It’s a curious thing when a comic comes back to life after a long time on the shelf. After being completed and released upon the world, the comic sits finished until someone new takes a shine to it. Such is the case with Michael Moreci and Keith Burns’ “ReincarNATE”. Originally self-published in 2012, “ReincarNATE” sat on the shelf for a few years after, the first volume complete and in the hands of those that backed the Kickstarter. Then, by chance of getting in front of the right person with a position in TV, “ReincarNATE” suddenly had life again. Now it’s back as a reprinted trade and a soon to be new series. It might have taken a few years, but “ReincarNATE” is alive once more.
Read on as we chat with with Michael Moreci about “ReincareNATE”, reviving a finished story, transitioning to TV, competing with other shows, and much more. If you’re interested in checking out “ReincarNATE”, Michael has graciously given us the complete first issue to share with you awesome readers.
I guess, to start, what’s “ReincarNATE” all about? Who is Nate McCoy and what is his story?
Michael Moreci: Nate is a down on his luck PI who is, seemingly, the only law enforcement officer who hasn’t been tainted by his city’s corruption and greed. He hasn’t been bought, can’t be bought, and that’s what makes him dangerous to a lot of people–and it’s also why, when he’s shot in the head, the list of potential suspects is a long one.
Nate’s story doesn’t end with him taking a bullet to the cranium, though. Instead, it’s where it begins. Because when Nate awakens, he’s gained a new ability–that of being able to see and interact with the people he reincarnated from, a Wild West Lawman and a 1960s era hitman. With their help, he’s able to better solve his latest case involving a missing girl (with implications that drive deep into the city’s underworld) and untangle some of his own messy past.
ReincarNATE is a crime/noir story, but it mixes humor in it as well–think Chew crossed with Criminal.
Though you originally self-published the first four issues of “ReincarNATE”, it’s getting reprinted by Heavy Metal in November, with an ongoing series coming next year. How did it end up there?
MM: I’m lucky to have a great relationship with Jeff Krelitz, the awesome, smart, and kind new owner of Heavy Metal. Interest in the book ballooned after news broke that ReincarNATE was being developed for TV, which sparked long overdue conversations between Keith Burns (the insanely talented artist and co-creator of ReincarNATE) and I to bring the book back. Jeff knew about everything going on with the series, on the TV side, so all it took was a phone call to lock the series in for re-release and a brand new run.
In addition to getting a new home at Heavy Metal, the book is also being adapted into a television show. Tell us some more about that. How closely involved are you with that?
MM: Pretty close, actually, and it’s going incredibly well. I met with the person who will be the showrunner while I was out in LA this summer, and the meeting couldn’t have been better. He really understood what made the book tick, and he has some amazing, fun ideas of his own to bring to the series.
(By the way, I’m being intentionally vague about who this showrunner is–he is a big name that is instantly recognizable, and I can’t divulge that detail. Suffice to say, when this news breaks, it’s going to be a big deal.)
I’ve been working very closely as well with James Cooper, a young, smart, and ambitious writer/director who is the person who is really responsible for keeping ReincarNATE going on the development side and has been one its biggest supporters since day one. James has drafted the first episode of the series, and it’s truly great. I’m dying to see it on the screen!
I know that “ReincarNATE” has been kicking around for a while, and I think I first heard of it back in early 2012 when you were running a Kickstarter to fund its printing. What’s it like to see new life entering the project after so many years of it being pretty much done and sitting on the shelf?
Continued belowMM: Here’s the thing: I’ve had plenty of projects go absolutely nowhere. For numerous reasons. It’s all part of the game; all artists have closets full of failure. Even though every publisher in town rejected ReincarNATE, I didn’t believe–I refused to believe–that it wasn’t a worthy project. I knew there was something special and great about it, if only because Keith’s art is so spectacular. So I kept going on, and on, and on, pushing to keep the book alive. I mean, it’s such an easy concept–PI can interact with his past lives. It’s probably the catchiest thing I’ve ever done, to be honest.
Now that it’s going again, it’s really satisfying and fun. The TV stuff, the re-release, the new series–I couldn’t be happier because there’s that warm feeling of proving many people wrong. And that’s fine. Sometimes, you have to do that. You have to stick to your guns and say “you’re wrong about that, and I’m going to prove it.” That’s what happened here, and I’m looking forward to how everything plays out.
Back to TV again, I think the supernatural detective/mystery angle is something that’s been kinda popular lately, even with another comic adaptation in Constantine. How do you think “ReincarNATE” will stand out?
MM: That’s a great question, and one we’ve discussed internally a lot. While shows like Constantine or, say, Grimm are great and a lot of fun, I think there’s a certain distance that most viewers experienced in them. Once you start dealing with magic and demons and things like that, you’re going to start alienating a good portion of the mainstream audience. Now, I’m not putting a value on that or making commentary, just pointing out fact. The Walking Dead works so well because it pushes those genre elements back just far enough, and raises the human drama in its place, that it strikes a harmony and works. ReincarNATE, for one thing, doesn’t really go too deep into the genre aspect–there’s no demons or monsters or whatever so, like Walking Dead, you can have the genre elements play a supporting role, rather than occupy the foreground. And the series is very much reliant on relatable characters–I see ReincarNATE more like Castle or Magnum PI than Constantine and similar shows. The supernatural angle exists, buts more about the characters, the fun, and the procedural aspect. And what we already have in mind for the series, believe me, is really great. The people involved have already shared tremendous and unique ideas. I’m excited, to say the least.
With the original “ReincarNATE” being rereleased by Heavy Metal, can fans of that original self publishing run expect anything new in that printing?
MM: I think we’ll add some extras in terms of Keith’s process and development stuff, but not much else. We toyed with the idea of adding a new story, but it proved not to be the most ideal move as Keith and I have both been so busy that we couldn’t find time without really straining ourselves and, more importantly, adding pages would be cost prohibitive. We wanted to keep the book at $9.99 and be an intro for people; adding new content would just raise that price point, and we didn’t want to do that.
And with ongoing series coming next year, what can we expect from it?
MM: What’s really great is the opportunity to explore Nate’s world in much more detail and open up the story in fun, exciting ways. We’ll see more of the criminal element in Nate’s city (which is L.A., BTW) and dig deeper into Nate and Autumn’s sorta romantic relationship. And, of course, we’re going to play with the hook of the book and explore Nate’s strange ability. After all, he hasn’t reincarnated from just two people…
