They say that in space, no one can hear you scream. While this is true, there’s so much more to it than that: in space, there are many things you need to be wary of – and all this and more is at the center of the new Image Comics series, “Roche Limit.”
Written by Michael Moreci, illustrated by Vic Malhotra and featuring the work of colorist Jordan Boyd, letterer Ryan Ferrier and designer Tim Daniel, Image’s new sci-fi series is set to be one of their most provocative yet. Establishing itself in the realm of the thinking person’s sci-fi of 2001 and Blade Runner, “Roche Limit” is the first of three minis set on the outer reaches of space, with Moreci and Malhotra planning to put readers on an absolute thrill of a read in what they are referring to as a different kind of comic book event.
And, for the record:
Roche limit [rohsh; French rawsh]noun
the minimum distance below which a moon orbiting a celestial body would be disrupted by tidal forces or below which a moon would not have formed
Read on as we talk about all things “Roche Limit” with Michael Moreci and Vic Malhotra.
So lets start at the basics. What is the origin of “Roche Limit?” How did the book come about?
Michael Moreci: Steve (Seeley, who is a co-creator on the book) is the one who told me what a Roche limit is. I had been cobbling together a sci-fi noir separately, and hearing what a Roche limit was put all the pieces together. It was the exact right thing at the right moment.
Still, I sat on the idea for a good long while. It evolved in many ways over the past 18 months or so. But the more I tossed it around in my head, tying together themes and storylines, it started to take this form that became exactly, exactly what I’ve wanted to do in this type of story.
And how did you two get together?
MM: It’s kinda funny, because I actually wanted Vic to work on a different book. I forget what happened there, but that one wound up taking a backburner. After that, I told Vic “well, I have this other project…” and sent him the bible I’d written up. He must’ve liked it, because he’s been all in since.
Vic Malhotra: I remember that I had initially been in touch with Michael to inquire about doing a short story for “Hoax Hunters” and conversations flowed from there until we ended up at “Roche Limit.” If you’ve never talked to Michael in person or on the phone, be warned that he only speaks in sultry hushed tones. He will seduce you into working with him!
Vic, I’ve been a fan of yours for a while, and if I’m correct this is your first big ongoing series, right? Having worked in comics a bunch, how are you feeling starting work on this book?
VM: Thank you! It’s surprising to hear that I’ve worked in comics a bunch. I guess it’s different from my standpoint, since my entire output up to this moment is around 150 published pages total. I’ve heard that around page 1000 is when most artists feel like they start understanding what they’re really doing, but that might be an antiquated idea since the industry demands more complete artists from the start these days. You’re right though, this is my first lengthy series and I couldn’t be more excited. It’s not a true ongoing, as Michael will explain later on, but it is a long run (15 issues!)
The feeling this book gives me is like no other. There’s something freeing about working on a sci-fi book where we make the calls on how almost everything looks and works. Of course, a lot of it is reality-based, but it really opens up the creativity when you realize that world of Roche Limit doesn’t need to adhere to what is established or possible in the real world.
Explain Roche limit to me. I thought it was a cool sci-fi title, but apparently it’s an actual thing, and I’m a dummy for not knowing about it. How did the title for the book come about, and on that same thread, what kind of research have you guys been doing for the book?
Continued belowMM: That’s all Steve — he must’ve stumbled upon at some point and it stuck. He’s a wealth of knowledge, no joke.
I tried to do a lot of research, science-based stuff, but it really didn’t take. Don’t get me wrong, I studied up. But after awhile, I tossed that all out the window. What we’re doing isn’t hard sci-fi—liberties are being taken, believe me. The book still works, and the idea of the Roche limit fits seamlessly into the story. But there are things that happen that I had to acknowledge are kinda impossible and let it slide. Look, no character in the book fights their way out of a black hole — there’s nothing silly or egregious. But I did have to allow for some wiggle room.
VM: The first thing I do when I start a new project is TOO much research. I dove head first into reading about outer space, including recent discoveries and possible theories about black holes plus all the visuals that go along with it… amazing visuals. Research is great, but it was only after I put it aside that I was able to really imagine this story. I thank Moebius and Jodorowsky for getting my mind right.
There’s always a lot of sci-fi in comics, certainly, so what do you think is the appeal of this book? Where are you hoping to take the genre compared to where it is?
