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'Something Rarefied and Special' – Leah Williams' Writer's Commentary on Barbarella/Dejah Thoris #2

Published Mon, 25 Feb 2019 08:30:52 -0600

Leah Williams' Writer's Commentary on Barbarella/Dejah Thoris #2 from Dynamite Entertainment this past week.

THOUGHTS ON THE BARBARELLA/DEJAH MINISERIES AS A WHOLE:

This miniseries, from the start, has felt like something rarefied and special. I don't mean this in terms of my writing ability (I don't have that kind of ego,) but in terms of how excited I was from the moment my editor Matt Idelson approached me with the concept of this team-up. I could instantly see the potential with these two characters in particular and how well they'd gel together, and then beyond that – the creative team on this book clicked in a way that feels like alchemy. Matt has been my creative conspirator in bouncing ideas back and forth and tightening the structure of the storytelling in my scripts. Germán García, the artist, is doing such unbelievably beautiful work that it's given me the distinct sensation that I'm punching above my weight class being on the same creative team as him. Germán has this way of distilling moments down to their most essential, strongest visual representation – it's important for me to credit him for so much of the art direction in this miniseries because I'm learning so much from working with him, and just seeing how he registers what's in the script and then moves in a different direction that is so much better, yet completely aligned with the same intent of the script. Addison Duke is knocking it out of the park on colors on top of this, and the lettering from Crank! is crisp and smooth – it's like we all have the same vision of this story in our heads, and that is a rare and tremendous thing. I'm already grieving the end of this miniseries and the moment I panicked and realized "Oh, no, I'm so in love" about Barbarella and Dejah Thoris was around 5:00am on draft II of Issue 1's script.

THOUGHTS ON THE COVERS FOR BARBARELLA/DEJAH THORIS #2:

This is the first comics miniseries I've ever worked on, and also the first time I've been asked for input on covers – discussing the theme for each issue with Matt was a really exciting thing for me, and then seeing the vastly different, but all beautiful takes on these themes was another thrilling moment for me. Working with Dynamite has made me feel spoiled and indulged – how did I get this lucky, to be able to work with all these great people and work on a book with so many gorgeous covers?!

PAGES 1 – 3:

The contrast between Barbarella's cool, calm demeanor and Dejah's passion and warmth is consistently delicious to me. They both share a ferocious curiosity about the universe, and an unshakable compassion for its inhabitants. So even though Dejah doesn't have the same vocabulary Barbarella does about anxiety and panic attacks, it seemed like a genuine reaction for Dejah to have after finding herself at the bottom of a vast ocean – and authentic, still, for Barbarella to be well-equipped to understand that.

PAGES 4 – 5:

I'll admit that after establishing they were running out of air, I next imagined Barbarella coyly shushing Dejah for some reason and then worked backwards to try and justify that imagery. I love pages that are both bombastic and silent at the same time because of the thrill it is to write something like this, but I also love scripting pages without dialogue because it lets the action and art shine. I'm obsessed with the calm, precise way Barbarella reaches into her cleavage for little laser pistol – that's Germán's doing!

PAGE 6:

Believe it or not, there's actual science to support what Barbarella's doing in here to create oxygen! I've spent days researching chemical compositions of different planets and pulled so much reference material for ideas and inspiration about how environmental troubleshooting would even work on this (as of writing this!) still mysterious, unknown alien planet in particular.

The fourth panel of this page is probably my favorite of this issue – the efficiency with which Barbarella yields her second apology is to repeat the first one.

PAGES 7 – 8:

A second stretch of action without dialogue in this issue – what I love about page 8 in particular is how Germán added Barbarella's reactions, and checking on Dejah while they're in the monster's watery maws. I think the way I scripted this was in terms of building urgency, so just about Dejah's struggle in particular and the outside environment – you know, letting readers see there was no chance of air coming anytime soon – but Germán also included Barbarella's thoughtfulness and literally reaching out to Dejah, giving her a thumbs-up in support, which is absolutely true to her character.

