Alex Segura might be the nicest person in comics. An industry veteran with impressive stints at DC and Archie, he’s also a best-selling novelist — the Los Angeles Times awarded 2022’s Secret Identity its Book Prize for mystery/thriller. It’s also been named a New York Times Editor’s Choice and an NPR Best Mystery of the Year. Its sequel, Alter Ego, came out late last year, and it’s one of the best and most prescient books about the current comics megamarket that seems never to trickle down to the creators themselves.
Alex and I have been friendly for a little while now, ever since I helped him introduce his children to the adventures of the Legion of Super-Heroes (what else?). Fresh off The Question: All Along the Watchtower (the best since Greg Rucka, certainly) Alex and I sat down to discuss his newest venture, The Forgotten Five, a new creator-owned webcomic with co-writer Sara Century and artist Pat Kennedy.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Margot Waldman: How does it feel to be the nicest person in comics, Alex?
Alex Segura: Ha! Margot, that’s very nice of you! I appreciate the compliment. I do try really hard to be nice and helpful, but I don’t know if I’m the nicest person in comics.
Margot: I feel like I see that in your work, though, the sense that comics are for everyone, [that] you want them to be for everyone. It’s about more than just representation – it’s about what representation means in reality. Like in your novels – it’s about what it means to have a story speak to you. It’s lovely stuff. (Some people still haven’t read them yet for some reason!)
Alex: I mean, comics can be really intimate and special — particularly when you find a story that speaks to you. Even more so if you identify with a character. It’s a really unique bond. Secret Identity and Alter Ego are both about the power of fandom, and how our love for a character or concept can propel us, but also limit what we see. It’s a hard balance to strike, I think, when you’re a creator. But also that sense of identification is so powerful — when you see yourself in a character and then that character becomes yours. It’s hard to top that. It’s a universal feeling.
Margot: From what you’ve described of Forgotten Five, it seems like this is sort of a love letter to the feeling of sitting with a character for so long you feel like you know them. I’m so excited to get to meet the kids you and Sara have created!
Alex: I mean, the conversations with Sara just started as us talking about the books we loved — Claremont’s X-Men, Jaime [Hernandez]’s Love and Rockets, Giffen’s “Five Years Later” and so on. We were just … talking comics. And I forget if it was me or her, but one of us said, “Well, wouldn’t it be cool if we just put all of that into a new thing, and let it go … like really write it as if we were in the ’80s and just got handed the keys to a comic series and we knew it could run for 15-20-30 issues.” So that was the initial thought experiment.
I think one of the big challenges in comics now, and I say this as an active participant IN comics now, is that unless it’s an extremely popular creator-owned series, or an iconic character like Batman, you’re not gonna get much runway beyond an arc or two. The market just isn’t built for that. So our big thought was — how do we create something that people can read and know is going to be around for a long time? Where, as writers, we could theoretically throw a ball in the air and not feel the need to catch it in 2-3 issues’ time? How do we build a model where we can do fun detours and subplots and let things simmer without having that Sword of Damocles hanging over our head — you know, the idea that, oops, issue #3 sold less than #2, so we’re ending the series at #5 instead of #6! All very common stuff. So in a way, how do we try to carve out a lane outside of the mainstream while still keeping an eye toward coming back to it when we have enough material?
And, look, I don’t claim to have the solutions to those problems. I think about them a lot, but I’m not the only one. Still, it felt much more liberating to think about how to solve it on the micro level — like how can we make OUR book work and hopefully run for a while, so we’re not treating each issue like potentially the last? It makes for a very different writing experience. I’d be remiss if I didn’t name-check folks like Michel Fiffe, who laid the foundation for what we’re talking about with COPRA, and Chris Condon and Jacob Phillips, who’ve already done stuff like this, among many other creators on Webtoon, Tapas, etc. We never claimed this was a novel idea, but these other comics are inspiring and are a nice lantern in the darkness, showing us that maybe there is a timeline where this can work.
Margot: And I guess that sort of ties in to what I think is maybe the first thing people would be curious to know about The Forgotten Five – it’s a comic on Patreon because, well, it has to be, right?
Alex: Yeah, I think for The Forgotten Five, from the first moment it became a thing, like an actual Google document Sara and I were riffing on, I think we both knew it just wasn’t going to work as a one-shot, or miniseries, or something we crowdfunded as a print book once a year. We needed runway. And so as we worked on the creative part — the characters, the world, the conflict — we also started brainstorming the medium or path to publication — the business plan, really. What was the best way to get this story to readers, and how could we set it up to run as long as we needed it to?
