Bradley Golden talks about BLACKJAQ

The classic Golden Age MLJ hero, Black Jack is reimagined as part of Antartic Press’ new Exciting Comics. The new hero is called Blackjaq. How is she and how does she related to the original? Bradley Golden stops by First Comics News to let our readers how who this new hero is and what she is all about.

First Comics News: Who is Blackjaq?

Bradley Golden: Blackjaq is Jacqueline Reed, the daughter of Jack Jones, the original Black Jack from early 1940s.

1^st: Who is Fats McQueen?

Bradley: Fats is an underground crime boss who kills, steals, and offers unwanted protection for money to a lot of small businesses. He uses this business to fund the exploits of the Revenge Syndicate.

1^st: Do Jacqueline Reed and Fats McQueen have a history together?

Bradley: They don’t have history per se. She Jacqueline has been dealing with his thugs for a while, they intimidate the small stores and businesses with their protection bill. She does not like that, not one bit. So she has been trying to give the little guys back their freedom.

1^st: What is the spade-shaped force power that comes out of her hand?

Bradley: It’s an energy blast that she creates from her special powered-up gloves she wears. We have not introduced this character yet, but there is a person who builds these techs for her. When she shoots beams out her hands it looks like a spade but actuality it’s an arrow shape blast.

1^st: The BGJC Bar, that would be Bradley Golden and John Crowther’s bar correct? And the guy with the hoodie would be Carlos Tron?

Bradley: You are correct on the bar, but wrong on the hooded guy. No its, not Carlos Tron. He is in the second book, coming out soon. That hooded guy is Five Card Charlie, another character with significants in this universe.

1^st: The Revenge Syndicate is based on the Golden Age version of the same characters. What was your attraction to the Revenge Syndicate?

Bradley: Yes, I really wanted to bring this team of super villains to the forefront because they were very interesting characters to play around it. They are actually mad Men, serial killers, and lunatics with these gross and awesome abilities. Think about it. What if you were a lunatic who had the abilities to control rats, what would you do. Try to get rich fast I would imagine, rob a few banks.

1^st: Are there any other MLJ inspired Golden Age character appearances planned?

Bradley: Well, there is a Ghost coming soon by me and Peter Breau.

1^st: Exciting Comics is a miniseries. What’s next for Blackjaq after the first Exciting Comics mini-series ends?

Bradley: Well the plan is to do a trade of the first 6 chapters. Then we will see from there.

About Author

Rik Offenberger

Rik Offenberger has worked in the comic field as a retailer, distributor, reporter, public relations coordinator, writer and publisher since 1990. He owns and operates the e-mail bases Super Hero News service, and his published works in print can be seen in The Comics Buyers Guide, Comic Retailer, Borderline Magazine, and Comics International. On the internet he has worked as a writer and/or editor for Silver Bullet Comicbooks, Comic Book Resources, Newsarama and First Comics News. He was the Public Relations Coordinator at Archie Comics for a decade. He is currently the Editor-In-Chief at G-Man Comics. For TwoMorrows Publications, Rik co-wrote The MLJ Companion with Paul Castiglia and Jon B. Cooke, charting the history of Archie’s superheroes, and for Gemstone Publishing wrote chapters of The Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide to Lost Universes.

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