Q: What are the OutCast Comics plans? Are you working on ideas that go beyond the TV show for The Outsider?
A: The short answer of this question is yes there are other things being worked on aside from the one series. The plans for The OutCast Comics are to create a new Comic empire one similar to DC Comics or Marvel Comics. The idea was to do more than just the TV series for The Outsider. After such a positive response from people it seemed likely that there were other directions to explore. There are other concepts put in place for Comic Books, Television Series’ [Animated and Live-Action.], Movies [Animated and Live-Action.], Video Games and various other plans. One of the latest plans that we have been trying to conceptualize is the website and the possibility of launching a streaming site including a multitude of applications.
Q: What is the creative process for you when it comes to creating characters?
A: When it comes to creating characters there are many different things that have gone into it. When I create certain characters it just comes to me other times inspired by the idea “if I were doing this what would I do differently?” That innate curiosity has honestly sparked some of the best ideas for characters and storylines.
Q: How long does it generally take to create characters? Do the costumes come to you organically overtime or do you hammer out the ideas to come up with the definitive design or ideas?
A: Creating characters is a process some are more lengthy than others. Creating characters doesn’t have a set time frame, it can take anywhere from a day to years to come up with something for characters. The thing is that you never truly look at a character and definitively say that you are finished. When you look at characters such as Superman or Batman to name two of the first and arguably the biggest comic characters ever created they have changed and evolved over time Superman from 1938 has undergone changes and been changed to suit the times which is what keeps characters relevance. Sometimes the costumes are hammered out and sometimes they come organically it depends on the mood and how long it takes to conceptualize a physical appearance for the character(s).
Q: What made you decide to use the blue hood for the Outsider? How did it start?
A: Originally The Outsider was supposed to be similar to Smallville and have more casual based costumes. The idea that there was originally supposed to be the leather jacket and jeans and a T-shirt. After I did a trench coat design that was taken from Frank West and his idea for Infantry. Soon after Smallville debut a trailer for season 9 where he was wearing a trench coat and I remember that became a newer issue because I wore an S and had a trench coat. After I designed a new T-Shirt design and applied it to a jacket. After ordering a bicycle jacket that was over $100.00 with the intention of painting it with fabric paint. I messed up the jacket and was so upset that I threw it into the closet. After starting filming Outsider: Exodus the page was growing but wearing the black hooded leather jacket didn’t seem to stand out so I thought to do red originally and then remembered the blue jacket I messed up and turned the back into the Hood. Soon after the Blue Hood was posted it seemed to stick and became a trademark for the character. I decided to keep it because people liked it and it was something that helped distinguish the character [with many other people wanting their renditions of characters to wear hoods.]
Q: What are your inspirations when it came to you creating The Outsider?
A: Shows like Smallville, Vampire Diaries, Arrow, was a big inspirations to me when it came to creating the series as well as my personal experiences in my real life.
When I started obviously Arrow wasn’t around but the idea started to take the shape it has mainly from Smallville and my life experiences. When I started hand writing The Outsider the idea was that I would watch Smallville and Vampire Diaries and felt I loved the characters and felt a certain emotional attachment to many of the characters. This made me want to have a similar feel but also loved the idea of doing larger than life fight scenes similar to that of Man of Steel or Arrow.
Q: How did you go about naming the character? Does the name resonate with you or did it when creating the character.
A: My friends often mixed up the name of the series with the name of the character and for a while I felt like the name was too hokey so it was decided that the character would be The Outsider in addition to the series being The Outsider. The title originally would reference the way that people with abilities would feel being from the shadows in a real-world setting. As time progressed the idea that it related more so to my character became the reason why The Outsider was used as the name for the character.
Q: Why does The Outsider wear an S on certain designs?
A: ********THIS ANSWER CONTAINS SPOILERS*******
After the death of Sarah DiBella, a character he grows to fall in love with. To honor her memory and his failure he wears the initial that is the same design as the S necklace that Sarah wore. He wears the S as a reminder of what he is fighting for and what he had lost. The S symbol was a turning point for the character and was something that was very important in the characters journey as a vigilante.
Q: Is the Outsider single? Did you ever think to change the name of the main love interest to match the person that you are currently seeing (if you are seeing anyone)?
A: The Outsider throughout the series has a relationship status that has varied. Depending on the time in the storyline he could be in a relationship/single. The idea of changing the character has crossed my mind however after finishing certain storylines it was clear that Sarah needed to happen because she was key role and didn’t represent any one person. It would be more work changing the name every time I was interested in another person or entered into a new relationship so it stayed the same. The series, I felt, never affected my relationship and the character didn’t need to match my real-life relationship.
