Project and content management for Contemporary Authors volumes
WORK TITLE: The Throwaway
WORK NOTES:
PSEUDONYM(S):
BIRTHDATE:
WEBSITE: https://michaelpmoreci.com/
CITY: Chicago
STATE: IL
COUNTRY: United States
NATIONALITY:
RESEARCHER NOTES:
LC control no.: nb2013012939
LCCN Permalink: https://lccn.loc.gov/nb2013012939
HEADING: Moreci, Michael
000 00563cz a2200193n 450
001 9296460
005 20170809075545.0
008 130624n| azannaabn |n aaa
010 __ |a nb2013012939
035 __ |a (Uk)008780665
040 __ |a Uk |b eng |e rda |c Uk
053 _0 |a PS3613.O71727
100 1_ |a Moreci, Michael
370 __ |f Chicago, Ill.
372 __ |a Comic books, strips, etc. |a Graphic novels |2 lcsh
374 __ |a Comic book writer
375 __ |a male
377 __ |a eng
670 __ |a Hoax Hunters, c2012-: |b inside front cover (Michael Moreci) inside back cover (based in Chicago)
PERSONAL
Married; children: two.
EDUCATION:Northwestern University, M.A., 2006.
ADDRESS
CAREER
Comic book writer and graphic novelist. North Shore (magazine), Glenview, IL, staff writer, 2007-10; Publications International, editor and head of “Brain Game” puzzle series, 2008-12; Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, senior writer in office of the president, 2012-16; freelance writer, 2016–. Flashpoint Academy Chicago (digital media arts college), instructor, 2009.
WRITINGS
Author of several comic book series, including (with Steve Seeley) Hoax Hunters, Image Comics, 2012-16, and Roche Limit, Image Comics, 2015-16. Other comic books include Skybreaker, IDW Publishing, 2014; (with Tim Daniel) Curse, 2015, and Burning Fields, 2016, both BOOM! Studios; (with Steve Seeley) Hack/Slash: Son of Samhain, Image Comics, 2015; Indoctrination, Z2 Comics, 2016; (with others) Suicide Squad: Secret Files, DC Comics, 2017; (with others) Black Dawn, DC Comics, 2017; Dishonored: The Peeress and the Price, Titan Comics, 2018; Wasted Space, Vault Comics, 2018; and (with others) Heart of the Amazon, DC Comics, 2018. Contributor to other comic series, including Adventure Time Comics, Archie Meets Batman ’66, Conan the Barbarian, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, The Flash, Nightwing, Superman, and Wonder Woman.
SIDELIGHTS
For ten years Michael Moreci lived a double life. By day he worked as a magazine writer, an editor, and a marketing writer for his alma mater. He channeled the rest of his energy into the wide open spaces of the comic book world.
Moreci has written for a wild array of action heroes. He got his start as a contributor to established franchises: from Archie Meets Batman’66 to Wonder Woman. “I’ve been writing for as long as I can remember,” he told the interviewer at Civilian Reader: “not a day goes by that I don’t recognize how lucky I am to be doing what I’m doing.”
By 2012 Moreci and collaborator Steve Seeley had found success with a comic book series of their own. For four years Hoax Hunters featured an oddball team of misfits whose supernatural anomalies left them with “nowhere else to go,” Moreci said in an interview at Comicosity. They appear to be debunking the hoaxes of urban legend: paranormal activity, cryptids, alien visitors. In truth, the legends are real, but the team keeps the dangerous monsters in line by pretending to expose them as hoaxes on their reality television series.
In 2015 Moreci launched the Roche Limit trilogy about a dystopian off-world colony destroyed by the flames of its own corruption, leaving behind a mysterious presence that bodes ill for any future visitors to what may have once been known as Earth. At the same time, Moreci was creating standalone comic books across a wide range of creative genres. Skybreaker is a classic western featuring a half-Sioux, half-Christian protagonist on a violent quest for revenge. Curse is a horror story about a father desperate to pay for his son’s leukemia treatments when he discovers, of all things, a werewolf in the wilderness. Burning Fields pits a disgraced female army investigator against an evil of mythical proportions in an oil field in Mesopotamia. Indoctrination sends a team of rogue FBI agents into the plains of the American Southwest to foil a terrorist plot involving sleeper cells, death cults, and an impending apocalypse.
After ten years of juggling two careers and a seemingly infinite number of creative plot arcs, Moreci received an offer that he could not refuse. He told Andrew Liptak at the Verge that “his editor called him up and asked him to write a love letter to Star Wars.” Moreci had already published a number of prose stories and, as he commented to the blogger at My Life My Books My Escape, “I’ve wanted to write a book for so long, and I’ve loved Star Wars my entire life, so to put those two together, for me, was magic.” The result was so successful that Moreci was able to end his double life and devote all of his creative energies to his muse.
Black Star Renegades
Black Star Renegades may be the ultimate tribute to the Star Wars universe, but Moreci insists that many other ingredients went into its creation–morsels from film, television, conventional fiction, even Arthurian legend. The story begins when Tristan Sura is chosen by the spiritual Rai warriors to become the next Paragon of the Galactic Alliance: to wield the all-powerful Rokura that will save the universe from evil. With Tristan’s unexpected death, the legacy passes to his brother Cade. Cade Sura is the worst possible savior of the universe: untrained, unmotivated, unwilling–and unable to escape his destiny.
Trapped by fate, Cade gathers a motley but loyal group of friends into a fighting force. They must defeat Ga Halle–the queen of Praxis who needs the mythical weapon to take over the galaxy. Cade is convinced that he is not the genuine Paragon, but he must avoid capture long enough to locate the genuine successor. In the course of his adventure, Cade discovers the true hero of the galaxy–within himself.
Some critics dismissed Black Star Renegades as derivative, but that is where Star Wars fans found its strength. Antony Jones observed at SF Book Reviews: “While most novels try to … hide their influences, Black Star Renegades smashes the reader in the face with them.” Moreci “clearly has fun telling this story,” commented John Keogh in Booklist, “and his joy is infectious.” “The pace is blistering,” Jones emphasized; despite the “derivation,” the novel exudes “the energy of a small, bright star.” Liptak summarized that Moreci has created “a genuinely entertaining adventure that understands what people love about grand struggles between good and evil.”
The Throwaway
Mark Strain is the expendable protagonist of The Throwaway. He is no paragon of virtue: a Washington lobbyist who is not above blackmail or whatever other leverage is required to deliver on his commitments to his powerful clients. But he is also a husband with a loving wife and a baby on the way. He is no spy, but the young woman with whom he is seen sharing a newspaper at the local coffee shop is, in fact, a Russian espionage agent.
Mark is abducted from his apartment in the middle of the night by federal agents and transported to Moscow to be traded for an American spy. Branded a spy and a traitor, he will never see his home again, unless he can find a way to save himself. Mark escapes from his captors and plunges through the Russian countryside in search of freedom. Speaking not a word of Russian, he manages to survive drowning attempts, savage beatings, car wrecks, and more.
“We’re caught up in what is, finally, a fast-moving, entertaining read,” reported Don Crinklaw in Booklist. A Publishers Weekly contributor predicted that “the high-speed cinematic narrative will leave the reader breathless.” At Electric Review, Bryan Zepp Jamieson explained that the novel “is full of sharp plot twists … . In terms of spy novels, that’s about as good as it gets.”
Moreci continues to explore his muse wherever it leads him, at breakneck speed. He summarized his mission at Civilian Reader: “I’m just trying to … help usher us into the world of tomorrow–and that means furthering diversity, inclusion, and trying to understand the world through the power of fiction.”
BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
Booklist, December 1, 2017, John Keogh, review of Black Star Renegades, p. 40; May 1, 2018, Don Crinklaw, review of The Throwaway, p. 38.
Publishers Weekly, January 14, 2013, review of Hoax Hunters, Book One: Murder, Death, and the Devil, p. 43; April 16, 2018, review of The Throwaway, p. 72; October 16, 2018, review of Black Star Renegade, p. 55.
ONLINE
Civilian Reader, https://civilianreader.com/ (January 16, 2018), author interview.
