Imagine you’re a courier of important and exotic goods. I’m not talking rare animals here, I’m talking top secret merchandise, illegal goods, and generally things the public wouldn’t know about unless WikiLeaks told you. You’ve been hired to deliver a package from Boston to Miami – 1500 miles down the Atlantic Coast – and the only thing standing in your way is the government, private mercenaries and some street gangs. A fast car can help, but you might need something more. It might help that you’re a direct descendant of Paul Revere.
That’s the story in the comic book series R.P.M., which launched as a four-issue series in November. R.P.M. comes from the mind of popular pro wrestler – and frequent comic convention guest – Mic Foley and his writing partner Shane Riches. In a Newsarama interview earlier in the year with Foley, he expressed a long-time desire to write comics – going all the way back to a visit to John Buscema’s house as a child. With R.P.M. #1 on the stands and two in the wings, we turned to co-writer Shane Riches and artist Jose Holder to find out more about this fast-paced series.
Newsarama: How did the ideas that became R.P.M. develop between you and Mick, Shane?Shane Riches: We batted around several concepts that would appeal to fans of Mick’s hardcore reputation and unique sense of a humor. Ultimately we pursued a story with a lead, Revere Windsor, who is a courier for hire. Mick’s a huge history buff and we both love Boston so we made him a descendant of Paul Revere on his own action-filled midnight ride.
Nrama: How would you describe the lead character, Revere Windsor?
Riches: Revere is one part Die Hard’s John McClane as an individual against extraordinary odds and one part Green Lantern or Daredevil in the sense of his fearless attitude. He carries around a lot of baggage that he’d rather just ignore and drive past -- this tremendous historical legacy to live up to but he’s sort of lost his way when we meet him. His special ability, hyper-kinetic depth perception, is a blessing and a curse. It allows him to see and react to the world faster than anyone, but he gets caught up in the risk and playing the odds with little care of the consequences. His journey forces him to see the world around him again.
Jose Holder: As far as the whole Paul Revere mythos goes, I have to admit as a Canuck that I had some American history to catch up on. Once I was able to absorb the incredible back-story to Revere’s predecessor it became an easier task to conceptualize the character. Our Revere is a hard-edged, adrenaline junky with a mysterious past. Courageous under fire, and armed with a hellish wit and brawny exterior, he’s perfectly poised to lead a life danger and intrigue. There was an intensely collaborative process defining Revere’s look. His visual transformation ran the gamut from street vagabond to high tech adventurer. In the end we opted for a simpler streamlined persona for the book.
(Get the rest of the story, along with never-before-seen art, by clicking the title link at the top of this story)
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