Kickstarting Comics: Talking With Curt Pires About New Graphic Novel ‘The Objectivist’

Writer Curt Pires has a new — and highly successful —Kickstarter campaign running at the moment for an all-new graphic novel, The Objectivist, a “story of one man, inspired by a violent vigilante comic strip, who takes a stand amidst a corrupt city in a state of decay. But as he mounts his one-man war on crime and corruption, he begins to question his sanity and the morality of what he’s doing.” It’s been a while since I’ve caught up with Pires (2022, in fact!), and in that time he has risen to become one of the most interesting and original voices in comics today. So, I grabbed this opportunity with both hands, and below are the results of our little catch-up: 

Olly MacNamee: The Objectivist is described on the campaign page as following in the tradition of outlaw comics, like The Shadow and Frank Miller’s Sin City. For the uninitiated, what is an “outlaw” comic?

Curt Pires: To me, an outlaw comic is one that operates outside the guardrails. It doesn’t care whether it’s polite, marketable or about offending the sensibilities of the masses. It’s pulpy, it’s violent, it has a point of view, and it’s not afraid to make you uncomfortable. Think of Ditko doing Mr A on his own terms, or Miller going off and making Sin City. Those are books where the creator’s vision comes through undiluted. It’s a big part of why I fell in love with comics in the first place.

MacNamee: And how does The Objectivist fit into this tradition?

Pires: It’s a love letter to those books but also in conversation with them. The DNA is The Question, Batman: Year One, Sin City, and especially Steve Ditko’s Mr. A, with a little Taxi Driver mixed in. It’s about an architect in a decaying art deco city where the rich keep getting richer, and everyone else gets ground down. He becomes obsessed with a violent vigilante comic strip, starts dressing up as its hero, and wages a one-man war on corruption. It goes sideways very quickly. It’s an outlaw vigilante book set across the bones of a crumbling empire — a setting that I think is particularly relevant in this day and age.

MacNamee: What with his crisp white suit and gold headgear, your titular character has a minimalist but memorable look. What was the inspiration behind the Objectivist’s wardrobe?

Pires: The big touchstone is Ditko’s Mr. A, who has that stark white suit, because for Ditko, white meant moral absolutes, no grey. Inside the story, our guy is literally copying a character from his favourite comic strip, so the costume had to read like a cartoon: simple, iconic, something you could draw in a few lines. Beyond that, we looked to Warren Ellis and Declan Shalvey’s great Moon Knight reboot for inspiration. That crisp white suit. Why lie, why hide it? I try to be honest about my inspirations. And the mask is meant to be statue-esque, inspired by the art deco environment the book takes place in. There’s a judgement to its gaze.

MacNamee: And what themes are you exploring in this graphic novel?

Pires: There’s also a lot about inequality and urban decay that’s very inspired by the world we’re living in right now. A world where the rich seem to keep getting richer, but everything else seems to be crumbling, right down to the core. And the dangerous place that frustration with that decay, and a little violence, can take a man to.  It’s an extremely violent book, but it’s also an intellectual one. There are blimps and art deco skylines, and there are also guys getting beaten with a hammer. Life — and the best comics about juxtaposition, I think.

MacNamee: Your collaborators on this graphic novel are your long-time collaborators, Alex Diotto and Luca Casalanguida. What’s it like to be able to work with friends, and on so many other comic book projects too? What does that bring to the energy of this project?

Pires: It’s amazing. Alex and I did Indigo Children together, and he’s done a bunch of the Lost Fantasy video game homages people love. And now finally, his own issue. Luca’s been part of the Lost Fantasy family from the get go. When you’ve made that many pages with someone, there’s a shorthand. I can write something wild, and I know exactly how they’ll push it further. Add Mark Dale on colours and Micah Myers on letters, and it’s a team that trusts each other, which is what lets you take big swings.

MacNamee: And a Jae Lee cover too? Which looks amazing, may I add.

Pires: I’ve been really lucky to build a rapport and collaboration with Jae across my last few launches so having him contribute to this was a no brainer. I think it’s one of his best covers he’s done in a while too. The original art’s already sold too! Crazy.

MacNamee: Now you’re raising funds and distributing this comic under your own TECC Content label. What freedoms does this bring you?

Pires:  It lets us build a direct relationship with readers. I love what we’re doing with Image Comics and the direct market, and that’s not going anywhere, but crowdfunding is a different pillar of what I’m building at TECC. The Objectivist is the first of a few books I want to take straight to our audience. It gives us another lane to create in.

MacNamee: Finally then, Curt, you’ve come a long way in just a few years. What goals have you got for the next few years?

Pires: Keep telling amazing stories that deliver what my readers want, and support my family.

I’ve got Creature Corps, my next Image Comics’ series with Jok, coming out next month. The Lost Fantasy universe keeps growing with Fireborn and the stuff we’re doing with Bombshell. Super Mondo Mega Mutts is out with Oni; Galactic is finishing up this winter. And on the TV and Film side, things are heating up again after the strikes and streaming bubble burst of the last couple of years. We’ll have a big announcement very soon. So stay tuned.

The bigger picture is growing TECC into a home for bold creator-owned ideas, across comics, crowdfunding and media.  And I just want to keep pulling new readers into comics. That’s always the goal.

MacNamee: Curt, congratulations on the Kickstarter’s success so far, and all the best for the remainder of the campaign.

Pires: Thank you! 

The Objectivist is currently crowdfunding here.