by Elisabeth@TFAW
Image Month is still going strong, with an awesome interview with Jay Faerber, writer-creator of Dynamo 5: Sins of the Father, a new miniseries from Image Comics! Issue #2 is out today, and if you're a fan of super-team books, you'll want to pick it up.
Jay was kind enough to let us in on how he created Dynamo 5, and he hinted at some twists and turns coming up with this new story arc!
TFAW.com: Hi Jay, thanks for answering some questions about Dynamo 5 for us!
Jay Faerber: My pleasure! I'm always happy talk about Dynamo 5.
TFAW.com: Can you bring new readers up to speed on Dynamo 5?
JF: Sure. Dynamo 5 is about the five illegitimate children of Captain Dynamo, a recently deceased superhero. The kids (ranging from mid-teens to early 20s) are rounded up by Cap's widow, Maddie, a former secret agent. She's not happy to have learned about her husband's infidelity, but she suspects his offspring may have inherited his super-powers, and she needs someone to protect the now-defenseless Tower City. So Maddie whips these kids into shape as a super-hero team, and plays the role of den mother/drill sergeant.
TFAW.com: At the beginning of Sins of the Father, it appears that our five heroes have switched powers. How did this happen, and is this going to be a long-term issue?
JF: Right, in issue #25 (the last issue of the ongoing) we did a big switcheroo with the kids' powers. This was done when Gideon, one of their enemies, hit them with an altered form of the same radiation that gave them their powers in the first place. When the kids re-exposed themselves to the radiation to re-activate their powers, they were shocked to learn the powers had re-distributed themselves. Bridgett no longer has super-strength; instead, she possesses various vision-based powers and adopts the code-name Supervision. Hector loses his vision powers, and gains super-strength, and calls himself Smasher. Gage loses his telepathy but gains super-speed flight, and calls himself Ramjet. Spencer loses his shape-shifting abilities but gains telepathy, and calls himself Wraith. And Livvie loses her flight powers, but gains shape-shifting, and calls herself Menagerie.
As for whether it's a long-term issue, one of the things I love most about Image Comics is that we're not bound by the same restrictions as Marvel and DC. There's no status quo that we absolutely must return to. So this may be permanent, it may not. That's one of the exciting things about this book — you never know what's going to happen!
TFAW.com: Why did you create this situation for them now?
JF: It was done to shake things up for myself, and for the readers. And to further illustrate what I was just talking about–that there is no status quo. With creator-owned comics, anything can happen.
TFAW.com: The character who was hardest hit by this, it seems, is Spencer (Myriad). Without his shapeshifting powers, he can no longer disguise his alien appearance–a real hardship for this former ladies man. How is he going to adjust?
JF: Yeah, Spencer's really taking this pretty hard. He used to be able to hit the clubs every night and pick up women. But now he's basically hidden away in the Aquarium, Dynamo 5's secret underwater headquarters. So he's having to make some serious adjustments. Plus, he's gained telepathy–so he can hear how people really feel about his alien appearance. But it's not all gloom and doom for Spencer. He's going to learn a bit about his alien heritage in this miniseries. It may not be something he wants to know, but it at least sheds some light on where he comes from.
TFAW.com: Captain Dynamo was definitely no stranger to sin, since he cheated on his wife multiple times, resulting in the members of Dynamo 5. Why did you set up this dynamic?
JF: I just thought it was a cool hook for a superhero team, honestly. While Dynamo 5 is rooted in this really scandalous backstory, it's really just an excuse for me to do a classic super-team-as-family book. I get to play with all those tropes I loved in '80s comics like New Teen Titans and Uncanny X-Men, but it's updated for the 21st century, where so many kids come from non-traditional families.
TFAW.com: Maddie–said wife–then brought these illegitimate half-siblings together after the death of her husband–not only to be a superhero team, but to be a family. How's she doing so far?
JF: I guess it depends on who you ask. Maddie's never satisfied, so she's always pushing for the kids to do better. To be better. But the kids think they're doing just fine, thank you very much. Over their career (however short it may be) as superheroes, they've had to function without Maddie on several occasions and they've handled themselves quite well.
