A.J. Focht

Last weekend was New York Comic Con 2012. Out of all of the news announced, the most exciting might have been that Agent Coulson is not dead, and will be returning for the S.H.I.E.L.D television series. It wasn’t just the TV show that was mentioned; Clark Gregg (Agent Coulson) had a few select words for the crowd:

“Have you heard of a thing called a Life Model Decoy? Have you heard of the Vision?”

Marvel is taking full advantage of its social media with their new campaign for Iron Man 3. They are ready to release the first sneak peak for the movie, but only after the fans “power up Iron Mans core” by likingthe movie’s Facebook page. If you want to see the Iron Man 3 preview a little sooner and approve of this type of social media marketing, make sure you toss them a ‘like’. Iron man 3 is set to release in theaters on May 3, 2013.

The official synopsis for Thor: The Dark World has been released. It promises that in the aftermath of Thor and The Avengers, Thor will traverse the cosmos and the Nine Realms in an attempt to restore order. His battle against an ancient army will bring him back to Earth and reconnect him with Jane Foster. The end of the synopsis says Thor will have to sacrifice everything to save us all. This could mean many things including that he will die or lose his powers and become Donald Blake. Thor: The Dark World hits theaters on November 8, 2013.

The Marvel cinematic universe has just grown to include everyone’s favorite blind superhero. The rights to Daredevil have reverted from FOX back to Marvel. The chances of Marvel rebooting the Daredevil movie into the new Marvel universe are high. Most of the film rights to Marvel’s mainstay superheroes are still owned by other companies so Disney and Marvel are likely to jump on this franchise, especially since the newest run of Daredevil has gained quite a following.

New photos from the set of The Wolverine have been released. They give first looks at the film’s villains. Svetlana Khodchenkova is pictured in her role as Viper. There are also shots of Will Yun Lee who will be playing Silver Samurai in the film. The Wolverine opens in theaters on July 26, 2013.

Another official synopsis has been released, this one for Kick-Ass 2. The antics of Kick-Ass and Hit Girl have stirred a new wave of masked heroes led by Colonel Stars and Stripes, who is played by Jim Carrey. Red Mist seeks revenge and is reborn as the first world’s first super villain, Mother Fucker. When he assembles his own evil league and starts killing masked heroes, only Kick-Ass and Hit Girl can save them. Kick-Ass 2 releases in theaters on June 28, 2013.

The first footage from the Evil Dead remake was screened at NYCC. It inspired a certain sense of déjà vu as we return to the infamous cabin in the woods. A group of kids enter the cabin and a boy in the group comes across the infamous Necronomicon. More clips were shown as well, including someone starting a chainsaw and the return of the raping tree. Evil Dead releases on April 12, 2013.

The Walking Dead has returned with a record breaking premiere. The Season 3 opener had 10.9 million viewers and it was the highest rated episode in the series’ history. The episode now holds the record for biggest telecast for any drama series in basic cable history. Check back next week for our preview of the new Walking Dead Magazine.

A.J. Focht

Avengers 2 has started casting and Emily Blunt and Ruth Wilson are both up for the new female role. The current rumor is the part will be Ms. Marvel, the Marvel movie universe’s first ‘super powered female’ (as Black Widow was just a master assassin). While the Marvel movie properties are currently divided between several companies, the X-Men producer would love to see a compromise made between Disney and Fox so the X-Men and the Avengers movies can crossover.

Iron Man 3 has resumed production in Miami, Florida. With only about seven months left until its release, the first trailer will premiere on the internet on October 23. Iron Man 3 will be the first of the movies in Marvel’s phase two, premiering on May 3, 2013.

Guardians of the Galaxy will be the next franchise Marvel launches into its cinematic universe. One of the most recognizable characters from the series is a fury little fellow with an affinity for explosions, Rocket Raccoon. Michael Rooker, who plays Merle in The Walking Dead, has tossed his name in the hat for the role. He pitched his case in a recent interview, having experience both doing motion capture and working with director, James Gunn.

