Aleš Kot and Tradd Moore each made names for themselves with very different books. Kot is the writer behind Wild Children, Wolf and the current series Days of Hate. Moore is likely best remembered for Luther Strode, but he’s also drawn All-New Ghost Rider along with the interiors and covers of a long list of comics. The two have worked together in the past, but now they’ve embarked on the ambitious Image Comics miniseries The New World, which is in stores now.

Set after the Second American Civil War in New California, the book is a love story between a hacker anarchist and a reality TV cop who are quickly forced to go on the run. The book is a mixture of inventive science fiction and a wild chase, with pointed commentary about politics and media. Artist Tradd Moore and colorist Heather Moore have found a way to make the future look pop, dynamic and different, but not entirely foreign. The two recently sat down with CBR to talk about their new book.

What is The New World to you?

Tradd Moore: You know, I’m not entirely sure yet. I always need some time and retrospect before I can glean an understanding of what exactly I’ve made or what it means to me. I’m still drawing this one, so I can’t quite see through the trees yet.

At the moment, this comic feels like an exploration: internally, externally and stylistically. I’m trying to find a new world for myself.

Aleš Kot: Agreed with Tradd. I’ll add that working with the entire, incredibly talented and focused team and being able to tell a story dear to my heart is key. The New World is an opportunity to tell a story nobody else is telling -- a high-octane mainstream sci-fi-action ride with engaging, complex characters rooted in the best dreams and the worst nightmares of the United States, now.

You two worked together on Zero #2 a few years back. What did you like about working together and why did you want to work together again?

Moore: Aleš is a smart, creative, caring person and a talented, compelling writer. I love the art we make together; I think our creative voices have unique urgency and resonance when coupled.

We’ve been looking for and finding opportunities to collaborate since we both got started in comics -- since back when Aleš was writing Wild Children and I was drawing The Strange Talent of Luther Strode. We put together a cool pitch that never turned into anything in 2012, we worked on Zero #2 in 2013 and we worked on Secret Avengers in 2013-2014. The New World has been our first opportunity to create something substantial together.

Kot: Everything Tradd said about me and our collaboration is true, and I feel the same way he feels about me about him. I find deep, revitalizing inspiration in our work together.

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Could you talk a little about Heather Moore and the color scheme of the book and how you wanted it to look, which I feel was really key to the book?

Moore: I can indeed! We offered Heather a daunting task, “Hey, Heather. Having never colored a comic before, would you like to jump onboard The New World and color a 60-page first issue that has taken me almost a year to draw? Oh, and the deadline is pressing.” Heather rose to the challenge and did more than complete the task, she excelled and conquered.

What I gave her was a library of The New World material: 100 some-odd pages of black and white art, a couple character designs and one promo poster. Additionally, I gave her a set of comics that inspire me, and this direction: “I want the colors to be flat, please.”

From there she ran wild and free.

Kot: Yeah, I just trusted these two to do beautiful things. And they did.

Talk a little about some of the design choices you made. For instance, there's a club scene and I'm curious how you wrote it and then how you decided to draw and design the pages the way you did. Because it's really striking and beautifully designed.

Moore: As a comic creator it’s vital to know when to be specific and flex your individual creative muscles, and when to ease up and let your collaborators do their thing and flex theirs. There’s a ton of that going on in The New World. No page in this comic comes from one mind. We all know each other’s work really well, so we know when to flex and when to step back. We interpret and add layers to one another’s creativity.

With the club scene, Aleš gave me room to flex. He wrote the scene in a loose, open, poetic way. There’s no panel numbering, or shot description, or defined pagination; it’s this evocative, stream-of-consciousness description of the what the characters are doing and how they feel. I love it when Aleš writes scenes like this! There’s a clear idea set in place of what the characters are meant to do, but how we get there, how it looks and how I design, and abstract, and symbolize, that’s for me to decide.

From there, I get off the stage and let Heather flex. She added so much dimension, and emotion and psychedelia to the club scene -- it’s a sight to behold.

By the time the scene is done, it’s this striking, layered, powerful thing the none of us could have created on our own. Teamwork, I tell ya!

This first issue is oversized. Why is that, what's in it and is every issue going to be like this?

Moore: Yeah, the first issue is huge. Why? Because we have a lot of cool stuff to share! It’s like when television shows have an extended pilot episode, or how manga has an extended first chapter -- it’s important to introduce readers to your comic in a compelling way, and it’s nice to have extra space to do that.

What’s in it: It’s 60 pages of The New World, followed by a fantastic seven-page backup comic called Work Nights by Aaron Stewart-Ahn and Sunando C. Following the oversized Issue #1, we return to standard-length issues ranging from 21 to 29 story pages.

Kot: It’s where the story went. We tried out various outlines and approaches to telling it -- from a slightly oversized issue to the really big one people are going to read very soon -- and, thankfully, Tradd felt up to the task of going with the monster version. It’s three comic books for the price of one slightly oversized Marvel comic -- and a bonus short story as a parting gift.

Final thoughts -- Why should people pick it up? What do they have to look forward to?

Kot: Romeo and Juliet meets Mad Max meets Transmetropolitan meets anarchism meets reality TV meets bread and games meets...

The New World is this very eclectic mixture, all rooted in these two young people falling in love and realizing they’ve made a mess -- or rather are already in the midst of one. The border is closed and there’s nowhere to go, but they have to, because staying still means being arrested -- or worse. It’s about family, love, risk-taking, being young and dumb, being slightly less dumb, trusting your gut, paradoxes, not knowing and some of the finest comics art I’ve ever seen.

Moore: Look at that fuckin’ art! If that don’t entice ya’, I got nothin’.