Later this week, John Layman and Nick Bradshaw will launch Bermuda, a new fantasy-adventure series set in a mysterious island called Trangle. Bermuda isn’t the locale, though: it’s the name of a young adventurer who swoops in during the first issue to serve as a guide for a newly-shipwrecked boy. From IDW Publishing, Bermuda presents an island where all who are lost in the Bermuda Triangle, eventually end up. Per the official synopsis, “It’s a mysterious place inhabited by Dinosaurs, Pirates, crazed magicians, strange monsters, and so much more… And a girl named Bermuda. Sixteen-years-old, scrappy, and a survivor, this has been the only life she has ever known… until today. Today she discovers something on her island that will either open a doorway between her world and ours… or destroy it!”
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While we start the story with a newcomer, it’s Bermuda who defines the journey. And as such, IDW has provided ComicBook with an exclusive first look at a map, helpfully explained by Bermuda.
You can see the map, and a brief chat with had with Layman, below.
Obviously the title is “Bermuda,” but we don’t get much in the way of insight into her, since most of what we follow in the first issue is Bobby. Is the plan to keep that pattern going, where she’s a larger-than-life presence in the background, or will she take center stage as the series goes on?
Bermuda is very much the star of the show, but recent island castaway Bobby Randolph, like the reader, is new to the island and world, and his POV introduction mirrors the readers to this strange new world. It’s easier to learn things by following a character that is learning things at the same time as the reader than it is following a character that already knows everything. Bermuda is our guide, showing us the ropes, but Bobby is our eyes and ears.
For people who have read up on the actual Bermuda Triangle, how many Easter eggs will this series have? Or is it more a general idea?
A lot of the fun of the book revolves around the concept of the Bermuda Triangle, that all these people and types of people who have been lost over the years have ended up here, so this lost island is a weird mishmash of travelers, pirates, lost military vessels, anything and everything that could have been lost at sea over the years — plus the island holds a few surprises of its own.
What can you tease about the nature of the island? In the first issue we see some mythical creatures as well as some eccentric human characters. How much more is to be discovered?
We’ve only got four issues, and every issue has a different focus, giving a whirlwind tour of the island, but hinting there is so much more. We’ve got loads more stories to tell, some of which are just hinted at in this first arc.
This just LOOKS and FEELS like a book that’s accessible to a broad audience. Is there a target demographic for Bermuda?
I hate to say YA, because in some circles that scares off comic book fans, but BERMUDA is family friendly, assuming family members can handle a Pixar movie. There’s some violence and danger, but it’s written so anyone of any age can enjoy it, without being overly simplistic or just for kids.
How did the creative team come together? Did you co-create together with Nick, or did you go to him with the idea?
Editor Scott Dunbier, who I’ve known since the late 90s, and who was one of my old bosses at WildStorm, who actually gave me my first job in comics as a WildStorm assistant editor, matched me up with Nick Bradshaw. I’d been a longtime fan of Nick Bradshaw and jumped at the chance to do something original and creator-owned with him. From there we batted ideas around until we found one, we all liked. And that was BERMUDA.
In certain shots, Bermuda gives off a very ’80s fantasy series kind of vibe. Is this influenced by He-Man or Warlord, or am I just seeing it that way because my brain is broken?
I see it as more Kamandi, and Tarzan influenced than 80s stuff. I’d been wanting to do my own sort of Kamandi “kid in a strange world” comic for a while, and I quickly realized Nick’s art was perfectly suited for this.
Even in a fantasy series like this, corporate evil really is the worst. What can you tease about our antagonists?
There’s a different antagonist in every issue, as we travel across the island and meet its various subcultures and inhabitants. But the biggest danger are species of magic-using aquatic creatures, inter-dimensional conquerors who are trying to get off the island to another dimension – ours! At the same time, corporate and military interests from our world are trying to cross over to this mysterious island. Alien sorcery mixed with human science makes for a deadly combination, one that could potentially destroy Bermuda’s world, and our own!
