Creatures of Habit was the planned third comic in the Faction Paradox series. This was derailed by the cancellation of the Faction Paradox comic.
Lawrence Miles finished writing Creatures of Habit before Political Animals was published,[1] and he had a definite plan for at least nineteen issues of the comic, somehow involving North American cannibalism.[2] The first five issues were specifically designed as an introduction to new readers,[3] and Mad Norwegian Press publisher Lars Pearson said that Miles had "in detail mapped out for himself Sabbath's activities from his Secret Service days up through 1781"[4] and that the question of "how exactly Mother Francesca drinks through her mask" would be answered in issue #3.[5]
However, in 2003 Lars Pearson announced that the comic was cancelled for three reasons: the superhero domination of the market; the restructuring of Image Comics; and the immense cost and manpower involved in doing a comic "when we could be doing something else." Lars also said "it's virtually certain that [the story]'ll be completed in some form."[6] At some point, Mad Norwegian considered doing a script book to accommodate the unused material, but Lars Pearson said it was "not in the cards for various reasons."[7] In September 2006, at the cancellation of the Mad Norwegian Press novel series, Pearson said closure on the comic was "looking less and less likely."[8]
Fourteen years later, when asked if he would share details about his plan for the comic, Miles said, "Oh, thank you for asking. But I'd rather not go back there. I may want to live in the past (given current awfulness), but not my own past."[9]
Publisher's summary
Events quickly whip themselves into a frothy bloodbath, as the strongarm of the British Secret Service, named the Ratcatchers, try to capture Mayakatula much to their chagrin - not to mention repeated disembowelment. Meanwhile, Sabbath has an impromptu duel, and Mother Francesca has a colorful, albeit somewhat civilized discussion with a prostitute in a bar. It's more fun and skull-faced merriment in Faction Paradox #3, "Creatures of Habit", from your buds at Image and Mad Norwegian Press.