Review Fix chats with Cure For Utopia creator Steven Cange, who details the comics origins, his goals for it and so much more.
Review Fix: How did you know a career in comics was for you?
Steve Cange: I have always known in my heart since I was 10 years old. I just ignored my 10-year self for years. Everything pointed me in that direction and I went deaf to it. Until he was shouting so loud, I could not ignore him anymore. A little brat that kid lol, but I must say he was right. It started like most kids, I was and still am a collector of comics. I loved the art and stories so much. It took me to a place in my mind that I loved to visit. The comics opened a door that could never be fully closed. I played the Marvel Role-playing game. It was like a Dungan and Dragon-type board game. You had to be very quick on your feet if you were the game master, to come up with a story for all the players. Sometimes it was 2 people sometimes it was 7. The story had to be good or they will talk about you for weeks and not in a good way. So, I had to be quick and sharpen my skills as a storyteller. That part of my always knew so thank you 10-year-old me. Thank you
Review Fix: Who inspires you creatively?
Cange: I get my inspiration from so many different people. In the art and comic book world it’s people like Dwayne McDuffie, Walt Simonson, Todd McFarlane not only for his art but for his business savvy. Also, I have to say all my fellow creators in the trenches with me claiming to the top are my biggest inspiration. This great indie creator named Jason Brubaker. He created this book called Remind, just an amazing graphic novel. He was one of the first people to use Kickstarter for comics and do it really big. I found it amazing that he left a very lucrative job at DreamWorks to start his own comic book company. His book and story were one of the catalysts, if not the catalyst to the journey I am on today. Greg Anderson Elysee writer and creator of Is’nana The were-spider. Newton Lilavois writer and creator of Crescent City Monsters just to name a few.
But it’s not just comic movies and movie directors like Zack Snyder, Ryan Coogler, Steven Speilberg, George Lucas, Christopher Nolan. Movies like the Matrix. The Shawshank Redemption. I could go on and on.
Music was another big influence. People like Michael Jackson, Prince, Jay-z, Biggie, New Edition. It all comes together for me under the same umbrella of creativity.
Review Fix: How are your comics different or special?
Cange: What makes my book, Cure for Utopia, different or special is that am visual story teller. When I write I write very simply, nothing to complicated. It’s when I go in with the visuals, I start to envision every panel like a scene in a movie. I use a 3D program to enhance the experience by creating the characters in a 3D space. By doing this a can create a scene move the camera around like a director and get the perfect shot. If I have a shot in my head but then move the camera in a different direction that I didn’t think of. 9 out of 10 times it’s better than the one you had in your imagination. I call it getting out of your own way. By doing this I give that reader that motion picture feel.
Review Fix: What about this comic? Sell us. Sell us hard.
Cange: Cure for Utopia is a tale of that old saying “The Road to hell is paved with good intentions.â€
In the not-too-distant future, the world has reached a lasting peace. Hunger, pollution, disease have all been eliminated. Crime has reached an all-time low. However, in time of peace, there is one cancer that kills without apparent reason. The cancer is an unnamed man. He kills without remorse or conscience. It is up to Dr. Raphael Argus, the genus architect behind this lasting peace, to eliminate what he has named The Curse. But not all is what it seems in Utopia.
Review Fix: Who do you think will dig it the most?
Cange: I think this book will reach a broad spectrum of people. If you like sci-fi. If you like horror. If you like a good mystery. If you like anime and manga. This book will speak to so many different people on so many different levels. At least I hope so.
Review Fix: How do you want your books to be remembered?
Cange: I want my books and all my stories to be remembered as an emotional time capsule. I want the reader to say I remember when and where I was when I first read this book. I want them to feel what I felt at 10 years old. What I feel now when I reread a book from my childhood. I want my stories to reflect my life, my love and passion for it all. I want the next young creator to say I didn’t wait to start my dreams because I read this story by Steve Cange.
Review Fix: Anything else you’d like to add?
Cange: Yes, I want to say thank you to all the people that have supported me on this long journey. We have more to go so hang in there. There are way too many people to name but thank you all. I want all the creators out there to listen to your inner 10-year-old self. The one that stayed up all night drawing, writing, singing and dancing. Listen to them. They know you better than you think you know yourself.
Review Fix: What’s next?
Cange: Right now, I staying focused on Cure for Utopia, but I do have a project that I’m working on with family. My talented nephews, my niece, who is an incredible artist. I can’t really talk about that one right now. Also, I have another story I am dying to finish but can’t right now. I may or may not be revisiting the world of Cure for Utopia. Will see.
Review Fix: Where can people find out more?
Cange: The easiest way to find me is on Instagram at stevecange (@s.cange) • Instagram photos and videos
Or at https://www.cureforutopia.com/ also at facebook at https://www.facebook.com/CureForUtopia/
Leave a Reply