Sunless-Skies-clock-tower Columns 

We Want Comics: Fallen London

By | October 8th, 2019
Posted in Columns | % Comments

Good evening ladies and gentlemen! Good evening to those wandering the fog shrouded streets of London bearing the guise of a squid! Good tidings to you all. Consider if you will, Failbetter Games, the creators of Fallen London, Echo Bazaar, Sunless Sea, and Sunless Skies. Such an imagining fills your heart with promise yes? But also… terror! From the Wolfstack Docks, to the Heart of Khan, to the Eastern lands beyond the Unterzee, there is much to see, and much to explore. While it is true that the streets of London Below can be explored through a browser-based game, and there are further diversions available on your personal computer, restricting such a rich setting to a single platform seems unnecessarily limiting, wouldn’t you agree? That is why we have conceived of another world, one which explores Fallen London through the medium of comic books.

In the time it has taken to conceive if this column, write it, and publish it, Alexis Kennedy, one of the creators of Fallen London has been accused by multiple women of being an abuser and predator. It’s always hard to know what to do in a situation where a creator has brought you a world that has so captured your imagination, but who has done reprehensible things in the real world. I don’t have an easy answer that will satisfy everyone, but it’s something everyone will have to confront eventually. Keeping that in mind, I still think there are fantastic stories to be told in Fallen London; maybe the story should be put in the hands of different voices.

Fallen-London-Chimes

The City of A Thousand Stories
Written by Kieron Gillen
Illustrated by Andrea Broccardo

They say that Fallen London is the city of a thousand stories. That should mean a comic series taking place in the fabled capital of the British Empire of the eternal night should easily last a thousand issues. This would be the main series, taking place in every nook and non-Euclidean cranny of the fallen city. Kieron Gillen is a comic book superstar, but he’s also contributed to the series, specifically Sunless Skies. Team him up with the right artist, he should have no trouble teasing out a thousand issues of darkness. That artist? We’re going to go with Andrea Broccardo. You might be familiar with his work from various “Star Wars” series, but Broccardo has worked in many genres and drawn many strange creatures. His sci-fi twist on Victorian fashion in “Star Wars: The Screaming Citadel” (which Gillen also wrote!) should sustain the ever-changing fashions of Fallen London for many years.

 

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Khan’s Glory
Written by Greg Pak
Illustrated by Sana Takeda

The chief rival of Fallen London is the Khanate, a series of islands populated by the descendants of the Mongols. Years in the void of the Unterzee has diminished the Khanate in size, but those who remain are wise and powerful. Fallen London is not in open warfare with the Khanate, but the two weave a rich and deadly campaign of espionage. This ought to be the kind of story where the spies are in so deep, they don’t even know who they are loyal to anymore. It’s darkly funny, drenched in long shadows, swashbuckling, and very sexy.

That’s why this series needs to be written by Greg Pak. If you’ve read any of his Bond comics, you know what I’m talking about- Pak writes with a soft touch, but manages to subvert some of the more uncomfortable aspects of James Bond while also having a great time. Same goes for all of his Jimmy Woo comics, which combine superheroes, spies, and Asian representation. That last part is no accident- Pak’s books always include three-dimensional Asian characters (often, but not always, from Korea), and I would kill to find out what he does with a tangled subterranean extra-dimensional Cthulioid post-Mongolian Empire.

Pak can write sexy and shadowy, but he needs an artist who can bring a hellish edge. That’s where Sana Takeda comes in. You probably know her as the artist on “Monstress”. Takeda is a huge award-winning talent, and creator of one of the best fantasy worlds ever to grace the comics page. From her Asian-inspired cities to her steampunk-inspired ships, Takeda’s interpretation of the Unterzee would be breathtaking. I don’t know if we deserve another fantasy comic by her, but combining her art with Pak’s scripts in this world would make for one of the best comics of all time.

Continued below

 

Echo-Bazaar-Palace

In the Court of the Traitor Empress
Written by Kieron Gillen
Illustrated by Chris Bachalo

Everyone knows that the fall of London was the fault of Queen Victoria. The treacherous empress sold out her city and her people to save the life Albert, her husband and prince consort. She was successful and now she and her court have received eternal life. Well not life exactly, but something similar. Maybe even better? Probably not.

