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AND A BAD TIME WAS HAD BY ALL
xerø
The best thing about Xerø was the investment of first our
editor, Alisande Morales, and the phenomenal ChrisCross, whose
intuition and storytelling are unparalleled in this industry. I
remain extremely grateful for their verve and enthusiasm for the
project, and chagrined at how all of it was capriciously beaten
out of them as both were run over by the wheels of a bureaucracy
which had determined, before the first issue shipped, that Xerø
must fail. This was just about the worst time I've had in a
quarter century in this funnybook business, a beloved and
cherished craft left far too often in the hands of weasels.
A lot of things went wrong with XERØ, the Apollo 13 of my career.
It's
difficult to discuss specifics without inviting reprisals, so about all I
can say is I am very disappointed in how this book was treated and regret
the entire experience. Doomed from the beginning, XERØ began with a
request for "Something new, something edgy— push the envelope. Think
outside the box." The original proposal languished for nearly two
years before an incoming editor took a liking to it, and the project was
green-lighted. Possibly because of the lead character's dual ethnicity, XERØ came to be thought of as a "black" book, which made it,
like most other "black" books, seemingly unworthy of the best
efforts of everyone involved. We launched in a totally unenergized
environment, with very little promotion, and nearly every promise broken.
The book's failure was, for me, a capriciously self-fulfilling prophecy
(see Citizen Trane).
The best thing about Xerø was the energy, dedication and investment of first our editor, Alisande Morales,
who worked tirelessly through the early stages of getting the book up to
speed, and the phenomenal
ChrisCross,
whose intuition and storytelling are unparalleled in this industry. I
remain extremely grateful for their verve and enthusiasm for the project,
and chagrined at how all of it was capriciously beaten out of them as both
were run over by the wheels of a bureaucracy which had determined, before
the first issue shipped, that Xerø must fail. This was just about the
worst time I've had in a quarter century in this business, a beloved and
cherished craft left far too often in the hands of weasels.
From the original proposal:
XERØ
is about a man who is a living terminal; a conduit to the
UltraNet, a
top-secret world-wide information super-highway. Through his connection
with the UltraNet, Xerø has lightning-quick access to literally every
piece of information about every living being on the planet who has any
information recorded on a computer anywhere in the world.
Information, the true measure of power in the 90's, is Xerø's most
powerful, most fearsome weapon.
XERØ is also about a dead guy named Trane Walker. While technically
still alive, Trane lives on borrowed time thanks to an experimental X
Enzyme. And, while physically, technically alive, Trane is emotionally and
spiritually dead. He is cold, emotionless and unsympathetic. He is blunt,
headstrong, irreverent and mean. Trane doesn't like people. Trane doesn't
like much of anything, and he doesn't much care who knows it.
All of which makes him an extremely dangerous assassin. A sanctioned agent
for an unnamed US Intelligence agency, Xerø is sent across the globe
on specialized missions to execute Target Warrants. A muscular six foot
seven with a tangle of blond hair and piercing blue eyes, Xerø uses a
variety of electronic devices, conventional weaponry, and his own
paranormal ability of molecular acceleration to nail the very baddest of
bad guys; those who are beyond the law.
Yawn. Okay, I know. Comics are full of "worlds deadliest
assassin" types. The "living on borrowed time" bit is a
cool hook, but we've seen that before, too. Here's the second hook:
Trane Walker happens to be the infamous power forward of the National City
Vipers. The most famous thug around since Al Capone, Trane's snarling face
and unbelievably shocking on-the-record quotes have elevated the vicious,
short-tempered, anti-social hoop god to the status of rogue anti-hero.
One other thing: Trane Walker is black. Xerø's wasp-icity is part and
parcel of the extreme measures Trane takes to protect his secret identity.
The schism between the very ethnic down-for-my-niggas gangsta idol Trane
Walker and the square jawed, Bond-esque international grim reaper Xerø
brings us to the third hook:
Xerø is a man of two worlds, and XERØ is about what happens when
those worlds collide. Set in the gang-ridden, crime infested, economically
deprived city of East St. Louis, Illinois (of which National City is an
independent part), XERØ will feature cutting edge urban drama with
the look, feel, and taste of "Gangsta Rap" culture. The city, an
urban time bomb a bridge away from St. Louis, Missouri, is a powder keg of
social resentment by the black underclass of the white middle class- most
of whom are shivering in their heavily-locked homes at night. Trane
Walker's arrival as star forward to the new Vipers team will polarize the
city around racial and social lines, increasing the political voltage.
Incongruously, the moment Trane pulls on Xerø's mask and jets off in
SkyTrane to some exotic locale to battle Dr. No, the book will take on the
feel of a mainstream super-hero comic.
Trane is able to manage the bifurcated lifestyle only by virtue of the
fact he's emotionally stone dead. Neither the socio-political issues of
the plight of Black America nor the ethical questions surrounding his
sanctioned assassinations are of any interest to him. As Trane Walker,
he's not interested in endorsing any NAACP-type civil rights
organizations, and as Xerø he's not the least bit interested in joining
The Justice League. The commonality between Xerø and Trane is the fact
neither one of them is interested in saving anyone.
Which brings me to the fourth hook: within the first few issues, events
will transpire which will eventually destroy Xerø. His demise will be
inevitable because, as a result of these events, he will begin to care. He
will begin to think. He will begin to question the motives of people
around him.
Xerø will begin a slow personal awakening, thawing from his frigid
indifference. And as he does, the walls of his two worlds will close in on
him.
By the end of year one, Trane will be well into his personal journey. Year
two will see the systematic collapse of his orderly, structured
environment. Pieces of his past (Man With A Past- hook #5) will surface,
revealing Trane Walker to be more than simply a one-dimensional grouch but
a man whose entire life was taken from him. By the end of year two, Xerø
will be stripped of both his sanction and his crucial link with the
UltraNet, and will have to re-invent himself, integrating his true
ethnicity into his costumed persona. He'll have to manage a way to
synthesize the X Enzyme, since that'll be the first thing to go when the
government pulls the plug on him.
He'll also have to find a way to make do without all the gadgets (did I
mention there's lots of tech stuff in here? Tech Stuff would be hook #6)
he uses in his work.
XERØ will be a sophisticated, constantly evolving social drama with
long legs; enough conflict and story possibilities for several years of
original adventures.
Christopher J. Priest
December 1993
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