Preview: A Look at the New Comic Book Night Stalker!

A new ass kicking female is about to hit shelves in May. Night Stalker features Dyana, a bounty hunter out to capture all the creatures that have escaped from hell. For more insight I asked creator/writer, Orlando Harding, a few questions.

Q: For those who don’t know, what is your comic about?

Night Stalker is a comic is about good vs. evil light vs. dark and a friendship that evolves between an angel and a demon. The stage is set in San Francisco and the main character’s name is Dyana- a blue blooded bounty hunter charged with capturing the most illusive and vilest creatures that have escaped from Hell and are in hiding on Earth. Once a week at Ghirardelli Square she meets with her best friend- Michelle who is an angel and they talk about the past weeks events. When they start talking about the weeks previous events that’s when the story starts. Dyana talks about capturing a creature that has been successfully evading her and the book takes you to that moment in time and what she had to do to in order to catch the creature. It takes you to the actual chase through the streets of San Francisco. She’s running and jumping up and down buildings and their fire escapes and firing her guns at the creature at will. The chase scene takes you under the streets of San Francisco until she corners the creature and they end up having a life and death fight but the creature knows that he is fighting a losing battle and succumbs to her onslaught. The creature is captured and dragged kicking and screaming back to Hell.

Then Michelle tells her past weeks story about her relentless pursuit of the entity “Death”. She’s not just any angel but an Arch Angel charged with patrolling Earth and capturing Death and his minions. Her tale starts on a Muni bus line in San Francisco where she encounters “Death” riding the bus line. A huge fight erupts on the bus and Death takes them on a ride that none of the passengers will ever forget. The politics of light and dark have not interfered with their friendship and they are both still able to take care of business. We try to exploit the gray areas of good and evil and depending on your point of view some might argue trying to define acts that are truly good and ones that are evil. It really is a good read and ultimately Dyana is punished do the politics of light and dark. I really believe that this conflict of light vs. dark is what drives the story and keeps the reader interested. The fact that she is African American is rare in itself. There are very few books in the country with a leading character like mine and I am trying to do something a little different while simultaneously breaking new ground and trying to capture peoples interest in the story and not just because she’s African American. We use real landmarks in San Francisco including her place of residence in the Sunset district of SF and other landmarks like Ghirardelli Square and the Golden Gate Bridge.

Q: What inspired you to write about a female ass kicker?

What inspired you to write about a female ass kicker? I really just wanted to do something different. Something people had never seen before. Sure, there are plenty of books out there with leading female characters but I wanted to create something unique that people could not predict and was character driven. I have always enjoyed the good vs. evil books but wanted to put a spin on Night Stalker and exploit those gray areas and not let the politics interfere with their relationship. I wanted the main characters to be beautiful, powerful, dynamic ass kickers but at the same time I wanted them to be “cool” just two women sitting down at lunch discussing the latest gossip. We see that everyday across America-girlfriends at lunch catching up on the latest biz over a few drinks- but what these two women are catching up on is the hook. Chasing creatures of the night and knock down drag out fights is what they live for. Telling the tales of chase is just the frosting on the cake for them.  I enjoy reading any good story as long as it keeps me interested and not a redo of another story. Night Stalker is unique into it self and is something that I believe has never been done before. Once you read the story you forget about her race and just get caught up in the character and the plot surrounding her. The reader will be caught up wanting to know what happens next. I want the reader to come off with the sense that this could really happen and envision the chase scenes across and under the streets of San Francisco. I believe that Night Stalker does just that and leaves the reader wanting more. Women playing lead roles are more prevalent now compared to 20 years ago but I believe that there is more ground to be broken. Night Stalker is just another hammer breaking that ground and I believe could eventually lead to other opportunities and open other doors in the future. This is just the beginning.

You can stay up to date on Night Stalker at the website or find it in stores in May. It’s full of action and crazy looking monsters. Oh and don’t forget an ass kicking heroine.

This is the Action Flick Chick, and you’ve just been kicked in the ass!