Some people venture onto the open road to escape life, while others see it as a source of adventure. For a woman named Vanessa, it was the former, but, adventure found her anyways in the shape of a giant man-eating insect, along with a slew of perilous interdimensional creatures. Published by Aftershock Comics, the new creator-owned series Beyond the Breach follows Vanessa's road trip journey that's one part horror and two parts 80s style fantasy film. The series is co-created by writer Ed Brisson and artist Damian Couceiro.
In Beyond the Breach #1, Vanessa and several unlucky travelers on a remote California road experience a mysterious event that finds them surrounded by ravenous alien creatures. From there, Vanessa sets out to uncover the mystery of what happened to the world and protect a young boy who has suddenly become her responsibility. Fulfilling that quest will bring her face to face with a variety of fun, fearsome and downright strange creatures. CBR spoke with Brisson about the origins of Vanessa's quest, the inspiration found in '80s fantasy films, the creatures and characters she'll meet and his short and long-term plans for the series.
In addition to this interview, the first four pages of Beyond the Breach #1 are included, courtesy of AfterShock Comics.
CBR: To me, the first issue of Beyond the Breach felt like the cold opening of a Paul Feig romantic comedy driving into Stephen King's The Mist. Is that what you were aiming for in #1 and the series as a whole?
Ed Brisson: [Laughs.] That works! The Mist aspect wasn't intentional, but Damian designed these cool insect-style creatures, so I can see why people might make that connection at first glance. But, as we move forward the style of the monsters will vary quite a bit and evolve into something much larger. It becomes something completely different from what it initially appears.
This is a book that was born out of the pandemic and, was sort of inspired by a big three-week-long road trip that my family and I were supposed to go on last summer. Neither was at the forefront of my mind while writing, but now that I'm done I can see I was really angry about not going on this road trip. [Laughs.] We pretty much drop the reader right into the middle of this -- well, we don't know if it's an alien invasion or if it’s something else, but all of a sudden all these strange and deadly creatures are all over the place. Immediately you know life isn’t going to be the same as it was before. So, yeah, clearly some anxiety and anger about COVID in there. [Laughs.] It was not intended to be that, but it just kind of came out.
The press release mentioned that '80s style fantasy movies are also in the DNA of this project.
You and I have talked about movies in the past. So you know I'm a movie junkie, especially when it comes to horror and genre films. And I know the '80s has become the kind of go-to these past couple of years, but that's the stuff I grew up on. So, I wanted to lean into it. The thing about '80s fantasy movies is even though you know they were made for kids, they were often dark as hell. They felt a little… Dangerous, maybe? I know watching these movies as a kid, it felt like I had contraband that I’d have to hide from my folks, even though these films were so clearly aimed at a younger demographic. So, I like the idea of doing something similar with a dark setup, something that feels a little off-kilter, but there’s also a real focus on the family element of the story. There are characters like Kai, who a small alien creature, that pulls me back from some of my darker proclivities. I don't want this to be a depressing book.
So, this is a blend of stuff I grew up on in the '80s; low-budget horror and my go-to fantasy films like Beastmaster and Time Bandits. This is not to say the book is anything like either, but there are certain bits of those films in the DNA of Beyond the Breach. I think you’ll really start to see it in issue two with the introduction of Samuel and Turtle. They’ve got that fantastical weirdness and feel of something that might have fit right in with Time Bandits.
Our protagonist wants a change in her life, which has been crap up until this point. In the beginning of the issue, we learn that her mom has just passed away from cancer and she finds out that while she was caring for her mom her boyfriend has been cheating on her with her sister. So, she's gone on this road trip because she wants to get away and have some new experiences. One of my favorite bits I've written is in the first few pages, right before the big event, where she's letting loose about everything that's happened.
Is Vanessa sort of an everywoman type? And what made you want to thrust her into this situation?
She's been caring for someone else for a while and hasn't really had time to experience things for herself, and unfortunately, she's thrust into the exact same situation within the first few pages. She's once again tasked with taking care of someone else. This time it's someone else's kid! She has no idea how to deal with kids. She's definitely not an everywoman, I think she's more complex than that. She's just… She's already dealing with a lot of stuff when The Breach happens. She doesn't want the burden of this kid she's transporting, but she has to do it, and I think one of the interesting things we're playing with is she can't be real honest with this kid about what’s happening because she knows it would break him. So, she has to transport this kid to safety and lie to him while also dealing with her own trauma of not knowing if her sister or anyone back in Halifax, where she's from, is still alive or what's going on.
One of the things I should have mentioned earlier, I guess -- when The Breach occurs, not only is there this incredible incursion of these alien creatures but there's also an explosion that accompanies it that manages to knock out every electronic device -- phones, computers, entire electrical grids, gone. Most cars are now useless scrap heaps. So, Vanessa is trapped thousands of miles from home, with a kid who lives more than a thousand miles in not-quite-the-same-direction, that she has to bring home before she can begin her own journey. With no cars or electronics, this a journey they'll have to do on foot.
Does she have anything in her background that makes her more capable? Or is it just a case of she's thrust into this situation and surprises herself?