MM: Being totally candid, I don’t think there’s any comic sci-fi title like “Roche Limit.” There’s a lot of books that incorporate different sci-fi traditions, but not in the way we’re doing it.
Our book is in the tradition of, dare I say, existential sci-fi. We’re more Gattaca than Star Wars, more Stanislaw Lem than Al Williamson. Sci-fi can be used to tell really great high-concept action, adventure, and mystery stories, for sure. But my favorite sci-fi has always been the stories that comment on the human condition, personally and culturally. “Roche Limit” is a book about where we are as humans, where we’ve been and where we’re going—at least it’s attempting to be. It’s an entertaining book, don’t get me wrong—the same way, say, Dark City is entertaining as well as deeply salient—but it’s also a challenging one.
VM: That’s the thing that really hooked me to this story. Initially Michael had a rough idea of the first part of the story and a script for the first few pages. Reading those pages and visualizing them really excited me, but what hooked me was where the story was headed and how it was going to be executed. There are layers in this story and that’s always a big attraction for me. As far as what we can hopefully add to the sci-fi genre for comics: Subtlety.
The book was described as “2001 meets Blade Runner” but can you talk a bit about your influences on the series? Both visually and stylistically, of course.
MM: My influences have ranged all over the map, from concept art from movies like Blade Runner, Alien, and Prometheus (the art, not the story!) to great soundtracks, like Escape from New York and Dredd. Music has been a huge part of setting the mood and tone of the book, which is essential to its efficacy. Vic and I are very particular about the specifics about the “Roche Limit” colony, how it functions and how that determines the reading experience. I’m sure Vic can speak more on that, especially in a visual sense.
But, yeah, it’s been a wide range of influences that inform “Roche Limit”. Carl Sagan, Stanley Kubrick, John Carpenter — I can go on and on. I feel it’s still indelibly Vic’s and my work and vision, but the development incorporated a lot of the greats and helped us realize this unique undertaking. Remember — “Roche Limit” is three distinct chapters (three five-issue series), and each chapter is totally different from each other. They’re linked thematically and in setting, but that’s nearly all. Chapter one is sci-fi/noir; chapter two is not.
VM: Chills… That’s what I just got. Please go re-read Michael’s last sentence.
Michael and I chatted about 2001 and Blade Runner being two of the biggest influences on sci-fi, in comics and in movies. They’re almost maybe too obvious of choices to go for visually, but damn are they good choices. So you can expect ideas from those two movies among others to impact the look, but there’s also a huge Moebius influence on this book: In my head anyway, as I don’t know if it will show on the page.
Continued belowThe “Roche Limit” colony is cramped. All the shiny new stuff you’d expect from colonization of a new planet is now old. It’s not even newly fixed-up; it’s on its fifth time being fixed-up. Buildings have been re-purposed and patched up with whatever works so everything has this really lived in look. Our colourist, Jordan Boyd, has been so important for the look. It’s a weird loop where the first pages I drew and Jordan magnificently coloured informed how I would draw the rest of the book. We even went back and redrew and recoloured some of the early pages to match with the vision of the book.
Do you guys find it challenging to balance the deeper nature of the questions against the science-fiction of it all? That is to say, perhaps — what is more important: big ideas about humanity, or selling this book as an operatic adventure in the depths of space?
MM: You know, what comes first to me are those ideas. I stand by a certain maxim, and that maxim is this: If someone asks you what your book is about, and you describe the plot, you’re doing it wrong. I probably sound snobby, but I just can’t justify doing a book that isn’t about something. A story that’s just plot-plot-plot never really works for me, because it’ll always feel thin and superficial. The purpose of storytelling is the connectivity it enables—this shared experience between people, everywhere. Noam Chomsky talks about how it’s a fucking miracle that, when you really think about it, we’re able to utilize a system of language, written and oral, that is so complex and can signify so many nebulous, challenging thoughts and emotions. The fact we can extend that to the art of telling story is no small feat and should never be taken for granted. You know what I mean? You’re telling a story—have something to say, damn it.
I mean, look: You don’t want to discount the plot totally, and we absolutely don’t in “Roche Limit.” The chain from A to B to C. Rising action, denouement, etc. But, I think once you wrestle with the inner demons that give life to a theme, to a point you’re trying to get across, the story becomes all the more easier to craft. And, truth be told, “Roche’s” story is one of the coolest, most elaborate I’ve ever told. But it’s all because I figured out what, exactly, I was trying to convey and what makes this endeavor worth it.
