The Justice

The first plate from A. David Lewis's recent release

Nerds rejoice! Those of you who've been hiding your copies of The Dark Knight Returns inside the pages of The Economist or Rolling Stone, and who've never thought of their hobby as anything more than just that, take heart. Writer and Brandeis alum A. David Lewis '99 is proving that comic books can be more than just a juvenile passtime. Founder of the Caption Box comic book imprint, Lewis has just published his newest work, Some New Kind of Slaughter, or Lost in the Flood (and How We Found Home Again): Diluvian Myths from Around the World on Archaia Studios Press.

Born in Boston, Lewis grew up not far from Waltham, in Framingham, Mass. Throughout high school he engaged in extensive creative outputs such as writing and theater. He also, like any young mind worth its salt, had an interest in the comic book medium, more commonly known by its adult-friendly moniker, the graphic novel.

Lewis stepped onto the Brandeis campus in the fall of 1995. Although he had been interested in other schools, Lewis chose the University when it "sweetened the deal" with a Justice Brandeis Scholarship. However his interest was not only financial. "[I] just found the campus electric. [I] found a vitality there among the students that I didn't find at any of the other schools."

It was during his time at Brandeis that Lewis, who had initially read comic books "just for escapist fun," developed a more serious and focused outlook on the medium. Reflecting on his junior year, Lewis credits Prof. William Flesch (ENG) with giving him the direction and encouragement to pursue his interests. "[Flesch] was my advisor. I was taking a Shakespeare class with him and he knew of Neil Gaiman, who has since become a New York Times best-selling author. He said, 'Why not look at The Sandman academically? Why not use it in one of the Shakespeare papers?' And that ultimately led to my final project," Lewis says. The final project in question was a thesis that encompassed comic book icon Alan Moore's Watchmen, as well as Neil Gaiman's masterpiece series The Sandman. It was this experience that Lewis says "legitimized" the medium for him.

After graduating, Lewis began writing numerous academic and scholarly pieces about the comic book genre, garnering himself a good deal of attention from those in the field. Once Lewis made a name for himself, he was asked if he was interested in entering the creative field. The rest, as Lewis puts it, "is history."

Continued...

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