We recently had the pleasure of talking to comic writer Miles Gunter about his recent ComiXology Originals series Grammaton Punch. An exploration of a young man who not only “Sees Dead People” but knocks the crap out of them. During our interview exchange, he was nice enough to send along the five film inspirations for his new series with artist Briane Andan. So, we include these to accent his recent interview:
1. The Sixth Sense
I tell people Grammaton Punch is like the Sixth Sense with punching instead of whispering but kidding aside, the grounded approach Sixth Sense takes is what makes the supernatural stuff have real impact. Even though our book is a completely different animal, we tried to adopt a similar grounding for the first two issues, so the reader feels connected to the world and characters before introducing things like a guy with a pineapple for a head. This movie also really wears its heart on its sleeve, and I aspired to hopefully create legit feels for the reader. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0167404/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1
2. Spider-Man: Into the Spiderverse
This was such a nuclear blast of fresh air for American animation where everyone involved is clearly giving a 1000%. It’s inspiring on so many levels but one of the things it did for me is make me want to write something set in high school where I could tap back into the emotional high wire act of being a teenager. It’s one of those works that makes me, and my artist collaborator Briane, want to be as attentive to the visuals as possible and try to present imagery the audience hopefully hasn’t seen before. Like everyone else breathing oxygen, I am totally psyched for the sequel. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4633694/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1
3. JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure
What do you get when a bunch of ridiculously swole dudes get dressed up like characters in Prince’s Purple Rain? You get this very weird and strangely smart manga and anime by Hirohiko Araki about (mostly) men with supernatural abilities called Stands. The fashion in JoJo is frankly bizarre (sorry) with the main character wearing a baseball cap that somehow fuses into being his hair, but it’s crazy imagination and wild stakes really pull you in. With “Grammaton Punch,” I wanted a dash of JoJo with the design of our Feeders- the ghosts that drain the energy of the living and who are only visible to Van, our main character. As wacky as JoJo gets (there’s literally a villain called Vanilla Ice), it’s good about challenging its heroes with villains who are seemingly more powerful then, coming up with clever ways to defeat them. The big take away for me from JoJo is to give the bad guys the upper hand and then find smart creative ways for the hero to prevail. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2359704/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1
4. Terrified
The scariest movie I’ve seen in years. It’s the cinematic version of walking into a haunted house where nothing is explained, nothing is resolved. We feel very much like we are in the deep end of the darkest pool, and we’ve forgotten how to swim. I wanted to tap into a bit of this as “Grammaton Punch” progresses and things take a more intense sinister turn. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7549892/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1
5. White of the Eye
When I first started talking to Briane about collaborating and learned he’s from the Philippines, I knew I wanted to create a story with AAPI characters. Which brings me to this little seen movie from the 80s, that I wouldn’t necessarily recommend unless you’re into artsy southwestern serial killer neo noirs. The reason it’s on here has to do with representation. It takes place in Arizona and one of the central locations is a diner which is run by a Chinese family. It’s not a Chinese restaurant but an American style diner and the patriarch of this family is also the town’s sheriff. These characters aren’t presented as outsiders or stereotypical immigrants; they are every day American small-town folk. For a movie in the mid-80s having Asian characters like this was unheard of in American film. Seeing a creative choice like that made me want to try to present Asian characters in ways that maybe audiences aren’t used to seeing. I’d like to think that’s helpful in reminding us as Americans that we’re all part of a cultural landscape that’s incredibly unique and continually becoming more diversified which is so beneficial to all of us. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0094320/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1
ComiXology Originals Grammaton Punch, Issues 1 and 2 by Miles Gunter, Briane Andan, Lee Loughridge, and Taylor Esposito are available now.

Senior Writer at GeekVibesNation – I am a 60 something child of the 70’s who admits to being a Star Trek/Star Wars/Comic Book junkie who once dove headfirst over a cliff (Ok, it was a small hill) to try to rescue his Fantastic Four comic from a watery grave. I am married to a lovely woman who is as crazy as I am and the proud parent of a 21-year-old young man with autism. My wife and son are my real heroes.