Review Fix Exclusive: Joseph Oliveira Talks ‘Ghost Island’

Review Fix chats with comic book writer Joseph Oliveira, who discusses his latest issue of his series “Ghost Island.”

Review Fix: What was the inspiration for Ghost Island?

Joseph Oliveira: The inspiration really came from “What makes someone evil” thats really the core of the story. I find it quite cheap to say someone is born bad, i don’t believe in that. We are shaped by our surroundings. So we have these evil ghosts on the island that are locked away who have all committed such horrific acts, and we delve in to their pasts of who they were and what they did up until their deaths. Thats how Ghost Island came about.

Review Fix: What makes it special?

Oliveira: I’d say the sheer mystery of the island, there are lots of questions to be asked. And within thats theres twists and turns also. Its about ghosts yes but i feel its a very grounded story. Issues are raised and talked about along the way in the series that i believe people can relate to and what makes a story stand out for me is if i can relate and feel connected to the characters in the story.

Review Fix: What comics did you read as a kid?

Oliveira: I really didn’t read many comics as a kid. My mum would occasionally get me “Dandy” or the “Beano.” I was a keen reader of the goosebumps franchise though.

Review Fix: How did they inspire this?

Oliveira: Going back to Goosebumps i’d say this greatly inspired my imagination as a kid. My favourite book was “One day at horrorland” which was about monsters running a Theme park. I guess you could say it inspired it but it but was never intentional as I have only just thought about this now haha.

Review Fix: Why should people read it?

Oliveira: I think anyone who enjoys a good story with a dark atmosphere with some twists and good character development are going to enjoy this book. Hell i’ve had people that don’t even read comics say they’ve enjoyed it. And to me that is the greatest compliment.

Review Fix: What’s going to be cool about Issue #2?

Oliveira: Issue 1 we had a small introduction to a few of the ghosts on the island. In this issue we actually go in to the flashback of one of the ghosts more specifically “THE BUTCHER” via the main protagonist psychic Josh Evans. As well as this we have a father looking for his son who is missing on the island. Theres alot of things going to happen in this issue that are really going to set an even darker tone for the future of the series.

Review Fix: What’s next?

Oliveira: Currently i’m touring Ghost Island on the uk comic convention circuit. Issue 2 is coming to Kickstarter on may 29th. So if you haven’t joined the series its a great place to start as you’ll also be able to get a copy of issue 1 as well.

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About Patrick Hickey Jr. 14316 Articles
Patrick Hickey Jr. is a full-time Assistant Professor of Communication & Performing Arts and Director of the Journalism program at Kingsborough Community College and is the chairman of the City University of New York Journalism Council. He is the Founder and Editor-In-Chief of ReviewFix.com. He's also a former News Editor at NBC Local Integrated Media and National Video Games Writer at Examiner.com where his work was mentioned in National Ad campaigns by Disney, Nintendo and EA Sports. Hickey was also the Editor-In-Chief of two College Newspapers before he received his BA in Journalism from Brooklyn College. Hickey's work has been published in The New York Daily News, The New York Times, Complex, The Hockey Writers, Yahoo!, Broadway World, Examiner, NYSportScene Magazine, ProHockeyNews.com, GothamBaseball.com, The Syracuse Post-Standard, Scout.com and the official sites of the Brooklyn Aces and New York Islanders. His first book, The Minds Behind the Games: Interviews With Cult And Classic Video Game Developers was released in April 2018 and is chock full of interviews with legendary developers. His second book in the series, The Minds Behind Adventures Games, was released in December 2019. His third book, The Minds Behind Sports Games, was released in September 2020. His fourth book, The Minds Behind Shooter Games, was released in March 2021. The Minds Behind Sega Genesis Games and The Minds Behind PlayStation Games were released in 2022 and The Minds Behind PlayStation 2 was published in January 2023. Hickey is also a contracted comic book writer, currently penning his original series, "Condrey," as well as "The Job," "Brooklyn Bleeds" "Dem Gulls" and "KROOM" for Legacy Comix, where he serves as founder, owner and Editor-in-Chief. Hickey Jr. is also a voice actor, having starred in the 2018 indie hit and 2019 Switch, PS4 and Xbox One release, The Padre (also serving as English language Story Editor), from Shotgun With Glitters. The sequel, The Padre: One Shell Straight to Hell was released in February 2021- Hickey also served as a Story Editor and Lead Voiceover performer. He has also done narration and trailers for several other titles including The Kaiju Offensive, Relentless Rex and Roniu’s Tale. Hickey is also the lead voiceover performer on Mega Cat Studios’ upcoming title WrestleQuest, responsible for nearly 90 characters in the game, as well as Skybound's Renfield: Bring Your Own Blood, where he voices both Dracula and Renfield, as well as several other characters. He also stars in Ziggurat Interactive’s World Championship Boxing Manager 2, where he performs the VO of nearly every male character in the game. He also worked on the Atari VCS’s BPM Boy.

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