Caliber has been known for introducing a great many original
titles into the comics world. Their line is questionably the most diverse on the market.
Reed is not only the publisher of Saint Germaine, he’s also the creator and writer!
Here, Negative Burn’s editor, Joe Pruett, talks to Gary about the mysterious figure
known as Saint Germaine.
JP: Obviously, the main question is Who is Saint Germaine?
GR: Saint Germaine is a legendary name. He’s long been associated with being a
magician in the era of the Mages that quite often held royal court. Saint Germaine was
perhaps the most famous and well known. The legacy of Saint Germaine lives on in such
mysterious organizations as the Knights Templar, the Masonic Brotherhood, and he was
definitely present at the court of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette who were the rulers when
the Reign of Terror was unleashed in France.
JP: So, Saint Germaine is really an actual person?
GR: Of that, there’s no doubt. Where the speculation came in at was that he
claimed he was an immortal. No one ever saw him eat food, show any signs of aging, or
succumb to any worldly vices. His claim at the time was that he was already at least a
1000 years old and he often quoted historical events as if he were there. He claimed to
have certain powers such as alchemy, prophecy, and other more magical skills. He was well
known through all of Europe and he set the stage for other court appointed Mages such as
Cagliostro and even Casanova.
JP: What’s the setting of the story? Is it modern times?
GR: It’s set in current day although there will be some flashbacks to the
past, which of course, are his versions of the past. As the story develops, we find out
why and who is he currently and how that ties into the past as well as the present and of
course, the possible future.
JP: What’s the focus of the series, at least at the beginning?
GR: As we begin to learn more about Saint Germaine, we also learn more about the
world he inhabits. He claims to have lived all these years and we also find out that there
are others who reportedly have as well. One of this is a woman called Lilith. Actually,
the first story arc focuses on her as much as it does Saint Germaine and there’s a
good reason for that which is unveiled as the series progresses. Saint Germaine may not
always be the focal character in all the storylines but somehow, they always revolve
around him.
JP: Vince Locke is illustrating the series, so fans can expect some really great
artwork. How did he happen to come on board.
GR: Vince and I have been planning to do something together for years. He was one
of the original artists at Caliber when we started but then he did a lot of work for DC
which kept him busy. He did Sandman for a year, the mini-series, American Freaks, a story
arc in Sandman Mystery Theatre and has spent the last year and a half doing a special
project for DC called The History of Violence which is something like 300 pages long and
is a special book format that they’re releasing sometime soon. So, it was a process
of just waiting until his schedule cleared up.
JP: Why the two covers for the first issue?
GR: As I said, the first story arc centers on Lilith but the series
focuses on Saint Germaine himself. It seemed to be appropriate to do a cover on each for
the first issue. We plan on releasing both in equal numbers so there’s not a rare one
or anything like that. Vince always does such great covers, we wanted to show him off a
little bit.
JP: Anything else you’d like to add?
GR: I think it will be a fun series. It’ll be sophisticated but not
self-indulgent. It should appeal to fans of most Caliber books such as Kabuki, Renfield,
Bandy Man as well as the line of Vertigo books from DC. It should have mass appeal to
people who like good stories about fascinating characters.
