Broken Frontier

“Those who trust to chance must abide by the results of chance.”

This past week, writer James T. Mitchel, penciller Freddie E. Williams and the good folks at Cellar Door Publishing brought comic readers a Chance of a Lifetime. At a glance, the One-Shot period story covers some well trod territory – a World War II era that finds itself suddenly introduced to a strangely garbed man with amazing abilities far beyond those of regular humans. Mitchel stopped by to talk about Chance of a Lifetime, what makes Jack Lewis – also known as The American - a hero and the consequences he may face.

Broken Frontier – To start us off, who is James T. Mitchel and what does he have to do with comic books?

James T. Mitchel - I've been reading comics since I was a child. In fact, I can distinctly remember being at a grocery store and seeing an issue of G.I. Joe on the spinner rack. It was the first comic I ever read. Since then I've been an avid reader of comics. There is just something so amazing about the medium of comics that has kept me tied to it since the day I read that first G.I. Joe comic. The more comics I read, the more I wanted to be involved with them. Early on I realized that drawing was not my strength, so I started getting more into creating new characters. I'd create their powers and back stories and personalities, and as I got older I begin taking those characters and writing them into stories. After fourteen years of honing my writing (and receiving many, many rejections letters) I've finally gotten the opportunity to write stories in the medium that I love!

BF - What is Chance of a Lifetime about?

JTM - Chance of a Lifetime is story about an old man remembering his past. It was a time when he had super-powers! …But will these powers make him a better man, or lead to his downfall? Through his eyes, we experience the joys of flying for the first time, the weight of becoming a national hero, the burden placed on his family, and the horror of facing a super villain. All this is told from the point of view/memories of a man named Jack Lewis. We listen to him recount that amazing time in his life, and we stay with him until the fateful day when his powers are taken from him.

BF - What was your inspiration for Chance of a Lifetime?

JTM - With Chance I wanted to tell a story that focused on what would happen to an ordinary man who suddenly gained super powers. How would it affect his life? What would change about him? What would not change? I wanted to try and experience the emotional highs and lows that the character would go through. I wanted to see how those powers would change his everyday life and his relationships. Mainly, I wanted to try and create a superhero who had emotional depth. So I chose to write about a man who once had great powers, but had since lost them. And everyday he yearned and ached to have them back.

BF - What are the defining heroic characteristics of The American?

JTM - Jack is a very caring man, who has experienced hopelessness and desperation first hand. So he has this inner drive to try and make the world a better place. Even after he gained his powers he's still very much a human being, who makes mistakes and once you read the book you'll see that he makes a mistake that costs him his powers. But deep down Jack is a good natured man who wants to do what is right. He has a strong sense of justice and how the world should work -- good people should be rewarded, and bad people should be punished -- but in time he finds that the world is not as black and white as he thinks it is.

BF - On the surface, The American appears to be a hero cut from the iconic Superman template. In what ways will readers find that he differs from the Man of Steel?

JTM - Jack is different than Superman, in that he's very much a human being... he's far more fallible and unsure of himself than the "big blue." Unlike Superman, Jack was not born with powers so when he gets them it's an incredible event for him (as you might imagine). When we first meet Jack we see that life has gotten the better of him and he feels powerless to change his life for the better. It is at this dark moment that he is changed, and inexplicably gains super powers. The story has a much darker tone than a typical Superman comic, and we take Jack places that Superman could not go.

BF - What does artist Freddie E. Williams bring to this project?

JTM - Freddie brought so much to this project. He brought his enthusiasm, his professionalism, his amazing storytelling, and his encouragement. He was so dedicated to this project that he was willing to do anything and everything to get it completed. Freddie is a great man, a damn good friend, and he's an amazing collaborator! Take a look at the book and you can see for yourself what an amazing artist he is. He has such a great sense of pace and storytelling. Freddie’s artistic energy breathed life into this story and made it what it is. We're also lucky to have worked with a great group of artists. On inks we have Shaynne Corbett and Brett Thompson (Project Eon), on colors we have the amazing Jamie Jones (Phantom Jack), and it's lettered by the great veteran Steve Dutro. I'm honored to have worked with so many talented people. Working on Chance of a Lifetime was an amazing experience! Many thanks to Jade Dodge from Cellar Door Publishing for taking this project on!

BF - What appealed to about doing a period piece, as opposed to modern day?

JTM - Both Freddie and I love the 1930's and 1940's so it was fun to tie our fictional story into real historical events from those periods. What appealed most was trying to capture a world that had a sense of innocence to it that just does not exist in the modern day world.

BF - You're also working on Super Crazy TNT Blast! with George T. Singley. What can you tell us about this book?

JTM - Super-Crazy is a story that takes places on an Earth that has been overrun by an all powerful being called the Magnate. When the Magnate came to Earth he killed all of the super-powered heroes, so all that's left are the non-powered heroes, like Captain America, Hawkeye, Batman, and Catwoman types. So what we have is a bunch of humans who have to figure out how to defeat a villain that no super-powered hero could. It's a dark story that takes place on a post apocalyptical Earth.

BF - What comes next for James Mitchel?

JTM - We do have a story in mind for a second Chance of a Lifetime, (and don't worry it does not involve Jack getting his powers back), so hopefully we can start on that sometime next year. As you pointed out I'm working on the monthly comic Super-Crazy TNT Blast! from Speakeasy comics. Also, up next for me is a sci-fi/film noir story that I wrote at the beginning of this year. It's a very cool project that has given me the opportunity to dip my foot into a cyberpunk like genre. I have a amazing artist, named Terence Chang, onboard and we'll start shopping it around to publishers once the pitch pages are completed.