Step Into the World of Comedian Books in Alex Segura’s “Alter Ego”

Alter Ego by Alex Segura

Alex Segura is a inventive pressure. The award-winning and bestselling creator has captured the respect of those that love comedian books and adventurous novels full of immersive storytelling, with followers who eagerly watch for his subsequent mission.

He has written a number of books that includes well-known superheroes, in addition to unique characters that star in a few of his hottest thriller and thriller novels. From a guide centered round a beloved Star Wars hero, Poe Dameron: Free Fall, to comedian guide tales for Marvel and DC Comics, Segura is as multifaceted as he’s proficient in relation to his craft.

Secret Identification was a runaway bestseller that gained him accolades similar to a Los Angeles Occasions E book Prize for the Thriller/Thriller class, and was chosen as each an NPR Thriller of the Yr and The New York Occasions Editor’s Alternative when it was launched.

Segura just lately launched a follow-up to this acclaimed and widespread novel. Alter Ego is a stand-alone sequel that follows Annie Bustamante, a profitable and award-winning author and artist who desires of adapting the tales of her favourite superhero, The Deadly Lynx. A transferring, at occasions humorous, touching and gripping novel, Alter Ego realistically tackles the ups and downs of the comedian guide business.

BookTrib had an opportunity to speak with Alex Segura about his various writing expertise, a love of comedian books that impressed his new novel, and what’s up subsequent for him.

A lot of your books are impressed by the world of graphic novels and comedian books, and a few have graphics added to the tales. Why did you select this inventive solution to ship tales, and the way have readers reacted to this numerous strategy?

The response has been largely constructive! I’m at all times flattered after I join with a comics reader who acquired turned on to mysteries by these novels, or vice-versa. The large concept was to have these two fantastic mediums in dialog with one another, so I’m glad it appears to be working. You get to learn the principle story through the prose, however you additionally get a really intimate peek into the unconscious of Annie or Carmen by the comics they create, and that felt very distinctive to me once we had been first developing with the thought.

You’ve written tales that includes well-known characters similar to Poe Dameron from Star Wars (Poe Dameron: Free Fall), comedian guide legend Spider-Man (Spiderman 2099-Darkish Tomorrow), and different Marvel and DC characters. Do you have got a favourite fandom? And what impressed you to jot down these tales?

I’m at all times a fan – so the thought of including to those fantastic universes is like catnip to me. I used to be a giant comics child in Miami, however I additionally liked sci-fi like Star Wars and Star Trek and pulp heroes and mysteries. I used to be a voracious reader, so I’d burn by a collection of books or comics after which go searching for the subsequent factor. 

After I write in a shared universe that I like, my first objective is to verify I get it proper – the tone, the voices, the canon – however I additionally need to add my voice in a means that feels distinctive but additionally true to my form of storytelling, which regularly revolves round character-driven tales and mysteries.

In Alter Ego, the follow-up to Secret Identification, readers will return to the world of comedian books and The Deadly Lynx, this time following a brand new protagonist. Did you at all times anticipate that one other guide would comply with Secret Identification? What had been the challenges and surprises in making a model new protagonist and premise for this stand-alone novel?

I had no concept we had been going to do one other one till near the tip of the Secret Identification course of – after I began writing a brand new epilogue to the novel that despatched readers ahead to the current day. With out spoiling an excessive amount of, that part gave me a way of what issues had been like for Carmen within the current, and opened the door for the journey of Alter Ego. However the massive problem, for me, was largely self-imposed.

 I believe the simple path would have been to only write one other thriller that immediately picked up from Secret Identification, with Carmen fixing crimes over time. However that didn’t curiosity me as a lot as making an attempt to essentially create a brand new story and thriller that was in dialog with Secret Identification – with a brand new protagonist.

 I believe sequels are very laborious, as a result of you have got the built-in expectations from the unique, so I need to subvert that in a means and create a narrative that was extra of a companion to the unique, and a narrative that might stand alone, somewhat than Secret Identification half 2.

It’s clear that range and inclusion are of utmost significance in relation to your characters and tales. Why is that this one thing that you simply prioritize in your writing?

Writing and tales ought to mirror the world we reside in. If we solely see a sure form of character – if each story stars a white male, for instance – then you definitely’re limiting your narrative alternatives – however you’re additionally telling younger readers that these are the one folks that may star in books or motion pictures or no matter. 

After I was a child, seeing a Latino hero or protagonist who wasn’t a sidekick or comedian reduction was eye-opening, and it spurred me on to jot down my very own tales. It’s necessary to me to indicate readers that tales don’t need to be only one means.

Do you have got writers and graphic artists that you simply admire and who encourage your tales?

Oh, for certain. I like the work of Los Bros. Hernandez, who do the long-running Love & Rockets comedian from Fantagraphics. Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips. Greg Rucka. Kelly Thompson. Julia Wertz. David Lapham. George Pelecanos. Megan Abbott. The checklist goes on!

What are you presently studying?

I simply began Rachel Kushner’s fantastic Creation Lake whereas on tour and I can’t put it down. Her prose and voice makes me very jealous as a author!

What’s subsequent for you within the inventive world? Is there something you can share with us?

I’m writing a Daredevil novel for Harper Avenue, that includes the Marvel Comics hero, and placing collectively a draft of my subsequent crime novel, which will probably be an organized crime standalone with a feminine protagonist.

Publish Date: December 3, 2024

Style: Suspense, Thrillers

Creator: Alex Segura

Web page Rely: 320 pages

Writer: Flatiron Books

ISBN: 9781250801777