PREVIEW: Jim McCann & Janet K. Lee Make Dreams Come True with LOST VEGAS #1

lost vegas 1 cover

Lost Vegas #1 variant cover by Dan McDaid

If only Hervé Villechaize could be here now. The interstellar pleasure vessel Lost Vegas brings fantasy to fruition for the wealthiest moguls in the galaxy. Of course, the Titanic promised great things in her day too.

We spoke to the Return of the Dapper Men team of Jim McCann and Janet K. Lee on their next out-of-this-world voyage. Because what happens on the Lost Vegas shouldn’t necessarily stay on the Lost Vegas.

iFanboy: There’s a Fantasy Island element to the promise of Lost Vegas. Can this ship really deliver her passengers their most lavish fantasies? Are there any limits to what the ship can provide?

Jim McCann: I never thought of it that way, but now… JANET! We need a dashing older man and a smaller person (either can be humanoid or alien) to welcome them. K? Totally my idea, I didn’t steal it from iFanboy at all!

Where were we? Ah, yes, what can you find aboard Lost Vegas? Anything and everything you want. In Las Vegas, NV, high rollers (also called whales) are treated to anything they want. Some have been given new cars, Super Bowl tickets, special chefs flown in; any and every amenity to suit any and EVERY appetite, just to ensure they return to a particular casino. This is a no limit casino, where every room holds a new experience, a cruiser filled of miles of pleasure and excess with games that feels something natural to the casino gamer. You can have a live dealer experience compared to just a bot, it makes the casino games more fun. That’s nothing new or uncommon within the casino culture, just look at the loyalty prizes offered at online casinos in Florida. The same is true for Lost Vegas, aboard which you’ll find only the .001% of the galaxy- the wealthy, the famous, those who run inter-planet conglomerates, to those who even own suns!

iF: Just how expensive is this service? If this was available today, could even our richest moguls afford it?

JM: It’s invitation only. It’s coordinates change frequently. It is the most exclusive place in the galaxy. Lindsay Lohan would have to steal Fort Knox and she would still be turned away. They have standards to maintain. I imagine only the insanely wealthy people that stay hidden from the spotlight on Earth would be able to get in. And maybe George Clooney.

iF: Who makes all this happen? I started picturing Ricardo Montalban hanging up his white suit and heading to outer space, but then I realized…he’s been in outer space before. That’s Khan! Is there anyone as deliciously evil as all that involved with this cosmic casino?

JM: Ohhhh, just like Las Vegas and other casinos wouldn’t have risen to the hights they are now without getting a little (or a LOT) dirty, mixing with the mob, etc, LOST VEGAS holds its own secrets, laying just behind the glamour and sheen. It’s fair to say that something like this doesn’t stay afloat on the casino floor’s winnings alone…

iF: So we know what the haves are up to. How about the have-nots? What does this glitzy future have in store for the 99%, for lack of a better term?

JM: The poor, unfortunate souls, to borrow a fitting phrase, dwell in the bowels of Lost Vegas, working in every capacity to keep her running. They are comprised of gamblers who have gone all in too far, usually in other planets and owe so much they’ve attracted the wrong kind of attention. As you quickly see, one of these, or main character, Roland, is one of these whose luck has run up and owes money to every major player in the galaxy. He is captured, his debt covered by mysteriously shadowed figures, and taken aboard the Lost Vegas, where he is forced into indentured servitude, a slave who must work as a server on the casino floor for tips to pay off his debt. Running the math in his head, however, he realizes this is impossible to ever do, given the percentage the house takes vs what paltry amount he’s left with. So he does what any good gambler would do—thinks three hands ahead and bets on his future, plotting a way out on his terms…and a dash of luck.

iF: Jim, you’re no stranger to gambling and the realization of dreams. Did your recent appearance on The Price is Right reshape the trajectory of Lost Vegas or your own life’s journey?

JM: Ha! It certainly reminded me of what it’s like to win, get your adrenaline rushing, get lost in the moment, and then see it taken away when someone else pulls an improbable feat and rolls the only number higher than you. It’s a ride, something you THINK you have control over, but then fate or fury comes in and changes everything. That certainly happens in LOST VEGAS!

iFanboy: Janet, what informs your depiction of space travel in this book? Do you see it as otherworldly or simply a lavish resort that just so happens to be floating out there amongst the stars?

