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Kymera Press is a Gateway to Comics

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By D. Lynn Smith

Last month, Kymera Press went to Bubonicon in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Bubonicon is New Mexico’s oldest and best science fiction and fantasy convention, held in Albuquerque every August. This year there were 850 attendees. Yes, it’s a small convention, but it is not small when it comes to the writers who attend every year.

Who are some of these attending writers? They are Daniel Abraham, John Barnes, Richard Berthold, Livia Blackburne, Ben Bova, Adam Jarmon Brown, Craig A. Butler, Aaron Campbell, Suzy M. Charnas, Yvonne Coats, Dr. Larry Crumpler, Doranna Durgin, Zachary Gallegos of Mars One, Josh Gentry, Raya Golden, Steven Gould, Sally Gwylan, Loretta Hall, Darla Hallmark, Betsy James, Darynda Jones, Jeffe Kennedy, T. Jackson King, Susan Krinard, Jane Lindskold, Christine MacKenzie, Emily Mah, George R.R. Martin, Victor Milan, Gail Gerstner-Miller, John Jos. Miller, Pati Nagle, costumers Charles & Tauni Orndorff, Scott Phillips, John Picacio, C.S. Plesko, science speaker Benjamin Radford, M.T. Reiten, John Maddox Roberts, Joan S. Saberhagen, Jon Sanchez, Debbie Lynn Smith (me!), Melinda Snodgrass, Jim Sorenson, Caroline Spector, Gabi Stevens, S.M. Stirling, David Lee Summers, Pari Noskin (Taichert), Lauren Teffeau, Sarena Ulibarri, Robert Vardeman, Carrie Vaughn, Walter Jon Williams and more.

If you are deeply into comics, you’ll notice there are very few comic creators here, and even fewer artists. However, if you are a fan of science fiction and fantasy, you’ll be wowed by the above list. I mean George R. R. Martin? Come on. Ben Bova! You must be kidding. Carrie Vaughn and Walter John Williams…Steven Gould and Jane Lindskold…

Bubonicon is a convention where fans can meet and talk to their favorite writers. Novels and short stories are the focus, not comics.

The theme of this year’s convention was “Women of Wonder.” Guests included Tamera Pierce, Mary Robinette Kowal, Catherine M. Valente and Ruth Sanderson, all wonderfully creative women. So this was a great time to bring Kymera Press and its message of supporting women in comics to Bubonicon.

I mentioned in a previous post that Bubonicon fans were very good to us this year. We sold almost as many comics as we sold at the much bigger San Diego Comic Con. That was great, but it wasn’t the most interesting part of the convention. The interesting part was just who was buying those comics.

Of course we had comic fans stopping by the table and picking up issues. Science fiction and fantasy and comics have a lot of crossover fans. But what was really interesting were the people who said, “I don’t usually read comics, but this story sounds really interesting.” Or the people who commented, “I am really caught up by the artwork.”

These people bought our books. They weren’t regular comic readers. They were at the convention because they read novels. Looking through our books, most of these people were surprised by the quality of the artwork and the depth of story. We even had people who bought Issues 1-4 of Gates coming back to our table looking for Issue #5, which hasn’t been printed yet.

In another case, a girl about 8 years old wanted to buy Pet Noir. She finally convinced her mother, but as they walked away her mother said to her, making sure that I could hear, “But you can’t stop reading books.”

To me, this is an example of the stigma comic books have. People just don’t realize how complex reading a comic can be. I talked in a previous post about how reading comics involves looking at the art as well as the words because most of the story is told in the art. Hopefully that mother will read Pet Noir herself and see that it’s a worthwhile reading experience.

I don’t want people to stop reading novels. I read novels and will never give them up. But there is a place for the comic reading experience as well.

Bubonicon showed me that there are people out there who are willing to give comics a try. What we have to do as an industry is reach these people who would be too overwhelmed or intimidated to walk into a comic book store or go to a comic book convention. Actually I get overwhelmed with the amount of great material out there.

Because I also write short stories, I’ve attended a lot of conventions like Bubonicon. I thought that comic conventions were going to replace them in my schedule. Now I think that Kymera Press will probably be attending more of these cons in the future. When there are only two or three tables of comic sellers in the dealers’ room, it’s easier for someone to find a comic that appeals to them and take a chance. And quite honestly, I’d love for Gates, or Pet Noir, or our upcoming Dragons by the Yard to be a gateway into comics for these hungry readers!

 

A Chat With Pati Nagel

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By Autumn Daughetee
For those of you who are not familiar with Pet Noir, it is a novel by Pati Nagle about Leon, a talking, genetically engineered cat who is indentured to a police department on an off-world space station. Leon works off the price of his creation solving crimes with his human partner.

Now, take my advice. As soon as you finish reading this post, visit Amazon, Barnes and Noble or your favorite online book retailer and purchase a copy. Then pull the blinds and pretend you’re not at home while you read this book.

After you are familiar with the antics of Leon, I know you will be unable to resist following his adventures in comic book format. Kymera Press recently released issue #1 of Pet Noir at Comic-Con International: San Diego. This special edition had a special numbered limited-edition cover exclusive to Comic-Con. Although it sold like hotcakes, there are a few copies left. If you are interested, contact us for more information on how to get your copy.

Now, without further ado, here is my interview with the author of Pet Noir—Pati Nagle.

Do you read comic books?

