By: Nicole D’Andria
Today we
have thieves-for-hire, led by a teleporting thief who unwittingly will pay a
role in a confrontation between the gods! Join me as I talk with creator Shawn
Pryor about this journey, which was years in the making.
The story
of Lifted: Of Gods and Thieves centers
on Sara Jackson, the leader of art and antiquities thieves-for-hire, and the
rest of her crew. She steals alongside her adoptive brother Max Jackson, who
regrets introducing her to the family business, and high-tech handler Claudette
St. Pierre. Her team travels the world to pull off heists based on their
clients’ dangerous requests.
Lifted is helmed by creator Shawn Pryor (creator/writer of FORCE, Cash & Carrie) and Chris Murrin (editor/occasional writer of Ghoul Scouts, Athena Voltaire). The comic is illustrated by John Rodriquez (Split) with colors by George Gant (creator of The Reset Button, On the Grint) and Eric White. The letterer is Ringo Award nominee Justin Birch (Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug and Cat Noir, Raven the Pirate Princess). The cover artist is Uko Smith, who's worked with various companies like Lucasfilm, Hasbro, DC and Marvel.
Lifted is helmed by creator Shawn Pryor (creator/writer of FORCE, Cash & Carrie) and Chris Murrin (editor/occasional writer of Ghoul Scouts, Athena Voltaire). The comic is illustrated by John Rodriquez (Split) with colors by George Gant (creator of The Reset Button, On the Grint) and Eric White. The letterer is Ringo Award nominee Justin Birch (Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug and Cat Noir, Raven the Pirate Princess). The cover artist is Uko Smith, who's worked with various companies like Lucasfilm, Hasbro, DC and Marvel.
The
Kickstarter has raised over $7,500 but needs to reach its $8,500 goal by July
8, 2018 at 10:08 AM EDT to be a success! Backers can get the graphic novel as a
digital edition ($10) or a softcover copy ($20). There’s also digital and
physical deluxe editions available (for $15 and $25 respectively), which
include bonus material such as scripts, concept artwork and the phone wallpaper.
In addition to numerous other rewards, fans of Shawn Pryor’s can get copies of
his other works, including the middle school mystery of Cash & Carrie and the sports book FORCE, both published by Action Lab Entertainment. You can check out
the rest of the rewards on
the Kickstarter page.
Learn
more about the world of Lifted with
Shawn Pryor, the creator of the series.
 |
| Shawn Pryor |
Me: You mention in the Kickstarter that Lifted
is a project "years in the making". Can you tell us about when you
first got the idea for it and how the process of making it become a reality
blossomed from there?
Pryor: Many years ago, me and my friend Keith
Cunningham were plotting and scripting an audio drama about a thief-for-hire
(Sara Jackson) that has a limited ability to teleport and a team that helps her
on every mission to steal art and antiquities. While we were putting everything
together, creating characters and storylines, the further we got into the story
I felt that it would be better served as a graphic novel and decided to begin
the process of making a graphic novel instead.
The main
characters of Lifted, Sara Jackson,
Max Jackson, and Claudette St. Pierre are inspired from some of my favorite
heist and mystery films (Charade, Inception, The Score, The Inside Man)
with a touch sci-fi to give the story a special feel. And by making Lifted a graphic novel, you’ll get to
see Sara, Max, and Claudette are more than just thieves. They’re a family.
Me: How did you go about picking the creative team for Lifted?
Pryor: The creative team came together in the span of
a year or two. As I talked about earlier, Lifted was a project that writer Keith Cunningham and I had
made for a radio-drama project that we were going to attempt to produce. Once I
decided that we would turn it into a graphic novel, I had met artist John
Rodriguez at a convention. He had his portfolio with him and I had asked to see
it. His work was fantastic and I had asked him if he was interested in working
on the project, and he was down to do it.
We then
brought on Chris Murrin to adapt the original radio-drama outline and scripts.
Chris is immensely talented and has worked in many mediums as an editor and
writer, plus works in television so I knew he’d do a great job. Eric White and
George Gant are handling the color work to give the book a distinct vibe and
feel, Ringo-award nominee Justin Birch, who has lettered books for many comic
book publishers joined the Lifted team
a few months back, and we’ve been blessed to have a cover designed by the
talented Uko Smith, who has done a ton of concept design work for IDW, Lucasfilm,
Hasbro, Heavy Metal, DC, Marvel, and Skystorm.
Me: What are some of the mythological elements readers can expect to see?
Pryor: Devious gods, a character named Bartleby that
has elements of Bartleby the Scrivener, elements of Osiris and a few other
things that I don’t want to give away. I want people to read the book. :)
Me: Rather than go the traditional publisher route, why did you decide to go
through Kickstarter with Lifted?
Pryor: Because I wanted to make sure that I could
complete the graphic novel and make sure that everyone on the team is
compensated for their time. Plus, for most of us, Kickstarter is where we can
find an audience that are willing to look for and want new material to check
out and support and they’ve been very supportive of my previous projects, so it
made sense to use Kickstarter again to get Lifted
off the ground.
No pun
intended.
Me: If you had the power of teleportation, what would you do with it?
Pryor: Travel to all types of places because I
wouldn’t have to worry about high airfare prices. I’d go to all the restaurants
that have been on Diners, Drive-Ins and
Dives and eat all the food. Hahaha. Then I would jump over to Chicago to go
to all the museums.
Me: If you could steal anything in the world without any consequences, what
would it be and why?
Pryor: I would steal all the original New Gods pages Jack Kirby drew. I loved
his concepts and ideas for the New Gods and
The Fourth World, and so many
creators use his ideas to this day from those pages. They’re gorgeous.
Me: What is the number one reason you think people should pledge money to
your Kickstarter?
Pryor: I personally feel that no one is making a story
like this with characters, concept and a story that readers will get attached
to and want even more once they finish it. Sara isn’t some type of B-version of
Nightcrawler, her character is more than that and her journey from beginning to
end takes her on more than just an adrenaline rush. This book is definitely
worth your time and money.
Me: What inspirational words do you have for aspiring comic book writers?
Pryor: Practice, Patience, Perseverance. When writing,
you don’t have to build a world in a day or a character in an instant. Set
small goals, accomplish them to combine them into a bigger goal and completed
work. There’s no such thing as a perfect first draft or piece, getting
something done is better than never doing it at all.
Also,
doing a mini-comic or even a web comic is a good way to create on a smaller
scale. This way, you can complete a project and prepare yourself for larger
works down the road.
Don’t get
discouraged. We’ve all had bad days and bad works. All we can do is learn from
our experiences and keep writing. Also, read all types of books (comics, prose,
etc.) and find out what you’d think you’d enjoy writing or what kind of
challenges you want to give yourself. Just write.
Me: Thanks for your time, Shawn!
Pryor: Thank you, and thanks to everyone who has
supported Lifted!
Me: If this interview has made you interested,
check out these high-teleporting adventures on the
Kickstarter page for Lifted: Of Gods and
Thieves.
Do you
have a Kickstarter? Want to be interviewed about it and have the project
featured on "Kickstart the Week?" Let me know in the comments below
or message
me on my website.
Other “Kickstart the Week” features:
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