Writer TOM KING and artists MITCH GERADS & DOC SHANER talk DC Comics’ breakthrough new book, STRANGE ADVENTURES…
You’d be hard-pressed to find a storytelling trio as cosmically perfect as the one Tom King, Mitch Gerads, and Evan ‘Doc’ Shaner so effortlessly form. King and Gerads turned heads with Sheriff of Babylon and Mister Miracle, two books that helped cement the pair as one of the finest writer/artist teams in comics. Now, Shaner, another respected talent in the industry, joins the indomitable duo on a new series that promises to be just as fun and thoughtful as everything else they’ve done together. With the all-new, 12-issue Strange Adventures, King, Gerads, and Shaner bring new relevance and resonance to Adam Strange, a hero who hasn’t known this bright of a spotlight in years. The limited series tackles truth, lies, and the human way, showcasing a wise, even prudent, approach that emphasises the importance of inspection and introspection in a post-truth era. The first issue hit shelves recently and, as expected, it’s a showstopper. STARBURST caught up with King, Gerads, and Shaner at Chicago Comic and Entertainment Expo (C2E2), one of the largest pop culture conventions in the Midwest and a hub for comic creators…
STARBURST: How did this project come about?
Mitch Gerads: At my house. [laughs]
Tom King: [Laughs] Mister Miracle was doing well, and we were sort of looking for our next thing. I was at Mitch’s house for the baptism of his son, and we were literally going through his shelf being like, “What should we do next?” Mister Miracle was given to us and we had to shape it into something. And this time DC was like, “Find whatever you want.” And Mitch picked Adam Strange. That’s the best thing that can happen to a writer, when an artist picks a character. I went home and came up with the plot that night.
It’s got to be nice to see books on a shelf and be like, “I can pitch that to DC!“
TK: That is nice, yeah.
MG: Absolutely. We’re in the car on the way to the church the next day, and he pitches the entire thing to me and goes, “And here’s the best part: We bring in another artist!“
Doc Shaner: It really is!
So Doc, what was it like coming onto this book? Mitch and Tom have a proven chemistry, so it must be great to come into that and add to it.
DS: I knew them before, so it’s not like it’s my first time working with them. I’ve worked with Tom before. So it’s exactly how I thought it would be. I knew these guys had a foundation going so it’s great walking into something like that. We’re just kind of adding to what they did before with Sheriff of Babylon and Mister Miracle. Knowing that there’s already consistency there and being able to jump into that is refreshing, actually.
Unlike Mister Miracle, which dealt with the effects of trauma, we know that this one deals more with truth and assumptions of truth and stuff like that. How is that depicted on the page? How did you translate Tom’s script into something that’s pretty abstract into art that could visually represent that?
MG: I think Tom’s strength when he writes is that the characters feel real.
Tom King: What? [laughs]
MG: I’ve read a lot of scripts where it’s like, “Oh, these are comic book people doing comic book things.” And Tom writes human people doing comic book things. It’s a different way to approach it, and I think that emotion comes through. So you just kind of start with that emotion and you plug the characters into it.
TK: The idea was always, from the beginning, that we’re gonna do something that was about the difference between a fantasy and reality and how those two work together and how one influences the other. Mitch draws grounded comics, but he uses a lot of abstract stuff in his work. But somehow you feel the crack of the desert under your feet, as they say. The book is really weird because the art switches between panels, so it requires a lot of coordination.
DS: I agree with all of that. I can’t imagine doing this book with somebody I didn’t know.
Are the book’s themes at all influenced by today’s political climate?
TK: Yeah. I think you can go as far as to say it’s driving it. Our attempt was to do what Watchmen did. It was a comic that existed for all time, but it also talked to the political climate and said something true about when it was created. And because it said something true, it’s become immortal. So yeah, this is very much about our current moment in world history, the same way Mister Miracle was about dealing with events that feel incomprehensible to you and seeing what that does to your family. This is about deciding if someone is lying to you. And it seems like in our current atmosphere, watching TV, doing anything, you’re constantly having to make a decision and ask yourself, “Is this a lie? Do I accept the lie?“
MG: And then there are different ways that lies and the truth are being told. Sometimes it’s passive, sometimes it’s not. Or sometimes people don’t know they’re lying, but that’s their recollection. And then other times they’re lying because they’re trying to get a point through. The book speaks to a lot of that and kind of makes you wonder who’s on the up and up.
TK: The book takes place in two different timelines at the same time. Mitch’s portion is an investigation into Doc’s portion. It blends together. You get kind of a layered understanding.
DS: I’m drawing the story Adam Strange is telling when he gets back to Earth. It’s been interesting to explore those space adventures, and that’s the part I’ve been enjoying the most so far, kind of bringing that stuff into the DC universe and visualising the planet Rann. It’s nice to kind of expand on what Rann is. I’m excited!
STRANGE ADVENTURES #1 is available digitally through ReadDC.com or ComiXology