Comicosity, http://www.comicosity.com/ (August 2, 2012), Aaron Long, author interview.
Electric Review, https://electricrev.net/ (July 11, 2018), Bryan Zepp Jamieson, review of The Throwaway.
MBR Bookwatch, http://www.midwestbookreview.com/ (February 1, 2018), Michael Dunford, review of Black Star Renegades.
Michael Moreci website, https://michaelpmoreci.com (September 1, 2018).
Multiversity Comics, http://www.multiversitycomics.com/ (February 8, 2016), Brian Salvatore, author interview.
My Life My Books My Escape, https://mylifemybooksmyescape.wordpress.com/ (January 22, 2018), author interview.
SF Book Reviews, https://sfbook.com/ (March 23, 2018), Antony Jones, review of Black Star Renegades.
Verge, https://www.theverge.com/ (January 13, 2018), Andrew Liptak, review of Black Star Renegades.
Westfield Comics Blog, http://www.westfieldcomics.com/ (September 1, 2018), author interview.
16463218_10154901570099463_2115575656026627958_o.jpg
Bio:
Michael Moreci is the creator of numerous original comics series and has written and collaborated on multiple established properties. His most recent original works, Roche Limit (Image Comics) and Burning Fields (BOOM! Studios), were both recognized by many publications as being among the best comics of 2015. Roche Limit was called the “sci-fi comic you need to read” by Nerdist and io9, and Paste Magazine named it one of the “50 best sci-fi comics” of all time.
In 2018, Moreci's debut novel, Black Star Renegades, will be released with St. Martin's Press. Drawing inspiration from the space operatics of Star Wars and the swagger of Guardians of the Galaxy, Black Star Renegades is a galaxy-hopping adventure that blasts its way from seedy spacer bars to sacred temples guarded by strange creatures--all with a cast of misfit characters charged with saving the world. A follow up is slated to be released in 2019.
Moreci is also the author of Curse (BOOM! Studios), a modern-day werewolf story, which is in film development with Blumhouse Productions. His crime-noir series, ReincarNATE, has been optioned for television by Patrice Théroux and Buck Productions with David Hayter (writer of the first two X-Men films, as well as the Watchmen adaptation) attached as showrunner. His Image Comics series Hoax Hunters is currently in development for television with Craig Tittley (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.) attached as the showrunner.
A graduate of the DC Comics Writer's Program, Moreci has published the Suicide Squad, Green Lantern, Wonder Woman, Flash, and Superman stories. He also wrote the in-canon comic series that bridges the gap between Rise of the Planet of the Apes and Dawn of the Planet of the Apes. His other licensed property credits include Conan the Barbarian, Dishonored, The Shadow, Army of Darkness, and Robocop.
Moreci's second novel, an espionage thriller titled The Throwaway, will be released in June of 2018 from Forge Books.
Additionally, Moreci also writes for LucasFilm, contributing to StarWars.com, and he is a regular contributor to Tor.com. A Star Wars obsessive, Moreci has released a Star Wars comics anthology the past two years; in total, they've been downloaded over 60,000 times.
Moreci has been profiled by USA Today, Nerdist, Comics Alliance/AOL, Comic Book Resources, and the Hollywood Reporter.
He lives in Chicago with his wife, two children, and his dog (who looks like Chewbacca on four legs).
Education: Northwestern University, M.A., 2006.
North Shore (magazine), staff writer, 2007-10;
Publications International, editor and head of Brain Game puzzle series, 2008-2012;
Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, senior writer in office of the president, 2012-16;
freelance writer, 2016--.
Flashpoint Academy, Chicago, IL, instructor, 2009;
About Michael Moreci
Michael Moreci is the creator of numerous original comics series and has written and collaborated on multiple established properties. His most recent original works, Roche Limit (Image Comics) and Burning Fields (BOOM! Studios), were both recognized by many publications as being among the best comics of 2015. Roche Limit was called the "sci-fi comic you need to read" by Nerdist and io9, and Paste Magazine called it one of the "50 best sci-fi comics of all time." A regular contributor at DC Comics, Moreci has written Superman, The Flash, Wonder Woman, and more.
In prose, Moreci just completed the first novel of his sci-fi series, Black Star Renegades, which will be published in January 2018 with St. Martin's Press. In June 2018, Forge Books will release his spy thriller, The Throwaway. He's currently writing the sequel to Black Star Renegades.
He lives in Chicago with his wife, two children, and their dog.
Visit Michael at michaelpmoreci.com or twitter.com/MichaelMoreci.
Interview: Writer Michael Moreci Dishes on HOAX HUNTERS
Interviews News Top StoriesAugust 2, 2012
The truth is out there….yes, that line has been used…but, y’know what? Sometimes it just fits. With Michael Moreci and Steve Seeley’s Hoax Hunters, it fits perfectly. Hoax Hunters focuses on myths that well, aren’t. The terrors that are actually out there are more dangerous than you’d expect and the Hoax Hunters are there to make sure they don’t overstep their bounds. Co-Writer Michael Moreci took time to discuss how the series came to be, who the characters are and what you can expect from Hoax Hunters.
Aaron Long: This series isn’t the first appearances of the Hoax Hunters, you had a stint as backup stories in Hack/Slash… do you remember how the concept for the series was developed?
Michael Moreci: Did you ever here those stories about musicians working in the studios for weeks on end, trying cobble together an album, then one day—poof!—inspiration strikes and they record their biggest hit in fifteen minutes? That’s kind of the story behind Hoax Hunters.
Steve and I had both been banging our heads against the wall, trying to get projects off the ground, individually and together. Personally, I’d been writing comics for a number of years up until the inception of Hoax Hunters, but had yet to catch my “break.” Tim (Seeley) offered us the backup slot in Hack/Slash, and we literally had about a month to produce a workable comics story. It was only three pages, sure, but we had nothing, no story, no creative team.
Not to be deterred, Steve and I got right to work. The foundation of the series rested in Steve’s creation, Murder, and mine, Ken Cadaver. Somehow we got to talking about out affinity for reality television shows in the vein of Fact or Faked, Mythbusters, etc. And, I don’t know, in the manic rush to build a story, Hoax Hunters was born.
Luckily, after running the first installment, we had a little bit of time to catch our breath and say, “okay, what now?” We treated the backup run like a monthly series, spending countless hours building our universe—character bios, mythology, histories, future hoaxes, everything. We never really took our foot off the gas, even though we had no idea whether we’d get an opportunity to tell more Hoax Hunters stories or not. Fortunately, that devotion paid off, and we’re adequately equipped to manage an ongoing series.
AL: Jack, Regan & Ken are unique individuals, to say the least. Straight from the architect’s mouths, how would you describe these characters? What drives them through the series?
MM: Here’s the breakdowns I’ve just written (which will likely appear on the inside front cover of future Hoax Hunters issues)—they’re crafted to explain the basics of the characters without giving away too much info:
The leader of the Hoax Hunters, Jack Lawson is a highly-trained former FBI agent. Jack’s father also was a Hoax Hunters, and that history brought into the organization.
Regan Tate was a rising child actress who obtained stardom after suffering a demonic possession on the set of what became her final film. The experience left her with unusual powers.
Murder was an American astronaut who underwent a metamorphis when he encountered an energy right in space. His human consciousness is now shared with crows.
A former NASA scientist, Ken Cadaver was the unwitting subject to reanimation technology—technology he developed. He survives on his brain activity, which also gives him telepathic abilities.
As for what drives them through the series, I think what we’ll come to find are individuals who, for one thing, because of their unusual circumstances, have <
AL: How did Axel Medellin become involved with the series?
MM: Pretty simple: we asked him! I know it sounds like a no-brainer but, from my experience, you never have that kind of luck finding an artist. When JM had to step down, Steve and I created a wish list of potential artists that would work for the type of story we wanted to tell. At the very top of that list was Axel—he was the first (and only) person we asked to step in as the full-time Hoax Hunters artist.