PAGES 9 – 10:

I love this scene!! I love that we have a moment of stillness to progress their relationship with each other as they explore their new surroundings and try to figure out what the next obstacle is – Barbarella has been full of one thousand questions this entire time and unable to ask them for various reasons (lack of oxygen, being underwater, being at Dejah's swordpoint, etc) but here Barbarella finally gets a chance to relax and show a little more of that coy, playful side as she teases and even lightly flirts with Dejah.

Fun fact about panel 2 on page 10: I originally had this written as Dejah answering "Not inside them" after Barbarella asks her about riding horses, and then I was informed about there being no horses on Barsoom! But I like this change so much that there's a callback to Dejah not understanding horses in Issue 3.

PAGE 11:

Let's just take a moment to bask in what Germán García and Addison Duke have blessed us with. I wish I could have a framed poster of this on my wall. It's dreamy and vast, and filled with so much prospect that I feel the same sense of wonder looking at this page that Barbarella feels looking out at the alien sea in it.

PAGES 12 – 13:

Stuff starts to really ramp up here once Barbarella remembers she's got those cryptic notes Doctor Gitu left her, and the reason some of them didn't make sense before is that they were meant for this area. I tried to do justice to how Dejah would feel about being left out of the notes while also trying not to reveal why, since "Why did Doctor Gitu bring Dejah here?" is our cliffhanger in this issue. I also need to applaud Germán's visual pacing on these pages – these pages are front-loaded with a lot of exposition and plot because of how much happens on the final pages, and the way he's condensed these panels while also layering expressiveness is what makes it feel sharp and delightful instead of plodding. With a lot of BARBARELLA/DEJAH THORIS, Matt Idelson allows me to go back and fine-tune the dialogue to better match what Germán's done, and the opportunity to perfectly attune the dialogue to these gorgeous visuals is another example of why this project feels so special, and why the book feels so great to read. (Also, how great does Dejah's butt look in panel 6, page 13?? I'm dying!)

PAGE 14:

I love giving descriptions in the script that are precise and cryptic at the same time – it's because I want to try and provide the function I need something to serve in the story, instead of just telling anyone what to draw. I would rather the artist have fun with drawing what they want to draw. For this page I wrote stuff like "something like a ballcap made out of a jellyfish or tentacled tiara" for the oxygen mask and left the specifics up to Germán. He came up with that beautiful art deco cubby hole thing in the wall, too – I think I cheered the first time I saw that.

PAGE 15:

"Plot-driven, PG-13 tentacle porn" was my idea and I stand by this decision.

PAGE 16:

Writing this last scene felt like a fever dream. I got lost in fascination while tinkering with the alien linguistics of how these giant, prehistoric Martian nautiluses speak – it functions in a practical way, with a lexicon inspired by marine biology and royal monarchies at the same time. I know that sounds insane for me to think about let alone include in a BARBARELLA/DEJAH THORIS miniseries, but I definitely wanted their language to register as "alien" to readers, and I loved having the opportunity to fuss over a fun language challenge like that. Big, big props to Crank! Lettering for giving that dialogue the eerie, "giant monster" optics that make it feel even more alien.

The first part of this page was one of Addison Duke's favorite sequences for colors of this issue, and I can see why. He's gotten so much admiration and attention for colors alone in this issue, and rightly so – he chose a stunning palette for this.

PAGE 17:

We edge closer to the Dejah cliffhanger. Teasing this out, starting on this page felt triumphant to write – Dejah's been lost and uncertain, doubtful of why she's there up to this point. Finally getting to see HER strengths as a diplomat and tactician shine instead of having Barbarella just handle everything was always a moment I wanted to steer the plot into.

PAGES 18 – 19:

Dejah, a royal Princess whose nation has been at war over a precious resource her entire life, snaps to action when she learns that's also the situation down here. I love this double page spread and absolutely love the expressiveness on their faces as they figure out what's going on and then immediately agree to help. Having a powerful capacity for compassion is one huge similarity between these two women.

PAGE 20:

From the precise timing of Barbarella's arrival at his home directly following his murder, to this moment of battle – all of it has been Doctor Gitu's design because he knew they would need to see the problem first to then understand how to help. The story spirals together into something intense and intricate all because Doctor Gitu, who is dead, IS an expert on adaptive biology. DUN DUN DUN ~ mysterious present-tense usage ~

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