Jeff Treppel | Waypoint | Comic Crusaders Podcast #739

Screenwriter and veteran music journalist Jeff Treppel is stepping beyond established universes and launching one entirely his own with Waypoint Vol. 1: A Cosmic Crime Saga. The creator-owned science-fiction mystery is currently seeking support through Kickstarter, introducing readers to Detective Claire Carlisle, the only human living aboard an alien space station where the impossible has become part of the daily commute.

Claire’s future becomes considerably more dangerous when she is assigned an impossible murder. Solving the case could secure her place aboard the station, while failure may send her back to the destination she considers worse than any unexplored corner of space: Earth. The premise gives Treppel room to mix pulp mystery, cosmic strangeness, social tension, dark humor, and the emotional reality of a detective whose internal problems may be every bit as complicated as the crime.

Treppel joins Al Mega on the Comic Crusaders Podcast to discuss the decade-long evolution of Waypoint, the differences between writing animation and sequential art, and the challenges of transforming a personal idea into a complete creator-owned project. The conversation also dives into how his work covering metal, psychedelic rock, and synthwave influences his understanding of rhythm, atmosphere, escalation, and release.

This episode moves beyond the basic campaign pitch to examine Claire’s depression, the responsibilities surrounding an “impossible murder,” the assumptions built into alien design, the relationship between humor and emotional tension, and the pressure that arrives once a crowdfunding campaign succeeds. Treppel also shares how collaboration changed the story and what he hopes readers will carry with them as the larger cosmic crime saga expands.

Backers can support Waypoint Vol. 1: A Cosmic Crime Saga through its official Kickstarter campaign. Readers unable to pledge can still help by sharing the project, discussing it online, and placing the campaign directly in front of science-fiction, noir, and independent-comics fans looking for their next universe.

🚀 BACK WAYPOINT VOL. 1:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/waypointcomic/waypoint-1-4

Follow Jeff on his website: Hotrailstohell.ghost.io & Bluesky:
jtreppel.bsky.social

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Host: Al Mega

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Edited/Produced/Directed by Al Mega