Amazing Spider-Man 2, has already begun casting, and it looks like the part of Mary Jane Watson is up for grabs. Shailene Woodley is currently in talks to play Spidey’s girl next door. The movie is set to hit theaters on May 2, 2014.

Mary Jane isn’t the only important comic movie roll rumored to be filled. The Justice League may be set to feature Armie Hammer as the next Batman. The movie will supposedly start off a few years into Batman’s crime fighting career and is looking to be in theaters sometime in 2015.

The first look at Deadshot from the new TV series Arrow based on the Green Arrow has hit the internet. Unlike the loose take used in Smallville, it looks like Arrow’s Deadshot is going to be sticking with a more comic look. Arrow premiered this week on the WB.

Dr. Horrible 2 is moving forward. Maurissa Tancharoen Whedon gave an update saying they intended to finish the script and everything else this year so they can start shooting next year. There is no current release date set for the second movie, although the TV debut of Dr. Horribles Sing-Along was on the CW this week.

This Sunday October 14, The Walking Dead premiers its third season on AMC. The newest trailer has turned up the action, and sets a promising tone for the new season. The Walking Dead magazine will debut later this month. Check back in a few weeks for more coverage and review of the first issue.

Last week, I reported the NBC Munster’s remake, Mockingbird Lane has been put on ice. That might not be entirely the case. NBC is now trying to salvage the $10 million put into the project and they are looking at a made for TV movie.

Some legal issues in the comic world, Stan Lee’s former company, Stan Lee Media, Inc. has filed a claim against Disney for rights to some of the Marvel characters. It’s not clear yet what properties are tied up in the mix, the statement given mentions hundreds of characters created by Stan Lee:

“Defendant The Walt Disney Company has represented to the public that it, in fact, owns the copyright to these characters as well as to hundreds of other characters created by Stan Lee. Those representations made to the public by The Walt Disney Company are false.”

Source: CBM

A new web series, Batgirl: Spoiled premiered its first webisode this week. The series is a fan web-series not affiliated with DC or Warner Bros. at all. It follows the adventures of Stephanie Brown Batgirl, and her life in Gotham after a close call and a falling out with Oracle and Batman. The first episode is a great watch that I’d highly recommend you view.

A.J. Focht

CW’s show Arrow based on the Green Arrow from DC comics will be premiering next week on October 10. Before it premiers, catch a first look at the story of Oliver Queen’s return after five years exiled on an island. There is also a first look at Kelly Hu as China White. Jessica de Gouw, who is playing The Huntress, talked about the difficulties with the role, citing she researched the comics for her role.

Thor is Marvel’s premier fantasy based title. The movie blended the fantasy element with reality, and the sequel, Thor: The Dark World, is set to delve even deeper into the fantasy side. It has recently been announced the film will take place across all nine realms, not just Earth and Asgard. Producer Kevin Fiege hopes the studio’s choice to go with Game of Thrones director Alan Taylor will pay off in bring out the fantasy element. Thor: The Dark World is scheduled for November 8, 2012.

Superman is returning to the silver screen on June 14, 2013 in Man of Steel. “What Christopher Nolan and I have done with Superman is try to bring the same naturalistic approach that we adopted for the Batman trilogy. We always had a naturalistic approach, we want our stories to be rooted in reality, like they could happen in the same world we live in. It’s not that easy with Superman, and actually this doesn’t necessarily mean we will make a dark movie. But working on this reboot we are thinking about what would happen if a story like this one actually happened. How would people react to this? What impact would the presence of Superman in the real world have?” – Collider

A few months back, I reported there were talks of remaking The Munsters into a new show called Mockingbird Lane. It’s sad news with Halloween around the corner, but it looks like the series will not happen after all. The pilot was directed by Bryan Singer and starred Jerry O’Connel, Portia de Rossi, and Eddie Izzard as the Grandpa. NBC axed the show reportedly due to its ‘high-concept premise.’

