Author: Eric Burns-White

Justice Wing

⎇001JW Interviewing Leather Revised #11 (Conclusion!)

Eric Burns-White
This entry is part 11 of 11 in the series Interviewing Leather Revised

“Because….” I looked off, down the street. “Because we live with you. Your kind. The heroes and the villains. We live with you and we thrill with you and sometimes we’re entertained by you and sometimes we’re terrified by you, but we don’t understand you. Not always.” I put my hands in my pockets. “Barbara Babcock’s a better reporter than I’ll ever be, but that’s just it. She reports on what Paragon and the rest of you do. Not on who you are. This… this is a chance to write about who you are.” I shrugged. “That’s too important to blow on a puff piece drooling over Leather in a PVC leotard.”

Justice Wing

⎇001JW Interviewing Leather Revised #10

Eric Burns-White
This entry is part 10 of 11 in the series Interviewing Leather Revised

So, Leather’s just wrong?”

“Mm.” He leaned back. “She’s wrong headed. In a number of ways, really, but I’m thinking of a specific kind of thing, here. We don’t need villains to be heroes… but some villains like her? They need us to need them.”

“It’s how she sleeps at night. She wants to steal anything she likes without any consequences for it. She wants a certain standard of living. She wants to make the evening news. And she wants someone else to pay for it. But… she pretends to have a conscience. Not to you or me, mind. She’s deceiving herself. She knows that she should feel guilty unless she can find some justification. And what better justification than literally making heroes possible? If she decides she’s enabling heros to be heroic, then she can satisfy that fake conscience. Heroes inspire people and save lives but only so long as villains like her make heroes possible in the first place. Having settled that, she can go out and steal anything she wants and still sleep like a baby.” He shook his head. “That 'help?' I do not need, did not ask for, and vehemently oppose. Is that unambiguous enough for your purposes, Mister Chapman?”

Justice Wing

⎇001JW Interviewing Leather: Being the Steve #7 (CONCLUSION!)

Eric Burns-White
This entry is part 7 of 7 in the series Interviewing Leather - Being the Steve

"...whoever she was, she wasn’t a Steve. She clearly wasn’t a Steve. So you didn’t lie to me. I get that.” She took a breath. “Was it a good offer?”

“Amazing offer. You couldn’t match it.”

“Yeah, well. How screwed are you, now?”

He laughed, slightly. “Pretty screwed.”

Justice Wing

⎇001JW Interviewing Leather Revised #9

Eric Burns-White
This entry is part 9 of 11 in the series Interviewing Leather Revised

“Hey spiky!” Leather shouted, tearing the box open and aside and lifting the Mountbatten Urn where it could be clearly seen. “Is this what you’re looking for? Huh?”

Darkhood skidded to a stop. “Leather! Put that down – gently! We can talk about this!”

“Yeah, about that? So not my style!” She giggled. “Think fast!”

I stared, my hands working my camera almost mechanically, as Leather did a forward in-air roll and flung the priceless urn out and away from herself, far over Darkhood’s head.

Justice Wing

⎇001JW In Nadir: The Monologue #1

Eric Burns-White
This entry is part 1 of 1 in the series The Monologue

Part of being a norm hero — prosahuman! they heard Cozy Wight correct in the back of her head — meant constant physical training to keep up with the parahumans she dealt with on both sides of the aisle. DETAILS called it ‘discipline’ based super powers, which always made Crosspointe imagine a bunch of super-Dommes. And, admittedly, Crosspointe never missed with a whip.

But then, Crosspointe never missed. It was kind of their thing.

Justice Wing, Artwork

⎇001JW Art: Crosspointe

Eric Burns-White

The hero called Crosspointe started off as the sidekick to Justice Wing's acerbic archer Broadhead during the Emergence era. "Broadhead and Quiver" were an effective team, though Broadhead's typical attitude grated on the young hero. Broadhead typically left Quiver at home, but they typically snuck out to follow. By the time of Halcyon Days, Quiver… Continue reading ⎇001JW Art: Crosspointe

Justice Wing

⎇001JW Interviewing Leather: Being the Steve #6

Eric Burns-White
This entry is part 6 of 7 in the series Interviewing Leather - Being the Steve

“You change your circumstances, so you change your role. You wear a different face.” The Steve took a deep breath. “I do it all the time. Every time I head into the field, I’m somebody else.”

“I can’t imagine that,” the blond said. “Just… flipping like that.”

“Sure you can,” the Steve said. “When you call your grandmother, your whole attitude changes — you even get more of a southern accent.”

“Well… sure… but—“

“We all do it. Everyone does. I just… do it more completely. And every Cowl or Cape and every Crook who keeps a secret identity does it every day. The masks are external. The change is internal.”

Novella, Justice Wing

⎇001JW In Nadir Pentad of Guardians: Transposition #1

Eric Burns-White
This entry is part 1 of 4 in the series Justice Wing In Nadir: Transposition

Dedicated to Chris Meadows
Clear skies, hot jets, and good hunting, R_M.

Jetgirl stared. “Why are you being so blasé about all this? I mean, these people are in danger and if she’s taking everyone hostage to find some lost sprocket I can’t imagine we should let her find it.”

“It’s bad form to leap into local affairs uninvited,” Hearth replied, lightly. “And they’re looking for the 'Silver Spoke Cog,' not a sprocket.”

“I will wire you ten thousand dollars today if you can correctly define the difference between a cog and a sprocket, right here and right now, without looking it up on your phone first.”

“Well, I know Cogsworth sold cogs and Spacely sold sprockets on the Jetsons. How much is that worth?"

Justice Wing

⎇001JW Interviewing Leather: Being the Steve #5

Eric Burns-White
This entry is part 5 of 7 in the series Interviewing Leather - Being the Steve

"I know you don’t care. I know that. You’re a Crook — you don’t have to give a damn about my feelings but you’re always just—“ He shuddered again. “I know I’m fired. I don’t care. But I can’t — not today, okay? I just can’t play along today, all right?"

Justice Wing

⎇001JW Interviewing Leather: Being the Steve #4

Eric Burns-White
This entry is part 4 of 7 in the series Interviewing Leather - Being the Steve

“I’m sorry, maybe I never explained something to you,” Leather hissed. “You don’t add people to my plan without telling me!”

Justice Wing, Serial, Superhero

⎇001JW Interviewing Leather: Being the Steve #3

Eric Burns-White
This entry is part 3 of 7 in the series Interviewing Leather - Being the Steve

"...Chapman’s not babbling. He’s asking questions. He won’t stop asking questions.”

“Isn’t that literally what an interviewer does?” the brown haired bagman asked.

“No. An interviewer follows a script — maybe digging a bit deep here and there, but not too much. All he wants are easy answers he can write up to everyone’s satisfaction. You read a couple’a issues of Amplifer, right? Those things are PR. We talked about this. There’s never surprises.”

“And?”

“And Chapman’s asking questions.” Marco was frowning. “He isn’t putting together a breezy little five page publicity exercise. He’s trying to understand. He’s actively trying to understand.”

The Steve was frowning. “Marco’s right,” he said. “He’s…”

Pieces fell into place. “Oh shit, he’s a journalist,” the Steve said, softly.