Ibrahim Moustafa’s brand new original graphic novel from Humanoids is a sci-fi western that proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that redemption is no easy task.
CYN is a follow-up to COUNT, his reimagining of The Count of Monte Cristo story, but the action and adventure can be enjoyed with or without knowledge of the opening story.
We spoke to the artist/writer all about the project and how it fits in with the rest of the Humanoids line in this exclusive interview.
CYN is a follow-up to your sci-fi retelling of the classic Count of Monte Cristo graphic novel COUNT, correct?
Ibrahim Moustafa: Yes! But it’s very deliberately made to be read in any order. So, if this is someone’s first time in that world, they’ll know everything that’s going on. If they read CYN and decide to read COUNT after, there’s a whole new experience there that will serve to add context to CYN. I’m really excited about that.
How did you approach CYN differently than COUNT?
Moustafa: COUNT was very large in scope, taking place on multiple continents, with a large cast of characters and big swings. CYN is a much more intimate and contained story that follows one character from COUNT into the next chapter of her life, in a dusty little town. CYN is much more of a western, whereas COUNT was a larger “epic” tale with armies and ships. I think due to that, I had more space to develop smaller more personal relationships between characters, and really build up to the action.
CYN will be published by Humanoids which has a long history with European comics and creators. Do you feel that CYN is a mix of many cultures and styles?
Moustafa: In so much as I am a mix of many cultures and styles, myself. One of the many great things about Humanoids is that they really support me in telling the stories that I want to tell, in the way that I want to tell them. I think my style and taste in comics has a lot of European sensibilities to it, so that makes me a good fit for them.
What went into designing the look of the characters and the world in CYN?
Moustafa: There’s a lot about the world that I figured out “off-panel”, that doesn’t get explicitly stated, but is in all of the world-building. The main idea behind this world is that they had an industrial revolution that was based around harnessing and controlling the natural magnetic fields and polarities within the earth. So that means that they never needed to harness combustion to make their machines work, to make vehicles move, etc. So all of the design of this world revolves around that idea; what would that do to the designs of their vehicles? Their weapons? etc. It was a lot of fun.
You previously stated that CYN was your personal work in the medium. Why is this?
Moustafa: One of the major themes of the book is “figuring out who you are after losing a piece of yourself”, which is a journey that mirrors my own when writing/drawing this book. I was grieving the loss of my beloved dog pretty heavily, and both she and my other dog are featured in the book. I never really do that with my work, so this was a nice exercise in catharsis.
Will we see a sequel in the future?
Moustafa: Never say never!
CYN will be available at your local comic shop or bookstore on June 18.
