The bevy of tales from AHOY Comics’ The Wrong Earth miniseries have explored the concept of parallel Earths, how heroes from those worlds might vary, and the results when those heroes collide. In The Wrong Earth universe, writer Tom Peyer and artist Jamal Igle follow Dragonflyman, the upright superhero from Earth-Alpha—and Dragonfly, his grim-and-gritty mirror from Earth-Omega. While the two have interacted before, The Wrong Earth: Dead Ringers miniseries—which debuted this week—sees Dragonflyman and his sidekick Stinger back on his own Earth, while Dragonfly and his companion Stinger II are stuck on that same Earth. How everyone will everyone cope with this new normal? If we know Peyer and Igle, it’ll be a (multiversal) trip!
I spoke with Mr. Peyer recently about where we find Dragonflyman, Dragonfly, Stinger, and Stinger II at the jump of The Wrong Earth: Dead Ringers, the fun of writing these characters, the response from fans about The Wrong Earth, and what he learns every time he writes a new Wrong Earth tale.
THE WRONG EARTH: DEAD RINGERS #1 Cover A
FreakSugar: For folks who aren’t familiar with The Wrong Earth stories, what can you tell you new readers?
Tom Peyer: A superhero published between 1954 and the mid-’80s—the peak Comics Code era of heavy censorship—unironically lived a clean life, upheld the law, and assisted the police. After 1986 or so, the same hero might have morphed into a lethal, lawless vigilante primarily interested in sticking it to the Man. In The Wrong Earth, we use parallel worlds to get these versions together, or swap them out. Initially, they were trapped on each other’s worlds in kind of a double fish-out-of-water arrangement.
FS: Where do we find Dragonflyman, Dragonfly, Stinger, and Stinger II at the beginning of The Wrong Earth: Dead Ringers?
TP: They’re all on campy, Code-era Earth-Alpha. For Dragonflyman and Stinger, it’s a homecoming. For Dragonfly and Stinger II, natives of gritty Earth-Omega, it’s a shipwreck.
THE WRONG EARTH: DEAD RINGERS #1 Cover B
FS: You’ve tackled writing Dragonflyman, Dragonfly, Stinger, and Stinger II for some time now. What do you learn from them each time you write them?
TP: What a good question. I get to know these characters better every time. This isn’t a project that benefits from a detailed outline. Except for a general idea of the ending, which I can’t write without, I often don’t know where they need to go on a scene-by-scene level until I’m actually writing the panels and balloons. The first series pivoted around the tragic fate of the original Earth-Omega Stinger; I didn’t know what that was, or how it happened, until I started writing the page that spelled it all out.
FS: You’re back with Jamal Igle on the series. Have you all developed a shorthand with each other at this point?
TP: You’d know we’re from the same Earth.
FS: What do you think the appeal of The Wrong Earth books have been? What do you hear from fans?
TP: A lot of readers had the same experience I’m talking about, which is thinking about how one comics hero can change drastically over time, yet still remain the same. When it works, we carry it with us. I think they like the humor, too, and they feel for the characters. So: nerding out and being funny with a little compassion thrown in.
THE WRONG EARTH: DEAD RINGERS #2 Cover A
The Wrong: Dead Ringers #1 (of 5) is on sale now from AHOY Comics. Bonus: Each issue of the miniseries will feature covers by Igle that pay tribute to photos of rock and hip-hop artists throughout history!
From the official issue description:
AHOY’s acclaimed multiverse comic returns for a new five-issue run by the original creative team! Dragonflyman and Stinger are back where they belong, on campy Earth-Alpha-but Earth-Omega’s gritty Dragonfly and Stinger II are now trapped there too. Will their vigilante violence infect the planet’s innocent, code-approved culture? And what happens when two heroes want to share Dragonflyman’s civilian identity, billionaire Richard Fame? The agonizing answers will shake Fortune City to its foundations!