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Marc Silvestri: ‘September Mourning’ Fuses Comics & Music

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Back in the early ’90s some of the biggest names from Marvel left the company and forged a creator-owned company called Image. It was like the comic book equivalent of an NBA All-Star Team, featuring a veritable who’s who of legendary artists and writers: Todd McFarlane, Jim Lee, Whilce Portacio, Erik Larsen, Jim Valentino, Rob Liefeld, and of course Marc Silvestri.

Before long, titles like Spawn and Savage Dragon and WildC.A.T.s and Witchblade dominated the sales charts, and the “Big Two” (the collective term for the comic book publishing juggernauts Marvel and DC) had become the “Big Three.” The game changed, and it never changed back.

As much as I loved those books–and in the ’90s I was positively obsessed with Image–what struck me even more was the courage it took for these creators to venture out on their own and risk everything; they dared to challenge the heavyweights who had dominated the comic book landscape for more than half a century with little to no opposition. To this day it’s one of my favorite success stories, and as a rabid comic book fan I know I’m not alone.

Now changing the game once again, Marc Silvestri is crowdfunding an all-new project that’s a fusion of comic books and music (and it wouldn’t be a Silvestri project if some talented and beautiful women weren’t involved!) I had a chance to speak with Marc about this new venture, his inspiration, and Emily Lazar–the girl known as September Mourning.

Blake Northcott: Can you give us a bit of background about the project, and how you met Emily Lazar?

Marc Silvestri: Sure! It’s something that started a few years back on something that you might not remember called MySpace. She was very creative person, with interesting music and a love of pop culture–she’s a big comic book fan. We were talking about how we could meld these two worlds. She was a big proponent of telling stories with her music, and one thing led to another and we were like, “this is a cool idea! We can do something with these two genres, and tell a story of both!” That’s how the project of September Mourning was born. We wanted to give the fans of both comics and music some common ground and they could share. I think with this project we have done that.

BN: Very cool. Are you a fan of heavy metal music?

MS: I’m a huge music fan. I grew up in the ’70s and ’80s, and experienced the “big hair” metal bands, like Pantera and Slayer. It’s a big part of how I grew up.

The great thing about September’s music is that it’s got this melodic-metal feel to it; it’s got the elements of pop, great soaring bridges and its very appealing, a great mix. Such a nice flavor to it and I was really drawn to it, and especially her lyrics. She really wants to communicate with people.

I have always been a fan of horror growing up and I’ve always been drawn to Goth and Gothic imagery. I love skulls, and drawing dead things, creepy stuff. My favorite show when I was a little kid was the The Addams Family. So it was a natural fit–blending what we do at Top Cow, and what she does theatrically was a great fit. And really what she does is performance art. You’ve seen her costumes, and her band–it’s very thematic. It has a very cool, updated Alice Cooper-y vibe to it. Emily disappears on stage and literally becomes September. She becomes that character.

Specifically, this character.

Specifically, this character.

BN: It’s very true, her photographs, her costumes and onstage shows all enhance her image. And as a member of the audience, you just can’t take your eyes off her!

MS: Oh yes, she’s a natural born performer, she comes to life up there. She interacts with the audience. It’s the whole theme of the project really: interactivity.

Even to the point that as we move forward, the story is going to change between the printed pages and the shows–they will be telling this big epic story back and forth. Even as she tours, her performances will advance the story. People can Tweet, “September just did this! How will this change the story?” A lot of fun will be had with that.

BN: There are a lot of talented people involved in the project–how did you find them?

MS: (Artist) Sumeyye Kesgin and I actually worked together on Rise of the Magi, and I found her on Facebook. I troll Facebook all the time, looking at the art, creeping around and look at people’s stuff. It’s really amazing all the talent that is out there!

