Many of the contributing writers here at Comicbooked are not just comic fans, but we’re also comic creators! It’s one of the many reasons our site is so unique compared to other comic websites. Seth Jacob is one of the creators on our team and we started this new column to help showcase some of the creations from our creative contributing team members! Genesis of the Story will go into the origins of who, what, where, why and how a creator developed their comic series from the genesis to its final creation. Seth has a new creator owned comic series called the Absolutes. He put a lot of work and effort into this grand epic comic tale. Find out more about his new story and how he came about the idea, plus much more.
Describe in your own words what The Absolutes is about?
SETH-
The Absolutes is about what happens when the world’s premiere superhero team takes over the world to enforce world peace. What if the most powerful superheroes decided to get rid of every WMD in existence? What if they decided to completely eliminate war, to focus all of their time and effort on problems like denial of basic human rights, dictatorships, mass famine, and genocide? The Absolutes is a superhero team that resolves to make the world a better place by declaring themselves the new rulers of the world and fixing all of the problems that governments have so far failed to fix. What they discover is that the powers that be will do anything to reclaim control of the planet.
How did you originate the concept for this comic series?
SETH-
I was thinking about ideas for a superhero team comic, and I started thinking about the kind of problems with our society that vastly powerful superheroes could fix with barely any effort. If you were a nigh omnipotent and omniscient superhero, would you allow crimes against humanity to persist? A handful of WMDs could destroy all life on earth, and there are tens of thousands of these devices out there… if you had the power to get rid of them all, and no one could stop you, would you do it? Then I started to imagine an entire team of beings like this. If such a powerful collection of people existed, no militarized nation on earth could hope to oppose them. Why wouldn’t they just eradicate war, oust cruel dictators, and relentlessly defend human rights on a global scale? Perpetual wars that are crippling our economy, autocratic regimes which threaten to develop nuclear weapons, the disparity of wealth that’s getting worse every year with no sign of improvement… these are all real problems that an imaginary superhero team could theoretically solve.
I started to think that a superhero team is a collection of such vast and diverse power that they could potentially solve any and all problems that affect humanity. The Absolutes grew out of that idea, and it was designed to be a superhero comic that deals with real world problems and provides a social commentary. The Absolutes is a comic that’s intended to be a cathartic release for this young demographic that wants progressive change, that feels disenfranchised and sees no solution to the myriad real world problems that we face in the near future.
What influences in your life affected the writing of the story?
SETH-
I was affected by reading and watching the news, and by the narrative that we get from the media in general. It seems like we’re all aware that there are tons of problems that we face as a global civilization with no solutions in sight. The Absolutes became a reaction to that, sort of a fantasy of how to make the world a better place if you were totally indestructible, if you could see for thousands of miles and through walls, rewrite the composition of reality with your thoughts, lift hundreds of thousands of tons, and move at velocities approaching the speed of light.
I’ve been reading superhero comics my entire life, and I was of course influenced by that. Grant Morrison and Howard Porter’s JLA had a big influence on me. There’s also an obvious comparison to be made between The Authority and The Absolutes…however, I maintain a clear distinction between the two concepts in the sense that The Authority were anti-authoritarian, but they never totally took over the world in the way that The Absolutes do in my comic.
How did you find your artist?
SETH-
I put up ads on message boards like Penciljack and Deviantart (as well as the ComicBooked forum). Within a few days, I received literally hundreds of e-mails. I went through them all and found Robert Rath, the artist whose work I felt fit the story best. You can check out his work at his deviantart.
How did the two of you develop each character design wise?
SETH-
I gave Robert very detailed descriptions of what I wanted each character to look like. He came up with designs that almost perfectly captured what I had imagined and really matched the tone I was aiming for.
Where can they find a copy of The Absolutes? How many issues will it be?
SETH-
You’ll be able to purchase The Absolutes at theabsolutescomic.bigcartel.com on September 6th!
Hopefully there will be more issues of The Absolutes in the future.
You can see the trailer for this comic here:
Read more about the characters in the Absolutes and follow the Absolutes blog here.
