I am always intrigued by a comic where a creator takes on both the writing and art duties of the creation process. In many cases, it is someone using the medium to tell the purest representation of their vision for a story. It’s like if a drummer could play guitar and sing at the same time. Maybe they get someone to color or play bass, who knows. Like a lot of fans, I buy a lot of books based on my love of certain creators. So when you have the chance to read a title where one of those creators has made something all their own it, is a really cool experience. Just this past month, Dustin Weaver released “Paklis,” which really felt like a labor of love and experimentation for him. Books like Andrew Maclean’s “Head Lopper” or Rich Tommaso’s “She-Wolf” provide stories of a single vision and often of a personally invested creation processes that readers get to experience on the page.
So all that leads me to the announcement of Paul Maybury’s new book “A New Terror.” For me, Paul is a creator whose books I will always pick up. An established independent creator you may know from books like “Vahalla Mad,” “Sovereign,” “Dogs of Mars,” “Catalyst Comix,” and much more is now setting out to tell his own story in very much his own style. As a long time fan of Paul’s work, I was excited to hear him talk about this series and tease the release of it for a long time. Paul is now teaming up with fellow independent creator Ulises Fariñas’ Buño imprint to release the series. “A New Terror” is described as a Latinxploitation comic that is set in space filled with horrible people, an bad ass female merc, gore, violence, conspiracies and maybe love.
Paul will be debuting an ashcan of “A New Terror” this weekend at Heroes Con. In anticipation for the release I was able to talk to Paul a little about the series and his work. Paul was also gracious enough to provide us with an exclusive look at the series before its official release this Friday at Heroes. Below you will find out quick Q and A and the preview of “A New Terror.”
If you are at Heroes you can find Paul and the ashcan for “A New Terror” at table 1311. Books will also be available at the Buño table at 1109 and the Out of Step Arts table at 825. Paul will also be on the Out of Step Arts panel with Andrew Maclean, Alexis Zirritt, Logan Faeber, Chris Visions, and Vanessa Del Rey on Friday to talk about the series as well.
It’s been too long since we have had a new Paul Maybury book. What has been going on since “Sovereign”/”Valhalla Mad” and what brought you to “A New Terror?” Also what is “A New Terror?”
Paul Maybury: I got married, moved to a new city, had a kid, grew long hair, wrote some pitches, did a little bit of work on a new TMNT show, dabbled in poster work for Failure, Capital Cities and Kings of Leon, as well as an upcoming movie. All of it was great for recharging my batteries after spending years doing the monthly comic grind.
I’ve had lot of lingering story ideas and unrealized projects that I’ve built up in my head that I’m always waiting for the right time/opportunity to tackle. “A New Terror” was a spontaneous idea – free of all of that baggage – which made working on it fresh and exciting. It is, in short, a “Latinxploitation comic”. A conspiracy fueled love story in space filled with rotten people.
The first thing that stands out to me in the previews is the main character. She has a great design, big gun and is fucking brutal. What can you tell us about her?
PM: Alice Perro is a ruthless merc running from a life she’d like to forget. She’s working security for Leonard Penwretch, the black sheep of the Penwretch family – who own everything on earth and beyond. Alice isn’t the type to go down without a fight, but like most of us, she’s lost her fair share. Amidst an alien outbreak, Alice shows us what she’s made of.
Continued belowThis series is your first real solo adventure right? How has the experience been being the writer, artist, colorist and everything on a series?
PM: Oddly enough, I started out in comics this way. “Party Bear” was a solo effort, but as a young creator I made the mistake of becoming discouraged when I couldn’t find the support of a publisher for the work. This led to a series of collaborative efforts like “Aqua Leung,” “Catalyst Comix,” etc.
Handling everything myself is where I feel the most confident. It’s nice to have the image in your head when you’re writing a scene and be able to see it through to completion. That said, It’s definitely helpful to have others to rely on, so as not to marinate in your own sauce too much. Right now, however, I feel the world needs concentrated Maybury goodness.
Reading through the preview pages it instantly feels like a real culmination of your work over the years on series like “Dogs of Mars” and “Valhalla Mad.” The colors, loose brush strokes and classic figure work. Have you been able to experiment a lot more on this series or develop your style more?
PM: That’s a good observation. Yeah, much of the groundwork on “A New Terror” comes from those projects, both in style and process. I wanted to revisit the sci-fi genre after “Dogs of Mars.” I wasn’t granted any ownership of that work, so in a way, this could be considered its spiritual successor.
I got one of those fancy iPads and have been doing a great deal of penciling in the Procreate app. I’m heavy handed and I don’t miss erasing one bit. Evolving to embrace new technology has been essential in freeing up my time so I can tackle coloring this series myself. I’m sure new parents can relate – my window for sitting down and working uninterrupted is minuscule.
You have done work for Image, Marvel, and Valiant. For “A New Terror” you will be teaming up with Buño. How did you team up with them and what makes Buño a good place for the series?
PM: I’ve spent a lot of my life bringing other people’s ideas to life. I was feeling a lot of pressure to keep working under writers in order to get work published. Whether that comes down to my name being able to sell X amount of books on my own or a lack of confidence/interest in my ideas, I felt it was time to switch things up. There’s this a big push for diversity in comics, but when I look at the editorial landscape I see mostly white faces. I’ve known Ulises for well over a decade and as a fellow POC I feel more genuine support for my ideas and creative point of view at Buño.
What are your goals and plans for this series? It seems like you are having a lot of fun creating this world, would you even want to be doing anything else?
PM: “A New Terror” is a three book idea, with each volume being a self contained adventure. We’re currently developing the series and debuting a special black and white mini of the first 26 pages at this year’s Heroes convention. Beyond that, our hope is that a larger publisher will step in for Diamond distribution. If you build it, they will come.
Beyond “A New Terror,” I hope to revisit a couple of projects that are near and dear to me. A remake of “Party Bear” and another project called “Maxy J. Millionaire” are on the top of my list.
What do you hope readers get out their experience from “A New Terror?”
PM: I hope reader interest in the cosmic secrets of the pyramids, illuminati and reptilians gets satiated. This is a comic, not a TV pilot pitch. Every issue will be jam packed with story content, action and a healthy dose of humor.
