Amelia Cole and the Hidden War #1: Creator Commentary

Amelia Cole and the Hidden War 

#1, which debuted last week from Monkeybrain Comics, kicks off the second arc of the critically-acclaimed fantasy franchise from Adam P. Knave, D.J. Kirkbride and Nick Brokenshire. Over the course of the next year, Amelia will adjust to her role as The Protector, essentially a magical superhero in the strange world where she finds herself trapped, while facing off against challenges and foes known and unknown. Knave and Kirkbride have been kind enough to agree to join us for a standing commentary track. Check back with us after each issue is published--probably usually the weekend after, although this first issue required a little more study than most... These commentaries are, of course, intended as a companion to the issue. If you haven't already, go buy a copy and read along with us. If you want to read a more general interview about the series, you can go here, where we discussed the bigger picture stuff. ComicBook.com: You know - I really never noticed until just now that Lemmy's chestplate crack looks like an "L." Is that really daft? Maybe it's the superhero motif that made it stick out. Adam P. Knave: Naw, what's really daft is it sort of looks like an Interlac L so sometimes when I glance at the art quick I think Lemmy is a member of the Legion of Super-Heroes.

D.J. Kirkbride: His chestplate always kinda looked like manly pecs to me. We'll have to check with Nick on that one, but -- wait. Adam can read Interlac? APK: Not well, but a little bit, yes. Yes I can. Is that a problem? ComicBook.com: You never answered the big question: Is that Protector hood really as itchy as it looks?! DJK: Itchier. Amelia needs to invest in some fabric softener, but she's trying to be frugal with her money. APK: There's probably a spell that would totally fix the problem, but it isn't the sort of spell she ever bothered to learn. ComicBook.com: Really the whole look of the book made a leap forward with this volume. I've loved the art all the way through, but everything from the composition and panel structure to the colors really seem to be clicking here. Is a little bit of that the benefit of time that you've bought yourselves? APK: It really is. It's a big part of why we made the format shift that we did. This has really given Nick Brokenshire time to take his art to a whole new level. And it's been amazing to watch. DJK: Our boy-o Nick gets better and better with each issue! Practices makes better and better. I'm going to ask for his autograph when I meet him in person. ComicBook.com: I've always wondered: does the color scheme of their respective portals indicate that Hector and Amelia are using different sorts of magic? APK: It might. It might also indicate they each have favorite colors. Or that magic can be different things to different people, but still the same. Or something in their diet. Maybe Hector likes cabbage and it turns your portals a different color. There are a lot of possible answers. DJK: I like the diet explanation. "Doctor, my magic is looking blue today, should I be concerned?" (Actually, ahem, the colors aren't arbitrary, and we did request Hector flaunt blue magic instead of Amelia's yellow, so there's gotta be a reason... right?)

ComicBook.com: You know, I find myself looking at every detail in the graphitti and stuff looking for inside jokes on account of all the "guest appearances" and Easter eggs Nick has in this book. Am I the only one? DJK: That is all Nick! He often, especially with UNKNOWN WORLD, would send us pages and ask if we saw any cameos or secret messages. I usually only catch a third of them until he points them out. Then I feel dumb for missing them. APK: Yeah, me too. I think D.J. and I catch the least of them out of everyone who reads the book. Sad but true! ComicBook.com: I can't help but ask: What kind of weirdo sees a little yappy Corgi and thinks it'd be awesome to blow it up to stupidly huge sizes? APK: True story here - I sort of want to stop and explore that woman's life. Because, yeah, who sees a Corgi and things "You know what - I'll make sure this dog can grow to huge size in case I get caught"? It's almost as odd as bringing your dog with you to mug folks in the first place, isn't it? I don't know if Nick or D.J. agree but I feel we need a spin-off series just to explore the life and choices of this one woman. Because I feel she has her reasons, and they're just strange as hell. DJK: Some people shouldn't have pets. And some people shouldn't have magic. This lady... she should have neither! What a mess. The big question, though, is: does she have cats? Because cats are pycho, and one the size of a building?? I shudder to think! A spinoff, or a random check in is a good idea, Adam. That'd be kinda fun. ComicBook.com: I feel like Mecha-Lemmy vs. Puppyzilla needs to be a t-shirt or a poster or something. You'd be able to sell it to people who've never even read the comic. DJK: This is a great idea! Um, Adam, we should talk after we answer these questions... APK: Shhh I'm printing shir... I mean YES WE WILL TALK LATER.

