The myth of Orpheus and Eurydice is one of my very favorite Greek myths. A story of a love so strong that a man would literally journey beyond death itself to get back the one he loves. It’s a story that still captivates people even in our modern times. A new Vault book, “Submerged,” is a more modern take on the story of Orpheus, with a sister journeying into an urban underworld set in the New York City subway to rescue her brother.
We sat down to chat with writer Vita Ayala and artist Lisa Sterle about “Submerged,” the story of Orpheus and Eurydice, setting the underworld in a very modern space, how Hurricane Sandy inspired the story, and much more.
To start, what’s the story of “Submerged?”
Lisa Sterle: To me, the story of “Submerged” is a story about family. And in that story about family, “Submerged” is so unique in that we get these magical representations of Ellie’s inner turmoil. We aren’t distanced from her thoughts and memories by exposition, but they’re right in our face and we’re experiencing these horrors and realizations alongside her. This world of “Submerged” is one in which internal struggles are manifested in reality, and it creates a dream-like world with very real dangers. It’s beautiful, and sad and full of surprises.
Vita Ayala: “Submerged” is a mix of stories, but the inspiration for the form is the story of Orpheus and Eurydice. The main characters are siblings not lovers, though, and of color (Latinx). It is a contemporary retelling of the myth, where the Underworld is the New York City subway system. The main character – Ellie – is desperately searching for her brother Angel on the night of the biggest storm in New York City history.
Vita, I know that this story draws a bit from your experience with living in New York during Hurricane Sandy. What about that experience made it into the story? How did it shape it?
VA: The eve before Sandy hit, the City shut down. Like, completely.
I have a tradition of going to my friend’s houses to process major disasters, and this was no different, except that I wanted to head over before it hit (having the head’s up beforehand was convenient).
I walked from my mother’s home in the Lower East Side to Union Square. The streets were deserted – eerily clear, no one else walking, no homeless people, no vendors, no stray animals around. The entire 20-minute walk, I only saw three cars drive by, and one was an ambulance.
Passing the large subway entrance on the north-east side of the park — service having been suspended already — I paused. Again, there wasn’t a living soul arounf, but something made me stop in front of the stairs. I looked down, and at the bottom, back a little way, was a gate, locked with a loose chain. It was dark beyond that.
I took a few steps down, almost in a daze, and then heard a noise, like the movement of something big. Immediately, I remembered that I am Black and that this is how Black people die in the movies, and so I high-tailed it out of there!
The feelings evoked by that place, CLEARLY an entrance to some sort of Otherworld (whether Hades or some sort of R’lyeh like city), wouldn’t leave me. As the City lost power in parts, and others were flooded and destroyed (some places still haven’t completely recovered), it only grew. I knew I had to write about it. I’m a big mythology and folklore person. I feel like I got into it very early, and I almost view the world through a metaphor lens.
Ellie’s perspective came easily, and from there the myth combined with the theme represented by the water flowed (sorry not sorry) easily for me. The plot itself took a lot more work, but it was more like sculpting away bits that weren’t needed more than building something up.
I’m a big mythology buff, especially when it comes to Greco-Roman myths. So seeing a comics that’s a sort of urban fantasy twist on the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice is something I’m very into. What made that particular myth one worth visiting and how are y’all going to deviate from it?
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LS: Vita gets total credit for selecting Orpheus and Eurydice as the inspiration for “Submerged,” and I gotta say, what we’ve managed to do with it in this story is something I’m very proud of. It’s still a story about love, and grief, and the depths that Ellie will go to save her brother just as in the original myth. Without spoiling anything I’ll just say we’ve taken a story about gods and men, and made it intensely personal.
I have to imagine blending something like classical Greek myth and the NYC subway system takes a certain approach. How do you balance that sort of mythical quality with the everyday world, both in the story and in the art?
LS: In the art, the blending of myth and the NYC subway is achieved mostly through symbolism. There are certain nods here and there like some Greco-Roman architecture and columns, but for the most part we wanted to create a new visual language for our myth. Monsters, obstacles and Sphinx-like puzzles take forms that relate directly to our main character Ellie.
