Jimmy Palmiotti and co. have mastered the art of the Kickstarter-funded comic — and they’ve got another in the pipeline …
Jimmy Palmiotti’s one of the hardest working guys in showbiz, to coin a phrase. He’s always writing and hustling and hustling and writing, with his many partners in crime — most notably artist Amanda Conner, who just happens to be his wife.
He’s also a frequent collaborator with writer Justin Gray and this coterie of quality creativity is bringing us Hype — a crowdfunded, original graphic novel about a lab-created superhero who’s only awake for an hour a day and has stunted social skills as a result.
Hype joins Palmiotti-Conner’s list of ongoing concerns, like Harley Quinn and Starfire for DC and SuperZero for the emerging AfterShock (to name just a few).
As I sit and write this, the PaperFilms crew is just shy of halfway to the funding goal (click here), with about three weeks to go. But if history is a guide, they’ll not only hit the goal, they’ll surpass it — setting up donors with excellent bonuses. That said, Jimmy points out that superhero titles often have a tough go of it on Kickstarter, so by all means give soon if you are so inclined.
Hype is written by Palmiotti and Gray, with art by Javier Pina and Alessia Nocera. Conner is on cover duty. Other regulars like Paul Mounts and Dave Johnson are contributing too. (For more info on the Kickstarter itself, click here.)
Conner and Mounts
Anyway, check out some of this fancy EXCLUSIVE art (including some work in progress) and read on for what Jimmy has to say about Hype:
Dan Greenfield: What was the inspiration for this story — and how did it all come together?
Jimmy Palmiotti: Justin Gray and I both are fascinated with new technology and read just about anything written daily about the field. What we talked about was the idea that someone could be created in a lab, have information downloaded and be made up of organic materials that create an actual human being and what the problems that go along with that are. The amount of energy it would take to run such a program and eventually figuring out what that person’s purpose would be. The future is now and we love exploring what tomorrow has to offer.
Dan: A quick read of the description makes it seem like this is the first superhero with Asperger’s. How much of that was intentional?
Jimmy: Well, the very definition of Asperger’s seems like that is what Hype might have, but the actual story is that he was created in a lab and has only lived a few days total, so his social interaction has some major problems, and add to that he is extremely curious with anything physical because although you can have information and be brilliant, actual interaction is another thing altogether. Being awake only an hour a day to absorb the world around you is a difficult task and that’s why the other main character, Amanda, is brought in to work with him on this.
Their interaction and bond is the main theme of the book. On the surface it seems like a superhero title, but deeper down it’s all about what makes a human being different — the relationships, the curiosity and the romance that is a vital part of anyone’s existence.
Dan: How the hell do you manage to write so much and not lose your mind?
Jimmy: Losing one’s mind is the only way to write so much. To be honest, I have fantastic writing partners like Justin, Amanda Conner and Frank Tieri and my crew at PaperFilms is a one-man operation with my good friend Patrick Wedge, the guy behind the Paperfilms.com website as well as just about everything else I do.
Surrounding yourself with talented people that you love and can trust, I have found, is one of the few goals in life worth achieving. With this Kickstarter, we had the idea for Hype a long time ago and we decided to partner with our other friends at Adaptive to try to put this book together. As with everything, it cost us a lot of money and time, and will cost us some more, but the goal for the Kickstarter is dead on, and leaner than the usual goals we set because we knew Hype would be a tough goal to meet because on the surface it comes off as only a superhero book…and they are the toughest ones to hit the mark on Kickstarter. We know this from experience.
Anyone that loves our other work on Jonah Hex, Harley Quinn, Hawkman, Power Girl, Painkiller Jane, Sex and Violence and so on understands the types of books we create and we have been blessed with an audience that supports us as much as we try to support them. With all this, my job is easier and it opens up more time to create new things and with Kickstarter, the place to sell them.
Again, for more info on the Kickstarter, click here.
