Rob Jones has written comic books such as Griff Gristle, Paperbacks and Inkstains. He is the co-writer and letterer of the upcoming Titan Comics Original Graphic Novel War of the Worlds: Thunder Child. We caught up with him to find out more.
How would you pitch this to someone who loves the Jeff Wayne version?
I grew up exposed to the Jeff Wayne version from being a young kid in 90s Lowestoft. I would listen to my late father’s L.P, and pour over the incredible artwork in the album sleeves by Geoff Taylor, Mike Trim, and Peter Goodfellow. The song was the standout piece for me on that album, so when coming to read the novel and finding out that the Thunder Child’s involvement in the story is very minimal always got me wondering – “What happened to the crew of that ship? What did they go through before the Martian’s melted their valiant hearts?”. So, my pitch would be, if you loved the musical version, we have a story here that compliments the one that Jeff Wayne, and all the artists involved when the album was originally released and those who came after, delivered, made with genuine love and care for the original text, but you don’t need to be familiar with that to enjoy it. Pop on the album, sit back and follow our crew through to their fateful end.
Why Thunderchild?
The answer to this should be “Why has there NOT been a Thunder Child comic?” The book sets it up as the last stand of humanity, the moment when all hope seems lost. Then that, coupled with Jeff Wayne’s incredible musical version, really hammers home that this ship, its crew, made the noble sacrifice to ensure others could survive. It’s pretty confusing to me that no one in comics has ever felt the need to explore this concept. So, we decided to tell our own story, set to the backdrop of
Wells’ novel, about the crew onboard that obsolete, vastly outgunned and outmatched vessel, and make you care about our cadre of characters as they barrelled towards their fateful showdown with the Martian invaders.
What’s your personal favourite about War of the Worlds?
The themes that Wells’ explored in the novel. This idea that there is something out there that is just exponentially more powerful than we are, that they view us with disdain and set out to destroy us without thinking about perhaps the natural consequences of their actions. It’s reflective in the imperialism of the time that the novel was written, this idea of superiority over the unknown and how those with bigger sticks and larger rocks always attempt to crush those they see as beneath them, and how at the darkest of times, those who seek to control and destroy are offset and thwarted by something which may seem inconsequential. That, and the GIANT MARTIAN HEAT-RAY FIRING DEATH MACHINES! The Tripods are iconic. I do love some solid sci-fi vehicles.
What’s your favourite thing about this book?
I assume “Everything” is a cop-out answer, yes? So, my honest answer would be just having had the opportunity to make it. Working with Matt is always amazing (We’ve known each other for years and have worked on multiple indie projects together in many capacities), having Kevin Castaniero onboard as artist and Simon Gough on colours really rounded out the concept and idea. Kevin’s art is beautiful, both intricate and emotional in all the right places, and simultaneously devastating and overwhelming in all the action set pieces. Coupled with Simon’s beautiful colour work, it really does hammer home the story we wished to tell. So being able to tell it through to the conclusion with this team is probably my absolute favourite thing about this book.
And, on a personal note, it was the first comic project that my father was genuinely enthused about me doing. He was the first person to read the first issue/third of the book, and really loved it. Unfortunately he passed away suddenly before we completed the book, so my favourite thing about this book is the connection to my dad and his excitement at something I was working on.
If you could have coffee with any one character from Thunder Child who would it be and why?
For me, it would have to be Miriam Young. If she was a real person, she would have been one of the first suffragettes for sure. She’s well read, open to ideas, forward thinking and yet, capable of understanding two sides of an argument and attempting to find a compromise. I think she would be a fantastic person to sit and have a coffee with (and hopefully, Simon Young, her husband, would later join us as well). Miriam and Simon very much reflect Matt and my world views and principles, so it would be great to speak with them and learn from them.
And which character really needs to calm down?