Albert still throws decadent soirees behind the heavily curtained windows of the Shuttered Palace. Victoria is in there too, but if anyone has ever seen her, they seem unable to talk about it. In those shadowy halls are the highest levels of intrigue to be navigated in the whole of the Unterzee. The story would need to be written by someone meticulous, with an eye for double meanings and an ear for puns. Who else would be up for the task but Kieron Gillen? As for someone to draw the interior of the Shuttered Palace… it would need to be someone capable of wringing meaning out of the deepest, darkest shadows. Chris Bachalo doesn’t often go dark, but he has greater mastery over using negative space than anyone else in comics. He’d design whole scenes of perfectly orchestrated darkness.

echo-bazaar-devil-cat

The Wasteland of Brass
Written by Neil Gaiman
Illustrated by J.H. Williams III

Part of the fun of Fallen London is finding historical figures who have taken on new identities in their new deathless existence. We’d need a miniseries highlighting a few of those, so I’ve decided to team up three canonical characters who stalk the streets of London Below. I’m talking about Mr. Huffam (aka Charles Dickens), Dr. Schlomo (aka Sigmund Freud), and the Epigrammatic Irishman (aka Oscar Wilde). I also thought it would be fun to explore a lesser seen corner of this world. Where most of the action takes place to the East across the Zee, this would be a story in the Western reaches: Hell. Think of it as a dark retelling of The Hangover. Huffam, Schlomo, and the Epigrammatic Irishman wake up after a drunken bender in the land of the devils. And now they have to retrace their steps to find their way home.

It’s a pipe dream, but who better to write historical characters than Neil Gaiman? Much of Fallen London’s gentlemanly style can be traced back to Gaiman, and I for one would be happy to do the begging and pleading it would take to get him to write a new miniseries. As long as we’re dreaming, let’s pair him up with J.H. Williams III, who he collaborated with on “Sandman Overture.” It’s his best comic effort (and maybe the best thing he’s written) in a decade. Put these two together, give them this setting and these characters, and this book would be hot hot hellfire.

 

echo-bazaar-masters

The Crimson Book of the Masters of the Bazaar
Written by Sarah Vaughan
Illustrated by Emily Carroll

Behind every action Down Below, you will find one of the Masters, whispering. They are not human. Some have reported that they are clouds of bats making up individual entities, flapping within their cloaks, whispering promises and controlling London from the shadows. None dispute their power. There are many masters, such as Mr. Apples, Mr. Cups, Mr. Fires, Mr. Wines, Mr. Veils and Mr. Spices. There are many more. This would be their story, but they would never appear. Instead it would be told through their proxies, as they warred for the empty soul of the Unterzee.

This concept is a little bit more esoteric than Sarah Vaughan typically writes, but her love of Gothic horror and romance would fill the book with memorable characters and relationships. She navigates deep complexity in “Sleepless” and is more than familiar with ghosts from her “Deadman” series. I would love to see what she does with a conspiratorial web of lies. The surreal edge would be brought by artist Emily Carroll, who’s drawn some truly horrifying stuff. You might know her from the spooky “Through the Woods” or from her art for the game Gone Home. Each of these creators would bring something different to the table, but together they would create something that neither of them would do on their own- exactly like the Masters!

Continued below

 

fallen-London-Derilict

The Zong of the Zee
Written by Jason Aaron
Illustrated by Becky Cloonan

Players of Sunless Sea will know that only the most accomplished explorer ends up writing the Zong of the Zee. So this series is a loose adaptation of that game, focusing on a single crew of Zailors crewing a steamship and seeing all there is to zee. I mean see. They’ll make their way to Mutton Island, the demonic Mt. Palmerston, the Atlantian Fahtomking’s Hold, the mechanical Iron Republic… there are tons of adventures to be found across the Zee.

