JAKE PILKINGTON Provides a World Tour of Comic Tropes in CAPTAIN DENMARK
- Andrew Irvin
- Aug 27
- 7 min read
Another Melbourne-based creator sits down with Interviews Editor, Andrew Irvin; Jake Pilkington unpacks the expanding world of Captain Denmark!
COMIC BOOK YETI: Welcome to the Yeti Cave, Jake. I asked for more Melbourne creators to drop by, and you answered the call, so we’re glad to have you! I know you’re also in the midst of your PhD. - how’s your candidature going?
JAKE PILKINGTON: Hi, it’s a lot of work and deliberation, but at the same time it has elevated my thinking about superhero comics and storytelling. There is a great quote from Busiek (1999, p.7-8), that a superhero comic can be anything. My work has definitely enlarged my thinking about what a superhero comic can entail.
CBY: Expanding one's perspective is right at the core of the learning journey, isn't it? It’s not every comic that has a whole dissertation attached to it. Can you share a bit with our readers about Captain Denmark and how you’ve worked your comic into a central component of your thesis topic? (i.e. - what does your abstract look like?)
JP: The work began as a study into nationalist superheroes. This suggested a superhero that represented a country. Yet, the idea has always been story-driven. My character was always going to be sent back into the Dark Ages and engage with Viking mythology. As I
began to write the script, I began engaging with elements from the evolution and history of comics. So, the work quickly became connected to the separate Ages of superhero comics. The informal question became, ‘What is a Superhero?’ The study opened into a cultural analysis.
CBY: Captain Denmark builds upon the world of your title, Nightwatcher, which you first published in 2009. What sort of interrelated narrative world have you been building, and are there any other titles you plan on releasing within the same universe?
JP: I created the Nightwatcher as this antihero, who didn’t deserve to be a superhero. The initial storyline was like holding a distorted mirror to the Batman mythos. As I began to develop new stories, I did so with the expansion of this character in mind. I began to tailor new stories, and realised I could use this character to tell any story I wanted. As his world grew, so did the Nightwatcher. For this episode, Roger Usher, the Nightwatcher, becomes Captain Denmark. I will probably use him in the future to tell different genres of tales.
CBY: There is a metanarrative commentary on both Scandinavian history and current geopolitics over the course of your comics. You mentioned it beginning with a recognition of nationalism infused into the superhero genre with Marvel’s Alpha Flight and its focus on Canadian superheroes. What set Denmark apart as the subject of this title?
JP: When I was seven years old, I read my middle brother’s Alpha Flight collection. My favourites were issues no.30 and 34. Having grown up with a Danish grandmother and
mother, the next step was Captain Denmark. It wasn’t until decades later that I remembered the drawings I made, and thought I could use it to tell a story. I had been looking for something to explore for a PhD. I have always loved the poem Beowulf, and the mythological romances in the Prose Edda. Mixed with a love of the Robert E Howard Conan the Barbarian stories, I felt it was a recipe for a great story. Later research had me thinking of cities like Copenhagen as a real-world Metropolis.
CBY: An interesting European city parallel, and representation of real locations involves additional considerations, since people have pre-existing notions of what cities should look like and the “vibe” to capture in its depiction. You mention in issue #2, “The only certainty in any story is that it will end.” You’re nine issues into the Captain Denmark run at the moment, and while there are clear throughlines in the narrative, the plots of the individual issues can serve largely as standalone vignettes. Do you have a definitive conclusion in mind?
JP: Yes. The final twelve issues were released at the start of the year (apologies, I sent you only nine). The tale winds up with a venture into Japanese manga, more specifically mecha super robots that embody the Viking gods. From there, Roger will travel the ‘Road Back’ through his unconscious. I have him in the final pages as an invalid in a wheelchair, with a government pension. Rest assured, Roger will return to superhero-dom.
CBY: You include reference to the breadth of American superhero comics, as well as nods to the British response (particularly 2000 AD characters like Judge Dredd). There’s recognition on the page of the role comics have played in propaganda efforts - from your dissertation research, are there any specific examples of propaganda you’ve explored that our readers might not be well-acquainted with?
JP: I think that, in early days, US superhero comics were always regarded as propaganda across the world. During World War II, there was a cultural embargo of US goods in other countries, so countries like Canada created their own US-style superheroes. Canada created
lland Nelvana of the Northern Lights as their own patriotic superheroes. There was even a Canadian ‘Iron Man.’ Australia had Crimson Comet and Captain Atom. These countries used domestic superheroes for their own propaganda.
