MattBrady
02-13-2003, 02:09 PM
<a href="http://classic.newsarama.com/Other_Publishers/CVO_cvr.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://classic.newsarama.com/Other_Publishers/CVO_cvr_t.jpg" width="175" height="268" border="0" alt="CVO #1" hspace="2" align="right"></a>by Alex Segura Jr.
What if you mix an inker-turned-writer with vampires-turned-secret agents? Ask Alex Garner. In a world full of dirty bombs, espionage, terrorist threats and corrupt world leaders, how would vampires fit in? Garner and artist Mindy Lee offer their view with IDW's CVO, which will explore vampires in a more realistic, non-garlicky way in May.
Instead of lurking alleyways and speaking in bad poetry, Garner's vampires are actually government weapons, used as a last resort of international politics. Newsarama caught up with Garner to get the skinny on the book, how corrupt is a government that uses bloodsuckers as weapons of mass destruction and how those vamps fit in the modern world.
Though Garner has spent the majority of his career as an inker, he's always been interested in plotting and scripting his own comic. "I've always had ideas I wanted to do for a comic but this is the first one I've written," Garner said. "I've been involved in the plotting process for plenty of projects and a lack of time is the main thing that's kept me from writing the entire story."
<a href="http://classic.newsarama.com/Other_Publishers/Bools.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://classic.newsarama.com/Other_Publishers/Bools_t.jpg" width="165" height="219" border="0" alt="Bools" hspace="2" align="left"></a>The genesis of the idea came to Garner when he began to consider what a world featuring supernatural elements would really be like. "I guess the germ for the idea came from thinking how interesting it would be if vampires and other supernatural beings coexisted in our current geopolitical climate," Garner said. "And how we as humans might actually deal with them. Would we eliminate or utilize them? How would the United States handle them? The CIA? MI-6? Terrorists? In CVO's world, I decided that countries would be forced to use vampires and other supernatural resources in order to protect their interests and stay competitive. It would be a new, secret arms race."
There is a definite backstory to CVO, Garner says, but most of that will remain secret for now. "Well, a lot of its history 'classified' for now," Garner said. "Let's just say for now that CVO emerged during the early years of the cold war."
The key of the series is the relationship between the U.S. government and the vampires: what makes the vamps stick around and play nice with the U.S.? "A mysterious vampire named Overmars is the Director of CVO," Garner said. "He runs it and is the primary link to the rest of the U.S. intelligence community. Basically they're a top-secret arm of the CIA. Only a select few in the upper echelons of government are aware of their existence.
"The vampires of CVO have a symbiotic relationship with the United States: The government provides them a protected and well-provided-for lifestyle in exchange for their services as special forces operatives. I'm thinking of a much more integrated world between supernatural beings and humans rather than having them battle each other all the time in the traditional sense. Just like people, vampires can be both good and evil."
<a href="http://classic.newsarama.com/Other_Publishers/Britt.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://classic.newsarama.com/Other_Publishers/Britt_t.jpg" width="150" height="285" border="0" alt="Britt" hspace="2" align="right"></a>Because the CVO are not only deadly, but extremely effective, the government uses the strike team as a final option when dealing with problems, Garner says. "Basically, CVO are called in as the last and best option for the US," Garner said. "They have abilities far beyond those of conventional operatives and soldiers that enable them to achieve greater objectives while using fewer resources."
The CVO is comprised of many, smaller teams, Garner says. "There are definitely more than three," Garner said. "I haven't decided the final number, but CVO is comprised of many teams of vampires. Small hordes, I would say."
The three main characters: Cross, Bools and Britt will take centerstage early on in the series. "Cross is usually the commander of the team he's involved with," Garner said. "He's a special forces veteran who prides himself on having complete self-control and a sense of professionalism about his work. He's in a constant struggle to hold on to his fraying humanity in the face of his own vampire nature and the horrors he witnesses on a constant basis due to his job.
"Bools is ranked just under Cross but will do just about anything to advance his career. He's the dark side of America. The ends-justifies-the-means kind of mentality. And now that he's a vampire, he feels he's entitled to be every bit the evil monster people expect him to be. He's pretty much the opposite of Cross and is often at odds with him.
"Britt is an ex-model who lived the high life during the late 70's disco days. After she became a vampire, CVO recruited her as a specialist for infiltration. She has an addictive personality and is occasionally a tragic slave to her desires, whether it be alcohol, sex, drugs, or blood. Despite these issues, she has proved time and time again to be a very capable agent."
