In Anticipating the Future, the 501st episode of Panel Borders, Alex Fitch talks to a couple of creators who work on Science Fiction comics.
In a Q and A recorded at Cartoon County, writer Alex DeCampi discusses “Full Tilt Boogie” serialised in 2000AD, drawn by Eduardo Ocaña, recently collected; and working with director Duncan Jones on adapting his unmade film Madi: Once Upon a Time in the Futureas a graphic novel.
Alex also chats to artist Tim Fielder about his epic graphic novel Infinitum: An Afrofuturist Tale, published by HarperCollins in March, which covers millennia in the life of an immortal who observes the rise and fall of humanity, and his ‘diesel-punk’ comics series Matty’s Rocket.
• Anticipating the Future was originally broadcast 7th July 2021 on Resonance 104.4 FM / DAB (London) | For more audio formats to download and stream, please visit archive.org
• Full Tilt Boogie by Alex de Campi and Eduardo Ocaña is available here from AmazonUK (Affiliate Link) | ISBN 13 978-0062964083
• Infinitum: An Afrofuturist Tale by Tim Fielder is available here from AmazonUK (Affiliate Link) | ISBN 13 978-0062964083
WEB LINKS
• Tim Fielder’s website, including a page on Matty’s Rocket
Tim Fielder is an illustrator, cartoonist, and animator raised in Clarksdale, Mississippi. He is the founder of Dieselfunk Studios, a multimedia storytelling company. He is also an educator for institutions such as the New York Film Academy and Howard University. Tim has served clients such as Marvel, Tri-Star Pictures, Ubisoft Entertainment, and The Village Voice, and is known for his TEDx Talk on Afrofuturism. His work has been showcased in the Hammonds House Museum and he won the 2018 Glyph Award. He attended Jackson State University, School of Visual Arts, and New York University.
• Infinitum: An Afrofuturist Tale by Tim Fielder is available here from AmazonUK (Affiliate Link) | ISBN 13 978-0062964083
In INFINITUM, King AjA Oba and Queen Lewa are revered across the African continent for their impressive political and military skills. Yet the future of their kingdom is in jeopardy, for the royal couple do not have an heir of their own. When the King kidnaps his son born to a concubine, Obinrin, she curses AjA with the ‘gift’ of immortality. After enjoying long, wonderful lives both, Queen Lewa and the crown prince die naturally, leaving the ageless bereaved King AjA heartbroken and alone. Taking advantage of AjA’s vulnerability, enemy nations rise to power and kill the king – or so they think. King AjA Oba survives the fatal attack, finally realizing the bitter fruit of Obinrin’s curse. For decades, the immortal AjA wanders the world, mourning his lost subjects and searching for a new kingdom. His journey leads him across time, allowing him to witness the trans-Atlantic slave trade, the New World, and the American Civil Rights Movement. The expansion of global technology brings about intergalactic travel, first contact with an alien species, and conflicts within and ultimately outside the known universe. Thrust into these seminal events, AjA, now known by many as ‘John,’ faces harrowing decisions that will determine mankind’s physical and spiritual trajectory…
• For more information about Infinitum: An Afrofuturist Tale on Harper Collins’ website
• Watch Matty’s Rocket opening credits on Vimeo
Manhattan-based Alex de Campi’s mostly-indie career stretches from her Eisner-nominated debut Smoke (Dark Horse) through recent Eisner nominees Bad Girls (Gallery 13) and Twisted Romance (Image). Plus company work: she’s killed off most of Riverdale, twice, in Archie vs Predator I & II. Her projects also include the YA adventure The Backups (Imprint / MacMillan, 2020) and MADI, a SF thriller with director Duncan Jones. Catch her YA adventure Reversal on her Patreon, and action-thriller Bad Karma on Panel Syndicate. She also writes for TV and film (the Blade Runner anime and more). Find her on social media as @alexdecampi
• Full Tilt Boogie by Alex de Campi and Eduardo Ocaña is available here from AmazonUK (Affiliate Link) | ISBN 13 978-0062964083
Pedal to the metal! Tee, along with her grandmother and cat, is a wannabe bounty hunter, odd-jobbing across the galaxy in her ship the Full Tilt Boogie, constantly on the lookout for the bigger, better payday. Some days, though, it’s less bounty-hunting and more baby-sitting, especially when they rescue the narcissistic Prince Ifan from Debtor’s Prison. Accidentally sparking an intergalactic war, suddenly Tee finds herself chased across the universe by sacred knights and unstoppable undead warriors. Planet conquering, prince rescuing, and ramen eating it’s all in a day’s work for the crew of the Full Tilt Boogie!
• For more information about Full Tilt Boogie visit the 2000AD website
• MADI: Once Upon a Time in the Future is available here from AmazonUK (Affiliate Link) | ISBN 13 978-0062964083
MADI is a 260-page road trip graphic novel set in the near future, by film director Duncan Jones (Moon, Source Code) and writer Alex de Campi, and drawn by some of comics’ most exciting artists including Glenn Fabry, Simon Bisley, Duncan Fegredo and Pia Guerra. Each artist tackles a 8-30 page section of the story, bringing to life one location.
MADI is the third and final story in the “Mooniverse,” an anthology of independent stories that take place in a shared future.
Madi Preston, a veteran of Britain’s elite special operations J-Squad unit, is burnt out and up to her eyeballs in debt. She and the rest of her team have retired from the military but are now trapped having to pay to service and maintain the technology put into them during their years of service. They’re working for British conglomerate Liberty Inc as mercenaries, selling their unique ability to be remote controlled by specialists while in the field, and the debts are only growing as they get injured completing missions. We meet Madi as she decides she’s had enough. She will take an off-the-books job that should earn her enough to pay out her and her sister, but when the piece of tech she’s supposed to steal turns out to be a kid, and she suddenly blacks out… she finds herself on the run from everyone she’s ever known.
In a globe-spanning adventure from Shanghai to Soho, Madi has to stay one step ahead of the giant corporations closing in on her from all sides.
• For more information about Madi: Once Upon a Time in the Future visit publisher Z2 Comics website
• Listen to Alex’s previous interview with Alex about her webcomic Valentine | Listen to Alex’s interviews with Duncan Jones about his film Source Code and with Glenn Fabry about his work on a graphic novel adaptation of the film Mute
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John is the founder of downthetubes, launched in 1998. He is a comics and magazine editor, writer, and Press Officer for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He also runs Crucible Comic Press.
Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine and Overkill for Marvel UK, Babylon 5 Magazine, Star Trek Magazine, and its successor, Star Trek Explorer, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics; and has edited several comic collections and graphic novels, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”, and Hancock: The Lad Himself, by Stephen Walsh and Keith Page.
He’s the writer of comics such as Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs”, with Dave Hailwood.
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