I think our first realization was that it could/should be digital first, either as a vertical scroll or Patreon. After some noodling with the vertical scroll idea, we knew we wanted something that looked like a print superhero comic, and it also made it easier to eventually collect as a hard copy. So we settled on Patreon and set about trying to build this community of readers to see us along, and maybe we can scrounge enough together to pay our artist and ourselves and put up a few pages a month and just let this story build.
Margot: With that in mind, tell me about your artist and collaborator! Building the world of these characters seems like it must have been a wonderfully collaborative process so far.
Alex: It’s funny, because as I was talking to Sara — who I first became aware of when she guested on Cerebro, Connor Goldsmith’s wonderful X-Men podcast, and who I then became a fan of, and then we became friends … I was also talking to Pat Kennedy, who for years has been one of my favorite modern Archie artists. He has this ability to channel the physical comedy and power of Harry Lucey in a way I’ve never seen. He can just draw anything. And it was while at Archie, while editing a book called Jughead: The Hunger, where Jughead is literally a werewolf, that I saw Pat spread his wings as an artist and show just how versatile he was. And I remember making a mental note, like, damn, I’d love to work with him someday. This was almost a decade ago at this point.
Anyway, after leaving Archie, Pat and I kept in touch, so while talking to Sara, he and I were working on a Miami story, almost a pseudo-memoir, about teens just entering college and grappling with adulthood. But as Sara and I kept developing our idea, I realized Pat should draw it. I knew he could do superheroes. I knew he’d add an element of weird and unusual to the kind of story we were writing — but at the same time, he has this fluid, ’80s Silvestri line that also feels like it’s in the same wheelhouse as Jaime or DeCarlo. His people look bizarre but also beautiful. So those two projects just kind of crashed together. The sort-of memoir always felt a little too unflinching, so it was nice to add a sheen of fantasy to it, so I took elements from the thing with Pat and brought them to The Forgotten Five.
Sara and I have a lot of interest in exploring the outcasts. I don’t think either of us felt like we were part of the Avengers or Justice League as kids. It was always X-Men or Doom Patrol. But I think we’re also at a point now, where it’s less about the mutant metaphor — which still resonates, of course — but more about … just showing people. Their struggles. Their fears. Feeling like you don’t belong. And then thrusting them into some fun “superhero” tropes and seeing how they react. It’s very much, wow, things are bad, but I have my friends. But suddenly, someone does something to you, and on top of your own personal stress and conflict, you’ve got this added burden of powers. And they’re not even cool powers like super-strength or flight, and you don’t have a rich guy from Westchester to bring you into his mansion and show you how to use them. You have a former intelligence agent dragging you through the Everglades to a shack, and you’re suddenly caught up in this bigger war and life was hard enough to begin with. That’s kind of where we start.
And one thing that we really wanted to play with was this idea of two timelines. When we meet the kids, they’re young, but we also tell their story from the present, and they’re adults. And it’s clear a lot has changed. Characters are missing. People’s dynamics have changed. Friendships have ended or morphed. I love how doing that plays with reader expectations. You and I talk a lot about the Giffen “Five Years Later” run, and one thing I find most fascinating about that era is that you’re thrown in, and you get information at the pace the creator wants you to have it, and you’re left to piece it together to try and figure out what is going on, connecting to the Legion lore you just left behind, if you’d been reading it. Now, obviously, that all has to be done smartly and with care, because you risk losing people if they’re confused — but that’s the fun part. You make people pay attention. The hope is that readers will find what they see interesting enough to stick around.
Margot: Part of what has both attracted me and kind of scared me about the mutant metaphor is how it can read in so many different ways. So many people can read themselves as things in ways that might not quite work. I love how hyperspecific your characters are. Could you tell us about them a little bit and how they understand their outsidership – as superhumans and as humans?
Alex: Yeah, I think in the case of the Forgotten Five — they’re not metaphorical! I mean, they get powers and have to grapple with that, but they’re already dealing with a lot, whether it’s sexuality, being a person of color, gender identity — they’re already in the trenches, trying to advocate for themselves while they also try to become their truest selves, if that doesn’t sound too highfalutin. And there’s a reason why the name of the book is The Forgotten Five. It’s not like they get powers, fight the villain, then hug and say, “Well, this is our mission! We are the Five!” They’re literally the superhero team that time forgot, because, as we learn, they were always on the fringe and always clinging to the edges to survive.
Sara and I also really like the idea of superpowers as almost … body horror. Like, if these powers existed, it would be terrifying. Eero, for example, can cast light out — but has no idea how to use it, so it terrifies him. Rin can tap into her target’s mind and pull out an image of their biggest fear, or some primal emotion — but she has no way of managing that ability. I think something Claremont did really well with the New Mutants was he gave them really precise powers. It wasn’t just “I’m telekinetic!” — they were really specific. Sara and I leaned into that with our kids, too.
