Based on the Geoff Johns/Gary Frank 2008 release “Superman: Brainiac,”
SUPERMAN: UNBOUND finds the Man of Steel aptly handling day-to-day
crime while helping acclimate Supergirl to Earth’s customs and
managing Lois Lane’s expectations for their relationship. Personal
issues take a back seat when the horrific force responsible for the
destruction of Krypton – Brainiac – begins his descent upon Earth.
Brainiac has crossed the universe, collecting cities from interesting
planets – including Supergirl’s home city of Kandor – and now the
all-knowing, ever-improving android has his sights fixed on
Metropolis. Superman must summon all of his physical and intellectual
resources to protect his city, the love of his life and his
newly-arrived cousin.

Plot

An unstoppable android on the horizon. A mysterious fireball hurtling toward Earth. A fearless and beautiful reporter who will stop at nothing to get her story. It is just another day for the heroic Man of Steel, only this time for better or for worse, he has his unpredictable cousin, Supergirl, by his side. The gritty adventure begins as Superman learns about the ruthless force known as Brainiac, who has seized and miniaturized Krypton’s capital city of Kandor. Determined to liberate the captured Metropolis and protect his home planet from Braniac’s increasing power, Superman takes on his most menacing enemy yet in this DC animated original movie based on the gripping comic book miniseries.

Raygun Gothic part 4 is up at Issu.com and I highly recommend giving it a look.

Writer and creator GMB Chomichuk has launched a full scale, good old fashioned, Sci-Fi, assault on the traditional comic book medium, and he has done it with a notable style and original voice.

Raygun is a delicate mix of magic and technology. An introduction to a world where human blood is cheap, while robotic technology is an expensive, coveted thing. In many ways it’s a world not so far removed from our own, where money and power rule, and corruptions thrive.

As a treat for all those who have already become fans of this ground breaking series along with those new to the life of the immortal King, we reached out to GMB for some insight on his creation, and he was kind enough to take time from his busy schedule to chat.

HS: Where did you come up with this idea? The quality of the writing screams novel, am I far off the mark?

GMB: Not too far.  I’m a bit obsessed lately with changing the “standard” page layout of comics I work on.  I love the pulp serials.  There the images seem too much of an addendum to the story though and I wanted to do something here that draws the words and pictures together. But I wanted to leave out the clunky conventions of the word balloon.   The Imagination Manifesto started as a novel and became a graphic novel, but Raygun Gothic started as a straight comic and become more like a novel as I wrote it.  My new projects attack these same traditions in some other ways.

HS: Why did you choose to give this away for free on Issu.com?

GMB: I credit a student for the push into the DRM free arena. He challenged me with the idea: “The purpose of writing is to be read.” We talked about all the steps between a reader and the work in traditional models. We spoke about everything in the way of the core ideal of storytelling when commerce gets in the way.  I have a book coming out this year using the existing model from Renegade Art Entertainment called The Underworld, and I had Raygun Gothic ready to place somewhere. So I thought I’d do an experiment and really watch the progress of both.

HS: Tell us a little more about the world of Raygun Gothic. I’m reading along with everyone else and this seems to have the potential to be epic. Are you planning on keeping the story tight, or is this going to expand into something huge?

GMB: The setting is huge. Too big in fact. The challenge has been to stay focused on the main character, when so many of the supporting cast wants my attention.  My favorite stories are like that, bigger than their pages.  I generate story pages that end up cut as I refine the writing. But as all of my creator-owned work is part of a shared universe, I never fear that those lost characters are gone forever.  The ending of Raygun Gothic is rather large in scope, but I hope it says as much about the little things in life as well.

HS: I’m curious about the illustrations. Where did you learn to draw? The artwork is loaded with energy. Are you working on paper and then scanning the pages in or is this all being done digitally?

GMB: I always draw. Everywhere. I was a self-taught artist up to a point, then I spent a year studying with Diana Thorneycroft, a proper genius, and I started to look at “art-making” in a new way after that.

The art process in Raygun Gothic is more akin to collage than straight drawing, which is the beauty of working mostly digitally.  Large parts are drawn and scanned in, other parts are photos converted to lines then cut into pieces as I need them. I build panels like set pieces in this way and it gives me freedom to change my mind, follow my whim and focus on the joy of telling the story.  I’ve done some work in film, and some art direction which I think has sharpened that sensibility in me.

