By: Nicole D’Andria
Emotions
run high in Milky! A combination of
comedy and sci-fi, the series follows a milkman and an ignorant group of people
banding together during an alien invasion. I spoke with the creator about the alien-infested
world of Milky.
Vikinder
Singh, nicknamed “Milky,” is the milkman that has been working in Crafton Hill
for years. He’s delivering milk to everyone, from a racist old lady to his
lifelong crush Lucy Bell. When he finally gets the courage to confess his
feelings, Lucy and every other woman is abducted by aliens! Now, Milky must
explode some alien skulls to get his love back.
The story
is created, written and lettered by Joshua Saxon. The pencils and inks are by Gian
Carlo Fernando with colors by DC Alonso (Wicker).
Cover artist Unai Ortiz de Zarate (Robocop:
Road Trip) crafted the cover for the first issue of Milky.
The first
issue of Milky will only be
successful on Kickstarter if it reaches its $5,172 goal by October 5, 2018 at 3:40
AM EDT. Rewards include digital (€5) and physical (€10) copies of Milky #1, bookmarks (€25), producer
credits (€200) and more. This Kickstarter will be the only place to get the
first issue in print because once issues #1-4 are completed, a UK publisher,
Markosia, will be releasing a collected edition. You can
see other rewards on their official Kickstarter page.
Update (11/2/2018): After failing to reach their goal, the Kickstarter for Milky was recently relaunched with newly priced rewards and a $570 goal here.
Update (11/2/2018): After failing to reach their goal, the Kickstarter for Milky was recently relaunched with newly priced rewards and a $570 goal here.
I spoke
with writer Joshua Saxon about the world behind Milky.
 |
| Joshua Saxon |
Me: A big theme in your book is prejudice. Can you tell us how this theme
relates to Milky's individual story and the invasion at large?
Saxon: Comin’ in hot with the big questions!
So Milky
lives in a small English village where he’s treated like an alien because of
the colour of his skin, lack of self-esteem and the fact that no one really
needs a milkman nowadays.
I wanted
to tell a story about why people go out of their way to make others feel bad
about themselves. It’s easy to say it’s because they’re just arseholes - but I
reckon it’s probably more to do with their own fears and insecurities.
I once
interviewed a young man who was campaigning for a far-right political party in
the UK that many consider to be racist. I asked him why he joined and he said
he’d been beaten up by a group of Asian lads.
And that
was that. That one tragic personal experience was enough for him to fear an
entire continent of people.
Was it
the right response? I really don’t think so. But was he an arsehole? No. Not
deep down. I think he was just hurting and scared.
Fear can
be useful sometimes. But often it’s about the most dangerous thing there is.
Did I
mention it’s a comedy?
Me: If the aliens in Milky could do a crossover with one other alien
species from pop culture, which would you pick and why? How would their first
meeting go?
Saxon: Amazing question!
The
aliens in Milky think they’re the most superior race in the galaxy, so
they probably wouldn’t be inviting E.T. round for a cuppa any time soon.
Their
leader Lord Moofu might manage a quick half with Thanos though, but I feel like
it’d quickly descend into name calling and a punch-up...
Me: The Kickstarter mentions that people who enjoy Mark Millar, Edgar Wright,
and James Gunn's humor would enjoy this. What aspects of their humor are you
tapping into with this comic?
Saxon: I think these writers draw humour from how
impossible the situation seems for their rather ordinary characters.
A
teenager who becomes a superhero despite having no powers. A down-on-his-luck
retail worker who fights a zombie invasion. A music-loving orphan who grows up
to save the galaxy...
So I
thought, what if the village milkman was suddenly the most important person in
the universe?
Me: How did you go about finding and choosing your creative team for this
series? Why were they the perfect fit for what you were going for?
Saxon: I love that we have an international team
working on Milky, because it really
speaks to the heart of the story.
I met
Gian (from the Philippines) in a comic book forum and he dug the script. He’d
worked on some great books that I thought looked amazing.
We found
DC Alonso (from the north of Spain) on Facebook where he shares his colouring
work and we were so happy when he said he’d join the project. He works with
Unai Ortiz de Zarate, who did a cracking cover for us.
Of
course, you never really know if a team will be a good fit before you get
started. But they’re all so great to work with and have delivered such stunning
artwork.
Me: Once issues #1-4 are completed, the UK publisher Markosia will be
releasing a collected edition of Milky.
What about them coincided with your goal for the future of Milky and when do you think the collected edition will be ready for
release?
Saxon: Markosia is one of the UK’s leading publishers
of graphic novels.
I asked
around and people said Harry Markos is a super good guy who works hard to
promote the books he publishes. So that made me feel that Milky would be
in good hands over there.
Work on
issue #2 is already underway, so we hope to get the collected edition into
people’s hands by around Spring 2019.
Me: What is the number one reason why you think people should pledge money to
your Kickstarter?
Saxon: Because they like the sound of the story and
they’re excited to read it.
Our aim
is to recover some of the production costs (it can be super expensive to make a
full-colour comic book) and learn from people’s reactions to the first issue as
we’re creating the rest.
Kickstarter
is an amazing platform to get things made that otherwise wouldn’t see the light
of day and we’ve had a lot of support from friends and family.
Our goal
is ambitious because I believe good artists should be paid well for their work.
We are
hilariously short of reaching it - but I’ve already learned a ton and if we
fail, I’m confident we can come back stronger after I’ve sold a few kidneys to
keep production moving.
Me: What inspirational words do you have for aspiring writers?
Saxon: I’ll share a bit of soppy sentiment with you...
In the
next few years, my ultimate goal is to start a family with my amazingly
supportive and super cool other half, Hannah.
And I
expect at some point in the future our kid is going to ask, “Hey, Dad. What did
you want to be when you were younger?”
And I’ll
say, “I wanted to tell stories.”
So the
kid will be like, “Cool! What happened?”
Now at
this point, I can either make some sort of excuse about life getting in the way
(which of course it has a tendency to do).
Or I can
hand them a published book and say, “I went ahead and did it. Now go and do
whatever you want to do with your life.
“Just
don’t read this book. It’s full of bad language and awesome violence that
you’re way too young for.”
So my
advice would be to do as much research as you can, practise, learn - but in the
end you just need to get on with it and put yourself out there.
Be
prepared to fail and take feedback from people - this is where you learn. It
can hurt a bit sometimes, but it’s also what’ll make you a stronger person.
If you’re
feeling demotivated or want some advice, there’s probably smarter people to
ask...
But you
can always give me a shout on Twitter @saxon_joshua
or hello@milkycomic.com
and I’ll happily share the little I do know.
Me: Thanks for the advice, and for taking the time
to give us a glimpse into the world of Milky!
Readers, if you’re interested in checking out the invasion for yourself, see
their Kickstarter here.
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.
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