Margot: It feels like what making comics “adult” is really about – acknowledging that there are no neat endings or neat powers, or whatever. I guess [James] Ellroy said something like that – and so did Alan Moore, haha.
Alex: Yeah, I think part of the fun of the rolling story — this kind of endless ream of paper — is that we don’t have to be tidy for the purpose of format. Of course, we’d love to see this printed and in comic shops and bookstores, because that validates it in so many ways and reaches so many people. But we’re just treating these stories as 8-10 page little episodes of a show that is hopefully gonna go on for a while — but there will be detours and side quests and subplots, because those are the kind of books Sara and I like to read.
Gray and messy endings are life. And it’s something I think about a lot in my work, particularly Secret Identity and Alter Ego. Not to spoil anything, but there would be many, tidier ways I could’ve ended Secret Identity. But it would’ve felt less real to me. For Sara, Pat and me, we wanted to create these characters, build out the world, then kind of see what happens. By the end of Chapter 3, we’ve introduced a new villain that wasn’t really in the planning document until much later. We’re trying to let the story breathe and follow the characters around.
Margot: With that in mind, what did you feel might be too tidy? Was there something you consciously avoided – something that readers shouldn’t be expecting in the book?
Alex: I think we have, and will continue to avoid, the idea of … OK, now we’re superheroes! Does that make sense? That plateau moment, where things are now set in stone and you get more episodic in your storytelling. I think Sara and I wanted to create a vehicle that could sustain a lot of different kinds of stories and genres, and we really like the characters, so we want to be able to keep them off balance and readers off balance in the process.
As a reader, I like to be surprised. I love the massive gear-shift of plot, where your jaw drops because you hadn’t expected things to go this way. Not so much as a shocking death, but the story — like the X-Men heading into space or the Glorithverse in 5YL. Just big swings that are fun to create and hopefully fun to read. I really like uncertainty, and it’s hard to get that in comics because so much is tied to bigger IP or media, but I love stories where you’re not really sure if the heroes are going to make it.
Margot: The benefit of this kind of model is that you don’t need any sort of status quo – that you can see the characters breathe and think, right? I think there is far too little of that in comics these days, and it’s such a shame.
All right, it’s getting late with time zones and everything, so let’s do a few rapidfire questions before I let you go. Are there any Forgotten Five inspirations that you haven’t cited yet?
Alex: I think there’s a little bit of Stephen King in here — particularly IT. There’s a lot of Doom Patrol in there, too, but early, Drake vibes. I love Grant’s Doom Patrol, like so many, but the early Drake stories have this mix of the horrible and strange with the simple and beautiful. It’s such a weird little comic, and that’s a big testament to Bruno Premiani’s artwork — and what makes the Doom Patrol special: that blend of the scary and beautiful into something new.
Margot: What have you been reading lately, comics or otherwise?
Alex: As you know, I’ve been spending a lot of time in the 30th century! I just finished a long read of the Giffen 5YL, and I’ve worked my way back to “re-experience” the classic material, which has been fun. I’m in the early days of Paul’s run.
Margot: Most underrated team book?
Alex: I mean, Sovereign Seven, of course!
Margot: And the kicker: Why this book, why now?
Alex: It feels very loose and fun. We’re not doing it with any huge expectations beyond wanting the story to exist and wanting to see it become its own thing. Whatever else happens will be a pleasant surprise. But we really wanted to create a comic that felt like something we wanted to pick up as readers, which is kind of the core of art.
Margot: What a great ethos! Thank you so much, Alex! Where can people find you if they want to know more?
Alex: Folks can visit my website, alexsegura.com, which is mostly up to date! I’m also on Bluesky and Instagram, though I’m trying to cut down on my social media time. I also have a regular newsletter. In terms of what else is coming up, Phil Noto and I are relaunching Star Wars #1 in May, which has been a thrill. I love that we’re able to add to the lore, and Phil is just a dream to work with. I also have a Daredevil novel, Enemy of My Enemy, hitting in September from Hyperion Avenue and a few other things that haven’t been announced! And Dick Tracy, our noir reimagining of the pulp hero by me, Michael Moreci and Geraldo Borges, continues. We’re working on the third arc as we speak, and I’m excited for readers to get to the end of our big Blank storyline!
Margot: Thank you so much, Alex!
Margot Waldman
Margot Waldman is a Mega City Two-based scholar, researcher and writer. Her great loves are old comics, Shakespearean theater and radical social justice – in no particular order. One day, she hopes to visit the 30th century.
