Back in the early 2000s Mark Waid and Barry Kitson brought “Empire” into the world, telling the story of the ultimate villain, Golgoth, who has defeated all superheroes and successfully conquered Earth. Now, over a decade later, Waid and Kitson have reclaimed rights to their characters and are set to continue the character-driven tale of a dangerous villain who has everything he ever wanted. Volume 2 sees plenty of new threats, both internal and external.

The first issue of “Empire” Volume 2 released today via Waid’s own digital comics publishing imprint, Thrillbent. This is the first book exclusive to subscribers, part of a rebranding initiative. A subscription costs a mere $3.99/month, and you get access to their entire catalogue, a download of “Empire” Volume 1, and new titles on their way this summer.

I spoke with Mark Waid about returning to the world of “Empire”, his work with Thrillbent, and how is view on digital comics has changed over the years.

Bloody Disgusting: These are characters you’ve been away from for over over a decade. I know there must have been some legal issues with DC, but what made you want to go back to them?

Mark Waid: It’s always been in the plan for me and Barry to get back into the characters. We’ve wanted to do this since 2003, but it’s a matter of us being in the right place at the right time. Once we reclaimed the rights to do it ourselves, and once Thrillbent presented itself as an opportunity to do it in a storytelling sense, it just made sense to us that now was the time.

BD: On that note, why with Thrillbent as opposed to another publisher?

MW: There are a few reasons. First, and I don’t mean to be sarcastic, is that I own Thrillbent. It makes sense for me to do it on my own platform. Beyond that, what we’re doing with Thrillbent, now that we’re established, is rebranding ourselves as a subscription service. There will always be the free comics on the site, but all along, people have been saying they love what we’re doing and they want to help us out so the creators can keep doing what they’re doing. So we started the subscription site. For $3.99 a month, the price of one print comic, you get access to the full library. That’s over 300 chapters of various comics, but also we wanted to use this as a chance to launch a bunch of new creator-owned material that we feel strongly about. The timing for Barry and I was perfect. It was a marriage just waiting to happen.

BD: The Thrillbent App is exclusive to iPad?

MW: The app is exclusive to iPad. We’re working on an Android App as well. But also the website has it all. You can always go to thrillbent.com and sign up there. Either way, you get access to all the new material and back catalogue, but for subscribers, we are giving away free PDF download of the original 192-page “Empire” Volume 1, so you can fully catch up and be immersed in the world.

BD: Is this a direct sequel, how much time passed since the first volume?

MW: There is a one year break, without spoiling anything, the events of Volume 1 that left Golgoth without a close emotional tie, that grounds him to the world, and we open Volume 2 on the first anniversary of that event. The world has not changed that much, but Golgoth seems to have changed in very subtle ways to those closest to him, and they don’t like this change.

BD: The story has always been character driven. Mostly because Golgoth doesn’t have to deal with superhero threats. How are you reaising the steaks for him this time around? What kind of adversity will he face?

MW: There are several things going on. He’s got enemies from without, in that there were hints of a potential alien invasion in Volume 1 that will follow through here now that he is successfully consolidated power of Earth under one crown. It’s the ideal time for anyone outside this planet to come in and try to take over all the work he’s accomplished. The bigger challenge for Golgoth is an internal struggle. He owns everything he wants, he’s beaten everybody, there is nobody to stand in his way, there is no challenge to his every day life. So he’s asking, “What do I do and why do I do it?” which is a much harder question to answer than you would think.

BD: Will Endymion ever escape? How involved is he in this story?

MW: You know, I don’t think there is ever a plan for him to escape. I don’t see it happening. I reserve the right to change my mind [laughs], but Barry and I have talked about it many times and one thing we like in the world we’ve built is tht there is no Justice League waiting in the wings, no Fantastic Four, no Avengers to set the world right. It is not a story of what happens when the villain wins until the heroes wake up, it’s about there not being any more superheroes.

BD: I appreciate that about the book. You never feel the need to bring in heroes, but you find threats that are very engaging.

MW: That to me is the interesting part of the book. It seems like anybody can write a story about superheroes an villains beating up on each other. I’ve written that story many times, and I will continue to because I like it. But there are other stories you can tell. I really like the intruigue of what happens when you’ve won, when you’ve got everything you could possibly want, and how it affects your goals?

BD: You were writing the first volume around the same time you were working on Fantastic Four, and Golgoth has received a lot of comparison to Dr. Doom. Was this intentional?

MW: I don’t know if I intended it to be an analogy of one specific super villain. I kind of liked the idea that he was the worst of all of them in one. Honestly, the inspiration for Golgoth is far less Dr. Doom than it was Charles Foster Kane. The idea that Citizen Kane is such a rich, complex character, who is clearly a villain because he is constantly trying to fill some void, and no matter what he acquires is not enough. I just put a cape on him.

BD: Since the initial run there’s been quite a few books after that that have dealt with the idea of the villains overcoming the heroes. Do those concern you this time around?

MW: It’s not a concern for me because we put our steak in that territory 15 years ago. We weren’t the first to do it. Other writers before explored similar themes. The big difference, I think, is that we are able to carve out a world in which we are separate from all other continuity. As I said before, there is no superhero coming to save the day. It is a story of intruige as much as it is about bombastic war.

BD: Is it fair to say that evil will continue to triumph?

MW: Sure [laughs]. Why not? You can tell the story of good triumphing over evil. I’ve done it for 25 years, so let’s do something new.

BD: Going into Thrillbent itself. You’ve been a purveyor of digital comics for a long time. Has the progression of digital comics happened as you thought it would? How has your opinion changed over the years?

MW: What has changed for me is my fear that print was going to price itself out as an outdated form of delivery. What has thrilled me about it all is that, even more than I could have predicted, we’ve been able to prove that digital and print can work hand in hand. There will always be a market for printed books in store, for the object people want in their hands, but at the same time, digital offers the outreach. It offers the chance to show people at 3 in the morning who live 200 miles from a comic store, how magical the experience can be. That’s what I’m most stoked about and we will continue to push that.

BD: Do you find the digital market to be a totally different market from the print?

MW: I think it is, actually. There is obviously overlap, but the numbers we see in print and in digital would put the lie to the idea that one cannibalizes the other. Everything we see is that the people enjoy reading online, mostly the people who don’t have space in their apartment for the phsycial books or they don’t have access to a comic store. People who want the physical comic will still buy it. A good example is that we’re giving away the “Empire” Volume 1 graphic novel to our digital subscribers, and we were asking, “Well does this mean nobody wants it printed?” The answer was resounding, from both the publishers and the customers, that, no they like having both options. There’s the portability of digital, but the collectability of print to have on your shelf and have signed if you so desire.

BD: When you write for digital versus print, do you have to curb your writing style a lot?

MW: It’s a different experience. The thing about writing digital is that you can surprise readers more often because you have access to effects you don’t have in print. Not to say digital is superior. Like, I always say, Jack Kirby would not thrive in the digital medium because what you lose in digital is the big two page spread. That giant image you can pin to your wall as a poster. But, as a writer, I find that being able to subtly control the pacing with the way you introduce panels and dialogue, is a really valuable tool. We are still learning how to make it work for us. We are writing this language from scratch.

BD: Anything you want readers to know?

MW: Yeah, I guess I should say that in subscribing, you don’t just get “Empire”. We are also going to roll out a bunch of new weekly series throughout the summer in addition to the ongoings already on the site. There’s way more than $3.99 worth of comics to be had every month. So there you go!