The Original Super Villain: An Interview With Moriarty Writer Daniel Corey

Horror icon Vincent Price once stated of his villainous roles, "A villain is someone that has to fool you all the time. He has many more factoids to his character, many more sides to his humor. He has to be charming, and witty, and decadent, and funny. He is much more fun to play." Writer Daniel Corey must have taken this quote to heart in crafting his comic Moriarty for Image Comics. The critically acclaimed, ongoing series follows the misdeeds of the original supervillain, Professor James Moriarty, arch nemesis of Sherlock Holmes. From the grimy streets of London to the haunting British countryside, underground lairs and superscience labs, Professor Moriarty must forge has way through a world without Sherlock.

In this interview, Daniel was happy to discuss the origins of Moriarty: The Dark Chamber, Vol. 1 TP (978-1607064503, $14.99). 

Gianluca Glazer: Tell us a little bit about Moriarty.

Daniel Corey: The basics: Moriarty is a new Image Comics series written by me, with art by Anthony Diecidue. We have Perry Freeze on color and Dave Lanphear on letters and design.

Daniel Corey: A little background on the story: Professor James Moriarty is known to many as the arch-nemesis of Sherlock Holmes, the world's first and greatest supervillain. But we never knew much of him from the original stories, which were written by the brilliant Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

Originally, Moriarty was more of an idea than a realized person. He was just known as that controlling force out there in the world, engineering all crime and wrongdoing. He only played a part in two of the original stories, and never actually appeared "on stage."

Today, the Professor is still not known so much as a person, but as an idea, an enigma. The difference now is that his status has been elevated from sometimes bit-player to ever-present master criminal, a la Lex Luthor or Kaiser Söze. I wanted to take the idea of that über-villain and put him under a microscope, get into his fictional head and figure out what makes him tick. So I made him the star of his own adventure series and had him tell us the story himself, first-person, so that we could see the world through his eyes.

Gianluca Glazer: Were you already very knowledgeable of the Arthur Conan Doyle stories of Sherlock Holmes, or did you have to do a lot of research in putting together Moriarty?

Daniel Corey: Yes, I have been reading the Sherlock stories and watching the various adaptations since I was in grade school. I've always been a big fan. Of course, my favorite Sherlock movies and such were always the ones the involved the Professor.

I did do quite a bit of research in preparing for this series. I re-read a lot of the original Holmes adventures, and carefully studied the Granada TV Jeremy Brett show from the 1980s. Those shows were done with such a wonderful attention to detail, and they helped me further understand the various aspects of the time period, such as the customs, dress, mood, and atmosphere. 

Since our story takes place against the backdrop of World War I, I also did quite a bit of research on the War and the political climate of the time, which plays a character in our story and serves as motivation for much of what Moriarty does.

Before starting the project, Anthony and I got together several times just to discuss the look and feel of the period, and how he could reflect it in his art. We looked at pictures in old books to see the clothing styles, even watched some silent movies made during that period.

Anthony and I really wanted to capture a particular mood in the art and storytelling. This is Post-Industrial Revolution, working its way into the Postmodern Era. The gay '90s of London were gone. Fear and uncertainty lay ahead. London needed to look like a city on the brink of apocalypse, with a Blade Runner-type feel. I think Anthony accomplished that very well.

Gianluca Glazer: Did you read up on any other Sherlock Holmes stories outside of the Arthur Conan Doyle books?

Daniel Corey: I looked at the films, mostly. I already mentioned the Jeremy Brett series. I also looked at the Basil Rathbone films, which I used to watch on Sunday afternoons as a kid.

My favorite depictions of Moriarty that I always return to are Daniel Davis in Star Trek: The Next Generation, Paul Freeman in Without A Clue, and the great Sir Laurence Olivier in The Seven-Percent Solution.

Gianluca Glazer: You previously worked with Anthony on a self published titled called Prophet. How did you guys meet up, and was he your first choice for doing the illustrations in Moriarty? 

Daniel Corey: Anthony and I had a great time working together on Prophet. Clocking in at 120 pages, it was the first, full-length comic project that either of us had undertaken. It was a great learning experience.

By the time we finished Prophet, it just seemed natural that we'd continue on working together, so the transition to Moriarty was a no-brainer. We had figured out how to work in the medium, and we had made that journey working together. So the prospect of continuing that journey was an exciting one - for me, at least. You'd have to ask him if he was excited about it.

Gianluca Glazer: Finally, tell the audience why they should read Moriarty.

Daniel Corey: What you'll get in our first volume of Image Comics' Moriarty is a science fiction/adventure/mystery with twists and turns, exciting action, steam punk-style gadgetry and mind-blowing deductive puzzle-solving which gives nods to literature, history and the original Doyle stories. Moriarty is smart, but not pretentious, exciting, yet sophisticated. I'd say this story has flashes not only of the Doyle mythos, but a touch of Philip Marlowe and James Bond, as well.

And the leading lady is a ninja. So, you have that, too.

I don't want to say it has "something for everybody," but I think there's a lot to like, here. So if you have even the most basic knowledge of Holmes and Moriarty, or if you're a first-timer, I think the chances are good you'll enjoy this book.