In this interview, we discuss ‘Who Are The Power Pals?’ with author Duane Murray. The brilliant, 4-issue buddy comedy comic follows washed-up superhero actors, Alex Green and Derek Summers, who’re desperate to jump back on the Hollywood train.
In our hugely positive 4-star review of Who Are The Power Pals, we praised the comic’s comedic beats and strong titular duo. Published by Dark Horse Comics, the 4-issue series is one that you should most definitely keep your eye on.
Written by Duane Murray with art from Ahmed Raafat, the comic follows inseparable friends and unfortunate actors Alex Green and Derek Summers, better known as their on-screen superhero counterparts Buzzard and Swallow. However, their extremely brief 1990s TV run with Power Pals went down like a damp squib; it was cancelled after just 3 episodes. But that small taste of fame left them desperate for more, and the middle-aged duo have been ardently trying to get back on the Hollywood train ever since.
Check out the live-action trailer:
Check out our interview with writer Duane Murray below!
To start, tell our readers a little about Who Are The Power Pals? — What’s the comic about, in your own words?
I know I’m supposed to be able to describe this in a sentence or two, but I suck at it with this one for some reason, so… Plot wise, it’s about two, failed, middle-aged actors who try to reclaim their brief brush with fame by dressing up in their old, ill-fitting costumes of the characters they played in a quickly cancelled superhero TV show as teenagers in the 90’s, by filming themselves fighting small-time crime to post on the internet. In doing so, they end up disrupting the plans of a crime boss who now wants them dead.
So it has a bit of early 2000’s buddy comedy feel to it, like Pineapple Express, or Step Brothers. And then thematically, it’s about the cost of wanting and having ‘fame’, including what the quest for it can do to friendship.
What inspired you to tell this story? Are there any specific comics, movies, and shows that inspired you?
So the story for this has evolved through several versions, and years. It started pre-MCU. And it came to me, I think, because I was an actor, who loved the weird obscure and minimal offerings we comic fans got on TV in the mid 80’s to early 2000’s. The Greatest American Hero, that weird Generation X TV movie, or Nightman. And I was developing different versions of the story with my best friend, while also having a lot of ‘almosts’ as an actor. All that combined into the story that came to be in this comic.
Influence wise. It is very influenced by mid-2000 buddy comedies. Pineapple Express, Step Brothers, I Love You Man… and then comic wise, I decided on the tone and general visuals after reading 4 Kids Walk Into a Bank. That comic was a game changer for me. The tone, the ability to do comedy in comics by using high panel count pages, and wordless panels. That one was the biggest influence on this one comic wise.
The story explores fame, failure, and friendship. What drew you to these themes?
Probably my ‘failure’ as an actor? Ha! I am half-joking, but as an actor my whole life, I’ve worked along side, and with some very famous actors, and I have had brief brushes with almost getting parts that could have changed my life that I didn’t end up getting. And as a writer with my best friend, we had the same experience in pitching movies and TV shows. And then in chasing those ‘almosts’ with my best friend, it would lead to certain dynamics that would put pressure on our friendship. All these real life experiences are smooshed into there, but hopefully done in a very fun way.
The two main heroes, Derek and Alex, are former actors from a ’90s TV show. How did you develop these characters, and what aspects of their personalities do you find most compelling?
Ooof. This is a long and hard answer, because it happened over the course of over a decade. Sometimes, I am sure, subconsciously. So, there have been a couple incarnations of these characters. Starting with more of a Batman/Robin Adam West/Burt Ward dynamic both in relationship (hero/sidekick), and age (middle aged/senior citizen), and eventually settling into where the characters are now.
The biggest challenge I had was making sure their personalities were distinct from each other, as I sometimes found myself writing them kind of the same at times. I had to make sure to keep their motivations (apologies for the actor speak) separate. So although their goal is the same (fight crime) their reasons for doing so are different. Derek is doing it for fame (external satisfaction). Alex is doing it because it feels good to do the right thing (internal). And this in turn shapes their personalities. And then obviously I lean on classic ‘buddy team’ archetypes found in duos like Abbot and Costello, Laurel and Hardy, right through to Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill. Maintaining a friendship with enough conflict between them to keep it interesting, and again… hopefully… funny.
