AMY CHU talks DEJAH THORIS #0, on sale in JANUARY! For 25 CENTS!!!
The Princess of Mars is set to return to her throne this January, as Dynamite Entertainment presents the relaunch of one of its most beloved characters, Dejah Thoris. Writer Amy Chu (Poison Ivy, Red Sonja, KISS) will bring the strong, iconic character back to the comics in the debut issue of Dejah Thoris #0, which will retail for 25 cents (!!!) and allow fans to join the adventure at this introductory price.
BYRON BREWER: Amy, you’ve handled everything at Dynamite from Red Sonja to KISS. What is it like working on another iconic character from the pen of none other than Edgar Rice Burroughs?
AMY CHU: It's pretty awesome and definitely an enormous challenge. I'm not saying that Red Sonja and KISS weren't, but they've only been around since the '70s. Dejah Thoris and Barsoom are more than 100 years old! Science fiction would not be the same without the Mars books.
BB: As I understand it, your tale beginning in January’s Dejah Thoris #0 is a prequel to the beloved Burroughs book, A Princess of Mars? Tell us about the research you did for this gig, if any. I would imagine it is a long way from listening to classic KISS (laughs).
AC: Haha, well, it's actually the same in that I went back to the source material, but in this case the original goes all the way back to 1912. Thank goodness for the free Gutenberg website where all the books are digital. So I did a lot of word searches like “banths”, “ochre moss” and “ancient seas.” There's so much attention to world building in the original books, I want to keep this series as much as I can in the same universe.
BB: Like Vampirella and other iconic characters, Dejah is open to many interpretations – the last in The End was really different. Who is Dejah as a character to you?
AC: In the books she's hot, but also headstrong and scientific-minded. Burroughs makes it clear that all Martians learn to fight from a young age, so yes, she's a fighter, because who doesn't want that? I see young Dejah as a smart and pretty girl who's lived a life of princess privilege. She's spoiled by her father and grandfather so she gets away with a lot, and this is going to get her in trouble later. She's idealistic, but also naive.
BB: What can you tell us, even non-spoilery, about the Green Martian involved in this tale? (C’mon!)
AC: Alright, MAYBE, just MAYBE, you're going to see that tricky guy again…
BB: Any other characters, familiar or new, involved in your comic? Can you introduce us to the new ones please?
AC: Well you definitely see Dejah's father and grandfather, the jeddaks of Lesser and Greater Helium, and all the great planetary monsters. But because this is a prequel, I had to pretty much make up everyone else. A really important character is a grizzled old Red Martian vet Sajad Surma who is one of Dejah's guards, and he's not particularly keen on that. He thinks she's pretty much a spoiled Kardashian brat. And then I've got some young scientists because what kind of scientific mission would this be if there weren't any scientists? Spoiler, I've watched a lot of Star Trek in my day, so there's some red shirts I won't bother introducing…
BB: Haha! … Elephant in the room: Any John Carter action in this series?
AC: Hey now, this is a prequel! In Princess of Mars, her ship was shot down by Tharks on her way back from a scientific mission but that mission is never fully explained. So don't expect a lot of romance in this one, sorry... Maybe later?
BB: What is it like to work with artist Pasquale Qualano? What does he bring to this Barsoom table?
AC: Every artist works differently and I try to adjust accordingly. Some like to do all the splash pages first, and then jump around as they see fit. Carlos Gomez, on the other hand, starts every Red Sonja issue at page one and works straight through until page 20 like a MACHINE. Kewber Baal on KISS liked to thumbnail everything out first in chunks. Pasquale is like Kewber, he'll do a few pages rough first in batches. Pasquale has a very beautiful fluid style that works really well with this story. And fortunately Pasquale and the colorist Valentina Pino are friends, so there's a lot more team communication on the script.
BB: Amy, what other projects can you tell readers about?
AC: Thanks for asking! I have a new series Summit #1 with the legendary Jan Duursema landing in December from Lion Forge. Dr. Valentina Resnick-Baker is an astronaut (and rock climber, hence the name!) that mysteriously survives an explosion in space, and comes back to Earth with the power of the stars, plasma fusion.
Red Sonja is still going strong, but starting in January, Erik Burnham, who I worked with on KISS: The Demon, is coming back on board to co-write the new arc. Erik is a ray of sunshine and a ton of fun to work with. Carlos has already started on the art for this arc, and it's pretty fantastic.
And for the kiddies, my book with Kata Kane, Ana and the Cosmic Race, is out just in time for the holidays from Papercutz. It's Hogwarts in space meets Bill and Ted. Really. Check it out!
