Metaphase, a Graphic Novel Featuring the World’s First Superhero with Down syndrome, Goes Back to Print
Alterna Comics has announced that the Metaphase graphic novel by Chip Reece, Kelly Williams, and Peter Simeti, has sold out and is going back to print to fill a surge in demand.
Metaphase, originally created in 2014 and published in 2015, tells the story of Ollie, a boy with Down syndrome, that wants to be just like his superhero dad. When a disingenuous company known as Meta-Makers promises to turn anyone into a superhero, Ollie signs up, and is turned into one of the most powerful heroes the world has ever known — but at what cost?
Inspired by his son Ollie, who has Down syndrome, Chip Reece created a superhero story that is both unique and inclusive.
Simeti in the announcement said:
Metaphase is a prime example of how important comic books and graphic novels are. The heart of the story is a universal one, it’s about wanting to achieve something and do something important with your life, we all have hopes, dreams, and aspirations — everyone’s had obstacles in their life — but it’s what you do to overcome those obstacles; that’s what makes a hero. In the story, and in real life, Ollie is a hero.
Metaphase can still be found at various bookstores and comic shops throughout the world, though most are sold out at this point. For online shoppers, the title can be back-ordered on Amazon and the site expects to have copies ready to send out over the next two weeks.
Out in theaters beginning this October, The Chair is based on the graphic novel published by Alterna. An innocent man on death row witnesses savage killings at the hands of the prison’s sadistic Warden. To survive, he must match the brutality in the prison and confront his own horrifying past. The Chair stars Bill Oberst Jr., Roddy Piper, Naomi Grossman, Zach Galligan, Noah Hathaway, Timothy Muskatell, and Ezra Buzzington alongside an electrifying ensemble cast.
After being tired of playing the waiting game, I took matters into my own hands and contacted people on facebook and twitter. Some responded, some didn’t, some said yes, and some said no. Some of the rejections were from ridiculously nice folks like Tony Todd, Doug Jones, Mark Hamill, Viggo Mortensen, Brian Thompson, Loren Lester, Phil Lamarr, Kevin Conroy, Lew Temple, Clint Howard, Billy Drago – the list goes on and on. Everyone that responded was kind and courteous and every rejection blew my mind because these were all people I loved when I was growing up. The people that said yes, though – the ones that actually are IN the film – that’s the special stuff.
Now, everyone did a fantastic job on this film, there’s strong performances all around especially given the deep, thought-provoking, and disturbing high tension subject matter in this old-school style horror film. It’s not a torture porn film – there isn’t gore for the sake of shock value here. Deaths of characters MATTER to the plot and characters aren’t just complete throwaways that are fodder for cheap scares. The reason I mention Roddy – is because this was the last feature film he did before he unexpectedly passed away.
Roddy cared so much about this role and we had multiple phone calls going over the character as he took notes and offered his own spin on things as well. But the absolute best part about those calls was the fact that they’d turn into longer talks about family and life and our experiences working against the odds and following a dream. He was a great guy and due to an awful snowstorm in Boston at the time, I wasn’t able to fly out during filming and shake his hand and thank him for his time and friendship. Texts and phone calls, as great as they were, just aren’t the same thing. It’s something I’ll always regret.
