By: Nicole D’Andria
This week
we’re showcasing a digital anthology set in a world where people can’t form new
memories. Transience has 56-pages filled
with stories from writers and illustrations from artists located around the world. Learn more about this
project from the creators and collaborators themselves. Plus exclusives pages from the anthology!
Each
story looks at different people from different parts of the world various
years after the biological attacks and how they’re dealing with the aftermath.
Every story has at least one creator who is from the country it's set in.
The
creators on their Kickstarter page call it “50 First Dates with less terrible
Adam Sandler jokes and more existential crises.” The project was started by Leo
Johnson and Ricardo Mo, who found artists from three different continents in six
different countries. The various stories, named after the countries they take place in, and their respective creative teams, include:
·
United Kingdom - Alberto Muriel
(artist) and Ricardo Mo (writer)
·
Australia - Mark Lauthier
(artist) and Ryan K Lindsay (writer)
·
Spain - Bruno Hidalgo
(artist) and Ben Kahn (writer)
·
Rural USA - Natasha Alterici
(writer/artist)
·
USA - Will Perkins (artist) and Eric Grissom (writer)
·
Italy - Alex
Diotto (artist) and Kristen Grace (writer)
·
Ireland - Cian
Tormey (artist) and Sam Read (writer)
The
artists were paid a small page rate and the writers donated their time. So the
money being raised by the Kickstarter (after the fees) will be going to the writers,
artists, and editors of this book. They were aiming for a $500 goal by August 2,
2017 at 7:34 AM EDT and they have already exceeded their goal. There is one reward for $4 that is a digital copy of Transience, which you can get on their official Kickstarter page.
I spoke
with co-creator and United Kingdom story writer Ricardo Mo as well as
co-creator Leo Johnson about this anthology and what it has to say about life,
loss and love.
  |
| Ricardo Mo (left) and Leo Johnson (right) |
Me: What inspired the idea of Transience and why
did you decide to turn it into an anthology?
Ricardo Mo: Leo gets tired of me saying it’s Memento
gone global, so let’s make his day just this once by pretending the inspiration
was the Adam Sandler movie 50 First Dates.
What would happen, I thought to myself, if every single character in an Adam
Sandler movie woke up every morning thinking it was their first day on set? But
in truth they’ve been having to deal with him over and over for the last 3000
days. Horrifying, right?
The decision to make it an anthology was based on a desire to share the huge world-building workload. Also, we looked around and realized just how many talented friends we’d made in the world of comics. It seemed a shame not to bring them together for something.
The decision to make it an anthology was based on a desire to share the huge world-building workload. Also, we looked around and realized just how many talented friends we’d made in the world of comics. It seemed a shame not to bring them together for something.
 |
| Transience Rural USA |
Me: What work are you each responsible for on the
anthology?
Leo Johnson: I didn’t write or draw a story, just acted as a co-editor with Ricardo.
Mostly, that involved lots and lots of emails. Reaching out to potential
creators in the early planning stages of the anthology, then it was emailing
back and forth with Ricardo and the contributors about story ideas, how they
might fit into the overall world of the anthology, suggestions for changes,
etc. Mainly I was just around to keep the project moving and to help keep
things together and organized, for better or worse.
Ricardo: I wrote the first story, brought to life beautifully by my frequent
collaborator Alberto Muriel, and that’s what we used to pitch the concept to
the other potential contributors. Writing that story really was the easy part
though. Playing editor was tough. Leo and I decided early on that we were open
to changing the parameters of the anthology if someone came to us with a strong
enough idea. But we also agreed that we couldn’t compromise internal logic just
to avoid telling someone when their story wasn’t working. Ultimately, I believe
our resolve has made the anthology stronger, but I don’t enjoy delivering
criticism to someone who has essentially donated their time and talent.
 |
| Transience United Kingdom |
Me: You mention on the Kickstarter page that each
story takes place in a different country. Why did you want to show multiple
countries and why did you feel it was important that at least one member of the
creative team was from that country?
Leo: A concept like Transience seemed perfect to set all around the
world. How I deal with things here in the US might be different than how Ricardo
would in the UK or someone in Australia or wherever. Plus, it allows us to play
in a lot of different settings. Having each creative team feature at least one
member from the country their story was set in was a no-brainer. If we’re going
to have a story set in Spain, who knows Spain better than a Spanish comic book
artist? Having creators from their respective countries made for some good
stories, like with the Spain story about the building of a castell, a human
tower, over and over again.
Ricardo: I would add that this idea of a truly international roster of creators
was also responsible for us having to leave out so many great US comic-makers
we know. We were determined not to have the whole thing feel like American
creators plus special guests.
 |
| Transience Italy |
Me: You mention Transience examines life, loss and love. What can you tell us about
what it says about each of them?
