In case you have missed it, Stela has continued to announce and launch new digital series from from a whole host of talented creators. Slice, Tribes and Dungeon Punchers are just a few of the new original series the publisher Stela has released in recent weeks and now this week they debut the new series “Dark Deep Down” from creators William Harms, Alejandro Aragon, Mike Spicer, and Sal Cipriano. “Dark Deep Down” follows the lead character Paul as he journeys beyond the living world’s normal reality to the underworld in an effort to see his wife one last time. With a dark personal narrative and distressing visuals the creative team brings readers along with Paul on his journey to navigate the underworld and own personal grief.
We were able to talk to William and Alejandro about their new series. Be sure to check out the interview below, the exclusive first look beneath that, and check out “Dark Deep Down” exclusively on the Stela app.
Editor’s Note: Due to the fact that Stela comics are formatted for phones and tablets, they don’t always cooperate with our formatting on Multiversity. So, to present the best versions for all of our readers, we have split the images into smaller pieces.
What was the original idea that gave birth to the series? Has it evolved greatly to get to what it is now and for anyone not aware what “Dark Deep Down” is, what is it?
William Harms: Dark Deep Down is the story of Paul Dailey, who loses his wife Jennifer in a plane crash. Wracked by grief, he goes to a park to kill himself. But before he does, a baby talks to him and says that Paul can say goodbye to his wife if he travels to the underworld. Accompanied by a homeless man named Alexis, Paul sets out to find Jennifer.
I started developing the story in the aftermath of my wife having surgery for cancer. She’s recovered and is okay, but in those initial days and weeks, there was a lot of pain and confusion and fear. Once my wife was in the clear, I started to process everything and for some reason I gravitated toward the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice. It was at that point that I decided to write my own version of that story.
That was roughly ten years ago (believe it or not), and since then the basic framework of the story has remained the same, although once I started writing it the ending changed.
How has the transition been from storytelling in video games to comics? I feel like the two share a similar difficulty in that the reader/player has a lot of control on how they take in/pace the story.
WH: I’ve been writing both for several years now, so I’m used to moving between the two. But there’s definitely significant differences between them. In comics, for example, I sit down and write out a panel description and then send it to Ale, who draws it.
In games, it’s much more complicated. A game designer needs to create the space where the scene is set, art needs to make all the assets, engineering needs to make sure the AI and other game systems work as they should, audio needs to put in the sounds, etc. And then if that section of the game isn’t fun, you have to be willing to toss all of your hard work (or at least the sections of it that don’t work) and start over. There’s a lot of iteration in game development, and you need to be very flexible if you want to work as a writer in that industry.
What made Stela the place for “Dark Deep Down”?
WH: I’ve known my editor Ryan Yount for a long time (since his days at AiT), so I was excited to work with him again. And Stela is such a cool idea, comics on your phone, designed specifically for that format, it was too good of an opportunity to pass up. I really think that in the near-future more of the comic industry is going to move in that direction, so getting in on the ground floor (at least in America) is very exciting.
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What has been the relationship been like with guys as a creative team especially working within a new medium and new format like Stela?
WH: Alejandro and I have known each other for several years now, and we’ve always wanted to work on something together. When the opportunity with Stela presented itself, it was a great fit for the both of us and thankfully Alejandro’s schedule was opening up.
There was a bit of a learning curve for us in terms of how to layout the pages and how the story’s pacing unfolds, but once we re-wired our comic brains, it’s been pretty smooth sailing.
Alejandro Aragon: I second that. And I just wanna add that we are creators here, so we’re behind the whole process too: checking coloring, lettering, sending notes, etc. I am really glad to be working on this project at Stela. Every new medium or experience is an “open door”, an invitation to keep learning and improving all the time.
There is definitely a good bit of mystery and allusion to darker things from what I read of the series so far. How did you manage the task of withholding information from the reader while still engaging them and create the need to comic back for the answers?
WH: To a certain extent, I approached the story in Deep Dark Down the same way I would if it was a traditional, print comic. But the great thing about publishing via Stela is that there’s only a week between each installment, so you can take some chances that you might not normally take. In the first episode, for example, there isn’t much in the way of the supernatural. If this was a print comic with a month between each issue, I definitely would’ve emphasized that more.
There is a very distinct aesthetic and tone present in Dark Deep Down. What are you guys trying to establish as a look and feel for the series?
W: For me the story is really an examination of grief along two fronts – how does Paul deal with it, and how do the people in his life deal with him? People don’t grieve in a vacuum – it impacts everyone around them. So it was very important that that tone permeate every aspect of the story. And Ale’s done a great job of bringing that out in the art.
AA: Well, I am more an artist of mood and atmosphere than details or beautiful drawings. I believe in the “power” of aesthetic as a huge storytelling tool. There should be some kind on connection between the concept and the art. So when I am starting any project, first thing I do, obviously, is read the script. Then I try to follow my instinct, going straight to the pictures coming in my mind. Paul’s world is badly broken, so the gritty style of this book is related to that concept.
The synopsis teases a possible trip to the underworld for Paul, our main character. What can readers expect from the series from elements outside Paul and our normal reality?
WH: The bulk of the story takes place in the “underworld”, and Ale and I really pushed ourselves to make sure our “underworld” took elements of established mythologies and pushed them in new and unexpected ways. There’s scene where Paul and Alexis cross the River Styx, for example, but it’s not a boat that they ride, it’s a children’s school bus.
AA: I think readers is going to find all kind of weird characters and events. Lots of fun and hopefully… a couple questions.
Horror is still, I think, one of the hardest themes to capture in comics. How is it used in “Dark Deep Down”? Has this new scrolling format allowed you to play with tension/horror in any new ways?
WH: There are elements of horror, but I think it comes across in a more psychological sense – the loss of a loved one, the loss of yourself as grief slowly devours you from the inside out. If I had to define it, I’d call it “sad horror” as opposed to “scary horror”.
The great thing about the scrolling is that you can have long, vertical panels where we follow an object or person for an extended period of time through various environments. It was a little challenging to wrap your head around it, but once you do, it’s a lot of fun and adds an additional layer to the storytelling.
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With a more frequent release schedule we see with Stela titles has that presented any different challenges as an artist? AA: Not at all. It’s been a while since I started to work on Dark Deep Down so with our launching, we’ll have several books wrapped and ready to go.
The first chapter establishes Paul as someone battling demons whether perceived or real is something we don’t know yet.I think the way he stands, almost titled and his head either almost always down or crooked do a lot in the way of visual storytelling. As an artist, Alejandro, how do you approach Paul to visually represent his state of mind?
AA: I am glad you just found that, because it was my goal trying to connect his psyche with his body.
Well, as much as I do with every character that I draw, I’m trying to “play the role”, try to feel what he feels. He’s a fictional character, but we all have lots of baggage. I don’t know why, but it didn’t take me so long to connect with him.
Unquestionably there is something possible sinister going on in the pages of “Dark Deep Down” but I think we have already been introduced to the greatest monster of all. The guy blowing bubbles with his gum on the plane. What’s the deal with that guy?
WH: Ha-ha. I really wanted to open with something that is both mundane, but also captures what it’s like to live in the modern world, where we’re all jammed on top of each other. And nothing captures that better than being trapped on an airplane with someone who is smacking their gum and blowing bubbles.
