By Jason Vaughn
As we lead up to our “35 Days with Kevin Eastman” event (Nov. 30th-Jan. 4th), it seems only right that we take some time to spotlight the next generation of independent creators out there who are following in the footsteps of such greats as Kevin, Peter Laird, Jeff Smith, Dave Sim, Eric Powell, Bryan Lee O’Malley and others. Two upcoming indie creators, Kyle Winters and Mike Andersen from Grass Valley, California are on the verge of a “big hit” and have “taken aim” (OK, I’ll stop with the puns) at the “big three” with their self-published title “Trigger Men.” Given the growing popularity of digital comics, it’s refreshing to see new creators with the courage to publish their own books in a market dominated by force-fed multiple Wolverine and Batman titles. Produced and published out of their shingle Triptych Books, Winters and Andersen (with the help of another future superstar, artist Heather Brinesh) have crafted a dark comedic bromance of a story. The plot revolves around the misadventures of two guys, friends since childhood who grew up to be contract killers in high school. Now, adults who’ve gone their separate ways, they come together for what they believe will be one final job. Think “Grosse Point Blank” meets “Justified.” I had the opportunity to talk to Mike and Kyle about “Trigger Men”, Triptych books, and what’s coming around the corner in the near future for both.
Guys, thanks for taking the time to answer a few questions. I’m digging the story of “Trigger Men” and not just because I’m a narcissist and there’s a lead named Jason in it.
M: We’ll take that.
Also, I was an assassin for hire at one point as well.
(Laughs)
I like the bromance between Matt and Jason you guys have come up with, it’s a lot of fun. Let’s start out with an easy one. What kind of comics were you guys in to growing up and what do you currently read?
M: “I’m really big in to indie comics in general, which is actually kind of a big motivation for us to create comics. We would go to conventions and only be able to find the first few issues of a run. It’s hard trying to find indie comics because a lot of them ended very early. The one I’m really enjoying now is “The Walking Dead.”
K: “I grew up with ‘Spiderman,’ that was a very integral part of my childhood. A lot of ‘Spiderman,’ some ‘Batman’ titles, comics that a traditional reader would pick up when they’re young. Then I basically got out of reading comics from about seventh grade through high school. Right after high school, we all started going to the San Diego Comic Con and that kind of got me back into comics. At that point, I found myself more interested in the independent stuff, the creator owned comics. Right now the things I’ve been into actually are more journalistic comics.”
M: “I’m also a huge fan of “The Tick.”
Spoon! (The Tick’s battle cry, I’d explain but it’d take too long. Hit Meltdown and grab a trade instead.) Continue reading »
When I first heard Boom! Studios would be releasing a new Planet of the Apes series, I was instantly hit with wonderful nostalgic memories. Planet of the Apes holds a special place in my heart because I can vividly remember watching the old movies with my father on local television in the 70′s. I can definitely credit my father for my early love of genre since our Sundays were mostly comprised of rerun Apes and Godzilla movies. I even owned all of the Planet of the Apes dolls complete with the treehouse playset. What I wouldn’t give to still have those toys today!
Now Boom! is cashing in on the Planet of the Apes craze which has already begun with the release of the trailer for the upcoming feature “Rise of the Planet of theApes” hitting theaters on August 5. Once the trailer hit the internet, comic retailers nationwide suddenly made an unprecedented amount of late-breaking advanced re-orders leading to an early sell out of the title.
The official description of the comic series tells us the first issue begins before the original 1968 PLANET OF THE APES movie , but true to the continuity of the first five films. Although Ape society has reached a new golden age, there are ripples of dissent amongst both the ape and human ranks. Tensions will rise and soon all will be caught in chaos, and amidst all this uncertainty, the the fate of The Lawgiver remains an unknown.
Written by Daryl Gregory with art by Carlos Magno, Planet of the Apes #1 will be in stores this Wednesday, April 27. Better get one while you can!
The Devil Is In the Details
by Jason Vaughn
“Evil isn’t a force…it’s a choice…I’m weighing my options.”
- Jack Springheel
Digital comics have exploded on to the internet at such an exponential rate, it’s no surprise when top industry creators collaborate to craft passion projects online. Artist Dennis Calero, who is best known for his work in Platinum Comics’ “Cowboys and Aliens” as well as his Harvey Award-nominated run in Marvel’s “X-Factor,” has teamed up with writer/actor Todd Stashwick (“Heroes,” “Men of a Certain Age,” “The Riches”) to create one hell of a story about the Devil questioning his own role in the grand scheme of the universe. The “Devil Inside” has become such an underground cult hit that the web comic is vastly approaching eight hundred thousand hits in just its first year. The log line on Todd’s website describes the series better than I could:
“A guns blazing, white knuckled, preternatural joy ride to hell and back. Go on the road with the Devil himself, Jack Springheel. A man with a bounty on his head, Jack is running from a past, searching for a new truth and trying to keep the Devil inside.”
I had the fortunate opportunity to speak with Todd and Dennis (albeit through several interruptions due to technical difficulties, thank you very much AT&T) about the inception of their successful indie strip, “Devil Inside.”
Thanks for taking the time guys; I’m a big fan of both of your work. Todd, I still have your “Scarpulla rap” on my DVR (“Men of a Certain Age”), I think you missed your calling.
And, Dennis, your run on X-Factor is still one of the best in the series so far.
D: Thank you so much!
You guys are professionally from two different worlds, how did you end up collaborating on this web series?
T: Well, it sort of happened on Twitter actually. I was on “Heroes” and they introduced the character in a web comic before the TV show, and Dennis was the artist on that comic. I’m a comic book fan myself, so when I saw a promo of the online book, I immediately ran to check out how I was being represented, and I was being well represented. So I started using Twitter, and I made my avatar on Twitter one of his drawings. Then I contacted Dennis just to touch base and also that I dug this (the avatar pic), and he was a fan of the show I was on called “The Riches,” and so we built a friendship that way. He said that he was coming in to L.A. and wanted to meet up for coffee. We started discussing all the things we were into, our favorite video games, comic books, movies, all assorted types of geekery. I had a germ of an idea about the Devil having a crisis of conscience and he said ‘Hey, let’s do that as a web comic.’
That was actually my next question. How did you come up with the idea?
T: Well, I play villains all the time, so I’m often fascinated with the idea of the occult. Sort of getting into the psyche of a villain, and I’m always trying to find the layers on the other side. There’s just too many to deal with. So all in all, almost everything I play on TV is a lot like the guy with a bullet in his head. My objective basically was to make a protagonist by extenuating circumstances into this space. And so I thought who is the ultimate villain, and obviously the Devil, so I went “what if the Devil was having a crisis of conscience, and started questioning his own path?” Then I turned to Dennis and he and I created a whole cosmology as well a series bible for the first arc of the story. Continue reading »