It takes a hell of a book to be referred as “gay SAGA”, and you know, Kagan McLeod and Chip Zdarsky’s “Kaptara” just might be that book. This title, which was just announced at Image Expo, finds the previous studio mates jamming together to tell the tale of Keith Kanga after he’s transported to a strange new world. Because it’s Zdarsky, it’s going to be weird. Because it’s McLeod, it’s also going to be beautiful.
If you don’t know McLeod, he was the cartoonist behind the incredibly awesome Top Shelf graphic novel “Infinite Kung-fu”, and he’s one of the best artists in the business. He’s spent the years since that book working on various commercial projects, but this book marks his triumphant return to sequential art. We talked with McLeod about the book, what made this the project for him to come back with, and more, and you can find that conversation below, as well as a whole mess of art from the book. Expect it in April. Expect to buy it. Expect to love it.
KM: I’ve always been meaning to get back into comics, but a fear of income loss and not wanting to disappoint people who regularly hire me have kept me illustrating commercially for the past few years. I do love illustrating, but comics resonate with readers in a different way, and that’s the big draw. Working with Chip takes a good portion of the pressure off. Comics are such a huge time investment that committing to one is a big decision, though. Chip is a friend who I respect and trust, and I think knowing each other so well will help us get our best work out. He knows what I can do so I can’t phone anything in, and trying to make the funniest guy in comics laugh keeps my game up too.
This is a book that we don’t know much about besides the overall angle of “gay SAGA” (as Chip called it) and a bit about series lead Keith Kanga. What can you tell us about the story of “Kaptara”, and if it doesn’t reveal too much, where the name comes from?
KM: The name is an ancient Minoan one. We thought it fit as our story will play on mythology; our own and some of the more absurd bits in the classics. Planets are usually named after Greek mythology too, so it made sense. Not to spoil anything, but our lead will crash land on planet Kaptara and meet lots of wacky characters there. Keith’s a biologist, and I look forward to him trying to make sense of some of the wackier things we throw his way, as if trying to discover those elusive Midi-chlorians in a galaxy far, far away.
KM: Much of it comes from jamming ideas onto paper. Blue Line puts out this set of paper that basically says “Concept Sketch” in blue up top and it costs more than regular paper. I thought that was so funny that I had to buy some for the studio, and we took turns making terrible character concept sketches on this official looking paper. When I talked with Chip about what we could do together in a comic, it had to be something as fun as that.
Continued belowThe jump off was a world similar to a kid who played with all his toys together, one who didn’t segregate his He-Men from his Smurfs, and what kind of hilarity might thusly ensue.
We had certain types we wanted to include in the story, the warrior, the sage, etc., and shared a fair number of chuckles coming up with our versions of them.
What can you tell us about the world you’re building and sending Keith Kanga to? I imagine with you and Chip involved, it will be bonkers awesome, but how much fun are you having putting together the world of “Kaptara”?
KM: It feels quite freeing to work on a sci fi/fantasy world, to make the rules up as you go. A large part of the humor I suspect will come from attempts to add the sci to the fi. Chip threw around the idea yesterday of there being 12 suns on Kaptara to explain why wizards wear big-brimmed hats, but I have to send him a note on that – I can’t draw 12 shadows on everyone. But like the idea of Keith, a gay man feeling so isolated that he literally leaves his own world, trying to figure himself out against this backdrop. Expect a touching story woven into pure bonkersness.
Image Press Release
ZDARSKY CONFESSES HE LIKES KISSING—AND ANNOUNCES KAPTARA WITH ARTIST KAGAN MCLEOD
A new science-fiction series to launch this April
“As strange as it is to be publishing another series with Chip, especially one written by him, I can’t wait for everyone to see how flat out amazing Kagan McLeod is on this book,” said Eric Stephenson, Publisher at Image Comics. “That was the first thing I noticed when Chip first pitched this to me, the incredible artwork, and even though Chip was the writer, I thought what Kagan brought to the project more than made up for that. Seriously, Kagan’s that good.”
KAPTARA follows Keith Kanga, a young bio-engineer flung across the universe onto a strange planet filled with weird danger. And if he doesn’t get home then Earth—the place where YOU live—is DOOMED!
“I like to write stories,” said Zdarsky, a man known mostly for art. “And I wanted to create a fantastic world to explore, filled with humor, action, and, you know what? Romance. Yeah, I like kissing. Sorry if that offends you, but I think kissing is pretty important and I hope to give it a shot one day.”
The world of KAPTARA is new, yet familiar, and taps into Zdarsky and McLeod’s childhood inspirations for its characters and settings.
“Kaptara is like the Planet of Dr. Moreau meets your childhood action figures. When I was a kid, I didn’t just play with my He-Man figures, even though I most strongly identified with He-Man due to his muscles and dislike of shirts. I had Skeletor fighting Bat-Man; Optimus Prime kissing Crystar, Crystal Warrior; Cheetara wondering why my mommy bought me a Sectaur. There was no purity of universes with my playtime and Kaptara reflects that, as we’ve created an entire planet of action figures to play with.”
“One of the best parts of sharing a studio with Chip in the pre-social media days was creating wacky characters in a communal sketchbook,” said McLeod. “We would force any visitors to flip through the book and revelled in their response, be it a gut-busting guffaw or a horrified recoil. We are pleased to try this out on a national level (though of course not by force).”
Zdarsky is looking forward to McLeod reaching a whole new audience from working with Image Comics. “Kagan is the greatest illustrator I know, and not only that, he’s the funniest illustrator too. He can do amazing action scenes and tender moments, but also design characters that make me laugh for days. I love him. Very much. And I can’t wait for others to discover him and his amazing style.”
KAPTARA debuts in April, and Zdarsky insists on referring to it as “gay SAGA” to anyone who asks him what it’s like.