ComicBook.com: So is it safe to say that the Hidden War has something to do with Hector's new role? APK: When we did Unknown World it wasn't just the new world Amelia found herself on. The title applied to a lot of aspects of that arc. Same with Hidden War. Right this second Hector is in a military group, and those go with wars. So it seems to line up. But there is more up our sleeves than just arms and this is the first issue. I think "What is the hidden war" is a question that can be asked every month and the answer will slowly unfold and expand as we go. DJK: What Adam said. ComicBook.com: And can we all kind of stop and appreciate Captain Kubert for a moment? Will he grow a beard when he retires? APK: Old soldiers don't retire. They just keep fighting. Captain Kubert woud never stop, he'd think of a lawn and a rockingchair and lemonade and spit in your eye for suggesting it. DJK: Maybe fighting monsters in the desert IS Captain Kubert's retirement. It's his idea of relaxing. We do need more bearded characters in AMLELIA COLE, though. Plenty of mustaches, but... are there no full beards? What the-- ?? APK: The 3rd world is a world of no beards? ComicBook.com: On the point of Hector - I had always kind of assumed that he would end up being a villain in the new volume. Has that ship kind of sailed? He seems to have coped pretty well. DJK: Hector is still dealing with what happened during his time as Protector -- especially how things ended. He's distracted fighting big, mysterious monsters now, but he hasn't forgotten what he did, and neither have we. APK: Exactly. One issue in and you think a ship has sailed? It hasn't even left the dock.

ComicBook.com: So next issue we're going to get some backstory on Lemmy? Does that give us hope that we'll find out a bit about why he's so different from other golems? DJK: We will definitely get some interesting backstory, but it might not be what anyone expects. If, after reading the issue, someone thinks, "That's just what I expected!" please contact us because you might have very powerful psychic abilities, and we'd all like to win the lottery. APK: What D.J. said. Also bonus money in it for you if you can prove it. ComicBook.com: Or--is he? We don't really know, besides Amelia's expressions of surprise, that regular golems can't rebuild them things and such. DJK: Since we're using first person narration, the info the readers get is just from the characters, so we gotta take Amelia's word for it, right? Lemmy is definitely special, though -- as is Mike and George and Freeman and Dani and even the Magistrate. One message we hope is coming across in this series, as in real life, is that every living being is unique. Our characters are learning they never quite know what to expect from people or monsters or cool-looking techno-golems. APK: Wow. That was a hand holding, singing round the campfire moment there, D.J. But to circle back to the question - Amelia did not mean for Lemmy to be the size he is. What that means - she doesn't know and readers don't know as of now. We know, though. Promise. ComicBook.com: On that note, I've been wondering - does the Magistrate actually use magic? It occurred to me as he was in the car that we'd never actually seen him doing so. I just kind of...assumed for the first chunk of the Unknown World. APK: Well if you go and look you'll see he has a wand. We haven't seen anyone who doesn't use magic carry a wand, so there's that. The Mag is a busy guy and hires people to take care of stuff for him a lot of the time so it cuts back the number of ways and times we could possibly show you that stuff, instead of focusing on our limited time with him hearing him spin the world into the shape he thinks it needs. DJK: Right right, leaders usually have other folks to get on the front lines. Police chiefs carry guns but don't have cause to use them like the beat cops do. The Magistrate is more of a bureaucrat, and those folks prefer to sit in offices barking orders and let others get their hands dirty.