The following is an interview with comic book creator Bruno Catarino on the Kickstarter campaign launch for the comic book, (Space) Odyssey #1. In this interview, Fanbase Press Editor-in-Chief Barbra Dillon chats with Catarino about his creative process in adapting the well-known story to the sequential art medium, the incredible backer rewards available through the campaign, and more!
Barbra Dillon, Fanbase Press Editor-in-Chief: Congratulations on the launch of your Kickstarter campaign for your comic book, (Space) Odyssey #1! What can you share with us about the story’s premise?
Bruno Catarino: Thanks. The idea is to transport the original story to a setting which modern audiences can still feel wonder about.
We know there are no Olympus gods, but Oligarchs who monopolize power and riches is something modern audiences understand.
Traveling a few hundred miles by sea might seem meaningless to modern audiences who are used to travel by airplane, but if we locate cities (or planets) light years away in deep space, that seems an impossible distance to cover even for 21st century audiences.
BD: The creative process of approaching an adaptation of a prior work – especially one as well known as The Odyssey – can be a daunting experience. How would you describe your approach to breathing new life into the story, and what did you find to be most rewarding/challenging about the process?
BC: I purposefully wrote issue #1 from memory, without re-reading the book, because I wanted to start from a place of novelty and didn’t want to lean on the original too much. Of course, I researched plenty in the process of writing issue #1, to make sure I was not too far off, but the intention has always been to loosely adapt the story, converting fantasy elements to sci-fi, and for that, being too close to the original was more likely to hurt than to help.
I’ve since read the book to work on future issues, but because I wrote issue #1 without that crutch, everything I read now in the original is filtered through the lens of the sci-fi world created for this series.
Most challenging is to cram everything in 10 issues. My original idea was 16 issues, but for a modern comic, and self-funded, that’s quite a lot. 10 issues is more realistic, so I’m working on outlining the story in a way that fits that length.
Most rewarding (and fun) has been to come up with novel sci-fi concepts for some of the fantasy elements in the original. Really proud of what I have planned for the Underworld, or how Poseidon’s role and domain is changed in this series. But that’s a story for future issues…
BD: Why do you feel that crowdfunding has been such a valuable resource to ensuring the success of today’s comic book creators?
BC: I probably couldn’t be making comics without it.
I try to finish the book before launching, and everybody (except for me – bummer, I know) gets paid before the Kickstarter page is even created, but crowdfunding is essential to recoup a large part of those costs, and it’s what allows me to continue making comics.
Why crowdfunding works so well compared to everything else is something I still haven’t been able to figure out. Maybe something about a crowdfunding campaign feeling like an event helps engage people. People want to be part of making a piece of art come to life, maybe? Or maybe it’s the amazing comic book community supporting each other so much that makes it work. Wish I knew the answer and could apply it beyond the crowdfunding campaign, but I don’t…
BD: At Fanbase Press, our #StoriesMatter initiative endeavors to highlight the impact that stories can have on audiences of various mediums. How do you feel that this story may connect with and impact readers?
BC: This is probably a non-answer, but I tend to write for myself. I write the kind of story I enjoy and that I hope would exist in the world, and then I just trust that there will be more people like me out there who will enjoy it. Scinematic Figments and Family and Honour are two of my previous works that I had doubts if somebody else on the planet was going to appreciate it, but I’ve had some really nice online messages from people who read it, or people coming to me at comic cons and telling me they enjoyed it, so yeah, I hope this story also connects with readers, but not sure how. Each person is going to bring their own experience and interpretation to it, and if that happens, I think I’ve done my job.
Trying to actually answer the question, this version of the Odyssey is informed by the current society we live in, so, hopefully, people will read this book and see it as an undesirable future, or as a cautionary tale to not repeat in real life.
BD: In light of the crowdfunding campaign, are there any particular backer rewards or tiers that you would like to highlight for our readers?
BC: There are three different variant covers, and there’s a tier with all three variants, for people who like to collect them.
There are also tiers that include some of my previous books, for those who might not know my work and want to save no shipping costs. Of course all of these are available as digital only rewards too.
There’s also an add-on with a four bookmark set that is gorgeous.
BD: Are there any other projects – past or current – that you would like to highlight for our readers?
BC: If you like mature sci-fi, Scinematic Figments is probably one project that people might enjoy – also available in this campaign in some of the reward tiers. (Check Sci-Fi bundle.). Issue #3 should be coming out later this year, so keep an eye out for that.
Other than that, I have two other series, Crimson Bay and Flamevolt, which are very different, but fans of martial arts action or superhero genre are likely to enjoy. Crimson Bay #2 will be my next Kickstarter.
BD: Lastly, what would you like to tell readers who want to learn more about the (Space) Odyssey campaign and your other work?
BC: The best way is to sign up to my newsletter to get weekly updates on my work, but if you’re looking specifically for information about the Odyssey, check out the Kickstarter page, and all the information is there.