On a final note, Stan Lee, in an effort to be more like Tony Stark, has had an electronic pacemaker put in. Lee took a short break from his convention schedules last week, and announced the news on Twitter. Lee comments that the pacemaker is “to insure that he’ll be able to lead thee for another 90 years.” I for one am glad the Generalissimo is doing well, and hope that whatever incidents that led to this (besides wanting to emulate Tony Stark) are now all fixed.

A.J. Focht

Marvel’s next new movie project will be the Guardians of the Galaxy. There have been a lot of rumors and worries in the fan community when it comes to Marvel’s space superheroes. It’s now official that James Gunn is rewriting the script as well as directing. If that doesn’t put your mind at ease, know that Joss Whedon has full faith in Gunn being the man for the project. As for the many rumors, there is one that we can put to rest. Nathan Fillion has confirmed he is likely to be too busy with his day job (Castle) to star in the film.

Has Marvel decided to retcon the death of Agent Coulson? In the Marvel Avengers Assemble UK release, the film has been edited to exclude the blade sticking out of Coulson’s chest. This could be a censorship issue, or it could be Marvel making the change in order to keep Coulson in continuity. The Avengers releases on DVD and Blu-ray in the US on September 25 and then we’ll know if the US version was edited as well.

Captain America is now President! Oh wait that was a SPOILER for this week’s issue of Ultimate Captain America. Despite this being a major event change in Marvel’s Ultimate Universe, they felt the need to spoil it for everyone a day early. The news of the story broke a full 24-hours before the issue hit shelves and it came straight from Marvel.

Arrow, the new CW show about Green Arrow starts on October 10. There have been many rumors of what characters would appear in the show, and now eleven have been confirmed. You can expect all of the following lineup: Black Canary, Huntress, China White, Constantine Drakon, Deadshot, Deathstroke, Felicity Smoak, Merlyn, Speedy, and Walter Steele. There are still some rumored characters not confirmed, and no one knows much about John Barrowman’s character, other than he’s being called the ‘well-dressed man.’ There are also reports the Royal Flush Gang will be in the show and Kyle Schmid will play Ace.

The upcoming Star Trek film has an official name: Star Trek: Into Darkness. The J.J. Abrams sequel has finished initial shooting and will include most of the original cast, including Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, and Zoe Saldana. Star Trek: Into Darkness is scheduled to release in theaters on May 17, 2013.

Speaking of Star Trek, Michael Dorn, who played Worf on Next Generation, has been cast in the Castlevania movie. Dorn will be playing a werewolf in the Konami game inspired film, for which there is no current release date set.

One last bit of Star Trek related news. NASA is working on a warp drive. That’s right, a real life warp drive. Keeping the science simple, NASA wonders if we can indeed warp space and time to harness the power of warp bubbles. Essentially, the ship compresses the space ahead of it while expanding the space behind it to move forward at speeds of 10c (10x the speed of light). We are probably a long ways off from this technology, but we now know NASA is actually researching it.

This weekend at the comic store I work at, All C’s Collectibles in Aurora, Colorado, J. Scott Campbell will be doing a signing with all proceeds going to Aurora Rise. Campbell is best known for co-creating and writing Danger Girl, but he has done cover art for several comics including The Amazing Spider-Man and Witchblade. SuicideGirls was in attendance a few weeks ago when Aurora Rise had their first benefit event and silent auction, which raised $20,000 that went directly to the victims of the shootings. Campbell was unable to make the first event, but wanted to come out and support the victims of the shootings on his own time. While the second event will be smaller, it will include a silent auction with specialty items from Todd MacFarlane and much more. The signing takes place this Saturday, September 22, between noon and 3 PM MST. For more details visit the Facebook event page.

by Aaron Colter

Wild Children by Ales Kot and Riley Rossmo is one of the bolder comic releases of late. With an industry still stuck in rehashing old characters and making blockbuster movies, Image Comics has given two independent creators the opportunity to publish a graphic novella that is equal parts teenage rebellion and conceptual reality.

