DF Interview: Ryan Parrott pens his first original BOOM! Studios comic in ‘Vicarious’, a sci-fi psychological thriller

 

By Byron Brewer

 

Enter Justin: an aimless 20-something desperate for human connection and excitement.

 

After a dangerous encounter reveals itself as a fortuitous opportunity, Justin finds just what he's looking for in the secret world of Proxies: young, pretty, ambitious hustlers like himself who allow the rich access to their feelings and experiences through a technological implant.

 

Does Justin have what it takes to make it in this seductive new world?

New York Times best-selling and fan favorite Mighty Morphin Power Rangers writer Ryan Parrott (The Infernals, Rogue Sun) debuts his first-ever original BOOM! Studios comic, Vicarious, and is joined by artist Eleonora Carlini (Marauders, Radiant Black). Here’s what the scribe told me during our chat.

 

Byron Brewer: Ryan, how does it feel to debut this new original thriller, Vicarious? A first for you at BOOM! Studios, I believe.

 

Ryan Parrott: It’s very exciting. I’ve been working with BOOM Studios for... God... a long time now on the Power Ranger franchise, so when they asked if I wanted to try an original series, I jumped at the chance. They have such great storytelling instincts. I’ve been playing with the idea for “Vicarious” for a while and it wasn’t until I started talking about it with my editors at BOOM that it suddenly became an actual story. I’m really proud of the characters we’ve created at the center of it all and the world-building has been so much fun to explore.

 

Byron: What is the muse, the inspiration for this book? Is this a new concept or something that has been brewing on the Parrott back burner a while?

 

Ryan Parrott: I think most writers have themes that they find themselves continually circling, and for me that’s identity and the psychological connection between the brain and the body. I’ve written multiple stories about it. Maybe I’m the only one who does this, but have you ever looked in the mirror and thought... how is this my body? There’s all this stuff going on behind my eyes and I’m the only one who knows about it? How is that possible? I’m not sure if that makes sense, but... these are how some of my comics begin. So I thought, what if we could let other people see through our eyes? To feel, see, smell everything we do. So much of social media is about connecting with others now, feeling like your close friends with influencers who have millions of followers. How much would people pay to actually be in their heads, to be that angel or devil on their shoulder. Once I thought about how that concept could evolve, the whole world of Vicarious started to open up.

 

Byron: Introduce readers to Justin as they will first encounter him in issue #1. Can you give us anything at all of his backstory?

 

Ryan Parrott: In the opening pages of Vicarious, Justin Bright is like all of us... someone who is trying to figure out who they are in the world. Is his identity... his job? His money... or lack thereof? His relationship... or lack thereof? He looks around and everyone around him seems to be making connections... except him. So when Justin stumbles into the world of Proxies, I think he sees it as a path to not only sell his body and experiences in order to survive, but really find a way to cure his loneliness and need for connection.

 

Byron: Like in today’s headlines, how does the technology in this story alter Justin’s life? Can you elaborate more on Proxies?

 

Ryan Parrott: In this world, there are those called “Proxies,” who have a neurological implant surgical connect too their body that allows them to broadcast everything they see, say, smell, taste and feel. So, if you or I wanted to go skydiving, but we’re too busy or too scared, we could put on a headset, order up a Proxy, and they’d do the jump, so we could feel the whole thing like we were really there. We don’t control their body, we’re just watching... like a movie, but one you’re inside. And we can talk to the Proxy. They’re like a trainer or chaperone, so you’re not doing it alone. Obviously the technology is science fiction, but the world itself is not THAT far away from what’s going on today. Right now, people are walking around wearing VR headsets that change the way they see the world. Others are streaming nearly every part of their life to their loyal, obsessive followers. There are models with “Only Fan” accounts who have emotional relationships with people they’ve never met in real life. We use our phones to hire others to pick up our food, clean our house, and even do the tasks we don’t want to do... Vicarious just takes that idea to the next level.

 

Byron: What you just said is both true AND scary. ...What other characters are important to this miniseries? Can you spotlight a few of them here?

 

Ryan Parrott: Once Justin steps into the world of Linkers and Proxies, he meets a whole cast of characters. The first is a Proxy named Christian Gold. He’s the Brad Pitt of Proxies. He charges thousands of dollars for an encounter, has sponsorships and endorsements. He’s just one of those people everyone wants to be close to and he’s turned it into a business. But behind that smooth exterior is a lion and hustler who takes the Proxy game very seriously. Another is Sylvia Synn. She’s a former Proxy who realized early on that a Proxies shelf-life is short so she became a handler who connects the rich Linkers with dangerous appetites to the young and highly adventurous. Her secret power is package and presentation which is key to surviving and excelling in the world of Vicarious.

 

Byron: Aside from touching on the real-life doubts we all have about identity, duality and the value of our own lives and experiences, is there any semblance of what a Power Rangers script would consider a hidden big-bad in this miniseries?

 

Ryan Parrott: That’s a good question. I think if there is a big bad, it might depend on your perspective. If you’re a Proxy, there’s a character named William Lydecker who is running for Governor on an anti-Proxy platform. He believes that the only voice that should be in a child’s head is their parents and the Holy Spirit. He might be fanatical, but... are Proxies a good thing for society? And as you learn more about Justin, we’ll discover that he has a few skeletons in his closet that will come back to haunt him. So I guess the skeletons could be a big bad.

 

Byron: Talk about the pulse-pounding pencils of series artist and your co-creator, Eleonora Carlini.

 

Ryan Parrott: How much time do we have? The simplest way I can explain the contribution Eleonora brought to the series is... I had no idea what I was writing until she drew it. The energy, the style, the sexuality, the emotion... everything changed when she put line to paper. In my mind, I’d imagined it as sort of a dark cyberpunk story, but thankfully she showed me we were actually making neon noir together. This book doesn’t have a lot of fighting and is incredibly internal, because it’s about the contrast between the Linker and the Proxy, and somehow Eleonora manages to bring all of that energy to light without dialogue in the simple way she stages a scene or angles a body. I couldn’t imagine doing it with any other artist because it would be an entirely different world. I will be forever grateful she decided to go on this journey with me.

 

Byron: Ryan, what other of your projects, inside or outside comics, can you tell readers about?

 

Ryan Parrott: Thank you for asking. Right now, I’m currently writing Rogue Sun for Image Comics. It’s a teenage Tokusatsu-inspired superhero series that’s part of the Massive-verse, a creative commune I’m part of with many of the Power Ranger writers. I also have another creator-owned horror series that will be announced later this year as well as some other projects that I can’t quite discuss yet, but I’m very excited to get going. Other than that, it’s this... and walking my dog, and that’s a full day of work.

 

Dynamic Forces would like to thank Ryan Parrott for taking time out of his busy schedule to answer our questions. Vicarious #1 from BOOM! Studios is slated to be on sale October 16!