The tagline to Sunless Sea is “Lose your mind. Eat your crew.” To bring that sentiment to life, we’re turning to two creators of unrelated “Conan the Barbarian” comics. The first is Jason Aaron, one of the most imaginative and versatile writers in comics. He’d have no trouble wringing compelling stories out of familiar locations, and he’d have just as good a time in creating his own. On art we’ve got Becky Cloonan who drew the “Conan” story “Pirate Queen of the Black Coast.” Cloonan can do gritty and realistic and she can do light and airy. She’s going to need to do both to bring the dank plates of a zee-vessel to life. Together, perhaps these luminaries can bring light to a deep, dark place.

 

Sunless-Skies-clock-tower

Flash Gloucester and the Locomotives of Albion!
Written by Jeff Parker
Illustrated by Christian Ward

Sunless Skies takes place in the High Wilderness. It’s like outer space but… not. There’s air in the High Wilderness. It’s not great air, it’s thin and cold, but explorers can survive poking their heads out of their locomotives. Oh yeah, to travel the skies, one must set out in a flying steam engine. This series would be a bit pulpier than the others, going for more of a “Flash Gordon” feel.

So to write it, we obviously should look to the writer of one of the best “Flash Gordon” comics ever, Jeff Parker. He’s a writer who leans towards humor, even in stories about dark sunsofbitches. To draw, well, Christian Ward seems like an obvious pick. Pulpy outer space that’s not quite space? Psychedelia, fluorescent nebulae, and crumbling interstellar clocktowers? If he didn’t draw those things in “ODY-C” he probably drew them in “Black Bolt.” And if he truly hasn’t drawn them yet, well, now is the chance.

 

Fallen-london-gaslamp

Fallen Moscow: 2061
Written by Tini Howard
Illustrated by Juan Jose Ryp

It is foretold that seven cities will fall. The first fallen city is said to have been Uruk. There are few remaining survivors from the original fall. The second city was Amarna in ancient Egypt; its remnants now make up the mechanical and anarchic Iron Republic. The third city may have been Chichen Itza, but it forbidden to speak of it. The fourth city was Karakorum, now the heart of the Khanate. As we know, the fifth city was Fallen London, stolen by bats and carried into the underneath. This leaves two more cities until the prophecy has been fulfilled.

There are signs around the ‘neath as to what the next two cities will be. After all, space has little meaning down below, why should time? It is said that the sixth city will be Paris, the city of love. And it is said that the seventh city will be Moscow, which will fall beneath Halley’s Comet. Thanks to astronomy, we know exactly when this will occur: July 28th, 2061. What will Moscow of 2061 look like? Where will Russia’s place be in the world after Putin? Or will he live forever? What will cause Moscow to fall? What sort of chaos will be created once it does?

It’s going to violent. It’s going to be chaos. And it’s going to be unimaginable. So we need someone who specializes in thinking seven steps ahead. That’s why we’re going with the adaptable Tini Howard. She’s done work on everything from “Assasinistas” to “X-Men” to “WWE” comics and contributed to anthologies like The Secret Lives of Geek Girls and Femme Magnifique. Her Valiant series “The Forgotten Queen” is an engaging read that crosses centuries. She has a good eye for detail, and cuts to the heart of each conflict she writes. She has a bit of an irreverent streak though, so let’s pair her with a gritty artist. Juan Jose Ryp has been seen all over comics, but his standout work is in the Valiant series “Britannia.” He’s great at doing historical research and drawing messy, lived in environments. I’ve never seen him do futuristic sci-fi though, so I’d love for him to interpret the chaos of a near-future Moscow that’s been sucked into a hell dimension. Together, these two Valiant creators would bring the saga of the Unterzee into the future.

And so it is written dear readers. These are just a few ideas, wonderful ideas that exist in a world that is not our own. An idea is a fleeting thing though. Grip it hard, hold it tight, and it will dissipate like cold salty vapour lost in the London smog. But hold it gently, whisper to it, nibble it, fill it with life-giving air provided from the bellows of your imagination, and you may stoke it to life. Together we will illuminate the ‘neath with the glow of these ideas, until they cross the borders from our dreams into the blazing presence of our waking world. But until that day delicious friend, I bid thee adieu.


//TAGS | We Want Comics

Jaina Hill

Jaina is from New York. She currently lives in Ohio. Ask her, and she'll swear she's one of those people who loves both Star Wars and Star Trek equally. Say hi to her on twitter @Rambling_Moose!

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