How have Derek and Alex changed from their time on TV to where we meet them in the book?
I would say they haven’t changed at all in that time. That’s sort of the point. They are in a state of arrested development when we meet them. What usually makes a good story, in my opinion, is that the change happens to them IN the story. So in the case of Derek and Alex, since Derek is who pushes the hardest for the thing he thinks he wants (fame), he is who we primarily follow throughout.
He needs to go through the story in order to change. Alex meanwhile goes through his change quickly, and in the first issue. Realizing he wants to dedicate his life to helping (saving) people. His early change to Derek’s slow (or refusal to) change, is also what helps provide that much desired conflict.
Tell us about your collaboration with Ahmed Raafat. How much direction did you give him in terms of the look and feel of the characters and world?
Ahmed was only my second collaboration in comics, and so I have very little experience in the different ways different artists like to work. It started from me looking for an artist. Micheal Walsh, a comic creator friend who lives down the street, has a much larger reach than me on social media so he put out a tweet on my behalf looking for an artist. Out of all the people who replied, someone tagged Ahmed, and I fell in love with his stuff. Immediately. I am not even sure I considered anyone else to be honest.
So I reached out to him, pitched him, and we started working together. In terms of direction and things like that, it’s pretty fluid. I am already someone who is not overly consistent in my ‘direction’. Sometimes I’ll give a lot of, or very specific direction. Sometimes I’ll just say something like, ‘make this cool’. My default is that I write the number of panels, and the dialogue I see in those panels, and occasional visual description or reference. But that’s just for me. So I can wrap my head around pacing. But I rarely get into panel size or tons of description… unless I feel like something needs a ton of description.
And then I tell Ahmed, “This is basically what I see. If you see something different, go for it.” And then Ahmed does his thing, and sends it to me, and I generally say ‘great’. I rarely feel the need to ask for changes. Not because Ahmed has drawn it exactly as I’ve described it, or even imagined it, but because it’s his book too. It’s his expression of our book. At that point, I become more of an ‘editor’ and only ask for changes if I feel it ‘doesn’t work’ in terms of story, or emotion. In fact, I’ll often adjust dialogue to fit what Ahmed has done if it strayed from the script, rather than ask him to redraw something to suit what I wrote originally.
He’s the artist. Not me. He knows better than me. It’s only when I can’t make the dialogue work, or I feel I have to change so much that it loses story, that I ask for a redraw. Otherwise, my notes are generally minor. It helps that I love Ahmed’s work, and I’m giddy when he sends me pages. In terms of characters, because I had been developing different stories, and even shot a live action teaser trailer for the characters so the basic characters, and even costumes were already established before I even came to Ahmed. But, once we started the comic, Ahmed developed their looks further to separate them more from the actors in the teaser visually, and then also developed the visuals of the rest of the main characters with me through discussion, and trial and error.
You tell the series over 4 issues. Did you know how the story would end from the outset, or did it evolve?
I always had the general idea for the ending in mind. Meaning, I knew what the characters had to do in terms of the theme, but the details of that changed several times. It even changed once the series was already being drawn. And though the story ends, and ends in a way I think is satisfying and complete, there is opportunity for more.
What’s next for you after this project?
In this industry, as well as the film/TV industry, I don’t always know what’s next. Sometimes I do, but it’s rare. And I am always working on things, but don’t always know their fate. So I am currently writing a graphic novel with artist Scott Brian Woods that I am just starting to potentially pitch. I also wrote a children’s book that is in the hands of Better Place artist Shawn Daley, and I am in early stages of a few other stories.
Another graphic novel, an ongoing comic, and I’m taking a crack at a YA urban fantasy novel. I go where the inspiration pulls me, until someone tells me, ‘Yeah, we want to publish that’, and then I turn my entire attention to whatever that thing is.
We thank Duane Murray for his time. You can find Who Are The Power Pals on Amazon here.
