He has only been in graphic storytelling for three years, but already the Czech-born writer has produced several influential series for the biggest publishers – and his latest is set to reinvent crime noir

At 28 years old, Ales Kot is at the forefront of a new generation of writers injecting fresh psychedelic and philosophical blood into American comics. His reality-bending, mind-expanding work, combining contemporary issues with pop cultural references, is a breath of fresh air rattling the windows of the comics establishment.

After only three years in the business, the Czech-born writer is currently juggling development of his experimental espionage series Zero for television with writing the successful Bucky Barnes: The Winter Soldier for Marvel. He recently wrapped up Secret Avengers, which he described as “a combination of James Bond, Breaking Bad, Arrested Development and superheroes”, and he has also published the sci-fi epic The Surface and the hard-hitting deconstructionist Material.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Ales Kot: ‘I’m not afraid to throw out months of work if a better idea comes along.’ Photograph: Clayton Cubitt

His latest work, launched today, 22 July, is Wolf – a crime noir-horror-fantasy set in present day Los Angeles, where Kot now lives.

“It follows a suicidal paranormal investigator around the time he meets a young girl who might be the key to the impending apocalypse,” he says. “It’s about vampires, werewolves, concrete, desert, blood and magic. It’s also about Los Angeles, about California, and the ways we define ourselves. And about myths, racism, the prison-industrial complex, and menstruation.”

In the first pages a burning man looks down upon the city while crooning Hellhound on My Trail, evoking the myth of singer songwriter Robert Johnson and his supposed pact with the devil: racial tensions boil close to the surface. Kot, raised in the Czech Republic, rattles off his many influences – Raymond Chandler, Dashiell Hammett, James Ellroy, HP Lovecraft, Neil Gaiman, Joan Didion, David Lynch and Joni Mitchell – “I’m a sponge!” The frequent footnotes in Material continue the catalogue, directing readers to works by Henry Giroux, Maggie Nelson and Marilynne Robinson alongside track recommendations and quotes from Jack Kirby and George Orwell.

In Zero he took an experimental approach, with different artists for each issue including rising British star Tula Lotay on the final instalment out this month, while Material and Wolf both have long-term creative teams: Will Tempest on the former, Matt Taylor and Lee Loughridge on the latter, with letterer Clayton Cowles and cover artist Tom Muller on both titles. Will Wolf continue his experimental scripting approach?

“I have the first 12 issues worked out,” Kot explains. “There’s a few scripts and some synopses that run from one sentence to a page – and a boatload of notes. At the same time, I also like to leave empty spaces for synchronicities and whatever the universe sends my way. I’m not afraid to throw out months of work if a better idea comes along.”

Facebook Twitter Pinterest A page from the hard-hitting series Material, which namechecks US citizens killed by police. Photograph: Image Comics

On the surface Wolf and Material are very different: one is genre, the other isn’t; one is free-flowing while the other is constructed on a nine-panel grid; one deals with fantasy, the other with reality – and yet, both seem very honest pieces of fiction. There’s a lot of anger in Material, particularly about systematic racism, which Kot attacks by including the names of people recently killed by police.

How does Kot balance that anger with the demands of his chosen artform?

“I feel the key to being a good writer is listening first, writing second,” he says. “The truth is I don’t know how I balance it all, or if I even do. Most days, I feel like a hot mess, and I have to start from that and make a conscious choice to be kind and honest with myself and with the world. Working with themes of race, racism, militarisation of police, protest, gender … how could I not? I can’t turn a blind eye. An artist has a responsibility to the public. And I have a responsibility to myself and the people who live in this world with me.

“I don’t have a white saviour complex - but I want to help dismantle racism and patriarchy. Material (and Wolf as well, to a lesser extent) is my way of staying sane in a world where these patterns and systems are still very alive, and it’s also a part of my way of working towards breaking these patterns and systems apart and building something new and better instead. Speaking of racism being still well and alive, it just sometimes hides under a different name: the prison-industrial complex.”

He explains the prison-industrial complex as “a way of containing and limiting the rights of citizens while making money from their misery”, adding, “Our governments regularly deceive us and plan against us. So do most, if not all, of the biggest corporations. And the prison-industrial complex is a crucial part of their agenda. It is a way of capitalising people’s misery, and it’s predominantly racist.”

It's about vampires, werewolves, concrete, desert, blood, magic, myths, racism, prison-industrial complex, menstruation Ales Kot

The launch of Wolf comes in a tumultuous month for American comics, from the always-fraught onslaught of San Diego Comic-Con announcements to the much-criticised handling of race issues in Strange Fruit #1 and an apology for transphobic tropes in Airboy #2. While many comic creators have chosen to stay silent on such issues, retreating to a defensive stance of “Team Comics”, Kot has been as outspoken as ever.

“My honesty gets me in trouble,” Kot allows, “but my take is that if they can’t handle me at my realest, they don’t deserve to have me anyway. Which maybe sounds privileged, but it’s not – I turned down plenty of gigs when I had nothing in my bank account and was very sick, without a home, staying at my friend’s studio, not knowing what to do, or where I would be in a month, or if I would even be alive. Turning down work that does not feel right continues to be crucial for my attainment of the kind of career and life that I want.”

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Wolf issue number 1. Photograph: Image Comics

“I’m not perfect,” he adds, pointing towards his work for Marvel, “because I have plenty of issues with the current copyright laws and the ridiculous, corrupt ways we allow corporations to extend copyright on their most valued properties. But I’m working that out. I’m figuring out how to change things, both from within and from without. I might not always succeed the way I want to, but I am committed to it.”

One of his stands is to refuse to write primary characters of colour. “I did it once, and now I’m doing it with some of my own comics, but when it comes to big companies, I thank them, tell them no, and politely recommend creators of colour who I believe can do a great job. I would like to see more professionals in all fields that can get into similar situation do the same, but it always starts with leading by example.”

One consistent theme in Kot’s work is the effort to educate or discuss philosophical and current issues through a fairly radical lens. From talk of holographic universes to the timely interrogation of racism and the prison-industrial complex in Wolf, Does he believe fiction can bring about real world change?

“The best fiction, to me, educates and entertains at the same time. It brings awe and it leaves us richer than we were before. Sometimes it feels as if it’s reminding us of something we already knew, but forgot a long time ago, and now, with its help, we are remembering again, he says.

“The answer to your last question is yes: fiction helps us change ourselves, and when we change ourselves, the world follows. It doesn’t really have a choice – that’s just physics.

“… which is a nice soundbite to end on, except that it isn’t the whole truth, you know? There’s so much more to it: the way a book or a painting resonates through me without my understanding why, seeing people replay ancient myths in real time without even knowing it. There’s a reason why the Nazis burned books. They’re powerful.

“As Orwell said, in time of universal deceit – telling truth is a revolutionary act.”