The Princess of Mars is set to return to her throne this January, as Dynamite Entertainment presents the relaunch of one of its most beloved characters, Dejah Thoris. Writer Amy Chu (Poison Ivy, Red Sonja, KISS) will bring the strong, iconic character back to the comics in the debut issue of Dejah Thoris #0, which will retail for 25 cents (!!!) and allow fans to join the adventure at this introductory price.
BYRON BREWER: Amy, you’ve handled everything at Dynamite from Red Sonja to KISS. What is it like working on another iconic character from the pen of none other than Edgar Rice Burroughs?
AMY CHU: It's pretty awesome and definitely an enormous challenge. I'm not saying that Red Sonja and KISS weren't, but they've only been around since the '70s. Dejah Thoris and Barsoom are more than 100 years old! Science fiction would not be the same without the Mars books.
BB: As I understand it, your tale beginning in January’s Dejah Thoris #0 is a prequel to the beloved Burroughs book, A Princess of Mars? Tell us about the research you did for this gig, if any. I would imagine it is a long way from listening to classic KISS (laughs).
AC: Haha, well, it's actually the same in that I went back to the source material, but in this case the original goes all the way back to 1912. Thank goodness for the free Gutenberg website where all the books are digital. So I did a lot of word searches like “banths”, “ochre moss” and “ancient seas.” There's so much attention to world building in the original books, I want to keep this series as much as I can in the same universe.
BB: Like Vampirella and other iconic characters, Dejah is open to many interpretations – the last in The End was really different. Who is Dejah as a character to you?
AC: In the books she's hot, but also headstrong and scientific-minded. Burroughs makes it clear that all Martians learn to fight from a young age, so yes, she's a fighter, because who doesn't want that? I see young Dejah as a smart and pretty girl who's lived a life of princess privilege. She's spoiled by her father and grandfather so she gets away with a lot, and this is going to get her in trouble later. She's idealistic, but also naive.
BB: What can you tell us, even non-spoilery, about the Green Martian involved in this tale? (C’mon!)
AC: Alright, MAYBE, just MAYBE, you're going to see that tricky guy again…
BB: Any other characters, familiar or new, involved in your comic? Can you introduce us to the new ones please?
AC: Well you definitely see Dejah's father and grandfather, the jeddaks of Lesser and Greater Helium, and all the great planetary monsters. But because this is a prequel, I had to pretty much make up everyone else. A really important character is a grizzled old Red Martian vet Sajad Surma who is one of Dejah's guards, and he's not particularly keen on that. He thinks she's pretty much a spoiled Kardashian brat. And then I've got some young scientists because what kind of scientific mission would this be if there weren't any scientists? Spoiler, I've watched a lot of Star Trek in my day, so there's some red shirts I won't bother introducing…
BB: Haha! … Elephant in the room: Any John Carter action in this series?
AC: Hey now, this is a prequel! In Princess of Mars, her ship was shot down by Tharks on her way back from a scientific mission but that mission is never fully explained. So don't expect a lot of romance in this one, sorry... Maybe later?
BB: What is it like to work with artist Pasquale Qualano? What does he bring to this Barsoom table?
AC: Every artist works differently and I try to adjust accordingly. Some like to do all the splash pages first, and then jump around as they see fit. Carlos Gomez, on the other hand, starts every Red Sonja issue at page one and works straight through until page 20 like a MACHINE. Kewber Baal on KISS liked to thumbnail everything out first in chunks. Pasquale is like Kewber, he'll do a few pages rough first in batches. Pasquale has a very beautiful fluid style that works really well with this story. And fortunately Pasquale and the colorist Valentina Pino are friends, so there's a lot more team communication on the script.
BB: Amy, what other projects can you tell readers about?
AC: Thanks for asking! I have a new series Summit #1 with the legendary Jan Duursema landing in December from Lion Forge. Dr. Valentina Resnick-Baker is an astronaut (and rock climber, hence the name!) that mysteriously survives an explosion in space, and comes back to Earth with the power of the stars, plasma fusion.
Red Sonja is still going strong, but starting in January, Erik Burnham, who I worked with on KISS: The Demon, is coming back on board to co-write the new arc. Erik is a ray of sunshine and a ton of fun to work with. Carlos has already started on the art for this arc, and it's pretty fantastic.
And for the kiddies, my book with Kata Kane, Ana and the Cosmic Race, is out just in time for the holidays from Papercutz. It's Hogwarts in space meets Bill and Ted. Really. Check it out!
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