Artist Gene Ha is back to investigate a unique type of alien in this month’s Project Cryptid.
Ha tells us all about what an ultraterrestrial is, his idea behind the story for issue #5 with Zander Cannon, and his memories of working with Kelly Sue DeConnick and Alan Moore in this exclusive interview.
What can you tell us about your story for Project: Cryptid?
Gene Ha: I’m the artist on “Ultraterrestrials!” with writer Zander Cannon and colorist Wesley Wong. Ultraterrestrial is a catch-all term for alien visitors, faeries, and various cryptozoological beasties. Sightings of all these creatures tend to be similar, different versions of the same experience. Our hero, Slugsniper X, has invented a smartphone attachment that allows him to see all sorts of hidden ultraterrestrials in his town. Things go sideways when he falls in love with one.
How did you go about preparing to illustrate your cryptid? Any research necessary?
Ha: UFO researcher John Keel invented the term “ultraterrestrial” in the late 1960s. I learned about him from the tabletop RPG podcast Ken And Robin Talk About Stuff. My friend Kenneth Hite loves diving into real world supernatural and conspiracy beliefs, and showing how to use fringe beliefs in scifi and fantasy. He doesn’t believe any of it, but he enjoys it and studies it deeply. He’s won a lot of awards, both for his game writing and his podcasting.
Beyond Ken’s work, I tried to find as many eyewitness accounts and drawings from ultraterrestrial sightings as I could. Then I tried to merge that into something distinct and hopefully new. Slugsniper’s love interest could be an alien or a monster or a faerie or a mermaid or a plant elemental, but is not quite any single one of them.
Thoughts on the actual existence of the cryptid featured in your story?
Ha: I believe people have seen ultraterrestrials, but I don’t know what caused them to see them. I’m frankly skeptical. That said, I did once distinctly feel someone pinch my butt, twice, during a Memphis ghost tour. No one was anywhere near me. I like to think it was the Ghostly Goose from my comic series with Alan Moore, Top Ten.
You recently worked with Kelly Sue DeConnick on Wonder Woman: Historia. What was it like working with Kelly Sue and mapping out the history of the Amazons for DC Comics?
Ha: She’s the Ted Lasso of comics writers. She gave me challenges she didn’t know how to solve, and I didn’t know how to solve, but trusted me to come up with a visual solution.
I’ll give you two examples of the challenges, but you’ll have to pick up a copy of Historia to see my solutions. They’re very visual. In one scene the future queen of the Amazons, Hippolyta, is being followed through a forest by the goddess Artemis. Hippolyta can tell she’s being followed, but Artemis isn’t actually there. In another, Kelly Sue asked me to represent 3000 years of injustice against women using the goddess Hera, a flock of birds and feathers. Each time I thought there was no way, and then I came up with an answer. It’s humbling to have a writer who understands your talents better than you do and to push yourself to a new level. I call Kelly Sue “My Captain.”
Many fans have fond memories of your Top Ten series with Alan Moore. Memories of working on the series?
Ha: When I was working on Top Ten with Alan we often talked on the phone. Alan Moore is the only creative mind so fast I can’t keep up. Not even close. He once asked me if I had any ideas I’d like to draw. I’d suggested superhero cops arresting a drunken Superman type character with super-breath. Imagine what his projectile vomiting would be like! Alan was enthusiastic, and then spun it into drunk Godzilla. He elaborated on the idea and improvised a whole issue of story on the phone. His ideas were so brilliant, fully fleshed out and wild. I had nothing else to add. He’s amazing.
Upcoming projects?
Ha: Nothing I can announce right now. Stay tuned though…
Look for Ha’s story and many other monster tales in Project: Cryptid #5, on sale on January 24.
If you’d like to read more about Project Cryptid, check out our interview with Mark Russell right here.
