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Kickstart This! – Mini Comics Included!
It’s not often you get to reach back in time and touch a part of your childhood. But that’s exactly what Tim Seeley, Steve Seeley, and Michael Moreci want you to rediscover with Mini Comics Included!
Remember when your action figures came with cool comics inside? No? Don’t worry. You can show the next generation how it used to be and get your pulp comic fix!
We asked Michael Moreci, of Hoax Hunters fame, to do a miniterview and tell us what we want to know!
Emily McGuiness: It seems like your project is as much about nostalgia as cool comics. What were your childhood inspirations/stories that fueled this project?
Michael Moreci: I have so many inspirations when it comes to this project. He-Man, to no one’s surprise, is a big one. Also, of course, (Jack) Kirby. The Omega Family is equal parts weird 80s cartoons (like Thundaar) and Kirby Fantastic Four. I can go on and on about Kirby (who can’t?) but what always sticks with me is his incredible blend of imagination and heart. It’s a wonderful–and rare–combination. Kirby always preserved the impact of his stories with families, relationships, and everything that goes with it. No matter what craziness was going on in his worlds, there was always the fundamental dynamics of people, brothers in combat, fathers and sons, you name it. That’s a big part, to me, why people go back to Kirby again and again. The man had a terrific humanity.
That’s really important to me as well, as a storyteller. The human aspect is critical–I can’t stand reading stories that leave me cold.
Getting back on track, the central point of Mini Comics Included is fun, plain and simple. We’re having fun, these are stories we love, and we want readers to have fun as well.
The Comic Stop: Hoax Hunters #6 Aims To Bunk The Debunkers In A New Storyline
It goes without saying (but I’ll say it anyway) that we here at Biff Bam Pop! love our monsters, our aliens, our paranormal and our conspiracy theories. These topics just seem to root, enjoyably so, deep in our pop-culture love lives. And that’s why we’re enamoured with the comic book series Hoax Hunters, published monthly from Image Comics.
Hoax Hunters scratches that deep-rooted itch in a firm, sharp-nailed, and oh-so satisfying manner. It tells the story of the eccentric hosts of the Hoax Hunters television series – a program dedicated to de-bunking all of those Moth Man, Sasquatch, Chupacabra, Nessie, ghost and witch stories that we’ve all heard while growing up (or when listening to Coast to Coast each evening). Heck, every once in a while these legends still make the mainstream news!
The most recent story arc (issue #’s 0-5 of the series) has just wrapped up and last month saw the release of the first Hoax Hunters trade paperback, compiling them. That book comes highly recommended – exciting times, indeed! But best of all, this week sees the release of issue #6, which starts up a brand new storyline and makes for a great “jumping on” point for new readers.
Find out why below…
Biff Bam Popcast Episode VI – With Special Guests Michael Moreci and Steve Seeley
Alright, true believers! The next Biff Bam Popcast will go live tonight at 10pm, with Hoax Hunters creators Michael Moreci and Steve Seeley joining our illustrious panel. We’ll talk Hoax Hunters, the aftermath of San Diego Comic-Con and we’ll see who Glenn Walker offends this week with his take on The Dark Knight. Watch it live hear starting at 10pm (or thereabouts). 
It’s No Myth: Hoax Hunters Issue 1 Is A Great Read
I was out with a good friend of mine the other night, who got to talking about one of his co-workers who he labeled a right-wing conspiracy nut.
“This guy talks about UFOs and the Illuminati, all that stuff,” my friend told me. I smiled at him.
“Hey man, I listen to conspiracy theory radio everyday at work. Don’t get me started on the moon landing.” My buddy gave me a once over and started laughing.
“I didn’t know that about you!”
Yup, I love me a good conspiracy. Makes sense then, that I loved the first issue of Hoax Hunters, the new Image comic from Michael Moreci and Steve Seeley.
Read the rest of this entry
Hoax Hunters, Mad Men, Swamp Thing And The Art Of The Origin Story With Guest Blogger Michael Moreci
All this month at Biff Bam Pop we’re looking at Origin stories – from films and comics and debut albums, to authors and their work. As part of this, writer Michael Moreci has written about the origin of his new series Hoax Hunters (you can read our previous interview with Michael here). For all you aspiring comic book creators out there, this is great insight into one artists’ creative process. Without further adieu, take it away Michael:
Origin stories are boring.