It sounds like you guys have “Roche Limit” pretty heavily plotted out, with this being a story in three “chapters”/minis. This is an approach we’re seeing a lot of in comics lately; why do you find this sort of storytelling is more appealing than a big ongoing?
MM: Truthfully, this is just what the story called for. We have to see what this place, this “Roche Limit” colony, means over a long period of time. Where it leads humanity, what it does to us. An ongoing, I think, would be too confusing and misleading because the three chapters are very, very different from each other. It’s like if Solaris was the first half season of a TV show and Aliens was the second. People would have no idea what hell was going on. Dividing it up is a good way to let people know that one story is over and another is beginning. It’s practical in that sense.
Plus, it makes it an event. Comics need more actual events. Not like some ham-fisted crossover where the consequences of the story expire faster than milk in the sun. I want to make this a must-read thing. It happens, then it’s over. True Detective nailed this. It came in, blew your mind, then was gone. The finite design played a big part of its impact. Comics can use some more of that. Worry less about going on forever, worry more about making it required reading.
So lets go behind the scenes a little bit. What can you tell me about the leads of the series? Who is Bekkah Hudson, and who is it that is searching for her?
Continued belowMM: Bekkah is the woman we see in the preview pages. She came to “Roche Limit” very naive, trying to do some good for the drug-addicted community there (you’ll discover more about drugs on “Roche Limit” in issue #1 — very unusual stuff). When she disappears, it sets off a chain events that reveals a bunch of people doing something they weren’t supposed to, and trying to cover that up and/or deal with.
Her sister, Sonya, comes to the colony to find her. Instead, she finds hidden depths and gets entwined in this byzantine plot that has some heavy consequence.
The pitch for the series mentions Lanford Skaargard and his work in creating this colony. What kind of work have you guys done in terms of establishing the world that makes up this series?
MM: Tons, man. Vic is better equipped to go into more detail, but we really dug into what this world would look like, for real. How would it be made? What would it be made of? We really broke down the architecture of the place and, once you dig into it, you see those details come to life.
VM: A lot of discussions. Michael and I chatted about what makes the world of “Roche Limit” unique. While the colony itself has a specific look, it’s not so different than the world we live in since the story has many grounded elements. What isn’t like the real world is the anomaly that occupies the sky. The proximity of the planet and the colony situated on it are important for this story.
What can you tell me about the science behind the series? You’ve both done a fair deal of research; are you going for believable angles of science in your fiction, or are you emphasizing the fiction over the science?
MM: I did lots of research; I generally love space and NASA and all that stuff. But, at a certain point, it’s all speculation. After all, the Roche Limit colony is siutated on a dwarf planet that doesn’t exist. So, right there, we’re going into “what if…” territory.
Ultimately, we contain the fiction so nothing is egregious. Nothing happens that totally defies what we know about the universe—the real leaps are all tied to speculative science. The anomaly that hovers over the planet, what is it? Honest, I don’t really know. I know what it does, how it functions, and what it means, but ultimately it’s just some…thing, out there in space. There’s no precedent, so we can be free to do what we want in a way.
As far as world-building goes, we’re incorporating so much into each issue. Every issue goes cover to cover, no ads. We have infographics, back matter in the form of magazine article, secret documents, things that make for a comprehensive experience. We’re all in for making this world as palpable as possible, and I think the reading experience will be richer for it.
VM: Visually it’s fiction over science.
And from a design standpoint, how are you guys breaking this stuff down? Do you have ideas for how certain devices or places should “look” before approaching the pages?
VM: We decided on the overall design ideas for “Roche Limit” pretty early on… Mainly that things were designed for function rather than form. Boxy and bulky over sleek and smooth. That’s one of the things I specifically went to the first Alien movie to study. The industrial look of the Nostromo informed some of my early designs.
That’s not to say there aren’t any new and extravagant places within the colony, there certainly are, but a large portion of the colony is decaying. There are some key locations beyond the colony as well – natural areas of the planet that are tied into our story.
So looking at the market, we’re certainly seeing a lot of sci-fi books at the moment, particularly ones that push us farther and farther into the outskirts of space. What do you think it is that is causing such a massive resurgence of science fiction in pop culture?