[Side-note: Frank and I when we started working together put ourselves with characters based off of crushes and girlfriends that we soon after had bad breakups or issues with. It was believed that maybe it was a bad omen to put our significant others with us.]
Q: What is Hell Haven?
A Hell Haven is a series focused on the character Ian Akers AKA The Hell Haven Demon “Night Prowler”. Hell Haven is the title of one of the comic titles starring The Hell Haven Demon and other characters. The name Hell Haven is also the name of one of the cities that The Night Demon operates out of.
Synopsis:
Ian Akers has his life changed forever, after a botched home invasion. With both of his parents dead Ian is changed and begins training but after another home invasion Ian Akers is believed to have died. At 21 Ian returns home after he trained his body to the peak of perfection, learning to endure pain. Gaining his rightful place in the company his father built. Ian works to uncover the mystery of the incident that changed his life after stumbling on something that may have gotten his parents killed. After coming out of the shadows from hiding years later he is attacked by a group hired to finish what they started. Ian kills and injures most of them claiming that something else saved him. Ian Akers becomes the Night Demon, using failed/scrapped experiments in a crusade against criminals of Hell Haven, a spirit of the night, The Hell Haven Demon.
Q: What makes Night Prowler’s sidekicks different from other characters? Is there dynamic different than that of Batman and the Bat-family?
A: The Night Prowler’s Sidekicks are similar to the Bat-family but once major difference is that the sidekicks are all different ethnicities. Aside from adopting the first three Kid-Avengers Ian is less like a father role with the Hell Haven Knight. He is someone that has trained all of them and has made some of them the greatest fighters within OutCast Comics. Their dynamic is similar but they operate less as a team until there are bigger events that require both.
Q: Does Night Prowler Kill?
A: YES AND NO! It depends on the story-line that you are reading. The Hell Haven Demon has a kill code. Early on the character kills and is almost merciless. As time progresses he changes his approach and kills only as a last resort. In certain futuristic else-world storylines The Hell Haven Demon resorts back to being merciless and vengeful like in New Haven: The Chronicles of Hell Haven.
Q: What makes Hell Haven different from The Outsider?
A: The Hell Haven series is darker and more so grounded in reality. Hell Haven and Arbor City are dark and corrupt and have a lot of reasons to have vigilantes with darker approaches. The issues deal with typically street level criminals. There is a darker feel that comes from Hell Haven while The Outsider is more hopeful. On the other hand Ian Akers is older and has a career and wealth allowing different avenues to be explored from the Outsider [A younger character that is in a high school setting.]. The Outsider has special abilities whereas The Hell Haven Demon is human with tech and gadgets. The fight scenes focus on power and tactics in The Outsider. Hell Haven the fight scenes show hand to hand combat and a more grounded aspect of the character.
Q: What made you decide to write Hell Haven?
A: The Outsider originally was going to feature all of these characters and I felt that the idea of having so many characters took away from the characters that were series regulars in the series. Originally, I pitched the idea to Frank West, asking him for help. The character was originally our version of Batman with a cool design. We had no origin no storyline or anything beyond that. I felt there was more to explore and went to him asking for help he still felt the character was a dead end and that there was nothing really to explore. After finishing the plans for Outsider I decided to start this new project in 2012. Shortly after I created a group and saw that people enjoyed the storylines and the designs. The character grew to be a big deal and something of its own. Hell Haven as a series helped me flesh out the character and establish a new universe of characters. Soon after I started doing newer projects tied to each other sharing a universe rather than putting so many characters in one given show as a guest star role. Funny thing is the character seemed like he had nothing more to offer and like doing more with him. It was believed that there would not be the same reception or popularity if the character stood alone seeing as he was a fairly minor role in The Outsider compared to other characters that made cameos.
Q: What inspired you to create the Night Prowler?
A: The Night Prowler was originally created because of Smallville. After Green Arrow made his appearance on Smallville I felt that they were originally trying to do Batman but couldn’t use the rights due to The Dark Knight Trilogy. The character that was used in his place was Green Arrow. We realized we didn’t have any human characters that were a vigilante without abilities. Concepts started with a character designs that were what the costume would look like if we created our own character similar to Batman since Smallville weren’t able to. Soon after he became a character that became more.
Q: How did you come to the decision that The Outsider was going to be more than just one show and become its own universe?
A: Coming to terms that The Outsider was not going to just be one show really came from me working on Hell Haven and seeing people liked where it was going. In my mind I felt the more shows I had the more ways I could get my foot in the door concept/pilot wise
Q: Did you create all of the characters on your own?
