KIRKMAN & SU TALK CLOUDFALL

[MattBrady]

by Benjamin Ong Pang Kean

The prolific Robert Kirkman and his buddy-in-comics and Tech Jacket artist E.J. Su are teaming up again for a 48-page, black and white one-shot mystery special called Cloudfall from Image Comics in November.

The apparently always-writing Kirkman, whose workload these days include, amongst others, Tales of the Realm, The Walking Dead, the recently-released Brit (another 48-page one-shot from Image), Space Ace and Invincible, seems to be having the time of his career now. “I’m a workaholic. I’ve gotten the opportunity to do something I enjoy, and I can’t stop myself,” he told Newsarama.

“Cloudfall is a 48-page one-shot coming from Image,” Kirkman said when asked about his latest project, “It's the book E.J. Su and I are doing as a follow-up to Tech Jacket, that recently concluded from Image,and is currently available in trade paperback form at a store near you or at www.khepri.com. It's completely new and not related to Tech Jacket in any way, but if you like what we did there... this is a little different, and more mature... but I'm sure you'll like this too.

Explaining more about this project, Kirkman said: “The main character is Allison Andrews, a New York City detective who is drawn into a conspiracy involving a dead mayor. She's one of the top detectives in her precinct, a real tough cookie. She's had to deal with all the ‘boy's club’ nonsense at the beginning of her career, but by the time we get to her she's earned the respect of her peers many times over... she's at a good place in her life, for the most part. Her husband, Nick, isn't the most reliable or attentive husband, but he has his strong suits and Allison has convinced herself that she's better off remaining married to him. Then there's Darrel, her partner on the force. He's a great friend who's been at it a bit longer than Allison and offers up advice to her on a regular basis.”

The inspiration for Cloudfall actually originated two years ago, back when the scribe was toying with the idea of publishing the project through Dark Horse. “I was talking with Phillip Amara, Sky Ape and Nevermen co-creator and then Dark Horse editor about doing some work at Dark Horse. He asked me if I had any ideas for books with a female lead because he had an artist that drew sexy females that Mike Richardson really liked. He figured if he could pair me with that artist he could probably get the book picked up. He was really trying to give me a leg up back when I was slaving away on Battle Pope and I'll always owe him for that. What I came up with was an early version of Cloudfall. Dark Horse didn't seem interested... and I put it on the shelf where I keep stuff I want to do some day, because I really liked the idea and thought it had potential. Fast-forward a few years, Tech Jacket was coming to an end and E.J. had said that we should do something with a female lead... he seemed to think that I wrote interesting females, and wanted to see what I'd do if a female was the focus of a book. So I went to the shelf, dusted off Cloudfall, and tweaked it to the point that it wasn't anything close to what it used to be.”

“Robert had told me briefly about his Cloudfall idea back when we were still working on Tech Jacket,” said Su. “At the time, we didn't know if we ever going to get to work on it, but Robert gave me some quick characters description and asked me to think about the designs when I have some free time. Since then, I've worked on the character designs of Cloudfall from time to time, until Robert sent me a script, after I was done with screentoning the Tech Jacket TPB pages. Before I had to screentone [the] Tech Jacket TPB, I was not aware of the amount of work that I had to put into screentoning 134 pages, especially not digitally. I had to come up with a way to work systematically and effectively in case there are future projects in need of screentoning. This experience comes in handy when I started to work on Cloudfall.”

It’s pretty obvious that there’s a creative chemistry between these two. “You couldn't force me not to work with E.J.,” added Kirkman, “I plan on working with that guy as long as he'll have me. It isn't really a question of why I chose E.J. for this project as much as it is why I chose to do this project with E.J. I realize that sounds pretty much like the same thing but I wanted to make it clear that the chicken came before we laid the egg. This is happening out of a desire to continue working with E.J. He's a God... and a friend. His style works on everything... his storytelling is superb and his dedication to the craft is far beyond that of anyone else I work with. E.J. is a slave to his work, and he loves doing it. I'm lucky that he allows me to work with him.”

Are 48-page one-shots the future of comic book making, compared to the traditional 22-page pamphlets and trade paperbacks? And would there be more of such projects in the works for writer? “This first book stands alone as a complete story, but if things go well, E.J. and I plan to continue the story as a quarterly series of 48-page one-shots,” Kirkman said. “All would be complete stories contained in each issue, but with issues connecting to a larger story that brings everything together. I think this is a format that hasn't really been tried yet on a continuing basis and I think it's a great stepping-stone between 22 page monthly comics and OGN's. It takes the best from both formats and appeals to both sides of the TPB vs. Pamphlet argument.”