These aren't your grandfather's vampires, Garner says. They will be updated and ready to move around in the modern world. "Definitely adapted to the modern sensibility," Garner said. "No bats or garlic here. Vampires have to integrate into our society to survive."
<a href="http://classic.newsarama.com/Other_Publishers/Nikodemus.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://classic.newsarama.com/Other_Publishers/Nikodemus_t.jpg" width="165" height="283" border="0" alt="Nikodemus" hspace="2" align="right"></a>Having a team of covert vampire hitmen is a big benefit for the government, Garner says. "With their vampire abilities of stealth, strength, speed, night vision, and hypnosis combined with the most state-of-the-art weaponry available in the world, they are the ultimate special forces team," Garner said. "Rather than send in an entire army to take out a few madmen, the U.S. can send in a CVO team to do the same job much more quickly and efficiently."
The plot thickens when it's discovered that there's more than one government using vampires as weapons. "Well, they find out that the U.S. isn't the only government who dabbles in the supernatural..." Garner said.
A little more can be delved from IDW’s solicitation copy – in a nutshell, a tyrant has his twitchy hands on a Russian nuke…and a little something more. Rhymes with … uh, “memon.”
Teaming up with Lee has added a unique flavor to CVO, Garner says. "Mindy sent her samples to Beau Smith, IDW's VP of Sales & Marketing, some time ago," Garner said. "We've been trying to find the right job for her and CVO seemed like it was it. She has a unique style -- I guess you could call it American manga."
Garner, who is one of the owners and founders of IDW, pitched CVO at one of the company meetings and got a positive response. He's been working on it since. "I'm one of the owners and founders of IDW," Garner said. "Ted Adams and I, along with IDW's other owners, Kris Oprisko and Robbie Robbins, all met at WildStorm. About a year ago we had a company meeting to discuss future projects -- I pitched CVO to the group and they responded positively. I've been working on it ever since."
Given IDW's success with other properties, like 30 Days of Night, Garner is hopeful CVO can have similar success. "Absolutely," Garner said. "Ted's already started to get phone calls.
Garner hopes to use the excess of CVO ideas on a second story in the future. "There will be a future for CVO. I personally would love to illustrate a story at some point for it," Garner said. "We'll see. My big problem with this has been figuring out how to squeeze as many ideas as I can into just one issue," Garner said. "I had to sacrifice a lot of cool ideas that I hope to put into another CVO story one day."
CVO is a 48-page prestige one shot with a cover price of $5.99.
What if you mix an inker-turned-writer with vampires-turned-secret agents? Ask Alex Garner. In a world full of dirty bombs, espionage, terrorist threats and corrupt world leaders, how would vampires fit in? Garner and artist Mindy Lee offer their view with IDW's CVO, which will explore vampires in a more realistic, non-garlicky way in May.
Instead of lurking alleyways and speaking in bad poetry, Garner's vampires are actually government weapons, used as a last resort of international politics. Newsarama caught up with Garner to get the skinny on the book, how corrupt is a government that uses bloodsuckers as weapons of mass destruction and how those vamps fit in the modern world.
Though Garner has spent the majority of his career as an inker, he's always been interested in plotting and scripting his own comic. "I've always had ideas I wanted to do for a comic but this is the first one I've written," Garner said. "I've been involved in the plotting process for plenty of projects and a lack of time is the main thing that's kept me from writing the entire story."
<a href="http://classic.newsarama.com/Other_Publishers/Bools.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://classic.newsarama.com/Other_Publishers/Bools_t.jpg" width="165" height="219" border="0" alt="Bools" hspace="2" align="left"></a>The genesis of the idea came to Garner when he began to consider what a world featuring supernatural elements would really be like. "I guess the germ for the idea came from thinking how interesting it would be if vampires and other supernatural beings coexisted in our current geopolitical climate," Garner said. "And how we as humans might actually deal with them. Would we eliminate or utilize them? How would the United States handle them? The CIA? MI-6? Terrorists? In CVO's world, I decided that countries would be forced to use vampires and other supernatural resources in order to protect their interests and stay competitive. It would be a new, secret arms race."
There is a definite backstory to CVO, Garner says, but most of that will remain secret for now. "Well, a lot of its history 'classified' for now," Garner said. "Let's just say for now that CVO emerged during the early years of the cold war."
The key of the series is the relationship between the U.S. government and the vampires: what makes the vamps stick around and play nice with the U.S.? "A mysterious vampire named Overmars is the Director of CVO," Garner said. "He runs it and is the primary link to the rest of the U.S. intelligence community. Basically they're a top-secret arm of the CIA. Only a select few in the upper echelons of government are aware of their existence.
