Mac McClintock and Patrick McEvoy have come together to work on their newest project, Gorgo Legacy! Based on the old Gorgo film, this is a new 60-page graphic novel being crowdfunded through Zoop!
The Beat caught up with McClintock and McEvoy over e-mail to find out more about the crowdfunder that kaiju fans won’t want to miss out on!
DIEGO HIGUERA: Can you tell us about your inspiration for Gorgo Legacy? What drew you to create a prequel to the classic Gorgo film?
MAC MCCLINTOCK: Everyone here at Titanic Creations are huge fans of all monsters but especially giant monsters. When we were looking to grow into licensed products we really wanted to find a monster that was under-appreciated and deserving of a new lease on life. And that is how we finally settled on Gorgo and after the amazing release of our action figure last year we believe that Gorgo Legacy will greatly expand the Gorgo mythos.
PATRICK MCEVOY: We were both fans of the Gorgo movie already, it’s important to say. As a kid,I had seen the movie several times when it (infrequently) made its way to TV. The creature design and the impressive art direction always caught my eye. Admittedly, the plot is pretty derivative, but damned if they didn’t come up with a couple of real twists along the way.
The Steve Ditko/Joe Gill GORGO comics series in the ’60s then expanded this world going forward, so it seemed natural for us to elaborate on its past.
HIGUERA: What was the creative process like for developing the story and characters of Gorgo Legacy?
MCCLINTOCK: Creating Gorgo Legacy was very much a collaborative effort between the two of us. We both watched the film numerous times trying to find details that we felt were wanting to be fleshed out more. What we eventually settled on was a desire to explore Nara Island – Gorgo’s home – and better understand the people who live there.
We also wanted to connect this new story back to our previous book Soul War, from 2021. That graphic novel featured four original Kaiju that Titanic Creations had already released as high-end action figures.
MCEVOY: Since this is our second graphic novel, we’ve got a good process in place. Mac comes up with the basic plot and writes a movie-style script, while I figure out how to draw the characters, creatures and sets.
When he hands off the script, I start by working it into a comics format, adding the panel-by-panel storytelling. Then I really go crazy, adding and deleting characters and scenes, and take a pass at the dialogue.
It’s an organic back-and-forth from there, as we tease out themes and character motivations based on what these drafts tell us. Some characters do things that are a real surprise, and sometimes we have to adjust the plot to fit that.
HIGUERA: How did you approach the visual design for the kaiju and the setting of the graphic novel, particularly the isolated isle off the coast of Ireland?
MCEVOY: Since we’d already done Soul War, I wanted to essentially stick with the visual style used there – the approach to rendering the Kaiju and their world, how it was colored, etc.
The creature design was, of course, influenced by both the film and the Steve Ditko-drawn GORGO comic book series. But for the adult Gorgo-related creatures (Gorgo’s mom, who is possibly named “Ogra” in the film, and the dad) I drew heavily from the Titanic Creations Gorgo figure, so that we could tie it all together.
That sculpt was done by the awesome creature modeler DopePope. That was the design for “mom”, and for dad, I just gave him a few indicators to set him apart, like a big red fin on his head, for fun. I got to design a couple of Krakens, too. A smaller one, and a bigger, more fantasy-oriented fellow. I wanted to make them something that looked like they could stand up against an adult creature from Gorgo’s family, and be a real threat. The island was interesting.
Watching the movie several times, I saw that that there was something strange going on there. It had a few beautiful, rustic buildings, but mostly looked destroyed, which was never addressed. This gave me a lot to think about as I designed the look of our prequel.
HIGUERA: The story is set in 1953, during the Cold War. How does this historical context influence the narrative and the characters in Gorgo Legacy?
MCCLINTOCK: There is a high level of mistrust amongst the groups. We have secret agents from all over the world descending on this small Irish island and no one can really tell who is telling the truth and who has something they are hiding.
MCEVOY: The Cold War created a level of distrust that started at the governmental level, and permeated down to individuals in a pervasive way. You could say we’re experiencing that again these days, which makes it surprisingly current.
We had fun fleshing out the characters of the Soviet contingent, especially. Even though they serve as antagonists for our human characters, we made sure that they all see themselves as the heroes of the struggle, and not simple villains.
HIGUERA: Agent Benson is described as having dark visions of the future. How do these visions impact his character and the unfolding of the plot?
MCEVOY: We needed to stay away from specific diagnoses like PTSD (which wasn’t a term yet), but we made it clear that his experiences in Soul War disturbed him, even beyond the horrors of the war. He entered the mind of a malevolent intergalactic entity, and this obviously had some harmful effects on Benson.
As we start the book, we find that he’s experiencing strange and disturbing visions, which may or may not be foretelling future events. But as with most prophesies, they need a lot of interpretation, and coming to grips with just how horrific they are is a huge challenge for our hero.
MCCLINTOCK: While he fights his inner demons he can sense that not all is as it seems on Nara Island and that this place might be the key to understanding his visions.
HIGUERA: How does Gorgo Legacy tie into the original Gorgo film? Are there any direct references or characters that fans of the film will recognize?
MCCLINTOCK: The biggest tie-in is the people of Nara Island. While we do not meet the characters we see in the film we do try to encapsulate the vibe of the population and their distrust of outsiders. Along with that we have taken several unused elements from the first film and incorporated them into this book like Gorgo getting to fight a kraken!
MCEVOY: And of course, since we meet Gorgo’s mother in the final act of the film (spoilers?), that’s probably made a lot of people wonder about Gorgo’s father, so… wonder no more!
HIGUERA: What made you decide to use crowdfunding to launch Gorgo Legacy?
MCCLINTOCK: We really began being interested in crowdfunding when we launched our Gorgo figure last year and found great success with it. What we really love about the process is that it is very transparent in how it shows where funds are going and how each order helps bring a book or a product to life. It also makes fans feel like they are far more connected in the process.
MCEVOY: And as to using Zoop, in particular, I can chalk that up to word of mouth. A friend of mine, Tom Pinchuk had done a very successful campaign there for this book Remember Andy Xenon?, and had gotten me in touch with them even before Gorgo Legacy was in the cards. So when it came time to plan this campaign, they came to mind first. They offer a lot of comics-specific advantages that other crowdfunders simply can’t, so that made it the obvious choice for us.
HIGUERA: Any last thoughts, or something you want to say to fans and readers?
MCCLINTOCK: We can not wait for you to read this amazing book and hope that we are able to fund this enough so that not only can we produce this book, but will be able to continue the Gorgo story in another book next year!
MCEVOY: YEAH! If we do well here, we’ve got a lot more planned. I’m very proud of this book, and I believe it’s something fans of Gorgo, new and old, are going to love.
To find out more check out the project here!
