Here Comes the Payne: Chaotic Flux is Live on Indiegogo!
Sunday, 3 February 2019
by James Ross
Scott Payne is a first-time indie creator who's been kicking around ideas
for an original comic book for 20 years. A few days ago, all of his hard
work came to fruition when he launched the Indiegogo campaign for Chaotic Flux
issue #1. I caught up with Scott to discuss mecha, monsters,
the comic book creation process and all things Chaotic Flux.
JR: First of all, your last name is Payne. That’s a pretty sweet surname for a comic book creator!
SP: I’ve had a few friends suggest I should be either a doctor or a dentist!
JR: Your book, Chaotic Flux, includes mecha, aliens and monsters as well as humans on a futuristic Earth. Was it a challenge to include so many diverse character types in one story?
SP: It was definitely a challenge. It took a long time to connect all the elements, give it flow and make it feel like they belonged together. It’s been my dream to make a multi-genre saga with mixes of horror and scifi, 90’s comics and anime / manga. It’s taken me 20 years to get to this point and I knew I wasn’t going to be satisfied with anything less. So yes it was a challenge, but I’ve been very determined.
JR: The story takes place on Earth in the year 2179. Now there are a number of immediately noticeable differences on this future Earth. First, there are mecha. But there is also an alien race, the Zakarin, and a plague of monsters called Dreadfiends. How did all of this happen to the planet, or will it be revealed later in the story?
SP: With all these elements, I had to find the right time in the storyline to reveal certain details. Eventually it will all be explained. It was hard to decide what to put in the first issue. I finally decided to focus on Zithara, a half-alien girl, and give her the spotlight at the beginning because her storyline is complex.
JR: As Chaotic Flux begins, readers are thrown into the story without warning. Science fiction creators have been divided on how to begin a new work. Some will start the work off with some sort of prologue or brief exposition in order to orient readers to the world, while others drop readers into the middle of the action and allow them to gradually learn about the world as the story progresses. This latter approach does seem to work well for science fiction and contribute to a sense of future shock. Can you tell us a bit about your thinking on this?
SP: I considered the prologue idea, and I almost started with the alien invasion. But I decided I wanted to emphasize that this is a team-based story so the first issue kicks off by focusing on Zithara. I was also inspired by Tarantino movies that start off halfway through the film. I wanted to hit the ground running and grab the reader from the beginning.
JR: Tell readers a bit about this small band of warriors known as the Crimson Flame trying to save Earth.SP: In issue #1, three of the main characters are introduced. I decided to limit the character introductions in part because of my art budget, and to keep readers from getting too overwhelmed.
Sorin is the pilot of an exosuit loaded with lots of interesting weaponry. Strife is a mech – a prototype defense robot who befriends Sorin. He can transform and reconstruct himself. He is able to transform into a ship mode featured in the book. As the ultimate defense robot for the team, his mission is the protection of humans. Zithara is a human-alien hybrid. She has issues with trusting others because of her past. Few have shown her kindness. Others have taken advantage of her and hated her for what she is. One of the themes I really wanted to explore is prejudice and bias with the aliens in the story.
JR: Can you tell us anything about how Earth came to be overrun by this plague of monsters, the Dreadfiends?
SP: The Dreadfiends are genetically engineered. In the future, the Earth has run low on resources. There’s no livestock or crops and pollution is out of control. Scientists have turned to gene splicing to create a new lifeform to withstand elements of this harsh world, and to reproduce rapidly to provide people with nutrients. At first, the creatures are docile, but then they start to mutate, spread and take over.
JR: Ever since Todd McFarlane’s run on Amazing Spiderman, I’ve always been hooked on the villains in comics. Now on your website, the boss villain in Chaotic Flux is described as “a genocidal dark entity” known as Malakar. Will he show up in issue #1 or will we see him appear in later issues?
SP: He will come in later, though at the beginning of issue #1, we do get a glimpse of his army.
JR: You’ve put a lot of thought and detail into the weapons and fighting abilities of the aliens and monsters. Would you say the members of the Crimson Flame are pretty evenly matched
against the Dreadfiends in battle?
SP: I considered that balance for sure. I wanted these heroes to be pushed to their absolute limit over the course of the story, not only in the physical trials they have to endure, but mental stress tests as well.
JR: This isn’t just a book full of fight scenes. It’s also just as much about the the emotional struggles the characters are going through, right?
SP: Definitely! I wanted to have an emotional storyline. I have plans for big, dramatic powerful events, some that are even shocking and a bit unsettling. The story will include a number of deep, heartfelt moments as well. I think Game of Thrones is powerful in terms of storytelling and it has been a big influence on me for this book.
