I saw a promo for Gallows Man and he looks just like the MLJ Hangman. I had to know more. Brandon Ingram was nice enough to stop by First Comics News and let our readers know about everything going on with Gallows Man.
First Comics News: Who is the Gallows Man?
Brandon Ingram: The Gallows Man is a hodgepodge of many different characters and elements of comics from both the Golden Age and Silver Age era. He is a parody of the seriousness of characters like The Hangman from the Golden Age era, as well as a parody of the campy and goofiness that can be found in the Silver Age Batman and the Batman from the Adam West show. By day, he is simply an average Joe who works at a funeral parlor. By night, he is a crimefighter who is campy and fun, all while being completely desensitized to the violence that crimefighting holds.
1st: Who is the Jackal?
Brandon: The Jackal, much like many supervillains found throughout comics, is a villain with an animal name who does not show many similarities to that animal. He is a henchman of the Walrus, both of which have been hired onto a Nazi cult that is forming beneath Town’s City.
1st: Who is the Walrus? Paul McCartney?
Brandon: Unfortunately, no. The Walrus is simply a short, fat man who waddles like a Walrus when he runs. He also has the mustache of a Walrus. As mentioned before, he has been hired onto a Nazi cult that is forming beneath Town’s City. I will say, there is likely a yellow matter custard dripping from his eye after the events in the beginning of issue 1.
1st: Who is Noose Boy?
Brandon: Noose Boy is a happy-go-lucky kid who is ready to show his mentor, The Gallows Man, that he has what it takes to stop greater threats than The Gallows Man is allowing him to act on. Much like The Gallows Man, he too can do some serious damage without batting an eye.
1st: Why Noose Boy instead of Roy & Dusty?
Brandon: Thematically, Noose Boy fits the whole Gallows Man thing that we’ve got going. And though The Gallows Man is inspired by characters like Hangman from the Golden Age, personalities and actions differ greatly between the two. The same can be said for Noose Boy and characters like Roy and Dusty.
1st: Who is Major Shwashtika?
Brandon: Major Swastika is the ultimate bad guy of all bad guys. He’s a brutal leader of a Nazi cult. That should just about be enough to talk about how bad of a guy he is. Major Swastika is influenced by Golden Age villains, such as Captain Swastika, as well as being inspired by many James Bond villains. One thing to note about Major Shwashtika is his inability to pronounce certain words correctly due to his Elmer Fudd-like speech impediment. To make matters worse for speaking English, he has a thick German accent. So yeah reader, good luck trying to form a voice for Major Swastika in your head as you try to read what he says.
1st: Who is the Sparkle?
Brandon: The Sparkle was one of the best of the superheroes in Town’s City. He was the mentor of The Gallows Man, back when The Gallows Man was known as The Gallows Boy. The Gallows Man has never been able to live down what happened to The Sparkle.
1st: Why does Gallows Man sleep with his mask on?
Brandon: The Gallows Man has a built-in CPAP machine in his mask. Even superheroes fight sleep apnea.
1st: What can you tell us about Hangmutt?
Brandon: The Gallows Man needs an “Ace the Bat-Hound,” and so he has Hangmutt. He tends to leave special surprises for The Gallows Man each morning on the newspaper he sleeps on.
1st: Who is Hypno Ray?
Brandon: Hypno Ray is a vile villain who lives amongst the other homeless villains in Farside Alley. With his hypno glasses and his connector hat, he can make anyone bend to his will. His evil spans from him using these gadgets to making cashiers think that his coupons have not expired, to him simply convincing them to give him free canned yams. Sickening stuff.
1st: Who is the Frog?
Brandon: The Frog, also a homeless villain resident of Farside Alley, is into shady things and may know more about the Nazi cult that is infiltrating Town’s City. He spends most of his time in a frog costume that he’s never washed, and that he refuses to get out of.
1st: The story ends, to be continued. When is the next issue planned?
Brandon: We are currently working on issue 2 of this 4-issue miniseries. We plan to have the Kickstarter for that ready by the beginning of 2022.
For a comic that is a parody and very Golden Age, the violence isn’t. How did you decide on the proper amount of violence? One element cannot out shadow the other. If it was nothing but the violence, then it would just simply be some “edgy” comic that has been seen a million times. I didn’t want the comic to simply fall into that category. This a fun story with fun characters. Yes, there is comedy within some of the violence, but there is still the importance of having fun comedy even in the superheroes’ downtime. With all that said, the violence does ramp up a bit in the 2nd half of the series though.
1st: What is the minimum pledge to get a digital copy?
Brandon: The minimum pledge to get a digital copy is $5.
1st: What is the minimum pledge to get a print copy?
Brandon: The minimum pledge to get a physical copy is $9, plus shipping.
1st: What makes Gallows Man so cool no true comic fan should miss your Kickstarter?
Brandon: The Gallows Man is a very unique superhero tale, especially in the modern-day superhero landscape. It has the fun and campiness of the 1960s Batman show, mixed with the violence of a Tarantino movie. There can be some “deeper” themes found in it if you want to do that sort of thing, or you can simply enjoy it as a fun superhero comic. If when you are done reading it and find neither of these things to be true for you, you can simply pass it on to a friend and say “No take-backsies.”
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