A few months ago, we announced that Vault Comic had acquired the licensing rights to Kid Maroon. Kid Maroon, created and drawn by the infamous Pep Shepard, is perhaps the greatest underground comic book character of all time.
Or is it him?
Because, thanks to some deep research and mostly legal interrogation methods, it turns out that “The World’s Only Hard-Boiled Boy Detective” is actually a modern comic creation by the team of Christopher Cantwell and Victor Santos. Because I “discovered” The series depicts Kid Maroon battling the dual horrors of vice and corruption as he grows up in the mean streets of Crimeville, only to discover that the culprit is the culprit behind one of the biggest villains in recent history. That’s true.
Or is it?
Because we could just be Pep Shepard’s critics. Or maybe we somehow have access to an alternate world where Kid Maroon is actually a modern cartoon. Maybe this is all just some giant ploy to comment on our post-truth existence and the subjective nature of reality?! In any case, Cantwell is only about Kid Maroon Instead, I have a lot to say about this book’s strange “creators,” meta-writing, and self-awareness. There, our great detectives land on the ‘boy hero spectrum’, write for their own children, and other thoughtful topics and trivia. No matter where this book was published or by whom it was published, Kid Maroon is pulp at its best and a testament to the power of truly vivid storytelling.
Kid Maroon #1 is scheduled for release on November 6th (FOC Monday, October 7th).
Or…
Variant cover of “Helmer Cahoon Manga”. Courtesy of Vault Comics.
AIPT: Where did the idea for Kid Maroon and the “involved” backstory come from? Was this a meta reaction to comic book publishing, marketing campaigns, etc.?
Christopher Cantwell: When I was a kid, I watched an episode of Unsolved Mysteries (I think it was the 1989 season) that explored the mysterious disappearance of cartoonist Pep Shepard.
That said…Kid Maroon is a character that has been in my heart as a writer for 20 years. When I just graduated from college, I lived in a studio apartment in the Melrose suburb of Los Angeles. I had very little money. I remember crying because it took less than eight minutes to wash my clothes in the building’s washing machine. But I’m still writing, and if anything, sometimes I try to recapture the raw…whatever…of what I was doing at the time. The first thing I wrote in Kid Maroon’s voice was a letter in response to my parents, telling me I regret divorcing them after the events involving my younger partner, Billy Beans, and my nemesis, Hodge Hoskins. Ta.
I actually wrote a novel in 2006 about Kidd, Billy, Hodge, and an older woman named Willoughby who Kidd had a crush on. By that time I was living in Venice Beach, collecting unemployment benefits with a mattress on the floor. But it’s been sitting there until now. But crystallization existed from the beginning. The novel was unpublished, but a company in New York asked me to turn it into a YA version. It was missing the whole idea of what I was writing. So I didn’t and languished as an unknown writer for another six years.
AIPT: Similarly, did you have as much fun dreaming up the story around Pep Shepard as a story/series?
CC: I feel like this question is an insult to Pep Shepard and his legacy. But I’ll spoil you here. Who among us in the deepest depths of the manga-loving ocean doesn’t reflect on the struggles of our greatest heroes? Wally Wood’s apartment still stands in Van Nuys, where he died. Jack Cole. Other immense hardships of working in this medium. It confuses the mind and hurts the heart.
Courtesy of Vault Comics.
AIPT: Who is Pep Shepard really an amalgamation of, or a stand-in for? And what impact did that rather sordid backstory have in terms of translating into the actual Kid Maroon story?
CC: Hey there, friends. Pep Shepherd lives in all of us. And just like Pep, Kidd wants the world to see him for who he is.
AIPT: As you were writing this, were you thinking of the Jack Kirbys and Bill Fingers of the world, people who were loved but were sacrificed to some degree by the industry?
CC: Of course it was. By the way, this industry still hurts people horribly on a daily basis to this day. I’m on a text thread with some of them and they’re good friends.
AIPT: I love your very self-aware perspective. This is the first decent book I’ve seen that’s like, “Why is this kid solving crimes?” and still tells a really fun story. Can you eat it while critically dissecting it?
CC: Yes, you can. It’s just a matter of whether there are people who like to read it. However, this isn’t just a criticism, it just adds a little more realism and stakes to the child detective convention. The story itself and its conceit, enhanced by the art, are entirely sincere. Why do we let our children grow up so quickly? And most situations in adult life, no matter how mundane, can make you want to hide under the bed from time to time.
Courtesy of Vault Comics.
AIPT: Where does Kid Maroon fit on the spectrum of great adventurous youth? Is he closer to Jonny Quest or Bruno the Kid?
CC: No, I think he’s more like the kids in the movie “Stand by Me.” Or The Goonies. But he could also go toe-to-toe with Dick Tracy and The Shadow.
