Richard: How did you come up with the idea for "Boy Meets Hero"?

Chayne Avery (Creator, Co-writer, Artist, Colorist): I came up with the idea for Boy Meets Hero because I wanted to read about a gay super hero and his boyfriend, it's as simple as that! Being gay myself and a huge comic book fan means that if I want to read about super heroes with significant others, my options include Spider-Man and Mary Jane, or Superman and Lois Lane, the usual...

Marvel and DC have made millions off of fan favorite characters that have become icons over the decades. But unfortunately, it seems that society in general believes that gay characters just don't deserve to be in the spotlight or to be super heroes for that matter.

So because of that fact, I decided to take it upon myself to create the hero Blue Comet, set him in a super hero filled society, and make him gay. That way, I could give other gay comic fans like myself, a hero that they could relate to. And because every gay person goes through some sort of coming out process, I felt that would make the perfect topic for the comic, and thus, Boy Meets Hero was born!

Richard: What is the story line of "Boy Meets Hero"?

Chayne: To go into more detail, Boy Meets Hero is about gay closeted hero Blue Comet, his pseudo relationship with his female hero partner Sunstar, his real relationship with her non-powered brother Justin, and him coming to terms with his sexuality.

Over the course of the story, Blue Comet deals with keeping two secret identities and is eventually confronted with having to be honest about who he is.

Richard: What is W.H.O.?

Chayne: W.H.O. is an acronym for the World Hero Organization. It is a global company that provides careers for super powered beings.

In the story, W.H.O. serves as a marketing engine for the heroes it employs and assigns agents to represent them. It also lives by a strict moral standard that all of it's employees must abide by. In it's entire history, no super hero has ever been publicly know to be gay. Since Blue Comet is gay, he is terrified that if his orientation is discovered, he will be fired from W.H.O. and his super hero career will be over.

Because super heroes are abundant in this world and are seen on everything from billboards to tv commercials, they are starting to become common place. Blue Comet's agent comes up with a plan to keep the media interested in W.H.O.'s heroes. This plan is known as Operation: Super Couples and Blue Comet and Sunstar are wrangled into it beyond their control. Basically they are encouraged to have a public relationship to garner more interest and income for the company. This serves as Blue Comet's cover and keeps his secret safe.

Richard: Why have the Blue Comet being gay?

Chayne: Like I mentioned earlier, it's the whole reason I wanted to do the book. As a gay comic book reader, I have always wished to see more representation of gay men in the titles I read. However, there seem to be too few characters in any of the mainstream comic companies that are gay.

Since the comic reading demographic happens to be made up strongly of straight white males, any gay characters that are introduced usually tend to be very hot "lipstick" lesbians. (I've never seen a lesbian that actually looks like Batwoman...) There are a handful of gay male characters and they are usually found in books that feature teams. Often those characters can get lost and pushed into the background in favor of spotlighting the straight characters. I have never encountered a main stream book that featured a gay male as its lead character.

Now I have heard of Apollo and Midnighter from the Authority, but after having flipped through that title, it's just too violent for my tastes. I like the titles I read to be a little more light-hearted in tone.

So in response to this, I wanted to create a comic that I wish existed in the first place. I wanted a super hero who is very successful and well liked who also happens to be gay. In addition, I wanted this character to have a positive relationship with his boyfriend and demonstrate that gays can be heroes too.

Richard: How would you describe your art style?

Chayne: My art style is very clean and colorful. It is mostly inspired by the look of modern super hero cartoons. I like my style to be playful and fun and man, do I love drawing hot guys! When drawing my male characters, I strive to make them visually appealing in some way. However, whether drawing them clothed or nude, I make sure that I don't venture into the realm of raunchy pornography!

Richard: What is "The Wonderverse"?

Chayne: The Wonderverse is the first comic book project that I worked on with Russell and it's creators, Jason and Jona Kottler. It was set in an alternate Victorian era and had several unique characters. My involvement spanned from 2000 to 2004 and was quite an experience.

It was during this time that I got my first taste of how much work is involved in making comics. There were some ups and downs, but I was given some wonderful opportunities because of my involvement. If it hadn't been for the Wonderverse, Boy Meets Hero might not have existed.

