The final months of 2002 are shaping up to be a notable time for writer Arvid Nelson and artist Eric J, co-creators of the new supernatural mystery REX MUNDI. Rich with lush artwork and moody atmosphere, REX MUNDI tells a tale of murder, occult secrets, and ancient conspiracies. The story is set in the 1933 Paris of an alternate timeline, where the Protestant Reformation never occurred, the monarchies and empires of Europe and Asia still reign, and the Holy Inquisition of the Church wields immense power.

Published through Image Comics, REX MUNDI #0 sold out within weeks of its release, on the back of strong critical support. Now REX MUNDI #1, the first issue of an ongoing but finite series, will hit stores in December.

"I was utterly delighted that we had such a strong showing in the stores," says Nelson of the reaction to the book's zero issue. "I think it really was a grass-roots success. I feel so indebted to every reviewer who noticed, every retailer who carried us, and every reader who took a chance on us. It sounds corny, but ultimately, it was they who made it happen."

"Now it feels like we can exhale finally," notes Eric J. "Thing is, though, there's really no time to relax and enjoy it, you know? As cool as it was to sell out at Diamond, there are still too many people who haven't heard of REX. We have to get the next bunch of issues done so that when December sees #1 drop it's just the beginning of a long run of on-time books.

"So there's still just an incredible amount of work to do, but now we feel like Image is squarely behind us, and that's really all we ever wanted or needed. I feel like we've got what we need to be as successful as we can be. I can't speak for Arvid or Jeromy [Cox, REX MUNDI's colourist] in this regard, but I know that that's a huge load off of my mind. Now we can sit back and just set our minds and efforts a bit more toward the things that really matter, like writing, drawing, and colouring."

Image's support has been apparent from the beginning. REX MUNDI #0 was originally planned as part of the IMAGE INTRODUCES series, but according to Eric Stephenson, director of marketing at Image, the publisher felt that such a move could be detrimental to REX MUNDI's chances.

"We chose to move REX MUNDI out of IMAGE INTRODUCES because that series wasn't really working and we wanted REX MUNDI to have a fighting chance in the market," says Stephenson. "The problem with IMAGE INTRODUCES was that fans and retailers alike began to view whatever came out through the series in the same light and sales suffered for it. We felt that if we went ahead with REX MUNDI as an IMAGE INTRODUCES book, it would be ignored." Image has subsequently gone back to press for a second printing on #0.

Seeing that first issue of the book on shelves, holding it in their hands, represented the culmination of years of work and focus for the creators. "The day REX MUNDI came out I went to a comic book store and bought a copy," recalls Nelson. "It was utterly surreal, seeing the Image 'I' on the top left-hand corner and my name on the bottom. I felt like I was walking on the moon on my way up to the register.

"I mean, I've been trying so hard to get published for so many years. Eric and I have spent three years on REX MUNDI alone. Just seeing it sitting there with the rest of the week's releases was an ecstatic experience. I still can't believe REX MUNDI has come this far. We had been working on it for so long, I had almost forgotten that there could be a reward."

'He and I have struggled together in penury and obscurity for three years.' For Eric J, that feeling of accomplishment came at the San Diego Comicon in August. "Man, I can't tell you how incredibly cool it was to crack open that first box of books the first day of the con," he said. "That was the first opportunity I had to see the book and it was just a very, very good feeling pulling the first one out."

The con was also a vindication for the artist. He and Nelson had prepared draft copies of REX MUNDI for Comicon in 2000, but the end result was not what he had envisioned.

"I came home to find the boxes containing our first printed work and, with more anticipation than I can adequately describe in words, I tore into the first box of books," he remembers. "I lifted out the first one with great expectation and was just heartbroken.

"It wasn't the printing - that was good - it was just that Arvid and I since the beginning had made a commitment to ourselves to put together a first-class publication, and as good as that version was, it was several orders of magnitude below what I thought we were capable of...

"As a matter of fact, that specific moment when I took out that first black and white version of the book really was the moment that the current incarnation was born. Very shortly after that, I started bugging Arvid about re-drawing it because I knew that I could do better, and that also led us to the decision to do it in colour, and ultimately to bringing Jeromy on board. I made a promise to myself and to Arvid that neither of us would feel that feeling again."

Two years later, Eric J had his second chance. "When I took out that first copy of the #0 issue, felt the heft of it, saw the printing, saw the look of the interior pages, and realised that it was really real - it was a very good feeling."

San Diego 2002 was also the first time the creative team was together in one place. "It was just really cool that we got to hang out, the three of us, Arvid, Jeromy, and myself," Eric J says. "Arvid living in New York and Jeromy and I living here in San Diego, the con was the first time that Arvid and Jeromy got to meet, and the first time that we all got to just hang together."

