It feels like it's been a while since the last chapter of INSUFFERABLE by Mark Waid and Peter Krause. The series started in 2012 on Thrillbent.com. The beauty of Thrillbent.com is you can subscribe for $3.99 a month and have complete access to hundreds of comics. This week, INSUFFERABLE returns.
We spoke with Mark to find out what's coming up, what new readers need to know before reading, and what the future of the series might be.
COMIC VINE: What can you tell us about the series for new readers? What do they need to know before jumping into Volume 3? Looks like there’s a recap going on at the beginning.
MARK WAID: Oh yeah, there’s a very heavy recap going on. I’m a big believer in making sure you understand what you need to know going in. For those just joining us, INSUFFERABLE is the story of a crime fighting duo, a father and son, that answers the question, “What if your sidekick grew up to be an insufferable douchebag?” It’s the story of a grizzled old crimefighter and his son, who was his sidekick who grew up to be Kanye West, essentially. He’s full of bluster, full braggadocio, a celebrity spokesman. He’s arrogant and resentful towards his father. The two of them do not get along. INSUFFERABLE is the ongoing story of what is that one event, what is that one case that could throw them together again, whether they want to be together or not?
CV: Also, those just jumping on don’t really have an excuse to be behind because if you subscribe to Thrillbent.com, you have access to everything.
MW: Exactly! That’s the beauty of Thrillbent, that $3.99 a month subscription. It’s like streaming and you can binge on…we have like sixty chapters of INSUFFERABLE so far in volumes 1 and 2. That’s a good day’s reading right there, if you wanted to join in right now before INSUFFERABLE Volume 3. Of course that’s on top of the literally hundreds of other comics we have up on the site by myself and other people.
CV: Volume 2 ended with a cliffhanger. Is this going to pick up right where that left off?
MW: Yeah, it picks up just a few moments later. The idea is the city these two have been protecting all these years has been sealed off by criminals. It is under siege by super-villains. Now you have two unarmed guys who can barely stand each other. They are the only thing that can set things right, overturn the siege, and give the city back to its people. It seems like they’ve got their act together pretty well, but the tension begins to build pretty quickly.
CV: With all the adventures Nocturnus and Galahad had since this comic has started, has their relationship evolved at all?
MW: It has evolved in the sense that they don’t want to kill each other as quickly as they used to. They can be in a room together longer before they want to go at each other’s throat. That’s actually something we’re pressing in the third arc. As my co-creator and artist, Peter Krause, pointed out, it’s fun to watch them bicker and stomp each other, but there’s a point in which it becomes a little repetitive. What can we do to advance their relationship, in one way or another? That was the challenge of the third arc, finding some way to bring some serious advancement to that relationship, without it being all sweet and cuddly.
CV: With the city under siege, is that going to be the main focus of the arc?
MW: It is. That’s the main focus, at least for the first half of the arc. Spoilers…they’ll eventually win. That probably doesn’t come as a surprise to anyone that’s read a comic book before. Although, that will leave them with some bigger problems. Dealing with the siege, it turns out, does not solve the problem in the least.
CV: How many chapters will this volume be?
MW: I’m guessing between twenty and twenty-four, somewhere in that ballpark. It’ll be a little shorter than the ones we’ve been running, but we’ve got a pretty good book map for the rest of it. We’re really excited. I think we’re about half way through.
CV: Halfway through the entire story in this world?
MW: Yeah.
CV: I was going to ask how much more did you have in you?
MW: I could tell stories about these guys for a long time, but it’s time to start tying up some loose ends. The beauty of something that’s creator-owned, the beauty of something you’re the boss of, is that I don’t have to keep the franchise alive. Peter Krause doesn’t have to keep the franchise alive for years and years because there might be a movie or because there might be merchandise. We can do whatever we want. We can take more risks with the characters. We can do things a little more drastic. So…we’ll see.
CV: What’s been the reaction over the new Thrillbent app? Have you heard any feedback?
MW: I think the real tell with the app, that I’m stunned about, is the retention of the people who visit the app and the people who download the app…upwards of 80% of the people that download it subscribe. Way upwards of 80%, which is astounding. I think that’s great. We rolled in other features, like the reader, by which you can download and import your own PDF, CBZ, CBR files or whatever, any kind of comic file you want and be able to have a reader as well as a streaming experience. The response has been really good. The next step is going to be, let’s get on Android, let’s get onto other platforms. The trick was conquering the IOS platform first. That was the hardest. Once you’ve done that, then we can move onto other things.
CV: With the partnership between Thrillbent and IDW Publishing, how will INSUFFERABLE come to print, trades, single issues, starting at #1?
MW: Honestly, we haven’t decided yet. This is where Chris Ryall, IDW, and I sit down—we are going to have a longer conversation this week about it. What’s exciting about it is they’re game for whatever. They’re game for however we want to approach it. I don’t know if we want to do single issues. I don’t know if we want to do arcs 1 and 2 as trade paperback. I honestly don’t know. I’ll see what the market has to bear, but I’m very curious as to what the strategy is. I do trust IDW. That’s one of the reason we went with them as partners, because they’re very invested in our success. They really have a lot of energy to put behind us and we’re not just a little fish in a big pond with them. We’re something they’re very interested in.
Head on over to Thrillbent.com or download the app. The newest chapter and volume of INSUFFERABLE begins Wednesday, November 12. Be sure to check out the multitude of other titles available as well.
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