Fantasy Theater #23

J. Kevin Carrier’s Fantasy Theater #23 is now available in both print and digital formats.  This issue marks my first collaboration with Kevin in the story that leads off the issue: “The Godmother Principle”.  The creation of this story was great fun for me and I’d like to share some details, as well as I can remember them, here.

I think I had considered trying to do a story with Kevin’s Lady Spectra character for quite some time.  I really like the character.  She’s a strong, smart, powerful woman and the elder half of a mother/daughter super-hero team.  That’s a very original idea, and I enjoy all of Kevin’s Lady Spectra stories.  I had mentally decided once that Lizard Man would be the character I’ve created that would work best in some kind of cross-creator team-up story.  He’s a light-hearted character who isn’t in the deep stories from some of the F.E.D.s storylines, and he’s visually fun.  So anyway, I pitched the idea several years ago when I saw Kevin at SPACE that we should team the two characters up.  He said it sounded like a fun idea.  Then I spent a year wondering what to do with such a story.  Finally, I had a way to get them together, so when I saw Kevin again I proposed a Marvel-style collaboration.  I would come up with a plot and draw the story, providing Kevin with some notes as to the plot.  Then Kevin would write a script, ignoring my notes as much as he wished, and letter the story.  Since writing is my least favorite part of the creative process, I enjoyed this method of collaboration a lot.

A couple more notes: we each contributed a villain for the story.  Poison Ivory is my creation while The Godmother is Kevin’s.  Also, I did a pretty loose pencil drawing for the cover, which Kevin did a great job embellishing and coloring.  Perhaps there is a sequel in the future?  Well…buy the print of digital copy and send some feedback…I have the beginnings of an idea forming in my cranium…