Interview with Frank Beddor
The Universe of the Looking Glass Wars
by Beth Delaney

Beth Delaney: The Looking Glass Wars (LGW) universe first came to the fans in prose form then moved to a gorgeous graphic novel format. At New York Comic-Con you said even more was available or coming: a soundtrack, a game (Card Soldier Wars), a movie, and possibly a musical. What is the status of each new avenue of the LGW universe?

Frank Beddor: The soundtrack already exists and is available to anyone wishing to enter Wonderland via an aural portal.  The game the Card Soldier Wars can be played online for free at Cardsoldierwars.com, the screenplay for the Looking Glass Wars film is written and I am meeting with directors.  The musical is currently in development.

BD: It seems like a role playing video game would be widely accepted. Following the path of progression to which LGW has grown, can fans expect a MMORPG or other video game so that they can create their own 19th century character to help save Princess Alyss?

FB: That’s a great idea. How about you choosing a Milliner bodyguard to find your Alyss?

BD: At NYCC you recapped the story of traveling to the U.K. where you were met by Lewis Carroll Society extremists that protested what you have created with Wonderland. Did that really happen?

FB: Yes!  You must realize how passionate and loyal the fans of Lewis Carroll are to fully grasp the fact that they would take my revelations so personally.  I was as stunned and disbelieving as anyone to see the placards waving wildly (OFF WITH FRANK BEDDOR’S HEAD!!!)  on the Heathrow tarmac. I didn’t even mention the hate mail that was sent – bottles labeled EAT ME! and  “unbirthday cards” wishing I had never been born. 

BD: Hatter Madigan and the other members of the Queen's Millinery have abilities that border between perfected natural abilities and superpowers, like Batman. Would you consider their hatter powers above and beyond human or are they skills that anyone could develop if trained?

FB: Alas Beth, you won’t be joining the Millinery Corps in this lifetime. The Milliner’s are an esoteric caste that has DNA off any chart here on earth.  It is training and genetics that make their skills so outstanding.

BD: Since you've spent a lot of time promoting LGW to young readers, have any of them ever surprised you with a question or insight?

FB: Since Wonderland’s gift to our world is Imagination and children are the most open of receivers they are certainly astute readers with an uncanny comprehension of Wonderland’s mythos.  They don’t complain or criticize about style – they go straight for the BIG QUESTIONS and yes their insights have astounded me as to what else Wonderland may have in store for us.

BD: Adult readers clearly love your work. The violence in the graphic novel might be considered jolting for a younger reader yet the novels are promoted to a younger crowd; what minimum age are you hoping to target?

FB: I try to emphasize Hatter’s prowess as a fighter and the action in the panels over gratuitous graphic violence so I think the same age group that reads the books  – about 11 years old and up – can handle what the graphic novels have.

BD: Despite the powers of the internet, there doesn't seem to be much information about you outside of LGW and your professional resume as a skier and film producer. Is your personal life top secret? Are you really James Bond?

FB: No I am really Honey West.

BD: What's your favorite way to connect to your fans?

FB: School visits, comic book conventions….I discourage stalking and home invasions.

DB: Who was your idol when you were growing up?

FB: Eddie Fergusen/ Frank Herbert

BD: What advice do you have for aspiring writers?

FB: Never drink alone.

BD: Many classics have been turned into comics and graphic novels from the entire Marvel Illustrated or Classics Illustrated series to constant returns to Dracula and Frankenstein. Is there a literary classic you'd like to see in comics?

FB: Gone with the Wind – so prepare  yourself for Royal Bodyguard Hatter Madigan’s further  adventures in Volume 2 (A Glow in the Dark) as he continues his search for Wonderland’s lost princess across the battlefields of the American Civil War.

BD: Is there anything else you want people who haven't joined the LGW cult to know?

FB: I want everyone to know that the third book in the LGW prose trilogy: ArchEnemy is finished and will be in stores Fall 2009 and that Volume 2 of the Hatter M graphic novel trilogy will be available this fall as well.

On the web:
thelookingglasswars.com
cardsoldierwars.com

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