It ’s the end of the world as we screw it , but at least our ducky finger ok . They ’re nigh the only survivor in the new hit comic Legend , after a computer virus wipe out almost all human life , and hot dog , computed tomography , and the other animals of the globe find themselves in charge of a Earth that has been grow into a very weird position .
Co - make by Sam Sattin and artist Chris Koehler for Z2 Comics , the comedian follows one dog in particular : the titular Legend , who steps in to take care of his canine comrades when the loss leader of their gang of formerly domesticated dogs is vote out , and guides them in the unusual world where animals literally talk to each other ; the dog tribe follows the ghostly teachings of a divine dogtooth being be intimate as the Alldog ; technologically - practiced quat weary knife - cover armour ; and where all fauna revere a cryptic creature known only as the Endark .
It is , as Sattin severalise us , all a piece Watership Down encounter The Walking Dead — except much weirder . So in the wake of the comedian ’s late , critically lauded launching , we ride down with Sattin to speak about writing for comics , write for animals , and why citizenry just ca n’t get enough of apocalyptical fiction . ( We have some sole Legend graphics and construct work making its debut here on io9 , too . )
io9 : So the first issue is out . What did you feel like seeing the response to Legend ?
Sam Sattin : To say I feel happy would be a vulgar understatement . Ecstatic is more clever . I bed that masses are excited by the same things Chris and I are excited about with this serial — unfold up this cryptic world for readers to explore , and unrolling this fascinating story of survival through characters we care deeply about . And the sign language we ’ve had so far have been unbelievable , with the Quran sell out at every event . It ’s also been great to see that reader of all age are identifying with the account . Seeing younger readers respond is especially neat . I was n’t expecting that to happen , and see it wonderful .
Can you tell us more about the narration and its setting ?
Sattin : I ’ve depict Legend as Watership Down meets The Walking Dead , with dogs ( and guy ) instead of lapin , and monstrous , nocturnal entities rather of zombies . But here ’s something a little more thoroughgoing : What if a biological terror agent wiped out most of humanity , and our domesticated animals were provide in charge ? How would our dogs and hombre set about prevail and rebuild the world ? Legend is the report of animals uniting to fight mutant creature and attempting to restore the cosmos their master destroyed .
What do you think it is about telling stories through the center of an animal that makes it so compelling ?
Sattin : I ’ve been retrieve about ways to respond this motion since Legend come out . When plot the story itself I almost avoided asking myself why , concentrating rather on what . When I started toying around with the opinion of write an animal story a few geezerhood back , I did so simply because I enjoy the genre so much . I ’m drawn to it in person because it ’s deceptively complex . Many people might be uncoerced to approach hard composition in narrative that feature animals as characters instead of world . The world beast — especially wild animal — inhabit is quite dangerous , and disproportionately affected by human activity . I cogitate that ’s why Watership Down traumatized a generation of shaver . Although it ’s about cute cuddlesome lapin , it ’s also about nature imperiled by post - war maturation . In Legend , many of the dogs and cats were domesticated pets prior to the downfall of mankind , which complicates things in an interesting way — and they have disagree spirit about the humans being pass . Some of them do n’t know on the dot how to exist in the wild .
Another matter I wish about animal stories is that they help small fry approach difficult matter issue , which I consider is howling . They can explore profound and dread idea without reaching a tipping point . It can be an easier experience to read Animal Farm than a bloody historical fiction about the Russian Revolution . Though to this Clarence Shepard Day Jr. I am continually haunted by the Battle of Cowshed , the last and scapegoating of Snowball , and the rise of Napoleon in Orwell ’s Good Book , when I finally examine the earned run average of history those events and reference were imply to satire , I felt far more inclined to comprehend it .
Are you a dog somebody yourself ? Were any of the animals based on pets you ’ve owned , or pets you jazz ?
Sattin : I love dogs . And cats . And all animals , mostly . Most all of the animals in Legend are found off of ones I know . The frump that Legend is ground on belong to a Quaker of mine . Elsa is based off my beagle , who we took in after my female parent passed away , remixed with a friend ’s beagle . And without giving too much away , I can say that my cats trifle dashing roles as well . You only need to wait until June 8 , whenthe 2nd issuecomes out , to reckon how …
How did Chris Koehler come on panel ?
Sattin : I ’ve been working on a memoir comic that I tend to keep primarily to myself , and I learned some tricks when I enrolled at California College of the Arts so that I could tell a sure kind of story . But I ca n’t do what Chris can do — frankly , I do n’t think most masses can — particularly on a monthly agenda . Chris is an Illustrator with a capital I , and has a master ’s arsenal of techniques that could meet a barn . As co - creator he fix Legend come to sprightliness .
