The Creation of Killadephia
A little glimpse into my mind!
Killadelphia follows a policeman named Jimmy Sangster who returns to the city when his father, James Sangster, Sr., is murdered. When Jimmy discovers that James Sr. is a vampire, it is only the tip of the iceberg in a larger network of power governing Philadelphia, with Former President John Adams and his wife, Abigail, being at the top of it. Together, Jimmy and his father must reconcile their differences in order to save the city from the vampires' sinister plans, and from humanity's worst impulses.
Where did the idea for Killadelphia come from?
When I was a kid, I loved the Universal Monsters and the Hammer films, but I never saw Black people in these stories. On rare occasions, they would pop up, but never as the main protagonist or antagonists. This is when I decided that if I ever became a writer, and got the opportunity to tell stories, I would put people of color at the center of the narrative.
Then one day I got an idea when I was visiting my fathers grave site. I asked myself, "If we had more time, would our relationship get better?" I understood that it wasn’t necessarily an issue of time, but rather two people trying to make a relationship work. Then I thought, "Well, what if he was a vampire, and he came back from the dead, and we had to work together. What would that look like?" Would we work out our problems if we were forced to be together in a situation? This was the birth of the “A” story between James Sangster and his son Jimmy, in Killadelphia. It's my father, it’s me, and trying to figure out peace between people who love each other.
The John Adams story came about when I was looking for an antagonist that was complicated. I've seen the play Hamilton at least 20 times and the part where they make fun of John Adams always stuck with me. I’ve always thought, if John Adams was in the audience, how would that make him feel? When I studied John Adams, I saw that he had a lot of progressive viewpoints for that time. He didn't own slaves and he was more liberal when it came to women's issues, so I thought, what if he looked at today's America, and saw more of an oligarchy, where the wealthy and 1% are relishing in this period of becoming billionaires, and the other 99% are at odds with each other. If he had the power to give those people in the 99% perspective in immortality, then the layer of desperation could be eliminated and they could take over the world.
In Seesaw, I wanted a voice of Philadelphia, a voice of a common guy. This knock-around guy that's just trying to make it in the world. I wanted a character who didn't enter this from a place of passion, but really a place of apathy, where I think a lot of American society is right now. A place where people just really feel disconnected. Seesaw felt disconnected and now he's given this injection of immortality and perspective and doesn’t know what to do with it. I think this is something a lot of people can relate to in one way or another.
A new version of Vampires
I always felt like the idea of vampires just being after blood was sort of leaving a lot on the table. In Killadelphia, I wanted to add this thing into the world of vampires that took the social dynamics in society and integrated it in a way that didn't remove the genre, but added to it. You can still have vampires being vampires, and they can still be natural predators, but with Killadelphia there are added layers.
I didn't want to do the traditional garlic, cross, and other tropes of what usually stop the vampire. Rather, I focused more on human beings and the flaws that we carry from our childhood and trauma. So on the one hand, I wanted the give these beings immortality, but I also wanted them to still be haunted by the ghosts of their past and the habits that human beings bring into adulthood from childhood.
Without giving away any spoilers, as the series has gone it’s been important for me to continue to make vampires different than the traditional predators who just manipulate in the name of blood. If you’ve read the series you understand what I mean, if you haven’t then I don’t know what to tell ya. Oh wait… Yeah I do…
You can get your copies here.
The Mandalorian Issue #3
The Client was right… Bounty hunting is a complicated profession.
This issue is illustrated by Georges Jeanty and written by yours truly.
The Mandalorian #3 is available today! Get your copies here or at your local comic book store.
Nita Hawes’ Nightmare blog #8
Dark evils from the past return to Annapolis after a centuries-old murder is unearthed and its ghosts return for revenge. Now, Nita Hawes faces her most horrifying threat yet! Can Nita solve the case before ending up a victim herself, or will Detective Harding find her as yet another casualty of the night?
Early reviews are in on Nita Hawes: Nightmare Blog #8 and here is what they have to say…
Get your copy today here.