It’s no secret that we here at Skybound are insanely excited about our new comic series HORIZON that invaded comic shops this week! Our friends at CBR News sat down with writer Brandon Thomas to get the scoop on the origins of Horizon, what Zhia has planned and the book’s social relevance:
Q: What are the origins of “Horizon” as a concept and how did you and Juan Gideon connect to bring the project to Skybound?
A: I brought it to them after being invited to pitch things directly to Sean Mackiewicz, Skybound Editorial Director, who remembered loving my “Miranda Mercury” book. The kernel of the project, “Earth invades an alien planet,” has been in my head for years and years, but after the exhaustive development process, that initial idea is a hollow shell of what we’re working with now.
Juan joined up after a similarly exhaustive process of Sean and I tossing names back and forth for several weeks.
His style, his designs and his storytelling instincts, especially when it came to action, were the things needed to make this book visually stand apart, and once the very first design of Zhia came in, it was clear he was perfect.
Q: What can you tell us about Zhia’s mission to Earth and how she plans on accomplishing it?
A: “Tearing down the structures and technology that will enable Earth to invade her planet” is the mission. Why she’s choosing to do this with her bare hands is something soon to be revealed. What won’t be a secret for long is how much Earth and Valius have in common, which is the main reason Earth imagines it as a perfect “second chance.”
Q: How does your version of Earth differ than the one we’re living on now?
A: Imagine the worst qualities engulfing the state of humanity right now — ignorance, selfishness, a lack of empathy, etc. — and then imagine if these traits were almost weaponized. That’s the version of Earth we’ll see in “Horizon.” A planet that was more careless with their environment, a lot more intolerant as the complexion of the world changed, and one that was often so paralyzed by abject panic that they didn’t even realize they were being led off a cliff by the people that were supposed to protect them.
To read the rest of the interview head over to CBR News
Horizon #1 from Brandon Thomas & Juan Gedeon is available now wherever fine comics are sold!