TFAW.com: Why is she doing this? Does she have an ulterior motive?
JF: It's kind of sick, isn't it? Surrounding yourself with your dead husband's offspring? But Maddie really believes these kids are the only hope Tower City has, since it's come under constant attack from Captain Dynamo's enemies, who see it as an easy mark now that Cap's dead.
TFAW.com: What are her biggest obstacles?
JF: Maddie's main obstacle is her own stubbornness. She's a very hard-headed person, and she hates letting anyone see her sweat. So she'll never speak up, even when she really needs help. And that tendency to keep people at arms' length just may be her undoing. She's also constantly stymied by her old friend, Augie, who was her partner when she was a secret agent with F.L.A.G. That government watchdog agency is up to some shady activities lately, as they start assembling their own super-team to compete with Dynamo 5. And Maddie can't tell how much she can trust Augie–if she can trust him at all. He knows all of Dynamo 5's secrets, so he's a serious wild card.
TFAW.com: Can you tell us any surprises that might be in store with this story arc?
JF: They wouldn't be surprises then, would they? But seriously–I can hint at some surprises. We'll see lots of guest stars, including Invincible and Savage Dragon's kids, Malcolm and Angel. As I said earlier, Spencer will learn something shocking about his alien heritage. Gage gets lucky–and wait until you see the lucky lady. And there's going to be at least one death before the miniseries is over.
TFAW.com: What other "sins" of their father will these heroes uncover?
JF: It's important to me that Captain Dynamo not be defined solely by his libido. He wasn't faithful to his wife, sure, but he had some good qualities, too. And we get to see them on display in the flashback sequences of this miniseries. We'll see that he was truly a hero, in every sense of the word. So the "sins" of the title don't really apply the way you may think. The sins he committed are sins in the eyes of the enemy, but not our heroes.
TFAW.com: This arc also features a bunch of characters from Invincible–how is that going to play out?
JF: It's going to be a lot of fun. As I said earlier, Invincible, Malcolm, and Angel all show up and it was a blast to show them interacting with Dynamo 5. It's the little things that make it fun. Stuff like showing a quick flashback to the Invincible War, when Dynamo 5 fought one of the evil Invincibles from a parallel universe. And we play up the fact that Smasher (the code-name Hector uses, now that he's super-strong) was also the code-name of Angel's mom, over in Savage Dragon. So the two of them talk about that. I even worked in Cecil Stedman, from the Global Defense Agency. We see a glimpse of him interacting with Maddie, which was a lot of fun. I'm really grateful that Robert and Erik let me borrow their characters for a few issues.
TFAW.com: What can you tell us about this arc's backup series, Notorious?
JF: Notorious is a bonus feature we added just for the fun of it. It was created by me and Joe Eisma, who draws the feature. It's my take on a masked crimefighter of the street level variety. You know the type. No powers, just a guy diving off rooftops and punching out bad guys. Notorious is waging war against a mob family, and we learn at the end of the first installment that it's not quite as simple as it sounds. He may have an ulterior motive in targeting this particular family. It runs five pages in every issue, so by the end of the miniseries it'll be a nice 20-page standalone adventure.
TFAW.com: What has it been like working with Image?
JF: Image is great. I've been doing books with them for almost 10 years, and I couldn't be happier. They're a great bunch of people who offer me unlimited creative freedom and excellent support. I've made a lot of friends there over the years.
TFAW.com: What are your plans for Dynamo 5 after Sins of the Father?
JF: The last issue of D5: SotF will be out in October, and then it looks like we're doing a special Christmas one-shot in December, and which will lead into a new miniseries in March or April. So we're continuing with the miniseries format, since it lets us keep a better handle on the schedule. So far, D5: SotF has shipped on time, which we're very proud of.
TFAW.com: Thanks again for giving us the inside scoop, Jay!
So there you have it! If you haven't already, make sure to order your copies of Dynamo 5: Sins of the Father here at TFAW.com!
Are you already a fan of the book? Interested in picking it up? Post your comments below!
