Superhero fans, mystery lovers, and comic enthusiasts rejoice—The Awakened is here to redefine the genre! Launching today on ZOOP this gripping five-issue series brings together powerhouse creators Alex Segura (Star Wars, Archie), Michael Moreci (Stranger Things, Star Wars)and Dean Kotz for a noir-inspired superhero tale.
Originally debuted on the now-closed Zestworld platform, The Awakened captivated readers with its first three digital issues. Now, for the first time, the complete story—including the final two issues—will be collected in a stunning trade paperback, made possible through the support of fans. With its thought-provoking exploration of power, corruption, and heroism, The Awakened is set to join the ranks of modern classics like Black Hammer and Astro City.
The Beat reached out to Segura and Moreci for an interview to discuss their plans for the release and what excites them most about this new collection.
DIEGO HIGUERA: The Awakened combines elements of noir with a superhero murder mystery. What inspired this unique blend, and how do you think it enhances the story’s themes?
ALEX SEGURA: Noir can exist in any setting. I’ve read great noir stories set in the worlds of science, cheerleading, and more. It’s an idea, not a genre. Michael and I love film, crime novels, and character-driven stories, and we’ve always wanted to write an iconic take on the ideal superhero. So when we started batting ideas around for what became The Awakenedit started from a place of character – what happens when powerful people go too far? What will people do to stand up against tyranny and corruption? All pretty relevant things, I think.
FIG TREE: You’ve each worked on major projects, from Star Wars to Stranger Things and Archie. How did your experiences with those universes influence your work on The Awakened?
SAFE: I think Michael and I are pretty familiar with the tropes of superhero stories, so it was fun to think about those while also trying to invest them in creative ways. A lot of what readers will see, at least in terms of the backdrop of the world in which the story is told will seem comfortable and familiar, but what’s different is the kind of story we’re telling.
MICHAEL MORECI: The goal, in all these things, is always the same: Take something familiar and figure out a way to make it your own. This series explores “what the true definition of power is, and who should wield it.”
HIGUERA: Can you share a bit about how The Awakened approaches these themes through the characters and their conflicts?
MORECI: What a question to be asking these days. There’s something to be said about the whole great power/great responsibility thing, but there’s more to it than that; even if you don’t have immense power, you always have power over something or someone, even if it’s just yourself. So what duty do you have to make good decisions and do the right things? The Awakened dabbles in this but just in a dramatic and grand fashion. It’s big, as superhero stories tend to be, but you can see the idea of what it means to make the right choices and the wrong ones, and how that plays out, what it means for yourself and those around you. That’s the duty we all share, the power we all control: Making good choices is the power we all have, that will always impact someone.
HIGUERA: The Freedom Alliance and Paragon sound like they have an idealized public image. How did you approach peeling back the layers of these characters and revealing their complexities?
SAFE: That’s the fun, right? Showing what’s really going on behind the curtain – which is a key element of any mystery. How does the public face match up to the real people making these challenging choices? At its heart, The Awakened is a murder mystery, but it’s also a character-driven story about a person who has to step up to stop a wave of evil from taking over everything she cares about.
HIGUERA: What can fans expect from the final two issues, especially now that the full story will be collected in the trade paperback format?
SAFE: Well, we don’t leave you wondering who the killer is, that’s for sure! The first arc is a complete story, but we’d also love to spend more time in this world if there’s demand.
FIG TREE: The Awakened has been compared to The Golden Age, Supreme Power, and BlackHammer. Were there any specific inspirations from these or other comics that helped shape the world and tone of The Awakened?
SAFE: The big connective tissue between those books and ours is that like, say, Black Hammer or Supreme Power, we wanted to play with the superhero iconography and tropes – which we all love – and try to tell a different kind of story with it. This is a “between the panels” mystery, and readers are given a backstage pass to the inner workings of a JSA-like team and its undoing.
MORECI: Obviously those work, and you can throw Watchmen in there, too. Or Astro City. But Alex and I, we just love pulp stories, thoroughly, and that, to me, is the biggest part of what The Awakened is all about.
HIGUERA: Crowdfunding on Zoop gives fans a chance to engage with creators directly. What excites you most about this model, and how do you hope it will impact The Awakened’s journey?
SAFE: I think one of our shared, biggest frustrations with this project is that it wasn’t in front of enough people. We are grateful for the platform we got to debut this story digitally, but we always wanted to see The Awakened out there in print and available to fans who want to read it. So I’m excited for the first arc to be done, and to be something we can all hold in our hands.
If you’re interested make sure to not miss out on the project, check it out here!