For Rise of the Magi I was looking for something a little fresh, somebody that would bring some character and was great with storytelling. Her work just stood out. It has a very unique, but quirky and likable, very relatable feel to it. The acting of her characters was great. She’s a natural story teller. She was worried about that when we first got started, but I couldn’t be happier. We wanted to make September Mourning an all female team, and well I knew she was perfect! It was a no brainer. She’s great to work with.

A friend of mine from way back in the days of Image knew of a writer named Mariah McCourt. She’d done graphic novels and some really good work, so we talked to her and immediately creatively she fit right in. The best kinds of collaborations is not someone who listens and doesn’t contribute; it’s the people who can bounce back ideas, and immediately she was right on point. She moved everything forward. Not only does she have writing chops, but she’s an idea person as well. Which is exactly what you want. You don’t want to have to hand-hold and spoon-feed a writer ideas–you want the team to be able to collectively come up with awesomeness. We are all really proud of it.

BN: So you’ve already met your funding goal and things are going great. What is the difference between this project and your previous Kickstarter campaign?

MS: The one for Cyber Force was a few years ago, and Kickstarter was a different animal back then. It was very fresh. The promotion for Cyber Force shocked a lot of people, and we quickly surprised ourselves with how fast we achieved our goals and surpassed it. I wouldn’t want to do it that way again. It was kind of a panic, and were like, “We have to launch this thing when? Like yesterday!” It was an idea that popped up and we threw it into action, a lot of running around and playing catch up. We’re not having to do this time. We learned a lot the first time around, and aren’t having to do it this time.

This one is more modest, our plan is to get this on the book and merchandising end to get it started as Emily is going on tour again. It will be great to have the merchandise out and available to the fans. We just put in some new stretch goals that are pretty cool. I like the goal that if you’ve already pledged, and you get some more people like your friends to pledge, then you get everything from that new goal, for free! Just for being part of that. We are really happy that we’ve already hit that level. The more we can do for the fans, the more we can get it out there.

BN: There is so much female talent right now, especially in Image Comics. Fiona Staples and Kelly Sue DeConnick and so many others. Whom are you a fan of, and whom would you like to work with in the future?

MS: Fiona Staples, definitely. I wish I could work with her! And Sara Pichelli with Marvel, I think she’s a phenomenal talent. The talent pool is enormous. And I’ve been in this business for 30 years now and I’ve literally seen it all. I’ve seen the genesis of the influx of diversity in comics. A long time ago we always wanted more female creators, not just the audience, but on the creative end as well. Early in the days of Witchblade we had Christina Z. Wohl. I’m more than pleased that women in comics are increasing in numbers, but the quality is spectacular. Real, legitimate talent out there. I think the “Boys Club” of comics we have had for decades is just melting away.

That's the most metal ghost we've ever seen.

That’s the most metal ghost we’ve ever seen.

BN: One final question: any other Top Cow projects you can tell us about? Any scoops or secret info you can divulge?

MS: Yeah, we have a digital/mobile platform for comics in development–it will be a great app for looking at comics digitally. We will be putting out the series that we just completed, followed by a digital series written by Matt Hawkins, which leads to a print version of Aphrodite IX.

I’m also working on a sequel project, but I can’t speak about it. It’s something I’ve wanted to do for years and years, kind of a bucket list item for me!

We have a lot of cool stuff happening, and that really shows in the comics community that we really have a lot people can relate too and really like. We’re excited, to have people like you Blake, out there fighting the good fight for comics. We love the support! I hope to see you at a con.

BN: Thank so you so much. Great talking to you!

September Mourning is available exclusively in Kickstarter, and there are rewards starting at just $5.

Blake Northcott is an author, Twitter-er, and occasional Slayer of Vampires (only the ones that sparkle).You can follow her on Twitter, or pick up her best-selling Sci-Fi/Superhero book Arena Mode over at Amazon.com.

Blake interviewed Barry Kitson in Building an Empire.

"I have now allied three of your vertebrae with your trachea."

“I have now allied three of your vertebrae with your trachea.”


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