In addition to being a Multiversity staffer and podcaster, Chris Thompson is the brand manager for Titan Comics, the publisher of “The Lost Fleet:Corsair.”
This June sees the release of “The Lost Fleet: Corsair” #1 – a new comic series by Jack Campbell, based on his best-selling series of military science-fiction novels.
We spoke with Jack about the series, his military background, the benefits of working with an artist to tell a story, and why comics is the perfect medium for the continuation of The Lost Fleet.
Keep reading after the interview for an exclusive first look at an unlettered preview of the first issue.
The Lost Fleet is a best-selling science fiction series. For those who haven’t read the novels, what can you tell us them about it?
Jack Campbell: In The Lost Fleet, the war between the Alliance and the Syndicate Worlds began a century before in a surprise Syndicate attack. That attack was thwarted by a desperate last ditch fight commanded by Captain John “Black Jack” Geary, who was thought to have died.
In the one hundred years since then the Syndicate was unable to win but the Alliance refused to lose. To keep up morale and inspire its fighters, the Alliance government has made Black Jack the greatest of all heroes. As the first book opens, Black Jack is discovered in a damaged escape pod, frozen in survival sleep. Black Jack battles the enemy and some of his own commanders to get the fleet home, defeat the Syndicate, and finally bring an end to the war. Readers wanted to know what happened after that, so I wrote the Beyond the Frontier stories. The Alliance government, fearful that Black Jack will take over, sends him on missions far beyond human-occupied space.
With the war over, and Syndicate power badly hurt, star systems begin to revolt, trying to gain their freedom. The story of that revolt is The Lost Stars series.
Your background was in military service. How did your experiences there shape your writing?
JC: I learned that equipment doesn’t always work when you need it to, and that there can be a huge gap between what something is supposed to be able to do and what it can actually do. And how when everything else lets you down, the people you work with can still get you through.
One very important lesson from working with all those different kinds of people with different experiences and training was that I learned how you look at the world determines a lot of what you see, the questions you ask, and the answers you come up with.
And I learned the importance of a second kind of courage in a commander, and that is courage off the battlefield, when confronting moral issues, when standing up for what is right, when considering the welfare of those entrusted to you. I try to show the importance of that in my writing as imperfect people struggle to do what’s right.
This is the first time the you’re telling a story in comic book format. What made comics the best medium for this new story?
JC: “Corsair” is a fast-moving story. There are a lot of different environments in a short time, and a lot of different characters playing important roles. In that sort of story, the ability to use visual cues and depictions really helps with telling the tale.
Another factor is that many fans of the series have asked for visual depictions of people and things in the books. In the comics, those depictions are part of the story, and actually carry the story forward. It’s one thing to describe an alien species and another to show it.
What was it about Andre Siregar’s work that made him the best collaborator for this story?
JC: Andre Siregar has an impressive ability to draw the real and the fantastic unknown, to create images of things only previously described with words in the books. He’s a great artist, with a great talent to visualize something new. The images in “The Lost Fleet” comics don’t always match comic visual conventions, but Andre Siregar has had no trouble adapting to that and adding a distinctive new touch to the images.
Continued belowLooking ahead, what can fans expect from this new comic book series? Can you give us any little hints or teases?
JC:One of the biggest questions readers have had is what happened to Black Jack’s great nephew, Captain Michael Geary. Last seen commanding his battle cruiser Repulse in a desperate rear-guard action, he’s been presumed dead…
But he’s a Geary, and Geary’s don’t die easily. He’ll need allies though, and the only source of those is among the very Syndicate enemies he’s spent his life fighting.
(W) Jack Campbell (A) Andre Siregar (CA) Alex Ronald
Set after the end of a century-old war between two space empires, the Alliance and the Syndics, Corsair centers on the story of Captain Michael Geary, missing in action after the Syndic ambush that almost destroyed the spacefleet John “Black Jack” Geary had to get home, against all odds!
Forming an uneasy pact with rebel Syndics led by Destina Aragon, Michael Geary sets out to save not only fellow prisoners but their jailors, too – on the run from a government chafing at defeat and determined to crush any uprising! Can he live up to the legend surrounding his family name “Black Jack” Geary has carved – or will he die trying?
“The Lost Fleet: Corsair” #1 is out June 7, 2017 from Titan Comics. Jack Campbell will be signing the book that day at Third Eye Comics in Annapolis, MD.
