In writer Joe Henderson and artists Lee Garbett and Antonio Fabela's upcoming Image series Shadecraft, Zadie Lu was barely surviving high school before learning she has a darker battle ahead in the form of combative shadows chasing her. And now, the creative team that brought readers the Eisner-nominated comic, Skyward, will team up again to tell Zadie's story, debuting in March 2021.
Henderson (co-showrunner of Lucifer) and Garbett (Captain Marvel) shed some light on Zadie's story with CBR, discussing what inspired them to tell this harrowing story from Image Comics, centered on fear, family and the never-ending awkwardness of high school.
CBR: What led you two to team up again -- including with colorist Antonio Fabela -- to create Shadecraft?
Joe Henderson: When you find a creative partner like Lee, you don’t let him go. Or at least, you try to get him back from Kelly Thompson [on Captain Marvel] whenever you can! Lee and I are a long-term team – we want Shadecraft to be the second book of many we co-create in the future!
And Antonio is just a master at what he does. And I think Shadecraft will show off even more what he’s capable of – his colors were lush and gorgeous on Skyward, but he’s really pushed himself to another level here.
Lee Garbett: What Joe said, but back at him. When I read one of Joe’s scripts, I can see the panel images on the page start to take shape before me. It’s almost like reading the finished comic itself, except for maybe the "how the hell am I gonna draw that!" moments. That’s a bit of magic and not something you let go of easily. Basically, he’s stuck with me.
Antonio is just wonderful and a part of the team, along with the brilliant Simon Bowland on letters. Not only is Antonio an amazingly talented colorist, but he’s also an absolute joy to work with. We’re hoping we can keep this team together for all the projects we have planned.
What's one thing that you know the other will bring out in your work and visa versa?
Henderson: Lee will make the fantastic feel human. That’s his superpower, and its one I always try to lean into. His work with character expression grounds even the craziest of ideas.
Garbett: Joe’s superpower is coming up with the wonderful high-concepts that leave the rest of us wondering how come no-one has thought of it before - and then cutting right through it and finding the beating heart of the story and the characters to fall in love with.
Shadecraft is told through the perspective of Zadie, a high school student and younger sister to a brother who used to be the most popular kid in school before an accident landed him in a coma. Why was it important for you to have your main character be in high school? What did this add to the story?
Henderson: For one, I love high school stories. That formative time where you’re trying to figure out who you are and everything feels like the end of the world. From Spider-Man to Buffy, there’s a relatability to it that I think helps ground this story where the impossible comes to life.
In particular, for Shadecraft, teenagers are in that weird transition between childhood and adulthood. Where they need to give up their flights of fancy (like, say, shadows coming to life) and face the reality of the future. But at the same time, sometimes there ARE things in the shadows. It’s an in-between time that’s perfect for this story.
Garbett: We’ve pretty much all had to navigate high school situations and school is, essentially, a microcosm of society. There’s conflict, politics, love, war… it can be tough just making it through the day at the best of times, but add the dark fantastic into the mix, and it’s a whole new kind of nightmare.
What inspired the shape of the shadows? I started looking at them -- maybe a little too long -- but saw some repetition of bird imagery. Are the shadow monsters rooted in any specific myth?
Garbett: That’s really interesting, and I love that you took time to really look into the shadows. The shadow-caster that Zadie uses does have a sort of Phoenix image on it, and we did see that as a nice metaphor for where the story takes us. For the shadows, I wanted to keep them as organic as possible so I used a basic wash and then wet the artboard and dropped ink into areas to let it morph into their own shapes. Sometimes I would blow the ink around with straws or spatter it with a toothbrush, anything to get an interesting image. It was like playing, really. Then I’d hone them a little more to give them form in the final art. The idea is that they’re constantly roiling and moving, so I wanted to really try and get that across as much as I could in a static image. The ink does form shapes of talons and claws at times, for sure.
Similar to Skyward's Willa, Zadie stumbles into an entirely new kind of world. This one is full of shadows, and things she can't understand just yet. However, unlike Willa, she's more than a little unsure of herself. What do you think Willa would tell Zadie?
Henderson: I love this question because it makes me want to write a crossover! First, Willa would tell Zadie that it’s super weird everyone just walks on the ground. After she got past that, she’d tell her that it’s okay to be afraid. It’s important to be afraid, but that you can’t let it control you, and that you can’t avoid the things you’re afraid of, no matter how hard you try; that just makes them worse. Face them head-on. Make decisions out of strength, not fear – and the best way to do that is by acknowledging the fear itself. And when it comes to shadow monsters… bring a flashlight.
Garbett: Yes! Crossovers! It’s strange you mention this because, in Issue #2, I drew Zadie’s bedroom and hesitated at putting some issues of Skyward scattered around just in case of this very thing.
I love how after exploring a zero-gravity world and its cost, you both teamed up to explore a world of shadows and fear. Now feels like a time, more than ever, to examine fear and the power it has over us. What inspired you two to create a world of Shadows and explore what powers they do or don't have in Shadecraft?
Henderson: Fear is such a big part of what I write, as you can see from my imaginary Willa conversation – it threads heavily through both books. Skyward came from a childhood fear that there’s no ceiling above us when we’re outside, [so] what’s keeping us from just flying into space?
Shadecraft came from my fears of what lurks in shadows. Every time I’ve squinted at a shadow that looked a little bit wrong, told myself it was probably fine… But also might have quickened my step a bit. And let’s be honest, we’re living in a world right now where fear is more prevalent than ever. It's more weaponizable, too, to the great pain of our country. So to be able to physicalize a simple boogeyman we’ve all been scared of at some point has given us a great opportunity to speak to those thematics. It’s easy to be afraid of the shadows, because sometimes there are monsters in them. But that also means we have all the more reason to shine a light on them.
Garbett: If Skyward was about hope and triumph over intense adversity outside, Shadecraft is about the horrors and fears within, and the choices we make that feed those shadows and allow them to grow. But, to quote Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, "All the world’s darkness can’t swallow up a single spark."
Shadecraft #1, to me, felt like a story that at its heart is about what follows you... your reputation, your history, your pain and unexamined feelings, growing anxiety, as well as literal monsters. What meaning did you intend for Zadie's story to tell or explore?
Henderson: That’s exactly it! Shadows stalk us every moment of our lives, literally and metaphorically. What is your shadow side? What are the emotions you bury deep down, that you don’t want anyone to shine a light on? Feelings that you can’t seem to get rid of, guilts you can’t shake, no matter how hard you try?
I also love the idea that shadows need light to exist. That push/pull is a big part of Shadecraft, and the emotional aspect we’ll explore.
We've seen shadows so far in Issue #1, which leads me to ask what fans can look forward to in future issues as far as possible antagonists or maybe allies for Zadie? Do we have any light-bringers? Is there anything that you can reveal at this time for readers already rooting for her?
Henderson: In Issue #2, we’ll introduce a mysterious new character who is either ally or antagonist, and it’ll be up to Zadie to figure out which. Either way, this woman has answers, and Zadie will need to figure out how to get them. And at what cost. But the biggest focus of the book is on Zadie and her relationship with her older brother, struggling to get out of his shadow and step into her own light. For anyone with complicated sibling relationships, this book’s for you!
Garbett: We’ll definitely see Zadie’s world open up, for better or worse, and take her to places she never knew existed. There are some big choices to make and inner-demons and crazy shadow-monsters to battle along the way.
Shadecraft #1 is set to be released physically and digitally on March 31.