HS: And one finale question for the road. What’s your dream for this comic? I think it would make a killer animated film. There must be something interesting rattling in that imagination of yours.

GMB: Every book wants an audience. The audience of this one gets bigger every month. The feedback has been very positive.  What I want for Raygun Gothic is for as many people to read it and share it freely (and in this case legally) as possible.   I work with the folks at Electric Monk Media and they did some game testing for it, which was amazing.  Watching your character walk around under the control of someone else is deliciously surreal.

But my biggest wish for Raygun Gothic is that someone who reads it says to themselves: “Yes. I want to make comics.” Comics have changed my life for the better, I wish that on everyone.

About GMB Chomichuk

GMB Chomichuk is a Canadian writer, teacher, mixed media artist, graphic novelist and proud Winnipegger. He won the Manitoba Young Writers Award when he was 15. He won the Manitoba Book Award for Best Illustrated Book in 2011 for his graphic novel serial The Imagination Manifesto. He has been nominated for the The Michael Van Rooy Award for Genre Fiction and nominated for Canada’s Best Graphic Novel by the Canadian Science Fiction & Fantasy Association. He is the founder of Alchemical Press and is always on the lookout for literary oddities. He puts words and pictures together. Some people call that alchemy. He calls that comics.

You can follow him on twitter @gmbchomichuk and see some of his work in progress at www.comicalchemy.blogspot.com.

Hitting stands on March 13, CONSTANTINE #1 kicks off an ongoing series starring John Constantine within the ever-expanding DC COMICS-THE NEW 52. From the co-writers of JUSTICE LEAGUE DARK, Jeff Lemire and Ray Fawkes, and fan-favorite artist Renato Guedes, CONSTANTINE shines a spotlight on the notoriously flawed antihero as he works to protect the world from the darkest corners of the DC Universe.

“CONTANTINE is turning into the window through which readers can see the dirtiest side of superpowers in the DC Universe, the nasty magic side,” Fawkes teased about the series.

“John has a very specific fight he’s actually involved in in this series,” Fawkes continued. “The first issue will reveal what it is he’s after. But he’s the instigator in a lot of the stories that are going to happen. In this book, he’s the one looking for the trouble. Sooner or later trouble starts to find him because of all the things he’s doing … John is not your typical hero-type character. He has a lot of vices. You’ll see him indulging in just about all of them. I mean sort of the only thing I can’t do with him in this title is swearing directly. In the book, he drinks, he smokes, he does a lot of other dirty things.”

Attached for inclusion in your coverage, please find a special 5-page preview of CONSTANTINE #1 (which you’ll also be able to find in the back of all of the DC COMICS-THE NEW 52 releases coming out on February 27). Please credit these images as courtesy of DC Entertainment in your coverage. For more information, please visit DC Comics’ official blog,THE SOURCE.

To add to the excitement, FCBD is actually just the beginning for The Steam Engines of Oz. In June, we will be releasing The Steam Engines of Oz issue 1, which we think you’ll love as much as we do… Be sure not to let your FCBD experience end with May 4th… Pick up issue 1 in June, Issue 2 in July, Issue 3 in August, and let’s keep the story rolling! If fans enjoy our exploits of Victoria Wright and her group of friends wandering the future of Oz, we’ll keep making them!

The Steam Engines of Oz FCBD is still available for retailers to order for their stores, so be sure to ask them about it! Diamond Previews code JAN130018 (FCBD 2013 STEAM ENGINES OF OZ).

And now for a look at the artwork from the Steam Engines of Oz! Don’t the pencils alone sell you on the book? Just wait until you see the same pages in full, glorious color…

If you’ve already read the issue, then chances are your jaw is still mopping up the floor underneath you. And you likely have tons of burning questions – like does the appearance of the all-new [name redacted] really mean what it says it means? And if so, what will the Man of Steel have to do in order to save [info redacted]?

While there’s still a month until your questions get answered in SUPERMAN #17, the startling conclusion of “H’El on Earth,” we’ve got a special surprise for you today to help make the wait until February 27 a little easier. Below, take an exclusive first look at Kenneth Rocafort’s interior art for SUPERMAN #17, and sound off in the comments section below about what you think will happen in the explosive finale to this tremendous crossover!

For more information on the game, visit www.injustice.com.