Hound Of Love
Storm Kids make a return visit to Hades with Fetch Book Two
STEMMING FROM A conversation writer Mike Sizemore had with Storm King Comics CEO Sandy King, Fetch demonstrates the lengths people will go to for their four-legged friends. Illustrated by Dave Kennedy, the middleschool-age graphic novel series begins with 12-year-old Danni traveling to Hades to rescue her late dog, Pirate.
“The bare bones of the core idea had been rattling around in my head for a while,” Sizemore tells Red Alert. “Sandy’s dog had recently passed away so we were talking about our pets when I said, ‘I have a story that would be perfect for Storm Kids…’ and it was greenlit there and then.”
Sizemore was raised on a diet of Ray Harryhausen’s movies, and Fetch embodies his childhood love of Greek mythology – especially Homer’s Odyssey. “Odysseus is such a fun character because he’s a bit of a doofus,” he laughs. “He’d have been home in half the time if he didn’t keep messing up.
“So I had this idea that while the other Homeric heroes would have gone straight to the Elysian Fields, maybe Odysseus somehow never got there. From there, teaming him up with Danni was just obvious.”
Sizemore also taps into his long-time love of 2000 AD. “Its influence is in everything I do,” he says. “With Fetch, we have a strong female lead, some crazy sidekicks and a Hero with a capital H, which are all 2000 AD mainstays.”
FRESH HELL
Sizemore has added a contemporary edge to the ancient legends. “I wanted to get away from the dark cavernous idea of the Underworld and also put a splash of modern colour on its inhabitants, so in my version of Hades and Olympus the gods have cellphones and Charon drives a cab. It’s bright, lush and colourful, perfect for a kid’s adventure.”
Described by Sizemore as “an old soul for sure,” Danni experienced some dangerous situations in Book One: The Journey, which stand her in good stead for upcoming second instalment Book Two: The Rescue. “She did a lot of growing up after her dog died and also feels responsible for her younger brother, Sammy, who is autistic,” says Sizemore.
“I kind of put her through the wringer in Book One by unexpectedly, and literally, dropping Sammy into the adventure with her and then teaming her up with a slightly unreliable guide. She certainly grows in character, but by the end of the first book, she’s in tears yet more determined than ever. I’ve already had feedback from younger readers who love her and Sammy and hate that I left them on a cliffhanger, so I can’t wait to hear what they think of the next book.”
As Sammy is taken hostage by Hades himself, Danni is plunged into even more peril in The Rescue. “I’ve kept the classical references light in Book Two as I wanted the characters we’ve already met to have space to develop rather than introduce another pantheon of gods and monsters,” he adds.
Fetch Book Two: The Rescue is out on 8 May.