By Jacob Cordas — Stephanie Phillips is one my favorite writers working today. Whether she is penning wacky misadventures in Harley Quinn, dark detective fiction in The Butcher of Paris, or cold war spy fiction like Red Atlantis, her writing is always a must-read for me. And I was able to interview her recently to discuss the upcoming continuation of her pirate series, A Man Among Ye (one of our top comics to buy for this week!).

Check out our conversation below…

INTERVIEW: Stephanie Phillips talks A MAN AMONG YE #5

JACOB CORDAS: How does it feel returning to the world of A Man Among Ye? Did you always anticipate being able to continue telling the stories of Anne Bonny? 

STEPHANIE PHILLIPS: It’s really exciting that readers liked the book enough for us to return for more stories. There’s obviously so much more room to play in this universe, and characters that we need to develop and explore further as the story unfolds. It’s going to be a really high-action second arc!

JACOB: What attracted you to telling the story of Anne Bonny? 

PHILLIPS: Growing up in Tampa, FL meant I was surrounded by pirate lore. Tampa likes to celebrate pirates in pretty much every manner possible, so I was inundated with the stories and myths. But I don’t think it ever really piqued my interest until I started to learn about the women pirates and some of the reasons for choosing a life of piracy that would specifically relate to women. We have tons of pirate stories in popular culture (thanks Disney!), but I wanted to give a really gritty take that’s based even more in history and really has no trace of the supernatural (not that I don’t love it!).

JACOB: What is the relationship between historical fact and fiction? How do you let the history inform your story telling? 

STEPHANIE: This is such a tough line to draw while working with Anne Bonny and Mary Read because so little information actually exists about them. The only recorded record of their existence is heavily disputed and the author is unknown. Other accounts then contradict that original source material… so it’s really a blend, which makes writing this story daunting and exciting at the same time. The goal was to at least create a world that is heavily factual. Political, social, and economic concerns are all based in reality, and almost all of the main characters actually existed. There are some liberties taken with the storyline itself, but our goal is to walk these characters through a universe that is as authentic as we can make it.

JACOB: The first arc ended on a bit of a cliffhanger, hinting at adventures to come. What can we expect in the upcoming arc? 

STEPHANIE: LOTS of action! I think this arc will show a darker Anne Bonny. After being betrayed, she’s sinking a little lower and causing tension with Mary, Jane, and Iris. I also really want to keep the pace of the story moving, so expect lots of swords, boats, explosions, guns… you know, fun pirate stuff. 

JACOB: One of the things I deeply loved about A Man Among Ye was the way it captured the feeling of older pirate stories, specifically the Italian adventure films of the 60’s. Were there any specific pirate stories you pulled from?

STEPHANIE: Honestly, the tone and setting were based so heavily on research more than anything. Reading about Charles Vane and Woodes Rogers to create an atmosphere that tries to capture the time period as best we can.

JACOB: How has the change of artist to Josh George impacted the book? Did it impact your creative process at all? 

STEPHANIE: Josh is an incredible artist and I can’t wait for readers to see his take on the universe that we established in the first arc. Josh will be bringing some new characters and locations into the story as well, and I think readers will really enjoy his style.  

JACOB: You’ve worked on original characters, pre-established properties (currently the excellent Harley Quinn title) and characters pulled from history. How are the pressures of characterization different across those different reference points? 

STEPHANIE: In some ways, there’s a lot of similarities with wanting to be conscientious about the words you put is someone’s mouth. Harley is a well-established character with an incredible line of writers penning her before me. There’s some big shoes to fill and I think being able to work on Future State: Harley helped me experiment and find her voice in a way that pays respect to who Harley is in the DCU, and also gives readers a very Stephanie-specific Harley.

Historical characters have a similar pressure. I don’t want to put words in someone’s mouth without doing my research or understanding the time period. Someone like Anne Bonny does toe that line between fact and fiction, and I want to be her justice.

JACOB: Finally, one of the (many) things I greatly enjoy about your writing is your embrace of genre. Your work doesn’t feature a lot of the deconstructive tendencies common in genre storytelling right now. What attracts you to such sincere expression of genre?

STEPHANIE: I think I like certain genres for the conventions of that genre. I certainly love deconstructing and playing with genre conventions, but there’s also something to be said for letting a Western by a Western or a pirate story be a pirate story. I’m a fan of this genre and I really wanted to pay tribute to the many elements that I like about it. It’s been really fun to write!

Read more great interviews with comics creators!

My name is Jacob Cordas (@jacweasel) and I am starting to think I may in fact be qualified to write this.