round bulbous end of his cane and reconnected it to the hollowed out tip.  Entering the elevator he produced a key to activate it and allowed it to take him to the penthouse.  While in the elevator car The Clock inserted a new gas chamber into the stock of the cane so that it was ready for use again and made a mental note to remove the wiring he'd added to the Brunswick Towers clock so that it would not chime at 9:10 tomorrow evening. 

With only 20 minutes before the mystery guest was scheduled to arrive, he'd need to work fast.

To be continued