Marvel's current "Secret Wars" event takes places on a patchwork planet known as Battleworld, comprised of various "domains" existing side-by-side that are equal parts familiar and bizarre. Those domains have opened up the storytelling possibilities to fun, imaginative and diverse places like the titular domain of writer Jason Aaron and artist Mike Del Mundo's "Weirdworld." Perhaps the strangest of the Battleworld domains, Weirdworld is a mysterious place where elements of horror, fantasy, and science fiction collide and a number of its denizens are obscure or forgotten Marvel characters that have become trapped within its borders.

Humphries and Del Mundo Return To "Weirdworld" In New Ongoing

While "Secret Wars" is scheduled to conclude in December, the mysteries and magic of one of Marvel's strangest locales will live on as Del Mundo is joined by incoming writer Sam Humphries kick off an All-New, All-Different "Weirdworld" series, which finds the titular realm connected to Earth. CBR News spoke with Humphries about his seemingly normal teenage girl protagonist Becca, the uncanny collection of characters she'll encounter and the role that the realm's powerful sorcerers like Morgan le Fay and Jennifer Kale will play in the series.

CBR News: Had I not been reading the current "Weirdworld" "Secret Wars" series I would ask you about the draw of this assignment. Since I've been following along, I already know it will allow you to let your imagination run wild and have Mike Del Mundo bring it all to life.

Sam Humphries: Absolutely. Mike is a monster. I was psyched when Marvel offered me the series, and overjoyed to hear he was interested in staying on. Mike's art is crazy and manic. Sometimes it's dark, sometimes it's beautiful, sometimes it's crazy, and sometimes it's all three. Plus he's like the chillest dude alive and we ended up talking about Wu-Tang Clan for like 20 minutes.

[Laughs] So we've got a fantastic rapport going. In a lot of ways this book comes directly from Mike via conversations we've been having. His layouts have been amazing and his art is going to knock everybody's socks off.

In the miniseries Weirdworld is sort of bringing together a bunch of different elements of the Marvel Universe; a lot of them Sword and Sorcery. One thing I wondered right off the bat though with this new series was where is Weirdworld going to be? I was relieved to hear from [editor] Tom Brevoort that Weirdworld is part of the Marvel 616 Universe and is on Earth. It's not an alternate reality. It's not a different planet. It is as real on Marvel Earth as Spider-Man's Manhattan or the Savage Land.

Because of the magical nature of Weirdworld it's not an easy place to get to or leave. During the series we'll begin to see how that magic keeping the two worlds separate has started to break down.

Your protagonist in "Weirdworld" is an adolescent girl named Becca who suddenly finds herself trapped in the titular place. What can you tell us about Becca? Is she a normal teenager?

She is a normal teenage girl; as normal as you can be for someone who is thrown into a crazy sci-fi, fantasy world. [Laughs] Other than that she's mostly normal. She actually does stand apart from most teenagers in that she is burdened with her own personal quest. Then she literally crash lands on Weirdworld, and everything gets complicated a thousand-fold. Because now she has to survive this crazy mixed up world, complete her quest, and get home.

Does Becca hail from a city where the fantastic and strangeness of the Marvel Universe is an everyday occurrence, like say New York City? Or is this all completely new to her?

She is an American teen from the Marvel Universe. So as an aware citizen she certainly knows about super heroes. She knows who Spider-Man is. She knows who the Avengers are. She knows that in the world there are crazy things that do not lend themselves to easy explanations. But now she is going to come face to face with the heart of extreme weirdness of the Marvel Universe, with nothing but her phone to defend her!


I understand one of the first strange characters Becca meets in "Weirdworld" is a wizard name Ogeode. Is he an established Marvel character or an original creation?

Ogeode is actually a character from the old "Crystar" series.

Oh yeah! Now that you mention it I remember playing with his action figure when I was a kid!

Yes! You know Ogeode! He's a character we borrowed from the "Saga of Crystar: The Crystal Warrior" from the early '80s Marvel series. Jason Aaron has already integrated that world into Weirdworld so we're taking things a step further.

Ogeode is one of the most powerful wizards in Weirdworld and he belongs to a conclave of powerful wizards called the Wilder Men. He is one of the first characters that Becca encounters in Weirdworld, and he's one of the only characters there who knows how to travel between Weirdworld and Earth. In fact he's partially responsible for Becca's presence on Weirdworld.

