With Marvel’s Thor taken off the table for the time being, not only has the desire to see him again grown, but also the number of projects dealing with the Norse god of Thunder. While a few are mired in the mists of rumor and possibility, one that’s not is February’s The Hammer Kid, produced by Kevin Grevioux’s Astounding Studios, and published by Alias. The concept, illustrated by Jack (Lions, Tigers & Bears) Lawrence debuts as an “Alias Premiere” #0 issue, and will be a miniseries from there, though issues will ship later.

Long-time Newsarama readers will remember Grevioux from our 2003 interview, profiling the long-time comics fan who was then anticipating the release of his first film, Underworld, which he developed, co-wrote, and acted in (he was the big guy, a lycan, with a (all-natural) voice like it was coming from the bottom of a well). Since then, Grevioux has launched Astounding Studios, with a goal of getting into comics in a major way. The Hammer Kid is the first of many projects the creator has planned.

“Creating them is a dream come true for me as a writer and comic fan,” Grevioux said when asked to compare comics to his experiences in Hollywood. “As to how it compares with movies, in comics, especially independent comics, you have much more control over what you create and I love that aspect. In Hollywood, you write a screenplay, the studio or production company who buys it owns it…point blank. And they can do whatever they want with it at that point. The script can get re-written and re-written again to the point that you can have 20 writers on a script before it gets final shooting approval. And then there’s a fight over who did what. But in a true sense I think you’re talking apples and oranges when you juxtapose screenwriting and comic book writing. Both are creatively rewarding and fun, but very different.”

As Grevioux learned, the move from movies to comics didn’t come with a reduction in effort. “I thought it would be much easier writing comics. Mostly because other than the standard three-act structure, the paradigm, if there can be said to be one in comics, is much more ‘relaxed,’ especially over the course of a multi-issue arc. However, I quickly found out that that’s not the case. It’s much more difficult than I could’ve imagined. And to be quite honest, I was actually more than a little intimidated after I came to that realization.

“So now, when I look at guys like Mark Waid, Brian Bendis or Frank Miller, I can only hope to be a quarter of the writer they have become in this field. But it’s still cool fun.”

Just to keep everyone on the same page, The Hammer Kid will be an all-ages title, even though Underworld was decidedly not. “I’ll still be doing mature titles, but all-ages stories are fun because you’re exercising different creative muscles,” Grevioux said. “There’s more of a child-like wonder associated with all-ages material that really takes you back to what you liked about fantasy as a kid. I also think comic books have really become way too dark and ominous. Don’t get me wrong, I like a lot of those types of books, but there’s not much for the kids to read because storytelling has become so sophisticated these days. I hear from parents who have school-age kids, who monitor their reading very much, and they seem to have a huge problem with what’s available out there in the way of comics compared to the way it was when they were growing up.

“I’d just like to throw my hat into the ring and see what I can contribute.”

So – the set-up and backstory out of the way, just what is The Hammer Kid about? Grevioux gave us the lowdown:

“At its core, The Hammer Kid is a coming of age story about a young kid named Kevin Erikson from suburban Minnesota. And what happens when he is whisked away to this magical land where he must learn what true responsibility means when he becomes the only one who can wield the hammer of the legendary Thunderer, Thor son of Odin.

“Kevin is a bungler of sorts who could be the poster boy for “geekdom”. And he’s going through the normal pangs of being a young teenager. You know, the things that a lot of us went through during those years. Things like: fitting in, shyness around girls, dodging bullies and of course seemingly over-bearing parents. In addition, Kevin has sought solace in a fantasy land of video games and the like which doesn’t make his parents too happy. Kevin’s not a bad kid by any means, but he’s just not very responsible, shirking his chores, not paying attention in school, etc.. Without giving too much away from the series, through an unusual set of circumstances, Kevin is whisked away to Asgard where he enters into a world like nothing he’s ever seen.

“When our story starts, things are a mess in Asgard. There are signs of Ragnarok, the Viking apocalypse, in the air and while investigating the source of these signs of doom, Odin, king of the gods, mysteriously disappears. After days of waiting for his father, a concerned Thor goes looking for him only to find Loki barring his path. It turns out that Loki is manipulating things for one purpose: to get Thor’s hammer, the most powerful weapon in there is and rule the nine worlds of Norse myth.

“Suffice it to say, Loki’s plan backfires and before he can incapacitate Thor, he hurls it back to Asgard where he has ordained that the first one who touches the hammer can use it to protect the kingdom from the growing forces of evil. Now, that person was supposed to be his younger brother Baldur. Who in this story is really more of a braggart and spoiled brat than anything else. But during a ceremony in which Baldur is to take possession of the hammer, Kevin falls from the sky and lands on top of Baldur.

“The Aesir are furious that this ritual has been interrupted, especially by a mortal. But when the ceremony resumes, Baldur discovers that he cannot lift the hammer. It turns out that Kevin accidentally touched the hammer before Balder when he fell on him.

“Because of this, Kevin becomes the only person who can use the hammer to save the nine worlds. It’s a classic ‘fish out of water’ story.”

