A team of four local writers and artists hope to put Albuquerque on the comic book map with a recently-released comic involving a Jewish Scotland Yard detective, a reluctant bounty hunter, a guilt-ridden superhero, a real-life scientist and magic bullets, set against the backdrop of Victorian England.
Husband and wife writing team Jason and Jona Kottler, both UNM graduates, teamed with local artists Russel Garcia and Chayne Avery to create The Wonderverse: Nexus, One of Four.
The comic, issue one of four, was unveiled during the San Diego ComiCon July 19-22. The writers and artists say the comic book, the first major comic release to come out of Albuquerque, was well-received at the conference and is seeing increasing sales at local comic shops.
“We had people who really liked it and made a point of coming back and telling us,” Avery said. “When we got back to Albuquerque there were a lot of comic shops interested in buying 10 or so.”
But, like any business venture in its beginning stages, it’s still just a labor of love for all involved.
“Basically, we were paid by going to the San Diego convention — Jason and Jona paid for that,” said Avery, a graphic designer for Qwest Dex.
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The Kottlers recently moved to California so Jason could take a software development job in hopes of raising some extra capital to fund the subsequent editions. He said they are in the process of moving back to Albuquerque.
Jason, who received his bachelor’s degree in University Studies from the UNM in 1993, said he and his wife developed the characters over several years, and eventually the pieces of the story fell together. The characters are amalgams of television personalities he said they were bombarded with as children.
“I started wondering what an early superhero would look like,” Jason said. So John Blackthorne — lacking superhuman powers and wearing only a rudimentary costume — was born.
Bounty Hunter Jane Pembrook is modelled after Palladin from “Have Gun Will Travel,” he added.
The story begins in late 19th century colonial Africa, where a cryptically inscribed Bible, the meaning of which will be fleshed out in later issues, is introduced.
Flash to 10 years later, where the story’s villain, Valos Bergman-Jones, is performing in a circus sideshow with one of five stolen magic bullets belonging to Pembrook’s mentor and employer, the mysterious Spook. Pembrook has been hired by Spook to track the precious bullets down. Though their cursory introductions leave their roles vague, Blackthorne, Tesla, the detective and others are intertwined with this tale, and their storylines will be expanded in upcoming issues, which will extend into the 1940s.
“We want to look at the changes on the 20th century brought about by the actions of all these characters,” Jason says.
The backdrop for all this action is a parallel universe — the Wonderverse — a sort of cross between late-19th century back alley London and New York City.
The beautiful character renderings are an interesting mix of Japanese-style anime and classic superhero comic book Americana. The setting allows for a healthy dose of surreality, such as the ocean liner bristling with windmills or the foreshadowing blip of a scene involving godlike aliens that hints at otherworldy influence on Wonderverse events.
Artist Garcia describes the comic as a “science-fiction fantasy set in a post-industrial revolution world.”
The Kottlers met Avery, who penciled the drawings, and Garcia, who inked them, through flyers hung at local comic shops.
“We said we were looking for the person that got in trouble in class because they were drawing instead of doing their math,” Jason said.
The four are putting finishing touches on the second in the series, which will be released this fall.
The Wonderverse is available at Comic Warehouse, 9617 Menaul Blvd. NE, and other local comic shops.
