THE RESURRECTED - A MESSAGE REBORN

What would you do in order to sway today's bi-polar political climate? Would you join a militant group and oppose those things you don't believe in? Would you chain yourself to a public building and demand retribution? Or would you do something like my mate Christian did? Create a comic book and showcase your feelings within a visual narrative! Want to know more? Then please, check this out...





1) What are your own origins, Christian?   I grew up in Sydney, Australia, but have worked in The Netherlands for the United Nations since 2009.  Academically I have a background in Criminology and Philosophy, which I guess is what inspired the majority of the themes for ‘The Resurrected.’

Along with collecting comic books, I also collect vintage Star Wars figures (yep, I’m a cool dude), plus I run my own blog, Vintage Starwars Collectors, and help moderate a vintage Star Wars forum, tantive.com. I’m also married to a wonderful Tunisian woman who has reviewed all of my scripts and plot-outlines, and has even been willing to sacrifice our savings to fund this series.

2) What inspired you to create, ‘The Resurrected’?   I attend a lot of comic book conventions and just love chatting to creators while they sign my books or sketch my commissions. One day I thought to myself: 'Why don’t I do this as well? I love comics and sci-fi stories and I’ve been battling away at my first novel for a few years (second draft now) so why not combine these passions?'. So that’s what I did. It wasn’t as easy as I made it sound though, and I really want to give a shout out to my amazing editor, Erica Schultz, who has guided me through the entire process that has made this series possible.

As for the story of ‘The Resurrected’, it is incredibly personal for me. The plight of Australia’s Indigenous population deeply disturbs me and I am also quite anxious in general about the rising wave of xenophobia that is sweeping the world. So I wanted to play my small part in getting a positive message out there. 

In relation to the theme of death, this is tied closely to my own experiences in losing several people that I love, particularly in recent years. I really suffered from these losses but I now recognize that living well is about accepting death as a natural part of life. 

3) In your own words how would you describe this story?   'The Resurrected' is a dark sci-fi thriller set in a near future where the dead don’t always stay dead. It’s a story about redemption, the acceptance of our mortality, and about how far one man would go to save his people from almost certain extinction. 

If I had to give the story one of those cheesy elevator pitch statements, I would say it’s a bit like Bladerunner meets Almost Human and V for Vendetta. 

4) What song would you say best represents this comic and why?   This is an easy one, as there is one song that keeps popping up in my head as I write the story, ‘Beds are Burning,’ by the Aussie rock group, Midnight Oil. Not only is the track powerfully and passionately performed, but it is also a protest song in regards to the Australian government’s forced removal of many of our Indigenous people from their homes, particularly the Pintupi people who were removed from their lands in the 1950s and 1960s.

‘Beds are Burning’ also paints a striking picture of the Australian desert, which is where a later chapter of ‘The Resurrected’ is set. Most importantly though, the lead singer, Peter Garrett, is possibly the only person in the world who dances worse than me.

5) If you could get a celebrity – either living or dead – to promote your wares, who would you choose, and why would you want to choose this particular person?   Adam Goodes! Adam was a champion Australian Footballer for my local team, the Sydney Swans, but more importantly he is also a champion of Indigenous rights and displays a huge amount of courage in standing up to racism. I’d be incredibly honored to have someone as awesome as Adam associated with ‘The Resurrected’.

6) What have you learnt about yourself through this endeavour?   I’ve learnt both positives and negatives about myself during this process, but I’ll focus on the positives for now. I’ve realized that I’m someone who is willing to set themselves up to fail, even though failure, especially a public one, frightens the hell out of me. The only way that we can grow is through the experience of discomfort.

7) During your time in this field, what is the one thing that has kept you in good stead?   There are a few things that have kept me in good stead, such as my wonderful art team, my non-stop hyperactivity and energy, but above all it has been my belief in the importance and urgency of my story’s message.

8) If ‘The Resurrected’ had a motto, what would it be?   I’m going to steal this from Midnight Oil: “How do we sleep while our beds are burning?”

And on that note, I'd like to thank Christian for telling us about his new comic, The Resurrected, before directing you towards his website, facebook, twitter, and instagram pages.