By Zack Quaintance — Today’s Kickstarter Interview sees myself in conversation with Toren Chenault about the new sci-fi anthology, A Cold Dark Universe. This is an exciting project, being brought to life by many great people and friends of this very website — so you know I personally backed it on day one. Anyway, check out what Toren has to say about the project below, and then when you’re done, head on over to the A Cold, Dark Universe campaign page to back the book.

Enjoy!

Toren Chenault Interview

ZACK QUAINTANCE: You’ve written quite a bit about Black Hole and your motivations/aspirations with it. How is this new anthology an extension of the concepts?

TOREN CHENAULT: First and foremost, the diversity of the project represents everything Black Hole is about. I’m really not into talking or boasting “stats” of my life or things I’m doing. It’s an insanely talented team but also diverse. I was very intentional when building this team. I wanted a variety of people to be represented. Men, women, non-binary folks, Black, white, LGBTQ+, members of the Latinx community, there’s true inclusivity here. I have always understood the need to be inclusive in comics and this anthology is definitely an extension of my belief in a more diverse industry.

Also I think our funding goal is an extension of my ambitiousness. I don’t really have a capitalistic mindset with all of this. I know there isn’t a ton of money to be made in comics and I don’t really want to. And I’m not looking to dominate the industry or make IP or anything. I just want to make creators feel like they matter and make cool stories with them. The creators are getting paid a little bit higher above the “standard” page rate for anthologies. That’s reflected in our goal. And a lot of the people on this haven’t done an anthology before. And I’ve never done a Kickstarter! Lots of firsts haha. So yeah, ambitious is a word to describe it for sure. But so is trying to launch a publisher at 26 years old. 

ZACK: Let’s talk logistics...how did you assemble the creative teams for the stories in this anthology?

TOREN: I know that a lot of comics is networking and building friendships with people. And I did that before I launched Black Hole. Nick, Alec, Candace, Domonick, Calvin, I met them all here in Lansing, Michigan. So I asked a lot of the writers and artists who worked with me on the early Black Hole stuff to contribute in the anthology. It’s fun working with people you’ve worked with before, but even better when you like them as people. So that was like 7 slots right there.

The rest of people I recruited from social media, either I had been following them for a while or just really liked their work and pitched them the idea of the anthology. Figuring out the rates and deadlines was the hardest thing for me. But once I figured that stuff out, the others agreed.

After that, organizing the teams was really me thinking about how certain creators would vibe together. I’m a Hip Hop person, and just like comics, that art form is very collaborative. You get the right people in the studio and true magic can happen. Old school groups like A Tribe Called Quest, N.W.A., Wu-Tang, they all built off of each other’s talents. Newer people like 21 Savage and Metro Boomin, Boldy James and The Alchemist, and Brockhampton do the same thing. And I’ve kind of always wanted to be the guy to put something like this together. So I was in that mindset thinking about who would work well with each other. Who is going to bring the best out of you and vice versa? How could I get bring the most out of everybody and make our Straight Outta Compton or Savage Mode?

KC and Kiana have worked together before. They’re friends in real life so there’s rapport there. No need to break that up. Kasey’s energetic art and concepts I think was going to go great with Jarred Lujan’s energetic script. Candace is a writer with big ideas and a vivid imagination, so Alec was an easy pairing for her. He handles wild and big ideas really well. Nick is really into indie everything from films to comics. And Gabbie’s art has that indie, individualistic quality the second you see it, so they were a good pair. So that’s some of the factors I thought about when making the teams.

I did a lot of brainstorming sessions about it and I like the results of how it all came together in the end.

ZACK: I really appreciate the ideas of togetherness and hope that are inherent to this project. Why do you think that is an especially important focus right now?

TOREN: Well, I really think those type of stories in comics are needed all the time. I had the idea for this project and Black Hole in late 2018. The comics community, while amazing and supportive a lot of the times, still wades in negativity too often for my taste. Petty arguments about superheroes, writers vs. artists, the preferred comic format etc. And as a minority, you sometimes feel that negativity ten times as hard. Especially if you don’t see work that represents you. 

But yeah, nowadays it’s important in so many ways. In the traditional, “comics always needs this” way but also, just look outside. Now I’m not a person who likes to lament or focus on how divided people are today. Because I will never see eye to eye with someone who believes gay people don’t deserve rights, or that police should kill without punishment. There’s some truth to it, in a technical sense though. Just not in the apolitical sense. 

But, we aren’t really able to go outside right now. Can’t go to cons and see friends. Can’t catch up and talk about Immortal Hulk. And some people don’t feel comfortable going to a comic shop right now because of COVID. I feel for everyone who has missed those beautiful moments we get to experience with others over the love of this medium. It’s the best. So in that sense, that’s why our themes of hope and togetherness are important right now.

