Anti/Hero officially made its debut today, bringing a new and adorable story to the DC Comics canon. The middle-grade novel follows Piper Pajaro and Sloane McBrute, two thirteen-year-old girls who moonlight as vigilantes in East Gotham. Under the alias of the Hummingbird, Piper uses her super-strength powers to protect her neighborhood—even if she occasionally causes a mess when doing so. And Sloane, who goes by the code name of Gray, uses her intelligence and an army of tiny robots to carry out tasks for her grandfather, the crime boss known as “The Bear.” After a freak accident switches their bodies, Piper and Sloane are forced to work together — with hilarious and emotional results.
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Anti/Hero is just as much of a collaborative effort behind-the-scenes, thanks to the team of writers Kate Karyus Quinn and Demitria Lunetta and artist Maca Gil. In celebration of Anti/Hero‘s debut, we got to chat with the team about bringing two new superheroes to the DC universe, how they worked in that Batman cameo, and so much more!
Joining DC
ComicBook.com: How did it feel to be able to craft characters who are new to the DC Universe?
Demitria Lunetta: I mean, for me, it’s been a lifelong dream. I’ve been reading comic books since I was eight years old, and Batman is definitely my favorite. I love him. So, just being able to set our characters in the DC Universe, and also get a cameo from Batman in there, I was definitely over the moon.
Maca Gill: Yeah. When I first got the email from the editors, I was like, “What? DC, is this real?” So, I had to double-check them first, their names, and I was like, “Wow, it’s really them.” It’s been so cool.
Character Designs
What was the thought process behind the character designs? Because I feel like both the overall look of the whole book and the costumes themselves are very adorable.
Kate Karyus Quinn: This was our first time writing a graphic novel. And early on in the process, they said that one of the things that is really helpful for your artist is to include pictures of what you’re thinking about. We really ran with that. I used Google Images a ton to look for things, because I have a very hard time visualizing something without actually seeing it in front of me. I would go on Google Images and then I would bombard Demetria with images. And then she’d be like, “No, are you crazy?” And so, we’d usually find something in the middle.
But it was really fun. It’s like almost playing with Barbie dolls, especially when we talked about costumes, because I’d be like, “Look at these cute sparkly leggings. Piper would love those.” And then, all of that would get sent to Maca. She would get hit with all of that stuff and I don’t even know what you would do with it at that point, or if you’d been like “These girls are crazy.”
Maca: It was so easy, because so many times you get a bunch of descriptions. And actually, the fact that you guys sent all of those visual cues was super helpful to me. When I got into the project, the script was almost finished and getting the material had the character descriptions pretty much done. And I remember reading them, and I could see them so clearly. I wanted them to feel so much like 13-year-olds. And everything that you guys sent me had that energy.
Demitria: I remember the initial character sketches that Maca sent, and just how their expressions were so perfect. You could see it in their faces. She had one of Piper, and then she had them switched. So you could tell, just from those initial character sketches, that they were switched and they were so adorable. We loved them right away.
Batman
I wanted to ask specifically about Batman, because he obviously has such a unique role in the story. What was the thought process between portraying him in that way, versus the countless other ways that already exist?
Demitria: I, at one point, wrote that Batman smiles, and Batman does not smile. My Batman doesn’t smile. My Christian Bale Batman, not the campy ’60s Batman. That’s not my Batman. But I really liked softening him by having Sloane have this huge crush on him, which is not at all based on me. And I thought that was just a funny thing, that she has this sort of secret Batman crush.
Maca: Yes, it’s so adorable how Batman is seen through their eyes, and it has this youthful thing, and they’re so excited about him too, which I think is so sweet. I love it.
Kate: Yeah, it was perfect. When we saw your drawings of Batman, we were “My gosh! That’s so Batman!” It was so exciting.
Demitria: Even as Bruce Wayne.
Character Arcs
What do you all hope readers take away from Anti/Hero?
Kate: As a kid – and still – I love books about girl characters, and about strong girl characters. And I love that they’re strong in so many ways. Piper’s more of the fighter, Sloane uses her head. And also, their friends. You get to see girls being friends and their concerns aren’t boys. And so it’s so positive for girls.
Demitria: And I love how their character arcs during the story. For me, it’s just having the characters feel like “I’m not just one thing.” Because I was very much a bookworm, and I was the smart one. And it was a very natural character arc for them to discover, that there are other aspects of their personalities, that they can wear as well.
Maca: They’re so independent too, and badass. And they make their own choices and they’re so sure of them. But also, it has this very human side that I like. When I first read the script, it talks also about a family and empathy. And I don’t know, just getting the closeness to other people, that, I think, it’s very touching. So yeah, hopefully, readers get that.
Crossovers
What do you guys hope the future of Piper and Sloane ends up being in the DC Universe? If you had to pick a character for them crossover within the future, who would it be?
Demitria: Batgirl? I do love Batgirl. I’ve always loved her. Yeah. It would be really fun to see them interact with some more Gotham bad guys.
Kate: Yeah.
Demitria: And, even like Cat Girl. It’s just really fun to play in that world.
Maca: Yes. There’s so many possibilities.
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Anti/Hero is available now through wherever you get your comics.
