Lucas Marangon is probably best known for his work on Dark Horse's best-selling Tag and Bink series. Now Lucas is back with an all new original series, Hellcyon!
What was the influence behind Hellcyon?
The formal aspect of the book (young folks traveling through the wilderness and fighting enemies along the way with cool-looking mecha) was taken straight from Mospeada, of which I'm a huge fan. The structure is that of the classic heroic fantasy, and the content is a mix of historic events that I lived through when I was a kid.
In the first issue, Hellcyon seems to have a clear political message. Was there a modern-day event that served as an inspiration?
The events depicted in the book were taken straight from the days of the dictatorships in Latin America (where I come from) in the seventies. But it's a context that is constantly repeating itself all over the world: the small, young, or otherwise poor nation that has to fight against the foreign corporations for its right to its natural resources. Even the United States was in that same predicament in its day, and that's why I think it's a scenario that everybody can relate to. When I write I like to construct the stories around complex, believable backgrounds, but Hellcyon is about the characters and their choices, not about politics.
The series has a very Japanese anime style to it. Do you watch a lot of anime or read much manga?
Not really. Actually my main artistic influences come from Europe, but at one point I read Otomo and got blown away by his dynamic storytelling and character design. I still try not to get too carried away by manga, but I keep finding visual resources in it that are too cool to pass up.
What is it about giant robots that make them such a crowd favorite in pop culture?
I think it has to do with the fact that giant robots boost one's self. They give the characters the ability to be bigger, stronger, and more powerful than everybody else, which gives people a sense of compensating for their own weaknesses.
How did you come up with the unique designs for the mechs in Hellcyon?
I've loved to design robots since I was a kid, so I'm always looking for new sources in video games, anime, movies, comics, and real life, but I must admit that Masamune Shirow's mecha concepts were a turning point. For me the most important part of a design is that it will look plausible a few years from now, and Shirow really succeeds in that area.
Who would win in a fight: the Terminator or one of the Jacket mechs from Hellcyon?
I don't want to get in trouble with Terminator fans here, but since the T-800 was designed for infiltration and hand-to-hand combat, I have to say it has little chance against a Jacket that's basically an anthropomorphic tank.
Do you have a favorite character in the series?
When you write and design your characters, you have to learn to love them all in order to make them equally appealing (especially when you have several characters sharing the leading roles), regardless if you agree with them or not.
Readers might remember you from the excellent Tag and Bink Star Wars series. Was there anything that you took from your experiences drawing Star Wars that influenced Hellcyon?
The whole Star Wars universe has always been a huge influence for me. Drawing Star Wars comics gave me the chance to play with designs and storytelling in a science fiction/fantasy environment. So yeah, I think I learned several lessons from those pages. Especially with Tag and Bink, since I had to dissect the actual movies frame by frame to draw that book.
Any other projects you’re currently working on?
Right now I'm collaborating on a comic book based on the Super Size Me movie. I still have to finish Hellcyon, so I'm focusing on it, but I'd like to become an author from now on if the circumstances allow it.
The first issue of Hellcyon comes out on April 14th. Click the link to order your copy from TFAW.com or find it at your local comic book shop!