I wanted to feature a very awesome Kickstarter today and this one is from Michael Nunneley who created the OmenVerse and Omen Comics along with Revelation Comics. I interviewed Michael recently and we talked Seidr and a couple other cool things.
James: To kick things off, tell me about what got you interested in comics in the first place and why you write them now?
Michael: I got into comics because of a few factors. The first would be movies and television, Specifically Batman 66, Superman (Reeve), Super Friends, Spider-Man 66 (animated), Spider-Man & His Amazing Friends and of course The Incredible Hulk/ The second reason is going to a friend of my uncle's with him and seeing the original Secret Wars series there. My uncle's friend let me borrow the series and I loved it. Not long afterwards I was at the corner store to get candy and I saw a Mighty Thor comic. Being a big fan of Norse mythology I picked it up and that started my comic book collection. By the time I was 12 I had made a few of my own, admittedly derivative, characters and even started making my own comics on folded up typewriter paper. I have wanted to write comics ever since then but life happens and, while I kept writing and creating characters I didn't start writing my own comics until I was about 42 and about a year later I founded Omen Comics.
James: You’ve started the Omen Verse, a podcast, Revelation Comics and other comic ventures, tell us about how you started and why?
Michael: I started Omen Comics in an effort to make lemonade out of lemons. I was "hired" to write/co-create a character called Omen for a label that, to my knowledge, no longer exists. His character was a complete rip off of Spawn - I mean, straight up plagiarism is some cases and I told him I refused to write that as it was. So I completely reworked it and made the character unique and that was pretty much the version you see in Omen Comics now. The owner stiffed me after I wrote 3 issues for him with the character I essentially created. So I told him I was walking with the rights to the Omen character and I started my own label. Out of spite I named the label Omen Comics after the character I had walked away with and I swore I would make something of it.
Revelation Comics - the label that Seidr #1 is under - was founded by Steve Sellers and I for stand-alone stories outside of the Omenverse like his all-ages superhero comic about an impulsive speedster named Blitz. Or Omen Comics/Revelation Comics artist/writer Tosin Awosika's Nigerian war story called Insurrection: Fox Operations. Or, more on point to our discussion today, my Viking-horror story called Seidr.
Omen Revelations Podcast was founded and is hosted by me and Steve Sellers as a means of bringing attention to our comics. But, it turns out we love podcasting! It has since expanded to talk about pop culture, comics, writing and even as a platform to support the indie comics community with our monthly indie comics creator spotlights. We have recorded around 60 or more episodes, we are currently in our 3rd season and planning our 4th season.
James: You’ve got an awesome looking Kickstarter that’s in the homestretch. Seidr #1. What can you tell us about that?
Michael: Thank you! I really put my all into setting up that Kickstarter and writing Seidr - it took me about a year to write out the story for the three-issue story and write the first issue. I'm a huge horror fan and, while there are elements of horror in my other books at Omen Comics, Seidr is my first attempt at a straight up horror story and I threw all of my horror-loves into it too. There's supernatural/paranormal elements and, of course, some gore and slasher stuff in there too. Hell, I even threw in the undead. Seidr combines Norse mythology and Viking warrior culture into a Shakespearean-horror story about the hubris and weakness of a king and a broken heart that spawned a nightmare. I am really proud of Seidr. It was a lot of work and a lot ofun to put together and I am really happy with how it has turned out. I also like the diversity in genres it brings to the Revelation Comics line.
We're offering printed/digital copies of, not just Seidr #1, but all of Revelation Comics and Omen Comics titles as well as several cover art posters. Seidr is available in a standard and a variant cover. There's a 3x5 waterproof SEIDR sticker, a copy of the script and up to 3 years of unlimited access to Revelation Comics of globalgomix.com. Plus, everyone who backs Seidr #1 and provides an email is guaranteed a digital copy of Seidr #1 with the exclusive variant cover even if the campaign is unsuccessful.
James: You said Seidr is your first attempt at a horror comic and that you love the horror genre and those supernatural elements. What attracts you so much to that?
Michael: With horror, I've been watching it since I was 8 years old. I think the very first horror movie I watched was either The Terminator or A Nightmare On Elm Street - we watched a lot of slashers and sci-fi horror.. I'm not positive what it was. I suppose that it's about experiencing horrible and terrible things in a safe environment but either way I was hooked. When I was 10 years old we had a period in class where we were supposed to write in our journals. Most of the kids wrote about what they did that week or a relative visiting - whatever "normal" kids write about. But, I had recently seen A Nightmare On Elm Street part 2 and was having recurring nightmares about Freddy so it was sticking with me. Consequently I was writing out the script for the movie in my journal from memory. When my teacher read it she freaked out and called in my parents talking about how she thought there was something seriously wrong with me and she was even worried about me being around the other kids. I'm guessing she thought I was coming up with that story myself. As far as the supernatural/paranormal stuff, that is what scares me. Basically, it's like this: demons and the horrible, nightmarish crap that humans are capable of doing to each other terrifies me. Plus, I really like gory special fx. Mind you, if I saw some slasher action in real life, it would be an entirely different experience. But, in a movie or a story, the gory the better. I even like some body horror.
James: You also mentioned your love of Thor and Norse Mythology. What attracts you to that especially?
Michael: I got into mythology with the Clash of the Titans and Jason & the Argonauts films. I loved that there were these powerful gods, heroes and villains doing amazing things and going on great adventures. I was soon down at the local library and the library at my school devouring every book on myths, legends and folklore that I could find. While my fascination with myths and legends has grown to include many cultures and stories, my favorites as a boy were Greek and Norse mythology and I loved the adventures of Thor & Hercules the most. Beyond the greatness of the stories in Norse mythology I suppose one of the big draws to it is my Swedish heritage. In fact, that same heritage inspired me to choose Vikings as my first horror genre. Horror and Norse mythology go together very well and Viking warrior culture makes for some great scenes and battles.
James: A fun one. We got to know each other over Halloween Kills and we even did a two day Twitter reaction to Halloween 2018 and Kills. Rank the Halloween films from your favorite to least favorite.
Michael:
1. Halloween 2018
2. Halloween Kills
3. Halloween (Zombie)
4. Halloween 78
5. Halloween 2
6. Halloween 4
7. Halloween 5
8. Halloween H20
9. Halloween 2 (Zombie)
10. Resurrection
11. Halloween 6
Even though Michael is just a tad wrong on these Halloween rankings, Seidr looks like an amazing comic and Michael is a really cool guy. Consider checking out his Kickstarter.
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