By: Nicole D’Andria
Now you
can get over 100 pages of Like Father,
Like Daughter stories in the special collected edition on Kickstarter! I
spoke with the creative team, including Comic Frontline’s very own Comic Uno Kathryn
Calamia, about their successful project and the journey they’ve taken from
issue to issue.
The Like Father, Like Daughter collected trade
paperback features the first four
issues of the series and additional never-before-seen short stories. It’s a
story about the importance of family… and superpowers! Casey Ryder starts out
as your typical teenage girl, except her father is the world’s only superhero,
Invulnerable. He left her family when she was young to be a hero to the people,
and Casey hated him for it. But when she begins to develop powers of her own,
she suddenly finds her father back in her life, bringing a bunch of other
problems along the way!
The
series is part of the indieverse established by ShortFuse Media (Nightwasp,
Stealth).
It was created and written by Kathryn "Comic Uno" Calamia, writer of They Call Her...The Dancer. She is accompanied
by artist Wayne Brown of Lesbian Zombies fame.
The
Kickstarter has already reached its $3,000 goal and is accepting pledges up
until September 15, 2018 at 6:00 PM EDT. Rewards include digital ($10) and
physical ($20) copies of the TPB, an Invulnerable Uniform T-shirt ($35) and
special variant covers galore! See more reward tiers on the official Kickstarter page for Like Father, Like Daughter.
Join in
for my conversation with writer Kat Cal and artist Wayne Brown.
 |
| Kathryn Calamia |
Me: For people unfamiliar with the series, how would you sell it to them in
100 words or less?
Calamia: Jim Ryder, a father with superpowers,
leaves his wife and daughter to become “Invulnerable” - the world’s only
superhero. Ten years later his daughter, Casey, discovers that she has
inherited the very superpowers that made her father leave their family. Looking
for answers about her abilities she reconnects with the father whom she hates.
Me: What can you tell us about the never-before-seen companion stories in
this TPB?
Calamia: There's a really cool story that
actually came out of our last Kickstarter campaign for Like Father, Like Daughter #4. It will feature female heroes from
across the indieverse. I can’t wait for our comic book series to celebrate
these heroes.
 |
| Unreleased Story Interior Page |
Me: When you first started Like Father, Like Daughter, did you
have an idea where the story would go and did any of your plans for the series
change as it went along?
Calamia: I had a general sense of what the first
story arc would bring, and had a general sense of where I wanted to take the
series after that story.
And I
would say a lot has changed since my original conception of the series. There
are two big twists coming in our next arc that were really fun figuring out
while writing the first two story arcs of the series.
I would
also say Stephanie as a character has really changed and developed from the
beginning. She has truly become my favorite character of the series. Originally
she was just a character created to support Casey, and now she’s really become
her own person. We learn about her love for music that we saw develop a bit in
our web comic, which we are looking to include in the trade, and we will see
more of this passion in issue 5. Another thing we will be exploring with her
character is her sexuality, and I feel like we have a really powerful story
coming up for her that I hope people will be able to relate to.
 |
| Like Father Like Daughter #4 Page 3 |
Me: How would you say your writing has changed from issue 1 of the series to
this TPB?
Calamia: Oh wow, a lot! I would especially say in
the way I write dialogue, and I just know these characters more after writing
them for about five years now. I’ve grown a lot as a writer since issue 1. I
feel like the series improves with every issue. I love seeing that.
Me: What are your future plans for the series after the TPB?
Calamia: Hopefully getting issues out to you
quicker, and we can only do that with everyone’s growing support. So I really
appreciate that. This campaign has the most backers compared to any of the past
Like Father, Like Daughter campaigns
- and as I write this we aren’t even halfway through with the
Kickstarter.
 |
Me: If you had to pick a comic book hero to be your dad/superhero mentor, who
would you choose and why?
Calamia: I want to say Spider-Man, but he doesn’t
have much time for his personal life. So I’m going to say Superman. He seems to
be able to balance his life the best.
Me: What is the number one reason why you think people should pledge money to
your comic?
Calamia: Indie comic books need your backing the
most. We are all just trying to make our comic book dreams come true, and your
support is the number 1 way to make this a reality.
 |
| Wayne Brown |
Me: What have been some of your favorite pages to
create over the course of this TPB?
Brown: Wow! Tough choices, so many I loved drawing and
inking, it’s so hard to pick. I will say every page in issue #5, which I just
finished. This book is probably one of my best ever done. I really got to let
loose, and let out a lot of great artwork.
But since
it’s only the TPB, ummm… the scenes with... oh man! I can’t pick just one... um…
how about the top five?
#1: Pages
9-14 in issue 4 the house where invulnerable lived. Loved doing that scene a
lot.
#2: Opening
of issue 3 with the emo boy in pain.
#3: pages
17-18 from issue 1, Casey falling into the Garbage a classic.
#4: At
the diner in issue 4 classic, with Wes's bromance on Invulnerable.
#5: The
end of Issue 1, where we see a solitary image of a hero, when he’s not a
hero.
#6: Everything
in-between and beyond.
 |
| Like Father, Like Daughter #2 Cover |
Me: How would you say your art style has changed
from issue 1 of the series to this TPB?
Brown: Night to day I think. When I started I was
trying to keep a super clean look/ I was very tight; now I’m more loose and
cartoony with my style. I’m enjoying it more.
When I
started I was shaky, trying hard to keep the characters consistent. I was
really an outsider in the first few issues. I don’t think I said two words to
Kat back in those days; it was just a script e-mailed to me and a deadline.
Everything went through the editor’s hands. So I didn’t know what she liked or
didn’t like about my artwork.
But now,
I talk to Kat like once a week or so. We go back-and-forth on these issues and
bounce around how things should look and we’re both on the same page as to how
this book should look, making me more confident in my storytelling in this
story. I’ve also come to know the characters and I’ve become so comfortable
with who they are and how they are that I could draw them doing anything. I
feel so good about my work these days.
It’s been
a long time getting to this stage in my career. I can’t wait to show you what’s
next. But if you’re on my Patreon page,
or DeviantArt page,
you’ll see more of what I’m doing now. Wink wink...
 |
| Like Father Like Daughter #2 Interior page |
Me: If you had to pick a comic book hero to be your
dad/superhero mentor, who would you choose and why?
Brown: Oh,.. tough one. I want to say Superman. He has
such a great philosophy he’s like Gandhi, with superpowers! Who doesn’t like
that!!!! He really has the same message as John Lennon and Gandhi, that hope,
peace and love are always going to win out over evil and despair, always.
That’s the way I want to live my life. I want that for my kids, for everyone
really.
Me: What is the number one reason why you think
people should pledge money to your comic?
Brown: To keep it going! I can’t wait to do more, I
can’t wait for people to see more. I want to take these book to another level.
I can’t wait to shoot issue 6 with Kat and really blow this thing up! I get so
excited doing these books I hate having to wait for it to be published, but we
need the support to make that happen, so very important. It’s not just the money,
it’s support showing that this book has what it takes to succeed, to be great. So
I hope they not only pledge money but tell their friends to read it too. Share
what pages they think are cool with others.
 |
| Like Father, Like Daughter Cover Gallery |
Me: Thanks for your time, Kat and Wayne, and
congrats on already reaching your Kickstarter goal! If you’re reading this and
interested in pledging to their Kickstarter, check it out 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.
Other “Kickstart the Week” features:
No comments:
Post a Comment