GVN Talking Comics Exclusive Interview And Preview: Oni Press ‘XINO #1’ Writers Melissa Flores And Jordan Thomas

Recently, we were given an opportunity to talk to two of the talented writers behind Oni Press upcoming Anthology XINO #1. This is the first of three volumes for the anthology. Issue One, coming on June 14th, includes stories by Melissa Flores, Jordan Thomas, Phil Hester and Christopher Condon. As the recent press release for XINO so accurately states, these are stories that serve as “intra-ocular lozenges of subversive, psych-surrealist science fiction to cure your awful awareness of our meager reality.”

So, we were not only given the chance to talk to Melissa and Jordan about their perspective stories, but also to present an exclusive excerpt from Melissa and artist Daniel Irizarri’s contribution: Hue. Which appears below our conversation with Melissa. This is followed by our sit down with Jordan Thomas about his story, Rabbit Trap with artist Shaky Kane.

Writer/Creator Melissa Flores for Oni Press XINO#1 – HUE

GVN: Thanks for giving us a bit of your time Melissa. In doing my due diligence in preparation to talk to you, I found you have had a hand in almost all things creative. As a writer, producer, consultant, and creative executive and even doing voice-over work. When you started out, were your ambitions quite so diverse or did you have a certain career avenue in mind?

MF: It was all over the map, honestly! I thought for the longest time I was going to be an engineer or doctor, and even went to a high school specifically dedicated to learning those skills. But in college, a curious mix of my ADHD getting super unmanageable and the other side of my brain literally exploding begging for ‘no more math!’ happened, and I ended up a communication major. Which honestly, was shorthand for ‘I don’t know what I want to do but at least I can learn to explain it well!” Deep down, I knew I always wanted to be a writer or some type of creative, but I definitely took the long way to get there. I’m so proud and excited to be doing stuff like contributing to XINO now!

GVN: Amongst all those different talents, you also found the time to delve into comics. Creating The Dead Lucky and adding your own flair into the popular Radiant Black series. How did your talents turn toward comics and were there any particular creators who inspired you to make that plunge?

MF: Initially, I fell in love with reading comics by playing video games! I bought a premium edition of the first Injustice game, and it came with an issue 01 of the comic book written by Tom Taylor. I devoured it and immediately went to get the rest of the series. He’s still one of my favorite author’s today!

When it comes to writing comics, however, my true bootcamp came when I was working as a
development executive at Saban Brands. Boom! Studios for the license for Power Rangers, and it was in my years working with people like Dafna Pleban, Kyle Higgins, Ryan Parrot, Bryce Carlson that I got to learn and fall in love with the intricacies of how comic books were made. And it was those relationships that allowed me to dive in as a writer.

Kyle and I formed a great friendship through the process, and when I eventually left Power Rangers, he brought me into the Massive-Verse with open arms, asking him to pitch him and Image “The Dead Lucky.” And Dafna, editor extraordinaire, decided I wasn’t quite done with Power Rangers after all and put me on Mighty Morphin Power Rangers.

I’m so excited to also have this incredible relationship with Oni Press, and Hunter Gorinson, who brought me onto Xino. Each project is challenging and unique in their own way, and I’m so thankful to be given those opportunities.

GVN: You have partnered with artist Daniel Irizarri for a story in Oni Press limited Sci-Fi series XINO #1 entitled HUE. What was the basis for this story and how did your collaboration with Oni and Daniel come about?

MF: As someone who both grew up obsessed with science and the paranormal, I always was fascinated with the idea of what was ‘paranormal’ was just maybe something we hadn’t quiet explained yet scientifically. What if we COULD see the entire UV spectrum? What would that reveal? Would we even want to know?

For ‘Hue’, my contribution to XINO, I envisioned a world bright with colors, dystopian but in a bright, neon way. To pull that off, we needed a specific kind of artist. My amazing editors, Zack Soto and Gabriel Granillo, suggested Daniel, and he is absolutely perfect. His art and colors bring this world to life in a way that feels lived in and real but emphatically unique. And the way he draws our hero, Matteo, is heartbreakingly relatable. I’m so thankful that we have him on board, and I hope I get to work with him again!

GVN: Thanks again for a few minutes, Melissa. I could think of more questions for you, but since we’re limited in time, I will refrain…until our next opportunity to talk. But before I let you go; do you have any other projects you want the fans to know about…or CAN let them know about?

