Coming in October is “Goners”, a new Image title which in itself is something to get excited for. Even better is that writer Jacob Semahn and artist Jorge Corona are pulling from a vast amount of influences to make the coolest kid-centric supernatural/mystery/adventure story since Jonny Quest.
“Goners” follows the Latimers, a family that has protected the Earth from supernatural threats for centuries. When their parents are killed on live television, Zoe and Josiah Latimer are thrown into a fight for their lives, all while trying to carry on the family legacy. Semahn and Corona mix bits of Jonny Quest and Batman: The Animated Series, various creatures from world folklore, family dynamics, drama and more to create a story that has some nods to its influences, but goes beyond them to create something modern.
“Goners” #1 arrives in stores October 22nd and can be pre-ordered with Diamond Code AUG140543. Read on as we chat with Semahn and Corona about finding the right style for the book, family history and commitment, making monsters functional, and much more.
Jacob, from what I can gather, most of your background is in animated shows as part of working with Man of Action, so I guess the starter question is how did you decide to get into comics?
Jacob Semahn: I’ve always been a fan of comics. Ever since I bought my first comic (“Infinity War” #1 for the curious) in a 7-11 when I was nine.
In fact, in a weird way, my passion for comics is how I got my start in writing for animation. I used to work at the best comic shop in Pasadena called the Comics Factory as a cashier. Every Wednesday Steven T. Seagle came in to grab his weekly stash and, being the talkative personable fellow that he is, asked me what was new in my life. I offhandedly mentioned that I entered the ABC/Disney Writing Fellowship for the first time and was just waiting to hear word back on a Modern Family and Community script (two scripts because I had NO credits to my name) I had written. He told me that the Fellowship was a tough process and wished me the best of luck.
Months passed and I got word back that I moved on to the next round. And then that turned into the next round. On and on, until the battery of interviews. I was seriously nervous and Steve being an ex-Forensics coach seemed to be a font of knowledge in the department of public speaking. I told him that I was in line for a barrage of interviews and asked for his advice on how to conduct myself. What I didn’t realize at the time was that he was taking note. So when I didn’t make it through to the “Final 8,” I did get approached for a script on Ultimate Spider-Man.
That one script has turned into a regular writing gig with them, working on numerous animation projects through their company, Man of Action Entertainment — including but not limited to Marvel’s Avengers Assemble and Ultimate Spider-Man. It’s been a wild ride and I thank MOA for the wonderful mentorship, work, and memories.
It all started with comics. So it seems fitting to go back and explore that a little more through the tools that I’ve picked up along the way.
Your previously wrote some issues of “Marvel Universe Ultimate Spider-Man”, so how does it feel to now transition something decidedly different and all your own?
JS: It’s a lot different. I never realized how much went into making comics. It’s not just turning in a script to a company and waiting for a paycheck to come. No. Making your creator-owned book is crazy hustle and work. Immense respect to all those that make the leap. Successful or not, good job, people.
From finding talent, working on deals/payment/rights (i.e. legal), becoming your own editor (which is not my strongest suit given my workload, hence the addition of the wonderful Kathleen MacKay!). Then you have to pitch the book. Promote the book. Talk up the book. Make sure all of the creative involved on the book are still happy and firing on all cylinders (which I have to admit, has been a breeze. I’m working with some true professionals: Jorge Corona on pencils, Gabriel Cassata on colors and Steve Wands on letters and inks!).
Continued belowThen finally you wait for the book to come out and have it be MASSIVELY judged — positively or negatively — by people. And you know what? Through all that hard work… I have to say these are great “problems” to have. I’m having a blast. It’s just that these thoughts never once crossed my mind when I casually flipped through floppies in my earlier years.
“Goners” follows the Latimer family who have protected the Earth from various dangers throughout history. Though the main narrative, that of Zoe and Josiah, takes place in the present, there’s already some glimpses into the past. What sort of time periods and past events might we see early members of the Latimer family roaming around in?
JS: The best part about “Goners” is that anyone at any moment can die. And they won’t get any less face time in the story itself. The mysteries and background are told through flashbacks. You learn about various characters through differing perspectives. The personality of Raleigh, for example, can be seen through Zoe’s eyes differently than they are seen through Josiah’s. How about their Manservant, Francis? Does he have a contrasting viewpoint? Has he seen a different side? We toy with the idea of what relationships mean to each person and how they’re played out with others.
As for historical flashbacks, we will be exploring various time periods of America’s growth into the West. Everything ties together, with blood being the connector.
In the press release, it’s mentioned that you and artist Jorge Corona see the book as being influenced by cartoons you grew up with, but also want to give it a modern feel with a sense of history, mystery, and fantasy. Which series are you drawing inspiration from and how are you hoping to build Goners into something much more?