I read comics a lot as a kid. Less so now, because of other demands on my time (like writing), but as an adult I’ve enjoyed more sophisticated comics such as Elfquest and various manga. I also adore Sydney Padua’s 2-D Goggles. Ada Lovelace is a wonderful comic hero!

What made you decide to adapt Pet Noir into comic book form?

Cats in zero-g. Need I say more? Seriously, I think the stories that make up Pet Noir would really come alive even more in a comic. It’s got kind of a comic-book feel already, with the science fiction setting and the noir atmosphere. There’s a lot of rich potential for expression through visual media. I’m excited to see what happens!

Kymera came to me and I was absolutely delighted. I love working with other women, and I love the concept of a press that focuses on women’s creative efforts.

 Where did the idea for Leon come from? A crime-solving, genetically engineered, talking cat isn’t something that one passes on the street.

Gosh, not sure I remember. Sometimes ideas and characters just come in fully formed from a side door and present themselves. I think Leon came to me that way. ‘Here I am, a talking cat who works as an undercover detective. Tell my story!’

I’m a cat-lover and I’ve thought about how they might (or might not) adapt to living in space. I love the juxtaposition of futuristic outer-space with the mood of old noir detective stories. All those fun ideas kind of jumbled themselves together in my brain and started coming out as stories.

Are there more Leon stories to come?

I definitely plan to write more Leon stories, and they’ll be prose first.  There’s more to say, not only about the crazy adventures of a cat fighting crime in space, but about some of the more serious underlying issues, such as his indenture. He’s stuck fighting scummy space criminals until the expense of his genetic engineering is paid off. He would probably sympathize with a lot of college graduates these days.

Is there anything else you’d like to share about Leon or this project?

Just that I’m so pleased whenever a reader tells me they like Leon and his stories. People really get into it. I had one reader tell me, ‘That’s not how cats talk!’ I just had to laugh, because if they were that engaged in the story, that they had their own opinion of how a cat would talk, then I did my job.

Support Cats in Outer Space

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By Autumn Daughetee

Kymera Press is currently in the midst of a Kickstarter campaign to fund a graphic novel of our first project—Gates of Midnight. We also hope the campaign is successful enough for us to fund additional projects. Among the projects under consideration is an adaptation of author Pati Nagle’s novel, Pet Noir, in comic book format.

For those of you who are not familiar with Pet Noir, it is a novel about Leon, a talking, genetically engineered cat who is indentured to a police department on an off-world space station. Leon works off the price of his creation solving crimes with his human partner.

Now, take my advice. As soon as you finish reading this blog, visit Amazon or your favorite online book retailer and purchase a copy. Then pull the blinds and pretend you’re not at home while you read this book.

I recently had the opportunity to ask Pati Nagle a number of questions about Pet Noir, comic books and teaming up with Kymera Press. I was excited to hear what she had to say and I’m excited to be able to share it with you.

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Pati Nagle

Nagle is a longtime fan of comic books. “I read comics a lot as a kid. Less so now, because of other demands on my time (like writing), but as an adult I’ve enjoyed more sophisticated comics such as Elfquest and various manga,” said Nagle. “I also adore Sydney Padua’s 2-D Goggles. Ada Lovelace is a wonderful comic hero!”

Teaming up with Kymera Press was a natural fit for Nagle. “Kymera came to me and I was absolutely delighted,” she said. “I love working with other women, and I love the concept of a press that focuses on women’s creative efforts.”

The one question I was most eager to ask Nagle was, “Where did the idea for Leon come from?” A crime-solving, genetically engineered, talking cat isn’t something that one passes on the street. Nagle said, “Gosh, not sure I remember. Sometimes ideas and characters just come in fully formed from a side door and present themselves. I think Leon came to me that way. ‘Here I am, a talking cat who works as an undercover detective. Tell my story!’”

“I’m a cat-lover and I’ve thought about how they might (or might not) adapt to living in space” she said. “I love the juxtaposition of futuristic outer-space with the mood of old noir detective stories. All those fun ideas kind of jumbled themselves together in my brain and started coming out as stories.”

Leon is a genetically engineered talking cat who solves crimes in space.
Leon is a genetically engineered talking cat who solves crimes in space.

Nagle believes that Pet Noir would adapt to comic book format beautifully. “Cats in zero-g. Need I say more?” she said. “Seriously, I think the stories that make up Pet Noir would really come alive even more in a comic. It’s got kind of a comic-book feel already, with the science fiction setting and the noir atmosphere. There’s a lot of rich potential for expression through visual media. I’m excited to see what happens!”

For those, like myself, who have fallen in love with Leon there is good news. “I definitely plan to write more Leon stories, and they’ll be prose first,” said Nagle. “There’s more to say, not only about the crazy adventures of a cat fighting crime in space, but about some of the more serious underlying issues, such as his indenture. He’s stuck fighting scummy space criminals until the expense of his genetic engineering is paid off. He would probably sympathize with a lot of college graduates these days.”

I ended our interview by asking Nagle if there was anything else she’d like to share about Leon or this project. She said, “Just that I’m so pleased whenever a reader tells me they like Leon and his stories. People really get into it. I had one reader tell me, ‘That’s not how cats talk!’ I just had to laugh, because if they were that engaged in the story, that they had their own opinion of how a cat would talk, then I did my job.”

Head over to our Kickstarter page at https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/812703115/gates-of-midnight if you’d like tohelp bring Leon to the world of comic books.

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