Broken Frontier

Had fate held a different path for him, Kevin Grevioux could have had a whole other career as a megalomaniacal mad scientist. Instead, he set aside a career in microbiology and genetic engineering to create stories for comics and the silver screen.

Underworld was Kevin’s first writing credit. However he has appeared in many other films – in front of the camera, as well as doing voice-over work. Last month, The Hammer Kid from Alias Enterprises marked Kevin’s debut in the world of comics, and his upcoming title Alius Rex is set to unleash an alien invasion in medieval Britain…  

Alius Rex is a special one shot coming soon from Alias, the first book to be released under Kevin’s Darkstorm Studios imprint. “It’s an epic sci-fi/fantasy piece about the first hostile alien invasion on earth,” Kevin explains. “It’s essentially knights vs aliens or, to give it a more Hollywood pitch, it’s Lord of the Rings meets Independence Day. It’s a very cool concept that I think people will get a big kick out of.”

The story for Alius Rex takes place in 13th century Britannia, and centers around King Nigel, ruler of the kingdom of Northwind. “King Nigel is a benevolent and God-fearing monarch whose faith is shaken when Britannia is rapidly being conquered by the evil barbarian warlord named Orlik,” Kevin says as he launches into a run-down of the epic tale.

“All the kingdoms have fallen to Orlik by devastating loses, and there are rumors of mass killings and enslavement of thousands of people. It is also rumored that Orlik was able to conquer these kingdoms because of his association with a mysterious ally known only as Alius Rex, which is Latin for “foreign king”. 

The intrigue continues when Orlik offers to spare Nigel’s kingdom on one condition: that he give his daughter to Orlik in marriage, thus uniting the two kingdoms. Like any father, the king is torn by this decision, but realizes that the lives of the people of his kingdom come before his personal feelings. “Still, he decides to fight instead,” Kevin explains. “And when he meets Orlik and his allies on the battlefield, he discovers exactly who and what Alius Rex actually is.”

And what a revelation it is!

The story of Alius Rex seeks to answer how medieval mankind would defend itself from high-tech alien invaders. “The simple answer is: with GREAT difficulty,” Grevioux continues. “I’ve tried to take a lot of care to make the story seem plausible, even though we’re working with fantasy elements.”

With a story that mixes many genres, I asked Kevin about the driving philosophy behind Alius Rex. “It’s actually much more than just a story about knights and aliens,” he said. “It’s about a king who comes to terms with his faith and how that effects how he governs his people. It’s also how different warring factions of humans, trolls, gargoyles, giants and dwarves put aside their differences and petty squabbles to fight a common foe. It should make for some interesting drama and conflicts.”

Joining Kevin in telling this sweeping saga is awesome artist Gabriel Guzman – just check out some of the preview pictures to see how talented he really is. “Gabriel’s art just jumps off the page,” the writer adds. “The colors, done by Javier Tartaglia, are vibrant and really bring out the best in Gabriel’s art.”

As stated earlier, Alius Rex is being published by independent upstart Alias Enterprises, perhaps a surprising choice since the publisher is best known for its all-ages material. “Mike [Miller] was an internet buddy from way back,” Grevioux explains his choice to opt for Alias. “I finally met him at San Diego Comic Con one year, and the rest is history. He started a comic company with Brett Burner and I was ‘in like Flynn’!

“Alias has been really supportive of this book.  It’s one of publisher Brett Burner’s favorites. That’s why we’re offering it for only $3.50 for 60 pages.”

At that price, it’s clear that Alius Rex will pack a lot of punch for a minimal cash investment by fans. That’s a nice extra, considering Kevin knows how to lure fans with awesome stories, as his experiences in film have illustrated. “Film is a great medium, but once you sign-off you have no control,” the creator goes on. “With comics, independent comics in particular, you can control everything and you own everything. 
“Also, one of the things about screenplays is that you have a tendency to let your imagination run away with you. Movies are expensive.  Studios like big movies, but they’d rather have something smaller and contained. With comics, on the other hand, the sky is the limit. There’s no such thing as budgetary constraints.

“This doesn’t mean that creating comics are easy, just different.  To me, though, it’s just as rewarding creatively.”

When it comes to comics, the rewards started early for Kevin, who was attracted to comics by the chance to … wait for it … read! “I read a lot growing up,” he says. “My mother was a teacher and she practically rammed books down our throats. At some point, since she was a writer herself, I decided I might want to try doing this for a living. 

“To come up with your own fantasy worlds and characters is a dream come true.  It exercises the imagination and most importantly, it’s fun.”

Not only is Kevin having fun, but the fans are too. He has already enjoyed success in Hollywood with Underworld, so I asked him about his approach to writing comics and movies and whether there was any difference in his creative process.

“Not really,” Grevioux confesses. “As with screenplays, I still have a basic outline that I flesh-out into a workable treatment before going to script. The only difference is I have to break down scenes into panels and try to decide what will make a good visual/story image over another.”

What is clear is that Alius Rex is a huge Hollywood blockbuster bundled up in a comic. For that reason alone, fans are likely to rush to read all about Earth’s first Astounding alien invasion.

You can find out more about Kevin's upcoming comic book projects at:

- http://www.astoundingstudios.com
- http://www.darkstormstudios.com