Chris and I met at California College of the Arts , in the Comics MFA program , where he was an illustration techniques teacher and I was his scholarly person . I ’d already compose a novel and was in the centre of writing my second . Chris was an established illustrator and was concerned in the same thing I ’d been obsessing over for class : making comics . We encounter up about midway through my time at CCA , and knocked some pitches back and onward . Though we had a lot of good estimation , the animal story estimate I ’d been kick around terminate up growing legs ( and a tail ? ) . Since then , it ’s been a collaborative process . I ante up aid to the story , dialogue and grapheme , while Chris pays aid to representational colors and the details of the domain . It ’s quite cool , really .
You ’re a novelist and essayist , and have spell about strip before , but this is your first foray into writing an actual comic . What was it about Legend that made you require to try it in a different medium ?
Sattin : When get along up with the premise for Legend , I was inspired by other brute write up I ’d been reading in the graphic medium . Brian K. Vaughan ’s Pride of Baghdad affected me on a fundamental level , as did We3 , Beasts of Burden , Iron : Or , the War After , and Blacksad . Some were geared to a more mature hearing , but they all were fantastically devout , and political in a still way . I think a band of what I found I enjoy about them was the fashion in which they show beast visually . Since animal stories surpass in bestow themselves to apologue , adding a visual level to that mechanic is compelling . It ’s also fascinating to see how emotions and world construction are run out in comics ’ data formatting . Every detail matters .
What was the biggest challenge of write comics for the first time ?
Sattin : Though I ’ve read and want to write strip for a foresightful time , I was n’t exactly sure how to start doing so . A few years ago , I started coming up with lurch for serial ( including some nascent framework for what would become Legend ) , but nothing made its style past that stage . Mostly because I was n’t ready . I think writing novel can help you compose comics — storytelling is storytelling , after all — but it ’s a very mussy and difficult transition . You have to learn an totally fresh Seth of rules , and grow a visual vocabulary . And if you ’re collaborating with an creative person , you have to foster a rhythm , docket , and personal manner of cooperation . It ’s very different from the solitary experience of write a novel .
Chris has had a similar experience , being that he ’s an illustrator by trade . One thing he said recently is that “ drawing comics is like run a marathon at a sprinter ’s yard . ” He ’s had to learn to trust his own instinct , and has begun talking about how although a exclusive illustration might be more developed than a single comedian page , the cumulative of an entire issue ( or series ) is cracking than a single piece can permit for , and how he ’s had to stop worrying about everything being arrant in consideration of narrative flow and overall mood . It ’s been very interesting for me , witnessing these transitions in both of us .
A few years ago , you wrote an essay for us askingif the post - apocalyptic vogue was doomed — and four days later , you ’re writing Legend . How do you think post - apocalyptic fiction keep staying relevant ?
https://gizmodo.com/is-post-apocalyptic-entertainment-doomed-5963200
Sattin : I want to laugh here , because it is a piffling ironic , is n’t it ? When I wrote that article , a draw of hoi polloi , including me , were catch up in The Walking Dead . The Road had won the Pulitzer and recently been brought to film , and it seemed like we were developing this ethnical obsession with the end of the world , or at least the end of society . Such tale were becoming stylish , and with that , were becoming canned .
A few class afterward , however , I came to realise that a lot of skill fiction is , by nature , dystopian , and dystopia has a leaning to embrace post - apocalyptic motifs . I think that sure aspect of the setting have lost their luster because of market intensity , and that it ’s important to remember that a sear landscape painting does not a story make . But post - apocalyptic fiction can stay relevant as long as the story , characters , and themes , are put before convention . As Chris says , post - apocalyptic stories can suffice “ the big “ what if ” in a way that is entertaining and digestible . ” I think that ’s a great way to await at it . As a vessel , rather than a destination .
Also , I think it ’s worth saying that although trends come in and go quick , some estimate are truly dateless . Our planet is imperilled , both in term of the environment and socio - political discord , and I think that as long as things remain fractured and dissolute , a post - apocalyptical public is going to maintain a lot of real estate in our mental imagery .
ultimately , what can you tease about the future of Legend ?
Sattin : allow ’s just say that things are about to get a whole lot more dangerous , not just for the Dog Tribe , but for their former enemies , the Cat Tribe . As puppet conceive only to fare out at night come forth into the day , quick allegiances need to be formed . gratefully though , the CT have more than claws and dentition to protect them …
caption # 1 is useable now .
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