SuicideGirls reached out to the creators to talk about the inspiration behind the book, since any review of it would contain spoilers. If you’ve already read Wild Children, this should give you some insight into the creative process behind the title. If you haven’t, don’t worry. This interview should give you enough reason to check it out soon at your local comics shop.

Aaron Colter: Ales, what made you want to write a book like this?

Ales Kot: About twenty different things, really. As with almost everything, the origin of Wild Children can be traced to my childhood. My parents led me to question authority and desire to understand things as they truly are, and not just as they are presented. I took it a bit further than my parents expected. I loved school in the beginning, but the overall atmosphere of it quickly unfolded itself as a prison-like structure created to build docile citizens that would perpetuate the already dead dream of capitalism and infinite growth. Pair that up with the messy divorce my parents went through when I was about ten, and I quickly realized things were much more complex than the teachers were saying. So I began questioning them, first with an honest interest, and then eventually just to piss them off, because being nice never got me anywhere with them – except for the few that were at least partially aware of the absurdity of the system they were both facing and keeping alive.

AC: Riley, what made you want to draw this story?

Riley Rossmo: Young people get often painted poorly in the media – either as violent geek shut-ins about to snap, or nymphomaniac cheerleaders. But the range is so much greater. Young people can be brilliant, well-intentioned individuals. Wild Children addresses some of that, it doesn’t fall back on typical teen archetypes.

AC: Following the tragedies in Colorado and Wisconsin, are you worried that Wild Children will be seen as insensitive or promoting violence?

AK: Not at all. Wild Children is not a cheap army propaganda-style FPS like Call of Duty. Ultimately, it will be whatever people decide to see it as, but that’s beyond my reach. The intent is not there, and we don’t care about cheap sensationalism, although the comic kind of invites it.

Anyone who uses fiction as a crux when explaining their own stupid decisions — “The Devil in the Comic/Game/Movie/Music Made Me Do It” is a person that needs therapy, and lots of love and patience. Anyone who supports that logic will likely require the same.

AC: Were you both rebellious kids? Did you get in trouble in school a lot?

RR: Yup. I couldn’t handle people telling what to do without giving me a reason. I loved reading, so I’d read all the assigned books, but thought it was a huge waste of time to regurgitate my thoughts in essay form. I was pretty angry – mostly I would skip class, go to the arcade and play video games or paint, draw or silk screen. I had a couple great art teachers that would let me do art in their classes, even though I was skipping other classes to be there. I liked girls – they were probably the biggest draw. And it was the best place to go to when you wanted to acquire anything illegal. Very little learning happened in the class.

AK: Yeah, once I hit a certain age, I definitely did my best to get in as much trouble as possible. It’s not that I wanted the trouble – I just wanted to show that I didn’t care for the fake rules and spineless non-authorities, and that they wouldn’t put me down. A history teacher once gave me a verbal test in front of the entire class because she suspected I was off my tits, and I got B+, although I should have gotten an A. Nearly everyone in the class knew about my state, so it’s still one of my fondest memories. Apart from that, I skipped school a lot, first because I simply hated it and was bullied, later because I just wanted to hang out with girls or read somewhere quiet on my own. I remember a school where some schoolmates used to do speed off the toilet boards, sex in class, things on fire…the first time I had a gun pointed at me was in front of the first school I went to. So I guess there was some trouble, yes.

AC: Are either of you familiar with the concept of brain-hacks? Essentially tricks to shape your reality. A new book called D.I.Y. Magic by Anthony Alvarado touches on some of these notions. I ask because Wild Children talks of magic. Are either of you interested in magic on any sort of level?

RR: I love magic. I like street magic, metaphysics, performers that use misdirection in new ways. I think there’s a lot more out there than I can conceive of. There’s so much in the world that can’t quite be coincidence, or chance.

