Eisner Award-winning Pretty Deadly artist Emma Ríos is back with an original hardcover graphic novel from Image Comics titled Anzuelo.
Ríos handles both the art and writing for Anzuelo; a beautiful, yet brutal story that comments on the notion of violence as the only response to a life without hope in a dystopian tale where the seas actually revolt against the land and all those that inhabit it.
We spoke to Ríos about the new graphic novel and her return to Pretty Deadly in our exclusive interview with the writer/artist.
Where did the idea for the seas to revolt against the rest of the earth originate?
Emma Ríos: Playing with a catastrophe that could be somewhat self-aware and challenging to understand from a human standpoint, felt intriguing for the construction of both the environment and the people inhabiting it. I wanted the atmosphere to be thick and mysterious, so I willingly left several things vague, keeping the details consistent with what the characters could know and share, each one according to their physical possibilities.
Anzuelo has been described as an eco-horror story. What elements in your story highlight these aspects?
Ríos: It might dialogue with the genre on how the environment takes over the characters, physically and mentally. And on how they struggle to face these changes wielding their former beliefs, helping each other and caring for the rest of the creatures, even the ones they don’t get to understand.
What was it like to both draw and write the story for you and what challenges did it bring?
Ríos: The biggest challenge in a solo book is feeling lonely and helpless sometimes. Not knowing how things would work for other people, or whether or not you’re going to be able to finish what you started. Still, it’s something I love and need to do every once in a while, to reflect on things that worry me, or to express myself in a way that feels unique to me.
Still, I wasn’t alone all the way. I asked my dear friend David Brothers to help me by editing the book, and also to amazing cartoonist and homie Luis Yang to assist me with the final art, cleaning the pages. Also a few friends, always willing to listen. All of them were vital for me and kept me sane through the process, helping me believe what I was doing was interesting enough to keep going.
What image in Anzuelo are you most excited for people to see when they pick up the book?
Ríos: I find it hard not to see the book as a whole. Moreover because the things that worried me most were refining the pacing and keeping the warm yet eerie atmosphere complementing each other. I didn’t want the story to grow as a mystery box, so I tried to keep all my cards visible, and to show the weirdness as something casual in this world.
It would be nice if people could connect with the flow of the story, feeling intrigued and encouraged to imagine what they don’t get to see, instead of waiting for an impactful explanation.
You collaborated on Pretty Deadly with Kelly Sue DeConnick. Memories of working with her and what did you learn from her about writing?
Ríos: Kelly Sue is incredibly inspiring to me.
Specifically on Pretty Deadly, where I can witness all the process behind it, I’m always in awe with how she sets every scene encouraging me to do whatever I want, yet finding the perfect balance to keep control. The sound of her words stands out, poetically, and always blends with the art perfectly. I can always relate with her reflections, and how the rhythm in the dialogues enhances the characters’ depth and style, always blowing me away. No matter how closely I’m involved in this book, in which we both live in it in equal terms, she drives me to tears while reading the scripts every once in a while.
Upcoming projects?
Ríos: I’m back to working on Pretty Deadly with Kelly Sue, until we finish all that’s left for the story. We are working on two more arcs, one set when the Vikings reach America, shaping as an origin story for Alice, my favorite character. Then, the last one will be in the Great Depression, to close the stories of everyone still at play.
What are the most frightening and the most beautiful creatures in the sea?
Ríos: I think I love everything underneath, and I don’t know if I find anything there frightening. More likely, mesmerizing.
I’m particularly fond of cetaceans, dolphins and whales. I love them all but, if I had to mention a few examples, from the dolphins I’d choose the gray dolphin (grampus griseus) who actually has a lot of weight in Anzuelo, and the orcas. From the whales, the sperm whale and the humpback.
While creating Anzuelo I ended up engaging and collaborating with a couple of NGOs from my area: CEMMA, dedicated to the study, divulgation, recovery and protection of mammals, and sea turtles in Galicia. And GT Atlantic Orca, for the conservation and management of an endangered subpopulation in the Iberian Peninsula, that includes the beloved Gladys.
Anzuelo will be available at your local comic shop on November 6.
