By: Nicole D’Andria
Welcome to the DMA, a combination of Chris Claremont’s X-Men and the political drama of West Wing. We explore the heart of DMA with creator Cory DLG in this “Kickstart the Week”!
An ongoing series, each issue of DMA is 22 pages of the main story followed by eight-page back-up stories. DMA shows how the government responds to the superpower question in a world where not everyone has powers. Our story begins with the Avengers equivalent in this universe get half of their members killed during a bank robbery. This prompts the government to take action due to pressure from the public and create their own superhero team, the Department of Metahuman Affairs, aka the DMA.
The series is created and written by Cory DLG, the creator and host of Nerd Thug Radio, an internet radio hit turned FM radio show. The art team includes artist Ulises Carpintero, inker Diego Alberto Velasco, colorist Agus DH, and letterer Alex de Luca and back-up feature artist TaylorA. Making things a little more meta, to round out the creative team, I am the editor of this series.
The DMA Kickstarter is seeking to raise $3,100 by September 11, 2020, at 6:00 PM EDT. Rewards include digital ($3) and physical ($7) copies of the first issue
The Kickstarter also features the universe reward options of Adopt An Arc or Adopt a Comic Book Series, meaning you are pre-paying for either issues #1-3 or issues #1-12. Check out those options on the official Kickstarter page.
I spoke in-depth about his metahuman angle with creator/writer Cory DLG:
Me: How does your comic book series differ from other super powered team stories?
DLG: I think right now the big companies have moved away slightly from just old school storytelling and have adopted a more corporate approach to telling structured almost incorporated stories that fit into larger universe based plots. This is a much smaller story about some people just trying to make the world a better place.
Me: You mention that DMA is a mash-up of Claremont’s X-Men and West Wing. In what ways does your series reflect these works?
DLG: To me, Claremont’s legacy in X-Men lore is treating the characters like real people and developing great characteristics and relationships, just cultivating the human drama as much as the storyline drama, and I want to do that too as much as possible. With West Wing, it’s just more about showing how humans and “normal” people can actually have a major impact in the world and a little bit about how the world and governments interact.
Me: In one sentence per character, describe each principle member of the Department of Metahuman Affairs.
DLG: Fury—Jailed for not paying her taxes because she thinks the government is racist, she desperately wants to be a role model.
Copex—A two-time Tony award winner who is outed as a meta and is now in need of a job.
Steele—A lonely girl lost in time but still dangerous.
Bounce—Former teen sidekick looking for meaning in a life full of big things.
Killer Watt—Saving the world to go free.
Me: Outside of the main story in each book, you’re including eight-page back-up stories. What can you tell us about these stories and how will they build on the DMA universe?
DLG: It’s kind of inspired by Game of Thrones, where every time somebody showed up there was a bunch of history and cool nicknames tied to a character, but they only kind of explained those people and why they were awesome. It’s a slick trick that helps create what feels like a full world. So much the same, there’s tons of stuff that I can either show you or tell you off-panel, I’d rather show you.
Me: How did you go about finding the creative team of the book and why were they the perfect people to make DMA a reality?
DLG: This story had been percolating in my mind for so long behind the scenes that when I was finally ready everything came together almost like fate that there’s no question these are really the best guys for this book. Ulises was my first choice for art, his portfolio was great and his style was clean. From there, Alberto’s inks are hyper tight and Agus’ colors fit everything so perfectly. It’s just so great how it all turns out with Alex’s letters finishing and Nicole helping keep me error-free.
Me: Can you explain the inspiration behind your idea of Adopt An Arc or the Adopt a Comic Book Series options in which people are pre-paying for future issues of the series?
DLG: A lot of different things are really embracing the subscription business models, even razor blade companies, and the one thing an Indy project is always looking for is stability. So this kind of fills both of those spaces and helps guarantee a future for the title.
Me: What is the number one reason why people should pledge money to your project?
DLG: This isn’t a trick but it’s because I don’t want your money, I want to make my comic. So the ultimate goal is to make comic books, and to do that, I guess I need your money. 🙂
Me: What inspirational words do you have for aspiring comic book writers?
DLG: There are two answers I want to give to this because the first one feels like a cop-out and is totally unfair but is the best advice you can get. It’s “make comic books”. The second is this: it’s ok to fail, it’s ok to fall short, it’s ok to struggle, it’s ok to be wrong, and it’s ok to make mistakes. But be open-minded, be determined, be creative, be kind, and stay focused.
Me: Thanks for your time and sharing your passion for comics, Cory! If you want to check out this government-sanctioned team, see the exploits of DMA on their Kickstarter here.
Do you have a crowdfunding project? Want to be interviewed about it and have the project featured on “Kickstart/IndieGogo/GoFundMe the Week?” Let me know in the comments below or message me on my website. Also check out the official Kickstart the Week: Interviews with Comic Book Kickstarter Creators Volume 1 on Kindle and Etsy!
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