Mr. Murder is Dead

A couple of articles dealing with Before The Door’s partnership with Archaia Studios.

Zachary Quinto, whose unforgettable performance as Spock in 2009’s Star Trek and run on Heroes place him in the firmament of sci-fi and fantasy fandom, will produce two new comics for Archaia through his production company Before the Door.

New York writer and director Victor Quinaz will write the graphic novel Mr. Murder Is Dead, and Michael McMillan, an actor in HBO’s True Blood, will write a six-issue series titled Lucid. Quinaz and McMillan have been colleagues of the Before the Door gang for several years. Artists have not been named, but cover art premiered today at Comic-Con. Quinto and partners Neal Dodson and Corey Moosa, friedns since their Carnegie Mellon days, started Before the Door in 2008, with the goal of developing a variety of projects in different media, including film, television, internet and print.

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At Comic-Con International this weekend, Archaia Studios announced that Before the Door Pictures, the production company founded by “Heroes” and “Star Trek” star Zachary Quinto, will be producing new comics for the publisher. The first two projects will be an original graphic novel titled “Mr. Murder is Dead” by Victor Quinaz, and “Lucid,” a six issue miniseries by Michael McMillan. Artists have not yet been named, but cover art debuted at CCI. CBR News spoke with Quinto and Behind the Door partners Corey Moosa and Neal Dodson about their comic projects.

Quinto and his partners credit Archaia Director of Development Stephen Christy with winning them over to the publisher. “We met with a number of comic book companies in anticipation of the Comic-Con announcement, and we certainly learned something from each of those meetings. But there was something in the imaginative and forward-thinking nature of Archaia, specifically Stephen Christy, that resonated with us,” the actor said. “He understood the kinds of stories we want to tell, and the company represents the kind of company we want to work with. We felt it was a good time to get involved with them.”

Dodson added, “We’re big fans of ‘The Killer,’ that was a really cool book, and things like ‘Mouse Guard’ and ‘Awakening.’ We got an early peek at ‘Days Missing,’ and it’s awesome. Because Archaia is on a path of growth, and especially with Stephen coming over to work with them, he’s a guy that we really connected with creatively and felt good working with.”

Moosa, who described himself as a lifelong comics fan, agreed, saying, “Archaia is producing some of the most interesting work that’s out there right now, so it really was a no-brainer that we just wanted to work so bad with these guys, particularly Stephen Christy, who has been just amazing to be working with these past two months.”

In contrast to Moosa, Quinto said that, despite starring in two comics-friendly properties, he does not come from a comic book background. “My experience of the comic book world and that medium is rooted in my association with both the show and the movie,” Quinto said, referring to his roles as Sylar on “Heroes” and Spock in “Star Trek.” “In that, I’ve met a lot of people and gotten to realize that there is a tremendous amount of imagination, enthusiasm and forward-thinking storytelling in comics. This is really an opportunity for us to explore characters and stories in an environment where there’s not a lot of restrictions. As an actor and even to a certain degree as a producer, we’re working within the confines and restrictions of a studio system for the most part. That can be somewhat limiting and challenging. So this was really an opportunity for us to tell stories that excited us and that we felt would be a attractive to a fanbase that already sort of understands me and the sort of work I want to do.”

Quinto has known his Before the Door partners, Corey Moosa and Neal Dodson, for fifteen years, having met Dodson in high school and having attended Carnegie Mellon University with both. “When I was thinking about providing myself with a structure that allows me to generate opportunities for myself ,” the actor said of founding the production company, “it was important to me to include people who have a longstanding creative relationship with.” Similarly, Quinto has a longstanding relationship with Michael McMillan and Victor Quinaz, the writers of Before the Door’s first comic projects at Archaia. “I know these guys, I trust these guys, and we all share the desire to tell interesting and creative stories. We’re all very involved in the evolution of them, we speak to Victor and Michael on a daily basis, and the evolution of these projects.”

Describing the particulars of each project, Dodson described “Mr. Murder is Dead” as “a pulp noir story about an old guy who was sort of a top cop, almost a vigilante, back in the ’50s.” “When he was at the height of his success, he was lionized as a Dick Tracy-esque comic strip. But now he’s old and sort of alone, and he’s sort of washed up,” Dodson told CBR. “His arch-villain, Mr. Murder, has been killed, and the story tells how he investigates the loss of his biggest enemy. It also looks at what it’s like when your sort of main purpose is accomplished, what do you next. Victor’s a really cool, philosophical writer and he’s dealing with some big ideas. He tells exciting tales but he also wants to make sure that there’s something more, and I think his story’s achieved that.”

Dodson then described “Lucid,” a six-issue series written by Michael McMillan. “He’s also a long-time friend of ours and an excellent writer and, like Corey, a lifelong comic book fan with an insane comic book collection,” the producer said of McMillan. “’Lucid’ is about Matthew Dee, a descendant of John Dee, who was a real guy from history. He was Queen Elizabeth’s necromancer, and he was the basis for Merlin and the basis for Prospero in the ‘Tempest,’ he would sort of read the tea leaves and things would happen. This guy’s the direct descendant of him living in a version of our modern times. It’s a time of great political hope, but there’s an arms race, almost like a nuclear stalemate, that every country in the world has a necromancer or combat mage. Matthew Dee is the one for the United States. They’re at a standstill, and that’s when things go awry. It’s sort of a James Bondian tale with a strong supernatural element.”

Quinto clarified that, in the world of “Lucid,” magic is a given factor in daily life and politics, rather than the secretive practice it is often shown to be.

“They’re two very different stories, at opposite ends of the spectrum, one being this really gritty, quiet crime noir, the other being set in a political, magical kind of world,” Quinto said.

