Our Divine Editor, Susan Mac Nicol, recently spent some time in LA (as you no doubt know because she’s splashed it all over the internet ad nauseum). One of the highlights of the trip was meeting the amazingly blue eyed David Booher, writer of comics and competitive force behind pub quiz trivia events. Where, we’re told, their group #Powerless came in third and won $10 for the group efforts. And there was definitely no cheating. Nuh-huh.
Susan was fortunate enough to get her own signed copy of this little treasure and will put it in the requisite glass casing much like the rose in Beauty and the Beast.
Anyhoo, David was kind enough to answer some questions for us about his newly released comic, POWERLESS from publisher Vault Comics. Of course, he was asked the requisite silly questions and was a good sport about it.
If YOU were a superhero what powers would you have and what would your hero name be? (We did see in your own bio you want the power to write the perfect bio *winks*)
Great question! My friends and I have spent many a night sitting around asking each other the very same thing (perhaps that says a lot about me and my friends). For me, this question is a tough one. I’ve always loved superheroes and super powers, but in POWERLESS, I’ve flipped the entire idea on its head to create a world where by definition there are no superheroes because all seven billion people on the planet have some super human ability. We follow the few powerless people being hunted because they carry a virus that takes those powers away. So in many ways, the story isn’t about having super powers at all, but about people very much like us.
But I’ve stalled long enough. My chosen superpower would probably be something like Billy’s in POWERLESS—he can go back in time repeatedly, but he’s limited to going backward 37 seconds. I’ve said and done enough stupid things in my life that even limited to 37 seconds I’d still find that power very useful. My superhero name would be super…amazing…go back in time…guy? I’ll keep working on that one.
If you could go back in time to change one thing what would it be?
Ah, there are so many ways to go with this! Warn the Titanic? Save Lincoln? Win the lottery? I’ll keep it simple. I’d love to go back and tell my 22-year-old self to start writing. I started writing seriously about 10 years ago, and I can only imagine what I’d be doing now if I’d started seven years before that.
If you could breed two animals together to defy the laws of nature what new animal would you create?
The stately and majestic…giraffapotamus.
Have you ever used the phrase “back in my time” to someone younger than you?
Not yet. I actually didn’t know that was still a thing. You see, back in my time… *wink*
Do you shout out the answers at the TV whilst watching quiz shows?
YEEESSSS!!! Drives my husband nuts.
What’s the worst chat-up line you’ve ever heard?
My husband and I have been together for 16 years, so it’s been a long time since I’ve heard any chat-up lines. I will give you a funny story, though. On our first date, he told me he was an engineer for a construction company, and I said, “At least you don’t wear those steel-toed boots.” At which point he slowly lifted his cuff to reveal…steel-toed boots. Yeah, about that whole going back in time thing…
Now we know a little bit about David we can grill him a little bit more.
You’ve had some screenplays you’ve written placed in a couple of contests and festivals. Tell us more about these ones.
Like I said, I’ve been writing for 10 years. Comics is a fairly new arena for me, and before that, I wrote screenplays and teleplays. One good way to get noticed in the industry is through screenplay contests and film festivals. Early on I had some success in a few contests, which gave me a bit of credibility as a writer and led to producers contacting me about other work. This is a great way to start bolstering your credentials as a writer and I strongly recommend new writers to look into them.
We understand you’re writing for the Alien Bounty Hunter comic series produced by Mark Wahlberg and Stephen Levinson. It looks like a great series. How did you come to be involved in it?
This is another example of work begetting work. My publisher for POWERLESS, Vault Comics, teamed up with Stephen Levinson and Mark Wahlberg to bring the Alien Bounty Hunter story to life as a comic. They needed writers and my editor and I had already worked through most of the scripts on POWERLESS, so we decided we’d make a great writing team. And we have. Alien Bounty Hunter is some of the most fun I’ve had writing. And I can tell you the art from Nick Robles is spectacular.
You love horror and we understand you’ve written screenplays for a couple of films, one of them called The Scratches https://www.facebook.com/scratchesmovie/. Could you give us an update on this one; perhaps tell us about the challenges facing indie writers and producers to get a film to market?
I LOVE horror. Love it. I read Stephen King as a child long before it was probably appropriate (don’t tell my parents!). So when a producer approached me with a creepy real life story that would eventually become The Scratches, I couldn’t say no. Work is ongoing and we’ve gotten the story to a good—and terrifying—place. My other love is science fiction, and I’m working on a couple of sci-fi features that will hopefully hit the market in the near future as well. Bringing any film to life is an enormous undertaking. It’s taken me years of hard work and networking to get to the point where I can even hope these films see the light of day. Miracles do happen, so keep an eye out and a light on!
What sort of things do you do for fun when you’re not performing in pub quizzes or walking the dog?
I’m an attorney by day and a writer by night, and that doesn’t leave too much time for fun. When I do have a free moment, I spend it with my husband and our adopted greyhound Bullet, usually getting lost somewhere up in the mountains.
You recently attended Wondercon 2017, in a comic book signing. Was it everything you hoped it would be and how do you think these events help promote an artist such as yourself?
I’ve had the opportunity to do a few signings for the first issue of POWERLESS and I’ve loved every second of them. Anything and everything I can do to get my name out there help, including doing interviews with great media outlets like Divine Magazine!
Your comic Powerless is being taught in an HS English class and you’ve been asked to speak to the students about it. We imagine this doesn’t happen every day. What is the intention of your comic being included here- what message are you hoping to convey?
This is an incredible opportunity and I’m so glad to have it. The class is being taught about graphic novels and at the end of the unit, they will create one themselves. The plan is to use POWERLESS as an example of how to create a comic. I’ll talk to them about how the visuals and words work together to set up the world, establish the characters, and kick off the events of the plot. I’m sure we’ll also discuss many of the themes in the series like oppression, tyranny, fear, and persecution of outsiders. Not to get terribly political, but some of the students might find some of these themes relevant to our current society.
Side note from the Divine Editorial Manager Susan Mac Nicol – ‘It was wonderful to meet David in LA and get to know him a bit. We chatted about of our mutual love of horror, Stephen King, being a creative and the difficulties of getting our work out there for the public to see. We enjoyed a hearty meal together in a German restaurant and I was a member of the #Powerless pub trivia quiz team along with David’s husband Steven and Nicholas Downs and Nick Maricich. It was an awesome farewell dinner. I hope to see them all again soon! (I can hear them groaning in despair from here, heh heh) This photo is not a plug for our book, although, well, you know…but simply a really great shot of good friends Nicholas Downs and David Booher together , taken by me :).
Thanks so much David for the interview and Divine Magazine wishes you all the best with future sales of your comic and any other endeavors you’re involved with.
Powerless #1 is in comic shops everywhere and issue #2 arrives in shops April 26. If you don’t see it, ask for it! You can also order copies at www.midtowncomics.com or www.mycomicshop.com
You can also find it here POWERLESS from publisher Vault Comics
David’s Social Links and News Articles
http://vaultcomics.com/contributor/david-booher/
@davidbooher
https://www.facebook.com/scratchesmovie/
[Powerless]
