Posted in: Comics | Tagged: Amy Chu, Comics, dynamite, entertainment, Kewber Baal, kiss

Writer's Commentary – Amy Chu Talks Kiss #1 With Special Guest Kewber Baal

A Writer's Commentary: Amy Chu talks KISS #1 with additional commentary by Kewber Baal, on sale now from Dynamite. Cover by Goni Montes with interiors by Kewbar Baal.

Hi there, readers, putting together this behind-the-scenes look in the wee hours so bear with me. I had a crazy but wonderful night in New York City signing KISS #1 at Midtown Comics. I do think it's really important that readers know how much work goes into the making of a monthly comic like this one. A comics script goes through multiple revisions between writer and editor, before it gets to the artist, then the art goes to the writer for another script revision before going to the letterer so the dialogue and captions can be adjusted to fit the art better. And ALL this needs to happen within the month, every month.

I think most of you know that script comes first, but after that writing process and styles can differ wildly. In my case, I'm more of a "Marvel" method writer than full script. I like collaborating with artists, especially when they are such huge KISS fans like Kewber and Schimerys Baal, and the letterer Troy Peteri. In the end I think everyone has a better time and you get a better book. Plus, everyone gets to put their Easter eggs in, so watch out for those!

[Note: Look for comments by artist Kewber Baal at the end of this Chu commentary.]

Page 1

Establishing shot. The city was actually more of a town in my mind, but Kewber really added a lot more into this page. This was the first page of art I saw, and I knew immediately that the Baals were going to rock these pages for the rest of the issue.

Pages 2-3

These next pages were critical for establishing some of the history, world-building and mood and also the last pages that were done. I am sure Kewber's least favorite! For print comics, the odd number pages are the page turn pages so the bottom right corner is an important page turn. I try to make sure there's a solid one right there.

Pages 4-5

Here we have the introduction of the twins Noa and Eran and their childhood friends Adi and Alex. Talking with Kelly Sue Deconnick, a HUGE KISS fan, cemented the idea that KISS were rock GODS, and as GODS they were timeless. So rather than focusing on them, I decided to create some new relatable characters. I wanted to make this story is for KISS fans, but also accessible to new readers.

Pages 6-7

The Four discover a way out of the city. The idea for the city of Blackwell came from the song Mr. Blackwell in the Elder album. So much of this issue came out of this album. If you listened to the album when it came out in 1981 and didn't like it then, I really hope you revisit it now.

Pages 8-9

Aspiring artists — a good test for visual storytelling is if you take away all the dialogue and you can see what's going on you're doing an A+ job. That's what Kewber and Schymirys did here. I kind of want to just take out all the dialogue here…

Pages 10-11

This turned into my favorite scene when the artwork came back. Especially where Adi hugs the tree. The kids are trying to reach the surface but they discover something entirely unexpected here. At this point I think I started cutting out a lot of unnecessary dialogue.

Pages 12-13

Can you tell Kewber likes splash pages?! There is a certain rhythm to structuring a comic — conventional wisdom says 5-7 panels per page, and splash pages every 4-5 pages or so, but there is no hard or fast rule.

Pages 14-15

"Only you have the answers." Kewber added a lot of detail here that wasn't in the script, taking full advantage of the double page spread opportunity here. I don't tend to give much layout direction to someone like Kewber because I think he has a better sense of where he wants to take it. The downside, of course, is it's going to be harder to read in the digital edition but hey, you can't make everyone happy…

Pages 16-17

For the artists I work with, I usually set up a folder on Pinterest for photo references. I really dislike embedding them in the script, and this way it's easier to collaborate on ideas. Here they really came in handy with the monastery. I found a bunch of real monasteries that Kewber used.

Pages 18-19

Big no-no in comics is endless talking heads so I really tried to keep things going while building the world. Fortunately Kewber had a lot of visual tricks — he had a nice idea of adding a cape for Noa. I didn't really think much about it at the time, but I think it came out quite nice visually.

Page 20

Last page and first one I think about when scripting. Most of my stories I work backwards to make sure I've got good pacing and reveals and this is no exception. It's got to tie up the issue, but also be enough to get you to #2 where we explain about the Elders and Morpheus. Now that the script and art is complete, this is where I go back and think about comics journalist Heidi MacDonald's "satisfying chunk" theory. Did you guys feel like you got a satisfying chunk of story for your time and dollars? Do you want more of the story at this point?

And there you go! Hope you found this deep dive into my sleep-deprived brain interesting. Shout out to my super cool editors Anthony Marques and Joe Rybandt for basically saying, sure, sci-fi, robots, computers, why not?!, and to my kids for reading it pre-press and giving it the thumbs up.

I'm hoping your store has ordered it, but to be sure put this series on your pull list!

Comments from artist Kewber Baal:

Q: What was your favorite page or scene to draw in the first issue?

Kewber: It was the double spread page, when the kids are running away into the tunnels, and they see the KISS band, painted on the walls, for the first time. This was a scene that made me turn sad when I finished it; I wanted to spend more time on it.

Q: Who is your favorite character?

Kewber: This is an unfair question! Each character is developing its own personality, and I am enjoying working on each one a lot. For now, on KISS #1, I think my favorite character is Eram, he is the determined guy who wants to explore new things, and he does not believe everything people say. But I'm sure in the next chapters, my opinion will change!

Q: Which was the most difficult page/scene for you to draw?

Kewber: Definitely the first page. It was a big establishing shot for the entire series, the city, the mood, KISS, and I was drawing all of this for the first time. Everything still was new for me, I was still realizing I will draw a KISS series, and I felt I should define the style of the book, and prepare the readers for the story, in only one splash page. Well, I really hope I achieved that!

Enjoyed this? Please share on social media!

Stay up-to-date and support the site by following Bleeding Cool on Google News today!