PK: Uhh....

Zan: : No, seriously, it's a book about a mythological mark of power that gets bestowed on a troubled young man during a one-night stand. He finds that he not only has all these sinister supernatural powers, but that he becomes more ruthless and violent. It's a pretty dark story.

PK: We definitely caught a glimpse of that at the end of the first issue. Now, how many issues are you planning on doing? I know only issue 1 is out, but how many more can we expect?

Zan: I have four issues outlined, but it might end up being five if the story needs more "space". I'm more interested in the messy, complicated stuff surrounding justice and revenge than the vigilante angle, and it's hard to convey that in just a few issues.

PK: When can we expect the next issue?

Zan: I just talked with the artist, the supremely talented Mark Brill, and he's still finishing up breakdowns for issue 2. He's been working on a few other projects, as well, and is just getting back into the swing of things, Aeacus-wise.

He actually did some pencils for issue 2 already, though, and they're pretty hot. [Mark] started doing full pencils on issue 2 a few months ago, but we got together and chatted about it and decided to make sure that everything was nailed down perfectly before he went any further; issue 2 is where it starts to delve into the history of the characters and it jumps around a lot in time. Going to be tough to pull off, and we want to do it right.

PK: Now one of the things I noticed when reading your book was that, even though it is highly sexual, it doesn't seem to be in the same vein as the other titles under Class Comics, which features hardcore sexual gay comics. Was your comic always intended to be an erotic title?

Zan: We were *planning* on making it a full-on porn comic at the outset. He shared some sketches with me and I put together a backstory and a rough plot, and wrote the script for book one. Once he read it, he had second thoughts about making it so explicit. He said, and I humbly agreed, that it was a good story and he thought it would appeal to a wider audience.

It's quite a tightrope act to walk, though; it's definitely more sexually charged than your average comic book, but it's not nearly as pornographic as the other Class books. We just pulled back a bit. Made it more of a Mature Readers book than an Adults Only. Either we've set ourselves up to disappoint everybody, or we'll strike the right balance. Hopefully the Queerie nomination means we're doing *something* right!

Although... heh heh... some of the earlier pages Mark did are MUCH more explicit. Those will have to see print some day.

PK: perhaps as a Director's Cut?

Zan: Well, not so much a Director's Cut, since those scenes don't really fit what the book turned out to be, but definitely DVD extras! If we can release a trade paperback edition, that stuff would be great to include.

PK: As it is now, i think you both have succeeded in keeping it more mature than AO, though I did see something dangling a bit in one scene...

Zan: It was in shadow!

PK: I'm pretty sure it wasn't, but I'll give you the benefit of the doubt.

Zan: Thanks. Speaking of adults only titles, there's another recent book from Class that balances story and sex really well, though it's definitely more explicit. Brother to Dragons packs a whole lot of story into a slim book, but still manages to be incredibly erotic. I kinda hope that Class can develop a non-porn imprint and broaden their repertoire even more. They're great to work with.

PK: Oh, I can talk porn all day if you'd like, but let's move on to another of your projects, Prism Comics. For those readers who may now know, can you tell us a bit about Prism Comics and what your involvement has been?

Zan: Prism was founded in 2003, and grew out of a project I'd been volunteering on called Out in Comics, which was an annual guide to LGBT comics creators that was distributed at Comic-Con in San Diego. We wanted to go even further than the annual guide, go to more conventions, give grants, do all kinds of things, and we decided to make it official.

The organization was formed with some members of the fan group GayLeague.com and some of the Out in Comics folks. Joe Palmer from GayLeague and I were founding board members.

PK: Is Prism Comics in its present form any different than when you first started it?

Zan: Oh, absolutely. If you count the early Out in Comics books, it's been an amazing journey. It started out a 16-page photocopied pamphlet that listed some names and bios, and now it's a huge trade paperback with articles, interviews, a comics anthology, and of course tons and tons of information about cool LGBT creators.

PK: How do you currently see Prism's role in the comic industry today? In addition to promoting LGBT created content and being a handbook/guide to LGBT comics, is there any other role you see Prism taking, or possibly taking on in the future?

Zan: I know that there's a lot of interest in working more with retailers; giving advice on how to market to LGBT customers and bring in new readers. And I definitely think the Queer Press Grant program, which has just been awarded for the third time, will expand.

PK: Any plans to expand into publishing?

Zan: Prism has always struggled with the public misconception that it's a publisher, but apart from the annual guide (and maybe a special anthology here and there), there aren't any plans to expand that type of role. It gets tricky when you're an advocate for LGBT creators and comics in the industry, but then become almost a competitor. I think it would be more likely that we gave a grant to someone who wanted to become a publisher.

PK: Makes sense. Now, for someone just starting out...let's say they have a really good idea for an LGBT comic...what would you recommend they do in order to start out?

Zan: If you're a writer or artist but not both, the Prism guide and website are a great place to start to find collaborators. If you've already got a book finished, you might even find a publisher--there's a few of them listed there.

PK: Excellent, because I have this fantastic idea that involves twins, some olive oil, and a singlet--

Zan: Careful, I might steal that.

PK: I'll keep the details closely guarded, especially the surprise plot twist at the end. *ahem* Well, hopefully a lot of readers out there use Prism's services to its full advantage It certainly helped us here at Pink Kryptonite in identifying LGBT creators I don't know if you've noticed but we recently did a revamp of the site in terms of content. We're trying to focus on more exclusive LGBT articles, interviews, reviews, and posts and you folks are a great resource for that!

Zan: Well it's certainly nice to know that Prism isn't the only LGBT comics game in town anymore! That's progress! With Lyle Masaki's great coverage on AfterElton, the Comic Book Queers, Pink Kryptonite, the GayLeague... it won't be too long before there's cutthroat competition in the queer comics world!

PK: Scary thought. At PK we strive to create a balance with the mainstream and the LGBT.

Zan: A little bit of green kryptonite in with the pink

PK: Is green supposed to be hetero kryptonite?

Zan: Sure

PK: Gotcha. One of the recent pleasures I had was being able to spotlight LGBT creators such as Brian Andersen, creator of So Super Duper and Tommy Roddy from Pride High. Have you had the chance to work with them at Prism?

Zan: I've met Tommy at last year's Comic-Con in San Diego, and he's volunteered with Prism a few times. He's SO dedicated to his work and is definitely going to go places. It's no easy feat to put out an indie comic book, much less produce six issues in a relatively short time.

And Brian Andersen! I might have met him before, maybe at Alternative Press Expo in San Francisco, but I spent some time with him at WonderCon last month and he is just a hoot! He participated in the reading at the Three Dollar Bill Café and turned the reading of So Super Duper into a one-man-show that was off the charts. [editor's note: you can view this here and here] I immediately bought every issue, and you should too.

PK: That was our recommendation as well when we chose So Super Duper as our LGBT Comic of the Week.

Zan: There's also video of the other readings, with Justin Hall, Mari Naomi, Paige Braddock, Tommy Roddy and Andy Hartzell. Andy's reading was particularly innovative, since his book, Fox Bunny Funny, doesn't actually have any words. You have to check it out. [you can click here to view the full reading]

Tomorrow we'll post part II, in which we talk about LGBT comics and whether or not we should hold them to different standards (as LGBT readers and consumers) than mainstream comics.

Stay tuned!