Plenty of storytellers intend to immerse their readers in the tale they want to tell, but Jon Chad is taking the idea to a whole new level with Bad Mask. Hitting in December from BOOM! Studios, the multimedia box set not only offers a comic book filled with evil organizations and heroic synthetic beings, it also furthers story elements through trading cards, a handbook, meeting notes, a newspaper, an incident report and a magazine -- and that's all before readers uncover even more details online.

The title itself refers to a group of shunned visionaries who joined forces to follow their own paths, regardless of what society tells them. The series will also focus on a new member by the name of Gabrielle with a vendetta against the project's main hero, a robot named Metal Metro. Readers will find out about all of these ideas and characters from the various sources mentioned above, putting them directly into the world.

With so many moving pieces -- both physically and story-wise -- CBR sat down with Chad to find out more about the process of bringing this massive idea to fruition as we dug deeper into the world of Bad Mask.

CBR: Before we get into the meat of the story itself, what led to the idea of doing this as a multimedia project?

Jon Chad: I’m really fascinated both by the ideas of world-building and reader immersion. A lot of that can come from reading good writing -- the idea of being “sucked in” by a great story. I think there is also a type of immersion and connection that comes from interacting with mundane objects and materials like newspapers, magazines, instructional handbooks, etc. There are things that I can communicate about the world of Bad Mask through something as simple as a stock ticker that would be very hard or lengthy to do in comics.

By telling the story through a series of objects, I’m also trying to place the reader closer to the story and within the world. I’ve realized my work often places the reader at an omniscient position where they follow the protagonist through events that are only pertinent to the story. If you were living in the world of Bad Mask, you wouldn’t be able to go to the store and pick up the comprehensive book of Metal Metro and the Fight Against Bad Mask. You would be picking bits and pieces of the story in the different media and formats. I like to think the narrative about Bad Mask fighting Metal Metro is there, but there is also mortar surrounding the bricks that help flesh out the world and reinforce the themes.

What was the process like, figuring out what bits of information would make it into which formats? Did you come at them with a specific theme in mind for each?

When I started this project, I plotted out all the important narrative beats I needed to communicate, as well as the world-building details I wanted to relay through the objects. Naturally, some of these were better suited for different formats. For example, it was important for me to show the reader that Metal Metro has captured the imagination and hearts of the entire world. We live in a society that has a similar level of celebrity idolization. We’ve all seen Justin Bieber backpacks, posters and pencil cases. Merchandise is the sort of products where we see that sort of idolization, so having the cards or comic book communicate those parts of the story is appropriate.

Additionally, I also thought about what emotional components of the project would be best served by the different objects. The newspaper features a larger-than-life giant mecha battle. That feeling of scale and of awe and wonder at seeing a giant mecha would be lost if it was communicated in one of the smaller objects, like the handbook.

Were there any difficulties in funneling your writing or visual style into some of these different ways of conveying information and story?

Yeah, totally! The biggest hurdle of this project was the process of teaching myself how to create these believable objects. I’m not trained in writing investment articles, weather reports, advice columns or movie reviews, so it took a lot for me to reinvent the wheel of how I write. The writing stage of comics is already the most difficult part of the process for me, so having to write in all these different formats, using different type of voices and styles, was really tricky.

As far as my visual style goes, I had to make concessions with how my drawings would sit in these objects. The goal of the project is to recreate the feeling that you are immersed in this world, and are processing information and narrative the same way the inhabitants of this world would be. If you follow that string of logic, I should have done the entire project in photographs and live-action video. From the inception, I knew the choice to illustrate everything was a double-edged sword. On one hand, using a singular drawing style brings the objects together as a cohesive whole. On the other, it slightly breaks the illusion that you are holding a true “newspaper.”

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Get To Know the Bad Mask Characters

This world features a group of super-powered terrorists called Bad Mask. What can you tell us about their make-up and what they want out of this alliance?

Bad Mask was founded by a communications engineer named Fredreck Caebabo. His inventions were seen to have “un-American” applications and he was shunned by the scientific community. He started Bad Mask because he felt like the world had turned their backs on him, and we wanted to create an organization that would value human ingenuity and uniqueness.

Bad Mask Battle Book Jon Chad

The first wave of people that joined Bad Mask did so for similar reasons. The world turned its back on them, or they were ostracized for being different or delinquent. The more recent wave of people that are joining Bad Mask are doing so because of a hatred, specifically, for Metal Metro. Many young people that exhibit anything outside of the “norm” are labeled as “future Bad Mask agents” by society, and end up having pretty rough lives. Since Metal Metro represents the catalyst for this societal derision, young people blame Metro for their problems.

Bad Mask worries humanity is heading toward homogenization and stagnation and they see themselves as the last line of defense to protect the uniqueness of the human spirit. Their ultimate goal is to take control of the world and make it a “better place for humanity.” To do this, Bad Mask strives to infiltrate, manipulate, or undermine nearly every facet of society.

Metal Metro plans to put a stop to Bad Mask’s plans. How can this robot hope to stand against a huge organization like this?

There are three factors that make Metal Metro exceptional at stopping Bad Mask. First, Metal Metro has a seemingly endless arsenal at its disposal. It is stationed at a secret facility called Metal Island where it fabricates weapons, vehicles, mechas, etc. Metal Island is centrally located in the Pacific Ocean and allows Metal Metro to reach areas of Bad Mask activity via powerful rockets.

Second, Metal Metro uses its vast intellect and influence to predict Bad Mask activity and engage in countermeasures in the area that it believes are at risk. Metro sometimes works in tandem with other law enforcement organizations, but more often than not, it’s gathering its own data and acting independently.

Lastly, for as scary as it seems, Bad Mask is plagued, on some small scale, by the bumbling that you see in other cartoony organizations like MAD from Inspector Gadget. For all their resources, the organization isn’t perfect, and sometimes stretches itself too thin.

Bad Mask Comic Page 3 Jon Chad

You mentioned some of the younger Bad Mask members joining because of their dislike for Metal Metro. Rookie Gabrielle seems to be one of those very individuals. How does her presence play into the proceedings?

Gabrielle’s best friend was killed in a battle instigated by Metal Metro, and she sees it as the source of all the heartache in her life.

Gabrielle is an Esper -- in the world of Bad Mask, Espers are super-powered humans with different abilities -- that can heal any wound, but she ages at an accelerated rate as a result. This makes Gabrielle extremely valuable to Bad Mask in the fight against Metal Metro. Her talents, powers, and anger are spotted quickly, and she is ushered through the ranks of Bad Mask quickly to participate in higher-level operations. Because hand-to-hand combat is thought to be the best way to fight Metal Metro, Gabrielle’s healing power could give her the chance to withstand Metal Metro’s power, and finally bring it down.

To see how the entire immersive, multimedia experience turns out, grab a copy of the Bad Mask box set by Jon Chad when it arrives from BOOM! Studios this December.

Bad Mask Comic Page 3 Jon Chad