JR: I understand you’re a first-time comic book creator. What inspired you to create and write Chaotic Flux?
SP: This all started for me 20 years ago. I’ve always been a big comic book fan and it’s been a dream of mine to create comics. I knew I had to start somewhere. I thought about what kind of comic book I could give to the world and specifically focused on a team comic like X-men, Avengers and Watchmen. I wanted to make a story along those lines featuring characters with different abilities.
JR: Who would you say is your main target audience for the book?
SP: I’ve been thinking about that more and more, especially as I’ve started promoting the book and talking with publishers. I’ve received some feedback that the book may be difficult to market because it consists of so many genres mixed together. However the dominant genre is science fiction, so I would have to say I recommend it to readers who are into dark scifi.
JR: Chaotic Flux looks like a very ambitious, concept-heavy book. How much planning and preliminary concept design did you have to do before your artist could actually start drawing pages?
SP: It’s taken me 20 years to put all of this together, so I’ve had a lot of time to think about characters and weaponry. I was really lucky to find my artist, Brian Balondo. He is as passionate about the project as I am, and he has a good eye for character diversity and complexity. He did a great job of taking what I envisioned and transitioning it to paper.
JR: The mecha and monsters in your book have very original complex designs. How did you go about collaborating with Brian Balondo do come up with these designs?
SP: I looked around on the Internet and found pictures similar to what I envisioned. Brian understands my mind very well – he threw them all in a blender and came up with a completely new concept. For example, I described to him with the mech, Strife, I was going for a Transformer vibe, but also with a touch of anime style. I wanted him to look like he’s made up of different things. He forms himself by finding parts and adding them to his body like a walking junkyard, but with some sense of design too.
JR: You’ve formed Sharp Edge Comics to self-publish the book. Did you ever consider submitting it to a publisher or did you always intend to self-publish?
SP: I did submit to publishers and ended up getting three publishers interested. One of those did pick up the book, but wanted fifty percent of the profit which is too much for what they were willing to do. So I decided not to go with them and self-publish instead. I had formed Sharp Edge Comics earlier before trying to get a publisher as an umbrella brand name to release projects under, because I plan to work on other projects in the future.
JR: Your book is the third indie comic I’ve seen involving a groundbreaking mecha concept recently (after The 27 Run by Justin Zimmerman and issue #2 of Jeremy Biggs’ Super Robot Mayhem funded on Kickstarter last year). Do you think we are witnessing a revitalization of the mecha genre taking place in indie comics?
SP: Maybe we are. I didn’t know about those other two projects. Maybe we are seeing a rise of mecha in indie comics. If so, I’m excited to be part of that!
JR: Which of your backer rewards are exclusive to the Indiegogo campaign?
SP: Fans can only get the metallic cover, regular and metallic prints, and regular and metallic trading cards by backing this campaign.
JR: What would you say to the potential reader who is still undecided about backing the campaign and picking up a copy of the book?
SP: I’ve been wrestling lately with getting more readers interested. One of my theories is that often readers are concerned that they may not receive their rewards if a campaign doesn’t fully fund. I want to let readers know that I have the funding to fulfill all of the campaign rewards now. I’m just trying to cover the print costs for issue #1 and all additional proceeds will cover production costs of issue #2. I would also say to readers that if they really want to read a dark scifi book with a high concept, original storyline that has lots of action as well as character development that’s going to leave an impact on you, then this book is for you!
JR: Part of the excitement of the indie comics scene is that readers are able to connect with the creators, ask them questions about the books and let them know how much they enjoyed the reading experience. Where can readers go to connect with you online?
SP: Hit me up on Facebook @sharpedgecomics or on Twitter @fluxchaotic. Fans can also message me through the Sharp Edge Comics website.
JR: The website has a section for book signing dates. Which comic conventions or shops are you planning to appear at to promote the book?
SP: I’m going to start tabling conventions soon. I’m based in Texas, so I’ll be at many of the cons in the Austin, San Antonio and Houston areas.
JR: The Sharp Edge Comics website mentions that Chaotic Flux will be an ongoing series. When can fans expect to start seeing previews for the next issue?
SP: I’m in the process of writing the script for issue #2 now, and I’ll start releasing previews around the end of February.
JR: Besides your Indiegogo campaign page, where can readers go to sign up for your e-mail newsletter and follow you online?
SP: Fans can sign up for the newsletter on any page of the sharpedgecomics.com site. Just enter your e-mail address in the subscribe box and hit the submit button.
Chaotic Flux issue 1: Aliens vs Monsters part 1
A ragtag super team, a dying earth, a plague of mutant abomination, and a genocidal dark entity.
Indiegogo.com/chaotic-flux-issue-1-aliens-vs-monsters-part-1
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