Duke pushed through the glass doors of the PULSE publishing division in New York, navigating a maze of editors and telephones.
He stepped into Archie Goodwin's office.
The editor sat behind a desk that was barely visible underneath stacks of comic panels, cover proofs, and binders filled with monthly sales reports across the country.
Archie looked up, adjusting his glasses, and smiled at his boss.
"Morning. The horror anthology was a hit, Duke," Archie said, tapping the paper with his index finger.
"The numbers are fantastic. 'Sinister' and 'End of the Line' are the clear standouts. Readers are obsessed with the fresh concepts."
Archie flipped open a folder to reveal handwritten fan mail. "Audiences seem to love the concept of a demonic force, or ancient deity operating in the shadows."
He pulled out a letter. "This kid from Ohio wrote asking if 'Sinister' will be adapted into a film. He is planning to buy tickets and watch it with his group of friends."
Duke smiled, leaning against the doorframe.
Both Sinister and Final Destination held long-term franchise potential for the studio.
They were cheap to produce and conceptually terrifying. Pretty interesting stories.
"Let them wait and build up the anticipation," Duke replied, taking a seat in the guest chair.
"We need to test the current Studio 13 slate first before we rush into production."
Archie nodded in agreement, and then shifted his focus to the publication. "Now, let us talk about PULSE. The magazine itself started to grow steadily once more, which is great news."
"However, we are noticing a trend where older teenagers are losing interest."
He pulled a different chart from his drawer. "Rogue Sun and Transformers ended their runs in the magazine, and we simply have not replaced them with anything that clicks with that specific age bracket. The older kids are looking for something a bit more mature."
"We have a new American football comic series that is drawing a diverse readership," Archie explained, highlighting a rising trend line on his graph.
"The NFL is booming in popularity this year, and the comic is catching both white and black readers, which is wonderful."
"But the core teen demographic is stalling," Archie admitted, "They want something fresh. We need a strong anchor property to keep them buying issues every single month."
Duke nodded, steepling his fingers. "Rogue Sun... ending it when we did might have been slightly premature, considering the loyal following it built over the years."
He wasnt surprised that people liked the story of Rogue Sun, but after all even in his past life, Rogue Sun wasnt a popular story.
Rogue Sun was a supernatural superhero comic by Image Comics that Duke randomly read cause a friend gave him a copy.
The story followed Dylan Siegel, a rebellious teenager who discovers that his estranged father, who abandoned him at a young age was secretly New Orleans' greatest superhero, Rogue Sun.
Upon his father's mysterious murder, Dylan inherits the "Sunstone", a gem that grants him the powers and mantle of Rogue Sun.
Dylan is then forced to team up with the ghost of his father, Marcus Bell, whose soul is bound to the Sunstone while they solve crime or fight villains.
A surprisingly interesting premise for a story not a lot of people are familiar with.
Archie offered a small sigh of regret. "The fan letters are still coming in every single day. The kids desperately want more of that universe. But the internal polling numbers do not lie, most casual readers just stopped caring about the magic angle after a while."
"However, we do have a bright spot. The Ben 10 trading cards are still the most popular playground item in the elementary school markets. Kids are trading them at recess like actual currency."
"I have teachers writing in to complain that the cards are distracting students from their schoolwork," Archie laughed, "And the fan letters for Ben 10 just keep multiplying. They constantly ask when the main character is coming back for new adventures."
Duke raised an eyebrow, sensing the business pivot Archie was setting up.
"You want to bypass the comic format and pitch an animated series for television."
"I want the chance to pitch one to the network executives," Archie corrected. "We already have the vibrant character designs, alien lore, and a built-in, dedicated fanbase."
"The television show could be huge for Saturday mornings. We just need a green light to develop it."
Duke considered the proposal, doing the rough financial math in his head.
Animation was expensive unless it was made in Japan under their explotative work enviroment, "Work on a pitch first, Archie."
"Get the artists to draw up storyboards, and write a compelling script for a pilot episode. If the material is good, we can move forward and take it to the networks."
Duke also expected that if the Animated show was a hit, then they could raise the sales of Pulse, but who knows.
Archie grinned wide, "Speaking of it, right now, DC's upcoming slate is Batman: The Brave and the Bold and Green Lantern for animation."
He flipped the page to an architectural blueprint. "Now, onto the theme park. Superman, Looney Tunes, and Flash Gordon are the main attractions for the Paramount Park grand opening."
"The best news is that construction is well ahead of our initial schedule," Archie announced, pointing to the revised completion dates.
"We were originally expecting to cut the ribbon in the summer of 1978, but we are now on track for a 1977 opening."
Archie had been constanly visiting the Orlando Park people to speak about how DC and Looney toones characters would be aproached in the games.
Building a theme park from scratch requires millions in capital, feasibility studies, purchasing a site, and navigating regulatory permits.
Beating the timeline was a rare victory in the entertainment business. "That is excellent news, Archie. The 1977 launch window is perfect for our corporate strategy."
"Star Wars will be released that same year," Duke explained, "Having the park open at the exact same time is free publicity."
He tapped the production schedule on the desk. "Make sure the Star Wars presence in the theme park is important... Never mind i'll call Eisner to tell him later."
___
Later the next day, Duke walked across the Paramount studio lot.
He headed toward a warehouse-style soundstage that had been temporarily converted into a dedicated rehearsal space.
He pushed open the soundproof doors and stepped into a vast room.
Large padded mats covered the concrete floor, providing a safe area for the stunt teams to practice. A long folding table sat against the wall, covered in various futuristic prop weapons.
Dozens of different lightsaber hilts were laid out in neat rows on the table.
Bob Anderson, a Hollywood sword master, was carefully examining a metal prop, testing the balance of the hilt in his hands.
