Review Fix Exclusive: Regie Simmons Talks ‘Isolation’ And More

Review Fix chats with Isolation co-writer and YouTuber Regie “Collects” Simmons, who discusses his new series, “Isolation.”

Review Fix: When did you fall in love with comics?

Regie Simmons: Which time? Like a lot of people, I have been in and out of comics for most of my life. I first fell in love with comics back in 1990 when characters like Spider-Man, Wolverine, Deathlok, Punisher and Darkhawk were making crossover appearances left and right. I was out of comics by 1994 but returned in 2005 for about a year. Due to life circumstances, I didn’t make a return until 2017 when I stopped competing as a professional bodybuilder. I would say that my current engagement with comics has been the most enriching and fulfilling of my entire life.

Review Fix: How do you think collecting makes you a better creator?

Simmons: That’s an interesting question. In my mind, collecting has allowed me to BE a creator. Think about that for a second. I was not blessed with the ability to draw or paint, so I could never cut it as an artist. I can write but I am more of a journalist than fictional writer.

With that said, my time spent as a comic book collector and member of the community has given me an opportunity to create. To create content for other collectors to enjoy. Heck, I managed to even parlay that into publishing my own comic book called Isolation.

Review Fix: What inspired this comic?

Simmons: Boom Studios! AWA Studios. Scout Comics. These indie publishers are putting out some amazing content that surpasses what is being released from Marvel and DC. I only mentioned three but the list of great indie publishers that have come on the scene is pretty impressive. You also have to factor in Image Comics. I do not consider Image and indie, so I needed to carve them out from the others.

Watching how these indie publishers are moving is inspirational. We used that inspiration to successfully release, the Guide to SMART Comic Collecting in Q4 2021 and this year we pulled the trigger on Isolation.

Isolation is the brainchild of my co-writer and friend, Doug Bratton. Doug pitched Isolation on the heels of the Guide successfully being released and ultimately selling out.

Review Fix: What makes these characters unique?

Simmons: The characters are unique because we are not beholden to canon. We also are not being diverse for the sake of diversity. Doug is telling a fresh story that has a lot of layers. Over the course of the issues, more and more of the mystery will be revealed through wonderful storytelling and stunning artwork.

What also makes the book unique is our focus on making sure that something happens in each issue to move the reader along. I want Swoldier Publishing to have an old school feeling in the sense that we avoid filler issues. It is vital that we take our best shot on goal every single time that an issue is released.

Review Fix: What has the creation process been like?

Simmons: A lot of learning. Even though I have read comics off and on my entire life, I have never created one. Doing something for the first time is almost always a challenge. We have made some mistakes and hit some walls, but I could not be prouder of the team. We delivered a great book, on time and people are loving it.The team and I will be working to improve our processes, so that things are easier the next time around.

Review Fix: How did you feel when it started coming together?

Simmons: There is always a general sense of accomplishment as you go from idea to finished product. That sense of accomplishment is quickly replaced with dread as you face the next mountain. For me, that dread came in the form of more than 400 individual orders for Isolation—not including exclusives and LCS orders. Talk about first world problems.

Seriously, there is nothing better than seeing the fruits of your labor come together.

Review Fix: What are your goals for this comic?

Simmons: The goal is to sell out of issue #1 in preparation for issue 2, which we hope to release by end of year. I plan to launch my first Kickstarter to make it a little easier for us to get over that next mountain. The pandemic is still impacting the availability and cost of paper and as a result our printing costs were $4000 higher than anticipated—and they were already high. My hope is to leverage Kickstarter to absorb some, if not all, of the printing costs for issue 2.

Hopefully, folks will check out the Kickstarter campaign: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/swoldierpublishing/isolation-2-0.

I was definitely inspired by all of the various comic book related Kickstarter campaigns that were funded over the last two years. And, you have to take note of what Eric July has done with his Rippaverse. Eric is a controversial person, but you can’t knock the hustle.

Review Fix: What’s next?

Simmons: We hope to drop issue 2 before year’s end, along with the Guide to SMART Comic Collecting, Vol 2. Stay tuned to the channel and social media for more.

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About Patrick Hickey Jr. 13819 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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