JS: A big influence for us (and for many people out there) on the artistic side is Dave Stevens’ “Rocketeer” and Bruce Timm & Paul Dini’s Batman: The Animated Series. We always go back to the adventure and noir feel of those two series. On the writing side of things, my influences run deep from the knee-jerk reactions of when I was a kid, so I will always come back to the movies that excited and frightened me: Goonies, Monster Squad, and Stephen King’s IT. Stories about kids growing up quick and saving the world against impossible odds. My hope is to build “Goners” into something that transcends the genre. But isn’t that everyone’s hope for their work?
My goal is to turn “Goners” into something that the viewer and characters can grow together with. A story that lays as much importance about where the Latimers come from as it is does with where they’re going.
Jorge Corona: I have to say that the biggest influence has to come from Batman: TAS. Like Jake said, Bruce Timm and Paul Dini did a remarkable job crafting that show. The way they stylized a very noir and dark setting to appeal to both young and old audiences still fascinates me.
When it comes to “Goners” I do find myself going even farther back and looking at shows I grew up with like Scooby-Doo and Jonny Quest, both of those having that eerie mystery-adventure feeling with kids at its core. When Jake sent me the script for the first issue of “Goners”, I looked at the family formula behind the paranormal hunting aspect of the story and that’s where my head went. Fortunately, once we started talking about it we were both on the same page as for the style we wanted the book to be. Add to that a bit of Victorian and Art-Deco influences to accentuate an atemporal feeling to the book, and BANG! We had the “Goners” universe.
I think, with a large number of horror-mystery books out there, we want to offer “Goners” an alternative to what you’ve come to expect from the genre, both with the story and with the art, and for that we’ve taken from great influences of the past as well as the present.
Jorge, I’m really glad you mentioned Jonny Quest, because that was one of the first connections I made in my mind. Like in Jonny Quest, “Goners” focuses on family, even those not actually related by blood. How are the two of you hoping to explore family and the commitments each member has to the others, especially as things get increasingly dire?
Continued belowJC: The great thing about the way Jake writes this story is that, even though, we are following a line of events that are completely changing, we have glimpses into the past and into the way things were. The characters are forced into taking action in very different ways through the course of this attack and that’s going to bring out the best and the worse of this family. And much like in any family, this is going to affect their dynamic, their relationship to one another.
And like you say, this goes beyond ties of blood but also friendship and duty. It is a supernatural story but the family and their relationships are definitely the core of “Goners”. With such a world shattering starting point it’s going to be great seeing how these characters start out and how they’re going to come out, if they come out at all.
JS: I try to imagine what it would be like to be direct descendants of Rockefeller, Einstein, or Kennedy. That there must be this sort of cache involved with being of their blood, but the weight, pressure, and expectations must also set a lofty bar. Now with the bar in place, add in the threat of being hunted down and murdered all due to this family affiliation… this blood tie. Why are you being pursued? Why now? Why with such relentlessness? These are all questions that arise not only with the characters, but with the reader as well; the exploration of familial commitment to carry the torch and the discovery of what that commitment ultimately means. As things escalate quickly, their avenues of safety quickly get eliminated.
Think of it like a John Carpenter flick. It’s not so much about them escaping a building as it is escaping a whole city bent on getting an interview or a limb! The remaining Latimer clan are not so much trying to rebuild what has been destroyed as they are with trying to find a new place to call “home.”
Even in the first issue the Latimers have already started facing off various supernatural creatures, like the bakaaks. I’m assuming most are rooted in some sort of mythology, so what sort of research has gone into the creatures and getting their looks right?
JS: I defer mostly to Jorge on the art front, but I’m a huge mythology geek. I love the embarrassingly hard to pronounce little supernatural bastards. They do not get their proper due, and there is some seriously disturbing stuff out there. Bakaaks, for example, come from Chippewa Indigenous Folklore and this type of folklore is what the U.S. has been built around. It’s in the country’s bones… this history. Sure we’ve amassed more recent mythologies in terms of the Skunk Ape or even the more recent Slender Man, but overall the old world was partially constructed on the belief in these creatures being among us. Why not make that a reality? It’s such a rich and vibrant history.
To get the look just right, I will do my proper research and send Jorge a couple of key descriptions and an artist rendering if he wants it. He then goes off and does his own thing. A couple of hours later I have these amazing sketches that are perfectly in line with how I would envision it. I completely trust his artistic vision and instincts. He’s knocked it all out of the park with such relative ease, that the part of me that can’t draw, utterly hates him. [Laughs]
JC: This is one of the best and more enjoyable parts of working on “Goners”. Once I get the whole description and references for the creatures I go and do some more research. Jake makes a point of taking the basic characteristics of these creatures and turning them into something that is not only cool but functional, almost as a specific weapon that you have to know exactly when and what to use it for. In that sense I try to do the same with their design. I take what I can find about these creatures and then I shape them into what would suit their purpose in the story. During that process there is a lot of research into the cultural aspect, where the myth comes from, researching artists I admire in terms of creature design, and finally making sure that creation fits into the “Goners” universe.
