Broken Frontier

This is an Inter-Review—a review and an interview in one!

Today we speak with Miguel Guerra, founder of Iberian Press and creator of Samurai  Elf, a 7-book graphic novel series.  The first volume came out in late 2006, and now, two years later, the big release of the 232-page, full-color Volume 2 is here!

You can purchase the book direct from Iberian Press, at their online store, or pre-order at Amazon.com (non-US buyers can purchase at their respective Amazon as well!). If you prefer to get all your comics at your local comic shop, Samurai Elf Volume 2: Bull’s Eye will be featured in this month’s Previews, coming August 27^th, so look for it there and be sure to order it from your retailer!

And be sure to check out the free online version of Volume 1 by clicking here!

In PART TWO,  we discussed the creator’s obvious animation influences and the unforgettable villains of the piece. Now, we conclude our inter-review by tackling Miguel’s writing habits with his co-writer, Suzy Dias, and what’s to come in the remaining 5 volumes of the SE series.

Broken Frontier Review: For those who enjoyed the first Volume of Samurai Elf , Volume 2 offers much of the same, although the big change between books, insofar as the scripting is concerned, is that v2 is far denser than its precursor. There’re two noteworthy and relatively lengthy battle sequences, though these prove brief in comparison to the stretched-out choreography of Volume 1. In its place, is a heftier dose of dialogue and character development, and anyone who, like me, thought “This could go anywhere” at the end of the first volume— with a whole world still in need of exploration beyond the series’ initial, contained settings—we do indeed begin to see the world of Tyr at large, and the focus of the series, both thematically and literally, begins to take shape.

Creator Miguel Guerra, with writing partner Suzy Dias, keeps the tone light, with an anime-inspired, childlike sense of humor involving slapstick and loud proclamations and lots of awkward sexual tension between the two main teen heroes, Ardan and Keegan. The truly worthwhile parts of the scripts, however, are when it doesn’t stick to any one tenor or even rating. We swing between bloody and brutal (and often downright grotesque) scenes of action to all-ages moments of banter and shtick. 

The combo offers an affecting read, disarming and arming in turn, always catching the reader at least partially unawares, as we settle into one routine only to find that it leads direct into the other. So be warned: this book isn’t all-ages, but it isn’t entirely free from the aesthetic, either. It embraces both, which I find fascinating, though at times I wish the teen protagonists might act a tad more intelligent and a tad less overblown juvenile.

BROKEN FRONTIER: Welcome back, Miguel!  Suzy Dias acts as both your editor and co-writer on Samurai Elf.  How do the two of you go about co-writing, and what is it you’d say she adds that simply wouldn’t be there if you’d done the book 100% solo?

MIGUEL GUERRA: Simply put, without Suzy it wouldn’t be Samurai Elf. The story would be weaker, more of a concept than a fully fleshed out story with believable characters. We work well together as I outlined in the previous question. In the initial stages, I came up with the main idea and we talk it over. She adds to it and it begins to build. She asks a lot of questions (a lot of questions) and it forces me to think through my concepts. The strong female characters are all her to be honest. For example, Keegan Wulfston wouldn’t be the kick-ass character she is. Suzy understood that if Keegan couldn’t hold her own and keep up with Ardan, why would he hang out with her?

Suzy’s greatest strength in Samurai Elf is her dialogue. She gets the general idea of what I want to say and takes it from there. She writes countless versions of the script in order to make things sound natural and believable. I tend to be more plot driven, so it’s a good combination and we never butt heads. Where I’m never happy with my art, she’s never happy with her writing. She’s also a history major and loves to do research, so many of the historical and pseudo-scientific elements of the story are from her imagination. She’ll take my illustrations or my ideas, find a plausible explanation for them and make them real.

BF: Did you specifically try to write Volume 2 in any different stylistic way than Volume 1?  Or were all evolutions from book to book simply the result of the story having indeed evolved?

MG: Yes I did specifically try to write volume 2 differently. I knew that the book required different pacing than the first. Volume One was the arrowhead or spear of the series. I have the entire series plotted out but I usually keep it loose enough that it can grow organically. It was in-between books that I read the entire Lone Wolf and Cub series in a weekend. It changed my outlook on how to approach comic writing. Kazuo Koike, simply put, can educate and entertain his readers with such ease. I knew that, for this book, there was so much to expand on the world and I needed a way to explain the world without being overly wordy and text-ridden. Also I really liked how in Lone Wolf it had a much more cinematic feeling to it like nothing I have ever seen. I knew that this was going to be the way I was going approach book two. I have a personal belief that a storyteller should know how to speed things up and know when and how to slow things down.  Koike taught me that and much more.

BF: Is there a particular scene from Volume 2 that stands as your favorite? The one you’re most proud of?

MG: There are two scenes that I’m most proud of: Ardan’s nightmare scene and the Horde assembly scene. To me, they were the best scenes that I executed because I played with colder, darker palettes to convey mood. I wanted Ardan’s fear to come across in the former scene and the stark, clinical detachment of the latter. I feel that I managed to break the flow of the story and forced the reader to notice a change in the mood and tempo.

BF: Who would you say is the best writer in the world?  The best writer in comics?

MG: The best writer in the world? I’d pick Miguel Cervantes, author of Don Quixote. That book still speaks volumes. It combines slapstick comedy with a lesson in human cruelty, hypocrisy and our need to aspire to live a meaningful life, even if it only exists in our imaginations. Besides all that, Cervantes is from my hometown in Spain.

In my humble opinion, the best writer in comics is Kazuo Koike. There are so many great writers, east and west, but I think Koike really inspired me when I read Lone Wolf and Cub. Not a word or brush stroke was wasted, everything was meticulously researched and the characters were so real, you practically cry at the end. You don’t even feel like you’re reading his books, it’s more like your watching a movie. If I could choose a second writer, it would be Osamu Tezuka. He ain’t the father of manga for nothing. I owe a lot to him as far how to draw comics and to keep my mind open to large themes and stories that might be controversial.

