CB CEBULSKI TALKS DRAIN

[MattBrady]

by Vaneta Rogers

What would you do with your life if you knew you would live forever?

C.B. Cebulski explores that question in Drain, the new series from Image Comics beginning this week. By following the immortal main character, Chinatsu, through 500 years of choices and decisions, Cebulski hopes to take readers on an action-filled journey of one woman's growth across time.

But this isn't just your run-of-the-mill immortal lady we're talking about here. Chinatsu is a trained ninja who became a vampire within the mystical world of ancient Japan. Initially consumed by a desire to enact revenge upon the vampire who turned her, the character grows to recognize the opportunities that her powers and abilities afford her as she travels around the world, crossing paths with historical events and making her mark upon them.

Following up our interview with the series' artist, Sana Takeda, who sets a distinct artistic tone for the series, Newsarama talked to Cebulski about his vision for the comic and what he thinks is so appealing about following this character as she journeys through
history.

Newsarama: Looking at the art and solicitation for Drain, it's hard to classify it in just one genre. There isn't really a category for historical fiction vampire ninja comics. How did you come up with the idea for something like this?

C.B. Cebulski: It was just kind of a natural process. I'm mainly more of a sci-fi fan, to be honest, and all my story sensibilities in the past have run sci-fi. I was trying to break out of that. And I just happened to be talking to a friend of mine who loves horror movies and fantasy stuff, and he's the one that suggested a bunch of different movies I should probably watch. And I felt myself getting pulled more and more into a darker, horror vibe at the time.

NRAMA: And that got the idea going?

CBC: That and my constant love of Japan.

NRAMA: Because you lived there for awhile.

CBC: Yeah, and I'm always watching new Japanese movies and anime and checking out old stuff. I was on an Akira Kurosawa kick one weekend, watching Seven Samurai, Hidden Fortress and things like that. And it was like a lightbulb went off in my head, and I thought, wow, how could I combine these two?

At first, I started thinking more of a horror story set in ancient Japan, and that kind of morphed into, "What if we had a vampire who had eternal life and crossed over into all these different genres?" That way I wouldn't have to settle for a period piece.

NRAMA: You could go almost anywhere.

CBC: I could tell different types of stories over different time periods, touching all kinds of interests and things that fascinate me throughout history.

NRAMA: The story begins in ancient Japan because your main character, Chinatsu, originated in that era. She was a warrior there before she became a vampire, right?

CBC: She was a ninja. Kunoichi is the Japanese term for it. But yeah, she was a female Japanese ninja.

NRAMA: So you are able to have her doing some pretty interesting things throughout history because of her abilities.

CBC: Yeah. She has a certain set of abilities that are not supernatural -- great physical strengths and physical abilities. And I've combined that with my take on the powers of immortality and the strengths and the weaknesses that a vampire has. It puts her into a position to survive just about anything that's thrown at her, no matter what the time period is. She changes with each time and grows with it and adapts to it accordingly. But it puts her in a very good place no matter what she's doing.

NRAMA: Besides her physical attributes and abilities, who is Chinatsu as a person?

CBC: She's someone who has lost everything. And going into her past, one of the things we'll be touching on in Issues #3 and #4 is the relationship she had with her clan and with her family. She was a very strong woman, but she did have a great emotional attachment to her family. And when she ends up losing all that, something in her snaps, and the need for revenge becomes all-encompassing. However, while the "time-heals-all-wounds" thing doesn't necessarily hold true, time does mellow her a bit and she comes to embrace the person she used to be and tries to bring aspects of that into her life.

NRAMA: Trying to be more like the human girl she once was?

CBC: Trying to become more emotional and trying to be more in touch with her feelings. And we'll see her grow because of it.

NRAMA: Time seems to play a huge role in this comic as Chinatsu not only grows with time, but interacts with so many historical time periods. Can you tell us some of the eras you'll be focusing on?

CBC: We'll start in New York City, in a flashback to the '80s, and the main story progresses through modern day, the 21st century. But we get a series of flashbacks showing how her current life and the past tie together. So we're going to be flashing back to Victorian England, and we'll be going to different time periods in Japan, and we're going to be in Napoleonic era France ... I'm trying to think what else comes out in the first few issues.

NRAMA: You had to do a little research for this one…

CBC: Oh, I did a lot of research. And I give Sana Takeda, the artist, so much credit because when I wrote the script, I threw a lot of things in there like, "I saw a picture of this castle in a book and it stuck in my mind," or something like that, and she went and researched it online and in different books and was able to take exactly what I wanted and put it on the page.

Oh, and we have a World War II scene coming up, and down the line there will be some American West tales, and some pirates on the China Sea kind of thing. There are lots of things coming up.

NRAMA: She's all over the place.

CBC: I have a whole timeline plotted out of exactly how she left Japan and got to where she is today. It takes her through a lot of different issues. A lot of different stories. I'll be able to get to them all eventually.

NRAMA: You mentioned earlier that she has a desire for revenge. There must be a villain throughout these stories, right?