MM: I think I’ve mentioned before how we’re living in this post-Obama/hope era. To me, it’s this really cynical time where, just eight years ago, we were all being swept up in the idea of a brighter, better tomorrow. Yes We Can, all that. But that hasn’t happened — and I don’t mean that as a criticism of Obama. It’s more of a criticism of our broken, dysfunctional, petty system of politics that’s sole purpose, it would seem, is to ensure absolutely nothing at all gets accomplished. What the Obama years have taught me, sadly, is that people are all but incapable of working together to achieve this better tomorrow, because we’re too mired in our own petty greed and selfishness and ridiculous ideologies.
Continued belowSo instead of us being adults and recognizing problems and finding the best way to fix them, we get into power squabbles, nothing gets done, and everyone loses. It’s cynical as hell, I know. For the record, I’m not a completely hopeless individual—I still think people, in this country and around the world, can achieve great things and continue to do so. But we’ll always be limited when we make decisions based out of ignorance, fear, and greed. I mean, for God’s sake, if we can’t band together and do something about gun violence in schools and global warming, we’re truly fucked as people. I mean, seriously—these are slam dunk issues, no-brainers that anyone with a conscience has to know that something needs to be done.
That all said, to answer your question at last, the best sci-fi has always come in times of cynicism. The Cold War, for example, created arguably the best sci-fi ever. Granted, that period was coupled with our forays into space for the first time, but thematically, you see those themes of human failings and a future that is a dark continuation of a broken present. Right now, I think a lot of people are realizing, consciously or not, that we’re at a historical impasse. We have a lot of problems but not the capacity to fix them. And art, as always, reflects the tenor of its time.
VM: For me, the big attraction with sci-fi is it taps into the unknown. Hundreds of years ago you could tap into that same thing by jumping into a boat and venturing into the uncharted seas. To do the equivalent of that today, you’d need to go to space.
The world seems smaller today because we’re all so connected through technology. A million good things have come from it, of course, but I think we lost a few things along the way. The intrigue of visiting other countries is still there, but sometimes you travel and it seems like places are more interchangeable. The same restaurants you’d go to in your home town can be found on the other side of the world. I think as we keep heading in that direction there will be even more interest in those few mysterious unknown things that are left.
What are you most excited for people to experience in “Roche Limit?”
MM: I’m excited by that very word you use — “Roche Limit” is an experience. The story is very tight, very controlled and, I think, is going to evoke a lot in readers, emotionally and mentally. And, truthfully, I don’t care if we come of out the gate selling 60K copies (ha ha, we won’t)—we’re not milking this story or, again, the experience we’re offering. I’ll mention True Detective again — that was an experience. You were wrapped up in it as it raced to the eighth and final episode. It created this evocative world that was very human, very real, and very frightening because of that. It did so many things well and took you on an incredible journey. That’s what we’re aiming for here. Will we achieve it? Hell, I don’t know. But I’m not afraid to wear my ambition on my sleeve and say we’re going for something special and unique—it feels special and unique to me.
And for you guys, what do you think it is that “Roche Limit” has allowed you to do that you’ve never been able to do in comics before?
MM: Honestly, I feel like this is my work at its most unfiltered. In case you couldn’t tell by the tenor of this email, “Roche Limit” is a dark book. It’s going to challenge readers with the ideas contained in it and really dig into a difficult ideology. I’ve never went this far off the deep end or esoteric, but I’m glad I have. It feels natural, it feels good. In doing so, it’s allowed me freedom to tell a story that’s unique and rich and, ultimately, rewarding.
Look, here’s the thing, my final word: I’ve always, always said that, in art, I’ll take an ambitious failure over a conventional success any day. That’s why, to me, a movie like Southland Tales — which is a MESS — is far more compelling than the latest Liam Neeson action movie. Southland Tales, for all its failings and shortcomings and times when you have no idea what this movie is trying to be, is still wildly ambitious and is trying, desperately, to do something. It’s grabbing you by the shirt and giving you a good shake, demanding you pay attention. Neeson’s flick, while there’s nothing wrong with it, is just trying to be another action movie. Give me the gutsy attempt, every time.
VM: With “Roche Limit” I’ve been able to create this world from the ground up. Base parts of it on the real world and also just make wild stuff up. So far it’s been a blast. It’s the easiest book for me to visualize before I put pencil to the page.
