TAMORA PIERCE: A WHITE TIGER TALE

[raul grau]

By Remy Minnick, Comixfan Staff Writer

One of Marvel's newest exclusives is Tamora Pierce, best selling author of over 20 novels that have introduced young female readers to the world of sci fi and fantasy. With titles like Lioness Rampant and Wolf-Speaker, Tamora Pierce seems right at home with her new Marvel mini-series, and first comic book work: White Tiger. Recently, she took the time out of her hectic schedule to talk about her writing and what fans can look forward to in her comic book debut.

Comixfan: For those of our readers who may not be familiar with your name, tell us a bit about yourself. How did you get into writing in general, and, more specifically, how did you get involved with White Tiger?

Tamora Pierce: My complete inforama is on the Bio page on my site (http://www.tamorapierce.com/bio.htm). With regard to writing, my dad got me into it when I was about 11 years old- he caught me telling stories to myself, and rather than say, "Tammy, people will think you're weird if they see you talk to yourself," he suggested I try writing a novel. He even said I could use his typewriter (until that moment it would have been what my fingers were worth to even touch that thing). Since we liked the same books, when I asked what I should write about, he suggested "travels in a time machine"- which I wrote for about a year, until I ran out of story. So I've been writing SF and fantasy for most of my life- and writing professionally for nearly 30 years now.

I got involved in writing comics when Ruwan Jayatilleke at Marvel Comics asked me if I'd be interested in bringing my personal slant on action and fantasy to comic books. We debated some ideas. Then Ruwan mentioned that Brian Michael Bendis had started the ball rolling for a female version of Marvel's White Tiger. I knew the original white Tiger, Hector Ayala, from Deadly Hands of Kung-Fu, which I read religiously back in the 1970s. That magazine was my favorite source of kick-butt, female heroes who worked as women as well as fighters. So my writing a modern, female White Tiger just seemed like kismet, somehow.

Comixfan: If between now and the time White Tiger is released, readers want to get an idea of what to expect of your writing style, which one of your books would you recommend that they read?

Pierce: That's like asking me to choose which of my cats I love best! I've got 23 books published, all still in print- and I love every one of them, all for different reasons. Most of them have kick-ass female heroes of one kind or another, warriors and wizards. For those who prefer solid warriors, I'd say start with First Test, which follows one of my female knights from the time she begins training as a page. If people prefer spies, there's Trickster's Choice. For crime, detection, and seriously non-violent magic, any of my Circle Opens quartet (Magic Steps, Street Magic, Cold Fire, and Shatterglass) will do, and each of those stands alone as a title.

Though I have to tell you that in several ways White Tiger is significantly different from what people expect from me. It's set in the present-day U.S. rather than a fantasy universe, for one thing- more like a couple of my short stories. I'm working with a co-writer, for another- my spouse-creature, techno-weenie Tim Liebe. While Tim has always been my go-to guy when I dig myself into plot holes (and he has always dug me out), it's very different actually writing together and not stepping on each other's egos! For a third, comics are- is? I can never get it straight- a very different medium. That's why I jumped at the chance to do it. Both Tim and I enthusiastically vouch for the gut-punch of art and writing in comics. That's why we've been fans since we were kids. Now, being able to arrive at just the right number and combination of words to set off a good artist's work... that will be the trick. I'm pretty confident. But the difference between doing it and being confident is, as Mark Twain said about another writing issue, the difference between lightning and the lightning bug.

Comixfan: Obviously, Marvel hopes to draw in newer readers and fans of your books. How receptive do you see your fans to be when it comes to a medium that, for some, will be one that they have never encountered before, outside of Sunday funnies? How have your fans reacted so far with the news of you working on a comic book?

Pierce: They're jacked. On SheroesCentral, a discussion web my husband Tim and I used to run (http://www.sheroescentral.com/ ), the ones who aren't fans already are saying, "I've never read American superhero comic books before- but now I'll have to!" Most of my fans already read manga. Now they're curious about why I read- and want to write- American superhero comics, so they'll be checking us out!

Comixfan: For those readers who might not be familiar with the latest hero known as the White Tiger, tell us about the character? What qualities does she possess that make her a hero?

Pierce: If you've read Bendis's Daredevil arc, you already have some idea of who Angela del Toro is. She's a Hispanic former FBI agent who's been given a set of magical amulets that her Uncle Hector, the original White Tiger, used to possess. These augment the martial arts skills, strength, and speed she already had, and they bring other abilities, some of them surprising. Unfortunately, those abilities come at a great price- and, to quote Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man- with great responsibilities attached as well.