Leo: I think, ultimately, Transience ends up being pretty optimistic
when it comes to what it says about all these things. Ricardo and I both fully
thought we’d end up with an anthology full of depressing stories about memory
loss and how people cope, but it ended up being overall pretty uplifting.
There’s an element of hope in all these stories, whether it’s people trying to
break their cycle somehow or people trying to move on from the loss of loved
ones and try to continue living their lives or even try to figure out how to
fix the memory problems altogether.
Me: How did you find the various contributors for
this anthology?
Leo: Basically everyone involved was someone whose work Ricardo and I had
followed and loved and we became friends with them online. Ryan K Lindsay was
someone that we are both friendly with and love his work, so we were really
lucky he agreed to contribute. We loved Ben Kahn and Bruno Hidalgo’s Shaman,
so it only made sense for us to want to see how they would do a story in this
world. Then, there were a couple of folks that we hooked up with because they
were friends of someone who we’d already asked to contribute. That’s how we
ended up with Kristen Grace writing the fantastic Italy story, for instance. In
short, social media is your friend when it comes to putting together an
anthology.
 |
| Transience USA |
Me: Are there any plans to create a sequel
anthology, mini-series or ongoing series?
Leo: In an ideal world, we’d get to tell all the Transience stories we
wanted. I know there’s a couple of concepts we both liked and would have been
fun to explore, but no one ended up tackling them. It’s unlikely we’ll do
another anthology or series with this theme or concept, but if the support and
interest ends up being there, you never know. Next year we might be talking to
you about Transience 2: Secret of the Ooze.
Ricardo: Under the right circumstances, I would like to attempt a mini that
follows a memory-capable outsider into one of the affected areas, in search of
a missing loved one. And, if possible, I’d love to team with another of the
artists from the anthology. If any publishers out there might be interested in
such a thing, consider this my Hire-Me-Beacon.
Me: Ricardo, since you wrote the United Kingdom
story, what can you tell us about it?
Ricardo: Our story is set 10 years after the initial event, so society is
feeling the effects of not having a quick fix to its problem. We’ve tried to
show some of the ways in which individuals are convinced to spend the days they
won’t remember working, or at least playing along nicely – a labor exchange,
and inspirational posters and public service announcements that play on the
sense of duty or community many citizens possess. However, there are now a
bunch of young teens running around in the twenty-something bodies of
strangers, and they see that “duty” as being more exploitative, a debt that
isn’t theirs to pay. We look at how those two very different types of people
co-exist in a country that’s falling apart around them.
 |
| Transience Ireland |
Me: What inspirational words do you have for
aspiring comic book writers?
Ricardo: Spend some money, pay an artist, make those comics. If you’re lucky
enough to ever have an editor look at a pitch, you’ll want to show that you can
see a project through to completion.
Also, I kinda wish someone had told me not to be too proud to venture into crowdfunding.
Me: What tips can you give to people trying to
create an anthology?
Ricardo: Don’t! Transience has been
incredibly well received by reviewers so far, so we may have a genuine shot at
an award or two. Last thing we need is one of your readers beating us.
Leo: Get ready to work. It’s harder than you probably expect, but also extremely rewarding. Be sure to make friends with other creators. That guy that you’re buddies with on Twitter may just end up being the guy who writes an amazing story for a project you end up making.
Me: I also spoke with Ryan K Lindsay, writer of the Australia story,
and Ben Kahn, writer of the Spain story:
 |
| Ryan K Lindsay |
Me: How did you become involved with this project?
Ryan K
Lindsay: The two fine gentlemen
reached out to me to see if I'd be interested in pitching a story idea for
them. I go a fair way back with each of them, so I naturally wanted to cook
something up for them that they would dig.
Me: What can you tell us about your story and how it
differs from others in the anthology?
Lindsay: My story is about a guy who is prone to lapsing into
suicidal depressions, which can feel like brick walls when they jump out of
nowhere because you have no context for them escalating and building. He is just
dumped into them upon waking. So his wife has a... system for helping him out.
I
actually hope my story doesn't differ, because I want to match the A+ level of
quality on show across the whole book. :]
 |
| Transience "Australia" Page 1 |
 |
| Transience "Australia" Page 2 |
Me: What is the inspiration behind the story?
Lindsay: The relationship between this husband and wife is what
jumped out at me. I came up with the idea within 48 hours of being
asked to pitch, which is a rarity for my brain. But this idea stood out
instantly and that's because of the real and human angle underneath it all.
Me: Why did you decide to pick six years after the
event in particular?