AK: Oh, absolutely. I hack my brain – more accurately, my entire being – and Wild Children is definitely a brain hack, or at least an honest attempt at one. I meditate, explore reality, observe how my mind shapes it, do my best to learn as much as I can and then implement all the new tricks into my daily life. I haven’t heard of D.I.Y. Magic, but I’m going to read it now. I’m currently reading Colin Wilson’s The Occult for the first time and it’s a crucial experience. I don’t think there’s any difference between what we call magic and what we call science. It’s just about seeing the hidden strings and learning how to operate them. Words and pictures are some of the strongest magical/scientific properties in our daily arsenal, because they shape the reality we live in to an uncanny extent. And, as Harvey Pekar said, you can do anything with words and pictures…Magic. It’s fun. Take it seriously. Like it’s science. Because it is. Just work to see the hidden threads.

AC: The notion of comics being a separate reality or a meta-world within a world that we create is something that’s very Grant Morrison in ways that resemble his work The Filth and even concepts in The Invisibles. What other comics inspired this project?

AK: Kill Your Boyfriend by Grant Morrison and Philip Bond – a great story about teenage revolt that I loved as a kid. It’s very similar to Badlands and Natural Born Killers, it’s angry, it’s fresh, it’s short, and it packs a punch. I loved that comic, and it came out in the same format as Wild Children – a short graphic novella. I also thought about Shoot, the long-unreleased Hellblazer story about school shootings that DC Entertainment shelved back in the day because it was about to be released just as Columbine shootings happened. I disagreed with that decision – the comic wasn’t sensationalist at all, and it had some important things to say. When I conceived of Wild Children, I wanted to combine these two comic books into a new one, into a graphic novella that would feel truly 2012 while paying its respects to the stories that influenced its birth. Casanova and the brave way it approaches itself and the medium. Asterios Polyp for some of the more theoretical stuff in the middle. John Smith’s writing influenced the ending. Graphic novellas by Alan Moore, Warren Ellis and their collaborators. There are some nods to Frank Miller’s early work in the beginning. Dash Shaw’s work. Matt Seneca’s webcomix – I love Affected – and his comics theory as well.

The inspiration related to Wild Children hit from many different sources. Filmmakers like Cronenberg, Lynch, Godard, Kubrick and Tarkovsky were instrumental in forming my approach early on, and they still influence me a lot. Music by Flying Lotus, Fuck Buttons, Pictureplane, Aphex Twin, DJ Rupture, Kode 9, Burial, Coil, early Marilyn Manson. Al Columbia’s art, anything Brandon Graham does. Books by Hakim Bey, Robert Anton Wilson, Kenji Siratori, Jorge Luis Borges, P.K. Dick, Douglas Rushkoff and others. Some of the ideas in Rushkoff’s Life, Inc. influenced Wild Children quite directly.

AC: Something else that comes across in the book is that all of the adults seem threatened by teenagers, who are, for the most part, harmless on a large scale. Do you think society is afraid of teenagers in real life? If so, why?

AK: It’s quite clear that some parts of our society are afraid of teenagers in real life, yes. People who are shriveled inside, whether they’re physically young or old, forget to question things, and live in their temporary sand castles, often doing everything they can to keep them standing, regardless of how much harm that imposes on everyone and everything else. The teenagers inevitably belong to our society, and it’s often quite impossible to destroy their idealistic energy right away.

It’s not exactly correct to say that only young people push things forward – it’s people with a young attitude, wanting to learn, to discover the world, be in awe of the universe, that make the world a better place to live, and help us all evolve. But we’re often taught to expect the worst – 31% of Americans are likely to suffer from an anxiety problem at some point during their lifetimes – and when we’re worried or downright scared, rules make us feel safer, however temporary that illusory safety is. And rules are, by and large, something the new generations seems to have less and less use for. “Chaos is evil, rules are good.” is an excruciatingly stale narrative. The world is much more complex. Question everything.

