Review Fix Exclusive: Inside ‘Zaidura Chronicles’

Review Fix chats with “Zaidura Chronicles” author Christian Martin, who lets us know what inspired the series and his goals for it in 2019 and beyond.

Review Fix: What inspired this comic?

Christian Martin: It was a combination of a few different things. So when I was young I was really into this series of toys called Bionicle. So it’s about this island that’s being taking over by an evil spirit called Makuta and there are six heroes that are sent by the gods to beat him. There’s more but I’m summarizing. So besides the design of the toys what pulled me in was the story and lore behind them. I was caught in the epic tale of good and evil with heroes who controlled elements, which was exciting to me. I remember buying the toys and reenacting stories of their exploits from the comics they had and from the online game and sometimes I would come up with my own stories with those characters.  So I guess you could say that was what started me down the path or writing. Once I grew out of toys I turned to books and my mother introduced me to The Lord of the rings and Star Wars. The Lord of the rings took me by storm, I spent a lot of time just reading through Tolkien books and when I got older I took a deep dive into the Silmarillion and the unfinished works. Tolkien is one of my greatest inspirations and his world-building has always been something I’ve deeply admired.  Star Wars was another series that inspired my comic, mostly the villains. Don’t get me wrong I enjoy the Jedi and other aspects of his world but I love the Sith and think they’re some of the coolest designed characters Lucas has helped create.  

Review Fix: How is it different from other comics out there?

Martin: I feel that two things are going to make my comic stand out. One would be the world itself. I’ve learned a lot from reading Tolkien and watching Studio Ghibli films that a good world is just as important as the characters that are in it. Second would be the main character himself. Erebos is very much a flawed character, he isn’t someone I would classify as a hero. He does many heroic acts however he himself isn’t a hero. I hope what pulls people in is how relatable he is. Erebos through-out the story is going to struggle with his baser nature and many times it’s going win out. I want to show people that the people we think are Heroes have the same struggles that we go through every day and that just like us they don’t always win those battles.

Review Fix: What makes this comic special?

Martin: This is something of a lifelong goal I’ve had, since high school, it’s what I’ve always wanted to do. To write comics.

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

Martin: I’d have to say, J.R.R. Tolkien, George Lucas, George R.R. Martin, Hiromu Arakawa ( Creator of  Full Metal Alchemist Brotherhood), Masashi Kishimoto ( Creator of Naruto), Eiichiro Oda, Jeff Smith  ( Creator of Bone), Hayao miyazaki. These people have influenced me in one way or another wither it be through their story-telling, their characters or the worlds they’ve created. Each of the mentioned creators has helped me create the world I have today. One day I hope to be that person for someone else.

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

Martin: I aspire to be remembered as one of the greats but honestly if one person picks up my comic and enjoys the hell out of that and falls in love with the characters and the world then that would be enough for me. 

Review Fix: What’s next?

Martin: Finishing Zaidura Chronicles and working on spin-off series of the work.  They’re as follows:  Zaidura Chronicles: OriginsZaidura Chronicles: 5 yearsZaidura Chronicles: Legacy and Zaidura Chronicles: Rise of the Sun.  I also would like to continue with a space fantasy story I’m working on that takes place in the same universe as Zaidura.

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About Patrick Hickey Jr. 14230 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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