DF Interview: Infinity Inc. co-creator Jerry Ordway returns to the kids during Convergence

By Byron Brewer

The young heroes of Infinity Inc. must choose between the path set for them by their parents or the one they’ve set for themselves as they face post-apocalyptic Jonah Hex.

A legacy team the DC timelines seemingly forgot, it is exciting for an older reader like me to see co-creator Jerry Ordway returning to one of his own legacies.

To see how HE feels about it and for more on this “Convergence” book, Dynamic Forces sat town with Ordway and asked him …

Dynamic Forces: Jerry, how does it feel to be handling a group you, along with the great Roy Thomas, co-created, Infinity Inc.?

Jerry Ordway: It took me a bit to get back into "character." When I worked on Infinity Inc. in 1984, Roy wrote the plots, and got to put the words into the character's mouths. So I needed to refresh what I felt about the team as individuals, in order to let the story flow properly.

DF: What, at the time, did the creation of this sort of JSA legacy team mean to your career, if anything?

Jerry Ordway: Well, it was an amazing time in comic books, and an amazing opportunity to be allowed to co-create, with Roy Thomas and Mike Machlan, our own book, which was one of the earliest comics sold only in comic stores. We got offset printing and character equity as well. That the characters have had lives of their own since then is a very cool thing. After Crisis on Infinite Earths finished, a few of the team had their origins altered with the loss of Earth 2.

DF: From which DC “reality” does this iteration of your characters spring?

Jerry Ordway: Our story features an Infinity team that had recently encountered the events of the red skies phase from Crisis on Infinite Earths. So in the comic continuity, it is nearer to the two year mark of the original title. They're still a new team, smarting over their rejection by the Justice Society, and still a bit distanced from their parents and guardians.

DF: About how long a time has passed since we last saw them? Anything significant happened in their lives?

Jerry Ordway: Well, in comic book continuity, they have formed their team, saved the JSA from the Ultra-Humanite, and are trying to be a successful team, not just a bunch of disgruntled kids. Jade and Obsidian know that Green Lantern is their dad, though.

DF: And the big-bad?

Jerry Ordway: Well, they're set to fight Jonah Hex and the Dogs of War, from the future world of the Hex comic book, originally published in the mid-1980s.

DF: The return of post-apocalyptic Jonah Hex? Wow, what a wild and experimental era of comics history he brings back! What role does he play here?

Jerry Ordway: Honestly, he is a good adversary, and pretty far removed from many of the villains of Earth 2. The Infinitors were cast from a more classic hero mold, while the citizens of Hex world are survivalists.

DF: What does artist Ben Caldwell bring to the table here, and would you have liked to have drawn this yourself?

Jerry Ordway: Ben has a great feel for the characters, and an exciting, fluid style. I had never planned on drawing this, as I've been through this before, working in conjunction with a crossover series.  The demands are much different, and doing either writing or drawing is a major endeavor, requiring total dedication, as well as lots of research.

DF: Any projects present or near future coming from the pen or keyboard of Jerry Ordway?

Jerry Ordway: I keep busy, and am currently doing a serial in Dark Horse Presents, with writer Alex DeCampi, called Semiautomagic.

Dynamic Forces would like to thank Jerry Ordway for taking time from his busy schedule to answer our questions. Convergence: Infinity Inc. #1 hits stores April 29^th!

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