Damian Wampler is the creator of the comic book Sevara,
whose issue #0 was recently successfully funded through Kickstarter. Sevara
features the art talents of two people whose work you’ve seen before in LEGACY
#2- Andre Siregar and Anang Setyawan, which is how I became aware of Damian’s
book.
Sevara is an epic story in every sense of the word,
showcasing Andre and Anang’s art at the highest of levels as Damian weaves a
story spanning thousands of years with intrigue and action, both.
I’d tell you more about it but why don’t we go straight
to Damian and hear it from the creator himself and see what he has planned next
for Sevara.
1. Damian
how about providing us with a short bio so we can get to know you before we dive into Sevara?
Sure thing! I
consider myself first and foremost a photographer, a passion I've had
all my life, although I didn't figure that out how to pursue that
until
later in life. I studied English literature and Anthropology in college
and then joined the Peace Corps. I then traveled and studied more,
focusing on Russian language and Central Asian areas studies. I ended up
going to the School of Visual Arts in New
York City to study digital photography, and also produced a play called
Twin Towers that same year. Comic books are a fusion of images and
words, so my photography and theater background have really helped make
Sevara a spectacular book. I'm from Delaware,
married with one 7 year old boy, and I travel all the time as an
international cultural liaison. Luckily, writing comic books and graphic
novels is something I can do from anywhere!
2. What
is Sevara about? Why did you choose to tell this particular story?
Sevara is about a
goddess who awakens from a 10,000 year sleep to find that the memories
of her mortal life have corrupted the future. I chose to tell this story
because
it is a reflection of what is happening today, showing the power of
language and storytelling in our modern lives. Regardless of what
technology we have, stories will always have a hold on us, for good or
for bad. Sevara uses all of my cultural and theological
background as the foundation to build a world much like ours but in a
future so distant that all traces of our own civilization have
been
erased. It gives me a blank slate to dig deeper into human nature and
investigate some of the core aspects of humanity - war, faith, love etc.
But I adhere to a very strict formula - "Don't be boring!" so there's
also lots of action and some ironic humor.
3. The
Kickstarter
was a smashing success, reaching its original goal in next to no time
and though it didn’t quite hit the stretch goal, you still raised over
double what you were initially after. What was that like? Anything you
would have done differently?
It
was a ton of work. I didn't sleep much during the campaign or the
months leading up to it. Although I'm glad I did it, I'll never do a
Kickstarter again. You really need a year to prepare and a team of
people working together to pull off a campaign. It really did kick start
Sevara though - we are now producing pages of art
and doing the color using the money we've raised, and hopefully sales
from the first graphic novel will allow me to publish more volumes.
There are a ton of great Kickstarter campaigns out there and its hard to
get noticed int he sea of comic book review sites
and bloggers, I think some of the success is having generous friends and
family and some of the success is just getting spotted by some
journalist who likes your work.
4. What
was it about Andre and Anang’s work that made you say “these are the artists I want on this book”?
I searched for an
artist for about a year. I had to have realistic people, beautiful
women, and technology that spans all of human history. The artist had to
be able to
draw a medieval siege engine
as well as a hoverbike. That's a tall order. But I saw Andre's work and
I was impressed. His attention
to detail is phenomenal and his figures and emotions are top notch. He's
a rare talent. I loved the lines, but I didn't realize how important
the colorist is until I started looking for one. Andre recommended me to
a few colorists but Anang was the best. He
adds so much depth to the pages and really brings them to life, I have a
new respect for colorists now.
5. Where
is
Sevara going now? Your Kickstarter did well and grew awareness of the
book, but what’s next? Will we see future issues in our local comic
shops one day down the road?
I wrote 3 issues
of Sevara which will be combined and sold as a graphic novel in the
spring of 2015. You'll be able to find it in comic book shops and on
Amazon and Barnes
& Noble. The first issue will only be available at select comic book conventions and for Kickstarter backers. But I'd love to
do more, these three issues are just the beginning of a long saga about love and betrayal.
6. These
days
it seems everyone’s goal is to write a comic book/graphic novel that
Hollywood buys the rights to and throws up on the silver screen. Does
that sound like something that you’d be interested in? Or do you feel
Sevara is better suited as a comic book?
I'm open to
anything, I've got to put my son through school and put food on the
table. This was never the intention of Sevara when I first wrote it
however, I just had
a story in my head and it had to come out. I originally wrote
Sevara as a play, but found that it was impossible to produce
overseas. I then rewrote it as a comic book, and it works much better
this way. The story is so visual it makes a great comic book, and TV and
film are also visual mediums so it could work there too. I think Sevara
would work really well as a cable TV show
along the lines of Game of Thrones - a fully realized fictional world
that mirrors our own without bring saddled by the need for historical
accuracy.
7. When
you aren’t writing comic books, what do you do for fun?
Educating my son in things like Star Wars, Transformers G1, Jurassic Park,
Indiana
Jones, Ghostbusters etc. These days most of the movies and TV shows
come from my childhood, and my son is always saying "How you YOU know
that?" and I have to explain that this idea isn't new but was around
when I was a kid. It is fun reliving my childhood
with him.
8. You
lived overseas for some time- what was that like? How was it coming back?
I'm not back for
long, only a few months before I head out to Pakistan and Georgia. I
love living in interesting places, it puts life in the US in
perspective. You learn
to appreciate the things you have in America, but you also realize that
other countries do things differently and sometimes better. It can be disorientating to
have to get to know the new technologies, and I spend a lot of time living out of a suitcase.
9. In
your opinion, the best superhero movie made to date is…?
I
have to think carefully, this will characterize me forever! I like
Hellboy II and Blade. The Rocketeer, X-Men 2 and X-Men First Class are
high on my list. Batman Returns, Batman Begins,
Superman the Movie and Superman II the Richard Donner Cut are special to
me as well. All 3 Iron Man movies are wonderful, as well as the
Avengers film and the Averngers franchise as a whole. Superhero movies
are so much better than now than before, probably
starting with the first Spider-Man movie. Even comedies like Sky High
and the Incredibles are wonderful. But the best to date would have to be
Megamind. Seriously, watch it!
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