You know you’ve got something special on your hands when the pieces of the puzzle just seem to “click” into place. When a writer you’ve wanted to work with brings you a stellar idea, then an artist you’ve pursued for years suddenly becomes available and just connects with said idea…then the powers-that-be all sign off, seeing the infinite possibilities of the idea and the pairing of creators…and then, after many months of hard work and preparation, you solicit the first issue…

That’s pretty much how it worked with KILLAPALOOZA.

I’d been a fan of Adam Beechen’s DCU work for quite some time when I finally had a chance to get to know him better at Wondercon several years ago. A great guy—with an incredible knowledge of the NBA—this meeting sparked several conversations that culminated in him pitching KILLAPALOOZA…which I immediately LOVED.

When it came time to discuss the art, I had several different people in mind…until I was contacted by Trevor Hairsine, whose Marvel contract was wrapping up. I’d met Trev years earlier, and always badgered him to keep me posted about his contract expiration, as I would literally kill to have him do something at WildStorm (beyond the covers or pin-ups he’d done in the past). I sent him the proposal, which struck a chord, and without much back-and-forth, he agreed to do it.

From there, really, the rest is history…and in a few short weeks, you’ll have in your hands the first issue and you can see why everyone across the board jumped at the opportunity to produce it.

Sometimes, it just works that way.