Janet K. Lee: There are probably two main things that most influenced how I imagined LOST VEGAS: my dad and my first trip to Las Vegas. My dad is a physicist who has, from time to time, worked for NASA. Yep, that’s right: he’s a rocket scientist. So in our house, discussions of science fiction, space travel, and alien worlds were a regular part of dinner time. I can’t say that my dad’s love of math took, but the visions he gave me of worlds to which we *might* someday travel did.

In bizarre contrast, my very scientific father was also the head of a very conservative family. We didn’t do things like go to casinos or gamble, so I went to Las Vegas for the first time last fall. I always imagined it to be a sort of grown-up Disneyland, where people played poker and blackjack surrounded by the most fantastic sets imaginable. I expected to walk into an earth-bound LOST VEGAS. I was disappointed. Now, from a strictly financial standpoint, I understand that slot machines and poker tables are covered in fake wood because the companies who make those machines know their market and don’t need to change a thing. But it wasn’t MY fantasy setting. It wasn’t the place I had built up in my mind– though in fairness, probably no place could be–however, it was still fascinating in it’s own way. When I came back and started drawing LOST VEGAS, I wanted to make it the sort of otherworldly destination I had imagined traveling to all my life. That’s what I tried to do.

Sweet dreams are made of this.

Sweet dreams are made of this.

iFanboy: And this is a ship that realizes dreams. How does that play out visually?

JKL: I don’t know about you, but I can dream quite a lot. I can dream the completely fantastic and bizarre. One of the challenges for science fiction is that one needs to take all that unfettered imagination and ground it in something familiar to the reader, otherwise the reader can easily become lost in trying to decipher the world, missing the story. I tried to take into consideration some real-world aspects of casino design– like circular rooms and meandering, yet organized, layouts–that are familiar to the reader, to take some of my favorite parts of the casinos I visited, and merge that with the LOST VEGAS of my imagination. What might visitors from a thousand different worlds travel to see and experience? It’s a challenge.

iFanboy: Speaking of different worlds. Who or what is Ink?

JKL: Ha ha! You mean, beyond one of my absolute favorite characters? Ink is an alien, a sort of sentient, ambulatory, viscous fluid that can communicate telepathically. A good sort of friend to have for a casino heist, yes?

JM: Ink is one of my favorite characters. I’ve never written anything like him before and as I write I find his personality grow even more. As for his look, Ink was literally inspired by ink — Skottie Young’s ink brush he was using for sketches at a convention, actually. I was watching him and when it came time to start thinking of characters, that memory jumped to the front of my mind.

iFanboy: There’s also a very large bodyguard with antlers, yes?

JKL: There is! He’s the bodyguard to our female foil in LOST VEGAS. As everyone probably knows already, Jim never chooses a name for anyone in a book that doesn’t have significance. In this case, the name of the beautiful, enigmatic woman who employs a giant bodyguard also influenced his look. I went through a number of designs, but this one was distinctive. And, as my stepdaughter (who goes to school in Maine) will tell you, large, antlered animals can be both frightening and fierce.

iFanboy: Say you’re on this ship. What do you ask for? What do you hope for?

JKL: Oh, man. I would be such a difficult customer! I would wish for LOST VEGAS to surprise me with something beautiful and fantastic: something that I could not possibly imagine for myself. And a card game I’m actually good at. And maybe delicious, non-caloric chocolate desserts.

JM: If I were on Lost Vegas, I’d see some of the exotic, otherworldly shows; take a space walk for sure; and, since I’ve always wanted to swim with dolphins, I’d take a dive with the sea creatures Janet’s designed. Oh, and play blackjack with Roland. Not just at the same table, because then he’d just be taking the table’s money, but WITH him. Just to see what it’s like…assuming we don’t get caught!

Get in on the action with Lost Vegas #1 (of 4) from Image Comics, on sale March 6th. Better yet, call up your shop and pre-order TODAY!