One of the things we mean to explore is what Angela's reaction to her new life: how she makes the transition from a lifetime of straight-up law enforcement to her new existence as a "costume," law enforcement shorthand for "costumed vigilante," someone only sometimes on the right side of the law. In other ways, the story is about Angela getting a life, something Officer, then Agent, then Special Agent del Toro didn't have. A life, friends... enemies.

Comixfan: With the viewpoint of the more street-level superheroes being that of a vigilante, how does that dichotomy work for a character, who much like Daredevil, has a day job that is at odds with her superhero career?

Pierce: Actually, she's unemployed at the start of our story. She'll be hitting the bricks to find a new day job. We think we have just the thing. After all, she's still going to need sources of information- but I've said too much already!

Comixfan: This story takes place after Bendis' run on Daredevil but before Civil War. What has happened to the character since readers have last seen her and what is the new series about?

Pierce: As above- Angela has to find her feet as a civilian, as a costume, as a woman, and as an ordinary citizen (or at least as ordinary as someone in her line of work can get.) I can't go into too much detail- otherwise, there'll be no reason to read the comics!

Comixfan: As Brian Michael Bendis had a driving force behind this new White Tiger in the pages of Daredevil, how much interaction did you have with Bendis when plotting the next adventure of the White Tiger?

Pierce: None! That's not surprising. Bendis is writing so many major books, I'd be surprised if he has time to eat, or more importantly, go to the movies. Besides, I'd rather he kept writing than talked to me- I've read all he did with Angela, and this way I can keep reading new stuff from him!

Comixfan: Will we see the White Tiger interacting with any other heroes in the Marvel Universe, or will the focus be kept on her and her supporting cast?

Pierce: Mmmmm... maybe... ::batting eyes::

Comixfan: You will be co-writing the book with your husband, what is the creative process like between the two of you? What do you feel, writing wise, are your strengths and his?

Pierce: I'm a storyteller with a grip on story structure. I also learned early on that the impossible is a lot more believable if you do research to make facts as accurate as possible. Tim's great at plot fixes and twists that aren't baroque, and character quirks that add depth and interest while being totally believable. He's also a traditional Marvel fanboy. While I was reading ::cough:: thatotherpublisher:: then Deadly Hands of Kung-Fu, Tim was reading The Amazing Spider-Man, The Fantastic Four, and The Avengers. Where we're both good is coming up with interesting characters that live beyond the current story- or so we hope!

Comixfan: With your fantasy novels, you brought in an element of criminal psychology to the tales, something that hadn't been done in that environment before. What do you plan to bring to the world of comics? What elements are missing in comics that are not enabling them to reach a wider audience?

Pierce: We're not going to start a war by making large pronouncements, not as newbie writers, not as fans being allowed to write in one of the most exciting creative media there is. And it would take cojones of no mean order, seeing what a fabulous amount of material is available in comics these days. Maybe it's just me, but- hold on, I gotta check ;;looks down::- nope, you heard it here first, I got no such cojones.

What Tim and I plan to do is bring what we've brought to everything we've done, on our own or together- our own way of looking at characters and situations. We think- we hope- that will grab the fans. It's worked before now. One of the reasons I'm successful, with Tim advising me from my second book on, is that I never set out To Change the World- I just set out to write the kind of stories I always wanted to read. I got lucky in that plenty of other people wanted to read them, too.

Comixfan: What other comic book characters, Marvel or DC, would you like to try your hand at?

Pierce: Right now, I think we've got our hands full!

Comixfan: Outside of White Tiger, what else can Tamora Pierce fans look forward to in 2006?

Pierce: The first Beka Cooper book, Terrier, will be published by Random House this fall. It's set in my Tortall universe two hundred years in time before my first book, Alanna. And I have two short stories in collections this spring: Huntress (a contemporary fantasy) in Firebirds Rising, edited by Sharyn November, Firebird Books, April 6; and The Hidden Girl (fantasy set in my Tortall universe) in Dreams and Visions, edited by Helen and M. Jerry Weiss, St. Martins Press, March 2006.

[Andrew Stoneham]

Great interview I enjoyed Agent Del Toro character in Bendis's Daredevil glad to see she is being used sounds like Tamora is going to provide us with a great story im really looking forward to this mini

[RingoStarr]

I'm not picking this up. It has nothing to do with the creative team, I just have no interest in the character or story. There ar emore well known characters I would like to see with a mini other than White Tiger.