The Worlds of Richard C. White: Troubleshooters, Incorporated

He’s the bestselling author of the licensed fantasy novel Gauntlet: Dark Legacy: Paths of Evil, and a popular writer of fantasy, science fiction, and crime tales, including Star Trek: Starfleet Corps of Engineers: Echoes of Coventry and The Dark Leopard: Mouse Trap. But if you’ve been paying attention to the works of Richard C. White, you’ll notice he’s been building a backlist here at StarWarp Concepts.

Rich also has a brand-new title hitting bookshelves in a couple of weeks: For a Few Gold Pieces More, a collection of ten critically acclaimed short stories that star a Rogue With No Name who travels a world of epic-fantasy adventure, looking for treasure—and revenge against the woman who sent him to prison for a crime he didn’t commit (but she did). Think Lord of the Rings meets the “spaghetti Westerns” of director Sergio Leone (A Fistful of Dollars; The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly), with a healthy dose of monsters, magic, and swordplay mixed in.

With Gold Pieces so close to publication, I thought it was time to remind you of the titles in Rich’s backlist, since they’re all still very much available for order from the SWC webstore.

We’ll start with Troubleshooters, Incorporated: Night Stalkings, a general readers’ graphic novel about a group of supernatural-superheroes-for-hire taking on their first case. The team consists of a wizard, a female ninja, a sorceress, a werewolf, and a rock ’n’ roll lighting designer wearing high-tech armor. Sure, they might not be on a power level with the Avengers or Justice League of America—they’re more like superpowered Ghostbusters—but they get the job done. The graphic novel is written by Rich and his wife, Joni M. White, and illustrated by Reggie Golden and Randy Zimmerman.

In an earlier form, Troubleshooters was the second title released by SWC, back in the early ’90s when I was publishing digest-sized comics; that’s also where my succubus character, Lorelei, got her start. Rich ordered a copy of one of the Lorelei comics, liked what he saw, and then pitched me on this idea he had for a different sort of superhero team. We eventually worked out a deal and Troubleshooters, Incorporated #1 was published in 1993, with Rich joined by artist and designer Dan Peters (who’s gone on to a career as a digital-effects animator for the “mockbuster” studio The Asylum, for such movies as 2-Headed Shark Attack, San Andreas Quake, and Jurassic City). The positive reaction to that launch led Rich to self-publish a rebooted TSI in 1995 under his NightWolf Graphics company, now joined by penciler Reggie Golden and inkers Bill Lavin and Randy Zimmerman. TSI 2.0 had a three-issue run, but the series then fell victim to the major shakeup in the comic distribution market—during which a trainload of distributors derailed and left just one survivor: Diamond Comics—and TSI faded into the shadows…until SWC revived it in graphic novel form! (For the full behind-the-scenes story, check out Rich’s afterword in the Night Stalkings collection.)

The Troubleshooters consist of: Silver Oak, the team leader and a sorcerer; Yolanda, a sorceress who wants to be a veterinarian; Nightstalker, an intelligent werewolf who was already fighting crime before he joined the team; Lightshow, a rock ’n’ roll lighting designer who built himself a suit of armor with laser blasters and other weapons—think Tony Stark designing an Iron Man suit for the Dazzler, but then keeping it for himself because he thought it looked cool; and Shadow Mist, a blond, female ninja.

Critics took to the group when Night Stalkings was first published, saying it “was ahead of its time, coming before DC Comics’ Justice League Dark” (Horror Talk); and that it’s “a very good spin on the tried and true ‘good-guys-for-hire’ formula” (Word of the Nerd). And who are we to argue with such fantastic opinions? 😉

Troubleshooters, Incorporated: Night Stalkings is available right now in print and digital formats, so visit its product page for ordering information and sample pages.

Next Monday, we’ll take a look at Rich’s pirate-fantasy digital comic, The Chronicles of the Sea Dragon Special. Mark it on your calendar!

For a Few Gold Pieces More goes on sale February 14, 2017.