Review Fix Exclusive: Brian Brennan Talks ‘Children of Genesis’

Review Fix chats with “Children of Genesis” writer and creator Brian Brennan, who discusses his love of comics, the origin of the series and so much more.

Review Fix: How did you know a career in comics was for you?

Brennan: I guess since I was a wee lad no older than four or five. My neighbor Anthony (Childhood best friend) and I would make stapled together construction paper comics in his “Big Room” (that’s what we called/call it). We did this Since before our parents trusted us with the stapler and we had to bring them our epic stick figure comic stories to staple together. Somewhere along the line, I guess in my mid-teens I lost interest, and I gained more interest in women and other manners of Tom foolery. Which meant less time for my stories and other flights of childhood fancy.

About a decade later at twenty-three with some disposable income, for reasons unbeknownst to me I started buying up all the things I loved from my childhood. Action figures, comics, video games, and box sets of my favorite Saturday morning cereal and onesie cartoon series. Then my first son was conceived which seemingly only redoubled my efforts to journey down the childhood love and interest rabbit hole.

After my first son’s birth is when I first had the Idea for Children of Genesis. I woke in the middle of the night from a dream or maybe a nightmare actually, grabbed my journal and wrote. The whole story is derived from those eight pages of chicken scratch written through one barely awake half slitted eye. I finally knew for sure in my adulthood making comics is something I want to do for the rest of my life about halfway through the process of coming up with the first outline and doing the concept art.

I found myself with my childhood friend Anthony in his art studio (He’s and Amazing Painter) which is directly under the aforementioned “Big Room”. I had told him “I have an idea for a comic” and elaborated at length one night drunk at a party. Days or maybe weeks later he called and told me that he loved Children of Genesis wanted to help me through the initial draft and concept process. After trying many occupations in my life and being good at most of them none of those things provided the same satisfaction as the process of creating my comic. I’ve built dozens of houses and buildings or just done work in thousands, flipped burgers, stocked shelves and none compared to the culmination of the test print of my first comic being placed in my hands. That moment is only overshadowed by the birth of my sons or their first words, steps, day of school, etc.…

Review Fix: Who inspires you creatively?

Brennan: Firstly, me and my family, but my influences are quite vast. So, I guess I’ll stick to my favorites. The Works and lives of Frank Herbert, Isaac Asimov, Robert Heinlein, Stan lee, Alan Moore, Mark Millar, Tod McFarlane, Jack Kirby, Jean Giraud Moebius, Guy Richie, Quentin Tarantino, Stanley Kubrick, or songs like 99 Luft balloons, Devils right hand, and Strange Creature to name just a few inspirations that come to mind. Books, comics, movies, and music are among my top creative inspirations, but then there’s inspiration to motivation. As far as motivation goes while there are many, none are more influential or forefront in my mind than the “Book of Five Rings” by Miyamoto Musashi. Also, to quote my great grandfather that I never had the pleasure to meet, He once said to my father who in turn passed it to me. “A day that goes by that you learned nothing was a wasted day.” I try to apply this quote to many things not just learning such as “A Day I didn’t work on my craft to attain my dream of creating comics was a wasted day.”

Review Fix: How are your comics different or special?

Brennan: Alien science, no holds barred gory violence, sprinkled with philosophy and levity I think Children of Genesis will be an experience unlike any other comic ever. There will be recognizable tropes, but hopefully said tropes will feel fresh and not only that I genuinely think I’m breaking new ground. I haven’t read anything like Children of Genesis although admittedly I haven’t read nearly enough to know that for sure. Also, most importantly me and my off the wall banana brained imagination. You can’t get ME anywhere else.          

Review Fix: What about this comic? Sell us. Sell us hard.

Brennan: Children of Genesis is a Sci-Fi action drama coming of age story unlike any other. An Ancient Upsylon alien Scientist named Hemmingfirth and his A.I. spaceship cohort, abduct and raise 96 human children to reach beyond the limits of physical and mental human excellence. The first volume is subtitled Agoge and it’s just that. Those 96 children are released into the dangerous wilds of the alien planet Relpek to make sure they are up to the tasks that lay ahead of them in the ensuing volumes. The way I’ve written Children of Genesis the stakes that seem so high right out of the gate only get more and more insurmountable. Also, there is a free 12-page comic PDF linked near the top of the Indiegogo campaign, but I’ll post it here as well. (Please NOTE* that the book has since been re-lettered. So, while this is the finalized dialog the arrangement of the bubbles has been changed and will be different than the print version.) https://www.dropbox.com/s/iv7xcxbo599zcjl/COGVol0.108.pdf?    

Review Fix: Who do you think will dig it the most?

Brennan: Sci-Fi, comic, manga, anime, young adult, and adult fans alike. I think there is something for everyone in my humble and expansive Devoid Comics Universe. Other than Children of Genesis I have another comic I want to make that is a homage or a love letter to Frank Frazetta’s style and subject matter. Hopefully that grabs the fantasy, Barbarian, ancient alternative history, sword, and shield crowd to what I’m trying to do here

Review Fix: How do you want your books to be remembered?

Brennan: The works of Brian Brennan were (insert competence level here) done with imagination and creativity. He brought new sci-fi ideas and he put new spin on old tropes. I feel like that’s too lofty a hope, but still, that’s the one I’m aiming for.

Review Fix: What are your long-term goals for your work?

Brennan: As a first-time comic book creator, the first goal is to get the people to read my work. The next goal is for the people to anticipate my work. So, seeing as I have 50,000 words, 14 issues and 5 volumes worth of scripts ready to start art on, the next goal would be to continue making Children of Genesis comics as is and in full color for years to come. The absolute loftiest dream would be to do Animated shorts or full-fledged full-length animations. That would take place in the 18-year leap that happens between pages seven and eight in Children of Genesis issue 1.

Review Fix: What’s next?

Brennan: Right now, I’m waiting for a batch of prints of Children of Genesis issue 1. My next script Children of Genesis issue 2 is ready to go to the artist NOW. I wish I could start the next issue right now, but it’ll have to wait. Also, I’ve been toying with the idea to run three concurrent timelines. I have Agoge already started, and I’d like to do two others. The first, a prequel with the working title “The Genesis files” is even harder Sci-fi than Agoge; and the second, volume five with the working title “The Garden” is a hot start where all the superhero stuff begins on Earth.

Review Fix: Where can people find out more?

Brennan: People can find me in one of a few places.

First Indiegogo

https://t.co/hTeU9jGcZX?amp=1

Second Facebook

https://www.facebook.com/Devoidcomics

Third Twitter

*The author of this interview served as an editor on one book in the Children of Genesis series

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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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