I was lucky enough to attend a preview screening of Ready Player One yesterday, thanks to ShowFilmFirst. I enjoyed it much more than I'd expected to, it had the right balance of nostalgia and Spielberg. People I know who've read the book said it felt like it was written specifically for them and I think some of the pop culture references, nods and touches made me feel the same way about the movie
It was only after I left the cinema that I started to think of the parallels to not only things like Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, but also my own comic mini series The Interactives (created with Luciano Vecchio, Yel Zamor and Ian Sharman for Markosia).
I'd also wanted to create something that focussed on the power of people's imagination, that showed how living in an online world as an avatar was a form of escape and that revelled in nostalgia and our perpetual wish that we were still in our childhoods. I wanted to strike a chord with people my own age but also feel current for a teen audience too.
“Elements of The Interactives’ premise unashamedly tap into our ever-changing relationship/dependency with the online world and its influence on reshaping the dynamics of our interpersonal relationships. Writer Peter Rogers’ hugely entertaining romp combines the disparate worlds of social networking, and those of myth and legend, as the foundation for a decidedly different take on fantasy storytelling.”
If you've read Ready Player One or seen the film and are looking for something that scratches a similar itch, The Interactives is still available. Find it on Comixology, Amazon or ask at your local comic store or book shop.
