This August, hot on the heels of the highly anticipated
The Superman/Madman Hullabaloo!, Allred moves away from his long-time association with Frank Einstein (better known as Madman) and strikes out into new territory with Red Rocket 7, a science-fiction, action-adventure, musical tale that melds comics, film, and music into a whole new medium.Tom Fassbender got together with this comic-book renaissance man to discuss these two ambitious series and what he hopes to achieve inside -- and outside -- of comics
.Tom Fassbender: Just after finishing a major inter-company crossover, you're launching Red Rocket 7, a new series. What's going on?
Mike Allred: I can honestly say that I've never been more thrilled with a project.
Fassbender: Even more so than Madman?
Allred: No, but as fun as Madman Comics is, it's a continuing story and I always feel like I'm holding back because I'm not sure how to pace it to its ultimate conclusion. There have been times when I've toyed with Madman Comics being a hundred issues; more recently I'm thinking that 25-30 issues is more realistic. I don't want to feel like I'm treading water. There is a definite conclusion with Madman Comics.
Fassbender: So why a new series?
Allred: As time goes on and other interests come, I realize that there are so many other stories and concepts that I want to get into that it's just not realistic for me to spend a huge chunk of my career doing Madman, and the time felt right with Red Rocket 7. I had a whole bunch of ideas generating at the same time and was planning to release them as The Being, The Anarchist, and Astroman -- who is currently appearing in Madman Comics, and they were all going to tie together in a book called Equinox. At the same time, Universal Pictures had optioned Madman for a live-action film and I didn't want to just sit back and wait for that to happen; I felt the need to polish my film-making skills. I'd been in film and TV production before comic books steered me away, so with some of the option money I set about doing an incredibly low-budget but very ambitious science-fiction, action-adventure, religious epic.
Fassbender: That was Astroesque?
Allred: Right, which came from my original concept for The Being, a concept which was always associated with the plot in what is now Red Rocket 7. All of a sudden all these ideas started to logically merge in my head and I realized this was one big story I wanted to tell.
Fassbender: What brought it all together?
Allred: What finally kicked it off was when I thought it would be interesting to actually write and draw my own comic book adaptation of my film, and then I realized that was redundant. But everything just lined up naturally and it all came together like it was meant to be and this beginning-to-end story -- which I couldn't wait to read or see myself -- just impacted on me. I had to do it.
Fassbender: And Red Rocket 7 is "it"?
Allred: Yeah, it's an offshoot of Astroesque; it was what Astroesque would have been if I had a hundred-million-dollar budget.
Fassbender: The storyline here seems pretty mysterious . . .
Allred: You should finish the first issue with just a whole slew of questions running through your head.
Fassbender: I certainly did. Care to shed any light on this?
Allred: The simplest way to explain it is that about 40 years ago, a man from another world came to our world for some mysterious reason. And when he arrived on this world the first person to meet him was a Northwestern American Indian, and since he landed in this Red Spaceship the Indian called him Red Rocket. Then this man cloned himself six times and left these clones on earth as sentinels to watch until the time he would return for his specific reason, events that our world are drawing toward. He wants to witness these events and is going to take part in these events -- be they the end of the world or the millennium . . . these are the theories and thoughts that I want provoked in the readers' minds as they're going through this until everything is revealed in the seventh issue.
Fassbender: Interesting business, these clones. Anything else you care to tell us about them?
Allred: These six clones have been numbered two through seven and each has a specific ability or talent of the original Red Rocket, only it's multiplied because it's kind of a specialty. One clone has his scientific knowledge multiplied, one his mathematical skills, one his athletic skills, and the sixth clone, Red Rocket 7, has his musical abilities. As the clones are set out into the world, Red Rocket 7 -- who the story revolves around, even though he disappears and becomes this mysterious figure himself -- integrates himself and takes part in Rock 'n' Roll history. He's there at the beginning and finds himself at all these key events as this musical art form alters and changes and grows and progresses. This is how I've been able to integrate my affection for music and film and comics into this three-sided media project.
Fassbender: The Mike Allred Experience . . .
Allred: [laughs] Right. Anyone who reads the entire series, will hopefully enjoy it on its own merits. It stands alone, as does Astroesque. As does the Red Rocket 7 album. But, if you see Astroesque and then read Red Rocket 7 or vice versa, it just builds on these layers. Every project enhances every other project and it creates this multi-faceted thing. The album is actually a soundtrack to the comic book, and I did the music to Astroesque so there's some of the Red Rocket theme that runs into Astroesque. But the album stands on its own; it's not a soundtrack per se.
Fassbender: Wow, there's a soundtrack to the series. What made you think of this?
Allred: When I would listen to music I would often read comics -- when I think of certain comic books I think of the music that I was listening to at the time. I wanted to have that kind of experience for this. It's so much fun to pull all this together and make all this work on so many different levels, thereby creating something unique to comics.
Fassbender: It's certainly unique. Are you worried that it might be a bit unconventional?
Allred: It's certainly unconventional, but it does have things that I know people will love and it does play to my strengths. It's a science-fiction story, it's an adventure story; there's robots and space ships and all kinds of layered mysteries that all come together in this huge conclusion . . . in some ways you could describe it as Star Wars starring Ziggy Stardust. But I know there are things that people can latch on to and at the same time, I'm hoping to take people somewhere they've never been before.
Fassbender: Why are you taking off in this direction after spending almost six years doing what is for all intents and purposes an alternative superhero comic?
Allred: I feel very strongly about expanding comics. Comics is the untapped art medium. Music has been done so many ways, as have film and novels . . . comic books are so untapped when you compare them to other art forms. There's so much to be done.
Fassbender: Once these seven issues are over, is that the end?
Allred: That's it. Well, never say never, but I see this as this three-pronged project.
Fassbender: When will we be seeing Astroesque released?
Allred: We're planning a tour with Dark Horse's help and support, going around to a number of cities, signing in comic book stores during the day and showing Astroesque at night; on some stops, even playing music with the band. But way before that we're releasing on videotape through Dark Horse through the Direct Market.
Fassbender: That's quite a show of support.
Allred: This is a historical first for a feature film. In many ways this is truly a gift to the comic-book industry. If it gets any other recognition outside of our little subculture, then great! But if not, then I've reached the audience I wanted to.
Fassbender: Same with the CD?
Allred: Yeah.
Fassbender: Simultaneous to the movie and the comic?
Allred: I think I want a few issues out before we release the film and the album. This will allow us to build some understanding and have some of the layers exist. I don't want to release the film and album with the first issue because the film and album would provide answers to questions I don't want answered yet. Each issue provides a lot of satisfaction as to what this is about, but by the seventh issue everything has kicked in and it's jut this huge epic ending. If we haven't released the film and album midway, then we will definitely do so by the end of the series to end it with a bang.