Baby Badass is back and the future is far from safe. Our dysfunctional friends in a dystopian universe all return in an all new mini-series. David Schrader was nice enough to stop by First Comics News and let us know what to expect in volume two.
First Comics News: This is Baby Badass Returns, do you have to have read volume one to enjoy volume two?
David Schrader: Not necessarily, as we recap a little before starting the new arc, but for new readers, I would recommend it since it’s picking up from where Volume One left off. It was only a three issue mini-series so not too much to catch up on, and almost all of the Kickstarter tiers include a PDF of Volume One.
1st: For anyone who missed volume one, who was Alphie Omega?
David: Alphie Omega was a powerful super soldier who died a tragic death and whose full backstory we have yet to see. M.O.T.H.E.R. (Military Organization to Harness Evolutionary Resources) used his DNA to try and create a new hybrid/clone version but things went wrong.
1st: He’s not exactly a baby, what is he?
David: He’s a thirty-three-year-old super soldier trapped in the body of a baby—a government experiment that went wrong, half-formed but bulletproof, and ultra-powerful with the strength of thirty to three hundred men, depending on his “rage range.”
1st: Who is Joey?
David: Joey is the sweet waitress from the Bearded Clam, a crazy biker bar in the New West Desert. She finds Baby Badass in the desert brush and takes him in, not knowing who and what he really is. She ends up being the conscience of the story, and the two of them share a unique, special bond that sees them through all sorts of batshit crazy adventures.
1st: What is the United States Under God like in 2043?
David: It’s a dry, desolate wasteland with pockets of habitable spaces. An asteroid hit in 2027, multiple nukes were shot at it, causing it to break apart and land all over the world, along with all the nukes that missed (it was a bad plan). So we’re about 15 years or so into a restructured world where only 10% of humanity survived.
1st: Who are the new characters for the new story?
David: We explore more of The Way Underground, the principled resistance that has a base of operations literally miles below the surface. We meet former revolutionaries like The Man Opener, Passive Aggressor, and DaFetus— the submerged star-child with salvaged brains fused together. We will meet theoretical physicist Kirt Ray Wheel, and an evil industrialist named Richard Head who transforms into a toxic, turgid titan called HardOn.
1st: What is going on with Alphie and Joey this time out
David: They understand each other a little more. Joey is in a fulfilling relationship with Myriam, the brainy Latina who is Professor Locke’s primary advisor. They are preparing a dangerous mission to kidnap Kirt Ray Wheel, the possibly brainwashed physicist that could help restore a semblance of sanity to civilization.
1st: Is this a mini-series or an on-going series?
David: Baby Badass Returns will be another mini-series. We are having some discussions about turning it into an on ongoing but will revisit once Volume Two is released.
1st: Are you going to Kickstart all three issues?
David: No – the Kickstarter is simply an advance of Issue No. 1. of Volume 2. It’s an opportunity to see it early, with exclusive covers that will only be available through the Kickstarter, including two from Dan Mendoza, creator of Zombie Tramp and Sad Girl Psycho Baby. It’s kind of a “thank you” to the people who have been kind enough to support us through this crazy journey.
1st: I notice there is only a two-week window between the time the funds are released from Kickstarter and the Digital copies are release. So this comic is finished now?
David: Almost all of the art is complete now, so we should be able to fulfill rewards in a timely manner. We are very excited to welcome new series artist Andy Taylor, who worked on Josh S. Henaman’s acclaimed Action Lab series Bigfoot: Sword of the Earthman.
1st: One of the rewards is that you can be drawn into the comic, how does that work?
David: Andy will take your image and create a character that will be in the background of one of the panels — you may or may not have dialog, and may or may not be evil, but you’ll be forever enshrined in Baby Badass lore.
1st: Do you get to approve of your image?
David: We may give you one pass at notes. Haha.
1st: Is the plan to follow up with an Action Labs edition?
David: Yes, there will be a Volume 2 later in 2019, but with this Kickstarter, we wanted to give fans something earlier and to stay on people’s radar.
1st: What is the lag time between the Kickstarter edition and the Action Labs edition?
David: We are hoping for a Fall 2019 release.
1st: What is the format?
David: It’s a traditional saddle-stitch comic book. Both the original Steranko Homage cover by Tony Donley (Albert Einstein: Time Mason) and the “On Farrah” covers by Dan Mendoza.
1st: What is the minimum price for a PDF?
David: The $5 Reward tier gets you the PDF and our sincere gratitude.
1st: What is the minimum price for a physical copy?
David: We have a great Early Bird Special for $15 that gets you the physical copy of No.1 and the PDF of Vol. 1 (issues 1-3) so you can be all caught up!
1st: I hear your auctioning off a baby, in fact, your baby, the one everyone saw you take to conventions last year?
David: We are. For the truly insane collector, we are offering the one of a kind, a hand-crafted baby doll that made the rounds of countless comic cons in 2018. Everyone loves the baby. Does someone love him enough to pay ten grand? I doubt it, but whoever does will get everything from the lower tiers as well as “guaranteed lifetime looks of disappointment from family and friends.”
1st: What other rewards are you offering?
David: Besides the exclusive Dan Mendoza covers, there are replica Baby Badass helmets made from fine Corinthian plastic and splattered with red paint that will include some of my actual blood, sweat, and tears. There are physical trade paperbacks of Volume One, oversized pages of original sequential art, and some really fun secret stretch goals — if we are lucky enough to get there.
1st: For anyone still on the fence about this comic, what makes Baby Badass so cool that no true comic fan should miss it?
David: It has something for everyone; Joey becomes the hero she never knew she was born to be while Baby Badass rampages and reflects. It’s a pop culture mashup with a unique super-antihero, a rare dystopian comedy, and a story many have said was not something they expected, but once they read it—they were totally on board.
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