I have always admired the candour of Judge Dredd. There was no Comics Code limiting their humor. Judge Dredd and 2000 AD are bold and funny, and really imaginative. You can always count on a great read, and the artwork is spot on.
CBY: Captain Denmark is interesting within the medium because it marks a transition from the Nightwatcher protagonist - a character couched in the noir tradition of early comics - and leads him through the Super Solider tropes to synthesize subgenres and comment on both. How do the Nightwatcher and Captain Denmark guises of your protagonist each provide a platform for deconstructing the value of these archetypes from over eighty years ago in a modern context?
JP: It was the noir tradition of the twenties and thirties that was popular at the beginning of the superhero explosion. The Shadow, the Spider, even Doc Savage; these were violent noir characters who relished too much violence. Superheroes appeared with their noble morals and these noir characters perished in their wake. Superman (arguably nationalist), Captain America, became emblems of the Golden Age of superheroes. The first book in Captain Denmark portrays this event in our time. I felt that Roger getting kicked out of town by real superheroes could be his ‘Call to Adventure.’ The fact that Superman and Captain America are still around is testament to their popularity. The Shadow is nearly forgotten.
CBY: Yeah, except for that Alex Baldwin film in the early 90s, The Shadow hasn’t really made much of a resurgence. When I first saw your work at Melbourne’s Supanova convention in 2024, it immediately reminded me of Odin’s Afterbirth, an animated short by Joseph Bennet similarly depicting Norse mythology motifs and characters. What sort of influences and inspiration go into your work, both narratively and artistically?
JP: That’s an amazing animation! When pondering how to portray the Viking pantheon, my thoughts immediately went to Jack Kirby and the collection, Thor: Tales of Asgard. Kirby recreated the Viking gods in superhero costumes. Instead, I wanted to create the Viking world as Conan’s Hyboria. If I used the sword and sorcery motif, I could convert what was a Viking narrative into a fantasy one. Roger became a fantasy barbarian. Narratively, he completed quests and killed trolls – yet the fantasy appearance gave me a continuing motif.
CBY: You also take the opportunity to delve into Norse mythology and tie the world of Faerie to our own geopolitical bearings. In your dissertation you mention Robert E. Howard’s Conan as an inspiration, which clearly comes through in the later issues. The PhD. process involves research to synthesize new knowledge, so in short, what other tales of swords and sorcery from both millennia-old mythology and more recent comic renditions offer similarities you were able to explore in new ways?
JP: I began research for the Viking books by rereading the Prose Edda, which is stock Viking mythology, and tales of demigods, like Thor. I followed up by reading the Codex Regius, which is conceived as an edda, and in verse. I directly took tales from these books and converted them into a superhero narrative. From the Volsung saga, I took the tale of Regius and Fafnir the dragon. Beowulf was directly translated into book seven.
I was directly inspired by works like Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne, and Marvel 1602. I also got a hold of King Conan no.1. The Viking books are based on Conan comics, the stories of Robert E. Howard, and the Dungeons & Dragons games and books I read as a kid. All in all, sword and sorcery is a deep pool to draw from.
CBY: Indeed! You also mention a final phase of the comic linked to mecha and manga would also include science fiction fantasy. I asked you earlier about the planned conclusion - how do you expect to incorporate manga tropes and mecha genre influences and visuals into the remaining run of the comic?
JP: In the penultimate book, to fulfill his quest of finding the magic edda and placing it into Odin’s hands, Roger is transported into Valhalla 4000 AD. The Viking gods become pilots of ships that combine into a super robot and attack Roger as an antagonist. Roger escalates into a mecha beast (like a Voltron ‘robeast’) and battles them. Unfortunately, he overloads with power, and upon defeating the super robot, crashes before the statue of Odin.
CBY: We always conclude by providing creators with an opportunity to highlight any unrelated work that has been of inspiration lately. What other comics, films, music, literature, art, etc., have you been enjoying lately that our readers should check out?
JP: I mentioned Jack Kirby before. I really love New Gods and Eternals (the seventies comics). They provide endless inspiration. That Paul Jenkins and Jae Lee The Sentry comic from 2000 was amazing. And just a quick thumbs up to Deadpool Wolverine: World War 3, by Joe Kelly and Adam Kubert. Just a short, simple comic that brightened my day.
CBY: Jake, thank you for joining us today! If you’ve got portfolio, publication, and social media links you’d like to share with our readers, now is the time and the place.
JP: https://www.nightwatchercomics.com/ Planning to be at Supanova next year. Come check out my table, and I will give you a deal :)
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