Yeah, it's more that she surprises herself. We're not going to find out that she has any sort of militia training or is a Taekwon-Do expert. She's woefully unprepared for the situation. She survives by pure luck at first but will figure it out as she goes. It's the same how I and most people I know would be. We would not be prepared for an interdimensional mass invasion where we have to fight flying gut-munching creatures to survive. She doesn't know what she's doing and she's going to screw up a lot along the way, just like any of us would do if we were thrust into this situation.
In the first issue, we meet some of your supporting cast; a little boy named Dougie and a strange cat-like creature named Kai. What can you tell us about them?
Dougie is the little boy she has to rescue, and I don't think I'm spoiling anything because early on, during the invasion his parents are killed. That's something that Vanessa is keeping from him. Deep down, he has to know they're dead, but he's a little kid and he's just not going to admit it. He has to believe that they're somehow still alive and waiting for him back in Twin Falls. She doesn't know how to have that conversation though. It's just another thing she doesn't know how to deal with and is muddling her way through. He's Vanessa's reason for doing all this; fighting to get him back home or somewhere safe. He kind of goes into shock from the trauma. So, a lot of the first five issues [show] Vanessa trying to help him process all of this.
Kai is a weird, fuzzy, little alien who appears right at the beginning of The Breach. He's a scrappy, little fuzzball who doesn't really speak. He does more of a monosyllabic mumble. He provides some comic relief and pulls me back from some of my darker tendencies. When The Breach starts and every person in sight is under attack, Kai and a bunch of his kind put themselves on the frontlines, fighting to protect humans -- creatures they’ve never seen before -- from these terrifying beasts that are easily ten times their size. So, this isn't simply a terrible invasion, with one mindless or vicious alien race pouring out all over the planet and eating everything in sight. A whole bunch of species have been thrown together and don't know what's going on, each is as alien to one another as they are to Vanessa and the reader. They're all fighting to survive in their own way. Kai is no different.
You also mentioned the supporting cast will expand as the book moves forward.
Yeah, in the second issue we'll meet Samuel and Turtle. Samuel is a stoic, human-like, warrior who seems to be just as confused about what's going on, but is also hiding more than a few secrets. Turtle is his companion -- a school bus-size tortoise. Through Samuel and Turtle, we'll find out what happened, how it happened, why, and if it's possible to undo it. Funnily, they were the first characters we developed even though they don't appear until issue #2.
Our goal is to make this a really fun book. Damian has got some great character and creature designs, and the first issue is perhaps the darkest. As we go forward, we'll meet a lot of fun and gentle creatures. They're all over the map. They run from peaceful and passive to flying intestine eaters.
A collection of creatures from a variety of realities begs the question of where exactly is your story taking place?
We're still on Earth. So humans are around. The larger mystery for Vanessa though is that she doesn't know if this is something specific to California or the whole world. So, part of her journey is trying to find "the end" of it… If there is an end. So, we'll see more humans and not all of the encounters with them will be friendly. No one knows what's going on and everybody is freaked out. So humans and animals are still here, but part of the fun of this series is exploring what each of these creatures is and filling in their stories -- which are often as tragic, if not more so, as Vanessa's.
This is a road trip book set on Earth, but as she travels, it's almost like Vanessa is visiting different alien planets. California may be one environment with new species living there and Arizona might be something else completely different with its own unique invasive species that, in some cases, have completely overwritten the landscape. It's not clean like that border-wise, California, Arizona, etc. It's more that different species and environs have all of a sudden plopped down in different places. She'll eventually get out of one territory and be confronted by something completely different. The idea is to keep it interesting, fun, and open to whatever Damian and I want to create for the next leg of her journey. Each region will feel as though Vanessa and the crew have been transported to an entirely new planet.
So, this is a setup that really lends itself to creativity
That's the hope. This world is wide open. If I have an 11th-hour idea I want to do for an issue, arc, or whatever, we have the ability to do that. There are no hard, set rules for what the world is now. It's very confusing for the book's cast, but liberating for its creators.
If the creatures in #1 are any indication, Damian Couceiro is having a blast working on this book. What's it been like creating this world with him?
Damian and I have been working together for about 15 years, but we've primarily done Marvel work together for the last few. We wanted to get back to doing creator-owned books like Cluster and The Big Idea. So we started chatting and agreed we wanted to do something with a bit of horror where Damian could flex his creature design skills. I knew from Cluster that Damian was pretty incredible at creature designs and I had this story idea already brewing which really leaned into those skills and gave him the freedom to just go crazy with it.
Finally, Planning out creator-owned books in this market is tricky, but what can you tell us about your initial plans for Beyond the Breach? And if fan support is there, is this a book that could support a number of arcs?
This was built to be a story engine. There's a number of tales we could tell about Vanessa's journey, stories I'd love to tell. But, the way it is now, there are two possible endpoints. One is the endpoint we'll hit at the end of issue #5. Then if the support and interest are there, I have a longer story that I want to tell with Vanessa and this world, about her journey across the US and Canada that will eventually lead her back to Halifax -- if there’s still a Halifax to go back to.
This is my first book with AfterShock. It's been a really pleasant experience and any chance to collaborate with Damian is great. I hope people have as much fun reading the book as we did creating it.
Co-created by writer Ed Brisson and artist Damian Couceiro, Beyond the Breach #1 goes on sale July 14 from AfterShock Comics.