BF Review: The big big difference in Volume 2 is of course the switch to full-color. After achieving a long-held dream of seeing a short story of his published in Heavy Metal Magazine, Miguel was so thrilled to see his work in sparkly hues that he decided his stuff should remain that way. Now, I was a big fan of Miguel’s shading and tone techniques utilized in Volume 1, and I am truly heartbroken to see them go. But the color only further drives home the absolute, sleek animation quality of his line art. He uses a digital technique that’s very similar to cell-shading, with solid block colors sans most SFX-style flourishes. This is simple and pure (but digitally precise, in that way only digital can do) hues, pulling Samurai Elf a hop, skip, and a jump away from being still frames of an actual cartoon, sidled up side-by-side next to each other, in comic page layout layers.

BF: So what precisely was it about seeing your work in color that convinced you to continue on with that tack?

MG: The first reason was friends opening their eyes wide and saying, “Wow, your color work is so much nicer!” The other is that I can make each frame look more like an animation cell. I always thought that comics have more in common with animation than film, and using color helps my pages to look more like cells. It was an effect I wanted to achieve and was able to with color vs. gray scale.

BF: Are you satisfied with the final product?  If you could go back and tweak any small thing, what might that be?

MG: I’m never satisfied with my art, but overall I’m happy with how the first two volumes turned out. As far as going back and fixing something, I’d love to go back and color the first 30+ pages of volume 2. The more pages I completed, the more I learned, but I think that’ll be true for every book I finish. I feel that if I’m not improving, then my work becomes stagnant. If I can see my work improve through the months and years, it means I wasn’t afraid to challenge myself and try new things. 

BF Review: As a final product, Samurai Elf Volume 2: Bull’s Eye is a more than worthy and entirely satisfying sequel, an honest-to-god evolution in terms of the story’s scope, the artist’s approach to the art, and the level of nuance and detail wrapped into the fantasy setting of the world of Tyr. The art will appeal profoundly to anime and animation fans, and the story will without fail alight the minds of fantasy lovers everywhere, with a fair share of sci-fi and comic fans in general climbing aboard as well, once they take just a little taste of what Guerra and Dias have to offer.

Volume 1 took me by complete surprise and knocked me off my feet with its powerful epic action. Now Volume 2 picks up that very momentum, and allows it to coast the reader so far into its depths, they’re too far in before they realize they hadn’t even considered escape. No worries: Samurai Elf is a fine blend of European, Asian, and American art in the form of genre epic fantasy-quest fun. Falling into it and getting trapped is about as pleasurable an addiction as addictions come.

BF: Before you go, can you tell readers what’s in store for Samurai Elf Volume 3: Bête Noire, and maybe even hint toward what can be expected in the five remaining volumes to follow beyond?

MG: That’s a loaded question. Bête Noire is going to be much leaner and faster. The characters are going to do more and talk less. We’ll begin to answer some of the major questions, like why the Horde is hunting down Ardan, and we’ll set the stage for more twists and odd characters. I’ll give you one hint. Just about everything you see in each volume, including the backgrounds, is intentional and can give you clues about Ardan and the Horde. I didn’t add all of that detail for decoration.

As for the remaining volumes, only Suzy and I know where things are going. All I’ll say is that things will get darker and I’ll explore more of the planet Tyr’s countries and peoples. There are many twists in the plot, so be prepared for a fun and destructive ride

BF: And I see you have another series starting up: Alric the Wild!  Can you tell readers a little about this?

MG:  Alric the Wild is a reflection of mine and Suzy’s fun and childish side. This series is meant to teach kids about ancient history with a slapstick twist. It's sort of "Raiders of the Lost Ark" meets the "Three Stooges."  Alric is boy who was raised by a 2-headed wolf, and so naturally, he thinks he's a wolf. He dreams of becoming a hero and he sets off to save the weaker human creatures he sees. He meets up with Monkey King, an invulnerable, magical immortal from Chinese mythology who is made of stone, and Camilla, an Amazon princess who must endure many trials before she can become Queen of her warrior clan. Together, the three take on a series of misadventures through key moments in ancient history to wreak havoc and set the course of history screaming off course. It's basically an idiotic romp of epic proportions.

BF: Awesome. Thanks for being with us, Miguel. And parting shot: best comics of all time, in your opinion.

MG: Oh boy, here goes nothing: Lone Wolf and Cub, Akira, Maus, Bone, V for Vendetta, The Incal, Ghost in the Shell, Battle Angel Alita, Death Note, The Killing Joke, Buddha (series by Osamu Tezuka), Metabarons, Appleseed, Watchmen, Sandman, Vagabond, and the Nikopol Trilogy, in no particular order.

BF: The Nikopol Trilogy?!?? Okay, that's it, you better leave the room now, buddy, before someone gets hurt! Oh, I guess you are leaving now...okay, we cool.  (Note: The Nikopol Trilogy is actually an incredible series, but Miguel listed absolutely nothing I could use to make that jibe work, so I went for the most obscure, even though it's hardly even that...damn you, Guerra!)

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You can order the 232-page, full-color Samurai Elf Volume 2: Bull’s Eye (or even the 186-page, b&w Samurai Elf Volume One: Set Apart) at the Iberian Press website.  You can also pre-order the GN at Amazon.com.

If you prefer all your comics to come from your local comic shop, Samurai Elf Volume 2: Bull’s Eye will be featured in this month’s Previews, coming August 27^th, so look for it there and be sure to order it through your retailer!

And be sure to check out the free online version of Volume 1 by clicking here!