Steve and I had both just finished reading 50 Girls 50, which showed us not only how skilled Axel is, but how perfect he was for Hoax Hunters. He drew ridiculously bad ass monsters, and his character work is phenomenal. So we pursued him—which basically means we sent him an email. As luck would have it, he responded and loved what we were doing with Hoax Hunters. We were able to agree to terms we were both happy with, and after a few issues, I think I can safely say that both Steve and I couldn’t be more thrilled to be working with Axel. He’s immensely talented, hard-working, and a great guy. We’re very fortunate.
AL: With any ongoing that is relatively new I’m always curious to know if the writers have an endpoint already defined. With issue #2 about to hit stores, do you know how the series will end?
MM: That’s a great question, because I always think there’s that reader trepidation of, “do they [the creators] actually know where this is all leading?” LOST ushered in the era of serialized, cerebral mysteries, but kind of killed it as well—no one wants to get burned like that again.
That being said, I can reveal this: We have a point that the story is heading towards. A definite, epic point. Now, there will be some pit stops along the way; our format is mythology mixed with freak-of-the-week weirdness. But, as for this particular narrative point, it’s going to take us at least 20+ issues to get there. So along the way, we may figure out a way to continue the story beyond this point—in fact, I already have some ideas. For the time being, though, that’s what we’re working towards. It may be an end point, maybe not; at the very least, it’ll be an enormous game-changer for the Hoax Hunters universe.
AL: I have to ask….who/what the hell is the astronaut?
MM: Haha…we get asked that all the time. We covered his origins in issue #0, to a degree, but there’s still more Murder story to tell. Basically, Murder was an astronaut back in NASA’s heyday. He was sent on a secret ops mission to spy on alleged Russian space activity. On this mission, he encounters an energy rift in the universe. Unfortunately for the astronaut soon-to-become-Murder, there was a crow on board his spacecraft; when the craft hit the energy rift, the astronaut melded consciousness with the crow, thus forming Murder. He was lost in limbo until the energy rift was again opened, in present day.
AL: Any final words for Comicosity’s readers regarding Hoax Hunters?
MM: I’d say just your typical boilerplate urging to ask you LCS to order and stock the book. Honestly—and I’m not trying to inflate the book’s popularity—but we’ve had numerous reports of retailers selling out of issue #0 and #1 on the first day. And while this is great on the surface, what it means is that anyone who went to those shops on Thursday or beyond got turned away empty-handed. Those are all readers lost. What this means is retailers are, in some cases, under-ordering. And I get it—it’s a new book from unproven creators. But that’s why you have to tell them you want the book, so they’ll have more confidence in stocking it.
Other than that, I really want to stress how unique Hoax Hunters is. We’ve gotten stellar reviews (which you can see some collected here http://hoaxhunterscomic.blogspot.com/2012/07/not-convinced.html) and I think what is striking a chord with people is the freshness of what we’re doing. It’s not a superhero story, there are no zombies, no assassins, no over the top violence. We’re striving to make something smart, fun and, again, unique.
JAN 22 2018
LEAVE A COMMENT
INTERVIEW
AUTHOR INTERVIEW: MICHAEL MORECI
Today I am interviewing Michael Moreci, author of the new science-fiction novel, Black Star Renegade.
◊ ◊ ◊
DJ: Hi Michael! Thanks for agreeing to do this interview!
For readers who aren’t familiar with you, could you tell us a little about yourself?
Michael Moreci: Sure, and thanks for having me!
So, hi everyone. I’m Michael. DJ’s right; my debut novel just came out, on January 2 to be exact. Before that, I was known for my work in comics. There, I’ve written series like Roche Limit, Hoax Hunters, and Burning Fields; I’ve also written for established characters like Superman, The Flash, Conan the Barbarian, The Shadow, and more. I live just outside Chicago with my two sons (I’m a stay at home dad), wife, and our dog.
DJ: What is Black Star Renegades about?
Michael: It’s a space adventure centering on a young guy named Cade Sura who, through certain circumstances (I don’t want to spoil anything!) comes into possession of a mythical, powerful weapon. He’s a terrible choice for this responsibility, but if he doesn’t figure out a way to use the weapon, then Ga Halle–the queen of the evil Praxis kingdom–will take it from him and use it to complete her tyrannical control over the entire galaxy. Along with a group of friends–Kira, Mig, and 4-Qel, all misfits just like Cade–Cade sets a course to upend the fate that’s been shoved into his hands and create a new future for the galaxy.
DJ: What were some of your influences for Black Star Renegades?
Michael: Star Wars, obviously, is a big one. But there’s a pretty wide range things that have touched BSR in different ways.I guess it would be best to break it down into categories, so here goes:
Literary influences: John Scalzi, Brandon Sanderson, and Timothy Zahn
Film/TV influences (the book is fairly cinematic): Buck Rodgers, Flash Gordon, Battle Beyond the Stars, Guardians of the Galaxy
Everything else: Mass Effect, Dune, Star Trek, The Book of Three, Arthurian legend
DJ: Could you briefly tell us a little about your main characters? Do they have any cool quirks or habits, or any reason why readers with sympathize with them?
Michael: I love these characters so much–happy to talk about them. The main character is Cade, who is kind of a slacker, in a sense. He’s brash, he’s a little cocky, and he’s certainly too cavalier about things. But underneath that is someone who’s really insecure and harboring a lot of pain–he’s suffered a lot of losses in his life, and he uses levity and arrogance as a shield to protect himself from being hurt in any way. He’s made it his point to skirt responsibility, to never be asked to do much of anything–but when fate comes calling, he has to realize that the world doesn’t disappear when you close your eyes. It’s still here, and it needs heroes. Heroes like Cade and his friends.
Speaking of Cade’s friends, possibly my favorite character is Kira, the hotshot pilot–headstrong and as tough as can be–who teams up with Cade to defeat the evil Praxis kingdom. Like Cade, Kira is also harboring deep wounds, but she’s channeled her trauma into being the best she can be–the best pilot, best commander, best agent in the fight against evil. She’s smart, she’s cool, and she’s got a terrific sense of dark humor.
Last, but not least, is Ga Halle, the queen of the Praxis kingdom. I love writing villains, and Ga Halle’s as big and as bad of a villain as I’ve ever crafted. What’s best about her, though (in my opinion), is that she’s a totally believable villain. Meaning, we get why she’s bad–what drove her to be bad. I don’t agree with why she’s done what she’s done (causing suffering across the universe, embracing being a tyrant), but when I look at her story, I understand what drove her down that path. That’s the kind of villain that I love; no one is the bad guy of their own story, and that’s certainly the case with Ga Halle.
DJ: What is the world and setting of Black Star Renegades like?
Michael: I try to keep it simple when it comes to planets and worlds, all of that geographical stuff. Like Star Wars, the worlds are all habitable and have their own unique characteristic (my favorite, personally, is Dotax, the ice world that has a cool character to it that I don’t want to give away). If this was hard sci-fi, I’d get deeper into the science of things, but it’s not that kind of book. Every place is habitable to the myriads of the galaxy’s races, and that’s just the way it is.
There’s a governing body, the Galactic Alliance, but we don’t see much of them. The real power of the galaxy resides in two powers–Praxis, the evil kingdom, and the Well, the peacekeeping corps. The two sides balance the galaxy’s power, though when the book starts, one power is overwhelmingly assuming more power. It’s a universe that’s very much in peril.
DJ: What was your favorite part about writing Black Star Renegades?
Michael: I’m not even kidding–all of it. Start to finish, I had the time of my life writing this book (and its sequel). I know that sounds like the most generic answer, but it’s true. <
DJ: What do you think readers will be talking about most once they finish it?
Michael: Well, what I hope they talk about how much fun the book was. You know, it’s funny, because I never read comments. I’ve been working in comics for years, and a lesson I’ve learned is to stay away from comment sections. And not just because the discourse can get so nasty, but because that’s not the place for the author to be lingering around. But–I broke my rule, and I’m glad I did because I saw one comment in particular that made me really happy. Someone had said–and I’m might be getting this a little wrong, but I believe I’m close–that the book was a lot of fun, that it was popcorn entertainment. I fully, totally embrace that. This person went on to say how not everything needs to be dystopian, and I agree–levity is a-ok with me. Does that mean Black Star Renegades is shallow? Absolutely not. But what drives the story is fun–it’s a rollicking, fast-paced, energetic book that moves fast and, hopefully, takes readers on a great ride.
