Top Cow are running Pilot Season 2008, where eight new comics get a chance to attract reader votes. The most popular two become on-going series. The rest, presumably, go to a farm in the country. A nice farm, where they can play all day!
One of the comics in this year’s line-up is Genius #1, written by Adam Freeman and Marc Bernadin, with art by Afua Richardson. It charts an explosive introduction to the world’s newest and greatest military genius a 17-year-old female LA gangbanger who unites her neighbourhood against the LAPD.
It’s often hard to tell if something’s solid from a single issue, but Genius shows a lot of promise. It has a killer premise, an intriguing cast, and addresses some really interesting points of race/class/gender dynamics in its few pages. And Richardson pulls out all the stops her art is gorgeous. Oh man, the colours.
Anyway! I was hence eager to take up the opportunity to interview co-writer Adam Freeman.
Genius is your entry in the Top Cow Pilot Season, where success depends on audience appeal. What audience do you envisage exists for Genius?
AF: Hopefully, the audience that is always so vocal about wanting different kinds of stories told. I love super heroes but the genre can only wield so much. In the 1950′s the Western was the most popular movie genre and some amazing films came out of that, but like anything it reaches maximum saturation. Genius is definitely not your average comic story. If readers have an open mind like they claim to I think they will enjoy the ride.
The eponymous genius, Destiny Ajaye, isn’t your standard comics superscientist, but a charismatic military genius, capable of farsighted tactics and strategy. What kind of research did it take to create such a character?
AF: We did research but oddly enough, a lot of it didn’t find its way into the first issue. Being a Pilot Season book it has to serve several masters not only set up the story and give you a satisfying 22 page read, but also tease what the series will deliver if you vote for more. Before finding a home as part of Pilot Season is was originally designed as more of a slow burn intercutting the seemingly random violence of an LA gang with this lone police analyst trying to piece it all together. Once the story telling was condensed a lot of the research specific battles Destiny unknowingly recreates, gang hierarchy etc. was shifted into future issues which hopefully we will get to write. This story has an unbelievable arc that I promise NO ONE will see coming. I hope we get to tell the story so vote!
Excessive police violence is a realistic concern for communities of color, and LA in particular has a terrible and well-publicised history in this regard. Did this play a part in the creation of the story?
AF: The story was born out of two concepts. First, a documentary about these middle America militias that are training for the inevitable race war they see coming. In their minds the inner city ‘animals’ as they poetically like to refer to these minorities are going to break out of the zoo and it will be up to these homemade militias to save us from them. Second, the idea that child prodigies can be born anywhere and have no choosing as to what form their savant-like gifts will come in. We combined these two ideas into the premise: ‘What if the greatest military mind of our generation was born to a female gang banger from South Central L.A.?’
It is also important to point out that, ironically enough, we don’t consider Genius a political book. It does not take sides, it does not pass judgements. In our minds we created this event or conflict and are documenting it through the eyes of characters on both sides of the fence.
Those aware that there’s a military genius on the streets, but unaware of Destiny’s identity, continually refer to her as ‘he’. Do we get to see more of this ironic approach to standard gender portrayal?
AF: Definitely. This whole book plays off of stereotypes. Who says a military genius has to go to West Point? Who says it has to be a ‘he?’ Who says economic status determines raw intelligence? Destiny defies the preconceived idea every character in this book has as to the identity of ‘Suspect Zero.’
To get non-specific for a moment; your comics are co-written. How does that process play out for you and Marc?
AF: Marc and I have known each other since 5th grade. We quickly realized that our interests in comics, movies, books etc. went beyond the fan boy stage. Our friends would see a movie and talk about how awesome the action sequences were. We would huddle and try to figure out HOW they did it. Point is, we always looked at these things with a creator mindset, always knowing one day we wanted to be making these things. All those decades of conversations developed into a creative short hand we share. I now live in L.A. and Marc is back east and our working relationship has never been more productive because of that shorthand.
An idea usually starts as a one liner from of us, ‘What if…’ and then we both run with it from there. We work over the phone, IM, e-mail etc and it is like we are in the same room minus the distractions. Our work sessions become all about the work incredibly focused and impervious to the video game gods that want nothing more to suck us into GTA. We do outlines together, then I will write 5 pages and send it to Marc who makes tweaks, adds five pages, sends it back etc. In the end we have a creation that is 100% both of ours down to each line as opposed to ‘Frankensteining’ things together like other teams work.
One of the military geniuses referenced in Genius is Hannibal. Is this a hint? Are you promising us elephants?
AF: No, but we will have fava beans and chianti. Actually elephants marching down Fairfax is pretty fucking cool.