AC: As bad as our generation may have it, there may be less opportunities for those just now starting to grow up. Why do you think more students in America don’t demand access to education in the same way students in other countries have?

AK: Because they don’t believe in the system, perhaps? I’m genuinely not sure if I can answer this question well enough, but I’ll do my best. I imagine that a huge part of it is the fact that we’re observing the collapse of capitalism, and whether we want to acknowledge it or not, we know that’s what’s happening. We’re offered a choice between a guy that believes that corporations are people, supports penalties for doctors who perform abortions, won’t release his tax returns and most likely would perform fellatio on a pig for a nickel, or a guy that supports extraordinary rendition, secret kill lists and illegal spying on the people he swore to serve and protect.

AC: If you could give you teenage self one piece of advice, what would it be?

RR: Make more art, and let your anger go.

AK: Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the law. Wink, wink, wank.

For more information visit:
aleskot.com/
rileyrossmo.com/
imagecomics.com/

[..]

by A.J. Focht

A year ago, NBC buried their Wonder Woman pilot and all hopes of seeing the Amazon princess during prime time. The CW, known for their superhero television series such as Smallville and the upcoming Arrow, is now in talks to revive her with a Wonder Woman origins series. The prelude to the legend of Diana of Themyscira’s is being penned by Allan Heinberg. The CW is only working on a script now; the pilot has yet to be greenlit.

Henry Cavill, who will be playing Superman in the upcoming Man of Steel film recently spoke about the project in an interview. He wasn’t able to relay much, but he did say that beyond making Superman easier to identify with, they wanted to take a realistic approach to the movie. It seems likely that Man of Steel will be the first feature in the new DC movie universe, leading into the Justice League movie, and there have been rumors that it may cameo other Justice League members – namely Wonder Woman. Man of Steel will premier in theaters in June 2013.

Kick-Ass 2 is bringing back most of the main actors from the first film, including Chloe Moretz, Aaron Johnson, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, and even Nicolas Cage. And a new big name has also joined the crew; Jim Carrey has been confirmed playing the part of The Colonel in the sequel. Kick-Ass 2 is set for a summer 2013 release.

With the release less than a year out, Star Trek 2 has wrapped up filming and is headed for post-production. In recent interviews, actors Chris Pine (Captain Kirk) and Zachary Quinto (Spock) both gave their opinions of the project. Pine insists he can’t give the movie enough hype, and that the threats are even greater this time around. Quinto said the project was more challenging, but bigger and bolder than the last. We will all know soon enough as Star Trek 2 is set to release on May 17, 2013.

J.J. Abrams’ new NBC series Revolution has released the full first pilot online early. The series deals with events fifteen years after a post-apocalyptic scenario where all electricity on earth shuts off. The pilot delivers tremendous performances and is a great hook into the series. It’s a must see for all fans of post-apocalyptic stories. That’s not all Abrams is working on though, he is also currently developing a ‘android buddy cop drama’ for FOX.

Last week’s premiere of Doctor Who, “Asylum of the Daleks” broke records for BBC America. The long awaited return of the Time Lord brought in record numbers, with 1.6 million tuning in to see the premiere. In a recent interview, Matt Smith discussed the upcoming season and the future of Doctor Who in general. On a final Doctor Who note, Neil Giman announced at his Hugo acceptance speech that he will be writing a second episode, which is slated for the second half of season seven.

by Damon Martin

For every Geoff Johns and Jim Lee in the comic book industry there are a thousand writers and artists just hoping to climb, scratch or claw their way onto the radars of a major publisher like DC or Marvel. The role of independent comics however has served as a rich creative breeding ground where there is no corporate bottom line to meet or concerns that stories are too graphic or gritty to land on the page. With that freedom also comes the kind of passion that is lost in the more mainstream comic world, since, as most independent comic book writers and artists will tell you, no one is making millions from self-publication.