“We’re excited about this partnership with Archaia. We’re actually inspired by their vision as a company and they’ve been incredibly supportive,” the actor said. “Corey, Neal and I, the aim of this company, whether it’s in the comic book world, the film world, or the television, is to have a strong sense of collaboration and it’s nice to be able to work with people who are both creative and exciting and also share our work ethic. Can’t wait to go down to San Diego for the third year in a row and represent our stories.”

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Who knew Vulcans liked comics?

Star Trek and Heroes star Zachary Quinto and his company, Before the Door Pictures, is developing comic books in a partnership with Archaia Comics. The business relationship was announced at San Diego Comic-Con during the Archaia panel on Saturday.

Quinto, who isn’t the first person from Hollywood to turn his attention to the comics industry, said his intention is not to just use the medium to develop movies.

“Our goal is to tell good comic book stories,” Quinto told Newsarama. “I know there’s a little bit of skepticism among true comic book die-hards where Hollywood sweeps in and sort of makes up stories so they can go off and spin them into multi-million-dollar franchises. And that’s really not our goal.

“I think Archaia and our decision to work with them is emblematic of our desire to be ambitious in our story-telling within this medium,” he said. “Our primary goals are to tell good stories, to align ourselves with great artists, and to see where that goes. That’s not to say we aren’t open to the evolution of those stories down the line. But our first priority is to be respectful and to be successful within the comic book world.”

Before the Door Pictures was started a year ago by Quinto and his business partners, Neal Dodson and Corey Moosa.

“I was in a situation where I was able to generate opportunities for myself and not just sit around waiting for people to tell me it was OK to be a part of this project or that project,” Quinto said. “Our foray into comic books is one aspect of a diverse platform of development that we have going on in terms of film and television and internet-based storytelling.”

Although he admitted he wasn’t a comic book fan as a kid, he became aware of the opportunities for storytelling within comic books after his involvement in the Heroes television show.

“It was clear to me from the early success of Heroes that there was an opportunity to connect with a wide-ranging fan base that transcended the television and film medium,” he said. “And then adding to that Corey’s long history of being a comic book fanatic and bringing an incredible amount of insight and knowledge of that medium really helped us shape the kinds of stories we wanted to tell. So I really followed his lead a lot because I wasn’t an organic comic book fan. Growing up, it wasn’t something I spent a lot of time engaged in, but as I got exposed to it more through my connection with that world, through Heroes, it was something that was very exciting for me. And it was something I felt would be really fun to immerse ourselves in.”

Dodson said comic books also allow the company to tell stories that are imaginative and forward-thinking in a way that is more difficult to accomplish in Hollywood.

“It’s an exciting opportunity for us to tell stories in this realm that don’t hinge on multi-million-dollar conglomerates telling you what you can do,” Dodson said. “This gives us a lot of freedom. And Archaia is providing us with a lot of that in terms of the stories we want to tell.”

Quinto said one of the tenets of the company is to align with talented people that the three have known for a long time and can trust to develop projects with them. So both of the projects that were announced at Comic-Con were written by people that they’ve known for years: Victor Quinaz will be writing a project called Mr. Murder Is Dead, and Michael McMillan is writing a comic called Lucid.

“For me, one of the biggest things when I started the company was the notion that the rising tide lifts all, and if I’m going to have an opportunity, I’m going to make sure I’m going to bring other people who have a lot of faith in, a lot of trust, into that experience and give them opportunities as well,” he said.

“Mr. Murder is Dead is going to be about 65-year-old guys who are trapped in a noir,” Dodson said. “Victor’s an old friend of ours who is a writer and director out of New York who’s been a huge comic book fan for many, many years, and he’s also a huge fan of noir and pulp. And he’s pulled a lot of that noir and pulp feel into the story of Mr. Murder and into the writing of it. We’re working with him on several other things as well because his writing excites us so much.”

McMillan, an actor on the HBO series True Blood, is also a huge comic book fan. “He has one of the most insane comic book collections of anyone you’ve ever seen and has been steeped in it for many, many years,” Dodson said. “And this is an opportunity for us as a company to provide something that he’s wanted to do for many, many years.”

Moosa said one of the goals was to find stories that were really original and didn’t just copy things that have already been done in comics. “We didn’t want to just do capes and superheroes, but we still wanted to be honest with the comic book audience,” he said. “But the stories we’re telling can reach out to an audience well beyond just current comic book fans. And that’s why we’re so excited about Mr. Murder. It’s going to satisfy that need for anybody who is a comic book fan, but anybody should be able to pick this graphic novel up and say, ‘This is really just a wonderful, kick-ass story that I’m really interested in.’”

And although Quinto said he is keeping the opportunity open, he’s not going to write any of the comics for now.

“We’ve talked about it. But I feel like my instincts as a writer probably lend themselves more, at this point, toward screenwriting. But Corey and I have talked about fleshing out some ideas that we’ve bandied about in the coming years,” he said. “I wouldn’t rule that out as a possibility. I think right now I’m mostly just so focused on my career as an actor and a producer that it’s going to take me awhile to get that solid under my feet before I branch off into any other arenas.”

But Dodson pointed out that all three of them have been very hands-on in the development of the projects, working with the writers in conjunction with Archaia.

“I like to tell people what to do,” Quinto laughed. “Don’t get me wrong.”

The actor said he had the opportunity to work with many comic book companies, but he feels that Archaia has the same type of goals of quality and respect for the comic book industry as Before the Door Pictures.

“We met with a lot of publishers when we made this decision,” Quinto said. “Stephen Christy and the people at Archaia were right on track with the type of things we want to do, and in terms of their ambition and growth and imagination. So we feel really grateful that they understand the types of stories we want to tell. And we look forward to telling them with them.”

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