Adrian Gomez: 'A new avenue': Albuquerque-based director writes graphic novel as sequel to film

Adrian Gomez, Albuquerque Journal, N.M.
·2 min read

Feb. 26—Alejandro Montoya Marín has taken plenty of projects from page to screen.

With "The Sequel to Monday (Tuesday)," he's taking one back to the page.

The Albuquerque-based director was looking to keep himself busy while on hiatus from the film industry due to the pandemic.

Coming off his independent features "Millennium Bugs" and "Monday," he looked for a change.

A few years ago, Montoya Marín got the experience of a lifetime when he was chosen to participate in Robert Rodriguez's TV competition series "Rebel Without a Crew."

During the show, Montoya Marín and five other filmmakers all had to create a feature-length film with a $7,000 budget. Montoya Marín made the film "Monday," which was finished in 14 days.

"I had written the script for the follow-up to 'Monday,' and I really liked where the characters were going," he says. "If I was going to be locked up in quarantine, I wanted to take a chance on a new avenue of storytelling."

As a comic book fan, he chose to do a graphic novel first.

"I've done a movie for $7,000 and I've crowdfunded enough money for a second film," he says. "I wanted to do something that I really liked. That was a comic book."

He found European-based artist @createdbyimrie to do the illustrations.

"The biggest obstacle was that Imrie was located in Europe and was hours ahead of me," he says. "He has a day job and a family, so finding the right time to talk via Zoom became a challenge."

Montoya Marín wrote the graphic novel with a soundtrack in mind.

As the project took shape, he realized there was a learning curve.

"Originally, it was planned to be a 22-page book," he says with a laugh. "It ended up being 80 pages."

The novel follows "Monday" characters Jim, Paul and Sam as they confront today's repercussions for yesterday's actions.

Now with an endless supply of henchmen, a familiar villain has recruited one of the deadliest assassins to make sure the job gets done right.

Best friends Jim and Paul must navigate through clouds of kush smoke and muster any sort of pop culture reference to help them save the day.

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Montoya Marín says there are a lot of Albuquerque references in the book.

"It's like 'Pineapple Express' meets 'Baby Driver,' " he says of the novel. "There are Easter eggs in it, like, a shout-out to (Albuquerque band) Red Light Cameras. It was fun to push myself in a different direction."

The graphic novel is available on Amazon and Kindle.

SEND ME YOUR TIPS: If you know of a movie filming in the state, or are curious about one, email film@ABQjournal.com. Follow me on Twitter @agomezART.