Michael Easton is a life-long comic book fan and writer, who worked for DC/Vertigo when he co-penned the graphic novel The Green Woman with award winning author Peter Straub. As much as Easton loved working on that book, there is a certain freedom that comes with a self-published work like his 2008 graphic novel, Soul Stealer, which is a 500-plus page gothic story following an immortal warrior named Kalan, with wonderful art provided by Christopher Shy.

The freedom allowed Easton to tell the story in his own words, without worry that a publisher would tell him something was too graphic or that he needed to cut pages. He told his story to a very specific audience, but those that read it stuck by him, and that’s one reason why independent comics will always hold a special place in the industry.

“You end up having a lot of late night phone calls with Shanghai when you’re going through the printing process. You end up talking at 3 o’clock in the morning about how you want your color bleeds going. But we set this up because it was going to be a freedom issue. Nobody was going to let us do a 550-page, large format, hardcover comic book, but that’s where I think the independent business is going,” Easton said when speaking at San Diego Comic-Con. “Digital comics are great, but if you offer people something extra, you offer the large format, you put in sketches, you put in outtakes, you put in an audio track, posters, things like what were doing, I think you’ll get a collector audience.”

Those late nights also included writing sessions till all hours as he listened to Radiohead and Jeff Buckley for inspiration. The end result paid off because the collectors picked up on Soul Stealer and it has become a cult classic among comic book enthusiasts. Easton admits his book wouldn’t have been the same if he’d had to conform to certain standards required by many major publishers.

“Some of the comic companies now are having very specific regulations about what you can and can’t do. And with Chris, I mean he’s the ultimate graphic artist…you want somebody who’s going to bleed on the page with you. The horror has to be horrific, and the violence has to be violent, and the beautiful, passionate sexual element has to be there too. You can’t always do that when you’re worrying about some kind of censorship issue and things like that. We don’t have that, we have complete freedom,” said Easton. “We did the book exactly like how we wanted to do it.”

Part of the reason Easton is able to do the things he’s able to in his books is because writing is his passion but it doesn’t always pay his bills. During the daytime hours, Easton has been an actor for most of his adult life, working on several television shows including soap operas like General Hospital and One Life to Live. Not needing to bow down to the almighty dollar has given Easton the flexibility to tell his stories the way he wants to. It’s also allowed him to keep his stories personal. He’s never has to sell to the highest bidder because he had to make rent.

“I’m very fortunate to have a day job. This allows me to do everything the way I want to do it. We’ve had film companies come to us, and in another life I would have optioned this thing off a long time ago, but having the day job has allowed me the financial independence to say I’m waiting for the right people to look at this. Waiting until Christopher Nolan sees this or Ridley Scott or James Cameron, we really want to be turned down by all of those people before we would go somewhere else,” Easton commented. “You only get one shot. It really is a passion, and it’s a passion to take something like this to another level.”

With Soul Stealer now available in a special one-shot hard cover edition, Easton is moving onto his next story called Credence, about a New York City cop which he has described as “Californication meets The Bad Lieutenant.” Long-term, Easton would love to see his newest creation land on television alongside shows like Breaking Bad or Sons of Anarchy – the kind of edgy shows that push the envelope and have developed loyal and deeply involved fans.

“We’ve done about 135-pages, it’s going to be a long graphic novel…the story stops when it needs to stop. It’s got a real great, edgy feel. Everyone right now is talking about movies, but I love what’s going on with TV right now. Breaking Bad, Mad Men, Game of Thrones, Justified, Californication. and Weeds. I think it’s the most interesting storytelling,” Easton said. “I think if Shakespeare wrote today he would have written The Sopranos, he would be David Chase. He would tell the story the way he wanted to. So where Soul Stealer was this big epic film, Credence is going in the other direction. Let’s do a gritty little movie. I live in New York, so it has that ‘70s kind of French Connection feel to it.”

Easton hopes to debut Credence this October at the New York Comic Con, and if there’s one thing to say about this particular independent comic book maker – he’s definitely going to do it his own way.

For more on Michael Easton’s work visit: michaeleaston.com/