“The initial launch will be on KickStarter, in a hardback edition, and a year later we will release a softcover edition,” the executive editor announced during an exclusive launch session at the WonderCon conference, which concludes today in Anaheim.
“We have never done anything like this,” said Tom Moran, vice-president of production at Scott Free, explaining that creator Jesse Negron brought the idea to Ridley Scott’s production company.
The director was not present at WonderCon, but representatives stated that he is heavily involved in the designing and development of the story, set in a dystopian world in 2169.
Modville is the name of a neighborhood in New Orleans inhabited by Artificial Humans (‘mods’), androids with human skin, nails, teeth, and hair.
“They are impossible to distinguish from humans,” described Jesse Negron, who conceived the original idea and hurried to assure that this world bears no resemblance to “Blade Runner.”
As such, there are no plans to turn ‘Modville’ into a film. “This story, in its purest form, is a graphic novel,” he noted. “The material we wanted to explore is challenging.”
The protagonist of ‘Modville’ is a human named Hawtorne, who suffers from post-traumatic stress because his job involves using a machine that allows him to relive the memories of killers and victims when a crime is committed.
Additionally, Negron shared, there is a 19-year-old Artificial Human named Ema, who suddenly loses the memory of six days of her life and asks Hawtorne for help in uncovering what happened.
The team set the story in New Orleans due to its Southern Gothic atmosphere, where strange things occur and mysticism is abundant. The choice of the year was based on the idea of a nostalgic revival of the 1950s in 2150, followed by progressively worsening events in the subsequent years.
The series of graphic novels is expected to comprise eight books, each with 200 pages, with the first one already completed. Negron constructed the entire Mechanical Cake booth, which promoted ‘Modville’ at WonderCon, including an electromagnetic motorcycle that caused him issues with the city of Los Angeles. “I had it parked in front of my house and got ticketed twice for not registering the bike, which is just a prop,” he recounted, laughing.
The unveiling of this new project by Ridley Scott, who has two more series in development, “Hyde” and “Nick”, comes at a challenging time for comics, with industry changes and a censorship movement in the United States that is banning titles in schools and libraries.
This was one of the topics at WonderCon, an annual conference on comic books, science fiction, and cinema that serves as a prelude to San Diego’s Comic-Con, organized by the same group.
With thousands of participants in Anaheim over three days, many in ‘cosplay’ (dressing as characters from comics, series, movies, or video games), WonderCon showcased new projects and brought together fans and creators from various universes.
For instance, discussions included droids from the Star Wars series ‘Skeleton Crew’ and ‘Obi-Wan Kenobi,’ upcoming films and series from ‘The Lord of the Rings,’ and the third season of Amazon Prime’s animated series, ‘Invincible’, which created a sensation.
Additionally, the 11th edition of ‘Women Rocking Hollywood’ took place, providing data on women’s participation in the industry and presenting female directors’ and producers’ projects.
WonderCon began on Friday, March 28, and concludes today in the southern California city.