Continued belowJosiah and Zoe Latimer are used to some strange and scary situations given their family history, but they also just saw their parents die on live television. What does something like that do to a child, especially as they immediately start fighting for their own lives after this?
JS: That’s quite the situation to be put in. Imagine this unbearable loss, but in the same instant having to fight tooth and nail for your very life. When does the mourning come? How does it affect your ability to think clearly? Issue 2 is this fine mixture of shock, loss, action, and inaction. Death in the context of what Zoe and Josiah have witnessed before has been little to none. And now their entire familial line is being massacred in a very calculated and direct fashion. The emotions simmer just so… but will explode in Issue 3. Issue 4 and on? All bets are off.
JC: In a way there wasn’t even time for mourning, or at least we haven’t seen it yet. For Zoe and Josiah, the shock of seeing their parents die hasn’t completely sunk in. Any time they start to process everything that has happened something new shakes their world… pushing them further to find out why this is happening. But this whole tragedy is what shapes them and brings out their true potential. Maybe then (if they survive), we will see the true fallout of this tragic ordeal.
Francis, the Latimer’s manservant, is the Race Bannon analog if we’re still thinking in terms of Jonny Quest. He’s not blood related to the Latimers, but he seems to care deeply about the kids and acts as a protector. In the last few pages, though, it becomes apparent that Francis may not be quite as ordinary as it appears. How does Francis fit into the story of this unique family?
JS: It’s a ritual that each generation of the Latimers perform, building their own protector. yes. Francis is a machination of Raleigh and Evelyn. Each generation chooses different and more unique ways of creating such a guardian. At one moment in time it was crude. At another moment in time it was cruel. And in this moment in time, it’s cool. Francis is as modern as modern can get. Although he may not be what you think. And those that came before him have darkened him as a Creation. Something that couldn’t be trusted. Something that shouldn’t be trusted. The sins of the father run deep for Francis. He has to transcend his station to prove himself worthy of taking up his own mantle. Fight his own lineage.
JC: Race Bannon! He was actually a big influence into Francis’ design. But there is more behind this character, as Jake just revealed. He is a very fun character to work with. Even though he is in the middle of the story and the reasons for his actions are many and run deep into his character, his own nature makes him a very reserved man when it comes to his emotions. I like to draw him very distant most of the time but, just like most tough guys, he has a soft spot, and in this case it’s the Latimer children. This guy would fight the world for these kids. As we move forward with the story we come to know his motivations more and more.
If the readers are there and sales are strong and the stars align just right, I would think “Goners” could potentially turn into an ongoing. Given the chance, what sort of further adventures might you have in store for the Latimers?
JS: I have around 8-10 story arcs built up, with a crazy ending that’ll make you question everything. We would further explore the lineage from the colonization of Roanoke to modern times. We would grow with the characters. Years slowly pass over the course of the arcs. People get older. People get dead. The stakes are a bit more gray than the basic black and white, as it tends to be in when you grow up. The reader will come to understand why some of the Latimers past made the decisions that they did.
Continued belowAs a story told through the eyes of others, you will never understand the true motivations of a character. You just see a small puzzle piece, and like in regular life, you make an opinion about it. The best part of working on these animated shows is the positive and negative back and forth that comes from these extremely passionate fans. And then you go to a few cons and little children along with their parents will express how utterly in love they are with an episode you’ve written. It’s all about viewpoints. And I, as a writer, find that extremely fascinating.
But yes. If the numbers prove strong then we’re full-steam ahead. As I’ve told others “You keep buying ‘em. We’ll keep making ‘em.” #GetGone
JC: The cool thing about this story is that we are following a family that has been around for generations. Their history goes back hundreds of years, and with that in mind we can explore any of these time periods. As a fan of period pieces, I’m really excited for the possibility of working on the Latimers and their adventures in different times of American history.
Finally, is there anything else you’d like to tell potential readers about “Goners”?
JS: “Goners” is a comic for those kids growing up during the sweaty summers. The ones where the light waned slow and the unexpected came quick. Where the skid of a Huffy or the whirr of a skateboard was the call to adventure. And the education learned was not bestowed but snuck through. Where the curious learned at the foot of convex screen showing its latest R-rated offering or at the local pharmacy spinner rack.
This comic is dedicated to those explorers.
