J. TORRES: INTRODUCING THE FAMILY DYNAMIC

[MattBrady]

As we mentioned in our coverage on Saturday from DC’s RRP meeting, J. Torres will launch a new six issue miniseries in June titled The Family Dynamic. In this case, the title’s a pretty accurate descriptor – Torres’ Family Dynamic is just that – a family of super-heroes.

We spoke with Torres to find out more about the miniseries.

Newsarama: J., let's start on the ground floor. What is The Family Dynamic in your words?

J. Torres: Well, the first thing I should say is that while Dan announced it at RRP this weekend at the same time as DCU #0, Trinity, etc. no, Family Dynamic isn't part of those "big events." It's a "big event" in my life, and I'm thankful for the attention and exposure it's getting because of this weekend's other DC announcements, but sorry no, it's not about the Marvel Family as some fans have speculated and even e-mailed me about. I want to thank Dan for including us in all of those exciting announcements and I hope retailers and fans are taking note. I like to see our inclusion in all of that as a certain show of confidence in the project and that Dan's telling everyone to buy this book. Look, they even priced DCU #0 at fifty cents so you'd all have money left over to buy Family Dynamic #1. [laughs]

That said, Family Dynamic is a six-issue miniseries I'm working on with Tim Levins (penciller), Dan Davis (inker), Dave McCaig (colorist), and Adam Schlagman (editor). It's quite a "big event" for me because it's my first creator owned book at DC, plus it's a "reunion project" for me and Tim as we started out in comics together many years ago on a comic called Copybook Tales. Back then we were a couple of college students trying to break into the industry with a minicomic about comic book wannabes, and now we're both married with a kid each and working together on a miniseries about a superhero family. It comes full circle rather nicely...

NRAMA: How did this get started? What was the spark for the story and the miniseries?

JT: If I think back, I believe it started with this team of villains I created for a book that I was working on with Jason Bone several years ago called Alison Dare. It was a team of elementals called Fuego, Agua, Gust and Dust. Don't think that ever went anywhere, but somewhere along the way they become a family of good guys in my head. I slowly fleshed out their backstory, adding power rings, an arch-nemesis, etc. and then... The Incredibles came out so I ended up shelving the idea for a few years.

NRAMA: Right – so you’ve got a family here…the Spencers – the four classical “elements.” How did they get them?

JT: From the aforementioned power rings. But prior to the current team led by Sloan Spencer, his father Sam led the first team of his generation back in the ‘60s. Three from that first team died at the hands of a villain named Dark Wraith, and Sam retired shortly thereafter and put the rings out of commission, as it were. However, when the Dark Wraith returned for him later on, Sloan and his family used the rings to save gramps. When our story opens, Sloan's family has been the new Family Dynamic for only about a year.

NRAMA: Can you give us a quick character sketch/biography of each of the four?

JT: Sloan, a.k.a. Pyralis the fire elemental, is the dad and leader of the team. He's an army recruiter by day and tries to run the team almost like his own little unit. Gina, a.k.a. Sirocco the air elemental, is the mom and she's a homemaker, the peacekeeper, and the one who keeps the family from becoming too dysfunctional. The kids are Luca (mid-teens), a.k.a. Troylus the water elemental, and Gio (early teens), a.k.a. Terran the earth elemental. The older one is a music lover who takes after his Aunt Maeve (who owns a record company) more than anyone else, while the baby of the family tries to take after his dad and has a love of corn dogs.

NRAMA: There are other families in heroic situations in comics. What sets the Family Dynamic apart from the Fantastic Four to Astro City's First Family?

JT: While we play with certain archetypes, and not just the Marvel ones, much like Astro City we also try and expand on certain themes and add elements (no pun intended) like the extended family, connections to the previous generation, the "dynamics" between siblings and half-siblings and cousins all within a superhero context. For example, while we have our quartet, there's also a female dynamic duo called Blackbird and Little Wing that's "part of the family." The Dynamics' powers are also tied into myth and magic, and we have some fun those elements.

NRAMA: Where do the Spencers live? And as you said, there are other individuals with super powers in their world?

JT: They live in Storm City, a fictional Canadian metropolis. There are other superheroes in the are, like the aforementioned duo, but we also meet one neighbor from the south, a superhero named Defender who hails from "Motor City." There are also other heroes in the Dynamics' past like the first elemental team and the Wu Xing Clan from China who we'll hear about in the story.

NRAMA: Who are their opposite numbers?

JT: Their main baddie is the Dark Wraith who's been haunting the family for decades. This again ties into the generational elements we're playing with within the whole superhero family "genre," themes of legacy and "sins of the father" visiting the son, etc. We're trying to make it intriguing and mysterious, and hopefully readers have fun with some of the twists and turns we've set up.

NRAMA: How's working with Tim again on this?

,b>JT: It's been a lot of fun jamming with Tim again. Going back and forth trying to establish our backstory, the designs, and so on with our editor Adam's input has been a lot of work but it's also been very rewarding. I'm really excited to see how people react to what we've come up with. I think it's some of Tim's best work ever and I'm really enjoying writing this, which I think will show in the work.

NRAMA: Speaking of family again, what is the overall family dynamic of the Family Dynamic? How do they get along?

JT: Well, when the story opens they're in the middle of a feud. Sloan and his younger sister Maeve have had a falling out and it's split the family. The two of them have butted heads over certain issues all their lives, see. His sons go to school with her daughter, Makenzie, plus they're not only cousins but they're good friends and that makes things quite awkward. So, never mind how this fighting messes up Thanksgiving dinner plans, imagine how this affects a family that's also a crime-fighting team.