DJ: Did you have a particular goal when you began writing Black Star Renegades? Was there a particular message or meaning you are hoping to get across when readers finish it? Or is there perhaps a certain theme to the story?
Michael: For sure! I think the biggest message was that of unity, that of realizing that we’re all heroes–or have the potential to be heroes–and we can all make a difference in our world. It’s funny, because The Last Jedi–and, again, Star Wars is a huge influence on me–tapped into similar ideas, this whole thing that the Force is in us all, and it takes each and every one us pulling in the same direction, utilizing our talents, working hard and true, to make the best possible world. It’s not one lone savior–be it Luke, Rey, whomever–who’s going to make solve all our problems. We’re better when we’re together, equal and united. That’s huge in the book (and it carries over into book two as well).
DJ: When I read, I love to collect quotes – whether it be because they’re funny, foodie, or have a personal meaning to me. Do you have any favorite quotes from Black Star Renegades that you can share with us?
Michael: This is actually the one question I’m going to skip–not because it’s a bad question, it’s not. But I’m very self-conscious about my work, and it’s hard for me to look back on it once it’s done. No quotes come to mind, and I’m not enthusiastic about digging back into the book. Apologies : /
DJ: Now that Black Star Renegades is released, what is next for you?
Michael: Mainly a constant state of worry over how the book is received.
Kidding, kidding…sort of.
Being serious, I have a very full year. My next project is Wasted Space, a Philip K. Dick-inspired sci-fi comic that’s launching in April through Vault Comics. I have a couple as-of-right-now secret projects with DC Comics. I’m currently wrapping up a pitch for what I hope to be my next series of novels, a teen fantasy series. And then, come early 2019, the second Black Star Renegades book comes out (which I’m about to start working on with my editor)!
DJ: Where can readers find out more about you?
Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/Michael-Moreci/e/B00ACO6XBO/ref=dp_byline_cont_book_1
Author Newsletter: https://mailchi.mp/24e6681ac9cf/email-sign-up
Blog: https://michaelpmoreci.com/blog/
Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/search?authors=Michael+Moreci&search=Michael+Moreci
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/michael.moreci
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4611286.Michael_Moreci
Twitter: https://twitter.com/MichaelMoreci
Website: https://michaelpmoreci.com/
DJ: Before we go, what is that one thing you’d like readers to know about Black Star Renegades that we haven’t talked about yet?
Michael: I really want people to know that the journey the book is taking them on is a fun one. Our world…it’s not easy right now. It’s dark, it’s troubling, it’s a lot of unpleasant things. Black Star Renegades, in a way, is an antidote, at least for a little while. I want readers to be compelled to turn the page and see where the story goes next, to be taken along on this ride and walk away feeling that they enjoyed what they read–that it was fun, exciting, and joyful. Simple as that.
DJ: Is there anything else you would like add?
Michael: I’m good, this was fun!
DJ: Thank you so much for taking time out of your day to answer my questions!
Michael: Thank YOU, DJ! I had a great time with this, and I really appreciate you being willing to talk with me!
◊ ◊ ◊
*** Black Star Renegades is published by St. Martin’s Press and is available TODAY!!! ***
Buy the Book:
Amazon | Barnes & Nobel | Goodreads | Kobo
◊ ◊ ◊
About the Book:
Cade Sura holds the future of the galaxy in his hands: the ultimate weapon that will bring total peace. He didn’t ask for it, he doesn’t want it, and there’s no worse choice to wield it in all of space, but if he doesn’t, everyone’s totally screwed. The evil Praxis kingdom is on the cusp of having every star system under its control, and if that happens, there’ll be no contesting their cruel reign. Especially if its fanatical overlord, Ga Halle, manages to capture Cade and snag the all-powerful weapon for herself.
Cade can’t hide from Praxis, and he can’t run from the destiny that’s been shoved into his hands. So he only has one option:
He has to fight.
Cade’s not going to let destiny send him on a suicide run, though. With some help from his friends—rebels and scoundrels alike—Cade’s going to use this weapon to chart a new destiny for the galaxy, and for himself. He just has to do so before everyone around him discovers that he’s a complete and total fraud.
About the Author:
Michael Moreci is the creator of numerous original comics series and has written and collaborated on multiple established properties. His most recent original works, Roche Limit (Image Comics) and Burning Fields (BOOM! Studios), were both recognized by many publications as being among the best comics of 2015. Roche Limit was called the “sci-fi comic you need to read” by Nerdist and io9, and Paste Magazine called it one of the “50 best sci-fi comics of all time.” A regular contributor at DC Comics, Moreci has written Superman, The Flash, Wonder Woman, and more.
In prose, Moreci just completed the first novel of his sci-fi series, Black Star Renegades, which will be published in January 2018 with St. Martin’s Press. In June 2018, Forge Books will release his spy thriller, The Throwaway. He’s currently writing the sequel to Black Star Renegades.
He lives in Chicago with his wife, two children, and their dog.
Visit Michael at michaelpmoreci.com or twitter.com/MichaelMoreci.
Interview with MICHAEL MORECI
January 16, 2018 Civilian Reader InterviewBlack Star Renegades, Comics, Fiction, Michael Moreci, Most Anticipated 2018, Sci-Fi, St Martin's Press
MoreciM-AuthorPicLet’s start with an introduction: Who is Michael Moreci?
I am the man behind the curtain, the eye in the sky watching us all.
Kidding, kidding. First and foremost, I’m a dad. I stay at home with my two boys, and they are my life to a very profound degree. After that, I’m a writer. I’ve been writing professionally (or at least close to professionally) for a few years now; I got my start in comics, creating/writing books like Roche Limit, Burning Fields, Hoax Hunters, Curse, and more. I’ve also been lucky enough to write for established characters like Superman, The Flash, Wonder Woman, Conan the Barbarian, The Shadow, to name a few. Now, I’ve written a novel. Writing books has always been my passion; I’ve been writing prose since I was a teenage and followed that all through college and graduate school. Finally, around two years ago, I got my break and, viola, Black Star Renegades was born.
Your new novel, BLACK STAR RENEGADES, was recently published by St. Martin’s Press. It looks really interesting: How would you introduce it to a potential reader? Is it part of a series?
I would introduce Black Star Renegades as a space adventure novel in the spirit of Star Wars, Guardians of the Galaxy, Flash Gordon, things like that. It tells the story of Cade Sura, a young man who, circumstantially, comes into possession of a powerful weapon. He’s not the best choice to have it, but if he doesn’t figure out how to make the most of having this thing, then the entire galaxy is in danger of falling into the hands of the evil Praxis kingdom. It’s fun, it’s lighthearted — someone recently called it a beach read for nerds, and I totally agree.
And it is part of a series. I just turned in the first draft of book two last month!
MoreciM-BlackStarRenegadesUS
What inspired you to write the story? And where do you draw your inspiration from in general?
My main source of inspiration is Star Wars. It’s how this book was born. I’m a huge, HUGE Star Wars fan (I actually write for StarWars.com) and those films have taught me pretty much everything I know about storytelling. It’s impacted me in a profound way since I was a kid, on a personal level, and it will forever be my muse. Black Star Renegades follows in its tradition, we’ve been upfront about that in the marketing, but I also think it deconstructs the tradition a bit as well and is very much its own thing as well.
SW-ChewieBrushBack
How were you introduced to genre fiction?
I was lucky enough to have really liberal parents who pretty much let me watch whatever I wanted as a kid. And seeing that I was the youngest kid on my block, I was exposed to quite a bit of things that were way over my head when I was very little. I started playing video games when I was like four, I saw Friday the 13th for the first time when I was six; I remember, clearly, seeing The Search for Spock at a drive-in, also when I was four, and of course, I started watching Star Wars when I was around the same age. Genre, to say the least, has been in my blood ever since I was aware of the world around me, and it’s never left. From there, it grew to books, particularly when I was twelve and I discovered the expanded Star Wars universe (I’ll never forget reading Zahn’s Thrawn trilogy) and extended into high school when my English teacher handed me a copy of Vonnegut’s Sirens of Titan.