Another character Becca meets early on in the series is a warrior woman named Goleta. I understand she's a brand new character?

Yes, she's a seven-foot-tall barbarian woman. She's been a blast to create and a blast to write. Her design by Mike Del Mundo is crazy. When you see her you'll immediate fall in love with her. She's someone who is loud and brash and is completely at home in the wilds of Weirdworld. She hunts wizards.; she despises wizards. That's her jam.


The other thing I'll say about Goleta is she has a gigantic blade in the shape of a G, and she drives a souped up Weirdworld infused muscle car, both designed by Maniac Mike Del Mundo. [Laughs]

It's not just humanoid characters that Becca initially encounters in Weirdworld. She also runs into a mysterious creature named Catbeast. What or who is Catbeast?

Catbeast is very cute, very terrifying, very mysterious -- and one of my favorite characters in the book. That's all I can say about Catbeast. You'll learn more about Catbeast in the very first issue.

Any chance you can talk more about one of Weirdworld's powerful and prominent residents who I understand will play a role in this series, the sorceress queen Morgan le Fay?

Yes, I love writing Morgan le Fay. The second she clicked with me was when I realized that -- kind of depending on how you count the years -- she's either a thousand years old or four thousand years old. You don't even survive 50 years in the Marvel Universe without being one of the smartest people alive!

She's, smart, and she's a survivor. In Weirdworld, she commands the kingdom of the Torch and a vast Lava Man army. How did she come to this position? And why? Morgan occupies the traditional antagonist role of the book, but she very much has her own story to tell here -- one which will cause her to collide directly with Becca and her quest.

So while she may function an antagonist, is it also safe to say she's very complex and not simply a villain?

Yeah, she's the antagonist, but it's almost her book as much as Becca's, or Goleta, or the rest. That's been one of my favorite parts about writing her. Becca and Morgan are both characters from Earth who became stranded in Weirdworld. They handle it in very different ways. It's been a very fascinating dichotomy to explore.

So far we've talked about a teenager from Earth stranded in a strange world with interesting characters and a powerful, magic-wielding nemesis. It seems to me "Weirdworld" is almost a mash-up of stories like the "Wizard of Oz" with the trippy and twisted sci-fi, horror, and fantasy comics of the '70s and '80s. Is that a fair comparison?

Yes, "Weirdworld" is going to be weird even for diehard fantasy fans. There's really only two rules to Weirdworld. One is Weirdworld is a place where anything can happen. The second rule is that Weirdworld is a place where the lost can be found -- but if you are lost in Weirdworld and you are found there may be significant consequences.

And yes, "Weirdworld" is a goulash of science fiction, fantasy, and crazy fun stuff from the '70s and '80s all mashed together. So there are an endless number of surprises waiting for Becca in Weirdworld.

You talked about the lost being found in Weirdworld, which has me wondering about the meaning of being "lost." It seems like in the current "Weirdworld" series Skull the Slayer went from being sort of metaphorically lost as an enforcer and killer to finding purpose as this knight-style figure for Jennifer Kale.

Yes, and we'll see Jennifer Kale and her Man-Thing army. We'll see her in direct conflict with Morgan le Fay and the Kingdom of the Torch.

We'll also definitely see what it means to be lost in Weirdworld and what it means to be found in Weirdworld. Those things are very different than they are here on regular Earth.

To continue with my Oz analogy, is Kale effectively the "Good Witch" of Weirdworld?

It's not that cut and dry. [Laughs] In very broad terms, yes, Jennifer Kale tends to hang out with our protagonists and their friends and associates. And Morgan tends to be in opposition to those people. But it's not nearly that cut and dry for either character.

How are you structuring Becca's adventures in "Weirdworld?" Is this a series that will feature shorter stories, longer arcs or a mix of both?

It's a combo of both really. Weirdworld offers opportunities for different kinds of structures just as much as it offers different kinds of characters and genres. Becca's quest to get home and complete her personal and emotional obligations is the focus of our first story and it is a longer arc.

So "Weirdworld" isn't necessarily a book just about Becca? Once her story is complete might we see other protagonists' adventures in the titular place?

Weirdworld is a place where anything can happen.

"Weirdworld" is scheduled for release December 16 from Marvel Comics.