It’s always exciting to see a publisher like Image take a chance on an essentially unknown creator with a book outside the realm of normal, but that’s exactly how we’re getting “Sexcastle”. From creator Kyle Starks, “Sexcastle” is the greatest 80s action movie never made, complete with nunchuks, eye-patches, blood, guts, swear words, and a whole lot more. After a successful Kickstarter campaign last year, “Sexcastle” has found its way to Image where it’ll be published for the wider market, bringing Shane Sexcastle’s story to a wider audience.
Read on as we chat with Starks about “Sexcastle” coming to Image, Roadhouse, parenting, and whole lot more. “Sexcastle” hits comic shops on March 18th.
Sexcastle” is coming to Image Comics after a successful Kickstarter campaign last year. While you’ve certainly proved you’re more than capable of self-publishing, as evidenced by your previous book “Ricky Thunder”, what brought you to Image? How did that process play out?
Kyle Starks: I would like to pretend that there was some great coming of age with “Sexcastle” and Image but I have to be honest: Matt Fraction happened. I published “Sexcastle” early last year through Kickstarter and the book landed in Matt’s hands, I believe he had a flight delay and he read it and he has really championed “Sexcastle” and myself and that included an introduction with Image. That guy is legitimately one of the best humans I’ve ever known and his graciousness when it comes to what he’s done for me I can’t ever say enough. Not a lot of people would do something like that, especially for someone they don’t know.
“Sexcastle” is basically everything great about every 80’s action movie all rolled into one. You’ve got an ex-con with a heart of gold, small towns, nunchuks, lots of F-bombs, and whole lot more. What about those movies and your apparent love of them made you want to make “Sexcastle”, in all its bloody, hilarious glory?
KS: Before I started “Sexcastle” I had rewatched Roadhouse for about the eight billionth time and I wondered why, tonally, there wasn’t anything else like Roadhouse. There should be more Roadhouses in this world! – and that made me think about the genre again, which I had already been thinking about – I did a Wild Dog fancomic a couple years ago that was thick in homage to that style of film and knew I wanted to do more in that vein. This led to the obvious conclusion that I should make the greatest 80s action movie that was never made, and that’s how we got “Sexcastle”.
In a market saturated with superheroes, event books, constant reboots, and books like “Saga” and “The Walking Dead”, how does “Sexcastle” fit in? How does it stand out?
KS: This is a really hard question that I am unsure how to answer? I don’t really think about the comics landscape, I just tell stories and I do it with comics. I just made the book I want to read.
I guess to put a finer point on it, “Sexcastle” is a 200+ page black and white GN that’s essentially an 80s action movie. That’s just not something you see a lot of in mainstream comics. If the Kickstarter campaign was any indication, do you think it will be well received?
KS: I think people in comics are open to different formats and subject matter – comics book readers are smart. I don’t believe they are slave to a particular format or genre – a good book is a good book. So, I think it will be well received. I say, objectively, that everyone who has read the book have been extremely fond of it and vocal about praising it. The responses I’ve gotten from those who have supported the book prior to the Image printing have been heartwarming, amazing and inspiring. So I think whoever gets the book, across the board, is going to love it.
And while I did real well for a no-name comic maker on Kickstarter, I think that Image has legitimized the book by wanting to publish it. As a company they’ve said “no, this is great, we need to get this out for people to see.” So, I hope people trust Image’s tastes and dare to get something by someone they may not have heard of. That’s how people get careers, and readers get good books and, for me, more people see what I’ve made to be seen.
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“Sexcastle” is over the top in a lot of ways, being a great blend of ridiculous action and fantastic humor. One unexpected place it excels in is what seems to be a subtle commentary on parenting and those sorts of relationships. As a father, I imagine that has to be on your mind a lot, right?
KS: For sure. I have two amazing, beautiful, young daughters and because of that I am, obviously, doing a lot of parenting but I am also constantly seeing a lot of parenting. I think how we raise and treat our children is crucial to what kind of an adult they will turn out – and I know that’s not groundbreaking concept. But I think, it’s an especially interesting idea when you’re talking about how action movie character tropes become who they are. Our relationship with our parents and that affect on who we become is a huge part of what “Sexcastle” is about. It’s chockful of subtext – personal identity, self improvement, personal evolution, etc.
I try really hard to do more than just tell a fun story – I really need for there to be some sort of heart, or meaning, or commentary in it for it to feel like a full work. Not that I’m preaching anything – no one wants to read anything that does that. That is buzzkill on a book but I just like for their to be a little subtext. I like for it all to mean just a little something more.
“Sexcastle” is decidedly mature, featuring tons of violence, blood, and even some sex. I think basically all your work has skewed adult in content. As a father, is there a desire to eventually make something that you can share with your kids, or are you just making the stories you have in mind?
KS: Yes, for sure. This is an absolute concern of mine. And not just because I want to share stories with my own children but because I don’t think there’s near enough comics for children and as a comic creator I feel like me not contributing to that is a real shortcoming.
Reading through the book, I couldn’t help but notice that the henchmen in the “Sexcastle”, Big Sur, The Bus, and “E”, all seem like wrestlers. Am I right to assume they’re based on some 80s wrestlers?
KS: Those three are definitely based on 80s era WWF wrestlers. Do you want me to give it away? I feel like part of the fun is guessing who they are.
I know you generally completely finish a book before you go about Kickstarting or promoting or whatever. With the release of “Sexcastle” looming, I have to assume you’re already underway with the next book. Anything you can share about it?
KS: I have a few things I’m working on that are maybe too early to talk about – until they’re done they are sort of not real to me yet. But I’m hoping to announce something very soon – with everything going on to get “Sexcastle” ready for print and then con season I might not be talking about anything until the second half of the year..
For those, like myself, who backed the Kickstarter last year, will this Image release be any different, or is this the same “Sexcastle” that we know and love?
KS: It’s going to be the same, outside of the new covers. And when I say “it’s going to be the same” I mean, of course, it’s still wicked awesome.
