Today we are joined by the multi-talented writer/artist Jimmy Palmiotti. Jimmy is a multi-award winning comic book creator. Some of the comics Jimmy has worked on include The Big Con Job, The New West, The Monolith, 21 Down, The Resistance, The Pro, Harley Quinn, Jonah Hex, Power Girl, just to name a few. As he launches his new graphic novel Rage with Scott Hampton, we got to sit down and chat with him.
Hi Jimmy, we are so excited to have you here with us today. There is so much that we could talk to you about, and we would love to. We understand that you are very busy; we are so delighted that you have taken some time out of your schedule to talk to us about your new graphic novel, Rage.
Can you tell us about the origin of Rage?
The simple origins of RAGE are that it was simply put together by two guys that wanted to work together again and tell a story they can own for a change. Scott Hampton and I have worked a few times on different projects, one of the last being the G.I. Zombie series over at DC COMICS, and we were talking about future projects when both of our schedules had a significant gap in them and we jumped at the opportunity. I already had the Kickstarter know how, so we then moved on to finding just the right idea where we would both have an interest in the subject, which was a bit of horror mixed with some over the top drama. We were looking for something that we would have a passion for and that’s how RAGE came about. Right property at the right time.
How would you describe Rage?
I would describe the RAGE graphic novel as a mix of Horror, disaster movie, and a lot of humanity. Rage is less about the event and more about the relationship between father and daughter and their emotional scars they have between them that brings them closer. Rage is a study in a shared trauma and how people push through and deal with it differently. A lot of my past therapy comes into play when telling this story and at the end of the day, outside of that, it’s a big adventure of two people crossing the United States while it is in the grips of an unknown disaster. We wanted to do something fun, weird and visually stimulating. I think RAGE delivers all of this and more.
How long have you been working on Rage?
When you are doing something, you love, it really doesn’t feel like work. That said, we have been creating Rage for the past 8 months during the pandemic and finally getting to the point where it made sense to start the Kickstarter. This gives us the opportunity to deliver the book very quickly after the campaign ends. With 16 Kickstarters under my belt, I know one of the major concerns is the book comes out on time and right now, with a perfect track record, I do not want that to change.
You are working with Scott Hampton on Rage; what made Scott the right choice for Rage?
Scott and I are different people in so many ways, but at our core, we both understand the importance of emotionally driven decisions. We also have an eye for art and both love this form of storytelling. We are fans of a ton of genres outside superhero’s and we both have very international tastes in storytelling- meaning we have no problem with language, nudity and violence. Rage delivers on all of the above in this adult graphic novel.
You are crowdfunding Rage, does dealing directly with readers make the project more special for you as a creator?
Crowdfunding is a simple and direct way to feel out what one’s audience wants from a creator. They support a project with their pledge and as each campaign ends, you can easily see what works and what doesn’t when you see the support or lack of on a campaign. This kind of grass roots feedback helps mold each and every project. I see a lot of the same names campaign after campaign and love it. I would also love to have some more retailers involved and offer pledge levels for them as well. Dealing directly to the consumer is a gift for me and trying to live up to their expectations is a constant challenge I am happy to make. I love the entire process, even packing up the books.
Do you have a favorite Kickstarter reward?
On Rage we are offering something unique to my other Kickstarters, and this is a lot of Original art by A Scott Hampton from the interiors of the book as well as I am offering a commission on the inside covers of a certain amount of books where a backer can choose for me to draw the character of their choice. We also have some special stretch goals added which we will show when and if we reach our goal on the project.
Â
Any message for the ComicBuzz readers?
My message to ComicBuzz readers is thank you for getting this far into the interview, thanks for supporting this wonderful site and the people behind it and you can all do me a favor and check out our latest Kickstarter and share the links on social media, and please join our mailer at PAPERFILMS.COM so we can bring you news and exclusive deals each month. Also, please take care, be careful, keep calm and have integrity in everything you do
A big thank you to Jimmy for taking the time to chat with us today. We would like to wish Jimmy and everybody at PaperFilms the best of luck with their new graphic novel Rage.
The rage graphic novel is now live on Kickstater.
For more information, visit www.paperfilms.com.
