Posted in: Comics | Tagged:

Amy Chu (and Her Interns) Writer's Commentary on Dejah Thoris #10

Published Thu, 29 Nov 2018 09:30:32 -0600

Amy Chu has a Writer's Commentary (along with her Interns) for Dejah Thoris #10, on sale now from Dynamite. She writes,

Hey everyone! Your friendly neighborhood Chu Crew (my interns) is back one last time for the exciting finale of Dejah Thoris! We have your Chu-mander in Chief Amy Chu here to answer our burning questions as the skies of Mars burn in this final battle! Let's get started.

Alexa: Great work again by Diego on the cover! Pasquale and Mike have done some phenomenal work over the series as well with their covers! Any last words on the covers of the series as a whole?

Amy: Well first, Happy Birthday, Alexa! I hope you got some nice cake! The covers for the whole series have been phenomenal and I'm so happy there were at least three covers for each issue. Also impressed no one made the rookie mistake of putting any belly buttons on the oviparous Martians. Go team!

PAGE 1:
Spenser: I love the angle of this shot, it's a great way to set the stakes right off the bat from Pasquale's side of things. Out of the frying pan into the fire.

Amy: Awesome. The first half of the book is actually by Vincenzo Federici who has helped out in previous issues but somehow his name got left out of the credits for this issue. You can see his linework is a bit different from Pasquale's. Sorry, Vincenzo!! Establishing the scene on the first page is important. It's also a little tricky sometimes because you have to think of how it's going to read as a collected edition. In other words, if the previous issue ended with a splash page, I don't start the next issue with a splash page.

PAGE 2:
Alexa: We get an emotional beat with Dejah's grandfather and the desperation of their situation. It has a good sense of finality to it.

Amy: Valentina's colors really helped set the mood here. Since this is the last issue, it's tempting to sometimes skip the recap and get right into the story, especially like I said, it will be collected into a trade edition so you don't want to get too repetitive. I'm trying to do a little of both here. There's always going to be someone picking an issue as their first, as well as those of you (I know who you are!) who can't remember what happened before because they read and watch so much in the last month!

PAGE 3:

Spenser: The emotional beats are balanced with immediate action. I also really appreciate the look of surprise on Dejah's face; she's usually stoic and not caught so off guard.

Amy: There's some debate about writing and stage direction between writers and artists. I always say it depends on the artist. Someone like Pasquale knows to close in on scenes like this to make it more intimate, then pull back. I don't need to direct him to do that!

PAGE 4:
Alexa: You mention belief in this page and continue to do so throughout the chapter, how does that tie into the overall narrative with Dejah believing in science and her people?

Amy: That's a whole other essay in itself! I would have loved to talk more about the goddess Issus, but this is a prequel so the truth about her isn't revealed yet. It's worth reading the original Edgar Rice Burroughs books where science and religion play a huge role. It was partially a device so I could bring Sajad and the Malagor back into the story.

PAGE 5:
Spenser: The stakes get raised even more with the Malagor's limitations, which help show us Dejah's commitment to the battle on the next page.

Amy: I had to put a lot of thought into this. Again, if you know what happens in the original Princess of Mars story you know what needs to happen so I had to construct a sequence where Sajad could only save one person at a time. I kind of wrote myself into this situation earlier on by including Tardos Mors on the ship, and now I need to get him off!

PAGE 6:
Spenser: Dejah's decision to stay, along with Sajad's newfound respect for her, help solidify her coming into her own as a leader now that we've reached the end. How did it feel building her up throughout the series like this?

Amy: Kind of like a chess game, or Jetan if you will. It's a slow process that involved assembling a coherent strategy for a payoff. The Dejah Thoris most readers are familiar with is much more mature than the one we started off with in Issue #1, so I needed to build up a backstory for her that made sense.

PAGE 7:
Alexa: The facial expressions in this page are great! They really help convey the scene. Do you usually get so descriptive or give the artist the inspiration to do so?

Amy: It really depends on the artist. For Pasquale and Vincenzo, the script for this panel is literally this: "7.2 Close in on Dejah as she pulls out the dagger. She knows Dekana is the traitor."