Working on a special such as this does now come without its sets of constraints. For Kirkman, “the only downside is that I'm not finished after 22 pages! Other then that, it's all better than the monthly comic format. I don't have to work towards an end for a while in the story... I don't have to cut it up, or throw a cliffhanger in exactly 22 pages into it. There's no stopping point until you get past the point where a second issue would be. The first 48 pager I did, Brit, just hit shelves and I think it turned out great. If there's a fight I can use some room for that instead of making sure I meet that little page 22 cut off... and I can really take time to explore the characters more, and still have enough room to have a beginning, middle, and end all contained in one book. I really enjoy working in this format, so expect more from me in the coming months.”

“The page number may seem intimidating at first, but it's really no different from normal 22-page projects. Just taking a page at a time like every other project,” added Su.

“It's refreshing and a lot of fun for me to be doing something that is not superheroes,” Kirkman explained, counting the joys of working on a concept such as this. “I love superheroes... quite a bit, but I'm doing that in Capes and Invincible... and Brit, to a certain extent. Books like this and The Walking Dead and Tales of the Realm over at CrossGen, give me a chance to stretch my legs and show people that I can do something else... or at least... that's the plan.”

Whereas for Su, it’s the satisfaction derived from pushing his artistic skills to the max and seeing the fruits of his labor after each project and the surprises in store for readers and fans of his work. “On every comic I've done so far, I've been trying to bring a little something different to the table, sort of my own way of pushing my personal artistic boundary. It's always fun for me to do something new and different. I have never done any cop related story before, and artistically, I am trying to do something very different from what I normally do. Those who are familiar with my work in the past might be surprised.”

One who is not about to call it a day when he sees an open door of opportunity, Kirkman took the time to offer an update on his other projects. “Aside from Cloudfall, I plan on plugging away at the rest of my books. Invincible is moving along and now that the set up is out of the way... the fun really begins. Capes is turning out great, Mark Englert is dazzling everyone that's seen that book. Tony Moore and I are doing another Brit in December, people seem to be enjoying the first one and I'd like to explore the characters more. The Walking Dead has been a blast so far, I love zombie stories and this one has everything I like about them in it. Space Ace is coming out soon, and it's looking swell. Tales of the Realm is a treat to work on, Val Staples and Matt Tyree are letting me play with their brilliant concept and Tyree's pages are damn pretty. I'm having a ball doing what I'm doing... so I plan to keep doing it as long as I can.”

For his collaborator Su, “Other than Cloudfall, I've been talking to another studio about a possible mini-series, I think an announcement will be made soon.”

[Chris Hunter]

I'm there!!

Kirkman is a great in the making. Can't get enough of his stuff.

[shakey]

I'm a big fan of Brit. These one shots play like TV pilots , enough of a first story to satisfy, but dangling plot threads make you want to come back for more. I'll check this out.

[jgroah]

Sounds like this could be a good read.

I like the Robert Kirkman stuff I've seen so far (Invincible, an issue of Battle Pope); any recomendations for other titles?

Joey

[stlfan79]

Originally posted by jgroah
Sounds like this could be a good read.

I like the Robert Kirkman stuff I've seen so far (Invincible, an issue of Battle Pope); any recomendations for other titles?

Joey

Check out Tech Jacket it was pretty cool but was cancelled b/c it didn't have enough orders.

[OcCaM]

Nothing from Kirkman has appealled to me before. But, will definately check this out. (Actually, I hate b/w and can count on one hand the # of titles I have that are. So, that should indicate how much this appeals to me!)

Now, if Fragile wasn't already running in Metal Hurlant, I'd have considered getting the Walking Dead. Oh, and if it had been in color! Ok, I'm really biased against lack of clour. Hate b/w t.v. too, what can I say?

[JohnnyONeal]

Great to see an article on Robert Kirkman! He's a real talent, matching witty dialogue with fast pacing. When are we going to see him with one of the Big Two?

I really recommend Invincible. It has funny dialogue and strong characterization, but a lot happens in each issue, which is a nice change of pace from the super-decompressed comics that are making so many people lose their patience with Marvel.

Tech Jacket was also a lot of fun. I wouldn't be surprised if we see it again sometime ...once Robert Kirkman is a star.

[csGuy]

I take it that first page won't be censored in the actual book?

[thefuuma]

The first page sold me. Hah! So how much this cost??

[Robert Kirkman]

A measly $4.95... just like BRIT.

-Robert

[Brett Day]

Originally posted by Robert Kirkman
A measly $4.95... just like BRIT.

-Robert

Brit rocked, but are you ever going to get to do more Battle Pope?
Also, how many comic pages come out a month penned by you? I think you're probably one of Bendis' closest rivals.

[FIG]

A measly $4.95 for a black and white comic?-You suck Robert, thats pretty cheap, especially since I buy like 10 other titles every week. Its nice to see E.J. hitting his stride and getting the recognition he deserves, his work gets better everytime I see it. On a sidenote, will you please hire me already?-I mean after hitting it big, how about helping out a fellow Penciljacker?