Richard: Do you enjoy being a freelance artist?

It sucks! I'd much rather have super powers, or be able to use the Force... Anything but a desk job! If only I could be a comic book illustrator full time... (at least that's as close to being a super hero as I can get!)

Okay, enough daydreaming... Unfortunately, Boy Meets Hero doesn't provide me an income, so I still have to double as a graphic artist by day and a comic illustrator by night until I make it big time! (here's hoping!)

Back to your question, being a freelance artist was difficult. Staying in touch with clients and handling my own taxes was a lot to keep track of. So in 2005 I decided to get a part-time gig at the local newspaper for some financial stability.

Let me tell you, having to juggle between the two jobs has been a hell of a lot of work! It's my hope that I can make Boy Meets Hero a success so I can work on it full-time and give it my total concentration.

Richard: Would you like to see "Boy Meets Hero" in a printed version?

Chayne: Oh hell yes! Absolutely!!! And make trillions and trillions of dollars and be as powerful as George Lucas and... (Sorry I got a little carried away...)

Seriously, as of this interview, Russ and I are looking into options for getting our story printed in some fashion. We're not certain yet how it will be accomplished, but we are determined to get it printed and hopefully sell lots and lots of copies! (and become all powerful...)

Richard: What do you have planned next comic wise?

Chayne: Well, we want to move forward with the characters that we've established in Boy Meets Hero. We have already begun story concepts for further adventures set in our world.

I do have this one ideas that involves 52 Identity Countdowns to Crises on Infinite Earths... Or maybe I'll just have a Civil War...

Richard: Why do you like to draw?

Chayne: I like to draw because it's my escape from reality. (not a big fan of reality) Most of what goes on in the "real world" has a tendency to be very depressing and monotonous. I've always been attracted to fantasy type adventures, whether in print or film. These stories spark my imagination and inspire me to draw. Like I've said, the whole idea behind Boy Meets Hero started with me thinking; what if there was a gay super hero, and I went from there.

Richard: Do you have any more ideas for other comics?

Chayne: You betcha!!! Over the years I've come up with dozens of characters and ideas. I have plenty of concepts that got started, but never made it to completion. Boy Meets Hero is the first time that I had the opportunity to finish and fully realize one of my ideas.

As far as some of my other ideas, I would eventually love to bring some of them to life. I just need time... and a studio of slaves (I mean artists) willing to do my bidding!!! MWAH HA HA!!!

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

Chayne: One of the first comics I remember reading as a child was a Transformers comic. The comics I read then usually were tied into a toy of some kind. (toys are cool!) When I got into high school I started reading Spider-Man and X-Men. After college I discovered DC comics and fell in love with Green Lantern. (he's so hot!)

These days I like to read comics that are bright and optimistic, and in today's market, that can sometimes be difficult. Today's comics are more dark and "angsty" so it's tricky for me to find titles that remind me of stories from when I was younger.

The main titles that I continue to collect are Green Lantern, Justice League, Star Wars, Transformers, Fantastic Four & Spider-Man.

Richard: How can someone contact you?

Chayne: The best way is to contact me is via email at creators@boymeetshero.com . And if any hollywood types want to make a movie of Boy Meets Hero, please feel free to contact me!!! (maybe Brian Singer, oh that would be sweet...)

Richard: Any last words of wisdom?

Chayne: Just that comics are a form of entertainment and are a great way to temporarily escape from the difficulties that life can throw at a person. Try not to take comics too seriously and just remember to have fun with them. That's what they are there for in the first place!

Now please excuse me, I think the League is calling and I need to recharge my Power Ring...

Russell Garcia (Co-writer, Colorist): The main characters are Derek, a.k.a. Blue Comet, his boyfriend Justin and Justin's sister Jillian, a.k.a. Sunstar. Derek is the almost stereotypical superhero, good-looking and powerful but he has a problem accepting being gay and living up to that super heroic stereotype. He can't really be himself in or out of the costume.

