Discussing ‘Uncle Sam’ With Creators Steve Darnall And Alex Ross

Writer Steve Darnall and illustrator Alex Ross are two members of the creative team for Uncle Sam: Special Election Edition (2024). Darnall’s past publishing efforts include the comic strip NikkiTesla, Kid Inventor for Disney Adventures Magazine (1990-2007). Most in the comic book community know Ross for his past work on the series Marvels (1994) from Marvel and Kingdom Come(1996) from DC. This collection is formerly a Vertigo two-issue prestige format comic by the title Uncle Sam (1997). It will be seeing a re-release in its upcoming form from Abrams ComicArts.

Benjamin Hall: Is there a favorite memory you have from working on this two-parter?

Alex Ross: Mostly, I just remember how happy I was that Steve and I got to this project and how proud I am and was for how it turned out. I think Steve did an exemplary job in creating a truly relevant comic for our times then and now. I felt that it was a great use of my training as an illustrator to adapt more real world history and incorporate classic art into my body of work.

Steve Darnall: Oh, I daresay more than one. I have very fond memories of going to Alex’s apartment in the early ’90s — we were more or less neighbors at the time — to watch David Letterman and toss around ideas for Uncle Sam while he was working on the pages for what would become Marvels. Brainstorming comic-book stories was fairly new territory for each of us; as a result, there was a lot of enthusiastic back-and-forth that set the tone for when we actually got to make the book a few years later.

Hall: What does the concept of Uncle Sam mean to you?

Ross: Uncle Sam should still stand as the major emblematic figure of our country and its identity to use in creative arts. He isn’t purely born of popular culture, so it has a certain pedigree to his representation. To me, it seems like a very under-utilised icon to communicate statements about who we are and where we’re at.

Darnall: As the representation of a nation’s spirit, Uncle Sam remains a fascinating symbol of a fascinating place.

Hall: Why are you re-releasing this work now?

Ross: This re-release is a long time coming and is seemingly always capturing a state of division and distress that our nation is experiencing. I’d love for it to no longer seem contemporary.

Darnall: A lot of the credit for this re-issue goes to Charlie Kochman over at Abrams. We’ve both known Charlie since he worked at DC in the 1990s and he and Alex have worked on several projects together in recent years. The subject of Uncle Sam came up and Charlie felt strongly that our story would be relevant for the United States of the 21st Century — hence the “Special Election Edition,” which includes afterwords from Alex and myself.

Hall: How come you are not re-releasing through DC’s Black Label, and is this decision a group one by you two?

Ross: The enthusiastic support of Abrams is how we got this book back to press, and I’m grateful to them for reaching out to DC to make this happen.

Darnall: I know the DC Black Label logo is on the cover of the new edition and I assume that’s because Uncle Sam was originally published as part of DC’s Vertigo line — which, of course, no longer exists. Ultimately, what’s more important to me is that the people at Abrams are really enthusiastic about bringing this story back and sharing it with a new audience.

Hall: How do you both feel about this work in comparison to your other work?

Ross: Unfortunately for me, Uncle Sam simply outdoes a lot of what I’ve done since in terms of challenging myself with topics outside of superheroes, and graphically it stands as a personal high watermark.

Darnall: Personally, I have a hard time comparing one work to another, if only because I’ve been lucky enough to do a lot of very different projects — how would one compare Uncle Sam to Peter Cannon: Thunderbolt or Nikki Tesla, Kid Inventor?

I will say that the Uncle Sam book has always meant a lot to both me and Alex, both in terms of our friendship and in terms of the story itself. It helped a lot that we had sympathetic, encouraging editors in Karen Berger and Joan Hilty, and one of the greatest letterers on Earth in Todd Klein; their contributions were immeasurable in ensuring that Alex and I got to tell the story we wanted to tell. I’ve enjoyed all of the stories I’ve gotten to write for the comics medium but I always look back on this experience with a particular gratitude.

Hall: How much do you each worry that this work will be even more relevant after this year’s elections?

Ross: Let’s hope it no longer will be relevant in our lifetimes. Fingers crossed.

Darnall: Obviously, every writer dreams of creating a work that might resonate after the fact, but how relevant it will be after the election is ultimately up to the readers — and the voters.

Thanks to Alex Ross and Steve Darnall for their time and answers!

Uncle Sam: Special Election Edition comes out on August 7th from DC BlackLabel/Abrams Books.