KAZU KIBUISHI ON FLIGHT EXPLORER

[MattBrady]

by Benjamin Ong Pang Kean

It was announced last April on Newsarama.com and in March, Flight Explorer, a Flight companion book geared towards the all-ages demographic, will be published by Villard. The volume will take roughly the same approach to storytelling as the award-winning Flight anthology series, that is, creators telling their own short stories, starring their own, or new characters – all continuity free, and all with a general audience in mind.

We spoke with Flight's "father" Kazu Kibuishi about the project and more.

Newsarama: Kazu, when we broke the news on Flight Explorer on Newsarama in April last year, you were still putting together the creative teams for this all-ages anthology. So, who's made the cut for the first Flight companion book?

Kazu Kibuishi: The inaugural list for Flight Explorer includes Jake Parker, Kean Soo, Johane Matte, Phil Craven, Ben Hatke, Steve Hamaker, Matthew Armstrong, Bannister, Rad Sechrist, and me.

NRAMA: What does each of them bring to an all-ages anthology like Flight Explorer?

KK: Each of these artists have been doing work that keeps the youngest readers in mind, though the stories are mature enough for adults to enjoy. Having these unique sensibilities is a rare thing, and more stories by these kinds of artists need to get made. More than half of each volume of Flight consisted of such stories, so I felt they needed a place of their own, so that librarians and booksellers can be confident about recommending the books to the youngest of readers.

NRAMA: Okay, there's "Jellaby" by Kean Soo, "Missile Mouse" by Jake Parker, "Zita the Spacegirl" by Ben Hatke, an unpublished "Copper" story by you, and other familiar stories/characters from all too familiar Flight contributors. You'd previously mentioned that you chose the stories based solely on the content. So, it was an "all-ages… go!" kind of mandate then?



KK: Aside from Phil's, Rad's, Matthew's, Bannister's, and my stories, the material was actually created for Flight 4. When I had more than enough good material to make one book, I decided it would be a good idea to push the all-ages stories into a new book made with younger kids in mind. No one created material with the purpose of making all-ages content. They just happened to want to create this kind of material, and it was a good fit, so I diverted the stories into a new book.

NRAMA: Wasn't there a theme that you'd like to explore with Flight Explorer? Or some things that you'd wanted to do differently from the established Flight formula?

KK: As with Flight, there was no unifying theme. The similar sensibilities of the artists are what hold it together.

NRAMA: In talking about Amulet, you said that you'd never realized how difficult it would be to write young characters before Amulet. How tough has it been in selecting the right all-ages stories to be included in the first volume of Flight Explorer?



KK: Not hard at all. It was very clear to me who was keeping the younger folks in mind when they created their stories.

NRAMA: In 2004, Pulitizer Prize winning novelist and comic book writer Michael Chabon gave a keynote address at the Eisner Awards ceremony in which he stated that "children have not abandoned comic books - comic books have abandoned children." Now, that was three and a half years ago, but do you think it still applies?

KK: In the American comics industry, this is true. As with much of today's mainstream entertainment here in the States, I feel that the material is catering to an audience in their twenties and thirties. People just seem to be holding on to their childhood for a lot longer than in years past.

NRAMA: How has the whole experience been with Flight Explorer when it came to the production side of things, the story selection process, and all that as compared to the Flight Anthologies?

KK: It was essentially the same process as that of Flight. Since this book came together at the very same time as Flight 4, it just felt like an extension of that book.

NRAMA: Would you mind giving our readers a quick glimpse/synopsis on the various short stories that are packaged into Flight Explorer?

KK: Kean Soo's “Jellaby” story is about Jellaby enjoying his first snow day. It's reminiscent of some of my favorite Calvin and Hobbes comics.

On that note, Jake Parker's “Missile Mouse” story is the type of stuff I love seeing most of all. When I originally thought about doing a Flight book, I immediately had “Missile Mouse” and Enrico Casarosa' Adventures of Mia in mind, so it's nice to see Missile Mouse's first big adventure in the pages of Explorer.

