Steven Sykora 4000
Friday, March 14, 2008, 04:51 AM
<br><img src="http://www.projectfanboy.com/images/reviews/skypirates.jpg" hspace="10" align="left">Sky Pirates, published through Free Lunch Comics and runner up in Dimestore Productions Small Press Idol contest, is the brainchild of Everett Soares, who recently took some time to speak with us here at Project Fanboy.
PF: So tell us, how did you get your break into the comic book industry and what kind of obstacles did you have to face along the way?
ES: Well my biggest break came to me just after Sky Pirates placed a very strong second in the Small Press Idol contest at Dimestore’s website. We had a completed world with fully functional characters that had no comic book company to work. That all changed when we presented the idea and story outline to the two men who run Free Lunch comics, Matt Ryan and Steve Kanaras. We sat down over lunch, of course, and worked out the details and before you knew it we were hoisting Free Lunch’s logo on our cover.
PF: Did you always want to write comics, or was there ever anything else you wanted to do?
ES: I wanted to be an artist. I went to school, sought advice from great and wise artists, practiced until my hand bled, and discovered I had no talent. So I hung up my graphite pencil, started to treat my knead eraser like silly putty and then started to learn how to write comics.
PF: What writers in the comic book industry do you think has most influenced your work?
ES: Man the list can be down right mind blowing so I’ll boil it down to the following:
Alan Moore - that is almost a standard.
Peter David - he taught that a whisper is louder then a shout.
Geoff Johns - bringing Hal Jordan back to life.
Marv Wolfman - stories he did for Teen Titans were magical
PF: Is there anyone in the industry that you’d like to work with?
ES: Man, once again there a list for this one so here goes. If I could work with either George Perez or John Byrne, it would be like working with two childhood gods. Also I would just for the shear fun of it love to work with Paul Ryan. The reason for working with Paul is that I had him draw me a sketch at a show and when I told him what I wanted, he just grinned and told me he liked how my brain worked.
PF: Do you have any other projects in the works?
ES: Right now, I want to focus on the five-issue run on Sky Pirates. After that last issue is in the can, I will be working on the pitch needed to further develop Sky Pirates to either a maxi-series or an on-going series. Stay tuned to see how we do with that!
I also want to do a monster story in a Gothic Earth setting. However, I have to listen to my wife on this one and finish what I start before starting something new. No matter what project I end up devoting my time to, one wish never changes. I want to continue my career with Free Lunch Comics. My wife and I have a ton of respect for them and a very good working relationship with them.
PF: What comic(s) do you personally read?
ES: I started reading She Hulk again because Peter David is writing.
I need to pick up the first issue of the second Dark Tower series. Of course Peter David is writing it and the art is out of this world.
I started reading the Thor re-boot. Good art there.
This could go on for a ways because I am like a kid in a candy store when comic books roll around. So I’ll keep it to the short list.
PF: If you could write for any title in the “big two”, would you want to? If so, which title(s) would you like to take a stab at?
ES: If I were to go to Marvel I would want either Blade, or a Night Crawler mini series.
DC is tougher because they have a lot of different stuff that could grab you and hold on. I would say I would love to write one of the Green Lantern titles or an Else Worlds story. I love the DC version of the “what if” question.
<br><img src="http://www.projectfanboy.com/images/reviews/skypirates2.jpg" hspace="10" align="right">PF: While reading Sky Pirates, I remember thinking that the work was really good, but that it would bring the issue to life if it was a full color issue. Why was it published as a black and white title?
ES: You say black and white like it’s a bad thing. Keep in mind that we have a great crew working together to really make the work stand out. My artist, Brian Brinlee’s, pencils are so sharp they could cut bread. Add that to Mike Kellar’s inks to show them off, and then on top of that add the talented shading of Jet Amago and you have yourself a book that could go toe to toe with any colored book.
It was published as a black white book to keep cost down so that we make affordable for anyone who wants to read it. What good is a story if no one wants to pay cover price.
PF: Who is this seemingly important “traveler” that Captain Manheim has been hired to rescue?
ES: Well, without giving much away, she is a healer that Governor Langford needs to keep his plans in one piece. However, keeping with the theme of this first run of books, nothing is as it seems. So there will be more information about her in the series.
PF: Tobin and Gearz seem to have history together; can you tell us what their story is, and what brought on their resentment of each other?
ES: Well the main story behind that was part of our first pitch of the story. 3 years prior to the setting of Issue 1, they were married. That is until Gearz shot Tobin because he was about to cross a line and become something that Gearz did not want him to become. That story is in our Issue #0 that you can order through http://www.dimestoredistro.com/skypirates0-p-1009.html.
So Tobin has been carrying this chip on his back for some time. When these two have to work together the flood gates open and there is friction because of it.
PF: What is the “Dagger of Night” that agent Slan Wormwood is being sent to retrieve?
ES: Man you’re just digging for spoilers for the later part of the run, aren’t you? Ok I’ll throw you some hints. The dagger is like Gearz, it’s a piece of Valendor’s past that is coming back to hunt them. It’s a small chunk of massive power that a lot of people want to get their hands on. Ok that’s enough of that. I can’t give away the whole story in one shot here.
PF: Where can our viewers pick up a copy of your book?
ES: Well, true believer, you can visit www.freelunchcomics.com to buy copies of Issue #1 or you can e-mail me at Skypirates@freelunchcomics.com with your information and we’ll set you up on how to buy a copy.
