I had a chance to talk with Giovanni Smith, the creator of Days of Dark Fire, a fantasy comic from Sinopia Comics. I reviewed Issues #1-#3 a while back and enjoyed the comic greatly. Unexpectedly, he brought along a friend–one of the characters from the comic, Titan Tyson. Needless to say, it was one of the more entertaining and strange interviews I’ve done. So here’s what Giovanni and Tyson had to say in response to my questions!
AP2HYC: Hiya, how are you doing?
Giovanni Smith: Thanks for taking the time to chat with me about my first comic, Days of Dark Fire! I hope you don’t mind, but I thought I’d bring Titan Tyson (one of the main characters from Days of Dark Fire) along to help answer some of these questions.
Titan Tyson: Why would they mind? We all know I’m the eye-candy here at Sinopia Comics.
AP2HYC: Where did your initial idea for the book come from?
Titan Tyson: It all started long, long ago, the first time Giovanni went to a pub, channeled his inner Tyson, and got drunk on–
Giovanni Smith : Actually, it started long before that. As a kid I loved comics and HATED writing. For my Dad -the Teacher- this wouldn’t do. So Dad made me an offer I couldn’t refused: “Giovanni, every day that you write two pages, I’ll take you out for desert.”
And just like that, my waistline grew with my passion for writing. And so did this idea for Days of Dark Fire: a fantasy, superhero mashup.
It was years before my writing skills developed to a point where I could tell this story properly, but the initial idea was born from my love of carrot cake.
Titan Tyson: So…it was like I said: the first time he got drunk on cake, the cast of Days of Dark Fire were born!
AP2HYC: What were influences in terms of story and art?
Titan Tyson: Mike Gaughran–lead artist for Days of Dark Fire–man, the creativity that come out of his crazy mind when you take him drinking in a medieval tavern…just wow!
Giovanni Smith: Mike Gaughran is such a talented artist and has been a huge inspiration for this project. Bring a fantasy book, I always envisioned this comic having a lot of detail and powerful, bright colours. Mike has exceeded all my expectations.
Mike and I feed off each other’s creativity, and that’s really helped to shape this book. Watching Mike take my script and bring it to life with so much passion has been such a rewarding process.
Mike has also been such a good friend. He’s been my rock on this project, always believing in Days of Dark Fire and the story we wanted to tell.
AP2HYC: What is the main premise of Days of Dark Fire?
Titan Tyson: Days of Dark Fire is about super-powered medieval knights who LOVE to drink ale and fight bad dudes. Just watch the Days of Dark Fire book trailer I directed…it explains all: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_WUbmx8DA8.
Giovanni Smith: Days of Dark Fire is about an immature young prince who is unwittingly manipulated into turning his Father’s kingdom against itself by a secret society of Dark Mages.
To save his kingdom, the Prince will have to unite his team of self-absorbed fighting companions, and discover the ancient magic locked deep within himself, if he is to have any hope of defeating the dark forces that now prowl the streets of this proud kingdom.
AP2HYC: Where did your inspirations for world-building come from?
Titan Tyson: From me, obviously!
Giovanni Smith: Tyson’s not wrong…for once. This entire world springs from the elaborate backstories invented for each character.
When I write a comic, I spend a lot of time fleshing out backstories for each character. To the point where I’ll sit down with a set of interview questions and ask my characters each one. This makes writing the script so much easier but also helps keep readers engaged.
The wilder our characters became, the more interesting their backstories had to be. Before we knew it, we had developed this massive fantasy world for our readers to explore.
Titan Tyson: Like me for example! I’m an indestructible Titan, shunned by my tribe for being too small, who then became a sky pirate, only to lose my crew during a vampire attack. Found myself alone in Phoenix Rise, knocked heads with Prince Russell, and now I’m living the good life as his bodyguard.
Giovanni Smith: I think they get the point, Tyson.
AP2HYC: Do you have any other projects that you would like to discuss?
Titan Tyson: Oh there’s that cool one with…
Giovanni Smith: We’ve got a lot of big plans now that Sinopia Comics has launched. None of them are at the stage where we can talk about just yet, but…
Titan Tyson: Not even the one with the…
Giovanni Smith: But we’ll be sure to have Tyson keep you in the loop as things develop.
We’re also currently accepting submissions from other creators looking for an online self-publishing platform. More information can be found here: https://sinopiacomics.com/submission-portal/
AP2HYC: Thanks for answering our questions: Any final comments?
Giovanni Smith: I wanted to say THANK YOU to the folks over at A Place To Hang Your Cape for all you do to support indie comic creators. We really appreciate you helping us spread the word about Days of Dark Fire.
Titan Tyson: Yeah, be sure to swing by Phoenix Rise someday, we’ll hit the taverns – drinks are on the King.
Well there you have it folks. A look inside the mind of the creator of Days of Dark Fire. Do check it out. Let us know what you think. Sound off in the comments or send us your thoughts on Facebook or Twitter!
About the author
Dara Berkey
Superhero nerd. History nerd. Favorite personal hero--Shazam/The Original Captain Marvel. Favorite female hero--Any of the Batgirls. Favorite male hero, other than Shazam--Any of the Robins.