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During the early- to mid-80s, there were no characters more popular than Cloak and Dagger. Their first appearance in Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man #64, under an iconic cover by co-creator Ed Hannigan, was a huge hit, and the duo would continue to make appearances in the title. They would receive even more exposure in a four-issue miniseries of their own by co-creator Bill Mantlo and artist Rick Leonardi, followed by a three-issue appearance in New Mutants drawn masterfully by Bill Sienkiewicz. However, this success would not translate into success for a series of their own, as their first series would be given a bimonthly schedule and would only last 11 issues. They would return in Strange Tales, a mid-80s relaunch of this series featuring Cloak and Dagger in one feature and Dr. Strange in the other, followed by yet another series, The Mutant Misadventures of Cloak and Dagger, which moved them from the grim and gritty to the world of mutants. Doomed from the beginning, this series would run for 19 issues.
Since then, they have been in the background, waiting for another revival. Popping up in Marvel Knights, the duo would gain some exposure, and Marvel thrust them back into the spotlight in the Dark Avengers/X-Men crossover, Utopia. Fresh from their appearance in Dark X-Men, the duo will be appearing this March in a one shot special written by Stuart Moore. I had the chance to catch up with Stuart to discuss the special, and here’s how that went down.
Cloak and Dagger originally started out in the Spider-Man sphere of the Marvel Universe, working in the shadows of New York City. They would drift towards the X-Men in the mid- to late-80s with appearances in the New Mutants and then The Mutant Misadventures of Cloak and Dagger. Marvel Knights seemed to bring them back towards the former, but Dark X-Men planted them right back in the world of mutants. Where heading into this one-shot will they fall into?
We're picking up right from Dark X-Men and the Nation X storyline, so there are some definite X-Men links and guest stars. But we're not dealing with heavy continuity; all you need to know is that, as the story opens, Cloak & Dagger are living on Utopia, the X-Men's sovereign island off the coast of California. One of them likes it more than the other, and that's where the trouble starts. The action moves quickly to an inner city environment, which is where Cloak and Dagger were born and where they really thrive.
Different writers have had very different takes on their respective powers. Without giving away your story, how do you view their powers?
The most important element of it, to me, is the symbiosis. They need each other in a very real, physical way -- Cloak needs Dagger, needs her light; and without him, she'd have too much energy to burn off safely. Some characters develop a lot of backstory after they've been around for a while -- Cloak kind of fell prey to that, with all the stuff about his cape leading to the Dark Dimension. We're not contradicting any of that, but I've tried to strip the two characters back to their basic powers, show how those powers play into their relationship, and then throw a big wrench into the whole thing.
We'll also be dealing very directly with the question of whether they're mutants. One of them, for sure.
Along the same lines, what is your view of their relationship? Partners in the fighting crime way, partners in the romantic way, close friends, or something else entirely?
They have a close bond that's gradually grown into a full-blown romantic partnership. But that's a dangerous path for them, because they're linked in so many different ways. When one of them grows restless, it brings up all sorts of problems and conflicting emotions. They're still barely out of their teens -- in many ways, they're like lovers who married very young, and now have to deal with everything that means.
Cloak & Dagger haven't had a solo series for a long time. One of the things I discovered, when starting this project, is that we now have a great deal more freedom to deal with the sexual ramifications of their powers than was possible in the '80s. That's not to say this story will get exploitative or anything; just that, the way Cloak & Dagger function, there's a sexual undertone to almost everything they do. We'll be delving into that a little more.
Plus, of course, there are villains out to get them. For reasons very specific to one of them in particular. I think we've got a nice twist on the usual mutant-hunting group, something that hasn't been seen before.
Is there potential for this one-shot to lead into more Cloak and Dagger? If so, are you interested in continuing with them?
Yes, the story brings them back to basics while setting them up to go in any one of a number of different directions. I've already got ideas, assuming this one-shot is well received.
I have to say some good words about Mark Brooks' art on this book. He clearly loves the characters, and this is probably the most dynamic superhero work I've seen him do...with just a hint of manga influence here and there, particularly on Dagger. Mark's already a star, but I think people are really going to notice his work here.
Cloak and Dagger are tricky characters -- in a way, we have to reintroduce them to a whole new generation of readers. Hopefully people will like what we're doing.
