Posted in: Comics | Tagged: james tynion iv, substack

James Tynion IV Shows You Teenage Mad Scientist Christopher Chaos

Published Fri, 11 Feb 2022 10:40:09 -0600

Mentioned previously, James Tynion IV has introduced his Substack subscribers to his new comic book series that he will be showrunning, debuting through his six-figure-funded newsletter, The Oddly Pedestrian Life of Christopher Chaos. About a Teenage Mad Scientist. And how it began in a creative workshop that was run by Scott Snyder.

It was written in the style of a young readers' chapter book and featured a psychopathic young evil genius forced to go through his day-to-day life in the fourth grade. It was actually a trilogy of short chapters, each escalating in their horror, until a final one where young Christopher actually kills someone. Which really upset a few of my classmates, and delighted me. Those Christopher Chaos stories are some of my favorite that I wrote in college, but more than anything it was the title that stayed with me. The story itself was kind of a shallow joke and an experiment to play on my readers' expectations. It didn't feel like there was depth there. But the title lingered in my mind. It just felt like a name without the right idea attached to it.

And then Substack happened. And he dropped Batman. And had a new plan for bringing in other creators to work on the world he built.

At the start of last year, I had started developing the first arc of HOUSE OF SLAUGHTER with Tate Brombal. I quickly saw a kindred soul in Tate, with a lot of habits (like going off and writing elaborate world-building story documents that nobody asked for) that I recognized myself having in my early writing career. So, I turned to him with the raw pieces of the story and asked if he wanted to help me flesh out this world and these characters and write the book for me. Tate said yes!

Next up, I reached out to the incredible Nick Robles to join the team as our character designer and cover artist. And then I reached out to the incredible Isaac Goodhart, who had been leveling up like crazy after a few years working on graphic novels for DC's YA line to join us on the interior art. Isaac pointed me in the direction of Kurt Michael Russell, whose work I had loved on Money Shot, and who had worked with Isaac back on the Top Cow series Postal, and I was thrilled to have him join the team. And then we got the lettering maestro Aditya Bidikar to round out the TOPLOCC brain trust.

And the overall tone of the series?

It's a coming-of-age story about extraordinary teenagers, getting wrapped up in a larger-than-life mystery. But like all of my work, we're not going to shy away from violence, language, or the jagged edges of young life. I think the key comparison point that I'd say is INVINCIBLE. And like I said before, this isn't quite a superhero comic, but it IS the closest thing to a superhero comic I'm working on, or am likely to work on for a good long while.

So, now… I want you to meet Christopher Chaos. Teenage Mad Scientist. He's going to be the one who tumbles sideways out of his ordinary world into something extraordinary. The Pigeon in his hood is named Peggy. She is a good pigeon. These designs are by the extraordinary Nick Robles.

The Oddly Pedestrian Life of Christopher Chaos is based on an idea by James Tynion IV
Script by Tate Brombal
Art by Isaac Goodhart
Color by Kurt Michael Russell
Letters by Aditya Bidikar
Character Designs and Covers by Nick Robles
Design by Dylan Todd
Edited by Greg Lockard

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