David, thank you for taking the time out of your day to talk with TeamHellions. In a time when comic book writers are getting death threats for killing off characters I wouldn’t have blamed you for going into hiding upon the release of Idolized issue 5.

DAVID: It’s my pleasure! Thanks so much for all of the tremendous support you’ve shown to IDOLIZED. I truly appreciate it, and I’d be happy to chat with you anytime. And, yes, there will be a notable death in IDOLIZED #5, but hopefully I won’t be getting any death threats because of it.

Lets start at the conception of the title. Was Idolized created from any personal love of reality television? If not how was the idea of the series conceived?

DAVID: One day several years ago, I was reading an article about the astounding success of the “American Idol” zeitgeist, and the tremendous amount of drama that the kids on that show go through; the fear, the desperation, the crushing blow of a bad performance, the elation of a great performance, the feeling that their entire future could be riding on every choice they make about their clothing and hair, every word they say, every note they sing.
Love it or hate it, it’s hard to deny that It’s a tremendously pressure-filled, high-stakes situation. And I was thinking, if there was truly a superhero world like the Marvel or DC universes, would there be a show like that, with that level of human drama and intensity, but for superheroes? If so, what would it look like?

Out of that grew the idea of a comic book series about a TV show where super-powered teens and 20-somethings are competing for the ultimate dream-prize: a guaranteed spot in that world’s top super-group, The Powered Protectors.

Guaranteed entry to the Protectors is huge. After all, it wouldn’t be easy to become a legal, sanctioned, paid superhero (as opposed to a mere illegal vigilante). But, if you get to start off by winning “SuperHero Idol”? Well, it’s like you’ve instantly arrived, and can write your own ticket from there on out. The chance of winning offers fame, fortune, massive endorsement deals and, of course, a chance to actually save the world. Kids who dream of being worshipped as the next Superman or Wonder Woman would be falling all over themselves to get on — and perhaps even win — the show.

And, from there, I fleshed out the idea for IDOLIZED as the story of this specific girl who starts out seeking revenge, and ultimately finds redemption, over the course of competing in this televised superhero competition show.

The details of the story, and the “Superhero Idol” show within that story, have changed a bit over the course of scripting it. Originally, the series was going to be very dark, and gritty, and take place mostly off-stage. But, once Micah came aboard, I changed it up and went with more of a light, fun feel for the book than I had been planning. Micah’s got such a unique, whimsical look to his work, that it really inspired me to lighten up and to have more fun with the competition itself than I had originally intended, and I’ve continued that with Pasquale. After the dark, deathly morose work I did on MELTDOWN and Fathom: Blue Descent, it’s a nice change! Still trying to bring some big ideas, personal introspection and commentary to the work, particularly in the last issue or two, but overall just having a bit more light-hearted fun with it.

Over the course of the series you have created enough new heroes and villains to start 52 new books right NOW. Has this universe of characters been collecting for years or did the original idea of a super hero reality show become much bigger than you expected it to be?

DAVID: I’d love to start my own New 52! I wonder if we can talk Aspen into that?

Actually, virtually all of these characters were created during the course of scripting of the series.

First, obviously, we needed a hero and a villain, and I tried to make them polar opposites. Joule is singularly focused on herself and her own inner demons, with the power to control all forms of energy. Stasis, our villain, looks outward instead of inward, seeking to change the world. And, his power is to stop all movement. Since the use of energy is inherent in movement, their powers are directly opposed to each other.

From there I knew I needed to come up with a host for the show, other contestants, judges and the Protectors, so I just brainstormed what the backstories and powers for each of those characters would be. It all happened fairly organically and rapidly.

Joule has been an incredible and well rounded character from page one. Did it take a while to discover her character? Is the version of Joule that we see anywhere near your original idea?

DAVID: The idea for Joule was really inspired by the movie “True Grit”. In that film, the lead character starts as a young girl hell-bent on revenge. That dark desire ultimately costs her an arm, and, even more sadly, it leads her to a lonely, disappointing and hollow life. When we see her as a shattered adult at the end of the film, and think about how much promise she had shown as a young girl at the start of the story, it’s nothing short of heart-breaking. I wanted to take that concept and play with it, see how a similar girl’s story might change if she was given the opportunity to step up and become something more, something better, something heroic. Would she ever allow herself to step away from the revenge she so desired, or would the hatred still be too all-consuming, preventing her from ever redeeming her soul? That’s where the kernel of the idea for Joule came from, and then I fleshed her out from there. I’ve known a lot of people like her, folks who carry so much anger and regret inside that it really taints them, and I’ve suffered from bouts of it myself at times, so it was fairly easy for me to channel that.

One of the best parts of the series has been the bonus content. How did this content come about and is this something you would like to expand upon in the future? I could read an entire magazine done in this style.

DAVID: I’m so glad to hear that! That’s been one of my favorite parts of the series as well but, honestly, I wasn’t sure if anyone was even reading those pages!
The biggest challenge for me in writing comics is always trying to make everything fit into the space allotted. My inclination is to allow things to play out over a long period of time, in order to make sure we have opportunities to really develop deep and well-rounded characters and situations. Unfortunately, in a 5-issue first volume, and in just 20 pages per issue, there’s really just never enough room to let everything breathe the way I’d like.

So, in order to help lend that depth to the characters and to really flesh out the IDOLIZED world, we decided to include several pages of bonus materials in each issue. Those bonus materials give us the opportunity to expand on what we can fit into the actual story pages, to really build a full universe in just 5 issues, and to give essential details that we might not be able to convey otherwise. I’m having a lot of fun with those extra pages – I even taught myself how to use InDesign in order to be able to do the layout and design work on them – and I hope that they really add to the readers’ enjoyment of the series.

Joule is a young, smart, powerful, beautiful but not too sexy, well written and well rounded female character in comics. How did you succeed in pulling this off over 6 issues while there are other female characters decades old who have yet to accomplish the same?

DAVID: When I was young I spent years as an actor, taking classes for hours literally every single day, attending arts magnet schools in middle school and high school. Obviously, as an actor, you focus on building characters; understanding their wants, their needs, their motivation. I gave up acting years ago, but I think that background really helps me now tremendously in my writing. It made me realize that, while an interesting story hook is important in order to draw a reader in, it’s character that really grabs us once we’ve started reading, and that keeps us coming back issue after issue.

Plus, I just try to draw on real life, to use my writing to work through the types of foibles that we all struggle with. No one in the real world is ever 100% benevolent, or 100% evil; we’re all just struggling to do the best we can with who we are, and I really try to make sure my characters reflect that. I try to make sure that all of my characters are honest, flawed, people who battle with shades of grey in their lives. I was really happy with how those types of struggles came across in my first series, MELTDOWN (now available on Comixology – shameless plug!), and I’m glad to hear that it seems to be coming across in IDOLIZED as well.

Finally David, if you were on Writers Idol what aspects of your writing process or future creative plans would ensure your victory?

DAVID: Frankly, I don’t know that I’d be victorious. I feel like I’m still always learning, and that there are so many writers out there that are far superior. Hopefully I just wouldn’t embarrass myself too badly.

Thank you so much for taking the time David. On behalf of all of us at Team Hellions we look forward to the final issue and cross our fingers for an eventual volume 2 (and further).

DAVID: Thanks! I’m keeping my fingers crossed for it as well. Having the support of Team Hellions spreading the word, letting people know about the series, and providing such incredibly positive reviews, certainly helps tremendously. Again, thanks so much for all of your efforts on behalf of IDOLIZED.