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I didn’t really get serious with my life until September 11, 2001. Sure, I had been writing some here and there; a poem, some song lyrics…even a few amateur Batman scripts.
But the events of that horrific day made me realize the importance of not just having a vision, but actually taking action to turn ideas into reality. And, not so coincidentally, everything came together when I dared myself to do what I believed in.
Here’s the thing: since my rehabilitation, I have always held high goals. When I began my college education, I rediscovered my creative writing skills, and was going to continue my efforts until I mastered and perfected them. So I began writing, watching films from the masters, and reading comics from the best.
A month after all of the chaos, Marvel released an issue of Spider-Man, and they kept repeating the message “We wish we were there.” To me, this was falling into the trap the terrorists had set, rewarding their behavior with confusion and despair.
I saw the aftermath of 9/11 as a chance to share a completely different message. And recognizing that if I used Marvel, DC, Image, or other copyrighted characters to do it, I’d just be inviting a huge legal battle. So I listened to some folks who were smarter than I was and developed Fearsome Flyer.
And while I was at San Diego State, I was lucky enough to learn screenwriting from one of the co-writers of the original Alien movie. His advice led to a Fearsome Flyer Feature trilogy, which was further inspired by the editing and format style Quentin Tarantino did in Kill Bill.
That is when I discovered comic book writing, and during my journey I wanted things to be different from traditional approaches.
All of which helps explain why a majority of my powerful lead characters are female. I guess you can say I have a feminist side, but I’d argue it was the tremendous influence from being surrounded by strong women while I was growing up.
And given the traditional comic book solution to attaining expensive technology – having an extremely wealthy superhero (Iron Man, Batman), I wanted to be more realistic, coming down somewhere in the middle between a deal with the devil and a forced technological partnership.
Thus I give you the arc of Comic Invasion.
Oh, and in case you were wondering; Fearsome Flyer’s logo is tattooed on my arm, so yeah…I’m serious about this guy.