NRAMA: Let’s close this with a tease J – how does the mini’s story get rolling with Family Dynamic #1?

JT: We hit the ground running with #1 and meet not only the Dynamics, but also Defender, and eventually Blackbird and Little Wing as well as their arch-enemies Tragedy Ann and Tom Foolery. We find out that various members of the family aren't on speaking teams because of certain secrets they've kept from each other, and that sets up the action and adventure and the drama for the rest of the series. I really hope people check it out!

[Grievous]

you know what,

This looks like a fun little mini series,

I'll give it go, why not!

[old doom]

This sounds like beeg fun

[mdg1]

Little Wing.... isn't that a character from his SIDEKICKS work for ONI?

[vbartilucci]

A classic example of a well-traveled road that can still have a few new twists and turns if played right.

And wow, a new series that doesn't have anything to do with the main crossover event. That's gonna upset a few people...

[zorro]

LOVE that title!
nice play on words.

[bcondray]

Looks good. I'll buy it.

Torres gets better all the time.

[Spy_Smasher]

What's with those boots?

[caats19]

team canada! naturally it brings fantastic four to mind. but pretty neat. i agree on the aforementioned boots

[J. Torres]

Originally Posted by mdg1

Little Wing.... isn't that a character from his SIDEKICKS work for ONI?

I hope to one day be able to bring my universes together on paper the way they are in my head

LW comes from the Hendrix song, btw. And Blackbird from the Beatles. There are other musical connections throughout the book. Not a major theme, but it's there along with some other fun stuff.

Thanks for the support, everyone! Please give this a shot!

[ParisCub]

The FF meet the Elementals?
Sound fun, mind you.

[BatWolverine]

Family of Superheroes? Just what DC needed...for it has absolutely NO other family of Superheroes.

[nietoperz]

This has piqued my interest. I'm in, I think...

[GATES71]

Originally Posted by ParisCub

The FF meet the Elementals?
Sound fun, mind you.

Yes, exactly. I wonder what Bill Willingham has to say about all of this.

But "Family Dynamic" IS and awesome name for a family supergroup!

[KaijubotX]

Originally Posted by BatWolverine

Family of Superheroes? Just what DC needed...for it has absolutely NO other family of Superheroes.

Well, I'm sure some people rolled their eyes when they first heard about "The Incredibles", look how awesome that turned out. Family Dynamic sounds fun, I'll give it a go.

[J. Torres]

Originally Posted by BatWolverine

Family of Superheroes? Just what DC needed...for it has absolutely NO other family of Superheroes.

Come on, dude! We acknowledge this in the article! It's not a new idea but we try some new variations on the theme! Besides, they're based in Canada like you (and me) - where's the national pride? the brotherly love? the poutine?

A vote against the Family Dynamic is a vote against Canada

[J. Torres]

Originally Posted by KaijubotX

Well, I'm sure some people rolled their eyes when they first heard about "The Incredibles", look how awesome that turned out. Family Dynamic sounds fun, I'll give it a go.

Yeah, I was even one of those people despite being a Pixar fan. Especially when I heard the mom was named Elastigirl, being a Doom Patrol fan, I was all "what what?!" But man, despite all the elements we'd seen done to death elsewhere, they incorporated them so well in that movie, which is now one of my all-time favorite animated features.

We can only try our best to do something of our own with those archetypes and tropes in Family Dynamic the way my hero Kurt Busiek does in Astro City or the prolific Robert Kirkman does in Invincible...

To misquote John Lennon: "All we are saying is give this a chance."

[caats19]

he's got you now batwolv

[hunterjax]

Originally Posted by J. Torres

Come on, dude! We acknowledge this in the article! It's not a new idea but we try some new variations on the theme! Besides, they're based in Canada like you (and me) - where's the national pride? the brotherly love? the poutine?

A vote against the Family Dynamic is a vote against Canada

LOL

Poutine - now that would be a good name for a super-villian!

Looking forward to this - for some reason it reminds me of the upcoming Jay Stephens cartoon "The Secret Saturdays" - has the same kind of classic Hannah-Barbera feel to it.

Which is a great feel to have!

[Mike_Norton]

Levins and Torres rule us all.

[Gamma Duck]

You know, there are already a couple of books out there (non-FF) that are capitalizing on similar ideas--NOBLE CAUSES and DYNAMO 5. People should really check those out vs. just going for similar idea because it's from one of the "Big Two."

I don't mean this as an attack on J. Torres or anything, just that there are projects like this out there that are probably getting overlooked because they're not Marvel or DC.

[GATES71]

Poutine rocks.

I had it once. It probably took 5 years off my life. But it was worth it.

[abelp]

I love J. Torres' work on "Teen Titans Go!" and I always pick up anything he does for the Johnny DC books and pass them on to my daughter to read. I'm looking forward to this new series.

...and wait, did I read that right? This is a creator-owned book? From DC?
I wish more about that was discussed in this article.

[J. Torres]

Originally Posted by Gamma Duck

You know, there are already a couple of books out there (non-FF) that are capitalizing on similar ideas--NOBLE CAUSES and DYNAMO 5. People should really check those out vs. just going for similar idea because it's from one of the "Big Two."

I don't mean this as an attack on J. Torres or anything, just that there are projects like this out there that are probably getting overlooked because they're not Marvel or DC.

Jay, is that you?

Just kidding. I agree, Jay Faerber rocks. Levins and I did a NC short for him once upon a time.

Mike Norton on the other hand is a scrub.

[DVDVR Pete]

"You got your Elementals in my Noble Causes!"
"You got your Noble Causes in my Elementals!"

Two great tastes, etc etc etc.