AfterShock First Look: CAMPISI: The Dragon Incident #1

‘CAMPISI: THE DRAGON INCIDENT’ is a genre-mashing comedy-thriller that plays like one part Get Shorty, one-part Dragonslayer, and all parts absurdly wonderful!

AIPT

April 27, 2021

Sonny Campisi is a small-time fixer for the mob-controlled neighborhood of Green Village. If you don’t pay your gambling debt, he’ll come and collect. If you get a little rough with one of “the girls,” he gets a little rough with you. But when a dragon flies into town and Sonny is the one who’s tasked with getting rid of it, it’s a problem unlike any he’s ever faced, and a chain of events begins that will affect everyone who lives in that neighborhood. Especially Sonny.

A new comic by James Patrick, the writer of KAIJU SCORE, and breakout artist Marco Locati, CAMPISI: THE DRAGON INCIDENT is a genre-mashing comedy-thriller that plays like one part Get Shorty, one-part Dragonslayer, and all parts absurdly wonderful!

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CAMPISI: The Dragon Incident #1

Writer: James Patrick
Artist & Colorist: Marco Locati
Letterer: Rachel Deering
Cover: Fran Galán
Incentive Cover: Marco Locati
/ $4.99 / 32 pages / Color
On sale 8.11.21

For more on this upcoming series, read below!

JAMES PATRICK ON WHAT THE BOOK IS ABOUT AND WHY HE IS EXCITED FOR IT TO BE RELEASED:

“The book is about a dragon that flies into a Brooklyn-like neighborhood which is controlled by the mob and how it’s the job of the local fixer, Sonny Campisi, to get rid of it. Sonny prides himself in being a problem solver, but this is a situation he’s never faced. And as the story progresses, the situation with the dragon begins to uncover some things about the neighborhood that the people who live there don’t want to confront.

And I’m excited for it to be released because this book has been bouncing around in my head for awhile and has had a long conceptual development. It took me a bit to get the balance of it right and now it’s time to throw it out there. I’m also excited because it’s a spiritual follow up to Kaiju Score, which I also did with AfterShock, and that went over very well. So, you know, maybe this carves out a little niche for me. And when I say spiritual follow up I mean it in that, like Kaiju, it mixes the crime genre with a monster element. And hopefully also like Kaiju Score, it’s more than just a hook. We’re shooting for a unique execution that makes it stronger than just its concept.”

JAMES PATRICK ON SOME OF HIS INSPIRATIONS BEHIND CREATING THE BOOK:

“Well, I love the Godfather and Goodfellas. The “mob” or “gangster” movie is iconic. But I also was an Italian growing up in Youngstown, Ohio, which for a long time was a notorious organized-crime area. One of the last in the country while other places and that type of life went away. But not Youngstown. It has a long history of infamous gambling spots and car bombings and that life extended into the decade of my childhood. I was never in it, but it was around me. A lot of people had weekly betting slips, there were card games – and so you had this part of that world which trickled into everyday life there. Which was just normal. And that’s what I find fascinating – not just the “hits” in movies like Godfather – but how does that mix with where you live in a way that becomes normal but isn’t normal everywhere else. That’s why in this book I didn’t want Sonny Campisi to be some amazing hitman, I wanted him to be the guy who comes to visit you when you’re late paying your bets or if your music is too loud and you’re waking the neighbors.”

JAMES PATRICK ON (3) REASONS WHY COMIC READERS SHOULD PICK THIS BOOK UP:

“Firstly, Marco Locati’s art is amazing and just perfect for the kind of street-view that this book has, and it’s mixed with an urban energy. Secondly, I’d say if they like Kaiju Score I think they’ll like this. I’ve tried to give it that blend of style, humor, and drama. And thirdly is I have kids I need to send to college someday.”

JAMES PATRICK ON HIS APPROACH, AS A CREATOR, TO WRITING COMIC BOOKS:

“It’s messy. Creatively, my starting points for stories are always different. But in the end it comes down to me having some idea that inspires me and trying to execute it as honestly and as entertainingly as I can. Then it’s trying to meet deadlines while making the best product possible. When it comes to structurally, I don’t sit down every day at a certain time for a certain amount hours and do my writing, then take my vitamins, then answer emails in the next block of time; I try to ride the lightning when I can when it comes to the writing and get all my other non-writing stuff done when I can. Which can be a nightmare sometimes.”