On top of these great stories, we have some other regular Flight artists (Steve Hamaker, Ben Hatke, Rad Sechrist, Bannister and Matthew Armstrong) doing some of their best work in here. I especially love the new “Egyptian Cat” story by Johane Matte. Also, Phil Craven's “Big Mouth” is one of the funniest comics I've ever read.

NRAMA: And what about the "Copper" story? Your critically-acclaimed and fan favorite webcomic made it to print in the first volume of Flight and will now see publication in Volume 1 of Flight Explorer…

KK: The story I submitted was actually an older one that I colored for the publication of this book. It was originally created for a short film version of Copper that I was directing back when I worked in animation. At that time, I realized I really enjoyed Copper in its comic form just fine, so I stopped that production. The story, which I loved, sat collecting dust until now. It's nice to see it find a home.

NRAMA: Now, wouldn't it be nice to see these stories told in animation ala Hayao Miyazaki's series of anime?

KK: Perhaps, but it would depend on who directed them. Without a love for the material and a proper understanding of how to adapt it into a new medium, it might not work.

NRAMA: Coming back to print publication again (and back to reality for now), any hints for future volumes?

KK: That will depend on the sales of the first.

NRAMA: What about upcoming Flight anthologies? If you're adhering to past traditions, there should ideally be a fifth volume sometime this year, right? And regular Flight contributor Michel Gagné has said he’s finished a 36-page chapter of the "Saga of Rex" called "The Broken Path" for the fifth volume…

KK: We are nearing completion on the fifth volume of Flight, and yes, Michel's story will be in it. It is easily the best work he's ever done. It's truly epic.

NRAMA: Finally, several Flight contributors have moved on to other higher profile gigs while others have branched out into other fields. For instance, Dave Roman and Raina Telgemeier are now writing an X-Men manga, Kean Soo's Eisner Award for Best Online Comic nominee Jellaby was published by Disney, Fábio Moon turned in Sugarshock with Joss Whedon for Dark Horse Presents on Myspace, Derek Kirk Kim wrote Good as Lily and Sonny Liew illustrated Re-gifters for DC's Minx imprint, Liew's also busy putting together an anthology featuring South East Asian Creators (alone or collaborating with artists from elsewhere) titled Liquid City, Earthworm Jim creator Doug TenNapel published Black Cherry through Image, Hope Larson's signed a two-book deal with Ginee Seo's YA imprint at Simon & Shuster, etc. What's the feeling that's contained within you to see them go to greater frontiers after Flight?



KK: The original goal of the book was to help everyone build the confidence to do the longer stories- to do graphic novels- either in a serialized fashion or as standalone projects. Seeing the artists fully commit to creating graphic novels is a fantastic thing, and a fulfillment of the original goal. In fact, I am planning out how we can help push more of these artists to do graphic novels full time. We have to get more books out there, and Flight itself is definitely too slow to fulfill the needs of new readers.

Volume One of Flight Explorer is scheduled to be in stores on March 25th, and will carry a $10.00 cover price.

[ssava]

cool!

It's great to see some more All Ages books joining the ranks.

Welcome!


These pages look great. Looking forward to picking it up.

[CitC]

This is the one thing I am most excited about for 2008. Matthew Armstrong's story was great in #3 and I am pleased it is in Explorer (go to his website - really nice stuff).

Plus, a $10.00 cover price is perfect.

[Blackbeard]

Really excited about this! I can't wait to pick it up.

[djcoffman]

Michael Chabon's speech at the Eisners really got my head turning, especially having my own kids who were disinterested in the mainstream super hero books I liked as a kid. It saddened up and I went on some fool's mission to fix that.

Kudos to this book, I didn't even know it existed, but I'll be picking it up for my kids, ages 6, 9 and 10.

[Evilomar]

I'm a huge fan of the original Flight series and I can not wait for this companion to be released.

[Jeremy Holstein]

Whoa, is that a new Hamaker Fish N' Chips story?

Suddenly this jumps onto the buy list.

[Defunkt]

I truly enjoyed the 4 Flight volumes and I can't wait for Flight Explorer.
Nice to read that some of the Flight artists are rising stars and got nice deals.
This is how comic book making should be, satisfying for both creators and fans.
Long live Flight!

[-Armando523-]

they look like really fun books