Review Fix Exclusive: Inside ‘Delegates’

Review Fix chats with the Delegates team of Bin Lee and Tina Cesa Ward, who discusses the inspiration behind the comic and their goals for the project moving forward.

Review Fix: What inspired this comic?

Bin Lee: It probably sounds out of left-field, but watching Star Trek: TOS was an inspiration. I loved the thought-provoking social premises and the philosophical tug-of-war between memorable characters. And I wanted to create a modern sci-fi story with similar ambitions.

[Non-spoiler: Delegates has nothing to do with spaceships.]

Review Fix: What makes this comic special?

Tina Cesa Ward: I think the characters, the location, and the questions the story raises are what makes this comic stand out. Comic books give us the opportunity as writers to really expand beyond the norm of TV or film in many different ways. And although the landscape in TV/Streaming is changing, comics can still lead the way in telling stories about places and about people that are not normally at the center of the story while still being fun and engaging.

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

TCW: Many throughout the years from Darwyn Cooke to Paul Dini to Mike Mignola but lately I just can’t get enough of Brian K. Vaughan’s Paper Girls.

BL: I probably shouldn’t say this, but I wasn’t a big comic book reader when I started this project. But besides Star Trek, I’d say Ray Bradbury and Brian K. Vaughan.

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

TCW: As a story that tackled a well-traveled science fiction theme but had something different to say about it with characters in places that up until then weren’t seen too often in comics.

BL: Ditto.

Review Fix: What’s next?

TCW: What’s next is watching the entire 30 issues of Delegates get out into the world. I’m really excited to see it in the hands of readers. It’s been a blast to write. I learned a ton about topics I knew very little about going in and the experience of writing something of that length forces you to up the level of your game as a writer. I look forward to that next opportunity as I continue my work in TV and streaming.

BL: I second Tina’s sentiments about how readers will react to our story. Another thing that excites me is how the next batch of artists will bring our scripts to life in their own unique and unforgettable way.

As for my personal projects, I’m distracting myself by co-designing an alchemy-themed board game, which I see as a story-telling challenge of how to create a coherent system that gives players memorable experiences that are wholly their own.

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About Patrick Hickey Jr. 14262 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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