Major Makepeace. I nearly said I would love a coffee with him, but he is very much the yang to Miriam and Simon’s ying. He is a product of the landed gentry and a lifetime spent in service to Her Majesty’s armed forces. He represents single minded thinking, the opinions of the old guard and parrots the superiority of the British Empire’s propaganda. The story really does throw him through the wringer, and makes him challenge his world views and his perception of those around him.
How long does it take you to get to a first draft?
I suppose that depends on how you view a first draft. One of the best things about working with Matt, and with Mike Sambrook on the other books I have co-written, is that when you find someone who you click with when writing and coming up with ideas, the story just flows nicely out of the pair of you.
My experience of getting to a finished first draft stage of Thunder Child was Matt and I coming up with specific sections of the story we wanted to tell and then between us, coming up with the connective tissue that would form those ideas and instances into a cohesive narrative. That is to say, in a simpler way, Matt and I really gel when we’re writing together, we get what one another wants to explore in the narrative and both of us check our egos at the door. Once we started plotting things out, the first draft came pretty quickly between us; the structure of the book, how we navigated our cast and crew towards their fateful showdown, the themes and clashes we wished to introduce and then the set pieces and action we wished to include. I don’t have a specific time frame, but I remember we did wrap it up pretty quickly.
What’s your favourite funny thing about the genre?
My favourite funny thing about Victorian/Edwardian sci-fi is just how relevant the themes and the ideas that were explored in those pioneering works are to us today. I suppose funny, in an ironic way, is a better way of summarising it.
It shows that, despite moving forward exponentially as a species in a technological way, the route problems and struggles that afflict and affect us all are still prevalent now, and that we are all still looking for that escapism, that potentially cataclysmic thing or incident that occurs and acts as the great leveller for society. Always make me chuckle nervously like Ralph Wiggum in danger whenever I sit and think about it for longer than a passing moment.
What does the first day working on a book like this look like compared to the last day?
So, every book you write and work on takes a little piece of you, in my experience. This existed as some half baked idea in my head for a good 25+ years, just the experience of following the crew through the opening days of the invasion up to their epic showdown with the Martians. So I went into this project with gusto and enthusiasm, and I don’t think that has ever waned.
I am just as childishly excited about it as I was in those first few days of Matt and I coming up with the story beats, or when Kevin’s art first started landing in our inboxes, or when Simon Gough first started colouring up those pages. Seeing it develop and flourish and come to fruition, despite many roadblocks, hardships and personal challenges, never dampened my spirit.
Wolfman or Frankenstein?
Wolfman. But only because I am also a hairy beast whose mere visage causes those to flee in terror. Seriously though, the wolfman being this character who is a slave to his darker whims and urges when the moon is full, unable to control them in that state, is a really dark, interesting theme to explore. The guilt that follows, the desperation to stop, or the desire to lean into these moments of fury and Id fueled rampages is such an interesting way to look at a character and explore that.
Martians or Humans?
Humans. I have this inherent, probably naive, belief that humans, in the darkest of times, have an ability to pull together, despite our differences, to overcome threats and pull together and learn from one another. Admittedly, in the times we are currently living in, that belief is being pushed to its absolute limits, but I love this idea of plucky people, working together, learning from one another and trying to overcome something which is a direct threat to our existence in a tangible, real way.
I am a big player and lover of the Warhammer 40k universe, and my main army is the Astar Militarum (Imperial Guard in old money), as I love those 1,000,000:1 shots where the plucky guardsman takes out the Daemonic monster or Alien overlord. So, that was a big influence on my decision here.
Truth or Beauty?
I would say the truth. But the argument can be made that there is a certain beauty in truth, or vice versa. It is a belief of mine that deception and malcontent can affect a person physically, showing in their looks and the way they present themselves to the world.
Again, call this naivety, but truth – be it living your truth, being truthful to yourself and those around you, simply being able to show who you are to the world – is far more beautiful than any outward beauty.
The War Of The Worlds: Thunder Child can be pre-ordered here, and is out on June 2nd 2026.
