Review Fix Exclusive: Inside Ancient Astronauts

Review Fix chats with Ancient Astronauts artist Vincent Pompetti to find out what inspired the watercolored graphic novel.

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Review Fix: What inspired this comic?

Vincent Pompetti: The desire to construct imaginary worlds with their own architecture, culture, and way of thinking, in which we can travel and experience the adventures of the characters as if they were real. I imagined that a traveler with a camera is the witness of the story, and he’s reporting it to us. The inspiration comes from my passion for the civilizations of the world, especially the ancient ones, but also future technology.

Finally, I wanted to tell an initiatory and psychological story close to shamanism, with Onys who discovers alternate realities. That comes from my interest in the psychoanalysis of Jung, and in oriental spirituality in general.

Review Fix: How is it different from your previous works?

Pompetti: I worked alone on this project for several years, while I’ve been the illustrator for several other projects written by Tarek, on subjects like Ancient Rome and pirates, with stories told across several volumes. Ancient Astronauts is a graphic novel of almost 200 pages.

Review Fix: What makes this comic special?

Pompetti: This graphic novel represents 10 years of my life, in which I’ve projected my dreams, and the desire for freedom, in a universe very different from ours, with various influences and emotions. It’s a sort of testament and a genesis. I see it as a pilot episode of a series, although it also works as a stand-alone work.

Review Fix: What creators do you think have influenced you the most?

Pompetti: In Europe I like Hugo Pratt for his ability to dream, and Francois Bourgeon, for his ability to construct worlds in science fiction, I’m thinking of “The Cycle of Cyann” for example. Otherwise, the main authors that have influenced me are Philip K. Dick for his writing, Alex Raymond, Harold Foster, Gene Colan, or Frazetta for their art. The film “Forbidden Planet” has always been fascinating to me; such limited means, but so many changes of scenery!

Review Fix: How do you want it to be remembered?

Pompetti: Whether I’m doing illustrations or comics, I want to share my inspiration, an open mind, something that makes people happy and which makes them think. It’s up to the reader to decide.

Review Fix: What’s next?

Pompetti: I’m developing two more stories in the universe of Ancient Astronauts, one which tells the story of the planet Omande, and another which continues the theme of exploration. I’m also working on a project about the mythical Atlantis, and other more historical projects, but I don’t know in which order yet.

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About Patrick Hickey Jr. 13821 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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