CBC: Yes! The villain is the vampire who originally turned her. In Japan, in the 1500s, we're going to find out that people came into the country to try to shape it into their own. And the villain of the story is the main vampire who came and slaughtered her village, but left her alive thinking that she would be the messenger, that she would spread the rumor of the vampire -- the legends and the evil that they are in Japan. It didn't really work out like he planned. She didn't start spreading the legend. What she did instead was decide that evil has to be wiped from the face of the earth, that people should not know about it. And she made it her personal mission that she was going to take this guy out. She was going to follow him to the end of the earth, to the end of time, and do whatever it takes to make sure that he is eradicated from the earth -- to eliminate this evil, in her mind.

NRAMA: So his plan didn't work out well at all.

CBC: His plan kind of backfired on him, and it will catch up to him.

NRAMA: Ah, it will eventually get him, huh?

CBC: Eventually. Yep.

NRAMA: OK, let's come back to something you said a minute ago. You mentioned your "take" on immortality and vampires. What does that mean? Are you doing something a little different here?

CBC: Yeah, you know, there are a lot of different takes on vampires. Some have an aversion to crosses, some are affected by garlic, some walk in the daylight -- there are stories about how vampires are turned, how blood has to be sucked out of them -- the transformation they have to go through, like do they have to be buried or don't have to be buried. And this was what I would see an immortal vampire and the process of turning to be, and the powers that I believe would be there. I took the genre and looked at all the different aspects I've seen and came up with my interpretation of what a vampire or night-walker would be.

NRAMA: What would you say to someone who wouldn't normally read a vampire story that might make them give this one a try?

CBC: Well, it is a vampire story. It does have that horror-fantasy element to it. But at its core, it is an emotional story about the growth of a person. If you were immortal, what would you do with your life? If you could live forever, what would you do? And she's been facing all kinds of choices knowing that she can't be killed by too many things -- so she has to make the decisions on what to do. Does she let the need for revenge encompass her life? Or is there more she can
do?

NRAMA: And really, what to do with life is a question even those of us who aren't immortal are asking ourselves. But you've put a different twist on it by focusing on the concepts of time and immortality.

CBC: Yeah, it's a question that anyone could ask themselves. If you were going to live forever, what would you do with your life. Would you go out and have fun? I mean, me? First, I'd probably go out and see the world, experience as much as I could. And, you know, right the wrongs -- not only the wrongs of my life, but the wrongs of the world as a whole. Do you become altruistic? Do you take the weight of the world on your shoulders? There are a million different questions to ask when you ask a larger question like that.

NRAMA: And through Chinatsu, we get to see those questions addressed?

CBC: Yes. Through her, this story addresses a lot of those questions and shows what one person could do and the decisions she can make while being immortal.

NRAMA: Forever's a long time, C.B., and you talked earlier about having mapped out her entire life over 500 years and wanting to tell all those stories eventually. Is Drain a long-term project for you?

CBC: I'm approaching it that way. And you know, we're really happy with the way that Drain has been embraced so far. The orders were very good from Image's perspective, from what I understand. I was very happy with the numbers. And it seems like the thing that we're debating now is that Sana's painting everything digitally, as you discussed with her in her interview. It's all being done in Photoshop, and it's a very time-consuming process. In order to get her caught up but not lose the look of the book, what we're doing is thinking about taking break from the main series for three or four months after the first arc.

NRAMA: That first arc is how long?

CBC: Six issues. So after issue six, we're looking to maybe take a break but then come back. And what I've been discussing with Image and few artists is doing a spin-off series. We'd be telling side stories about the different time periods in Chinatsu's life. So I will probably be co-writing those stories with Sana, because I want her to have as much involvement as possible, and she'll be doing the covers. But there will be other artists coming in to help us out and visually tell those stories.

NRAMA: But the main story will then continue?

CBC: Yes, we'll keep up the momentum of the series, which seems to be doing very well, but take that break so Sana can come back strong with more of the main series ready to go.

NRAMA: It sounds like you're happy with where the series is going.

CBC: I really am. I couldn't be happier with what Sana has done with the art. Copies have come in, and I've gotten a lot of really positive reviews. People I've shown it to, whose opinion I trust, have been supportive of it. And I just hope people enjoy the story as much as I know they're going to love the art.

Click here for an eight page preview of Drain #1.

[kingofcities]

Between the interview and the pics I may just have to try this one out.

[C. The B.B.C]

I`ve been thinking about picking this one up ever since I saw the first art previews a couple months back right here on Newsarama. What can I say? I like vampires, I like C. B. and I most certainly like a little manga on my comics and I`ll just eat up any period-piece about old Japan. I`m just hard-wired weird like that. I hope it does real well and sticks around for a good long while

[bishop-m]

I've already got this on my pull list...I've been anticipating this book, since i've seen it in previews...

[CBeranek]

Keep on keeping on, C.B. Looking good!

[J.S. Rich]

The look of this continues to impress. I'm gonna check it out.

[deadjacket]

I added this to my Pull list last week.... and I'm looking forward to a double dose of Image vampire stories this week (Impaler #2 aswell)

[Master Bates]

Must buy.

[idkidd]

So after issue six, we're looking to maybe take a break but then come back. And what I've been discussing with Image and few artists is doing a spin-off series.

It's cool that you're planning the logistics of this so far in advance (unlike other publishers).

Maybe Kirkman could feature a Drain preview in Walking Dead (I'd like to see some of that love shown to an IMAGE book)

[steve2275]

FINALLY
http://www.newsarama.com/ImageComics/Drain/chinatsu.jpg
a woman who knows how to dress