"Do the crime, do the time" takes on a whole new meaning in LIFE – a superb new sci-fi series which launches today from DSTLRY. Created by the all-star team of 100 Bullets creator Brian Azzarello, current Phoenix writer Stephanie Phillips, DMZ artist Danijel Žeželj, and colorist Lee Loughridge, the series presents an innovative spin on the crime story.
LIFE takes the form of a flipbook, with each side following a different character. In one, ex-con Bobby dreams of a fresh start, but he is inevitably pulled back into taking a dangerous final score – a heist that may prove fatal. In the other, mass murderer CJ, nicknamed "the Cassanova Killer", is sentenced to live out 32 full-term life sentences – and he'll feel every minute of them.
Newsarama: Brian, Stephanie, congratulations on the excellent first issue of LIFE! I'm interested to know where the idea to present this comic as a flip book came from and how that informed the two main stories you're telling here?
Brian Azzarello: Why thank you. The idea for LIFE actually came from two ideas and probably a couple beers at Cigar City Tap Room in Tampa. Stephanie was telling me about a project she was looking to develop – a futuristic, interplanetary heist story. As she explained her tale, it dawned on me that an idea I was working on, which dealt with prisoners forced to serve out multiple life sentences, could be grafted to hers, so I mentioned it. Lucky for us she felt the same as I did – maybe even more excitedly. I think she was the one who came up with the flip-book idea as something that DSTLRY would be into. She understands what gets Chip and David gung ho.
Stephanie Phillips: That all sounds about right. It's something we spent a long time working together before bringing it to DSTLRY and making it real. It's exciting to finally see it in print and out in the world.
The book has two protagonists, Bobby who is taking on the fabled "one last job" and the Cassanova Killer – an unrepentant murderer. What can you tell us about these two very different characters?
Azzarello: Well, Bobby wants out of the life, but agrees to the job to make his partner in crime Jax happy and rich, probably in that order. Bad decision, heart in the right place. CJ – The Cassanova Killer… he's heartless and incredibly charismatic. A lethal combination that landed him in prison hundreds of years ago and led him up the ranks to top dog. He's always working an angle to get what he wants.
Phillips: Right, and there are times where you will both like and hate all of these characters in equal measure. I think that makes the questions we're asking about justice even more impactful as we question our own relationship and understanding of the characters.
The ethics of criminal punishment are a clear theme here. How does LIFE explore this theme and what drew you to telling this story?
Azzarello: Well that's a question that's been struggled with forever. How does a moral society deal with immoral people? And who's to say what's immoral in the first place? Is the death penalty immoral? Is life imprisonment moral? What if the ability existed to keep criminals alive and imprisoned for hundreds of years to live out their sentences? Does that make immortality immoral? My head hurts…
This is both a prison break and a heist story. Does mashing these two genres together give you the opportunity to tell a new kind of crime story?
Azzarello: Is there a new kind of crime story? Maybe A.I., maybe. I think what we're doing is a new kind of setting for a crime story. The interplanetary aspects, the living your multiple life sentences, that kind of stuff. But at the heart of every crime story is an ego and a mistake. Been that way since Cain murdered his brother.
This is your first time writing together. How does your collaboration work? Did you take one half of the book each, or did you each work on both stories?
Phillips: It's a mix. We work really closely on all of it, switch parts as needed, and try to go back-and-forth on different scenes for Danijel. It's definitely unlike any way that I have worked, and I'm glad.
How was working with Danijel Zezelj and Lee Loughridge on the book? What does their art and coloring bring to LIFE?
Azzarello: It's been fantastic working with Danijel again after too many years. Back in the day I thought that he was an artist that "gets me." Well, he still does. His work is thick and moody; perfect for these stories. When we asked him about a colorist he immediately said Lee. Looking at the work the two are doing together, it's easy to see why. Another "gets me" thing, right?
Phillips: It's my first time working with Danijel and it's been a great experience. Brian mentioned his work as someone he thought would immediately fit the setting, and seeing him and Lee create this world has been inspiring on our end as well.
No spoilers, but the first issue ends – whichever way around you read it – with these two strands about to crash together. What can you tease about #2?
Azzarello: That it follows #1? Look, the strands are going to criss cross and separate and events that seem a certain way to one side might wildly diverge to the other. But let's never lose sight of the fact that both sides are criminals, people that have little regard for law, so anything can happen. And anything does. I don't even want to breathe a word about #3.
Phillips: Not sure I could give a better teaser than that…
LIFE #1 is out now from DSTLRY.
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