Kickstarting Comics: Talking With Mark Russell And Tom Peyer About ‘The Forgotten Divine’

Ahoy Comics is launching it’s first ever crowdfunding campaign through Kickstarter for Mark Russell and Russ Braun‘s The Forgotten Divine. A long-time fan of Russell’s satirical, observant and creative writing, I am always happy to break bread with him and discuss his more independent comic book work. And this was the perfect project for me to catch up with him, and a friend of Comicon.com, Tom Peyer.

Olly MacNamee: The Forgotten Divine is Ahoy Comics’ first Kickstarter. Why this project, gentlemen, and why now?

Mark Russell: I just thought this sounded like a good way to get such a unique project out to people. That, and I’ll try anything once.

Tom Peyer: It’s AHOY’s first Kickstarter, and this really puts our best foot forward. Mark’s story, Russ Braun art, Paul Little colors, Rob Steen letters. All-stars. 

MacNamee: And how does this campaign promise to “deliver more”?

Russell: This is a weird length for a story. Sixty-four pages. But what that means is that this story was written only with the story in mind. It wasn’t written with the idea that it had to be a series or maimed, shrunk down into the size of a convenient single-issue comic. This story is sixty-four pages because it needed to be exactly that long. So, for me, what a comic like this delivers is a story where every page matters. Where you can’t imagine it being any longer or shorter. And it also tells a really unique story. I don’t think there’s anything else like this out there right now.

Peyer: There really isn’t. Plus, we’re working on some really unprecedented tier rewards. Is it legal to ship live raccoons? I have to know by Wednesday. 

MacNamee: In the few pages I was lucky enough to read, I met the lead protagonist, Rodney Coleman, a disenfranchised veteran who dreams of surreal alien vistas in a galaxy, far, far away. But, ahead of that, I believe he ends up in a UFO cult. Can we safely say that such groups – including the cults of QAnon and conspiracy nuts in general –  are in the satirical firing line in this graphic novel, Mark? 

Russell: I think maybe that was in the back of my mind when I had the idea, but when I started writing, it came to be about something else entirely. It’s not satirizing people who join cults. Nor does it treat these people as nuts. It is very much about the danger of rabbit holes, but it tells the story from their perspective. I think it gives you the feeling that you could end up in a group like The Forgotten Divine, which is both creepier and more interesting, to me, than just laughing at a bunch of fools.

MacNamee: I followed your work enough, Mark, to know that you often delve into more than one theme in your writing. What other issues should we expect to be looked at? I mean, a main character who’s a down and out military vet … that’s surely some one huge potential!

Russell: It deals a lot with how we build our identity around beliefs and causes, which not only gives a real sense of meaning to our lives, but also makes it harder to back away from them. Because we feel like we’ve already bet so much of ourselves on this thing we’ve become. I think this is why people entrench themselves and double-down even when it becomes clear you’ve been following a crazy person or you’re suddenly being asked to do things that violate everything you thought it was you were fighting for.

MacNamee: I have read on your socials that The Forgotten Divine is possibly your most personal work yet. How so? I hope this isn’t where you admit to having escaped from Scientology and now they’re coming after you!

Russell: No, this is not an admission that I now belong to an egg-cult or something. I just mean that it feels more like a story written by my emotional instincts and what I was feeling at the time I wrote it, rather than sticking to any kind of blueprint. 

MacNamee: And how much of your vision was communicated to the talented Russ Braun, and how much of it was his own imagination? It must have been an absolute dream for you both, Tom, Mark, when the pages started coming in.

Russell: For me, the key point in the process was seeing how Russ handled the visions of the alien world. Because the story is half set in the mundane real world of Rodney Coleman in the desert browns and yellows of the American southwest and half in the ethereal blues and lavenders of this alien hyperworld to which he has devoted his life. The way he handled the mundane and the surreal mingling seamlessly with each other is, I think, the soul of the book and the perfect symbol of how people’s lives mostly happen where we can’t see them.

Peyer: Also, it’s like a movie where every performance is perfect. Russ drills completely into what the characters are feeling and gives them the precise, nuanced, just-right expressions. That impresses the hell out of me. He’s so good at it. 

MacNamee: Of course, this is a Kickstarter, so I have to ask the inevitable question: why are some of the rewards fans can get? 

Russell: Well, the one I’m most excited for is the variant cover designed by yours truly.

Peyer: I still have to find out about the raccoons. We’re still discussing a lot of this, but one idea involves a strange apparel choice. And there will be at least one more variant cover and, like Mark’s and Russ’, it will be done by a human. Not a raccoon. 

MacNamee: As always, it’s a great privilege and a pleasure to catch up with you both. So, many thanks for your time and all the best with The Forgotten Divine Kickstarter. 

Check out the campaign for The Forgotten Divine on Kickstarter here now, launching 9th June.