Tulsa native Sterling Gates wrote or co-wrote (from left) "Justice League of America 7.2: Killer Frost," "Justice League of America 7.4: Black Adam" and "Justice League 23.4: Secret Society" for DC Comics' Villains Month event. Courtesy/DC Comics
Tulsa native Sterling Gates
has written plenty of heroes
during his time as a comic
book writer, mostly with DC
Comics. This month, he gets
a chance to write the bad
guys.
The Edison High graduate
wrote or co-wrote three
titles in September during
DC’s Villains Month event —
“Justice League 23.4: Secret
Society,” “Justice League of
America 7.2: Killer Frost”
and “Justice League of
America 7.4: Black Adam.”
The first wave of Villains
Month books hit shelves
Wednesday, with Gates’ offerings
coming out Sept. 11
(“Killer Frost”) and Sept. 25
(“Secret Society” and “Black
Adam”).
Gates has worked with
DC since 2007, with writing
credits on numerous books
including “Action Comics”
and “The Green Lantern
Corps.” His early work
with the company landed
him a 28-issue run with the
“Supergirl” title (26 regular
issues and two annuals).
Most recently, he penned the
short-lived “Hawk and Dove”
series when DC launched
the “New 52” revamp of its
lineup in 2011, and he took
over “Justice League of
America’s Vibe” with issue
No. 3 this past June.
Gates
Gates
will be in
Tulsa as a
featured
guest at
the Green
Country
Comics and
Gaming
Convention
on Oct.
19-20 at the
Marriott
Southern Hills (for more
information, go to tulsaworld.
com/comicconvention). He took
the time last week to answer
some questions about writing
the bad guys for a change,
growing up a DC fan in a
Marvel household in Tulsa
and other projects he’s been
working on.
Q. You’re credited on three books
during Villains Month — Killer
Frost, Black Adam and the Secret
Society. Which of these villains was
your favorite to write and why?
A. Definitely Killer Frost. I
think she’s such an interesting
character. At the start
of our story, she’s a young,
brilliant scientist named
Caitlin Snow. Through some
very, very horrible twists
and turns, she ends up this
extremely powerful villainess
— Killer Frost. It’s a very
dark story about a woman
who tries to do the impossible,
and the impossible
fights back.
Q. How is it different writing
a comic centered around a villain
rather than one focused on a hero?
A. Well, heroes are primarily
selfless characters.
They’re always trying to do
what’s right, even if it costs
them something personal.
“With great power comes
great responsibility,” they
say.
Villains are primarily selfish.
“Greater power begets
greater gain.” They will go to
whatever length necessary
to attain their personal goals,
living only for themselves.
That’s what makes someone
like Black Adam so interesting,
because he acts both
selfish and selflessly depending
on the situation. You’re
never really sure which path
he’s going to choose.
These villain books are
much, much darker than
most of the things I’ve written
in the past. That’s not to
say they’re gory or anything,
per se, but tonally and thematically,
they’re darker.
Q. Is there a DC villain you wish
you had been able to write for Villains
Month that you didn’t get to?
A. I’m pretty happy with
the one-shots I had the opportunity
to write. I worked
with some great artists —
Derlis Santacruz, Edgar Salazar,
and Szymon Kudranski
— and got to tell some challenging,
interesting stories.
I also had a great editorial
team in Brian Cunningham
and Kate Stewart. They were
incredibly supportive of the
stories we set out to tell, and
I’m happy to continue working
with them on Vibe!
Q. What are your favorite
aspects of Vibe? What draws you to
that character?
A. Vibe simply wants to
do what’s right. Our world
can seem like an increasingly
cynical place, and Vibe
is a very positive kid in the
middle of it. I like writing
that kind of a character. We
need more heroes like that in
today’s world.
Q. You worked with some fellow
Oklahomans on “The Posthuman
Project.” (The movie, which will be
released as a web series, is written
by Gates and Oklahoman entertainment
editor Matt Price and directed
by Kyle Roberts of Oklahoma City’s
Reckless Abandonment Pictures.)
How did you get involved in that
and what was your role like? Was
that your first experience with
script writing? Do you see yourself
writing more scripts in the future?
A. I moved to Los Angeles
because I wanted to become
a television writer. I’m no
stranger to live-action script
writing — I’ve written a lot of
spec scripts in my day — but
once I got started writing
comics, dreams of television
sort of fell to the wayside.
I got involved in “Posthuman”
because my friend Matt
Price called me and asked if I
could do a rewrite on a script
he’d written about a group
of teenage superheroes. I
read Matt’s script, had some
long talks with “Posthuman”
director Kyle Roberts,
and then I started working.
My job was to restructure a
lot of the story and make it
possible to shoot in chunks
as a webseries, as well as
clarify the character arcs and
punch up the dialogue. All in
all, I spent a couple hundred
hours on that rewrite, really
trying to make it the best
script possible.
Q. Are there any other projects
that you’re working on?
A. Yes, but they’re in various
stages of development, so
I can’t really talk about them
yet. Sorry.
Q. Growing up, your parents
owned a comic store. Tell the truth
— were you a Marvel or a DC guy
back in those days? Which characters
were your favorite?
A. My brother and my father
were both huge Marvel
fans. I was the lone DC fan in
my family ... which made for
some extremely passionate
dinnertime arguments about
who would win in superhero
fights! “Thor!” “No, Superman!”
“No, the New Warriors!”
“No, the Teen Titans!”
Growing up, I was really
into the Flash. I was pretty
chubby and slow when I was
younger, so I always wanted
the Flash’s ability to outrun
the bullies.
I was also really into
Superman, Batman & Robin
(Tim Drake forever!), Green
Lantern, the Teen Titans,
Spider-Man, X-Force and
Young Justice. I had a huge
love for teenage superheroes,
which probably explains why
I write so many of them now!
GREEN COUNTRY COMICS AND GAMING CONVENTION
When: Oct. 19-20
Where: Marriott Tulsa Southern Hills, 1902 E. 71st Street
Registration: Register online at
tulsaworld.com/comicconvention for $20 for both days. At the door: $40 for both days or $20 for one day. Children 10 and under free with purchase of adult registration.
For more: Visit
tulsaworld.com/comicconvention for a list of convention guests, details on events and panels, and more information on the convention.
Original Print Headline: Comic book writer returns to native Tulsa
See the trailer for ‘The Posthuman Project’
Watch the trailer for the web
series co-written by Tulsa native
Sterling Gates.
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