There, I got that off my chest (and I even mean it, in a way).
The necessity of origins stories is an unusual thing, I think, because it’s so exclusive to comics. Not to say other mediums don’t incorporate origins into their narratives (they do), they just don’t have the same level of devotion as comics do. Let’s face it: Comics are obsessed with origins. Year One, Earth One, Season One, reboots, secret origins, on and on. It never stops.
Now, before getting any further, let me preface what I’m about to say with a simple disclosure: I will never, ever be the creator who tracks down reviewers and confronts them about a bad review. Unless the critic gets something egregiously wrong or insults a member of my family, I won’t dissuade—or worse, bully—them from holding whatever opinion they have. So there. That said, I can express some frustration I had over a few reviews of Hoax Hunters #0 in a general way for the sake of this topic.
Biff Bam Pop’s The Comic Stop Exclusive Interview: Michael Moreci Kickstarts His Book Reincar(Nate)
This past Thursday JP Fallavollita and I had the chance to talk to the creative team on Image Comics’ Hoax Hunters – you can check that out right here. Along with Hoax Hunters, writer Michael Moreci is also working with artist Keith Burns on their title, Reincar(Nate), but rather than going with a traditional publisher, the duo are looking to get their physical book into people’s hands utilizing Kickstarter. Michael Moreci answered some questions via email about Reincar(Nate), Kickstarter and why it can be a good tool for creators.
Andy Burns: You recently started a Kickstarter campaign for your book Reincar(Nate) – first off, for readers who might be unfamiliar with Kickstarter, could you explain what it is?
Michael Moreci: I think Kickstarter is a lot of different things to different people. My approach to it with Reincar(Nate) is a pre-order system, one that is not totally unlike the current system that supplies 99.9% of all comics to shops. Kickstarter is more direct, though, and comic shop stock isn’t predicated on a certain goal being met (usually), so there are differences.
Basically, Kickstarter is a great DIY method to get passion projects off the ground. You start a page and explain what your project is about, what funding you’re looking for, where the money will go, etc. It’s pretty cut and dry. And based on that, people have different levels at which they can contribute, and those levels offer various rewards. For Reincar(Nate) we have a lot of cool stuff–original artwork, a behind-the-scenes digital packet, even an opportunity to be illustrated in the book.
Reincar(Nate) is a project I’ve been working on with artist Keith Burns for quite some time. We have a deal to release the book digitally with Viper Comics, but we’re old school; holding the book in our hands means a lot to us, and we think it does to others as well. So we’re raising money to help make that happen.
The Comic Stop Exclusive Interview: Michael Moreci, Steve Seeley and JM Ringuet on Story, Art, Cryptoids And A Comic Book Called Hoax Hunters
A few weeks ago, the Hoax Hunters introductory issue #0, published by Image Comics, made the Biff Bam Pop! Wednesday Run as the hot comic to pick up. You can read that particular column here. Inspired by conspiracy television shows such as Ancient Aliens, Brad Meltzer’s Decoded and Destination Truth, Hoax Hunters turns the genre on its head as the comic book’s protagonists attempt to disprove life’s oddities in front of the camera –while covering up dark mysteries behind it. Writers Michael Moreci and Steve Seeley and artist JM Ringuet were kind enough to talk to Andy Burns and JP Fallavollita via email about the series, the creative process, monsters, cryptoids, television and much, much more.
Monsters, Aliens & Conspiracy Theories Debunked! It’s No Hoax That Today, You Must Make The Wednesday Run – March 21, 2012
Although some might consider me a relative newcomer to the niche, I’m a big fan of late-night conspiracy radio programs. I’ve been avidly listening to them on a regular basis for nearly fifteen years now. In fact, I’m listening to Coast to Coast as I write this piece. You see, a number of years ago, I was undergoing a bout of insomnia and nothing could fix the problem: not music, not fresh air, not evening exercise and not late-night snacking. The only thing that really came close to helping me get the shut-eye I needed was watching Oliver Stone’s JFK in the wee hours of the morning. Which was, looking back, a bit of a tip-off.
I’m also a fan of television shows like Ancient Aliens, Brad Meltzer’s Decoded and Mythbusters. Really, it was only a matter of time before some astute writer/artist tandem would merge the conspiracy story-telling industry into a fully-fledged comic book storyline.
Well, that time is now. And that comic book is Hoax Hunters.
