Award-winning Author Bobby Nash has been in love with the character of Nightveil ever since he read her adventures in AC Comics back in the late 1980s when he was in high school and only had dreams of writing comics for a living. This love affair continued for many years but was one-sided as Bobby’s attempts to pitch Nightveil stories to the publisher proved unsuccessful. Undeterred, Bobby continued to write until one day, Pro Se Productions’ head honcho Tommy Hancock uttered the words that Bobby had been waiting almost thirty years to hear. “We’re going to be doing AC Comics novels,” Tommy said on a panel at a con to which Bobby jumped in with “I call dibs on Nightveil!” This digest novel marks one of the author’s dreams come true, definitely a bucket list item. Who knows, maybe Nightveil and company will invite him back to do it again. Bobby was nice enough to stop by First Comics News to tell our readers all about Nightveil: Crossroads of Infinity.
First Comics News: Are you a fan of the Golden Age Phantom Lady?
Bobby Nash: Absolutely, although I admit I have only read a few stories featuring the character. I enjoyed the ones I read with her and I have enjoyed many of the artist illustrations of her over the years.
1st: Have you followed her as the Blue Bulleteer?
Bobby: A little bit. I was first introduced to Laura Wright as Nightveil and that’s the character I fell in love with and always wanted to write. When I learned of her background as the Blue Bulleteer, I thought that was a great back story and an interesting dynamic between the character Laura was and the one she becomes. When I was plotting this novel, I knew I had to find a way to work in the Blue Bulleteer if I could. I think I came up with an interesting way to use her in this story. She was a lot of fun to write.
1st: What is the Crossroads of Infinity?
Bobby: The Crossroads of Infinity is the mystical junction at the center of the multiverse where all of the divergent realities spring forth. At the Crossroads of Infinity is a vortex that touches all realities. This is the one place where all of the unique realities intersect. There are other ways to cross over from one to the other, but it’s easier to do it at the Crossroads. As it turns out, if you’re a villain intent on the destruction of the multiverse, the Crossroads of Infinity might just make a tempting target.
1st: Is your version of Nightveil the same as the one currently appearing in FemForce?
Bobby: Yes. Although, a bit earlier in her career. I wanted a Laura who is still learning how to blend into the modern world and isn’t quite at the height of her powers and abilities yet. Plus, that way I don’t step on any ongoing plotlines or anything like that. These are the kinds of things I think about when writing someone else’s characters. I try to make sure to return the toys to the toy box intact when I’m finished.
1st: How many different versions of Nightveil appear in the novel?
Bobby: What makes you think there’s more than one Nightveil in this? Oh, multiverse. Right. Ha! Ha! In all seriousness, I lost count. There’s a lot of them though. Plus, a few other familiar characters get in on the action too.
1st: How does someone benefit from the destruction of the multiverse?
Bobby: Imagine if you make a copy of a copy then a copy of that copy and so on, eventually the copy degrades and is but a shadow of the original. Suppose you notice that with each new reality that diverges from another, your reality seems to degrade and become less than it once was. Now, imagine you had the power to eliminate the copies and return your reality to its former glory. This is the mindset of our antagonist.
1st: Do other AC characters appear in the novel?
Bobby: Oh, yes. AC Comics has a lot of really cool characters in their catalog that I dipped into. So, yes, other AC Comics characters do appear in Crisis at the Crossroads of Infinity. Some look, sound, and feel like the characters you know and love while others are changed or altered by their situations. Playing with alternate versions of the characters is half the fun of writing alternate realities.
1st: Do the events in your novel become canon for the comic or are they separate universe?
Bobby: That’s a very good question, but one for which I don’t really know the answer. Making it canon would be up to the powers that be at AC Comics, I would assume. As far as I’m concerned, it is, but I really have no say in that. My goal was to write a Nightveil story that is entertaining and stays true to the character.
1st: What if any involvement have you had with Bill Black on this project?
Bobby: I believe he did an editing pass, but I did not have any direct dealing with Bill Black on the project. He did say some nice things about the story on social media, which absolutely made my day and, of course, he provided the amazing cover art for the novel. All of my interactions while working on the novel were with Pro Se Productions and my editor, Tommy Hancock.
1st: Do you have to have any prior knowledge of Nightveil to enjoy this novel?
Bobby: Not at all. I want readers to be able to come into this book clean so I fill in all the details the readers needs to get to know the characters involved while reading this story. If this is the first Nightveil story you have ever read, you should be able to dive in with no problem. If you’re already a fan of Nightveil, you’ll get a little something extra from the cameos. I want this novel to be open to anyone who wants to read it.
1st: Does it connect to PRO SEs prior novel Nightveil: The Quiet Girls by Barry Reese?
Bobby: Only in that they are both Nightveil novels and based on the same character. I give Barry a shout out in my novel as kind of a wink and a nod to his book because he’s a friend and we both share a love of this character.
Before I started plotting my story, I reached out to Barry and asked him about his story to make sure I did not tread on similar ground plot-wise to his story. I also read his novel after it was released. It’s really good. I highly recommend it to Nightveil fans, but each novel stands on its own.
1st: What makes Nightveil: Crisis at the Crossroads of Infinity so cool no true comic fan should miss it?
Bobby: First and foremost, Nightveil is an amazing character and readers should get to know her. Nightveil: Crisis at the Crossroads of Infinity is that big, cosmic spectacle of a story that comic books do so well. I haven’t written a big, cosmos shattering novel before so this was a fun way to stretch some creative muscles. It was a lot of fun.
Comics are my first love and I have wanted to write the character of Nightveil since I read her adventures in Americomics Presents and then her own title back in the late 1980’s. I recall vividly telling one of my friends at the time that I wanted to write this character one day. It took a little over thirty years (Yikes!), but I finally did it and I’m thrilled. This was definitely a dream come true writing gig for me. Who knows, maybe, if I’m lucky, they’ll let me come back and do another one. Fingers crossed.
Bobby also writes other stuff you might enjoy. Learn more about his work at www.bobbynash.com and www.ben-books.com.
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