Richard: How did you feel about "Archeon", your first self-published comic?

Ed Lavallee: Looking back on "Archeon", I am pretty proud of it, even though the writing isn't very good. I definitely learned a lot about the comic business and what it takes to self publish. I am planning on releasing a re-worked Archeon Trade sometime in the near future.

Richard: What got you to start writing in the first place?

Ed: I started writing with the intention of putting out something that I thought was good in relation to the slew of mediocre books being distributed through Diamond at the time. It was mainly an experiment to see if I could put together a comic and have it picked up for distribution. The experiment was a success, even though "Archeon" after issue 1 was pretty much a failure. Again, it was a real learning experience for me in what not to do.

Richard: Why did you decide on Paul Revere as the star?

Ed: When I was initially thinking about my story I was heavily influenced by my wife who is an American History teacher. She would share all of these great stories with me and led me in the direction of choosing Colonial America as my setting. I initially was planning for Ben Franklin to be my lead hero just because of the many inventions he had created and the fact he was heavily involved in the politics of the time. It wasn't until I did some further research that I discovered Paul Revere was an actual silversmith by trade. I naturally put silver together with werewolves and the rest, they say, is history.

Plus I really loved the whole mystique behind the Longfellow poem. It just added that much more to it.

Richard: What is the storyline of "Revere"?

Ed: In a nutshell, "Revere" is the story of one man battling a war on two fronts, one being the British and the other a secret war against the monsters that curse the colonies. There are werewolves and harpies running amuck all while the first shots of the American Revolution are being fired. There's lots of action and lots of monsters.

Richard: How did Paul Revere go from being historical figure to monster hunter?

Ed: As I mentioned above it was the fact that Paul Revere was a renowned silversmith by trade in real life. I took that angle and naturally he would be fighting werewolves. It was also the inaccuracy of the Longfellow poem. Most everyone knows that Revere did not complete his ride that night, nor was he the only rider. I took that and went with the "here's why" he didn't complete his mission, he was battling werewolves. Fun stuff.

Richard: What monsters will we see within these pages?

Ed: The first series has werewolves and harpies. We plan on having all kinds of monsters in future stories. I am in the process of writing series 2 and it involves witches and vampires in Salem!

Richard: Do you think Grant Bond's art goes well with your story?

Ed: When I first met Grant, I didn't feel his art was appropriate for the story I was wanting to tell, but the more we worked together, the better vision I had of Grant's art being perfect for "Revere". He created a unique feel with the characters through his excellent use of colors and textures. At this point, I wouldn't want anyone but Grant doing the art on "Revere".

Richard: What is the process you go through to submit your comic stories to Archaia Studios Press?

Ed: We had basically wrapped our first mini-series with the now defunct ALIAS and didn't have a home for the trade. I contacted as many publishers as I knew, re-submitting "Revere" as a trade. I contacted Mark Smylie through the ASP website and sent him PDF files of the entire series. After emailing back and forth a couple of times, Mark offered us a contract for the trade and a second series. It was actually pretty easy since the entire story was completed.

Richard: Where does your inspiration come from?

Ed: I get my inspiration from the world around me. Mostly movies, books and life in general. There are so many crazy, insane and wonderful things happening in the world it's hard not to be inspired.

Richard: What is next for you career wise?

Ed: Well, at this point, I am really looking forward to the release of the "Revere" hardcover in July. I'm currently writing the second "Revere" series which we're planning for an early 2008 release. I am also writing a story titled "KING OF KUNG FU" and a short story for the GEARHEAD anthology that is in the works at Arcana. Beyond that I have a slew of ideas that I need to find the time to write and also find artists to work with on.

Richard: What one super power would you like to have and why?

Ed: Telepathy. I would love to be able to know what people are really thinking.

Richard: What comics did you read as a kid and do you read now?

Ed: As a kid I loved Avengers, FF, X-men, Defenders, Daredevil ad Captain America. Some of the DC war comics and Conan. These days I'm reading Hellboy, Blade of the Immortal, Casanova, Scalped, The Other Side, Nightly News to name a few. I read too many titles to list them all. I find myself leaning more and more toward trades too.

Richard: How can someone contact you?

Ed: The easiest way to contact me is through email on my myspace page: www.myspace.com/reverecomic or at edlavallee@sbcglobal.net

Richard: Any final words of wisdom?

Ed: Beware the full moon, lady! Cheers!