TVS Sexy: 'Trance' author teases sexy new comic, talks gay X-Men, & shares an exclusive preview

Look out, homophobes; there are some new queer heroes in town—and their mugs are beat for the gods!

This Pride Month, indie publisher Scout Comics is unveiling Trance, a brand new series about a hot Savannah, GA drag bar that’s secretly run by a coven of powerful queer witches.

Created by writer Joey Capuana, illustrated by Pablo Collar, and colored by Julio Rojas, Trance is a comic aimed at adult audiences that’s part suspenseful mystery, part supernatural adventure, and totally gay.

At its center is Altar, a drag queen gifted in the occult, who finds herself suspect number one when her ex goes missing, getting herself tangled up in a citywide hunt for a homophobic serial kill. Luckily, she doesn’t have to go it alone, and is aided by her super-powered nightclub co-workers, including a go-go who has mind-control abilities that make life more complicated than you’d think.

Before Trance hits shelves in June (you can pre-order now via Scout Comics), Queerty chatted up creator Joey Capuana to learn all about the inspirations behind this exciting new story, why he didn’t hold back with the sex and nudity, and why the X-Men were an important part of his queer awakening.

Below, check out our interview with Capuana, and then scroll down for an exclusive preview of the first pages of Trance # 1.

What was the earliest spark of an idea for Trance? What ultimately inspired you to create this world and turn it into a comic?

Years ago, I kept meeting queer people who told me they were witches, people who practiced spells and tarot, and who believed in astrology—one even told me he’d caused the most recent LA earthquake. As a lover of mysteries, magic and the supernatural, this all really captured my imagination and I began obsessively doodling “witch” characters in my notebooks. Eventually, I opened a new document on my laptop, titled it “Gay Witchcraft,” and began developing the story from there.

Mainstream supernatural stories are beloved by lots of gay and queer people and tend to borrow from queer culture and camp, while often not including any actual gay character or else relegating any LGBTQ+ representation to a tokenized sidekick. I wanted to create a fantasy world like the ones I loved, but one which fully centered on an entirely queer cast, enmeshed in queer culture– getting to do all the things Buffy and [Tru Blood‘s] Sookie got to do, like kick demon *ss, protect their friends, and fall in love.

In terms of the medium, while I mostly write television, I grew up loving superheroes and l have always wanted to write comic books. Almost as soon as I began crafting the story that would become Trance, I knew this world would be perfect for comics, being able to portray vivid, real queer characters, neon nightlife, spooky supernatural serial killers, and witchy drag queen magic through gorgeous illustrations.

Plus, to be honest, when I began writing this a few years ago, I didn’t think a TV show about queer witches would ever be bought or produced, because of… homophobia. But fortunately the world’s changed a lot since that first “Gay Witchcraft” doc existed on my computer. The comic’s actually been optioned for TV and I’m working with producers on a TV version of Trance, so stay tuned.

Considering the current wave of anti-drag / trans/ LGBTQ+ legislation, what message do you hope this coven of magical queer heroes sends out to the world?

Homophobia is a major theme in Trance. The serial killer villain is essentially “The Closet” incarnate, representing shame, repression, self-hate, and the violence that hate creates. Homophobia comes with a body count in Trance, but it does too in real life, and any Republican politician pushing anti-LGBTQIA+ legislation has blood on their hands. Homophobia is violence. Transphobia is violence. I’m so angry and disgusted that bigotry and fearmongering still dominates so much of American culture and ideology.

So I hope queer people can find solace in this coven. Trance offers a story where queer people and drag queens are heroes, where they are magic and powerful, and where they fight not only for themselves but to protect their entire community. I hope gay, queer, and trans people and our allies are reminded of the lesson our foreparents taught us: by working together, supporting and defending one another—no matter who we are or how we identify—we have the power to defeat the real-life demons of the world (like that hateful extremist Ron DeSantis).

The story you’re telling and Pablo M Collar’s gorgeous illustrations don’t shy away from sex and nudity. Why is that an important part of Trance in your mind?

I like sex and, so far, gay sex is my favorite kind! I was formerly pretty repressed and so I now like to live and write without inhibition. Sex is a part of life and so why shouldn’t it be a part of art? As we’ve gained more acceptance, there is sometimes a tendency to neuter or desexualize gay characters in media, but not here!

On a more practical level, Trance’s main villain is a killer who is using internet sex as a way to meet his victims; sex is thus an integral part of that story. I’ve always loved erotic thrillers that mix sex and sexuality with tension and horror. I think as someone who grew up afraid of my own sexuality, exploring that in the context of a thriller/slasher is quite satisfying.

Also I’m a fan of erotica and hentai and those influences seeped into Trance. Also, also, also… Pablo draws such nice penises!

Anything you can tease about where the story of Trance goes from here?

Issue # 1 is very much setting up a world and characters and the core mysteries. The series will be propelled by Altar’s search for his missing ex-boyfriend and the hunt for a mysterious and powerful serial killer. Altar will chase leads like a drag queen Nancy Drew which takes him throughout the community of Savannah, using intellect, magic, and his many wigs to investigate. As part of a coven, Altar’s actions pull his chosen family into the mystery as well and the novice witches will practice increasingly dangerous spells that they can’t always control. As the search continues, they’ll grow increasingly entangled with local police and the larger witch governing body, The Council of American Witches.

Like with any good drag show, there’s always more than meets the eye and there will be quite a few surprises along the way. I am a stunt queen, and it will be a big gay, supernatural mystery with lots of twists and turns. We’ll see more of Trance Nightclub, Altar’s mesmerizing drag shows, and the local community. We’ll delve deeper into the relationships between the intergenerational found family that is the coven. Characters will fall in love. Some will die. And our family of witches will shift and grow as they fight to protect their own and maybe even save the entire world.

In a post about the comic, you refer to the X-Men as “the mutants who raised you.” Looking back now, what did you see in the X-Men that made them queer heroes to you? Did you have a favorite X-men character/is there one you were crushing on hardest?

I probably watched the first X-Men movie fifty times in the first few years after it was released. With twizzler-fueled sleepovers every weekend, there was ample opportunity to whip out my favorite VHS. And while my tween guy friends loved the PG-13 violence and dope SFX, something deeper made the film resonate with me.

The X-Men are hated for who they are—they face bigotry, expulsion from their bio families, internalized shame, politicians who wish to exterminate them—the world is out to get them and yet they’re the heroes fighting to save it. I mean… it’s not hard to see how a young queer person would be obsessed. Basically the X-Men are gay. I saw myself in them. I revered them. Their powers were a bit more bizarre than other superheroes in a way that I loved and certainly the incredibly sexy/badass women of X-Men didn’t hurt my fascination. Who didn’t want to be Storm or Mystique or Phoenix or Rogue?

As for a crush, plenty of the X-Men are deeply hot. I think I always had something for Iceman/Bobby Drake, which was due in part to Shawn Ashmore’s portrayal in the movies as well as Iceman’s boyish sensibilities and near-nude, chiseled ice form in the comics. He surfs around on ice in a speedo, like… obviously I wanted to be/screw him. Then later, when Bobby Drake came out of the closet, I felt quite vindicated and I am still waiting for him to call me.