FANNY GALACTIC: TUCK TO THE FUTURE takes a comedic look at time travel adventures with supervillains, wacky cyborgs, and even wackier weapons from the future. Writer Chris Fildes describes the comic as:
FANNY GALACTIC : TUCK TO THE FUTURE is a sci-fi time travel adventure about a drag queen who finds themselves plunged into a dystopian future after a terrible ‘accident’ on stage. She finds the world has changed utterly after an uprising of crazed, violent drag queens led by their sinister leader – The One. Fanny soon finds herself mixed up with a group of freedom fighters and faces deadly robots, crazed scientists and horrifying hungry mutants in her quest to get back home.
ComicalOpinions.com had a chance to catch up with Chris Fildes about the work, and he was kind enough to take our 7-Question challenge.
Without further ado, please welcome Chris Fildes.
1. For anyone who’s not familiar with you, what are the works you most want to be known for?
I’m a new comics writer based in Dublin, Ireland. Fanny Galactic is my first graphic novel. It’s a sci-fi time travel comedy with a drag queen heroine! My current goal is to write great stories with LGBTQ+ characters and themes that everyone can enjoy.
You can read more on my website at https://iamchrisfildes.myportfolio.com
It’s available to buy on Gumroad at https://gumroad.com/itsheydorothy
2. What was your original elevator pitch behind the concept of Fanny Galactic: Tuck to the Future?
An ageing drag queen finds herself plunged into a future after her wind machine explodes. She finds the world has now been taken over by other drag queens! Now she must overcome her fears to find the courage to help save it!
3. The art style looks similar to the Archer cartoon series. How did you and Ed Bentley come up with the look of the book?
I was looking for something that would capture the kind of zany futuristic parts of the book but also be able to handle the present day more grim sections too. I shortlisted a few artists I liked but Ed’s style and previous work just seemed a perfect fit. Basically I gave him some initial character descriptions and he just came back with designs that were usually 100% spot on. You can see some of these in the back of the book and they are pretty much fully formed. I described the future world as being a bit like something you’d see on 80’s sci-fi TV shows like Doctor Who and Buck Rogers or movies like Flash Gordon. The design process was very easy – Ed nailed it and bought so much to the book.
4. What was the inspiration behind the Fanny Galactic character? Is Fanny based on a real-world person?
The actual idea came to me while watching a drag show a few years ago. I noticed the much-used wind machine had seen better days and commented it could possibly blow up someday. That got me thinking – what if someone had booby trapped it? Why would they do that? What would happen next? The (strange I know) idea of this poor drag queen waking up 100 years in the future came to me immediately and the rest of the plot just flowed from there. A very odd genesis for the story I know!
Fanny is really an old fashioned British drag queen and though she’s not based on a real one at all she’s an amalgamation of many that I’ve seen in the UK and Ireland over the years. The idea is her alter-ego Derek has been doing a show in a pub in a small town for years – it pays the bills but it’s not exactly edgy and he’s bored. The town he lives in has a few other drag queens who are of the same era but they seem to be jealous of his little bit of local success.
He’s lived through it all – growing up and coming out in the 1980’s was very different. He’s dealt with rampant homophobia, losing friends to the AIDS crisis and terrible life limiting laws. All these things have improved now, but they’ve left a mark. Now as he’s getting older he’s having a crisis of confidence and isn’t sure what to do next with his life.
I wanted to create a different kind of hero. A middle-aged, working class drag queen trapped in the future is certainly that. There’s a lot of opportunity for fun, but also the chance to explore some of those weightier themes as well.
5. The compilation ends with a reference to the next adventure, 2,000 Wigs Under the Sea. Where are you in the development process for the next adventure?
The first adventure was always going to be self contained but end on a cliffhanger. It’s my love of 80’s American soap operas – I can’t resist a cliffhanger. In fact each of the 5 acts in the book has one. So the followup is half written and Ed has started drawing it. I’m really looking forward to seeing what he comes up with. The story has a couple of strands – one with Fanny in the past caught up in murder mystery at sea and another seeing what’s happening to her present day friends as the world starts to go crazy. Both these storylines then collide in surprising ways!
6. What are you most excited for readers to know about Fanny Galactic?
It is like nothing you’ve ever read before. I promise you that!
7. What’s next for Chris Fildes?
I’m spending a lot of time getting the script right for the follow up. I’m planning on running a Kickstarter for it this Autumn but I’m planning out some of the rewards well in advance. I’m working in a couple of other scripts. I have a pastiche of US American 80’s soap operas plotted out but it’s a huge project so I’m not sure when I’d be able to do it. Even though everything I write has a thick dollop of humour in it I don’t just want to write comedy adventures. I have a couple of ideas for more serious things – a psychological thriller set on the 1990’s Berlin club scene and a 1980’s set whodunnit are both ideas I’ve had for a while. On a completely different note, I’m currently playing around with a reimagining of the British legend which is going nicely. It’s very different and going to be quite surreal and experimental. I’m looking for an artist. So lots to keep busy and trying to stay focussed on one thing is the biggest challenge!
We’d like to thank Chris Fildes for taking the time to answer our questions. Having read the graphic novel (stay tuned for the review later this week), Chris certainly makes good on his promise – it’s like nothing we’ve ever read before.
If you’re interested in purchasing FANNY GALACTIC: TUCK TO THE FUTURE, it’s available on Gumroad now.
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