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Your Star Trek: Waypoints comic The Fragile Beauty of
Loyalty - in a few words, what is it about? On the
surface, it's a time-travel sci-fi story set in the Star Trek:
Enterprise universe. But it's really a boy-and-his-dog human
story, about loyalty and coming-of-age. I'm particularly honored that I've
written the first Enterprise comic ever! How did
you get involved with the project in the first place, and would you
consider yourself a Trekkie to begin with? I'm definitely a
Trekkie. My parents loved Star Trek
(the original series), so
I've literally been a fan since birth! And growing up in NYC, I've also
been going to Star Trek
conventions and Creation Conventions featuring my
Trek heroes since I was a kid. So when I started talking with IDW
Publishing about potential comic work, I was beside myself with excitement
when they asked if I'd be interested in writing for Star Trek!! What were
your inspirations for writing The Fragile Beauty of Loyalty, and
since Star Trek
as such is such a multi-million Dollar franchise to begin with, were there
any limitations as to what you could and could not write or pressure to
keep it canonical or the like? And since a dog plays a pivotal
role in The Fragile Beauty of Loyalty - so basically, what do dogs
mean to you privately?
My inspirations for The Fragile Beauty of Loyalty are called
out in the dedications at the end! Laika Kudryavka, the fearless Soviet
space dog who was the first animal to orbit the earth - and Sukhi Sioux,
my fearless four-pound papillon!
As for keeping to canon - at the pitch stage I had to make sure
my story proposal fit within the general continuity... but as a Trekkie,
addressing those concerns came naturally. And once my story idea was
approved, I never felt any pressure to conform to anything or narrative
limitations. IDW Publishing, the folks at Star Trek, and my editor Sarah
Gaydos are all wonderful to work with.
As far as I know, The
Fragile Beauty of Loyalty is the first ever Star Trek: Enterprise
comic - so do you have any idea why, and what's your personal take on the
series? I honestly don't know why I was the first writer to
have been approved to play in the Star Trek: Enterprise
world - but it's certainly an honor! I'm a huge fan - it might be my
favorite Trek
after the original series... Do talk about The Fragile Beauty of Loyalty's
artist Hugo Petrus for a bit, and what was your collaboration like?
Hugo is amazing. His work speaks for itself - it's gorgeous! He's also
incredibly easy to work with with, has great ideas, is up for trying
anything, and never missed a deadline. AND he's a super cool, sweet guy.
It was a joy to work with him - and colorist Fran Gamboa, too -
from start to finish. I look forward to working with them again!
One thing I'll never forget is Hugo's willingness to jump right in and
attack the difficult double-page-spread that I wrote as the centerpoint
of the story. I thought he was going to hate me for it! But he instead
approached the task with excitement and drew a masterpiece there in the
middle!
The
$64-question of course, where's your comic available from? Star
Trek:Waypoint #4 is available at comic stores everywhere, and
digitally at Comixology.com. To find a comic shop in your area, visit
ComicShopLocator.com or FindAComicShop.com
Based
on your experience with The
Fragile Beauty of Loyalty, could you ever be persuaded to do another
Star Trek
comic? Twist my arm! I'd LOVE to do another Star Trek
comic! You
come from a film and theatre background actually, so how did you get into
comics, and how does writing for comics differ from working on movies or
for the stage?
I've been a comic fan since childhood - I literally learned to read from
reading comics. My earliest memories of reading are sitting on my mom's
lap reading Tintin books!
Of course, the style and format of writing for comics differs from that
in other mediums - there are things that work on the page that don't
work of the stage or screen (and vice-versa). But at the end of the
day... it's all about storytelling! The story comes first, then you pick
the best medium for telling your story.
While we're talking, we also have to touch upon another
project of yours, The Fifth Beatle, which I believe has also had a
comicbook incarnation, right? So give us the lowdown on that one!
The Fifth Beatle: The Brian Epstein Story is based on the untold
life story of Beatles’ manager Brian Epstein. It's happily received
worldwide critical acclaim and won a number of prestigious literary
awards - including the Will Eisner Comic Industry Award for Best
Reality-Based Work and two Harvey Awards, including Best Original
Graphic Novel! It's also a Lambda Literary Finalist for Best LGBT
Graphic Novel, an American Library Association Great Graphic Novel for
Teens, and has been added to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Library and
Archives Permanent Collection. As you can imagine, I'm very proud of it!
The Fifth Beatle is now being adapted into a multi-part TV
event series, and I'm proud to report that we've secured unprecedented
access to Beatles music!! I'm writing the scripts myself and serving as
executive producer...
We'll be announcing director, cast, and other details soon, so please
follow us at
facebook.com/TheFifthBeatleTV,
on Twitter at @FifthBeatle, or join our mailing list at FifthBeatle.com
to get breaking news.
Any
other current and future projects in whatever medium you'd like to share? I'm
adapting Dave Roman's hit comic series Astronaut Academy for
television. Think Harry Potter in space! It's about a charismatic
loner named Hakata Soy who must rally a group of disparate kids at a
school for space explorers to stop a megalomaniac President from waging
interspecies war. Stay tuned (see below for how) for more details! Your/your
comic's website, Facebook, whatever else?
To
keep in touch with me and my projects, please follow me on Twitter at
@VivekJTiwary, at
facebook.com/TiwaryEnt
or join our mailing list at TiwaryEnt.com Anything else
you're dying to mention and I have merely forgotten to ask? I
have another life as a Broadway producer, and I'm working with Alanis
Morissette and Tony + Pulitzer Award winner Tom Kitt to adapt Jagged
Little Pill for the stage! Please stay in touch (see above for how)
for creative team and opening night news, coming soon! Thanks
for the interview!
Thank YOU!
all Star Trek Waypoint #4 art by Hugo
Petrus Vivek's portrait and
The 5th Beatle
cover by Andrew C. Robinson
Special thanks to Richard S
Barnett, founder of IIWYK!!!
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