The Man From Maybe #1 is due out on Oct. 18. Final Order Cutoff is Sept. 25.
In an interview with CBR, Jordan Thomas discussed creating he and Shaky Kane's post-modern sci-fi Western, The Man From Maybe.
In a world inundated with post-apocalyptic premises, it can feel like end-of-the-world series are a dime a dozen. Luckily, Jordan Thomas and Shaky Kane, the team behind Image Comics' Weird Work, are teaming up with Oni Press to produce a singular and scintillating saga of the wasteland in The Man From Maybe.
Combining the trappings of classic Western stories with a fun, campy aesthetic, The Man From Maybe follows the titular gunslinger as he wanders the drylands and a nefarious billionaire named Harvard Denny. In an interview with CBR, Thomas explained how he began working with the legendary Shaky Kane, discussed some of the real-life inspirations for the story, and shared some insight about what fans can expect from the upcoming series.
Between this series and Weird Work, you and Shaky Kane have been working together a lot this year. Can you talk about how you began working together and how your collaboration has developed?
The first time I worked with Shaky was on a comic I put together called Quarantine, which, no surprise, was at the start of lockdown. It was a project I put together quite quickly as a bit of a bonding experience for all the small press creators who had been furloughed. It was one story, written by me, with every page [drawn] by a different artist. As the project grew, we got a few famous names involved, and Shaky was one of those names. However, because Shaky joined the project quite late in the process, all the especially cool pages had gone, so Shaky's page didn't really take advantage of his talents, leaving me with a feeling of a missed opportunity. This led to us deciding to collaborate on Weird Work, and from there, we had so much fun we decided to keep working together.
You pack in a lot of ideas and information on every page, but there's still a ton of action and plenty of room for the art to breathe in the first issue of Man from Maybe. How do you approach finding that balance between dense world-building and accessible storytelling?
To be honest, the experience of writing The Man From Maybe #1 was unlike any other comic writing experience I've had. Basically, I was about 35 pages into a script for Oni when I decided it just wasn't working, which sent me into a bit of a panic. I then wrote the whole 44-page first issue of Maybe in around 48 hours in a kind of stress-induced trance, and it's probably as good a comic script as I've ever written, so I don't know what the lesson is there.
In general, though, having the first issue be double-sized really allows you to stretch out in a way that a standard 22-page opener wouldn't. We have four or five action scenes, plus a whole lot of time for character building (often within the action scenes), as well as space to let Shaky show us the world in some really gorgeous big panels.
What appealed to you about using Western tropes to tell this post-modern sci-fi story?
I love the Western genre. When I decided to ditch the overly complex, centuries-spanning initial idea, I really loved the simplicity of diving into a traditional Western but with dino-astronauts and an Elon Musk/Darth Vader-type villain. I think Westerns are especially great because they tend to combine a very clear mission with complex characters who are wrestling with a lot of pain and guilt. I like that contrast.
What can you reveal about the mysterious Man from Maybe and what you and Shaky have in store for him?
Well, the thing that makes a character like The Man From Maybe attractive is the mystery, so you won't be getting any origin story for him, but he is a little more kind and friendly than a traditional Clint Eastwood "Man with no Name." I feel like, from the way he interacts with younger characters, he had it tough when he was a kid and has a soft spot for a rebellious youth.
Were there any specific real-life inspirations for Harvard Denny and Smile Inc.?
Harvard Denny is very much inspired by the general loathing and disdain the rich and powerful seem to have for the average person. He is the type of person that destroys something that is in his way no matter who else it hurts and believes the world was created to benefit him -- that, ultimately, everything is his to take. We've seen it constantly [in] the past decade with tech billionaires and politicians. It, of course, goes right back through history. People who see everything as a game, how much can they get away with, how much power can they hoard for the sake of it. He's not very nice.
What are you most excited for fans to discover as they read The Man From Maybe?
I think, just how it is. I wrote the script months ago, so when I got to see the final lettered version (letters by the great Jim Campbell), I came to it fairly fresh and was really pleased with how much it made me smile at the sheer adventure and comics of the whole thing. That may sound a bit arrogant, but I find it a very entertaining romp of a comic, and I hope everyone else who checks it out will feel the same.
The Man From Maybe #1 is due out on Oct. 18. Final Order Cutoff is Sept. 25.
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