MoreciM-IntroToSFF
How do you like being a writer and working within the publishing industry?
I love it. I totally love it. <
Do you have any specific working, writing, researching practices?
The best practice I have is that I simply write a lot. I write and write and write. I’m a particularly fast writer, but I’m a dedicated one, and I think that’s the best practice of all. Writing is a job; I don’t believe in inspiration or being moved by the muses. You get in the chair, and you get to it, knowing most of what you do is going to be pretty bad and will take a lot of reworking. But that’s the gig. It’s okay to not be good so long as you don’t let it stop you. I mean, heck — you can be a baseball player and fail seven out of ten at-bats and still be considered a success (a .300 batting average is very good, for those who don’t know). So it goes with writing. You just have to keep stepping up to the plate, time and time again, knowing three out of time isn’t so bad.
When did you realize you wanted to be an author, and what was your first foray into writing? Do you still look back on it fondly?
PressfieldS-WarOfArtSince I was a kid, as far back as I can remember. I know it sounds cliché, but it’s the truth. I’ve always, always wanted to tell stories. <
What’s your opinion of the genre today, and where do you see your work fitting into it?
Genre has never been better, particularly if you’re looking at mainstream accessibility. I mean, genre movies own the box office right now, and the stigma often associated with genre reading is diminishing every day. You can see people on a train reading Scalzi or Bradbury or Robert Jordan, Sanderson, whoever, and it’s not looked down upon as a lesser form of art of entertainment. It’s a great time to be writing this type of fiction, to be creating these worlds. Like so many other genre writers,<< I’m just trying to>> do my best work and craft stories that are compelling, that have something meaningful to say, and, like most good sci-fi,<< help usher us into the world of tomorrow — and that means furthering diversity, inclusion, and trying to understand the world through the power of fiction.>>
Do you have any other projects in the pipeline, and what are you working on at the moment?
Oh, so many projects, The life of a writer! Right now, I have a new sci-fi comic series coming, called Wasted Space. It’s kind of Preacher by way of Philip K. Dick. That comes in April. After that is a spy novel I wrote, which is due out in June. Black Star Renegades II is due in early 2019. And, at the moment, I’m working on a new series of novels, a teenage fantasy series, which I hope to get going in earnest very soon.
MoreciM-WastedSpace01
What are you reading at the moment (fiction, non-fiction)?
I’m currently juggling a few novels: Furies of Calderon by Jim Butcher, Her Body and Other Parties by Carmen Maria Machado, and I’m continuing my journey to finish reading Wheel of Time.
MoreciM-Reading
If you could recommend only one novel to someone, what would it be?
Whoa — this is a tough (and great) question. I’d say Slaughterhouse-Five. No novel, in my opinion, is more human, funnier, moving, and entertaining as Vonnegut’s masterpiece. It’s wildly accessible, life-affirming, and just plain beautiful.
VonnegutK-SlaughterhouseFiveUK
What’s something readers might be surprised to learn about you?
I was once blind in my left eye! Well, I was blinded. I got shot right in the eye with a paintball gun, and my vision WAS GONE. Took a couple of surgeries to bring it back — thank goodness for modern medicine.
What are you most looking forward to in the next twelve months?
You know, I just to want to get a foothold in the publishing world and do everything I can — everything possible — to ensure that I can continue to tell stories, to write novels, for a long, long time. I love what I do, and I never want to stop.
*
Michael Moreci‘s Black Star Renegades is out now, published by St. Martin’s Press — it is also available in the UK.
Follow the Author: Website, Goodreads, Twitter
INTERVIEW: MICHAEL MORECI & STEVE SEELEY ON IMAGE’S HOAX HUNTERS
This Post is Filed Under:
Home Page Highlights, Interviews and Columns
Hoax Hunters #1Hoax Hunters #1
Michael Moreci and Steve Seeley are the writers behind Hoax Hunters from Image Comics, which originally appeared in Hack/Slash. Those backup stories were recently collected as Hoax Hunters #0. Now, the book launches as an ongoing series from Image Comics and Westfield’s Roger Ash spoke with Moreci and Seeley to learn more about the book.
SPECIAL OFFER! Every copy of Hoax Hunters #1 pre-ordered through Westfield will be signed by Moreci & Seeley!
Westfield: What is Hoax Hunters about and where did the idea come from?
Steve Seeley: The easy and quick pitch for Hoax Hunters is that it’s “MythBusters meets X-Files“.
With that being said, it is about a reality type television show that investigates the strange happenings of the world, whether it be paranormal, cryptozoological, or alien. Like MythBusters, the show “busts” or disproves the events and presents them to the public as hoaxes. In reality though, the group covers up the happenings and attempts to keep society oblivious and to keep the world of the weird hidden.
The idea came from an amalgamation of a few of Mike’s and my ideas. We see Hoax Hunters as a compelling and fun story that plays off of both or our strengths and knowledge and at the same time it’s a way for us to pay homage to the stuff we grew up on.
Westfield: Who are the main characters in the series?
Michael Moreci: The leader of the Hoax Hunters is Jack, a former FBI agent with a mysterious past—one that’s deeply entrenched in the workings of the Hoax Hunters organization. He’s the anchor the Hoax Hunters team needs. Despite his own personal issues, he’s the rock everyone else relies on. Keep in mind, the Hoax Hunters are people whose existences are founded on deceit and isolation; Jack is the glue that holds them all together when times get tough. We’ll learn a lot more about Jack in the first arc—his past is about to erupt into his present in a major way.
Regan is a former child star who literally became possessed by dark spirits. The experience left her with, let’s say, unusual abilities (which will be explained in time!). On the surface, she’s the eye candy of the Hoax Hunters television show, but to the team dynamic, she’s much, much more. I’d call her the heart of the team.
Then there’s Ken Cadaver, a former NASA scientist who was reanimated from the dead. He’s the cerebral member of the team—the calculating, pragmatic scientist. He has a special power of his own, which again we’ll explore in future issues. Just know for now that dying and coming back from the dead doesn’t come without certain advantages.
And then, of course, there’s Murder. An astronaut made of crows who is kind of alive…but kind of dead at the same time. We have a lot of fun, interesting things planned for Murder. He’ll be given more depth than one would anticipate, I think.
Michael Moreci (left) & Steve Seeley (right) at a recent signing at Westfield Comics East.Michael Moreci (left) & Steve Seeley (right) at a recent signing at Westfield Comics East.
Westfield: What can readers look forward to in the story?
Seeley: A lot. Mike and I have a pretty large story to tell. We like to say its gonna be equal parts action/adventure, horror, and sci-fi, with hopefully a (very small) touch of comedy.
Before we began writing #0, we knew we wanted to do something grandiose. Something that we could take our time in both flushing-out and solidifying. We are pretty confident we accomplished that.
Westfield: You two are co-writing the book. How do you work that? Who does what?
Moreci: Steve usually tricks me into meeting at our studio, then locks me inside with demands for completed pages in exchange for my release. Funny that I’ve fallen for this ploy dozens of times…
No, we work diligently together in all aspects of the story. It’s great having a combo because, in my mind, it strengthens the work. We get together and talk things out in such detail, which as a solo writer, you’re only doing mentally. Verbalizing ideas and story beats really fleshes them out, at least for us, in a effective way. We’re very intense about getting the story straight—down to many of the fine details—before sitting down to actually write the script. When that time comes, it’s usually me that translates our story into script form. Steve’s more of the idea guy; I’m the nuts and bolts storyteller.
Westfield: What can you say about the artist you’re working with on the book?
Seeley: JM Ringuet did issue #0. It was a pleasure working with him, but when it came time to expand our comic to an ongoing, he had to step down due to other projects. After some searching for the perfect artist we found Axel Medellin , who has brought great life into our story. He’s an extremely talented and dedicated artist and both Mike and I look forward to working with him.
He also currently does the art on Elephant Men for Image. Beautiful stuff.
Westfield: Are there any other projects you’re working on that you’d like to mention?