MF: “The Dead Lucky’s” second arc is coming in July, and the first trade which collects the first six issues, is out now. The miniseries “Radiant Pink,” which I co-wrote with the amazing Meghan Camarena, also has a trade coming in the next few months. As for the rest… I have a few amazing projects coming, but they’re all locked up tight and haven’t been announced yet. Keep an eye on my twitter (@misty_flores) for that!

And now, thanks to the good folks at Oni Press, here is a GVN Talking Comics exclusive excerpt from Melissa and Daniel’s story Hue with letters by Jim Campbell.

And now, let’s welcome writer Jordan Thomas to GVN’s Talking Comics Interview:

Writer Jordan Thomas for Oni Press Oni Press XINO#1 – Rabbit Trap

GVN: Thanks for sharing a small bit of your time Jordan. You have done your share of horror/sci-fi based comics with Scout Comics Frank at Home on the Farm as well as Image Comics Weird Work. Has the Horror/Sci Fi genre always been your preference and if so, who were your inspirations for those kinds of stories?

JT: Yes, I think if you look at what I’ve released over the past four years it’s all in the horror, sci-fi and crime genres – often combining a couple of those worlds together. I have definitely always been into these types of stories since growing up. I was massively into films from a young, young age and loved movies like The Terminator, Total Recall, The Lost Boys, Goodfellas and Star Wars – my parents tended to let me watch whatever I wanted! Then I started to read a lot of Stephen King.

I’m also into history, so you’ll find I weave that into my writing, whether it’s the settings or borrowing interesting events I’ve come across. You’ll see that in my and Shaky Kane’s story in XINO, which is set back in the 60s and tries to capture the feeling of that time and the type of science fiction that was being written back then.

GVN: I would also be remiss if I didn’t mention Quarantine which was very timely due to the pandemic. But the amazing thing about the book was that it featured over 28 different artists. As you progressed on that book, what did you learn as far as coordinating that many moving parts including the Kickstarter
campaign?

JT: Making “Quarantine” work was all about the early decisions I made. The concept was always having one story with a different artist for each page. That had the potential to be confusing and get a bit messy. One of the amazing artists I worked with on that comic was Russell Mark Olson and I had Russell create design sheets for all the main characters to keep some consistency there as we jumped between styles. I also decided that each page would be a day – then later specific hours and minutes as things go wild – so, essentially each page covers one scene, so you never jump between art styles mid-moment. I think that’s why it works.

In terms of coordinating, after that it was actually pretty easy. Each artist only needed to deliver a page, so I had beautiful art raining in constantly for a month. The success is all in the upfront prep, ensuring everyone has what they need and know what they’re doing. It was a lot of fun.

GVN: You have partnered with artist Shaky Kane on a story in Oni Press limited series XINO #1 entitled Rabbit Trap. How did you come up with this story and it’s “Hare-Raising” (yes, unfortunately, I said that) premise?

JT: The story for XINO came about from conversations with Oni Press head honcho Hunter Gorinson. Hunter wanted to tap into that EC Weird Science vibe, so I went and read a bunch of those and just kind of soaked them in. Those stories are so full of paranoia and this fear of the unknown, so that’s what I ended up tapping into for our story. An angry, lost man full of fear and anger being confronted with something he doesn’t understand at a time in history when people were in constant fear of nuclear attacks and communists infiltrating the country. At first, he’s almost excited by the chance to act against what he sees as a threat against America, and his form of action of course involves violence, but he quickly learns he’s in way deeper than he is prepared for.

Also, I knew I was writing for the great Shaky Kane and whenever I write for Shaky I always keep his specific talents front and centre in my mind, so the direction the story goes gives lots of opportunities for Shaky to have some fun and deliver some wild visuals.

GVN: I want to thank you again for your time Jordan. Hopefully we can talk again in the future. But, before I let you go, do you have any other projects you want the fans to know about…or CAN let them know about?

JT: So, Shaky and I have Weird Work coming from Image Comics in July. That’s a four-issue series. A L.A. Confidential-style detective story wrapped in an alien world of bright and bizarre characters – gangsters, killers, cults, lots of fun. That book is all done, so me and Shaky are already hard at work on another mini-series, which will be announced soon – we’re really letting loose in that one and I’m very excited for people to see it. Besides that, I have a few other books on the way, but they’re a little too far off currently to say anything about.

I’d like to thank both Melissa and Jordan for sharing their thoughts and Oni Press for sharing the HUE exclusive. Oni Press XINO #1 hits stands on June 14th where all great books are sold.