The Comicverse is an award-winning sci-fi rom-com about a comic book shop on the final frontier by me, Xeric Award and Day Prize recipient Steve Peters, and writer Bianca Alu-Marr.
The Comicverse #4 features a story called "Cargo Hold", which is 64 pages long, by far the longest piece we have written for the series. In it, the space station is attacked and destroyed by marauding aliens! The residents of the station manage to get out in escape pods and find themselves adrift in space.
Eventually, they are picked up in a military peacekeeping ship and placed in their cargo hold, hence the title of the story. Ying and the others make the best of a scary situation, trying to bring comfort and lightheartedness to the other refugees.
The main idea for the plot was suggested by Steve; it was inspired by issue #51 of the legendary independent comic Cerebus, and its story which was called "Exodus". By the time Dave Sim published that issue, he had been saying for some time that some of the characters in Cerebus were so easy to write for that he could throw them in a closet and the story would "write itself". When he finally drew that issue, he put the characters together in the cargo hold of a trading ship.
The Comicverse #4 is a tour de force because Steve's idea was not just to throw a few characters together in a tight space, but ALL of the characters from the space station who have appeared in the series so far, and see how they bounce off of and react to each other.
Bianca says: "This gave me so much creative freedom as a writer, and the story flowed and transformed on its own, within the framework of Steve's plot ideas. My writing tends to have no boundaries, and the creativity is flowing everywhere. On my own, I don't always end up finishing my stories because of this. However, with Steve's clear vision and ability to help me with endings, we make a great team. Cargo Hold is one of the best examples of that dynamic.
"I love to see how all of the main and secondary characters are growing and becoming more layered and complex as time goes on. It's their personalities that inform what they say and do, which allows me to help them sound natural and dynamic! I was also so excited to have them in a huge ship flying around in true sci-fi-style peril. It is our longest story to date, and I'm so happy to have this be our fourth issue!"
The Comicverse #4 is a Black and White Manga-Size comic, cover price $6.00, 2014, 64 pages.
REVIEWS OF THE COMICVERSE:
" 'The Comicverse' is a lighthearted look at a comic book shop located on a space station, along with its customers and employees. The first issue was fun and opens the door for several story possibilities."
---The Comics Buyer's Guide, May 2012 Issue
"...'The Comicverse'. A humorous science–fiction comic. I thought it was pretty funny."
---Phil Foglio
"It's truly one of the most original comics out there!"
---Chris Galvan, Secret Identity Comics
"Steve is the Man! We've been friends and I've been a fan, since we were in school at UArts waaaaaay back when. Always inspired by his creativity, hard work and dedication to the craft."
---Eric Battle, artist for DC and Marvel
"My people Bianca Alu-Marr and Steve Peters have been putting out quality #creatorowned #Comics for some time now (Awakening Comics celebrates its 20th year anniversary this year) and I think I've known Steve almost as long, beginning with doing some panels in his SPARKY narrative corpse comics. Fast forward to the present, where I recently was fortunate enough to table near them at a con and got caught up on a bunch of issues I missed. Great work! Go support!"
---Jamar Nicholas, Leon: Protector of the Playground
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