A fan of Thor in his many iterations over the years, Grevioux said that The Hammer Kid isn’t just a re-tell of the story of Thor coming to earth either in character, or tone.

“This is not the serious more mature high-adventure mixture of fantasy and science fiction that Marvel Thor fans are used to. The Hammer Kid is for all ages. And by all, I mean all. Adults will dig it, especially with Jack Lawrence’s fantastic art, but kids will really be able to relate to it as well. I want to reach everyone with this story, the way Bugs Bunny used to be. You know, written to make adults laugh with tongue in cheek gags that kids don't really grasp, but at the same time, illustrated - or animated, in the case of Bugs - in a fun way that got kids really excited about the characters. Kevin Erikson, the title character, doesn’t become Thor, nor does he have any of Thor’s ‘powers’ or ‘strength’ per se. Kevin just happens to become the only person in Asgard who can lift and use the hammer.

“I think part of the attraction will be seeing the different interpretations of the familiar Viking myths juxtapose to a modern day kid trying to find his way in this fantasy-land. A snot-nosed kid at that who has to grow-up quick, and learn the responsibilities of having to wield a weapon that can basically shatter a continent.”

When asked about his affection for the source material, Grevioux admitted that not many people would peg him as a fan of Norse and Germanic mythology. At heart though, he’s still a Midwestern boy, and that played a major role in his tastes.

“It probably has to do with the fact that I’m originally from Minnesota and my favorite football team is the Minnesota Vikings,” Grevioux said. “A lot of the people there are of Scandinavian descent so they have a kind of pride about Nordic culture, mythology and the like. That lead me to reading about a lot of that stuff when I was a kid and that’s when I discovered Norse Mythology.

“Plus, in my humble opinion, it’s so much richer and interesting than Greek Mythology. One of the best books I’ve ever read was the Germanic epic poem, ‘The Nebelungenlied.’ I’d love to adapt that into a film some day.”

As mentioned earlier, The Hammer Kid will launch with a #0 issue in February, and from there…well… “It’s going to be a miniseries,” Grevioux said. “I just don’t have time to do an ongoing series yet. Alias is coming out with a cool ‘showcase’ called Alias Premiere through which The Hammer Kid and some of my other properties will debut in the form of #0 issues. It allows me to do some ideas I’ve had swimming in my head for awhile. So the zero issues will come out first, then we’ll announce the actual series’ when the time is right.”

The launch approach, Grevioux admitted, is a risk, but makes sense for him, and he hopes, for fans. “With the success I’ve seen some zero issues have in the industry that makes me want to try this method out. Hopefully the fan response will be positive, and we can move forward with the initial mini-series. Jack's awesome artwork on this should be a big selling point for us. Also, since it's a one-shot, but at the same time a prelude to a possible series, fans don't have to invest more than the price of a single issue. To me, that's a good thing, I just hope others feel the same.”

Once he gets an idea of the response to The Hammer Kid, Grevioux said he’s ready to start spilling out the epic story that’s in his head. “The overall story spans a great deal of the ‘nine worlds’ according to Norse mythology. We get into a lot of cool and exotic environments which are a lot of fun. There’s Midgard, which is earth of course, Asgard, Muspel the land of Surtur, Jotenheim the land of the giants, and Nefelheim where Hela, Queen of the Dead hangs out just to name a few. Using Hollywood terminology, I would describe it as A Kid in King Arthur’s Court meets The Neverending Story with a dash of Excalibur mixed in. It’s big.”

And yes, Grevioux is planning on tapping his Hollywood connections for The Hammer Kid – although just not yet. “I’m known around Hollywood as the ‘guy who created Underworld,’ so producers are expecting things that are a little more edgy from me.”

Speaking of that Underworld connection, Grevioux said that, even though a sequel to the first movie is coming out later this month, his involvement with the follow-up was minimal, even though he created many of the concepts seen in the film. Think of it as yet another cautionary tale of Hollywood.

“Writing the initial screenplay that launched the franchise got me a possible “co-producer’ and ‘Characters created by’ credit on the sequel,” Grevioux said. “I had no representation when the director and I where pitching it around town so I basically had to sign over all my rights to get the movie made. And that leaves you vulnerable to WGA [Writers Guild of America] rules when sequels are made. It was actually Len just being a friend that allowed me to get into a position where my concept and script were able to get made for the first film. There are a few things that are ‘hold-overs’ or have been built upon from my original screenplay like the origin of the Viktor-Selene/father-daughter relationship, the continued threat and fear of the hybrid, and the science-based origins of vampires and lycan being caused by the virus. But the sequel delves into some different territory.”

That’s not to say that Grevioux has left Hollywood behind for comics altogether, though.

“I just wrapped shooting on a movie in Puerto Rico, but other than acting, which I have done professionally for some time now, getting Underworld made opened a lot of doors for me that I couldn’t get through before. Right now I’m continuing to pitch ideas around town and work on various screenplays. In addition, I’ve written that may very well lead to my first directing gig, Lord willing. We have a production company attached so we’re in the development stage right now. I’ve also been writing a few video games, so that’s been a blast. And of course, on top of all of that, I’ve got the comics.”

Source: Newsarama