and I are still great friends and we still work together to this day.
We actually have a new miniseries project slated to be released
at the beginning of next year titled: Science Is Magic!
SP!: HOW DID YOU GET INVOLVED WITH BEN DUNN’S WARRIOR
NUN AREALA CHARACTER?
AZ: I had been submitting to numerous comic book companies
for years. Going back to 1984, I was thirteen and these were submissions typed on an old typewriter or handwritten, then snailmailed. There was no email or internet at that time. Jump ahead
a number of years and, as I continued to submit to all of these
companies, the comic book industry expanded into the small
press and independent arenas. As well, new opportunities to
connect with comic book professional began to open with the
beginning of the internet and the ability to submit electronically
and through email. Seeing a new opportunity for submitting, I
started reaching out to these smaller companies. One of them
was Antarctic Press and I was able to make contact with Ben. As I
continued to submit, he saw something within my writing. He was
actually solely instrumental in my getting that first professional
break on the four-issue crossover miniseries between Warrior Nun
Areala (Antarctic Press) and Razor (London Night Studios). As a
result of the success of that miniseries, I was offered the opportunity to write the ongoing adventures of Warrior Nun Areala at
Antarctic Press. It is still something that I am extremely proud of!
I wish I could revisit the character, since I have so many untold
adventures!
SP!: HOW DID THIS WORK INFLUENCE YOUR PROGRESSION AS
A WRITER?
AZ: I feel strongly that my work on Warrior Nun Areala helped
me to progress further as a writer, because I am always striving
to do my best. I mean, looking back at some of those stories and
re-reading them, I notice things that I would do differently now.
But you can’t go back and change those things, you just have to
learn from them and apply that lesson to whatever you write next.
It is always about learning and adapting and growing as a writer
and a creator. If you stop progressing, your work becomes stagnant and you lose that passion, that spark, which spurred you in
the first place. Everything you work on helps you to progress to
the next step in your process as a writer. You are always building
on what you did in the past, standing on your own shoulders, so
to speak, as you continue into the future.
signature graphic novel. This is a project that I am especially proud
of. There was a lot of research that was necessary and it deals with
and delves deeply into Chinese history, mythology and zodiac.
The protagonist of Empyreal is Jin Hu. Only months old, Jin was
left on the steps of the Hao Yun Orphanage, located in the town of
Fuzhou, in the Fujian Province. He was left with only a gold amulet
containing a picture of his mother inside and a note asking the
orphanage to care for Jin and the amulet. Jin lived the first seven
years of his life in the orphanage and on one fateful winter night,
a lone marauder, the mythical and pure evil Zhenyang Liang (red
eyes) razed the orphanage, burning it to the ground and murdering everyone inside. Before he was done, Zhenyang Liang stole
Jin’s amulet and left him for dead. In truth Zhenyang, is the human
form of the demon Yao Mo Jin, Empyreal’s antagonist. Recovered
from the ashes by Shang, a traveling monk, Jin was the sole survivor of this culling. Shang nursed Jin back to health on the way
back to Fujian Temple. Once there, Shang raised Jin like a son and
trained him in the art of tiger-style kung-fu.
SP!: INKWERK STUDIOS IS CREATING A LOT OF CONTENT
IN DIFFERENT GENRES. LET’S TALK ABOUT YOUR CURRENT
PROJECTS. CAN YOU TELL US A LITTLE ABOUT YOUR GRAPHIC As our story begins, Jin, now 21, is a troubled soul. He is restless
NOVEL, EMPYREAL: THE LEGEND OF JIN HU?
with questions about his past—who is he, where did he come
from, and what is his purpose in life? He still remembers the
AZ: Sure! It would be my pleasure. EMPYREAL is our 132-page burning red eyes of the marauder Zhenyang Liang. Jin needs
SELF PUBLISHER MAGAZINE 2015
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