The Immortal Princess Femi
A good villain can make all the difference.
With The Peregrine, most of his enemies were dead and buried by the end of each adventure, though he had a few (The Warlike Manchu, for instance) who made return appearances. When I created Lazarus Gray, I knew that one of the things I wanted to do with the series was to create a series of recurring villains. I wanted him to have a vibrant rogue’s gallery that could return again and again.
But which of his enemies stands above the rest? If our hero is defined by his villains, which of those foes is his dark mirror?
Obviously, Lazarus Gray has Walther Lunt, his former mentor. Lunt was a major force in Volumes One and Two but his death in 1936 (“Die Glocke”) has left him as a shadow looming over the series. He did return to battle Lazarus in a winner-returns-to-life battle but his defeat there has seemingly ended his threat forever.
And then there’s Nemesis, whose very name suggests that he should be Lazarus Gray’s arch-foe. He plays a key role in volumes 7-9.
Bur are either of them really Gray’s arch-enemy? Or should that honor go to the equally-deserving immortal known as Femi?
One of the background elements that has featured in a lot of my pulp adventure stories is the Geheimnisvolles Kraft-Projekt, also dubbed The Occult Forces Project or OFP. Founded in the late 1930s, the OFP was dedicated to utilizing super-science and magic in the name of The Reich and was a subset of The Ahnenerbe. The group had several notable successes when it came to creating larger-than-life figures who spread the Nazi ideals across the globe. Thankfully, they were defeated at every turn by heroes like The Peregrine and Lazarus Gray. A division of the OFP was known as the Department of Occult Armaments (D.O.O.M.) and was headed by Dr. Meer.
The Black Terror is a character that dates all the way back to Exciting Comics # 9, published in January 1941 by Nedor Comics. His secret identity was pharmacist Bob Benton, who formulated a chemical he called “formic ethers”, which gave him various superpowers. He used these powers to fight crime with his sidekick, Tim Roland, together known as the “Terror Twins”. The character proved popular enough to survive until 1949 and his distinctive costume made for some truly memorable covers. After the Golden Age, the character eventually fell into the public domain – which led to a whole host of publishers reviving him for various projects. Over the years, he’s appeared in books published by AC, Eclipse, Wild Cat, Image, Moonstone and, of course, the Reese Unlimited imprint of Pro Se Press. I first wrote the character for Wild Cat back in 2008 as part of a book called Legends of the Golden Age and later used him in a couple of stories for The Peregrine. More recently, I’ve gone further back into his continuity to incorporate him into my Lazarus Gray stuff. Because his “later” appearances were written first there are a few discrepancies in how he’s portrayed.
Major Events specific to certain stories and novels are included in brackets. Some of this information contains SPOILERS for The Peregrine, Lazarus Gray, Gravedigger and other stories.
The current novel was begun in earnest at the beginning of February so in less than two months, I’ve almost completed it. I haven’t written a book this quickly in ages and it’s a good feeling. The book has flashbacks to the 19th century and the early 20th but the bulk of it takes place in the modern day – you’ll see a few familiar faces from around the Reese Unlimited universe but mostly it’s about adding to the universe. So you get an all-new villain, a lot of supporting characters that I think will grab your attention, and a lead character with only previous appearance (Lazarus Gray Volume 11).
Good news all around – I’ve approved the galley edits on Assistance Unlimited: The Silver Age so hopefully you’ll get to see this 1960s-era story soon. From what I’ve been told, the backlog of Lazarus Gray books will begin to roll out on a quarterly basis soon, too.
York returned in The Peregrine Animated Script that was recently reprinted in The Peregrine Omnibus Volume Three. In this story (set somewhere in the 1936-1937 period), York has managed to acquire the body of Princess Femi, the immortal enemy of Lazarus Gray. York revives her in hopes that she’ll aid him in destroying The Peregrine but once again he is dispatched back to Hell. How did he survive his prior defeat? We’re told that York was persuasive enough to convince the Elder Gods that he deserved a second chance. I imagine they weren’t so forgiving after yet another defeat.
Work has kicked into overdrive on my newest novel, which has no working title at present. In Lazarus Gray Volume 11 I introduce a new character and she serves a supporting role in that book… but now I’m spinning her out into her own adventure. While she teamed up with Lazarus in the mid-1940s, this novel begins in 19th century England before time-jumping to the modern day. If you’re wondering how this character can pop up in so many different eras, you’ll have to stay tuned. I know, I know – at the rate Pro Se is rolling out my Lazarus novels, you might not get the answers to those questions for a decade or so (it’s been nearly three years since the Lazarus Gray v. 7 was released and I’ve written five more books in the series since then!).
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
