Into the Deep - 3

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Okay, here we are with our third part of Into the Deep!

In the first one of these little, behind the scenes post, I talked about how there were three core moments that were the seeds of what Into the Deep would become. We get the second of those three foundational pieces in this section, and that is the conversation between the Imperator and Kor.

Comics are a really flexible medium, and one of the ways you can see that flexibility is the variety of ways in which you can structure and pace your comics. I have a Grand Unifying Theory of American comics (really a lose, informal framework) for how I think you can categorize the main styles of comic pacing and flexibility that you see published in the Anglophone comics market. The four basic categories are:

• Comics as TV Shows
• Comics as Movies
• Comics as Novels
• Comics as Comics

I don't think this is the place to get in depth on what I mean by each of these categories (maybe I'll include that in a future newsletter, if folks are interested) but I say all of that so that I can say, Into the Deep was my attempt to make a graphic novel that fits into the pacing and style of Comics as Movies. That meant keeping the story light and propulsive, and keeping the actual reading experience as simple as possible. No formal trickery. Nothing about the craft of the comic that makes you stop and think about it being a comic. Just a relatively simple story, told clearly, concisely, and in a way that is hopefully pretty enjoyable. One final piece of this tangent, Hero of Legend is me attempting to do Comics as Novels. Up to you to decide whether I've succeed at either of those!

But, while I wanted Into the Deep to be light, face paced and exciting, I also wanted there to be at least something to chew on. I think it's easy to have an evil empire in a story like this where the empires ideology is just being evil. I wanted there to be at least a touch more there, though obviously nothing super heavy handed. The kernel that this scene and the rest of Into the Deep grew out of, is the ending. I wanted his speech toward Kor to have some gravitas to it. For there to be at least a couple of pieces that can hopefully stick with you after you've read it. And the first bit of that I had was The Imperator dispelling the spectral Kor, and saying:

"May your flesh rot and The Current take your bones."

Spent a lot of late nights muttering that to myself while sorting letters in the postal plant. I am extremely normal.

Anyway, last piece of this. I'd be remiss if I didn't share maybe the only good piece of promotional content I've ever created for social media:

Well, maybe not good, per se, but I do think it's funny.

Anyway, that's it for this month. See you next time! And make sure you're signed up for Below the Depths on Kickstarter!