Moreci: We have a lot of projects on our plates, in various forms of production. We just released a short comic with Double Feature called “The Omega Family.” It’s a throwback story—kind of Space Family Robinson by way of Jack Kirby. Tom Scioli handled the art duties, and his work is absolutely incredible. I cannot praise him enough.
Individually, I’m currently operating a Kickstarter drive for my graphic novel, Reincar(Nate). It’s a crime noir book in the vein of Chew with the visual look of Drive. It’s being released digitally with Viper, but the Kickstarter drive is an effort for the artist, Keith Burns (a tremendous talent), and I to print it on our own.
Steve is always working on his painting in one form or other—he regularly has shows all across the country, and his work keeps getting better and better.
Westfield: Any closing comments?
Moreci:: All I can is that Steve and I really believe in Hoax Hunters; we’ve worked incredibly hard to craft a well-told story, and I think readers will respond to what’s there. There’s a lot of craziness in the pages to come, but a strong human story is in there as well. Give the series a chance, you’ll be glad you did!
Purchase
Hoax Hunters #1
Michael Moreci Talks Quitting His Day Job to Write Full Time
By Brian Salvatore | February 8th, 2016
Posted in Interviews | 0 Comments
Michael Moreci is a creator that has been building a reputation as one of the smartest and hardest working writers in the business. From “Hoax Hunters” to “Roche Limit” to “Burning Fields,” Moreci has been carving out his corner of the comics world while working a full-time job at Northwestern University. Well, at least until now.
Due to signing a book deal to write two novels for St. Martin’s Press, Moreci is beginning his life as a full time writer. Sometimes, I think we forget that many of the folks who write the comics we love so much don’t have the ability to do that as their full time job. Maybe that is news to some folks reading this article, but it is the reality for many of the writers out there (it is a little different for artists, because of their work requiring more time on the job).
Because of this, we felt it would be interesting to check in with Mike about how leaving his day job will affect him as writer, both of comics and of prose.
Photo by Megan Byrd
First of all, congratulations are in order – it is a big deal to be able to quit your day job and dedicate yourself to writing full time. Was there a specific opportunity made this possible?
Michael Moreci: Thanks! This is a loooooong time coming. I think I’ve been working towards being a self-sustaining freelancer for the past five years or so. And that’s just in the sense of it being a realistic goal. I’ve wanted to be freelance writing forever, but easier said than done (as I’ve painfully learned over the years!). What really enabled this is this book deal, to be honest. Books are a much different animal than comics in so many ways, so once this deal became a reality (which I can still hardly believe sometimes) I knew it was time to cut ties with my day job. Not only am I better prepared to do it financially, but writing two novels is going to take a lot of concentrated focus on my part, and I want to give these books my all–I feel like I owe a great debt to my editor, the awesome Marc Rescnick, and I’m determined to make good on the chance he’s taking on me.
Is this deal a straight prose deal, or will these be graphic novels?
MM: These are straight prose. Which isn’t anything new to me. People know me for my comics work–which is great–but I also have a pretty long history in prose fiction writing. I’ve published a good number of short stories, and I actually have a master’s in creative writing from Northwestern University (where I wrote a horrible novel for my dissertation). So, thankfully, I’m not too far in the deep end with this endeavor. I’m in the deep end, no doubt, but I may be able to doggy paddle my way out.
Because of the new deal, will that change your monthly comic output at all? I could see it either freeing you up to write more, or limiting your releases due to focusing on the St. Martin’s material.
MM: I might, a little, but not much. The factor of not having a day job is literally going to free up like 50 hours a week for me, which is an outrageous amount of time in my mind. I’ve managed to be pretty prolific while working full time for the past ten years and having two kids, so if I can juggle all that, I think I can maintain a good clip. Or, the newfound time turns out to be a crippling albatross, and I totally freeze up and produce absolutely nothing at all. There’s always that possibility.
Finally, tell us about the first of the new books in greater detail. What can folks expect, and when can we expect it?
MM: You’re definitely not going to see much of a departure from my voice as a comics writer to my voice as a novelist. These books I’m writing–which mark the beginning of a series and, hopefully, a huge universe (I already have three spinoff novels in mind)–are pretty well in line with the work I’ve done in comics. They’re sci-fi, fun, with a bit of brain candy and strong characters. The description likening it to Star Wars is pretty appropriate, and I’m happy–thrilled–to embrace that inspiration. Anyone who knows me knows that Star Wars is one of my very favorite things in the world, so writing a story that, in some ways, follows in its footsteps is a dream come true. The first book should be out in 2017, with the next one following right after it. To say I’m excited might be the understatement of 2016.
More from Multiversity Comics
2016 in Review: Best Publisher
Fabian Rangel Jr. On His Newest Kickstarter “Blood Brothers”
Fabian Rangel Jr. On His Newest Kickstarter “Blood Brothers”
Ibrahim Moustafa Is On The Hunt In “Jaeger”
Ibrahim Moustafa Is On The Hunt In “Jaeger”
“Plastic Man” is a Long-Time Coming For Gail Simone
“Plastic Man” is a Long-Time Coming For Gail Simone
Share on
Share on Facebook Share on Tumblr Share on Twitter
Brian Salvatore
Brian Salvatore is an editor, podcaster, reviewer, writer at large, and general task master at Multiversity. When not writing, he can be found playing music, hanging out with his kids, or playing music with his kids. He also has a dog named Lola, a rowboat, and once met Jimmy Carter. Feel free to email him about good beer, the New York Mets, or the best way to make Chicken Parmagiana (add a thin slice of prosciutto under the cheese).
EMAIL | ARTICLES
8/7/2018 General OneFile - Saved Articles
http://go.galegroup.com/ps/marklist.do?actionCmd=GET_MARK_LIST&userGroupName=schlager&inPS=true&prodId=ITOF&ts=1533700400414 1/7
Print Marked Items
The Throwaway
Don Crinklaw
Booklist.
114.17 (May 1, 2018): p38.
COPYRIGHT 2018 American Library Association
http://www.ala.org/aboutala/offices/publishing/booklist/
Full Text:
The Throwaway.
By Michael Moreci.
June 2018. 320p. Forge, $25.99 (9781250065018); e-book, $12,99 (9781466871502).
Mark Strain is a Washington, D.C., lobbyist, no better than he has to be. He's not above blackmailing a
senator to clinch a sale. He has a pretty wife, a nice apartment in the District, and a baby on the way. A spy?
Nonsense. But those government men in the van across from the coffee shop are keeping an eye on pretty
young Ania, who is a Russian spy. They notice that Ania and Mark often share a table. And they see them
passing a folded newspaper back and forth. Soon men in tactical gear are breaking down the door, and
Mark, to his utter despair, is shipped to Moscow to be swapped for an American spy. Author Moreci
attempts to mix a conspiracy novel with an actioner, and it works most times, though we wonder how Mark
manages to survive car crashes, near-drownings, and ferocious beatings and still turn up for the next
chapter. Still, we don't wonder all that much because<< we're caught up in what is, finally, a fast-moving,
entertaining read>>.--Don Crinklaw
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
Crinklaw, Don. "The Throwaway." Booklist, 1 May 2018, p. 38. General OneFile,
http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A539647261/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=958b4224.
Accessed 7 Aug. 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A539647261
8/7/2018 General OneFile - Saved Articles
http://go.galegroup.com/ps/marklist.do?actionCmd=GET_MARK_LIST&userGroupName=schlager&inPS=true&prodId=ITOF&ts=1533700400414 2/7
The Throwaway
Publishers Weekly.
265.16 (Apr. 16, 2018): p72.
COPYRIGHT 2018 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
Full Text:
The Throwaway
Michael Moreci. Forge, $25.99 (320p) ISBN 9781-250-06501-8
Washington, D.C., lobbyist Mark Strain, the driven hero of this exciting thriller from Moreci (Black Star
Renegade), refuses to take no for an answer and will do anything to help his clients achieve their goals,
including the use of a little judicious blackmail. He knows he has made a few enemies, but nothing prepares
him for the ordeal that lies ahead. He and his pregnant wife are awakened one morning by a band of armed
federal agents, who accuse him of being a Russian spy. He's hauled away without benefit of a trial or an
explanation of the charges, and soon finds himself on a plane heading to Moscow in the company of an
aging Russian intelligence officer, who explains that Mark can never go home again because the world now
knows him as a traitor. Once in Moscow, Mark manages to escape and is soon careening through the
Russian countryside, dodging bullets and bad guys, all the while asking himself why this is happening to
him. <
(June)
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
"The Throwaway." Publishers Weekly, 16 Apr. 2018, p. 72. General OneFile,
http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A536532707/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=a824a1cf.
