247 Comics is cooking up something fresh and new with Bladesmyth, a just-launched Kickstarter that has already been funded in a matter of days. Combining the creative talents of Creees Lee, Justin Calen-Chenn, and Lingie Park, the book mixes kitchen shenanigans and bloody action in a frothy mix that tastes just right.
“The main story in this current 6-issue arc is structured similar to an action-thriller like Taken,” 247 Comics Publisher and Interim Editor Carl Choi teased to Comic Book Club over email. “A father’s quest to rescue his kidnapped son and find out who was behind it. In the journey we uncover pieces of the Bladesmyth lore, see how badass our hero (Loren) is, and reveal connections between the art of killing to the art of cooking.”
To find out more about Bladesmyth, just how much cooking is involved, what it means to have a majority Asian-American creative team, and a wild level of the Kickstarter where you can get a knife, read on.
Comic Book Club: You’re setting this up not just as a comic, but a new IP… How much advance work goes into that? How much more do you have to plan before you can make the book?
Carl Choi: This IP is a unique case as it originally started out as an original feature film script created by Justin Calen-Chenn years prior. Each phase had its own duration of incubation time, but overall, Bladesmyth was 4 years in the making due to Creees’ Marvel schedule; each issue was revisited 1 year later, which has served as a great time capsule of his artistic evolution!
I realize we’re talking about a chef who is an assassin, but how much cooking are we going to see here? Full disclosure: I love cooking comics, so I have an agenda here.
In short, maybe 70/30 (action to cooking) which will still be A LOT of COOKING! The main story in this current 6-issue arc is structured similar to an action-thriller like Taken. A father’s quest to rescue his kidnapped son and find out who was behind it. In the journey we uncover pieces of the Bladesmyth lore, see how badass our hero (Loren) is, and reveal connections between the art of killing to the art of cooking.
Other than our main character, what was important to establish in the rest of the cast?
The world of culinary is as vast, diverse, and innovative as the underworld. We were very conscious and deliberate in researching and crafting characters that captured a global sensibility. In any combat, whether it be the MMA or Iron Chef, styles makes fights. Each and every character was carefully built by considering culinary style, choice of weapon + fighting style, socio-economic background, and time period. What they all have in common are their choice of Blades.
You’ve got a majority Asian-American creative team, which you tout on the Kickstarter… How did that impact your storytelling approach at all? Or did it not?
I think it absolutely had an impact in the approach and the result of the final creation.
Similar to cooking, we were able to take the same ingredients given and whip up a different dish. There was a shorthand and deeper understanding of nuance in the references and inspiration we all pulled from. Being a dash American has its difficulty, but our super power is that we all had to adapt and get sharp (continually) our entire lives. There is a potency in being the perpetual other. We all developed really good skills in adverse conditions. We believed and trusted in our intuitions.
There’s a Kickstarter level that seems to include a customized knife. Did you have any concern about mailing knives to your backers? Or, what was involved there?
Knife? What knife?? Oh! The laser-engraved Chef or Santoku knife (randomly chosen)—modeled after our hero Loren’s own blade—comes housed in a unique puzzle box with a wooden sheath, featuring an intricate logo-lock mechanism that protects your piece? Every chef needs their tool set, and we’re here to initiate a few new Bladesmyths! If it’s safety you’re worried about, the puzzle box is designed to deter anyone who shouldn’t be handling an edge—because if you can’t get into the box, you probably shouldn’t be handling sharp objects.
Speaking of which, as of this writing you’ve funded the Kickstarter – congrats! What can folks expect as the campaign continues?
Thank You! *Bow* We were overwhelmed by the support and we look forward to knowing our backers better over live streams, exclusive announcements, and many more interviews like this one! Reach out to our team at hello@247comics.com if you have any ideas, we would be more than happy to get into trouble together!
You can pledge the Bladesmyth Kickstarter until March 13.
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