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The era of Milestone Comics has returned with a new slew of titles featuring many of the characters first introduced when the company began in 1993. An imprint of DC Comics, the mission of Milestone was to introduce minority and marginalized characters into the world of comics and was headed by legendary creators such as Dwayne McDuffie and Reginald Hudlin. The company’s most well-known property is the superhero Static, who, like the other Milestone characters, has been integrated into DC’s mainstream universe. The electricity-wielding hero has recently gained his own series, Static Season One, and several other Milestone properties are following suit, including fan-favorite character Icon.
In celebration of Icon and Rocket Season One‘s upcoming debut on July 27, CBR participated in a roundtable discussion with three of the creators working on the comic — the venerable Reginald Hudlin (Black Panther), Leon Chills (Shadow Force), and artist Doug Braithwaite (Punisher). The series revolves around the vastly powerful alien Icon who lives as an African-American after taking on the appearance of the slaves who found him in the 1800s. In the modern-day, he is convinced by the young Rocket to become a hero with her as his partner.
One of the first questions asked of the creative team was directed toward Hudlin and asked if there was going to be a significant amount of time spent developing the slavery aspect of Icon’s origin story. “Icon has been on Earth for 150 years,” Hudlin answered. “We won’t be telling stories just about his early childhood during slavery in America. His story will span decades, and we’ll be showing him in a lot of surprising places all over the map.”
The conversation shifted to the possibility of other characters from the wider Milestone universe appearing in the series, and again Hudlin, who is the co-writer of the series alongside Chills, was quick to answer. “Anything can happen,” he replied. “We’ve got a lot of plans for a lot of seasons featuring Icon, Rocket, Static, and Hardware, and are introducing new characters and new storylines. Still, we haven’t finished writing everything yet so I can’t say decisively what’s going to happen. But I can say that you’ll be seeing a lot of cool stuff as we move the series forward.”
After mentioning having plans for the wider Milestone universe, Hudlin shared the conversations he had with the creators of the other books that are also being relaunched, particularly Static Season One and Hardware. “Milestone was initially successful because it was cutting edge,” the veteran writer began. “If we were going to replicate that success, we had to be cutting edge for this generation. This meant finding new voices like Vita Ayala and Nikolas Draper-Ivey who are writing and drawing Static and Brandon Thomas, who is writing Hardware.
“Denys Cowan and I had a pretty strong vision of what we want these characters to do and how to reintroduce them to the world. But we’re so happy to see these writers take those initial ideas, run with them, and take them to new and exciting places. It’s a great squad of people working toward the big picture that we have in mind for all the characters and storylines to intersect at certain times. At the same time, you can read each individual series and enjoy them without losing track of what’s going on. But we think that as you read, you’ll want to see the other books.”
Although co-writer Leon Chills and artist Doug Braithwaite were silent for much of the discussion, both chimed in when the subject of Rocket’s status as Icon’s sidekick was breached, particularly the question of whether they were taking a non-traditional approach. Braithwaite confirmed that they were all looking at the relationship differently. Chills expounded, “Rocket doesn’t feel like a traditional sidekick. She has more agency than the usual sidekick, and she questions and challenges Icon in a way that I haven’t seen from other sidekicks. It definitely feels more like a partnership, with them being on equal footing, than her being his sidekick.”
As the artist on the series, Braithwaite was asked if there were any nuances he had to keep in mind considering the finite beginning and end of the series. “I’m just telling the story as succinctly as I can and making the points that Reggie and Leon are trying to make come across clearly to the readers, both old and new,” the artist replied. “There’s a bit of pressure in that respect. This is a very strong piece of writing, and I think it’s a very important project to work on.”
“That’s why I’m so glad to be working with Doug,” Hudlin added. “In the world of comics, the artist is really the director. Leon and I do the work, but Doug is the person who brings it to life. He always meets or exceeds our expectations of the storytelling, and it’s a pleasure to collaborate with him.” After thanking Hudlin, Braithwaite spoke more about the synergy between him and the writers. “It’s easy for me to visualize and interpret what the writers are trying to get across and what they want to see on the page. The characterizations are really strong, and I love them.”
As the discussion drew to a close, the creators were asked about what comics they read for their own pleasure. “I’m a huge Mark Millar fan so I’m always going to read whatever he’s putting out,” Hudlin said. “I also really enjoy Brian Michael Bendis and Ryan Sook’s Legion of Superheroes, and I’ll always go back and read classic Jack Kirby to get inspired all over again.” Braithwaite cited the legendary writer and artist as well. “I tend to go for the classic collections of Kirby projects from the 60s and 70s. Those stories bring back the fondest memories for me, and I love to relive those experiences.”
Icon and Rocket Season One is written by Reginald Hudlin and Leon Chills and with artwork by Doug Braithwaite. The first issue goes on sale July 27 from DC Comics.
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