B. Lloyd Reese's Blog, page 4

The Phantom Bowman

Perhaps the background post you've all been waiting for. Perhaps not. Especially since this is only like the third blog post on a blog that no one reads, about a book no one has read.
Anyhow.
As with the rest of these blogs, I'll assume you've read the novel "In the Shadows of Myrmidons" and that you got here because you wanted to know more about what you just read. If you randomly found this, please go buy the book!
Alright. Phantom Bowman.
The Phantom Bowman, aka Roberto D'Imperio, owner of Single-Handed Sandwiches. This character was a recent addition to the Reptilian Authority mythos, and in fact, was never part of it originally.
Robbie's origin as a character is something like this. When I was rewriting and reworking what wad originally "Shadows" and wasn't sure if it was a Reptilian Authority story, I had the Snake character becoming a vigilante and taking back his school. Part of this was him using a bow and arrow like Green Arrow or Hawkeye...I mean Robin Hood. (Keep in mind, this was in 2009, BEFORE CW's "Arrow"). I thought it was not reasonable to have a teenage kid just taking up a bow and arrow to fight crime.
He needed a mentor.
Enter the Phantom Bowman. Robbie, the retired Bowman would serve as mentor to Snake. I chose an archer character because at the time, Batman was (i suppose always is) popular, Superman wasn't feasible as a mentor and the coolest street level superhero (besides another unfeasible, Powerman) was Green Arrow. Which made me think of Robin Hood. And really, I didn't want to rip off Green Arrow, I just thought at the time (again, pre-"Arrow" 2009) that an archer was underappreciated. Further, as I've said before, Snake was always meant to use a bow and arrow in the future. So an archer just made sense.
To make the Phantom Bowman differ from from the more well-known archers, I tried a few things, nothing major. I was going to go with Golden Archer, as a pun on McDonald's, but Squadron Supreme had already beat me to that. The color was too bright anyways,  so I opted for a darker gray and black scheme. Which makes more sense than the more colorful options, especially in an urban environment.
The intended darker color scheme made me think of ghostly things, which reminded me of the word phantom, and from there a plot point in Edgar Rice Burroughs' "Thuvia, Maid of Mars" where there are an army of ghostly archers called "phantom bowmen of Lothar". Despite the obviously occult origin of those Martians, the name is cool and sounds like something a young vigilante (and probable Burroughs fan) would take as a crime fighting pseudonym.
After Robbie's forced retirement(s) from superheroics, he does his best to let things go and live a normal life as a small business owner in the neighborhood he once defended. Though his basement setup and eagerness to take Snake as an apprentice make it obvious he never gave it up fully, but was only biding his time.
Rest assured, Book 2 will answer some questions and hopefully show the elder Bowman in action.
 

Moped Mob - Stranger Than Fiction

In developing the story for "Myrmidons" I had to come up with various gangs to serve as threats. Most of them were "scenery" for lack of a better word. Most of the original gangs that Nick had devised in the 90s were forgotten, save for the Vendors and the Stockboys. In real life, gangs, for the most part, are not a laughing matter. "The Cross and the Switchblade", "Run Baby Run" and numerous articles clearly demonstrate that gangs are not to be glorified, nor are they funny. On the other hand, a number of gangs have flashy elements, or even a touch of the absurd. Like these or my friend who told me he was robbed by a gang of transvestites on the beach.As a result, I tried to do justice to the threat gangs posed,  while still making them colorful. In doing so, the Moped Mob was created. Essentially they're just a gang that rides mopeds, and at the time, I never thought such a thing would happen in real life.I was wrong.Apparently art and life are more intertwined than we think.

Real World Origins of the Pink Shirt Gang

For those of you who have read "In the Shadows of Myrmidons", you may be wondering about some of what you've read. Hopefully you enjoyed the story nonetheless. At any rate.What in the world was I thinking when I came up with the pink shirt gang? What kind of street gang wears pink dress shirts? Does it mean anything? Journey back with me to 2003 through 2005. If you're in my target audience, you would have been maybe in the 4 - 9 yr old range, and probably barely old enough to remember fashions of that time. Well, the origin of the pink shirt gang starts there. The first Reptilian Authority story (now, "In the Shadows of Myrmidons") had always featured Snake and his friends fighting and overcoming the gangs of Alphacowomooga High in addition to the usual elitist jerks prevalent in most high schools. Actually, I found middle school to be worse in that respect, but high school had a few punks I recall.  When this story was revised from where it had started, a more solid threat than several gangs was needed. Like a big gang taking over. Also, it hadn't helped that Nick had lost his original story, and neither of us recalled all of the details, and so starting over helped me to realize we needed something.Necessity is the mother of invention, they say, and I think this also can help you aspiring writers out there, inspiration is all around you if you look. Here's how it hit me. At the time, several factors were at work serving as inspiration for the Pink Shirt Gang.First, I had been hanging out with a guy for a little while, and he had been in a gang before, which did inspire me as well. Though maybe not how he would have liked. He was new to the church I had been attending, and he was quite fun to hang around with. At some point he ended up with a girlfriend and we all hung out together alot, and she was equally fun to hang out with. Since neither of them could drive, I spent time with both of them together and separately, and at one point his girlfriend and I went clothes shopping. (And yes, this was completely platonic on my part).We went to Express For Men, and as I looked, I was quite taken by a pink dress shirt. I tried it on with appropriate gray pants and I really liked it. It just looked nice. But, I couldn't afford it though, and so it went back to the shelf. Or rack...Some time later I was at a Vietnamese restaurant, and there was a man outside in a purple dress shirt. He didn't look especially thuggish, so I'm not sure how I thought of it, but the idea of a villain (or many villains) wearing a purple dress shirt took root. Pink won out in the end because I liked it more, and it was shorter to write.More inspiration was to be found in the Axe Gang from "Kung Fu Hustle", specifically their opening dance number and how the leader takes over more and more gangs that take up the dance with him. I found it absurd that such a dangerous, and ruthless gang would be dancing so professionally, and i loved it. This flamboyance served as inspiration for me to apply similar attitude through the dress and eccentricities of Chaz and the Pinkos. Add to this the fact that I'd read (but never verified) that pink used to be considered masculine. Nowadays, getting beat up by a guy in pink may be humiliating, so there's that. Plus wearing pink might invite insults, which would be grounds for more fighting. Looking back, this sort of application of style is actually a legitimate way that gangs can manifest themselves. The Gentlemen of Bacongo take flamboyant dress nearly (ok, totally) to an extreme and settle their disputes not with fisticuffs, but a fashion showdown. I highly recommend reading up on them and checking out pictures. Incidentally the Gentlemen of Bacongo served as inspiration for Snake's dispute with Top Jimmy. So the Pink Shirt Gang was born through finding inspiration in just random things, then taking those and trying on various ideas. After sufficient tinkering, a hopefully unique and enjoyable villain. 


- B.

Also, buy the book here!

http://www.amazon.com/Shadows-Myrmidons-Reptilian-Authority-Novel-ebook/dp/B00CP97K16