"Although we've known each other for a very long time, we've only seen each other about four times during convention season," notes Nelson. "I think we'd both find it easier to work if we were closer, but e-mail has really made REX MUNDI possible. Ten years ago you could not have done what we did. As it is, we can send art, scripts, thoughts, concerns, layouts, and support instantly online. It's truly been a boon for us. My relationship with Eric is, in a word, great. With him, I have a feeling of creative satisfaction I have never felt before.

"He and I have struggled together in penury and obscurity for three years," claims Nelson. "In that time I feel we have fused to become a creative unit. REX MUNDI is only as strong as our relationship."

The internet not only allows the creators to work together, but also provided the first outlet for their collaborations, with the publication of REX MUNDI's companion comic, BROTHER MATTHEW, at their Shrunken Head Studios site. Set in the same world as REX MUNDI, it tells of the adventures of an 'inquisitor' who investigates strange and occult happenings.

However, readers of that series will have to wait a while for new stories of the Inquisitor. "We're taking just a little break right now to focus on the book, but we'll be starting up with a new storyline once we get on a little more solid ground," says Eric J. "Right now everything is very chaotic and it's getting to be a bit much, so we're trying to streamline as much as we can."

Future plans for REX MUNDI should keep fans satisfied in the meantime. "I'm just really excited about the things we have planned," notes Nelson. "The story is going to undergo a dramatic change; while the mystery will persist, it will become more of an adventure along the lines of Indiana Jones. We are going to open up aspects of the world that we can't really deal with in the Paris setting. I have been doing some research into World War I, and I have been uncovering some really exciting things that I think are going to make the second part of the story every bit as compelling as the first."

'The day REX MUNDI came out I felt like I was walking on the moon.' The 1930s Paris that Arvid Nelson and Eric J have created in REX MUNDI and BROTHER MATTHEW - where history deviates from what we know with the assassination of Martin Luther in 1521 by agents of the Church - raises intriguing questions about the rest of that world. A tantalising glimpse is offered through the front page of Le Journal de la Liberté, "Paris' leading anglophone newspaper," an added feature in REX MUNDI #0. A main headline announces a familiar sounding "war on crime," and news stories tell of the Prussian and Ottoman empires as well as of conflict in "the Americas" and Indochina. Will the story visit these and other areas of this alternate reality?

"The story is staying primarily in Europe," says Nelson, "but the very end will involve Spain, which is still Muslim, so readers will have an opportunity to see another culture, even if the geography remains constant."

The United States exists, marked by a divergence in another major historical event. "The South won the Civil War," Nelson explains. "This means that the United States is fractured into two countries, the Federal Republic of America and the Confederate States of America. Neither country could be considered an 'international' power; in fact, they are barely regional powers. So they won't be able to affect events in Europe, which is potentially a very large problem because a cataclysmic war is brewing.

"Eric and I have considered doing a REX MUNDI 'prequel' set in the United States around the time of the Civil War," adds Nelson. "It wouldn't really be a prequel per se because it won't involve any of the characters in REX MUNDI or even the plot. It would be a totally unconnected story set in a different part of the same world at a different time. At this point it's just daydream, but there is a lot of stuff about America we might not be able to cover in REX MUNDI."

Events in the world of REX MUNDI will be referred to in later editions of the newspaper. "Le Journal de la Liberté has been the surprise hit of REX MUNDI #0 for me," claims Nelson. "We weren't even sure if we were going to include it, because we thought it might be too much to ask people to read straight text at the end of a comic book. But a lot of people really seem to like it, so we'll be doing one at the back of every issue. Each paper will be 'printed' the day the events of the comic take place." (Astute readers will note the trio of classic pulp writers listed as Editors Emeritus of Le Journal.)

The book will run on a bi-monthly schedule, but the creators hope to go monthly "as soon as possible". Says Nelson, "We still have no idea what to expect from REX MUNDI financially, and until we can quit our day jobs, bi-monthly it is. If all goes well, I'd like to think we could go monthly within a year. But it's all speculation at this point."

The creators are well aware that there's no resting on the achievement of their first print comics work. Being picked up by Image for the rest of the series has given them a secure vantage point from which to plan not only REX MUNDI's route, but that of their roles as comics creators as well.

"I wouldn't have traded any part of the past three years for a different path," says Eric J. "It really feels like we've accomplished something, even though this is just the beginning of a long road, and as cool as it's been, our success has been modest when compared with some other books and certainly when compared to what we expect from ourselves. But it's really very sweet, and the feeling we have now wouldn't be nearly as intense if not for the hard work that we put into getting to this point."

"All of our industry friends have told us that this would be a really stressful time, but I have found it to be exactly the opposite," confesses Nelson. "Maybe it's the inner-fanboy in me, but just having something published is an outrageous thrill. I guess there was some worry, but when I start to sweat I just remind myself of who I'm working with. I owe so much to Eric and Jeromy, and they make me feel invincible. I was in a lot of bands in college, but for one reason or another things never really worked out. With Eric and Jeromy, I think I've finally found what I'm looking for."

Tom Moore is editor, writer, and photographer for a monthly newspaper in Texas.

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