Since its February debut, Mirka Andolfo, David Goy and Andrea Broccardo's Image Comics series Deep Beyond has gotten off to a strong start, with its opening issue receiving a second printing within its first week of release. Set in a world devastated by a very different kind of millennium bug, the remnants of humanity struggle to survive in the ruins of the old world against threats that have arisen from the oceanic depths.
Ahead of the release of Deep Beyond #3, Andolfo and Goy teased what the 12-issue maxi-series has in store next while sharing the covers for Issue #3, with the standard cover illustrated by Broccardo and colored by Andrea Meloni, a variant illustrated by Andolfo herself, a variant illustrated by Simone Bianchi and a variant illustrated by Kim Jung Gi. CBR also has an exclusive look at Kim Jung Gi illustrating his variant for Issue #3 in addition to sharing his art process.
CBR: How did this story of apocalyptic menace from the abyss come to you both?
Mirka Andolfo, David Goy: We are both huge fans of post-apocalyptic stories and disaster movies as well. While chatting, during a long and boring car trip, we started discussing a “What if…” Both of us have vague but important memories of what the “fear of the Millennium Bug” was -- we were only 10 at that time -- and we started thinking about a new, terrible world which was born out of a big disaster on Dec. 31, 1999. The basic idea -- which will be better discovered later in the series; I would say in Issue #4 -- is strictly related to oceans and to water in general: We thought it was interesting to show how the problems caused by the [Y2K] Bug had accelerated a process that, unfortunately, we already see in today's world. How many coastal areas of the world are likely to be submerged in the coming years? Okay, we don’t have monsters [in the real world]… [At least] as far as we know.
Mirka, while you've touched on science fiction themes before, this is your biggest foray into the sci-fi genre. How is it working in that space?
Andolfo: I love the genre, even if I never really worked on this exact kind of story as a creator before. As usual in my books, I try to put together my passion [for] what I’m excited about: Elements, settings, themes, genres, and [finding] my own story to tell with my own voice. What I love as a creator is to work on very different kinds of stories; each time, every book of mine is different from the previous one. And I think that is the same for Deep Beyond. Then, if I can be totally honest, I’m not so fan of “genre” definitions: Of course, we have to tell a genre, in particular for commercial reasons, but for me, what’s important in a story is the story itself, the plot, and, mostly, the characters. They’re the fuel of every story of mine.
What makes Andrea Broccardo and Barbara Nosenzo the perfect artists for this story?
Andolfo, Goy: They’re both very good friends of ours, in the last few years we attended a lot of shows together, and we already appreciated their work. Talking to them, little by little, we realized they were the right choice for this book. Andrea has a huge taste for sci-fi, and we were curious to see how he could build Deep Beyond’s world, which is a very different sci-fi compared to what he did before -- I’m thinking of his work on Star Wars, for instance. And Barbara has a great ability to interpret and enhance his artwork and create exciting and -- when necessary -- very intense atmospheres. We can’t neglect to name Andrea Meloni, who’s working directly with Barbara as color editor, and who’s doing an amazing job in addition to coloring the covers! We’re so happy about the team!
Mirka, David, how is your collaborative process between you two as co-writers?
Andolfo, Goy: We were already used to [working] together: Our careers began at the same time, about 11 years ago, and we have always worked closely together. Writing together is a little bit different and we found a good balance little by little. Usually, we discuss the plot together -- of course, we already discussed the whole plot before starting the scripting part -- and sometimes we also chat a little bit with some friends at our studio -- and to our editor, of course -- especially when we disagree on something. Then, usually, Mirka starts with a more detailed treatment of the issue, and David goes defining the script and, in particular, dialogue.
As an accomplished artist yourself, Mirka, what do you look for in other artists to bring your scripts to visual life?
Andolfo: Let me say: it’s always very strange for me to see my stories drawn by someone else! At the beginning --not for this project, but in general -- it was pretty hard because, being an artist, when I write something, I already visualize it in my mind, so it’s pretty hard for another person to do in the exact same way I have in my mind. But this is not a problem, I realized little by little, of course. Sometimes it’s even better than what I have in mind. I try not to influence the artist [too much], because I don’t want to be rude, nor to let them think they’re just an “instrument” in my hands. Comics are teamwork, so, when I choose an artist, I totally trust him/her, and I entrust the story to him/her. Even if sometimes it’s hard not to say “Nope, I would have done in this way!” But I’m learning a lot, because [writing] stories for someone else is totally different to writing stories I will illustrate! And I love it!
What can you tease for readers to get excited about Deep Beyond?
Andolfo, Goy: Okay, we already said that in Issue #4 we’ll discover something more about the global situation, and we’ll discover both what happened exactly in 1999, and what we should expect happening in our storyline. Art and colors are becoming better and better, and we are SO proud of the amazing artists we have for variant covers, too. In Issue #3, for instance, we have an Italian legend, Simone Bianchi, who painted a masterpiece, and the incredible Kim Jung Gi, who did such a beautiful piece. And, let us say: the comics series -- which is going to be published soon in Germany and Italy, too! -- was conceived as a limited series, as all Mirka’s works are, but it could happen something to expand the universe. We can’t say anything more.
Written by Mirka Andolfo and David Goy and illustrated by Andrea Broccardo, Deep Beyond #3 goes on sale April 7 from Image Comics.