The Comic Book Interview: Michael Phoenix (Writer; Gods of Men)

A few weeks ago we reviewed a hit indie comic called Gods of Men: Shadow of the Sentinel, written by Michael Phoenix. As we were that impressed with the issue, Team Venom reached out to Michael for the following interview on his career & inspirations for Gods of Men. Here is the result.

1. Firstly, great job on issue one of God’s of Men: Shadow of the Sentinel. When reading this, it evoked a lot of memories of series’ such as Watchmen and The Boys. Was this the desired effect?

Thanks, it’s been a long journey. Absolutely, those are two titles I love, and their gritty, realistic approach to Superheroes really appeals to me. At the core of both I think is an exploration of the responsibilities Superhero level power represents, how that power should be wielded but ultimately how it would actually be used. This was definitely something I wanted to explore in my comic and I was trying to think ‘what’s beyond Watchmen’ what’s the story it didn’t tell and has still yet to be told, and it’s from there the ideas for Gods of Men came to me.

2. Starting an independent comic series from scratch is no easy feat. What motivated you to create Gods of Men?

I’ve always wanted to write but never quite got the momentum, half-finished projects here and there, and I was entering my 30’s and thinking that I really should complete something at last, buckle down and get something out the door! This was also the same time I’d started getting back into comics which built to me attending a few Comi-cons and it’s at these that I saw all the other independent creators and thought to myself, ‘yeah, I could do this, this would be great fun’. I also couldn’t find the kind of story I wanted to read in the independent space, a darker and more philosophical one, and so felt there could be a place for me.

3. How and why did you select your team of collaborators for the project?

Well, I was quite new to the independent scene at the time and I didn’t know, unlike I do now, hardly any of the many amazing artists, colourists and letterers etc. who are all working in it. This meant I fell back on what I knew from my career in digital marketing and so I used a UK freelancer website called People Per Hour to find the first person I needed, the artist! If you can believe it there were only 3 or 4 artists on there with profiles and I was very lucky that one of them was Christian, my penciller / inker for Issue 1. After looking at his portfolio and then having him do some character concepts for me, which were fantastic, I knew he was perfect for the project. By the time a gap opened in his schedule and we had the first 10 pages done I’d explored the indie comic scene much further and had started lining up the colourist, Stefano Valentine, and the letterer, Rob Jones, which meant all the key players were in place to forge ahead.

4. How does Gods of Men compare to your previous projects?

Prior to GoM I’d really only written prose and so it was quite a change to move to a more script style of writing, but unlike TV and film scripts there’s no formal method for writing comic scripts and so it was an easier transition. It’s still a challenge though, with you moving from being just the writer to taking on something akin, I imagine, to a film director role, with you now being responsible for story pacing and aesthetic style as well as scripting the piece. Obviously the artist plays a massive part in this as well and I was always amazed at how expertly Christian would realise my scene directions into stunning pages and panels, but as an independent creator, not just the writer, you really do have to wear many hats as you manage the production of 24 pages of artwork to ensure the production of a great comic.

5. I know you’re initial series is planned for four issues, if that continues to be successful will we see any tie-ins i.e. Prequels, sequels and spin-offs?

I would love to tell the full story of Gods Of Men. This initial series is a little condensed at just 4 issues, for practical and budgetary reasons, but I do plan to release a few ‘mini-comics’ between issues that will delve a little deeper into the motivations of the key characters of the series. As for prequels and sequels, this 4 issue arc is titled ‘Shadow Of The Sentinel’ and in my mind it’s the 3rd of a series of 4 which would tell the full story of the rise and fall of heroes in the GoM universe. That’s blue sky thinking though and right now I’m focused on delivering a great story for this arc and ensuring Gods Of Men is something different, altogether more refined, than the average ‘capes’ story.

6. What other projects are you working on? I’ve heard rumblings about projects that you may be attached to for August next year. Can you shed any light on this?

Well, alongside GoM I’ve been working on a sci-fi novella that I’m really excited about, 5 groups of 5 short stories, equaling 25 in total, tell an interconnected story across times and lifetimes. What I love about the project is that it’s designed to be easily picked up and put down yet, hopefully, gives the feeling of reading a larger novel, perfect for our low attention, highly distracted times!

In the comic space, I’m in the early days of putting together a team for a story that I also really want to tell, one that will heavily explore the ever-increasing dependence on technology in light of the coming VR revolution. It will be a very cyberpunk-esque tale but updated for modern times and with the same gritty and philosophical undertones that I love.

I think it’s going to be a busy year…

For more information on Michael Phoenix & his projects, check out his site over at www.michaelphoenix.co.uk