Also, I just hope this anthology gives people a break. I hope to alleviate some stress for people with some genuinely fun and inspiring stories. Some of the stories get into some deeper and darker themes, but they all leave the reader with a good feeling. Optimistic, nostalgic, friendly, and of course, hopeful. People deserve to feel those feelings after such a hard year.

ZACK: My impression is that while these are all stories set in space, the type of stories in this volume are wide-ranging. Can you give us some teases about the stories in the book?

TOREN: Yeah, I can definitely do that. One that I think is going to catch people by surprise is Luis Santamarina’s Rob Robotson: Occult Detective. The story follows a group of scavengers that come across a robot head. The characters are parodies of pop culture icons like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Muhammad Ali.

Anyways, it’s a story that *technically* takes place in space but most of the story is us learning about this thing, Rob. And we learn through his memory files the true fate of mankind. It’s a trippy story that doesn’t go as planned. He gets into arguments about objective reality, truth, and education. All while being really funny. Plus, he’s drawing his story as well and his art is just as unique as the script.

One that doesn’t have any preview art in the campaign but I’m really excited about is Space Punks Nick Couture and Gabbie Scanlon. The pitch for this one is great. You ever play that old PS2 game Red Faction? Where the working class is basically turned into slaves on Mars? My Mom used to play it and it was wild watching her fight the guards haha. Yeah, this is basically that but a lot more cultured. Nick has an authenticity to his writing and stories. Think it’s all the films he watches. It’s a story about two robbers who lives on Mars in the year 3000 and blast 90s hip hop in their spare time. Not a sentence you read every day. An innovative take on the rich vs. poor type of stories we love, just with a whole lot of flare. And Gabbie’s art pairs perfectly with Nick so I think it’ll be a good one.

Last one I’ll mention is my story with Christine Gutierrez. Same title as the book. And that’s because we really thought this story is everything this anthology is supposed to be. Those hopeful stories in a truly dark time. The story follows a girl named Cindy, who was born on a plague-ridden Earth. Not too many people left. She was also born with one leg. Her grandmother built her a prosthetic one though and it blossomed Cindy’s love for robotics. Christine has a background in robotics so the designs of her stuff is going to be awesome. Plus, I love her colors. This story is probably one of the saddest in the group, but she brings it to life with her colors.

On one of Christine’s pages has something that says, “Johnson Family Co.” and that’s because Cindy’s father basically became Negan from the Walking Dead when this random plague hit---and that’s all I’m going to say. The story is about Cindy overcoming all the challenges in her life but doing so with her grandmother’s lasting influence in her heart.

ZACK: Finally, tell me about the Birth of Blackhole…one of the things I’ve admired about the Black Hole concept from the start is the willingness to tackle both prose and comics storytelling….

TOREN: Thanks I really appreciate that. It’s funny, there’s always discourse on this topic isn’t there? Which is better, the lack of respect comics gets and so on. I’ve always loved both deeply since I was a kid. And that love only grew as a teen as I read old sci-fi books and read X-Men comics in the library. With Black Hole, I’m just trying to respect two mediums that have brought me so much joy over the years.

So that’s where The Birth of Black Hole comes in. It’s a reward in our Kickstarter that’s a paperback of every story on the Black Hole website. Yeah, you can go read them for free right now, but this is a whole production. Nothing like getting a printed book in your hands. It’s valued at $10 and is in multiple tiers. We have over 15 chapters of original short stories and we also ran a short story contest earlier this year. Those will be in there as well. And it’ll feature two new stories by myself and Nick. That’s hundreds of pages of worlds, lore, and characters in less than six months. I’m pretty proud of that.

Comics are a labor of love, we all know that. They take forever to make and our expensive. Black Hole has been a labor of love as well. A lot of hours of me staring at a computer screen trying to figure it out as I go. Someone holding both A Cold, Dark Universe and The Birth of Black Hole at the end of this is symbolic. They both represent what we’re all about. Bringing out that beauty and innovation in everything we do.

A Cold Dark Universe

A Cold Dark Universe
Writers: Various
Artist: Various
A Cold, Dark Universe? It's anything but. What it is, however, is the first graphic novel project from Black Hole Comics and Entertainment. An anthology of original sci-fi comic stories. A full color 112 page anthology with 16 creators telling 8 amazing stories that dive into the feelings we’ve all been feeling during the year. Hopeful stories that highlight the best and worst in humanity, all while showing you innovative things you haven't seen before. Science-fiction comics at their best. You’ll find love stories, war stories, stories of betrayal, and more! This anthology has a bit of everything, no matter your taste.
Back It Here: A Cold Dark Universe