Accessed 7 Aug. 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A536532707
8/7/2018 General OneFile - Saved Articles
http://go.galegroup.com/ps/marklist.do?actionCmd=GET_MARK_LIST&userGroupName=schlager&inPS=true&prodId=ITOF&ts=1533700400414 3/7
Black Star Renegades
Michael Dunford
MBR Bookwatch.
(Feb. 2018):
COPYRIGHT 2018 Midwest Book Review
http://www.midwestbookreview.com
Full Text:
Black Star Renegades
Michael Moreci
MichaelPMoreci.com
St. Martin's Press
175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010
www.stmartins.com
9781250117847 $27.99 hc / $14.99 Kindle amazon.com
Synopsis: Cade Sura holds the future of the galaxy in his hands: the ultimate weapon that will bring total
peace. He didn't ask for it, he doesn't want it, and there's no worse choice to wield it in all of space, but if he
doesn't, everyone's totally screwed. The evil Praxis kingdom is on the cusp of having every star system
under its control, and if that happens, there'll be no contesting their cruel reign. Especially if its fanatical
overlord, Ga Halle, manages to capture Cade and snag the all-powerful weapon for herself.
Cade can't hide from Praxis, and he can't run from the destiny that's been shoved into his hands. So he only
has one option: He has to fight.
Cade's not going to let destiny send him on a suicide run, though. With some help from his friends?rebels
and scoundrels alike? Cade's going to use this weapon to chart a new destiny for the galaxy, and for himself.
He just has to do so before everyone around him discovers that he's a complete and total fraud.
Blending the space operatics of Star Wars and the swagger of Guardians of the Galaxy, Black Star
Renegades is a galaxy-hopping adventure that blasts its way from seedy spacer bars to sacred temples
guarded by deadly creatures? all with a cast of misfit characters who have nowhere to go and nothing to
lose.
Critique: Black Star Renegades is a sweeping science fiction epic, chronicling war, rebellion, and desperate
hope. A band of misfit heroes determined to change the seemingly doomed fate of the galaxy and turn the
tides of war form the character-driven core of this star-spanning space opera. Highly recommended,
especially for connoisseurs of the genre! It should be noted for personal reading lists that Black Star
Renegades is also available in a Kindle edition ($14.99).
Michael Dunford
Reviewer
8/7/2018 General OneFile - Saved Articles
http://go.galegroup.com/ps/marklist.do?actionCmd=GET_MARK_LIST&userGroupName=schlager&inPS=true&prodId=ITOF&ts=1533700400414 4/7
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
Dunford, Michael. "Black Star Renegades." MBR Bookwatch, Feb. 2018. General OneFile,
http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A530828749/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=897e43bd.
Accessed 7 Aug. 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A530828749
8/7/2018 General OneFile - Saved Articles
http://go.galegroup.com/ps/marklist.do?actionCmd=GET_MARK_LIST&userGroupName=schlager&inPS=true&prodId=ITOF&ts=1533700400414 5/7
Black Star Renegades
John Keogh
Booklist.
114.7 (Dec. 1, 2017): p40.
COPYRIGHT 2017 American Library Association
http://www.ala.org/aboutala/offices/publishing/booklist/
Full Text:
Black Star Renegades.
By Michael Moreci.
Jan. 2018. 384p. St. Martin's, $27.99 (97812501178471; e-book, $14.99
(9781250117830).
Rai brothers Cade and Tristan Sura are elite warriors dedicated to keeping peace. Tristan is destined to
become the Paragon, wielder of a legendary weapon that can protect civilization from an evil empire
threatening to take over the galaxy. But when Tristan dies, Cade is stuck with the weapon--and saving
civilization. Problem is, he doesn't want the job. Moreci's debut novel is a delightful mash-up of genre
tropes: a reluctant hero, swashbuckling space adventure, martial arts, an evil empire, a scrappy band of
outcasts, and a sentient killer robot. It's a loving ode to the science fiction Moreci grew up with. The pacing
is fast and exciting, strong on action and generous with humor. Moreci's writing style could stand to be a bit
more sophisticated; he doesn't fully adapt to prose from his beloved work in comics (Roche Limit, 2015).
But he <
Star Wars community will be looking for this one.--John Keogh
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
Keogh, John. "Black Star Renegades." Booklist, 1 Dec. 2017, p. 40. General OneFile,
http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A519036253/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=06ee2f76.
Accessed 7 Aug. 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A519036253
8/7/2018 General OneFile - Saved Articles
http://go.galegroup.com/ps/marklist.do?actionCmd=GET_MARK_LIST&userGroupName=schlager&inPS=true&prodId=ITOF&ts=1533700400414 6/7
Black Star Renegade
Publishers Weekly.
264.42 (Oct. 16, 2017): p55.
COPYRIGHT 2017 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
Full Text:
Black Star Renegade
Michael Moreci. St. Martin's, $27.99 (384p) ISBN 978-1-250-11784-7
Moreci (the Roche Limit comics series) delivers a story that recalls his work for the Star Wars franchise: it
brims with exotic locales, weird aliens, an evil empire, and a Jedilike hero with a cohort of misfits. Cade
Sura and his older brother, Tristan, spent 10 years studying to be Rai warriors, planning to defend the
Galactic Alliance from Praxis and its evil Queen Ga Halle. Certain that Tristan is the legendary Paragon,
their teacher, Ser Jorken, sends them to recover an ancient weapon called the Rokura--but a Praxis assassin
murders Tristan. Cade, escaping with the Rokura, is now assumed to be the Paragon, but he's not reconciled
to that role, and neither is the sentient artifact. On the run from Praxis forces, Cade assembles a crew of
oddballs who set off to find the real Paragon and take out the War Hammer, a planet-killing Praxian space
ship. Moreci's sci-fi adventure delivers plenty of action for fans willing to overlook the unoriginal story.
Agent: Jason Yarn, Jason Yarn Literary. (Jan.)
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
"Black Star Renegade." Publishers Weekly, 16 Oct. 2017, p. 55. General OneFile,
http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A510652890/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=d9c0372c.
Accessed 7 Aug. 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A510652890
8/7/2018 General OneFile - Saved Articles
http://go.galegroup.com/ps/marklist.do?actionCmd=GET_MARK_LIST&userGroupName=schlager&inPS=true&prodId=ITOF&ts=1533700400414 7/7
Hoax Hunters, Book One: Murder, Death,
and the Devil
Publishers Weekly.
260.2 (Jan. 14, 2013): p43.
COPYRIGHT 2013 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
Full Text:
Hoax Hunters, Book One: Murder, Death, and the Devil
Michael Moreci and Steve Seeley. Image, $14.99 trade paper (160p) ISBN 978-1-60706657-6
A lost astronaut comes back to earth embodied by a murder of crows. A demon roams the Pine Barrens
seeking a perfect game of hide and seek. A moth-man searches the world for the romance of rock and roll.
In this new series, the creatures of nightmares are real, but a team of monster hunters is working very hard
to cover them up in the most novel way possible: by exposing them as hoaxes on TV. While the concept of a
team of monster hunters working to cover up supernatural events is inescapably reminiscent of BPRD
comics (and countless others), the TV angle is an interesting twist, allowing Moreci and Seeley to create an
atmosphere of mystery, while commenting on the absurdities of supernatural reality TV. The artwork
changes with the aesthetic of each based on the story line. In a gritty post-Cold War spy story, the lines are
heavy and anarchic; in a hilarious coda about a lonely mothman, it shifts to something reminiscent of the
Sunday funnies. Overall Hoax Hunters: Book One is a promising start to a series that guarantees plenty of
variety and humor mixed into its darker action. (Dec.)
