DF Interview: Justin Jordan continues the saga of ‘Summoners War’ with its newest chapter, ‘Awakening’

By Byron Brewer

Civil war rages across the land of Alea. These armies summon magical creatures to battle each other in a seemingly never-ending struggle – and newly-trained summoner Rai has been thrust onto the front lines.

Now, Rai and her companions are stranded deep within hostile territory, occupied by soldiers on the ground and sky pirates in the clouds above. But a cunning new bounty hunter stalks her every move, and Rai's skills will have to be stronger than ever to make it home alive.
Discover new friends, new foes and powerful creatures in the next chapter of the action-packed Summoners War saga, Awakening, from writer Justin Jordan, artist Luca Claretti and color artist Igor Monti based on the popular mobile game. I’ve been aboard since Legacy, so when I heard about Awakening I sat down with scribe Justin Jordan to see what is next.


Byron Brewer: Justin, right out of the gate (as we say here in Kentucky horse country), remind readers how you became involved as a chronicler of the Summoners War saga.



Justin Jordan: I got involved through Skybound. I’ve done several creator-owned series for them, and we’ve always a had a good working relationship, so a couple of years ago when they became involved with the Summoners War franchise, they asked me to come onboard as part of their writer’s room.



Byron: Are there any story threads that stem from your last comic in the series – Legacy – that we should know of as we prepare to pick up Summoners War: Awakening #1 in April? Any carry-overs of note?



Justin Jordan: I think the big one is that Rai and Tomas, our two very inexperienced leads, are stuck far away from home with an artifact that could upset the balance of the world and lots of people looking for them. You don’t really need to have read the first series to enjoy it (although I think the first one is a lot of fun, so….)



Byron: For those uninitiated (and you know who you are!), describe the world of Summoners War. What canvas will we be dropping ourselves into?



Justin Jordan: On the world of Alea, it’s possible to summon monsters to do your bidding, assuming you have the mana crystals to do it. Which, naturally, means that war breaks out fighting over this vital resource.

This series takes place a few decades before the main game Summoners War: Sky Arena, showing us what the world was like when everyone was at everyone else’s throats.


Byron: Introduce readers to Rai, your POV character here. Who is she, who was she, what challenges await in this limited series?



Justin Jordan: Rai is confident, capable, and in waaaaaaay over her head, although good luck getting her to admit that last part. She was a girl from a nowhere town with no real future who taught herself to summon as a way to get out.

She should have been careful what she wished for, since she ended up halfway across the world with a dead mentor, a surly bodyguard, and an adorable sidekick…and an entire army hunting for her.


Byron: Before we go on, maybe we should tell exactly why Rai and others are called “summoners” and how that plays out in the franchise.



Justin Jordan: Rai and other summoners can learn to summon monsters to fight for them. This is a rare and valuable skill, and it means you’re going to end up fighting in the war. Rai has two monsters she can summon, but more powerful summoners can have a lot more than that.



Byron: Can you spotlight just a few of the new characters we will be meeting in Awakening?



Justin Jordan: I think the two biggest are Captain Eve, the commander of a flying pirate ship who has surprising connections to the greater world of Summoners War, and Malakhan, the dark bounty hunter who is relentlessly pursuing our heroes. I was tapping into my inner Star Wars fan a bit for both of them, and I think people are going to dig them.



Byron: Talk about the pulse-pounding art of Luca Claretti and Igor Monti.



Justin Jordan: It’s amazing. They really make the world of Summoners War come alive. Working with Luca has been a pure pleasure the entire time, as he just gets what I am going for. I hope we get to do a bunch more stuff together.



Byron: Justin, my friend, it has been awhile since we’ve done this. Tell me, what projects do you have upcoming that you are free to tell readers about?



Justin Jordan: My horror comic Harrower is coming up right now from BOOM, which so far people seem to have really liked, and I’ve got Zero Ghost coming out later this year from 247 Comics. Urban Animal over at Webtoons is still rolling, and I’d bet people who like Summoners War will like it.



Dynamic Forces would like to thank Justin Jordan for taking time out of his busy schedule to answer our questions. Summoners War: Awakening #1 from Skybound, Com2uS and Image Comics is slated to be on sale April 19th!



For more news and up-to-date announcements, join us here at Dynamic Forces, www.dynamicforces.com/htmlfiles/, “LIKE” us on Facebook, www.facebook.com/dynamicforcesinc, and follow us on Twitter, www.twitter.com/dynamicforces.

A new Star Trek film is in the works and Paramount is tapping the team of Jonathan Goldstein and John Frances Daley to write, produce and direct. This news comes shortly after David Ellison, founder of Skydance who recently purchased the studio, told investors that the next Star Trek film would not be a sequel to the Chris Pine/Zachary Quinto lead series of films. While this hasn’t been 100% confirmed, word is that the new film will be focused on new characters and not directly tied to any previous film or television series. Goldstein and Daley have a good track record when it comes to revitalizing franchises having written Spider-Man: Homecoming for Marvel Studios and wrote and directed Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves which was very well received by fans and critics.   

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