PF: Thanks for talking to us today; we hope to see more of your work in the future.
ES: Thanks for helping an independent title, like Sky Pirates, and thanks for your loyal followers for reading this interview.
PF: So tell us, how did you get your break into the comic book industry and what kind of obstacles did you have to face along the way?
ES: Well my biggest break came to me just after Sky Pirates placed a very strong second in the Small Press Idol contest at Dimestore’s website. We had a completed world with fully functional characters that had no comic book company to work. That all changed when we presented the idea and story outline to the two men who run Free Lunch comics, Matt Ryan and Steve Kanaras. We sat down over lunch, of course, and worked out the details and before you knew it we were hoisting Free Lunch’s logo on our cover.
PF: Did you always want to write comics, or was there ever anything else you wanted to do?
ES: I wanted to be an artist. I went to school, sought advice from great and wise artists, practiced until my hand bled, and discovered I had no talent. So I hung up my graphite pencil, started to treat my knead eraser like silly putty and then started to learn how to write comics.
PF: What writers in the comic book industry do you think has most influenced your work?
ES: Man the list can be down right mind blowing so I’ll boil it down to the following:
Alan Moore - that is almost a standard.
Peter David - he taught that a whisper is louder then a shout.
Geoff Johns - bringing Hal Jordan back to life.
Marv Wolfman - stories he did for Teen Titans were magical
PF: Is there anyone in the industry that you’d like to work with?
ES: Man, once again there a list for this one so here goes. If I could work with either George Perez or John Byrne, it would be like working with two childhood gods. Also I would just for the shear fun of it love to work with Paul Ryan. The reason for working with Paul is that I had him draw me a sketch at a show and when I told him what I wanted, he just grinned and told me he liked how my brain worked.
PF: Do you have any other projects in the works?
ES: Right now, I want to focus on the five-issue run on Sky Pirates. After that last issue is in the can, I will be working on the pitch needed to further develop Sky Pirates to either a maxi-series or an on-going series. Stay tuned to see how we do with that!
I also want to do a monster story in a Gothic Earth setting. However, I have to listen to my wife on this one and finish what I start before starting something new. No matter what project I end up devoting my time to, one wish never changes. I want to continue my career with Free Lunch Comics. My wife and I have a ton of respect for them and a very good working relationship with them.
PF: What comic(s) do you personally read?
ES: I started reading She Hulk again because Peter David is writing.
I need to pick up the first issue of the second Dark Tower series. Of course Peter David is writing it and the art is out of this world.
I started reading the Thor re-boot. Good art there.
This could go on for a ways because I am like a kid in a candy store when comic books roll around. So I’ll keep it to the short list.
PF: If you could write for any title in the “big two”, would you want to? If so, which title(s) would you like to take a stab at?
ES: If I were to go to Marvel I would want either Blade, or a Night Crawler mini series.
DC is tougher because they have a lot of different stuff that could grab you and hold on. I would say I would love to write one of the Green Lantern titles or an Else Worlds story. I love the DC version of the “what if” question.
<br><img src="http://www.projectfanboy.com/images/reviews/skypirates2.jpg" hspace="10" align="right">PF: While reading Sky Pirates, I remember thinking that the work was really good, but that it would bring the issue to life if it was a full color issue. Why was it published as a black and white title?
ES: You say black and white like it’s a bad thing. Keep in mind that we have a great crew working together to really make the work stand out. My artist, Brian Brinlee’s, pencils are so sharp they could cut bread. Add that to Mike Kellar’s inks to show them off, and then on top of that add the talented shading of Jet Amago and you have yourself a book that could go toe to toe with any colored book.
It was published as a black white book to keep cost down so that we make affordable for anyone who wants to read it. What good is a story if no one wants to pay cover price.
PF: Who is this seemingly important “traveler” that Captain Manheim has been hired to rescue?
ES: Well, without giving much away, she is a healer that Governor Langford needs to keep his plans in one piece. However, keeping with the theme of this first run of books, nothing is as it seems. So there will be more information about her in the series.
PF: Tobin and Gearz seem to have history together; can you tell us what their story is, and what brought on their resentment of each other?
ES: Well the main story behind that was part of our first pitch of the story. 3 years prior to the setting of Issue 1, they were married. That is until Gearz shot Tobin because he was about to cross a line and become something that Gearz did not want him to become. That story is in our Issue #0 that you can order through http://www.dimestoredistro.com/skypirates0-p-1009.html.
So Tobin has been carrying this chip on his back for some time. When these two have to work together the flood gates open and there is friction because of it.
PF: What is the “Dagger of Night” that agent Slan Wormwood is being sent to retrieve?
ES: Man you’re just digging for spoilers for the later part of the run, aren’t you? Ok I’ll throw you some hints. The dagger is like Gearz, it’s a piece of Valendor’s past that is coming back to hunt them. It’s a small chunk of massive power that a lot of people want to get their hands on. Ok that’s enough of that. I can’t give away the whole story in one shot here.
PF: Where can our viewers pick up a copy of your book?
ES: Well, true believer, you can visit www.freelunchcomics.com to buy copies of Issue #1 or you can e-mail me at Skypirates@freelunchcomics.com with your information and we’ll set you up on how to buy a copy.
PF: Thanks for talking to us today; we hope to see more of your work in the future.
ES: Thanks for helping an independent title, like Sky Pirates, and thanks for your loyal followers for reading this interview.