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
"Hoax Hunters, Book One: Murder, Death, and the Devil." Publishers Weekly, 14 Jan. 2013, p. 43. General
OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A315370270/ITOF?
u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=b9d9bb65. Accessed 7 Aug. 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A315370270
Black Star Renegades by Michael Moreci
a review by Ant, in the genre(s) Science Fiction. Book published by Saint Martin's Press in February 2018
Cade Sura finds himself in the unenviable postion of having within his hands the galaxies ultimate weapon. A weapon that promises to bring about peace from the Evil Praxis Kingdom and it's fantatic overlord Ga Halle.
Cade never wanted such responsibility and would do anything he can to get away from it. But with Ga Halle about control every star system in the galaxy, Cade doesn't have a choice, he's going to have to fight.
<
It embraces the big science fiction tropes and borrows heavily from other science fiction stories - not least from Star Wars.
For me, this is where the difficulty lies - I've spent many an hour trying to read through derivitive fiction that is trying hard to pretend it isn't. To read something that stands up and shouts about how much it borrows from others is difficult to get past. This isn't Star Wars fan fiction, but borrows so heavily from this and others such as Guardians of the Galaxy and even Lord of the Rings, that it struggles to show it's own identity.
An evil empire, a frightened republic that puts all it's hope in a hero from humble origins wielding a legendary weapon. The author does little to break the mold.
It does have to be said that the whole thing does have a great deal of energy about it. <
Taken as a spoof of other fiction the book does work, as long as you don't expect to take anything too seriously and accept that will have heard most of it somewhere before.
I can imagine Black Star Renegades to be polarising, almost the marmite of science fiction. If you can get past the <
Written on Friday 23rd March 2018 by Antony Jones.
BOOK REVIEW
NEW ADVENTURES
BOOKS
Black Star Renegades is a loving homage to Star Wars
9
For fans of The Martian and Ready Player One
By Andrew Liptak@AndrewLiptak Jan 13, 2018, 10:00am EST
SHARE
Photo by Andrew Liptak / The Verge
Stop me if you’ve heard this one before. A young man discovers that he’s destined for greater things in the galaxy, joins a mysterious, semi-religious order that act as the guardians of peace in said galaxy, and finds himself fighting an oppressive, genocidal regime bent on controlling the collective, galactic civilization. If that sounds like Star Wars, you’d be right, but it’s also the plot of comic book author Michael Moreci’s debut novel, Black Star Renegades. The book is a conspicuous tip-of-the-hat to George Lucas’ space opera franchise, and it’ll appeal to fans of Ernie Cline’s easter egg-laden novel Ready Player One.
In the book’s acknowledgements and elsewhere, Moreci recounts that<< his editor called him up and asked him to write a love letter to Star Wars>> — a pulpy, exuberant adventure that captured the spirit of the franchise. The result is a book that is recognizably inspired by Lucas’ story, but an enjoyable read in and of itself.
Black Star Renegades does just that. It opens with two brothers, Cade and Tristan, running away from a gang on the planetoid Kyysring. They’re rescued by a mysterious, sword-wielding man named Ser Jorken, a master in an order of spiritual warriors known as the Rai. He recruits them into the order, and the pair learn that one of them is destined to become the Paragon, a legendary figure who can control an unstoppable ancient weapon known as the Rokura. When they go to retrieve the Rokura a decade later, they’re attacked by agents of the evil Praxis Kingdom, who kill Tristan and leave Cade to wield the weapon and become the Paragon.
If you’ve seen Star Wars, you can probably guess where the story goes from here. Cade becomes the Rokura’s reluctant wielder, and is pursued by the Praxis and its leader, Queen Ga Halle (who, like Darth Vader, wears a suit that keeps her damaged body alive). Cade and his misfit band of friends come together to keep the Rokura out of enemy hands, and stop the Praxis’s plan to dominate the galaxy. And like Star Wars, Moreci has created a world that is ripe for further adventures, ending the book with a definite conclusion, but makes it clear that we’ll see more from these heroes again.
There’s been a small movement of self-aware genre novels in recent years. Some are directly referential, like Ernie Cline’s 1980s love letter Ready Player One or John Scalzi’s Star Trek meta-homage Redshirts. Others take on genre themes more broadly, like Lev Grossman’s nuanced fantasy series The Magicians, or his twin brother Austin Grossman’s books about superheroes and gaming, Soon I Will Be Invincible and You.
Black Star Renegades fits somewhere in the middle of these. Every page is loaded with references to Star Wars: there are world-destroying super weapons, mythical orders of warriors, exciting space battles, and plenty of wise-cracking heroes. But the book is self-aware about showing those influences while remaining entertaining in its own right. Cade and his friends rocket around the galaxy, rolling with the punches as they’re attacked by the Praxis and uncover unexpected twists that rock their worldview, such as the true origins of the Praxis Kingdom and its agents.
Moreci’s book is what I’d characterize as a sort of beach read for nerds — like Ready Player One or Andy Weir’s The Martian and Artemis. It’s a lighthearted, nostalgic novel that focuses on vibrant characters and adventure, built out of recognizable parts from the likes of Star Wars, Guardians of the Galaxy, and Arthurian legend. As such, it’s <>. Black Star Renegades is geek comfort food for when you want to sit back and just enjoy the ride.
Michael Moreci’s The Throw Away
THE THROW AWAY. Michael Moreci. Tom Doherty.
Cover courtesy of Tom Doherty.
A favorite protagonist in spy novels is the “Poor Schlub,” hereinafter referred to as the PS. The PS is some guy who gets catapulted into a vast, dark, conspiratorial mystery in which the major players are vague, malign presences, while allegiances shift like Jello in a blender, In sum, the universe is reduced to hoping Arthur Dent can fix the mess, or at least spackle it. In such fiction, most PSes extricate themselves more-or-less by accident, tripping over a plot device while running with scissors, subsequently stabbing the supervillain, who was cleverly disguised as a common house cat. And just like that the world gets saved.
But not all PSes are utterly gormless. Some, in fact, are quite gorm-ful, and that usually makes for a more interesting story. Heinlein’s “Glory Road” is a good example of this kind of story. If “Scar” Gordon were just some witless surfer dude from Santa Monica, it wouldn’t be a very good book. But Gordon turns out to be resourceful, and eventually becomes a hero – ensuring the continuation of the known universe in addition to Heinlein’s career as a writer.
In Michael Moreci’s The Throw Away, the PS-protagonist is a Washington lobbyist named Mark Strain. He is a young, sleek, professional, and very good at his job. In the high-stakes world of Washington lobbying, that means he is determined, resourceful, and more than a little bit vicious.
In the story, his wife one day suddenly announces she’s pregnant, which turns Strain misty-eyed and leaves him thinking about a quiet life in Virginia. But first, he has to blackmail this one Senator. Not surprislingly, the very next day he is grabbed by men in black, and soon finds himself on a CIA plane bound for Russia, to be returned to the Russian government as part of a spy swap.
There’s just one problem. He is not, and never has been, a Russian spy. He has no contacts with Russia, no interest in helping Russia, and doesn’t even speak the language – something that doesn’t seem to impress the governments of either country, which respectively brand him a traitor to America, and a national hero to all the Russias. The fact that Russia has decided to so lionize him is the only thing keeping him alive, but that’s not a very tenable situation, and it won’t continue. Mark Stain knows he has to up his game from “Arthur PS” to “Gordon Hero,” and he has to do it fast.
Moreci’s The Throw Away <
by Bryan Zepp Jamieson
© Bryan Zepp Jamieson. All rights reserved.
Bryan Zepp Jamieson was born in Ottawa, Canada and raised in London. He has lived in the Mount Shasta area since 1990, which he regards as the finest place on earth. Jamieson has spent the past 25 years as a graphic layout technician, web designer and writer, with over a thousand essays, a dozen short stories, and two novels – Ice Fall and Snow Fall – to his credit. In addition to his wife of 30-plus years, he normally lives with a dog and several cats, none of whom are impressed by him. Reach him through The Electric Review.