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Think Future Primitive, At London Super Comic Con

Published Fri, 19 Feb 2016 08:54:23 -0600

Last updated Fri, 19 Feb 2016 08:58:21 -0600

In 2013 I attended the London Super Comic Con. It was my first comic convention in a number of years and I was there to find a publisher for Future Primitive, an expansive and quite ambitious Neanderthal sci-fi epic I'd concocted with the incredible Serbian artist Slobodan Jovanovic. Happily for me, it was a successful day and now, some three years later, Markosia Enterprises are set to debut the print edition of Future Primitive at this year's LSCC.

By way of a quick resume I'd written comics in the past, but had been away for some time. A self-imposed exile during which time I DJ'ed House and Techno in and around my adopted home town of Brighton. However, much as I loved mixing tunes and staying out all night, I knew it was time to start writing again and to create the type of epic, mind-expanding comic I'd always wanted to read. Future Primitive is that comic.

My aim was to write a comic that was influenced by myth and legend and the real-life or cosmic events that inspired their creation. A comic that was influenced by Jack Kirby, Jack Katz, William Blake, Warren's 1994 magazine, and a host of others too numerous to mention. A comic that took fantastical ideas relating to lost worlds and technologies and applied them to an imagined, scientifically advanced Stone Age epoch and its myriad proto-human races. (However, whether the story is set in the past or the future is for the reader to decide).

Throughout Future Primitive's 'imagining' I was incredibly fortunate to work with 'Boban', an amazing artist I contacted through Deviant Art. His sheer enthusiasm for the story and visualizing this world was evident from day one. Indeed, he started the character and concept sketches immediately after reading the outline and before he wrote back to tell me he was interested. I believe that dedication and attention to detail shines through in his work and I can't imagine any other artist giving the book the same atmosphere; an atmosphere more than complemented by the lush tones of colourists Matteo Baldrighi and Stefan Mrkonjic.

The final result is a spectacular, dynamic, and visionary stonepunk adventure set on a timeless Earth transformed by supernova radiation. The story focuses on Kulkan, last warrior king of the Neanderthal 'Skybearers', who faces the hostile threat of the rampaging Australopith 'Moon Clan'. Kulkan must battle to protect his civilization and preserve their 'Memory of Being'; the sacred cave images that record the Skybearers' history and cosmic religion – and which may provide the first clues to their eventual salvation…

Three years on from that fateful LSCC meeting with Harry Markos, the book is complete and ready to go. Boban and Stefan's gorgeous art is more than matched by the cool design work and lettering of Patrick Foster. I'll be at the Markosia stand on both days of LSCC where the book is available as a limited edition hardback and softback, so please feel free to pop by and say 'hello'. For those of you unable to attend LSCC, you can now preorder on Amazon and the first four digital issues are available on Comixology.