Jack Campbell on Finding The Lost Fleet in Comics
Jack Campbell’s The Lost Fleet series is a high-water marks for military science fiction. Set a century or so into a war between two human cultures, the Alliance and their corporate enemies the Syndics, it follows the aftermath of what was planned as a decisive strike in the war. The fleet involved pick up a cryo pod en route and discover onboard Captain John Geary, a hero of the war’s early days, who has been kept in stasis since going missing years earlier. Captain Geary is horrified to discover the world that has grown up around the stories of his exploits. And the attack will not go according to plan…
Dauntless (Lost Fleet Series #1)
Paperback $8.99
Dauntless (Lost Fleet Series #1)
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Paperback $8.99
The series is a heady mix of Horatio Hornblower, Babylon 5 and Battlestar Galactica. There’s intrigue galore, massive battles, and a sense of humanity struggling to become more than it is. They’re big idea science fiction through and through, and the subsequent series are just as impressive—sequel series Beyond the Frontier, spinoff The Lost Stars, and the ongoing Genesis Fleet prequels. And now, the series has stepped across to comics with Corsair, which tells additional stories featuring John Geary in a whole new way.
The series is a heady mix of Horatio Hornblower, Babylon 5 and Battlestar Galactica. There’s intrigue galore, massive battles, and a sense of humanity struggling to become more than it is. They’re big idea science fiction through and through, and the subsequent series are just as impressive—sequel series Beyond the Frontier, spinoff The Lost Stars, and the ongoing Genesis Fleet prequels. And now, the series has stepped across to comics with Corsair, which tells additional stories featuring John Geary in a whole new way.
We recently talked to Campbell about the transition from prose to comics and what his plans are for the future.
Talk to us a little about The Lost Fleet as a series. What’s the premise?
The Alliance and the Syndicate Worlds, each made up of many stars systems settled by humanity, have been at war for a century since a sneak Syndicate attack which was partly foiled by a desperate fight led by Alliance officer John “Black Jack” Geary. Geary was presumed dead in the fight, and turned by the government into a legendary heroic figure, but now is discovered frozen in survival sleep and still alive just as the Alliance fleet launches a desperate last-ditch strike deep into enemy space. The attack is ambushed, the Alliance fleet seems to be doomed, and its leaders are killed while supposedly negotiating terms. If the fleet is to survive, Geary, who knows all too well that he is not the figure of myth the government made him into, has to try to live up to his legend, leading the surviving ships of the fleet on a long retreat through space while the Syndicate tries to catch and destroy them.
Ascendant (Genesis Fleet Series #2)
Hardcover $27.00
Ascendant (Genesis Fleet Series #2)
Hardcover $27.00
How many books have there been to date?
In the Lost Fleet universe, there have been sixteen books so far. Six in the original Lost Fleet, five in the Beyond the Frontier follow-on, four in the Lost Stars spin-off, and one in the Genesis Fleet “prequel” trilogy. The second Genesis Fleet book (Ascendant) comes out in May.
How many books have there been to date?
In the Lost Fleet universe, there have been sixteen books so far. Six in the original Lost Fleet, five in the Beyond the Frontier follow-on, four in the Lost Stars spin-off, and one in the Genesis Fleet “prequel” trilogy. The second Genesis Fleet book (Ascendant) comes out in May.
Is Corsair a good jumping on point for the series?
It has some big spoilers if someone hasn’t read the first six books, but I don’t think that’s a major problem because it only hints at the bigger story and how it worked out. It’s one thing to know an outcome, and another thing entirely to know how that outcome came to be. Corsair does give a good introduction to the Lost Fleet universe and the major powers in it, as well as some of the problems that Black Jack faced as commander of the fleet. It also gives more of an inside look at the Syndicate, serving a launching point for anyone reading the Lost Stars books.
]ean3]What led to your decision to tell this story as a comic?
Titan approached me with the idea of a Lost Fleet comic covering events that take place outside the scope of the novels, and I immediately thought about telling the story of what happened to Michael Geary. That’s one of the lingering questions in the Lost Fleet series, and this offered a new way to tell it that would let me present visuals of the universe. Keeping things fresh can be difficult after a lot of books in the same universe, and telling the story in this different format helped by adding a new dimension to the story-telling.
Has it changed how you write at all?
Not in terms of the novels, no, but it did require me to write differently for the comics. Where a regular print story depends on words to “paint” events and places and people, the graphic novel presents those things right up front. On the other hand, there’s very little room for dialogue compared to a print story. Everyone has to say only the most important things, and then in as few words as possible. And the action itself flows by use of images, but since this is a graphic novel rather than a movie or other video, the images are sort of a freeze-frame depiction of what’s happening. It requires thinking through the action and deciding where to “pause” for each graphic panel to both keep the action moving and convey the bigger picture of the flow of events. I also had to compress the space battle actions since the time those took wouldn’t fit in the graphic format.
Vanguard (Genesis Fleet Series #1)
Paperback $8.99
Vanguard (Genesis Fleet Series #1)
In Stock Online
Paperback $8.99
What’s been the thing you’ve enjoyed the most about the format shift?
Probably just the excitement of being published in comics, and writing stories for comics. I started reading with comics, back in the Silver Age, so there’s a special thrill in seeing a comic that I wrote the story for, and realizing that I’m now part of that.
What’s been the thing you’ve enjoyed the most about the format shift?
Probably just the excitement of being published in comics, and writing stories for comics. I started reading with comics, back in the Silver Age, so there’s a special thrill in seeing a comic that I wrote the story for, and realizing that I’m now part of that.
What’s been the highlight of Corsair for you?
Getting to know a different community of creators. The editors, artists, writers, and others who make graphic novels and comics come to life. The people are what makes anything special, I think, and I’ve met some great new people through this work.
What’s next for you?
My next book out will be the second book in the Genesis Fleet trilogy, Ascendant, which continues the story of how the Alliance originally formed and the roles the ancestors of some important Lost Fleet characters played in that. Ascendant comes out in May. I’m working on the third Genesis Fleet book (Triumphant) right now, after which I intend revisiting the Lost Fleet story after Leviathan. In addition to that, my agent is shopping around the first book in a new trilogy set on my steampunk meets high fantasy world. Pirate of the Prophecy is a pirate story with a post-apocalyptic feel.
The Lost Fleet books are available now. Ascendant, the next Genesis Fleet novel, is out in May 2018.