PAGE 8:

Alexa: The action shots are very fluid, showing that Dejah has met her match. The political intrigue ramps up in this page as well.

Amy: I gotta tell you, this entire sequence was tough — we're trying to do something cinematic here in a very static medium. For something like this, adjustments to lettering and dialogue are absolutely essential. You don't want balloon tails getting in the way of the action!

PAGE 9:

Spenser: I like the little Martian curses thrown in, adds some depth to the world.

Amy: I should have thrown in some more … but I'm not great at Martian expletives. I actually keep a running list of existing ones just in case. I do this for the Red Sonja series as well.

PAGE 10:
Alexa: The dialogue puts all of the events of the story into perspective. How was it hiding Dekana as the villain this whole time and teasing her for those who have been paying attention?

Amy: She actually didn't start off as the villain, but then as we went along it made more and more sense.

PAGE 11:
Spenser: It's interesting to see Dekana as a sort of dark reflection of Dejah to an extent, with their strategic strength at the same level almost and their backgrounds being reversed in the end. She's a fitting end game villain for this run, instead of a hulking Martian. Did you intend for her to be this much of a foil to Dejah?

Amy: Yes and no. In the first arc, I didn't really imagine her to be as big of a part of the story but then it made sense to use her rather than develop a whole new baddie.

PAGE 12:
Alexa: I also love the shot of Dekana falling to her demise. The falling blood also adds to the depth of it on Pasquale's part.

Amy: Oh dang, I just noticed the blood! Ha! Yeah, that's Pasquale.

PAGE 13:
Spenser: We get to see Dejah not only mourn her subjects as a leader, but also mourn her villain. It's a very nuanced approach to her.

Amy: It's part of her new maturity, but also understanding who Dekana was.

PAGE 14:
Alexa: You can really feel Dejah's pain in her expression and dialogue. It's an interesting twist on her character that you have her take off the armor and into her traditional, risque outfit. It adds more empowerment to her to the fact that she's trying to survive. Did you feel that this was especially important to convey at this stage?

Amy: Well, part of this sequence was putting everything back to where it belongs for a licensed character. This is a prequel and I need to get her to a starting point that we all know and recognize.

PAGE 15:
Spenser: Even at her lowest, Dejah is trying to get out of the situation strategically. She either dies or becomes a slave, so she's choosing to live and hide her identity as opposed to being just a helpless captive.

Amy: Dejah was always a smart gal.

PAGE 16:
Alexa: The Green Martians' mentality towards science is barbaric, turning scientific equipment into weapons. Did you take any real world inspiration for that?

Amy: Totally. I mean it still fits into the original Edgar Rice Burroughs world but has real world parallels as well.

PAGE 17:

Spenser: The moment to moment explosion works really well here, dragging out the tragic explosion and the Martian's gloating.

Amy: This is the saddest part. I had to read the original book a couple of times to get the staging right for this. I hope diehards recognize the name Lorquas Ptomel…

PAGE 18:

Alexa: I love the shot of Dejah's ship exploding behind her, with her past life gone forever. Great work on Pasquale's part.

Amy: Well, not exactly forever, but that's a whole other story ahead…

PAGE 19:
Spenser: The shot of the coliseum is great, again Pasquale does great work with the Martian architecture.

Amy: This was part of reading the original Princess of Mars book to make sure we got this right.

PAGE 20:
Alexa: And the big reveal! It all comes together, and tying her original appearance into this great backstory for Dejah works really well. How was it building up to this reveal and the finale as a whole?

Amy: Yay! I'm so glad to deliver the payoff here. As I mentioned on Twitter, I thought of the ending first, so it was very clearly going to be 10 issues, just like what I did with the KISS series. I don't like half-assed endings. If you've stuck on for this long, you should be rewarded with a well-paced finish.

Chu Crew: Any last words to the fans at home?

Amy: Thanks so much for following along with us! It's really nice to hear your feedback. Thanks to the entire Dejah Thoris team of artists, editors and retailers who supported the title. And a big shoutout to the Edgar Rice Burroughs estate for their support. It was a blast! I'm sure you'll see the Chu Crew sometime down the line again! Happy Holidays!

Enjoyed this? Please share on social media!