Lindsay: I wanted it to feel like it had been going on for so long
that the wife would have worked out a way to devise a system for herself to be
able to cope. It's not the kind of new status quo you'd come up with in just a
few months.
 |
| Transience "Australia" Page 3 |
 |
| Transience "Australia" Page 4 |
Me: How did Mark Lauthier become part of the
project with you and how would you describe his art style?
Lindsay: He was brought in by Leo and Ricardo, and I'm glad he was.
I love Mark's art - I see him around at conventions a lot down here, but we'd
not yet had the chance to collaborate, so this was a blast.
Me: What inspirational words do you have for
aspiring writers?
Lindsay: Hold fast. You can write every day - comics, or ideas, or
six word stories. Just keep writing, and do it for yourself.
 |
| Ben Kahn |
Me: How did you become involved with this project?
Ben Kahn: I think Leo became aware of my work
after we did an interview for a graphic novel I did together with Bruno Hidalgo
called Shaman. When I got the email about the anthology, I was
instantly in. It was such a cool premise, and I loved the idea that every story
would be in a different country. Bruno and I had some time between finishing Shaman and
starting our new series Heavenly Blues, and we jumped at the chance
to be a part of Transience.
Me: What can you tell us about your story and how it differs from others in
the anthology?
Kahn: Our story is about a little girl named Adela
and the castell. The castell is a human tower of people standing on each
other’s shoulders. It’s really beautiful and truly a stunning feat of pure
human ingenuity. There are videos of castells on YouTube that I definitely
recommend checking out. The idea is that a festival took place on the day of
the attack, and now everyone wakes up every morning thinking that it is still
the day to build the castell. So every day, they build this incredible human
tower all over again.
I think
what really sets this story apart is that it’s the only one where the main
character never learns that she has amnesia. I’m not sure I would call this
story hopeful, but it is one that focuses on wonder and joy. Adela has found
bliss in ignorance. She doesn’t even know she should be sad or afraid, so
instead she just looks forward to being on top of the castell each and every
day. That’s what this story was all about, how there can still be true
happiness and wonder even in a world without hope.
 |
| Transience "Spain" Page 1 |
 |
| Transience "Spain" Page 2 |
Me: What is the inspiration behind the story?
Kahn: The idea for the story is all Bruno! I’m just a
good ol’ Jewish boy from New York. It was Bruno who kept the world, the
characters, and the story grounded in the culture of Barcelona. I asked him
what he wanted to draw that reflected his home, and within seconds he answered
that he wanted to do a story about castells. Bruno’s helped build castells
before, so I wrote in the script that Adela’s father should have Bruno’s
likeness.
Me: Why did you decide to pick less than a year after the event in
particular?
Kahn: A big reason was practicality. Only small
children get to climb to the top of the castell, so I needed Adela to still be
a little girl if I wanted the story to end with her at the very top. I also
wanted it to be set not too far after the attack to try to lean into the
“ignorance is bliss” theme. It’s less than a year, the world isn’t falling
apart yet. I think the story is set during a time where it’s easier to pretend
things are still normal, and hope that things will become normal again soon.
Me: How did Bruno Hidalgo become part of the project with you and how would you
describe his art style?
Kahn: Bruno was always part of this story. I mean,
he’s the Spain of the Spain story! Bruno and I were always on this together, we
were even approached as a team. He’s my brother-in-arms. We’ve been working
together for over five years now, and there’s nobody I’d rather be working
with. I’d describe his art as stylish and surreal. It’s not tied to realism, it’s
more tied to capturing a story’s emotional essence. Bruno’s work doesn’t look
real, but it feels real.
 |
| Transience "Spain" Page 3 |
 |
| Transience "Spain" Page 4 |
Me: What inspirational words do you have for aspiring writers?
Kahn: Oh wow, am I actually getting the aspiring
writer question? I thought I still was an aspiring writer. This is so exciting!
Okay my advice: be a crazy person. Seriously, be obsessed. Making comics will
drain you: drain your resources, time, and energy. But if you’re truly
obsessed, it’ll all be worth it like nothing else. And then if you want a
professional quality book, treat your creative team like professionals (that
means pay them!).
Comics
are a very different beast than writing a screenplay or prose. Breaking down a
page, figuring out panel layout, writing for an artist, none of those come
naturally. Those skills have to be trained and practiced. Write scripts, issue
1s, 8-page shorts, do whatever you gotta do to just figure out how the medium
works. Then when you have an idea you care about enough to put into production,
you’ll already know how to write a comic script.
Me: Thanks for taking the time to talk to me about
your anthology! If you’re reading this and you’re interested in learning more
and possibly backing it, check out their Kickstarter.
Do you
have a Kickstarter? Want to be interviewed about it and have the project
featured on "Kickstart the Week?" Let me know in the comments below
or message me on my website.
Other
“Kickstart the Week” features:
No comments:
Post a Comment