AIPT: What was it like working with Victor Santos? He has a very vibrant, very pulpy style in books like Polar.
CC: Victor has amazing layouts. This work is almost on a “collage” level, but visually presented in a completely readable and logical manner. It strengthens the story. It flows somewhat better than just layering panels. And he brought a true Eisner-like quality to this. Victor loves comics just like me. This is a book for people who love comics and their origins.
AIPT: As a big fan of your other works, how do you connect this to something like “Briar” or “The Blue Flame”? Do you think there’s any deeper meaning to the heroes you’ve chosen? Do you have it?
CC: Well, please tell me. Briar is a teenage boy who was arrested and is over 100 years old. She is afraid of the current world, but brave enough to face it. In Blue Flame, Sam Browsham lives amidst and confronts the horrors of the modern world. All of these characters have a certain naivety and lack of malice. It allows them to look heroic, but it can also get them into big trouble.
AIPT: Have you learned anything about writing comics that are clearly influenced by older titles and storytelling approaches? Do older stories still work? Are our collective tastes that different?
CC: This book is probably written as a memory of an old book, a perfect memory. Listen, I have a great collection of old comics, Bill Everett and Carl Burgos omnibuses. Do you read it from cover to cover? No, but I’m a bit put off by it. I stare at the page and the drama. Sometimes, there may be a panel or sequence that sticks with you forever, like what McCraboy did in Captain Marvel, Jr.
Courtesy of Vault Comics.
AIPT: I think it’s worth mentioning this whole approach/campaign happening in the post-truth (terrible) era. Do you think you have any use for it? That history/truth can be anything we write?
CC: In Blue Flames, the main character says that we are tired of stories. And in a sense, so are we. I’m not saying the story is bad. But we use stories to process and order events in our lives. These are chaotic times. It is not surprising, at least on a psychological level, that as people try to understand the world around them, more and more fictions and lies are superimposed on them. I would probably say this. Stories born out of fear of self-preservation can really hurt others and ourselves. Stories created to open our eyes to the truth of what is happening externally and internally likely have more lasting merit and impact. Pep Shepard would agree with me.
AIPT: I would like to touch on the meta aspect more. A rapid increase has been seen in the last few years. What is the end goal for achieving this kind of internal baseball level understanding? Is there a fear of getting too deep into this hole and getting distracted from the good story?
CC: I think it’s insensitive to bring up baseball since Pep Shepard’s own brother died after being hit by a pitch in the head. And what are the parameters for enjoying a good story? What do I have to be sure of? What are the rules, where are they published, and where can I get a copy? I think at the end of the day, readers, viewers, listeners just need to trust the artist. Note that I didn’t say trust. Faith is believing something that is not true. Just because you liked (or hated) the last comic or movie doesn’t mean you won’t like the next one. Being involved in art is an act of faith. I don’t mean it in a religious sense. It’s like, “I don’t know what’s going to happen in the future, but I’m fastening my seatbelt because I want to ride.”
Courtesy of Vault Comics.
AIPT: I understand you have some sons, do you think this is writing something they might like? Or perhaps related to this, is this your own reading as a child? Does it have something to do with habits?
CC: I have three children and they are all very different from each other and me. Even 6th graders can’t read this yet. Maybe someday. These books are probably in a box at my house and will have to be put away when I die. Maybe he will read it, maybe he won’t. As a kid, I used to devour the most random things. But what I loved, I loved. As a result, I feel less lonely. I don’t know if that was the intention behind a lot of it. Maybe it was. But in this story, Kidd feels alone. And he doesn’t. I felt lonely a lot, even though I wasn’t alone. I don’t want my children to feel lonely. I don’t want anyone to feel alone.
AIPT: Similarly, is this a commentary on the hellish challenges of being an adult in 2024 and how hard it is to be a kid these days?
CC: When I was a kid, it was always next to impossible. It’s just that the situation specifically changes. I just want to be a kid even when I grow up, and that’s both easy and difficult. Living is even more difficult than being a child or an adult. Maybe this story is about that. I don’t know.
AIPT: Are there any plans to tell more stories with or for Shepard or Kidd?
CC: Maybe I’ll get into Pep Shepard someday. That interests me more. Kid’s story concludes with this book. It’s contained so I’m happy to leave him here. Until I read the second volume and decided to take him to space.
AIPT: Is there anything else you would like to add about Kid Maroon, Shepard, comics, life, etc.?
CC: Comics and life are both fun. It’s difficult, impossible, brutal, unflinching, miserable, and yet fun. I look forward to your continued support of this hard, impossible, cruel, unflinchingly tragic and entertaining manga.
