Through a strange twist of fate, a selfish, self-centered attorney ends up representing Earth in the Interstellar court. Case by case, Brik Jones: Attorney for Earth is actually saving our planet from an interstellar invasion.
Written and lettered by Phil Smith (Witchblade: Due Process, Artifacts, Trinity: Blood on the Sands), with art by Giuseppe Cafaro (Fathom: Kiani, Catwoman, Suicide Squad) and colors by Bill Farmer (Think Tank, Dream Police, The Adventures of Apocalypse Al), Brik Jones: Attorney for Earth is an epic science fiction space romp with a galactic twist on legal dramas.
Here, Smith tells us all about Jones and his world.
When an interstellar wrecking crew claims the Earth as its property, they are temporarily halted by an interstellar court order until Earth’s representative can be found. Brik is unceremoniously shot into space to a waiting starship, where he discovers his missing father has been Earth’s attorney for the last 20 years but has gone missing. In his father’s absence, Brik must assume the title. As Brik navigates the byzantine galactic legal structure, the clock is ticking as an immense Destroyer waits above the Earth, eager to tear it to pieces. Brik must solve the mystery of what happened to his father and how he will manage the pressure the nations of Earth place on him with their competing interests and his own views. All while on the run from the mysterious alien race whose plan to destroy the Earth rests on it having no legal defender.
This project has been nine years in the making. What was its inspiration and how has it evolved over time?
What inspired me was how some of my favorite Science Fiction and Fantasy entertainment took real-world problems and tried to show either; the problem itself, the roots of these problems, systemic barriers to solving or seeing these problems, or how to solve them. I have wanted to be a part of that process since I was a little kid watching on my black and white 12-inch TV. For example, in the Star Trek original series episode “Let this be your last Battlefield,” the Enterprise finds two aliens in a fight to the death. One is black on the left and white on the right, and the other alien (of the same species) is black on the right and white on the left. The Enterprise crew and the audience are confused about why they are fighting. The episode illustrates that dehumanizing (or de-alienize, maybe?) based on something as arbitrary as skin color is completely pointless. The quality of a person’s character, as Martin Luther King said in that era, is what should define a person. Stories like that are what make me want to tell my own stories, updated as we struggle with the old problems and face new ones. I am not saying I have any answers. I bartended for 12 years, so I have had to learn to see things from many points of view, and I think that lends something to how I interpret and express these stories.
In 2012 when this started, I had a plan. I always intended Brik to have a format that could adapt to societal changes and comment on them. The courtroom drama setting gives me that. The Science Fiction/Fantasy backdrop allows me to add action and scope, taking advantage of comics’ unlimited canvas.
With the significant events in society we have had since 2012, like most recently; the murder of George Floyd, the pandemic, the mainstream rise of fascist groups, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and the Supreme Courts restructuring, I have been adapting and adjusting the storylines I had already set up to meet the current moment. Not only have I adapted the stories, I am making some different choices with characters and finding spots not only to add (on) but integrate more representation than I may have been actively doing in 2012.
We know a thing or two about humans, but tell us a bit about the other races that make up your world.
In this fictional world, we will have a few races that will be coming into conflict with Brik, The Court, and each other. We have, of course, humans, but in this story, the humans of Earth are seeded by a previously existing strain of humans who came from somewhere else and left to go back.
The Liasians are bipedal Lizard people. At the beginning of our story, they are the antagonists. In issue one, we see that Brik’s ancient family ancestors were a mix of Liasian and Human. The Liasians aggressively colonize (conquer) other planets and cultures, navigating and directing the Byzantine legal structure the best they can to their advantage. Their brutality is driven by need. Their planet was devastated, and now they have to acquire assets as they can. They have families and love each other, and that love drives their need to conquer.
The Cetaceans are a Whale-like/Crab hybrid. They can walk and, using an environment suit, interact in a non-water atmosphere. They are revered by all the other races not for any military strength, but for their wisdom, even by the war-like Liasians. This I see as a contrast to the way our world works. In this story, the aliens really do have respect for each other and settle disputes, albeit sometimes resorting to court-sanctioned war, but with respect for the law and each other. I think that is missing from our world, and through my story, I want to point it out and show how we can be better.
There is also a breed of Artificial Intelligence used for menial tasks. This point will drive stories about systemic racism, servitude, and slavery.
What inspired you to make your main character a lawyer? Do you have a legal background or experience that has helped shape the character and his adventures?
In many of the stories I enjoy, sometimes I feel like the conflict or issues get tied up too neatly. The questions of how some social issues would play out and how to make a solution stick by using a legal structure interests me more. With the legal format, you can explore the problem and the society’s system for dealing with it and then show the legal and social reasons for the pain and perhaps the flawed resolution and, through the story, work it out. Through the story, we can maybe show a way to deal with that issue which may give someone an idea or some hope for how to address what they may be dealing with today.
How did this creative team come together and what is the back and forth like as the panels come together?
started in the comics industry by self-publishing a book with artist J. K. Woodward (Star Trek: Mirror War, Fallen Angel). I submitted it, with the help of a great friend, to Top Cow Productions, Inc. Though it was rejected, I got an editorial internship which led to being hired. While working at Top Cow from 2001-2012, I met a lot of talented artists. Too many for one company to hire all at once. When I had the chance to self-publish again, I checked in to see who was available and who I knew were dependable. I lucked out, and Sid Kotian (Gambit) was available to do 12 pages, so I did issue #0. Later an artist tagged me on Facebook with some pin-up art related to Top Cow, but this was after I had left the company. I explained I was no longer with the company, but I liked their art. I asked their rate. I could only afford four pages a month paying their (then) total rate, and they agreed. Three years later, at a rate of four pages a month, I had five issues worth of content from Giuseppe Cafaro. I had worked with Bill Farmer at Top Cow and also while doing freelance after 2012, then he left the industry for a couple of years. Bill recently emailed me saying he wanted to come back to coloring, to which I said, “got time to color a few issues to get back in the swing of it?” That is how I got Bill on board.
I am delighted with the work of Sid, Giuseppe, and Bill. I am looking forward to finally sharing these pages I have been sitting on for almost nine years. I plan to Kickstart print editions of the five issues Giuseppe illustrated this August 2022. I am posting Chapters online to read for free all summer. For updates, you can check out my self-publishing label’s website fightinglioncomics.com
I hope you enjoy it!
Single webcomic issues of Brik Jones: Attorney for Earth are available now on Fighting Lion Comics’ website, including #0, illustrated by Sid Kotian. Stay tuned for the Kickstarter for the first volume of the series, coming soon!
