Broken Frontier

At this weekend’s Wizard World Philadelphia, a new indie comic sees the light of day with After Shock Comics’ The Sire. The mini series revolves around a perennial nobody called Donald Wright, who suddenly becomes a superhero when a mysterious alien energy source gives him extraordinary powers. Something you haven’t heard often before is that it’s Donald’s costume that forces him to take a stand and do what’s right. One can only wonder what the meaning and value of a concept like free will is when a garment can have such a huge impact on the direction of your life…

Sire writer Michael Dolce says that even though it’s Donald bonded-to-the-skin costume that makes him act all superheroic, “he’s got to find a way to control the chaos that has hit [his city] and unravel the mystery before it all hits the fan. It's kind of a cross between the X-Men and X-Files that asks the question, ‘What if you were forced to be Superman?’”

In this case, it’s truly the clothes that make the man. Still, part of the book’s content will be devoted to unravelling the mystery of the costume. Is it like a symbiote? Dolce doesn’t say. “Part of the fun behind The Sire is that it’s a mystery with several important questions, this being one of them." 

Without giving too much away, in the first issue Sire has a “dream” where he’s talking to some sort of alien creature and basically laying out to him what happened and what he can remember from the point his costume was first bonded to his skin.  He then kind of says, you know I’m telling you all of this about me, what’s up with you?  And the alien tells him, “I AM you.”  So is the costume an alien symbiote? Is Sire just having weird dreams?  That’s what the reader will find out—and a mystery that will be solved by the end of the third issue as well—as the story progresses.

Another good part is that our lame duck, Donald, doesn’t want to be a superman. You got that right, his costume’s really got him by the balls. “In life, there are two kinds of people: men of action and men of words,” Dolce continues as he adds some words of wisdom to this interview. “Up until this point Don has been the second type, the type to always say he wants something, but never go out and actually do anything about it.  Now, a situation has presented itself where Don’s actions have to match his words. Just because it’s not exactly what he pictured doesn’t mean he’s not getting exactly what he asked for: a chance to prove himself to J.J. The first story arc is a sort of coming-of-age, which if he survives will help lead to him becoming a better person.”

The J.J. Dolce is talking about is J.J. Waterston, a beautiful cable news reporter in midtown Manhattan, and Donald’s love interest. However, when it comes to love, Don has always been stuck in the background, as in every other aspect of his life, apparently. “He works as the secretary for J.J. Waterston, but even there he kind of just fades into the woodwork,” the writer says.  “He had been working the mail room, but his quasi-famous actor brother, who had connections to J.J., got him promoted to her assistant.  Don fell hopelessly in love with this woman and before he got turned into the Sire, was trying desperately to find a way to earn her respect, to show her he’s a somebody.  Now he’s found a way, though, as I said, completely accidental and completely the last thing he could have ever really wanted.”

As things usually go with perennial nobodies, once they get the chance to show their muscles, something goes wrong. Murphy’s law simply will not be denied. Although Donald now has some powers to speak of—compared to nil before all the chaos hit—he can’t simply use them to impress the love of his life. The source of the problem lies with Samuel Antonetti, the prime villain of the book, and, as Dolce explains “a millionaire technology mogul with ties to the mob whose illegal activities have secretly been funding his empire, which has led him to a unique and powerful source of alien energy hidden deep within our own orbit.  When Antonetti tries to harness this energy, things go awry, unleashing this energy, and its consequences, on Earth. It hits in the form of a huge lightning blast and both empowers and deforms him.”

Too bad alien lightning doesn’t have same impact on everyone it hits. Looks like Donald actually got lucky with something.

Someone else who can call himself lucky is Dolce himself, since he’s got the fortune of publishing a concept that struck him way back in 6th grade. “Much like Erik Larsen’s Savage Dragon, I created over a hundred “little books” as I called them, which were mere legal sized paper folded and stapled together, that eventually, as I got older and more sophisticated [laughs] started forming this really cool story,” the writer gushes. “It got to the point that when I was in college and I knew I wanted to tell stories for a living, I looked at this character and thought, ‘Hey, if I rearrange the pieces a bit and flesh out everything that this could be something really, really cool.’  So I did. The thing about this character and this story, it’s been in my head for so long that it’s practically been screaming to get out.  So, now I get a chance to let it go.  Hopefully the readers will share my passion for it.

Providing art and covers, respectively, are Daniel Leister and Talent Caldwell. Dolce met the former a few years ago through Darren Sanchez, his editor at After Hours Press/After Shock Comics. “Dan’s first published work was Celestial Alliance, a story written and created by Sanchez.  When I first saw his work I thought, ‘Wow, this kid’s got potential!’ I bumped into him again a year later in Chicago and saw his portfolio and I was just blown away.  So, I kept him in the back of my head and when I was ready to actually make the book he was the first person I called.  Amazingly, he was still around and not locked up by Marvel or DC.

“As for Talent, I met him through Mike Turner at Wizard World Texas a few years back when he was an Aspen protégé.  Then, last year, I was searching for the right cover artist and met up with him again at Texas and he agreed to do the covers.  I couldn’t have been happier, his work is just outstanding.”

When it comes to dealing with the people who’re responsible for laying his ideas out on the page, Dolce doesn’t want to act too restrictive. “I’m an artist too, albeit not as talented as these two guys, and I know that you have to have fun with what you’re drawing,” he says. “The energy you have for the work is going to translate onto the page and it’s clear when someone just goes through the motions.  And the great thing, especially with Dan, is that because he’s having so much fun with it, his work is raising the bar and making me step things up a notch writing wise as well. I sent him a full script at the start and the finished product is almost nothing like it.  It’s 1,000 times better because of everything Dan’s been able to put in.

[With] Talent, well, he’s a real pro, so I just gave him some jpg’s of my characters and said ‘Here have a blast!’”  [Laughs]

As soon as Leister and Caldwell were in the fold, Dolce turned to his aforementioned long-time friend Darren Sanchez. “It was a no-brainer to approach his label After Hours Press with The Sire,” he admits. “And after a few talks he told me After Hours was thinking of starting their own superhero label just for me. And that’s how After Shock Comics came about.  I mean, how could I not?  Darren places no restrictions on me, nor demands anything creatively besides telling a great story.  And the two of us just bounce ideas back and forth and help each other on each other’s stories so it’s really just a ton of fun.

“Also, Darren is releasing his newest title, Impossible Tales, under both the After Shock and After Hours label in July.  Then issue two of The Sire hits this September. I’m also coloring a book for Silent Devil Productions called Lil’ Hellions. So, [the two of us] are pretty busy for the moment.”

Still, there’s no reason to wait for Lil’ Hellions to catch some of Dolce’s work, especially if you’re walking the floor of the Pennsylvania Convention Center this weekend. “First off, this book is PRO,” Dolce insists. “Dan Leister is the best kept secret in comics and I’m just lucky to have him on board. And while he’ll catch your eye, I’ll keep your butt in the seat for 32 pages each issue.  This story, while loaded with off-the-wall superhero action is also loaded with depth as you’re taken into the minds of each character as they try to unravel the mystery that’s gripped a planet.  And if that’s not enough, each issue also comes jam-packed with incredible extras like character bios, director’s commentaries, an original cartoon from Wizard Universe’s Ricky Purdin, and some pin-ups from some fine folks you’ve definitely heard of before.

“And finally, you should buy the issue because when I was in sixth grade and I created the first issue of SIRE, I tried to sell it to my best friend—and current contributor to The Sire—Alex for fifty cents and he flat out refused! So now every time someone picks up a copy I like to rub it in a little…” [Smiles]