By Robin Jones
Watch out…cos here we come…it’s been a while but…we’re back in style!
The Inter-Comics indie Spotlight returns, after a brief hiatus involving marriage, honeymoons, metal music, drinking exclusively beer for a weekend and bin jousting! So, welcome back to the Inter-Comics Indie Spotlight, this column aims to make you, the readers, aware of cool indie/crowd funded comic book creators and projects!
This time around we have British comic writer and all round awesome bloke, Sam Read talking about his series, Exit Generation, with issue #2 just being released. Sam spoke to me back when Issue #1 was unveiled to the world prior to Thoughtbubble 2013 and he’s back to talk all things Sci-Fi, Aliens and a dystopian future! Hold onto your butts!
Me: Exit Generation #2 is here! You did an interview with me for IC a while back, what’s changed?
Sam: Not much, other than we’ve welcomed a new member to the team, with the marvellous Marissa Louise joining on colours. Marissa currently works on the RoboCop ongoing series for BOOM Studios, and Headspace for Monkeybrain, both of which are great and show off what a talent she is. I’m really chuffed Marissa was happy to work with us all on the book, and I think people will be blown away by her contribution.
Me: For new readers, what sets this apart from other sci-fi series?
Sam: While I’m a big, big fan of dystopian and ‘hard’ science fiction, with Exit Generation I wanted to focus to be on the characters and their relationships, as well as the central adventure of course! The setting is there to provide a foundation for that, and what I hope is that between us, the team have made something lively and accessible, with a sense of fun to go alongside the heavier elements.
Me: If you could sell Exit Generation in one sentence, what would it be?
Sam: I’d still go with the old tag line, and while it may not be a sentence, it’s pretty brief; ‘Big Guns! Space Aliens! Punk Rock!’
Me: Which artists and writers have influenced you the most in creating Exit Generation?
Sam: I’m a big fan of many, many comic creators, and one current writer who’s work I really love is Justin Jordan. The energy in his stories, usually married with tremendous artists like Tradd Moore on the Luther Strode books, is inspiring, and I hope people get a similar sense of excitement from the team and I’s work on Exit Generation.
Art-wise, I actually find Caio’s work a big influence on me; ever since we started collaborating I’ve certainly fed back ideas and the ‘feel’ of his art into Exit Generation’s art more and more, issue-to-issue. He’s an absolutely brilliant talent, and deserves to be more widely known.
Me: Do you read/have time to read comics, and if so what comics are regular appearers on your pull list?
Sam: Hell yes I read comics; working in a comic store (OK Comics in Leeds) it kinda comes with the day-job! Stuff I’m absolutely loving just now includes B.P.R.D., Stray Bullets: Killers, X-Force and Sex Criminals, but my favourite monthly right now hands-down is Deadly Class, which is as close to comic perfection as I can imagine, for me at least.
But that is only the tip of the iceberg in terms of what I read regularly; a customer asked how many books I read per week the other day, and including collections and graphic novels, I worked it out to be an average of about 50 to 75 comics (averaging 22 pages) per weeks, so… yeah; a fair few!
Me: How has the convention scene been for you?
Sam: Last year, other than Though Bubble where I launched Exit Generation, I was still attending conventions as a ‘punter’, and had some awesome times meeting loads of awesome folks. In 2014 so far I’ve only made it to London Super Comic Con, but that was super productive, as well as being really fun.
However, in the second half of the year I’ll be exhibiting at the International Comic Expo (ICE) in Birmingham, Thought Bubble in Leeds, and hopefully at Dublin International Comic Expo too. Really excited to be hitting those events with more of the issues of Exit Generation and, fingers-crossed, the full four part series will be available at both DICE and Thought Bubble.
Me: What can we expect in future issues of Exit Generation?
Sam: That would be telling! But, seriously; I hope that we’ve got a few surprising revelations, shocking twists and lots of fun action for readers to enjoy. And I gotta say; the whole team have pulled out ALL the stops, with the Caio’s art and Marissa’s colours hitting another level, and Ramon’s covers and Colin’s production looking uber-slick, so hope folks will come along with us for the ride.
Me: What’s your favourite aspect of making comics?
Sam: That’s a tricky one, as I get really engaged by the whole process, from the writing to the distribution. I absolutely love seeing the way that Caio, Marissa, Colin and Ramon take my crazy little ideas and make them look beautiful, and the whole collaborative element of making comics, and the ways that makes you want to work harder and be better is certainly one of the more unique and rewarding aspects.
The other day I saw C.B. Cebulski of Marvel say on Twitter that sometimes the right writer can help turn a good artist into a great artist, and I think (and hope) that relationship works the other way too, because I know I’m getting better, thanks to the work of all those on the Exit Generation team.
Me: Finally, a hypothetical question now, the aliens of Mars Attacks vs Your Aliens. Who’d win in a set of fisticuffs?
Sam: Ha, I like it! Well… if you are being literal, those Mars Attacks fellas seem pretty reliant on their ray guns, while the Ruleians prefer things a little more up close and personal, because you can eat a snack at ten paces!
But I actually think they’d have a lot in common; the Ruleian’s are into their cuisine, while the Mars Attacks folks like to experiment, so I could see some kind of horrifying Heston Blumenthal-style fusion going on between the two. The stuff that nightmares are made of!
If you want more information about Exit Generation and fancy stalking the creative team, then here’s their details, along with links to their sites/other work;
Writer: Sam Read (samreadwrites.com, https://twitter.com/bronzetrex)
Artist: Caio Oliveira (facebook.com/caioscorner) – Other work; ‘Super-Ego’ (Magnetic Press)
Colourist: Marissa Louise (marissalouise.com, https://twitter.com/marissadraws) – Other work; ‘RoboCop’ (BOOM Studios)
Letters and production: Colin Bell (dogoodercomics.co.uk, https://twitter.com/colinbell) – Other work; ‘Dungeon Fun’ (Dogooder Comics)
Cover: Ramon Villalobos (newcoolmeat.com, https://twitter.com/RamonVillalobos) – Other work; ‘Original Sins’ (Marvel)
Editor: Adam P. Knave (adampknave.com, https://twitter.com/adampknave) – Other work; ‘Never Ending’ (Dark Horse)
A preview of issue #1 is at http://samreadwrites.com/exitgen/, and digital and physical copies can be purchased at http://www.readfrenchcomics.bigcartel.com/
See you all next time.
Rob Jones is an honourary Yorkie, but for the life of him, he can’t understand why. He writes articles, is attempting to write comics and his life ambition is to own a solid gold Donkey… For more comic news, reviews and the odd bit of sense, follow Robin on twitter @Hulksmash1985
Posted on July 12th, 2014
Category: INDIE SPOTLIGHT, PREVIEWS & UPCOMING RELEASES, REVIEWS
Tags: Boom Studios, Exit Generation #2, Headspace, Marissa Louise, Monkeybrain, Robin Jones, RoboCop, Sam Read
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