Hello Capers! We’re here with Nicholas Garcia, creator of Project Magus. Join us as we dive into this magical world he has created. And, if you need a refresher, you can read our review of Project Magus here!
A Place To Hang Your Cape: This comic has a very unique concept of mixing magic with modern day combat. What was the inspiration for this? Are there any personal experiences that drew you to this idea?
Nicholas Garcia: The inspiration for this comes from a large mixture of mediums and properties. I’ve always been a fantasy junkie. I grew up watching Willow, Labyrinth, and the original Star Wars trilogy while reading books such as The Hobbit and Harry Potter. My father, however, is who indirectly made me want to mix my love of fantasy with the military. He is an inactive U.S. Marine and would tell me about his adventures overseas. War movies was another way he and I would bond. I remember watching Saving Private Ryan with him as a teenager. Walking out of the cineplex, he had informed me that the Omaha Beach scene was the closest depiction of real-life combat he’d ever experienced in a movie. I wanted to write a story that brought the two together.
AP2HYC: There isn’t a great deal of world-building in the first issue. What made you decide to bring the audience in the middle of events?
Garcia: My choice to go with an action-packed debut issue was to show the audience what they were in store for. You have one chance to make a lasting impression. Issue #1 is focused on solely hitting the audience with immediate action and establishing the characters. Issue #2 will focus on who Victoria, Raven, and Mollie are and how they start their journey towards the events of Issue #1.
AP2HYC: What was the collaboration process like with Philip Bell? Whose decision was it to create realistic character designs?
Garcia: At the start, there were some hurdles. Philip lives in Russia, so to communicate with an artist on the other side of the world who has a different native language created an interesting dynamic. Once we established a pipeline and the vision was flushed out, it was smooth sailings.It was my decision to have realistic character designs. That’s actually why I approached Philip. I fell in love with his style and the use of lighting in his portfolio.
AP2HYC: Picking up on that, what made you both decide to tell this story in predominately greyscale?
Garcia: I love Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg’s The Pacific opening credits. The use of lighting, emotion, and tension captured in the sequence is breathtaking to me and I wanted to emulate something vaguely similar to that. In addition, it allows the magical energy to pop off the page.
AP2HYC: It’s clear the next issue will focus on Victoria. Is there anything you can share about her that will get audiences invested in her character?
Garcia: Though Issue #1 is action-packed, I would consider Project Magus as a whole to be more of a character piece for Victoria. She’s got a lot of fire in her, but she’s also incredibly loyal to the people she considers family. She’s 20-years-old when this story takes place. Like a lot of people that age, she’s trying to find her place in this world and discover who she is as a person. Throw in the fact that she’s going face to face with an all-powerful adversary, you can bet she’ll be pushed to her limits. You’ll learn a lot more about who she is and where she comes from in Issue #2 (which should be ready by the time Issue #1 is printed and distributed).
AP2HYC: Where do you envision the story going from here? If possible (without giving too much away) what sort of themes do you foresee this comic highlighting?
Garcia: I actually have the next 30 issues outlined so I already have a very clear vision of where I want this story to go. Unfortunately, I can’t talk too much about it without giving all the juicy stuff away. I will say that arc one (first 10 issues) will be a “coming of age” story. As far as themes are concerned…yeah, I don’t want to “Tom Holland” this and give the entire story away, so I better zip it. Haha!
Special thanks to Nicholas for taking the time to speak with us. If you’d like to learn more about his project, you can follow him on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook @ProjectMagus.
Have you had the chance to score your copy of Project Magus #1? Donate on Kickstarter here! Let us know in the comments below or send us your thoughts on Facebook or Twitter!
