More Destiny

Pat Shand

By Sheena McNeil
March 15, 2021

Pat Shand is one of those comic book creator names you really should know. He does an excellent job writing stories and characters, especially women characters (Charmed, Robyn Hood, Van Hensling, plus his own creations). He's also written novels for Charmed and Marvel's Iron Man and Avengers. The last few years he's released a slew of amazing crowdfunded comics like Vampire Emmy and the Garbage Girl, Prison Witch, and, of course, Destiny, NY. I last talked Destiny, NY in 2017 (I recommend reading that interview, too).

Sequential Tart: What is your current elevator pitch for Destiny, NY?

Pat Shand: Destiny, NY is about Logan McBride, who was the subject of an incredible prophecy as a child. She completed her destiny when she was just thirteen. Now, she's in her thirties trying to figure out how to bring meaning to life in a world that tells her she's already done the greatest thing she'll ever do.

ST: What is most exciting about Destiny, NY getting republished as an ongoing single issue series through Black Mask?

PS: Destiny, NY is going to be seen by eyes that have never seen it. That's why I teamed up with Black Mask, because nothing thrills me more than the idea that this story gets to live on.

I think it comes down to different audiences and, because of that, I wouldn't really call it a "republished" comic. There's a portion of the comics readership that is in the shop every week, buying single issue comics from hand-to-hand sellers, and there is a huge portion of that environment that doesn't overlap with what I've done on Kickstarter.

I think one thing that the comics industry isn't really reckoning with is the fractured readership. I had a big surge in interest in Destiny, NY when I started putting it on as digital single on ComiXology, too. The Kickstarter audience is one thing, the digital audience is another, and the shop-buyers is another. The whole goal, for me, is bringing Destiny, NY to new people.

ST: What is the appeal of single issues rather than keeping with graphic novels for the republish?

PS: We're going to do both. Personally, I was more interested in singles though because it's something we haven't done before as a physical product. Plus, I have enough issues under my belt to make it a true ongoing series, which is something I've always wanted.

Back when I was writing Robyn Hood, Charmed, and Grimm Fairy Tales, every month I'd have a new issue of each. I loved that and it really keeps those titles alive in shops in a unique way, rather than a periodic release. We could do, for example, four volumes of Destiny, NY in a year, but then the whole story would be out. Now, readers can live with the story for a longer period of time.

ST: Since Destiny, NY wasn't originally written as single issues, how did you decide where the "break points" would be? How does potential lack of uniformity in issue length affect something like price?

PS: The graphic novels are broken up into chapters, which end up being roughly issue-sized. I generally go from 18 pages to about 26, depending on what the story needs. About the price, that's a bridge I'll cross when we come to it, with "it" being a shorter or longer issue, but so far my point of view when planning with Black Mask has been to not charge for more content. The first issue is double-sized, for example, but I didn't want to charge double the price. I just want to give the best experience to readers, and shape everything else around that.

ST: Why do you think Destiny, NY has had such staying power over the years?

PS: I think the idea of being given a structure for your life to fit into, a limitation, speaks to people. I also think people are drawn to long-term character development, and our goal going in was to start the story with Logan and, as supporting characters are introduced, we broaden the world around them. Destiny, NY is Logan's story first, but it has also become the story of Lilith, how someone who was in this crime family deals with that legacy, and how ambition burns at her from within. It's the story of Trinity and how someone who came from nothing reacts to a second chance, of Anthony who sees into the future but can't really figure out what step he should take next, of Gia who has the world on her shoulders and all of the power she needs to create a legacy, if only she knew what to do with it.

The fun hook is "What happens after a fantasy story ends" but the reason people stay is because of the characters, for sure. What I love in narrative is long-term character development where we can live and lose and mourn and grow with fictional people, so that's what I wanted to write. A body of work that lasts.

ST: When we talked before, you said Destiny, NY was almost a diary for you, it was that personal. How has writing and sharing Destiny, NY changed your view of writing comics and your relationship with your readers?

PS: My view, yeah .... it's enlightening, I guess I'll say, to hear feedback. People connect to different things about the story. I try not to think too much about it, though. I'll only really have conversations about reader reactions with Shannon Lee, our editor. I'll be like "Hey, give me your perspective on what Lilith did at the end of Volume 2." I'll ask her that as if Lilith is a real person. And when Shannon's perspective is totally different than mine, I'm happy. That means that we have something that's alive. That's what I want to give the readers, something that is dynamic, something that isn't safe, something that feels like life.

ST: For those who already have all the current volumes of Destiny, NY, what should they be looking forward to next?

PS: Moving forward! We have Volume Five and a new spinoff launching this year. Volume Five opens up a brand new direction for us, because Four was the culmination of storylines we've been building since the first volume. The spinoff will be Smoke Weed, See the Future. It's a graphic novel about Taylor, a California seer who decides to open her own dispensary, selling weed that helps regular people see what she sees.

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