These days, when certain characters of giant corporations that remain anonymous (it’s not like we don’t know who they are, after all) fall into the public domain, it’s only a matter of time before they are picked up and used. It was. In a creative way by small creators. Unfortunately, some of the characters’ most high-profile uses were quickly nixed and the result was a poor horror film, but it still gained some notoriety and probably garnered enough of an audience to secure a sequel. It would seem.
However, some creators have higher goals and uses for characters like Steamboat Willie in mind. For example, consider a stepper. The first five chapters were sent to me for review by their authors (C. Clyde and Henry Miller).
At first, I was nodding along in amusement, thinking what a clever metaphor it was for Mickey Mouse to be released from prison and re-enter a changed world.
However, that would be a big disadvantage for the Steppers. Because there’s more to this movie than just a clever metaphor or commentary on corporate ownership for fictional characters. There’s more going on. Not just on the surface as an incredibly tragic account of Mickey’s childhood, but also in terms of its creator’s commentary and object of ire.
It’s difficult to talk in detail about what Steppers is about, because so much of the story in Steppers benefits from the shock of the reader discovering Steppers for the first time. Suffice it to say, it uses the newly available characters in some very dark situations for adults, but it doesn’t use them in a way that cheapens the characters or concept.
Volume 1 of Steppers will be crowdfunded via Kickstarter in 2025. Sign up here to be notified of launches. Thanks to C. Clyde for sending me chapters 1 through 5 for review.
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