"The vampires of CVO have a symbiotic relationship with the United States: The government provides them a protected and well-provided-for lifestyle in exchange for their services as special forces operatives. I'm thinking of a much more integrated world between supernatural beings and humans rather than having them battle each other all the time in the traditional sense. Just like people, vampires can be both good and evil."
<a href="http://classic.newsarama.com/Other_Publishers/Britt.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://classic.newsarama.com/Other_Publishers/Britt_t.jpg" width="150" height="285" border="0" alt="Britt" hspace="2" align="right"></a>Because the CVO are not only deadly, but extremely effective, the government uses the strike team as a final option when dealing with problems, Garner says. "Basically, CVO are called in as the last and best option for the US," Garner said. "They have abilities far beyond those of conventional operatives and soldiers that enable them to achieve greater objectives while using fewer resources."
The CVO is comprised of many, smaller teams, Garner says. "There are definitely more than three," Garner said. "I haven't decided the final number, but CVO is comprised of many teams of vampires. Small hordes, I would say."
The three main characters: Cross, Bools and Britt will take centerstage early on in the series. "Cross is usually the commander of the team he's involved with," Garner said. "He's a special forces veteran who prides himself on having complete self-control and a sense of professionalism about his work. He's in a constant struggle to hold on to his fraying humanity in the face of his own vampire nature and the horrors he witnesses on a constant basis due to his job.
"Bools is ranked just under Cross but will do just about anything to advance his career. He's the dark side of America. The ends-justifies-the-means kind of mentality. And now that he's a vampire, he feels he's entitled to be every bit the evil monster people expect him to be. He's pretty much the opposite of Cross and is often at odds with him.
"Britt is an ex-model who lived the high life during the late 70's disco days. After she became a vampire, CVO recruited her as a specialist for infiltration. She has an addictive personality and is occasionally a tragic slave to her desires, whether it be alcohol, sex, drugs, or blood. Despite these issues, she has proved time and time again to be a very capable agent."
These aren't your grandfather's vampires, Garner says. They will be updated and ready to move around in the modern world. "Definitely adapted to the modern sensibility," Garner said. "No bats or garlic here. Vampires have to integrate into our society to survive."
<a href="http://classic.newsarama.com/Other_Publishers/Nikodemus.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://classic.newsarama.com/Other_Publishers/Nikodemus_t.jpg" width="165" height="283" border="0" alt="Nikodemus" hspace="2" align="right"></a>Having a team of covert vampire hitmen is a big benefit for the government, Garner says. "With their vampire abilities of stealth, strength, speed, night vision, and hypnosis combined with the most state-of-the-art weaponry available in the world, they are the ultimate special forces team," Garner said. "Rather than send in an entire army to take out a few madmen, the U.S. can send in a CVO team to do the same job much more quickly and efficiently."
The plot thickens when it's discovered that there's more than one government using vampires as weapons. "Well, they find out that the U.S. isn't the only government who dabbles in the supernatural..." Garner said.
A little more can be delved from IDW’s solicitation copy – in a nutshell, a tyrant has his twitchy hands on a Russian nuke…and a little something more. Rhymes with … uh, “memon.”
Teaming up with Lee has added a unique flavor to CVO, Garner says. "Mindy sent her samples to Beau Smith, IDW's VP of Sales & Marketing, some time ago," Garner said. "We've been trying to find the right job for her and CVO seemed like it was it. She has a unique style -- I guess you could call it American manga."
Garner, who is one of the owners and founders of IDW, pitched CVO at one of the company meetings and got a positive response. He's been working on it since. "I'm one of the owners and founders of IDW," Garner said. "Ted Adams and I, along with IDW's other owners, Kris Oprisko and Robbie Robbins, all met at WildStorm. About a year ago we had a company meeting to discuss future projects -- I pitched CVO to the group and they responded positively. I've been working on it ever since."
Given IDW's success with other properties, like 30 Days of Night, Garner is hopeful CVO can have similar success. "Absolutely," Garner said. "Ted's already started to get phone calls.
Garner hopes to use the excess of CVO ideas on a second story in the future. "There will be a future for CVO. I personally would love to illustrate a story at some point for it," Garner said. "We'll see. My big problem with this has been figuring out how to squeeze as many ideas as I can into just one issue," Garner said. "I had to sacrifice a lot of cool ideas that I hope to put into another CVO story one day."
CVO is a 48-page prestige one shot with a cover price of $5.99.