One of the things I really like about this first issue is how Ellie’s own thoughts intrude on the current action of the story. It gives it a sort of non-linear quality and casts a bit of mystery on just how long ago it was that Angel called Ellie or how long he’s been gone. How will the story play with that going forward?
VA: That is absolutely a feature, not a bug.
One of the things that we wanted to do is put people right into Ellie’s head. Have them experience what she is experiencing as closely as we could. Ellie, like most people, doesn’t experience time in a strictly linear sense – she has intrusive thoughts, day dreams, nightmares, memory flashes, etc. Short of making the literal view first person, this was a way that seemed to really push that.
We also wanted to play with the pace of revealing things in a may that didn’t feel purposefully stunted. Lisa and Stella worked marvelously together to make it flow seamlessly but clearly/meaningfully.
How did the book make its way to finding a home at Vault?
LS: Vita had developed the pitch and sent it to Vault before I joined the team, but when they reached out to me to see if I was interested I was immediately hooked into this story. It had so many elements that I love! I’ve been interested in Greco-Roman mythology since I was a kid, and Vita’s adapation of it was perfect. Fantastic characters that I immediately fell in love with, a heart-wrenching story on family and growing up, and a tone that is at times both magical and horrific. I knew one I read that pitch that this was a story I HAD to do.
VA: I honestly can’t remember what my first contact with the Wassals was, but I am pretty sure I have Eliot Rahal to thank for that. I was brought on to write a very short story (my collaborator on that was the wonderful Jen Bartel) for his “Cult Classic” anthology.
I instantly felt a real connection to the brothers – Damian and Adrian – and their cousin Nate (and later the rest of the family). I felt comfortable enough to pitch, and they were incredibly supportive. I think we have a lot of the same sensibilities (especially when it comes to story) and were lucky enough to meet at the right time to make something happen.
Reading the first issue, it really feels like everything is in sync. Story, art, and colors are all working together and serving each other well. What has the collaborative process been like on the book?
LS: As the artist, the collaboration on this project has been a dream! I really trust Vita’s vision when it comes to the script, and they were also a super-welcome wealth of inspiration for character and environment design. This was our first project together, but we pretty quickly realized we loved a lot of the same things! So our aesthetic preferences meshed really well. Same goes for Stelladia as well, they continued the heavy symbolism we’d built throughout the art and story into the colors, and it all works beautifully. They really helped solidify the mood with their colors, and I honestly couldn’t have asked for a better team.
Continued belowVA: Working with this team has been an absolute dream. We (the Wassal brothers and I) talked a lot about who would be a good fit team wise, and Lisa’s work is just so haunting and beautiful in general that I cried a little when she said she would co-create the book with me. I came in with a skeleton for the story, but honestly, SO much has changed because of Lisa.
Lisa and I are on the same wave length pretty much across the board. We send each other messages often. She reads my mind about things in the scripts in ways I couldn’t anticipate. Her sensibilities about story telling are at a level I aspire to reach. From character designs to layouts to literally the way she does panel borders, everything is always on time.
And I was given a choice of colorists, and I couldn’t reply fast enough that I wanted to work with Stelladia. Their work is INCREDIBLE, and I KNEW they would understand what we were trying to do and elevate that. I was 100% right!
What Stelldadia does with tone, and texture, and using color as metaphor is untouchable in my opinion. They take in the story (script and line art wise) almost like a plant with sunshine, then turn it into something transcendent.
Rachel Deering, the letterer, is one of the best in the game. I could not ask for a better creative team to be a part of!
Clearly I also have a deep affection and respect for the Wassals – Adrian is our editor on this, and Damian is making all the trains stay on track (haha, sorry not sorry again). Their notes and support have made this possible. Throw in Tim Daniel (who does the design work) and Kim McClean (also design, and a slew of other things that make sure this book works), and I can’t express how much I love working on this project.
Anything else you’d like to add?
VA:Honestly just that I really hope people connect with the book. The team has poured (gonna keep the puns flowing as long as I can get away with it) their hearts into it.