Before he went to Hollywood, Anderson was a world-class competitive fencer who represented Great Britain in two Olympic Games.
After retiring from competition, Anderson became the go-to sword-fight arranger in cinema.
In the future, Anderson became most famous for being the man inside the Darth Vader suit during the lightsaber duels in the original Star Wars trilogy.
For nearly 20 years, Anderson's work was uncredited. It wasn't until the DVD releases in the early 2000s that he was publicly acknowledged.
Anderson also worked on other movies, like The Princess Bride, The Lord of the Rings, The Mask of Zorro, and Pirates of the Caribbean.
In short, the man was good.
A few feet away, Jackie Chan was warming up.
A rising Hong Kong martial arts star and dedicated stuntman was moving through a series of stretches.
Duke walked over and shook their hands. "Bob. Jackie. Thank you both for coming out to Los Angeles for this."
Bob Anderson offered a polite smile. "I have worked on quite a few films, Mr. Hauser, but I must admit, nothing quite like this."
"These fictional lightsabers are unique," Bob continued, picking up a aluminum hilt. "They are blades of weightless energy. Its different than what we know about balance, momentum, and sword fights."
Jackie Chan bounced on his toes, and spoke in broken english, "I am just here to make the fights look good on camera. And I want to make them fast."
He did noticed that Jackie did not speak english correctly and just seem to say simple phrases.
Duke agreed. "That is why you are here, Jackie. The audience needs to see something they have never experienced before."
Bob Anderson walked over to his equipment bag and pulled out a notebook.
He opened it and laid it flat on the prop table.
Inside the pages were hand-drawn diagrams illustrating the seven distinct lightsaber combat forms Duke had told him about.
"You provided me with a large amount of detailed lore, Duke," Bob said, carefully turning the pages. "I have studied your notes, and I have translated your philosophical concepts into fighting styles that actors can actually learn and perform."
He proceded to explain and show every move, and the philosophy behind it for Duke to see.
Bob closed the leather book and looked at Duke for approval.
He had spent weeks breaking down the theoretical lore into combat mechanics.
"This is phenomenal, Bob," Duke praised, looking at the two men. "Now what about the lightsabers."
"The audience should feel the blades every time they clash," Duke explained, his hands animating his vision.
"These characters are moving fast, the only lightsaber fight we have is Obi-Wan Kenobi vs. Darth Vader and we need to make it as entertaining as possible."
Bob let out a sigh, pointing to a broken prop resting in a nearby trash bin.
"The main problem is the technology, Duke, the original concept called for motor-driven rods covered in front-projection material to create the glowing effect on set. They looked great in tests, but are fragile in practice."
"If the actors hit the blades too hard during a sequence, the small motors inside will just shatter" Bob said, holding up a cracked plastic tube.
Duke nodded, well aware of the frustrating technical hurdle. "The props deparment is moving to lightweight industrial materials for the stunt weapons."
"That way the actors can strike as hard and as fast as they want."
"And the glow?" Bob asked, raising an eyebrow. "How will the camera capture the energy blade if the rod does not reflect light?"
"The glowing blades will be added in post-production," Duke explained. "The animation department will rotoscope over the physical sticks frame by frame. It is going to take a larger amount of time and money, but it is the only way to get the speed we need."
George Lucas also deal with this in the original Star Wars, luckily Duke knew about it.
The original lightsabers were wooden sticks coated in a special reflective material used in front-projection filming.
The crew then attached these poles to electric motors designed to spin them, creating an glowing illusion on camera.
Yeah the original lightsabers glowed.
That changed on the production of 1980 sequel The Empire Strikes Back.
The crew ditched the spinning motor and just utilized carbon fiber rods as the stunt blades.
This made the sabers lighter, tougher, and able to withstand impact without snapping mid-take.
And ever since them, the glow was handled 100% via post-production animation.
Bob let out a laugh, relieved by the practical solution. The burden of protecting fragile movie props had vanished. "Well, that changes everything. That will free us up, at least we can stop worrying about breaking props everytime."
Jackie Chan grabbed two of the new, aluminum prop swords.
He tossed one to Bob Anderson, and said in broken english. "Duel."
Jackie backed up a few paces and then launched himself forward in a Djem So style attack.
He launched an overhead strike, a sudden spinning dodge to the left to break the opponent's rhythm, and a swipe directly at the chest.
Bob Anderson, used Soresu, and didn't meet Jackie's force head-on.
Instead, he used circular parries to redirect the blows, his blade never straying far from his center line.
The aluminum rods clacked loudly together in the empty soundstage.
Duke stood back and watched the two people work, thoroughly impressed by the display of contrasting styles, Jackie's relentless offense against Bob's defense.
It was also worth noting that, Darth Vader and Obi Wan used Djem So style and Soresu respectively.
The speed was well fast, and the footwork looked complicated in the eyes of someone like Duke.
The strikes echoed like gunshots in the room, carrying real weight.
Duke felt that if he was impressed with the fight then other people from 1970s who had never laid eyes on things like John Wick, Die Hard, The Raid, The Matrix or any action movie like that, this was a big surprise.
"That is the kind of energy I want on film," Duke declared, clapping his hands together. "The fights should feel like emotional duels for survival."
"They should never look like rehearsed dance routines. Every single swing must have intent behind it, whether it's the aggression of Djem So or the patience of Soresu."
Jackie lowered his prop sword, slightly breathless but grinning from ear to ear.
Bob wiped a bead of sweat from his forehead. "We are going to train the actor for Obi Wan for several weeks before we roll a single frame of film. He needs to sell the style."
___
I see through the lies of the Jedi, I do not fear the dark side as you do
I have brought Peace, Freedom, Justice and Security to my new Empire