“Hey!,” I shouted out of my office, “Where are those art corrections?” No answer. I wandered out to get them myself.
Obviously it was new comics day. I say that because the Milestone comics bullpen, usually filled to overflowing with artists, production people and interns, resembled nothing so much as a ghost town. Unless McDonald’s was giving out BATMAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES toys with their happy meals again, new comics day was the only possible explanation for the mysterious absence of my entire staff.
I was about as angry as I ever get. Whatever happened to the work ethic? There were comic books to be made, pages to clean-up and color, covers to compose, deadlines to meet.
Also, nobody asked me to go with.
Vengeance in my heart, I hunted the miscreants down. Okay, actually I just walked over to Cosmic Comics, right down the street. The point is I found everyone, gathering their various weekly stashes. The haul was about what you would expect from such a diverse bunch, X-MEN and FOOT SOLDIERS, manga and FOOT SOLDIERS, indies and FOOT SOLDIERS, whatever was hot from Image that week and FOOT SOLDIERS. I began to discern a pattern.
Until that day, despite a steady buzz in both the fan and creative communities, I’d heard nothing about FOOT SOLDIERS, at least nothing that stuck. I don’t know how I’d managed to miss it all but I suspect it might be the same mechanism that allowed me to overlook 19 people walking right past my open office door on the way to the comic store. Anyway, I mentioned that I’d never heard of the book and asked what all of the fuss was.
One of my interns was incredulous, “You’ve never heard of FOOT SOLDIERS!? You’ve never heard of FOOT SOLDIERS?!” He shoved a copy in my hands, spun 360 degrees on his heels and sang, “Uhhh! You got to get on the good foot!” He completed his James Brown imitation by dropping into splits, then springing back up to his feet with a heartfelt “Heyyyy! Good god, now!”
Of course I fired him on the spot.
Still I’m grateful that, as he fled the store in tears, my freshly pink-slipped intern forgot to retrieve his copy of Foot Soldiers. I took it back to the office and read it.
Suddenly, I understood what all the fuss was about. In FOOT SOLDIERS, not only had Jim Krueger come up with one of those rare, “Wish I had thought of that” hooks, he served it up with an admirable level of craft and infused it all with underlying philosophies of optimism and Humanism that are far from fashionable in super hero comics. Good for him. Good for us.
A great hook seems always seems obvious, once somebody else has thought of it for us. Jim’s mode of storytelling is likewise deceptively simple. He just lays it out, clearly, effectively, and seemingly without effort (at least until you try to do it yourself). FOOT SOLDIERS rarely diverts our attention from the story by showboating for effect. Authorial transparency is much more difficult to achieve than the kind of obvious (and often as not, empty) “Hey, look at me! I’m writing!” stunts that garner all the rave critical notices. It is perhaps the least appreciated virtue a storyteller can attain, if you believe the critics. But readers appreciate it and they come back for more. Over the course of the adventures in this volume (and its predecessor, FOOT SOLDIERS Volume I, available where you bought this book) I’ve seen Jim’s comfort with authorial transparency grow, along with his not inconsiderable craft. Rather than dazzle us with stunts, Jim Krueger increasingly chooses to trust the pure power of his narrative. He allows our emotions to be carried by the events in the story. He’s more interested in telling us a good story than he is in demonstrating that he’s a good writer. He already knows he’s a good writer. So do we.
Joining Jim in this volume of FOOT SOLDIERS is Phil Hester, pistol-hot these days as a result of his work on DC Comics’ GREEN ARROW. Phil’s bold graphic approach is well suited to FOOT SOLDIERS, handling action, drama and really big boots with equal aplomb. Phil variously teams up with Brian McCorkindale, Ande Parks and Bill Sienkiewicz to achieve the unique look you’ll find in these pages.
If you’re smart, you skipped all of this and dove right into the story. But if you’re still with me, I’ve kept you from the good stuff for far too long. Settle back and get ready for high emotion and high adventure; for wit, whimsy and drama; for powerful ideas, powerfully told. Good super heroes are back and Jim Krueger’s got them.
What are you waiting for? Get on the good foot!
Dwayne McDuffie
Orlando, Florida
April 28, 2001
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Dwayne McDuffie is the co-creator of the Kids WB’s STATIC SHOCK, Marvel Comics’ DAMAGE CONTROL and Milestone Comics’ three-time Eisner award nominated ICON.
