January
25
Moore, Carey discuss Sci Fi-Virgin's 'The Stranded'
Announced last year at the New York Comic-Con, the alliance between Sci Fi Channel and Virgin Comics is about to bear its first fruit in the form of “The Stranded,” a five-issue series that debuted in comics shops this week and online at Scifi.com and Virgincomics.com.
The object of this exercise is, of course, to create comics that can be translated later into TV, movies or other media, and that’s reflected in how comics writer Mike Carey and Virgin Comics editor Stuart Moore have worked with Sci Fi in developing the series.
“We’re very much approaching this arc, this story as being like the equivalent of a pilot episode, defining the characters, setting out the big scenes, the big ideas and sort of laying trails for later stories,” says Carey, who is perhaps best known as the writer of the Sandman sequel series “Lucifer” for DC/Vertigo and current scribe of Marvel’s “X-Men.”
The Stranded is about five individuals who learn they not only have superpowers but are from an alien planet they have absolutely no memory of. A mysterious assassin named Janus, however, begins hunting them down, with the mysterious and beautiful Tamree doing her best to save them.
Moore, a Vertigo alumnus and author of such sci-fi comics as Earthfall and Para, says the collaboration process has been so far smooth — more like a consultation process than an hierarchy of approvals — with both companies learning from each other’s approach to telling stories.
“(Sci Fi has) had to learn that there are things we can do in comics that they sort of automatically screen out, because they can’t film it or they wouldn’t want to put on screen because they just don’t consider it,” he says. “At the same time, we’ve been working in comics so long that there are certain conventions we just take for granted. And occasionally they’ll stop and say to us, ‘Well that’s a little confusing,’ or ‘What does that mean?’ And it forces us to step back and make a comic that actually I think is a little more accessible to more people.”
Drawing the book is Virgin workhorse Siddharth Kotian, who defies the trend toward manga-style art and gives the book a classic and clear American style look. “It’s very realistic by comic book standards,” says Moore. “It’s less exaggerated than most superhero work. So it’s a little more relatable and a little more down to earth while still very exciting.” The first issue also features covers by Marc Silvestri and Greg Horn.
Real science fiction has always had a bit of a tough time standing out
from the superheroes when it comes to comics. No one knows this more
than Moore, who launched the sci-fi Helix line for DC more than a
decade ago, with only Warren Ellis’ “Transmetropolitan” emerging as a
hit in the imprint’s short life span.
Carey says his own sci-fi inspirations come from Joss Whedon’s “Firefly”; J. Michael Straczynski’s “Babylon 5,” for the way the series mixed stand-alone stories with larger arcs; and the British skein “Sapphire & Steel.” In print, Carey says he admires “Transmet” in comics and the novels of Ashley Gwynn in prose.
But The Stranded #1 reads more like a TV show, offering an interesting idea and enough story and action to make the debut stand out and work as a comic book.
And for the moment, that’s all they’re trying to do. “By the time we get to the end of this arc, we’ve met all of our sort of core team, our core characters,” says Carey. “We also end on some major revelations, which are going to kind of have implications for where the story will go after this, and which I don’t think anyone will see coming.”
Moore says there’s no set conditions, such as selling a certain number of copies, that would get a TV version of The Stranded greenlighted for TV. “Sci Fi is just sort of looking at the progress,” he says. “I think it depends on their internal needs and how they feel it comes together.”
Should The Stranded come to TV, Virgin and the comic’s creators expect to be very much involved. “Virgin’s intent from the very beginning has to keep the creators involved. And Sci Fi certainly seems open to that,” says Moore.
Subscribe to this blog's feed
I hate to use the word synergy, but this is an interesting approach. The tough thing will be the translation from print to video/film. Looking forward to see how it goes.
Posted by: Perry Lane | January 29, 2008 at 10:11 AM
Thanks for sharing
Posted by: Doodee | February 03, 2008 at 10:25 AM
I have heard the advanced sales are going very well. This will be the second week in a row that there is a release that smaller children should be able to watch without their parents worrying. I wonder why they chose to be the week just before Indiana Jones. I suspect people will be willing to pay for both, because the reviews indicate the quality is excellent. This is great for movie fans.
_________________
[url=http://www.omc-movie.com/]Download Movie[/url]
Posted by: killermovie | May 20, 2008 at 08:49 AM