INTERVIEW: ‘Quarter Killer’ is an ‘Afro-futuristic arcade adventure’
Image courtesy of comiXology / Provided with permission.
Quarter Killer, the new 140-page graphic novel from comiXology Originals, follows a mysterious ex-computer hacker by the name of Quentin Kidd, or QK. They offer their services to anyone who pays with untraceable currency, especially quarters.
The story, co-written by Vita Ayala and Danny Lore, finds QK meeting Aya, a young girl who is trying to rescue her father from a group of bad influences trying to persuade him to stay in the criminal world. QK takes the job — for free — and helps Aya out, along the way encountering everything from addictive video games to shady corporations, according to press notes.
Ayala and Lore’s creation features art by Jamie Jones. ComiXology is billing the release as a “Hip-Hop cyberpunk Robin Hood.”
Recently Hollywood Soapbox exchanged emails with the creative team. Questions and answers have been slightly edited for style. Ayala is best known for The Wilds and Submerged, while Lore worked on James Bond and Queen of Bad Dreams. Jones’s previous work includes The Baboon and The Whisper.
How would you describe the graphic novel to someone looking to purchase it online?
VITA AYALA: It’s an Afro-futuristic cyberpunk Robin Hood of the ‘hood. Found family, flashy new tech and intrigue, all interwoven with hip-hop beats and dynamic action!
DANNY LORE: QK is an Afro-futuristic arcade adventure, where a found family of misfits attempt to protect their hood against the perils of misused technology and power.
JAMIE JONES: It’s an Afro-cyberpunk heist comic set in a not too distant future where video-game culture reigns supreme.
What do you find interesting and unique about the central character of QK?
VITA: They are suave in a way that a lot of noir/cyberpunk protagonists are not, but they have achieved this cool not by being isolated/lone wolf or standoffish, but rather the opposite. They surround themself with the people they love, and get strength and confidence from that support system.
DANNY: QK manages to have swagger while offering a little girl hot chocolate! How many protagonists in cyberpunk manage to radiate cool, warmth and badassery all at the same time? There’s a real delight in creating and playing with characters that are viciously efficient, but still have that aura of ‘it’s OK, we’ll be safe with them.’ QK manages to smile in a world that often is portrayed as lacking true gentleness, without taking that aspect out of the world-building.
JAMIE: Most leads in the cyberpunk genre fall into the noir, humdrum, Bogart loner type. QK is not Bogart. They have a family, people they can rely on. And it’s the company that QK keeps that makes their stories interesting. Because a character isn’t made unique or interesting by the actions they do, but by the company they keep.
How does Quarter Killer offer commentary on video game culture?
VITA: I’m not sure that it does. There are characters in it that are gaming, certainly, and the lair of our hero(es) is an old school arcade, but that is less a commentary on video game culture and more showing how important and interwoven gaming is with contemporary life. Video games were/are an important aspect of the lives of almost everyone on the team — an inextricable part — and it would feel inauthentic not to include those influences.
DANNY: We’ve got an issue that is about the misuse of video game technology to abuse the impoverished, but our stance is reflected in that the day is saved by a crew that works out of an arcade. We are all fans of video games (I’ve got my Nintendo Switch next to me and at least … three different systems in walking distance as I type this), and it would be disingenuous of us to approach cyberpunk with ‘technology is evil/gaming is evil’ as our angle. Every issue is inspired by a game. So if anything, I think our statement is that it’s possible to talk about the pros and cons [of] video games and advanced technology without demonizing any of it.
How did you settle on the artistic style for Quarter Killer?
JAMIE: I had just finished my book, The Baboon, and fell in love with quick strong brush strokes. In my previous work I was confined to a more ‘house’ or ‘mainstream’ style, and I was tired of it. The work never felt right doing that kind of stuff. When we were coming up with the look for the book I was going to let my Eisner influence run free. That, paired with the book being digital and having an unlimited color pallet, made for a super funky mix. I made digital textiles and textures that I could just paste into the background or on clothing. I just drew like me. Something that I wanted to do. Almost page to page. If I wanted to put it in the book I just did.
When did you first fall in love with comics?
VITA: Since before I could read. I had comics, and I would look at them and make up the story and dialogue according to the pictures. They showed me worlds where I could exist — be a hero, or an explorer, or go into space — long before I saw that in any other media.
DANNY: I was young, maybe around 10 or so. I’d gone to the library and someone placed Books of Magic, the ongoing series from Vertigo, into the children’s section. Now, it was definitely too old for me, but these comics opened the world to me in the same way that The Neverending Story did. That series is my Harry Potter, and I was lost to the medium. Wasn’t technically allowed to read comics for years after that, but when I came back to them in high school, it was a familiar pair of house shoes to slip back on.
JAMIE: I think comics are a part of every ‘drawing kid.’ Even before I knew what comic books were I was drawing them. You just want to tell stories with pictures. I didn’t really fall in love with the medium until I was 17 (old enough to drive myself to the comic shop) There I discovered Sandman, Fables and The Goon. It was then [that] my naive notion that comics were only superhero nonsense was shattered, and I began to really look at comics with a wider lens and wanted to make them.
Do you envision more stories for QK after this publication?
VITA: Absolutely. We have a backlog of notes for further adventures of QK and the Krew! We planted seeds for future heroes and villains in this arc, which if given half the chance, can bloom into some really fun and exciting stories!
DANNY: You should see our notebooks! We’ve got short tales, longer arcs, spotlights on characters … I love the team on this book, they constantly push me to up my game creatively, and so it would be wonderful to have the opportunity to continue these stories!
JAMIE: It’s hard not to. You spend months and months with these characters, and while you are in the middle of one story you start thinking of the next arc, the next villain, how X character would deal with Y problem. Quarter Killer was made to be an ongoing comic. I would hate for the ride to be over with only five issues.
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
Quarter Killer, co-written by Vita Ayala and Danny Lore, with art by Jamie Jones, is now available from comiXology. Click here for more information.