A: I have created most of the characters for OutCast Comics but certain characters were not created by me personally but were more or less a joint effort or were created by others.
Characters such as Sal Reigns/Virus, Zach Lella/Omega, Infantry, Tremor were a joint effort with friends some I had more involvement than others but for that reason I don’t consider them 100 % mine. There were a few characters that were added that came from Frank West, Sal Reigns, Zachary Lella to name a few of the people who have been along with me on the crazy ride so out of 1127 characters maybe 50-75 weren’t created by me or I had minor involvement creating.
Q: If things didn’t fall through what would you do as an alternative?
A: To be honest I have been asked this question by many people friends family and people who are a fan of what I work on. There is no easy way to answer this question to be honest. I don’t put much thought into what if it fails because it takes away from the work that I put in. I have been at it a very long time. For me this is my life and failure is not an option for me and I can’t afford to second guess that. I believe we all are on this Earth for a purpose and this is going to be mine. I don’t think of an alternative because this will always be the endgame.
Q: Which comic book character do you feel has inspired you the most when it comes to creating characters?
A: Superman has always been a character that I loved as well as Batman. Batman always intrigued me because of his villains and as a writer I always wanted to have that feel with many of my villains because Batman arguable has the greatest rogues gallery ever created. So when it comes to creating Villains I would say I liked the idea that the street level characters have a more Batman like villain base that allows me to make dark and horrific characters.
Q: Is the story-telling more like Marvel Comics or DC Comics?
A: While I am a fan of both I would say we have our own spin on things but if I had to say probably more DC Inspired in a way.
Q: Do you have a favorite character that you have created?
A: This question is a tough question but asking me this is like asking me to choose between my children I am supposed to say I don’t play favorites. If I had to say who is my favorite character to write it would be The Outsider and Hell Haven is tied I love the characters and feel a certain attachment to these characters above all else.
Q: How many projects are there?
A: There are a lot of different project concepts and there are always new things being developed and reworked so while I can’t give a definitive number I can name a few.
· The Main 42 Comic Series, The 24 Television Series Concepts, 5 Video Game Concepts, Multiple Movie Concepts and Else World Comics projects among other things.
Q: Who in your real life inspired you to write?
A: My grandmother after she had passed away I wrote a season and biasedly I will say it was probably the best Season of The Outsider I have typed. That season was done to honor her and showed the character going through what I was going through. By that point I had already written The Outsider for years but it was different I felt a certain turning point in that final season plans. That season started with the death of Michael’s grandmother and showed a new layer and something completely new to the character to this day I have never made a change to that season because I loved it so much. I felt that season captured my real emotions and made it where the character was able to become the hero. It became a fitting conclusion and wrapped up all the lines that were started seasons prior. It took me 3 days to write that season and map out those plans [which was honestly not a lot of time.] It was something that not only helped me get through a dark time in my life but I hope people will see it and gain a level of comfort from that season. We have all in some way or another lost someone and felt like our world shattered and this season takes that and shows you that even heroes sometimes can’t save everyone and that loss is something that hurts no matter how powerful you are.
Q: What are the Outlaws?
A: The Outlaws was a series that was intended to be about Villains turned Anti-Heroes. The idea was to make a series that was tied to the bad guys and at times allowed you to see a slightly comedic and dark side to the landscape. The Outlaws is planned as a title for an Live-action series as well as comics under the Main 42 Comic Series.
Q: What are The Runaways?
A: The Runaways was a team that was started by the sidekicks the name was given to the sidekicks that left their mentors to strike out on their own and be their own heroes. The Runaways is planned as a title for an Animated series and a Live-action series as well as comics under the Main 42 Comic Series.
Synopsis:
The Earth’s greatest heroes are disappearing. The Outsider, Patriot, Galaxy-Boy, Superum, The Hood-Man, Haley Crowell, Ion, and countless others have gone missing. With Ian Akers looking into it he is visited by Night Avenger and is told that there are 5 more heroes missing. Ian goes to a facility after Julia and John Shaw find activity on a tracker that Ian left on Night Avengers suit nights after it went offline it pops up again. Knowing the likelihood of it being a trap Ian moves in cautiously and tries to be stealthy. When he finds the tracker just lying on the ground, he realizes it was a trap, sending out a beacon he calls for backup. The Hell Haven Demon disappeared nights after following the signal. Julia calls Nadia out of retirement and uses her resources to learn that Ian and a few of the other heroes set up a protocol in the event that the current heroes ever had anything happen to them: The Future Heroes Initiative. While Grayson Xanders is looking for Ian Akers Nadia comes to his aid leading to them defeating an alien creature. Nadia recommends that they look into recruiting the people from the Future Heroes Initiative. Meanwhile, Emma Elizabeth, Conner Street, Infantry-Girl, Kyle Johns and Lindsey Andrea use their resources finding the location where the Earth’s heroes are located due to Ian leaving a trail to where they are located. After finding the heroes there is an invasion on Earth. An alliance of the Earth’s heroes join forces to the invasion led by Karnak: The Agent of Norok. We learn that this attack was just the beginning. After these former “Sidekicks” would work together to form a team of their own. Performing as a covert team that is there to continue the fight. They are the Runaways
Q: What is your code of killing when it comes to comic characters?