Justin is a kid at heart. He not only loves Derek but also loves that he's living with a superhero. He has spent most of his life wishing that he could have super abilities like his sister and parents but powers never manifested for him. So he spends a lot of his time immersing himself in comics and movies, always wishing he could be flying up in the clouds too. His sister Jillian is Derek's "beard" and superhero partner. She's sassy and quick tempered just like her little brother.

Richard: Who are some of the villains in this comics?

Russell: Our villains our Alicia Winterfield, a.k.a. Coldsnap and Zack Savage. We wanted to feature a super-fabulous diva villain, someone who is in control, scheming and dangerous, thus Coldsnap was born. She's very rich and has managed to keep her alter-ego hidden from the high society she associated with all the while plotting her revenge on one of our heroes. By the end of our story Zack becomes a bit more sympathetic and we learn what a lifetime of frustration and self-denial can do to a person.

Richard: Is this comic focused more on characterization than action?

Russell: From the beginning of the writing process and as we arrange the scenes, we're very aware of balancing between character development scenes and all out action scenes. Both Chayne and I are HUGE movie fans and we've always approached the writing process as if we're crafting a movie. So, in-between the dialogue heavy scenes we try to think of the craziest, most fun superhero action stuff that we can imagine while also using the action to push the story along as well.

Richard: Is it distracting to work with your significant other?

Russell: Working with Chayne has been an incredibly rewarding experience. We met over 14 years ago in college and over the years have collaborated on many projects. As with any creative partnership we have many disagreements but the challenge is to make sure those differences don't boil over into our personal relationship. We're not always successful with that but we try!

The fun part is creating a story that we're both proud of, we're basically playing "make-believe" but it's a unique fantasy world that we have constructed and sort of made real together.

Richard: Do you feel you can identify with the characters in "Boy Meets Hero"?

Russell: They always say the best stories happen if you "write what you know" and this project is definitely a result of that. We wrote the character of Derek/Blue Comet with my recent personal life in mind. I spent most of my twenties deeply in the closet even though Chayne and I had been a couple since we were 20. So a lot of the self-doubt and fear that Derek experiences was definitely inspired by my own coming out experiences.

Richard: How do you go about coloring a comic?

Russell: Photoshop baby! Actually I start with a high-resolution scan of Chayne's line art, once that is cleaned up we split it into layers: one layer for the line art then all the color layers underneath. I typically start by filling in the all flat color shapes then when all the color is in place I go back and start adding in shading and special effects. My goal is to keep the coloring simple by shading with only hard edges, as if it were an animation cell.

Richard: What about writing excites you?

Russell: I think what excites me most is the challenge of making the characters live and breathe on the page. I especially liked writing the scenes with the villains, their interaction was snarky and a lot of fun to write. Also, I love that when I'm writing a scene and I see it all in my imagination, almost like a movie, and then a few days later seeing that Chayne has somehow managed to recreate in static images the movie that I had playing in my mind. It never ceases to amaze me.

Richard: What comic other than "Boy Meets Hero" would you like to write?

Russell: Actually writing "BMH" is quite a challenge in itself. I don't think I'd have it in me to try to tackle writing anything else!

Richard: What type of movies do you like?

Russell: I'm a big fan of sci-fi and fantasy movies. I also really love animated movies, Ratatouille was my favorite movie this past year.

Richard: What would you like to accomplish that you haven't?

Russell: I want to get a movie studio in Hollywood to option "Boy Meets Hero" and make it into a big-budget special effects extravaganza.

Richard: What do you do in your spare time?

Russell: Spare time?! What's that? Just kidding, actually I play a lot of Guitar Hero, try to stay current with some of my favorite TV shows like "The Office" and "Ugly Betty". I also play drums in a classic rock/blues band and of course I always leave time to hang out with our cute dogs Kira and Haley!

Richard: If you could have one super power what would it be and why?

Russell: I think I would love to be a time traveler. It would be incredible to witness some of the greatest moments in history first hand.

Richard: How can someone contact you?

Russell: I can be contacted through email at creators@boymeetshero.com .

Richard: Any final words of advice?

Russell: If there are any aspiring comic creators reading keep in mind that success only comes to those who can endure. Keep on writing, drawing or whatever and one day you might find that you've finally reached the gold at the end of the rainbow!

Visit: www.boymeetshero.com