A: All characters are different and operate differently some kill and some don’t but it is not a universal thing. The setting is a real world setting so heroes and villains while things aren’t grey they aren’t always as black and white. Heroes that kill should do it as a last resort. In certain cases stories like Hell Haven or even The Hood-man Chronicles have a character and his journey becoming a hero so they kill easily and grow to have more restraint. Murder becomes something that the characters grow to move beyond doing.
Q: What type of audience are you looking to appeal to? Will there be versions that are more kid friendly and others that are targeted to adults or will they all be universal.
A: The audience that I am looking to appeal to varies from show to show project to project. Some of the topics in Hell Haven, The Outsider and The Hood-man Series are darker and more adult themed. In certain instances such as the animated universe they are targeted to children but they aren’t “cheesy” children shows and capture something similar to that as the animated universe established by Bruce Timm. The goal is to appeal to all different types of audience. There is PG-Rated R Content so it depends on the series and varies from content to content for the most part it is universal though when it comes to topics unless explicitly told otherwise.
Q: When it comes to The OutCast Comics universe what type of characters are there? Are there supernatural creatures, dragons/monsters?
A: In the OutCast Comics Universe there are many different types of characters while there are series that focus on the supernatural outside of the main OutCast Universe there is one in which the Night Falls [Vampire.] series takes place while there aren’t really dragons per say there are other supernatural creature that appear in Night Falls and even in the OutCast comics main universe but it generally in isolated to Crowell the series. Witches and most supernatural creatures are basically hunted nearly to the point of extinction so typically Vampires, Werewolves and witches are not around or nearly as common and some of the lore is not necessarily true or false but certain legends/Myths are rooted in truth and we acknowledge certain aspects. When it comes to religious lore we don’t acknowledge any particular religion over another.
Q: Are these stories set in our reality with a real world feel?
A: The storylines are all set to have taken place in a real-world setting. Prior to The Outsider appearing and characters like Superum meta-humans are living in secret people don’t know that they even exist or that something such as a person with abilities could be reality. This of how we in the real world feel it is almost impossible for a man to fly or lift a car so if you see something like that it reshapes what is reality and what is possible.
Q: Any updates on the live-action? I think it was The Outsider. I love the whole idea of the Outcast universe and can't wait to see it once everything is up and running.
A: There aren’t any new updates on the series being picked up for any of the series. I was once three years ago offered a deal where they wanted to buy the series of Hell Haven [Back then it was titled Night Prowler.] and The Outsider. Basically if I took the deal and they used the idea it I would have no rights to the characters or the concept. I turned down the deal because I didn’t want to lose the idea. When the idea is picked up I will post that update and promote the post because I know certain people really want to see it picked up and see where things go.
Q: How long have you known you wanted to be in entertainment?
A: I have always wanted to be an entertainer since I could walk. I always watched entertainers and wished I could be where they are. When I was younger I watched Motown 25 for the first time on a VHS and I remember my mother loved all the performers but Billie Jean came on and it changed my life I heard the response and saw the performance and wanted to be that which started me singing and dancing. Early on I would watch WWE and see the Rock among other great performers and remembered I always was glued to the screen and how he could move a crowd and I wanted to be that.
Q: Who is the most powerful character you have created in the OutCast Comics Universe?
A: That is debatable but I would say God/X/Evil are the most powerful characters ever created in the OutCast Comics landscape. These characters are capable of reality warping in the purest form. While Fate Master can reality warp it is not in a pure scale like God. X and Evil are almost even power wise but since X represents balance he doesn’t typically get involved most of those heavy hitters kind of stay of issues. Evil is one of the most powerful characters to get involved. As far as heroes go Superum is a powerful character that is typically involved. Overall, most powerful character is pretty much our version of God but he doesn’t get involved so close second is Evil and X.
