It wasnt long ago that Jeff Lemires days were spent primarily playing in the DC Comics/Vertigo sandbox.
Each one of those three characters sort of provides a different point of view into that world.
Quon really exemplifies the universe.
Telsa is an interesting character.
And then Tim is very much… well, Tim is a mystery.
But Tim is the most human character in the book even though hes not human.
You talk about Tim being the most human character in the book.
Is he capable of normal emotion?
In terms of where his humanity comes from, I guess you could say.
Tim is a companion robot.
Meaning he was sort of designed and created to adapt and evolve along with his human companions.
Tim is very capable of emotion and of reacting to things much like a normal boy would.
Hes even more human than humans at this point.
He can do everything we can do and more.
Tim is very much the most advanced of the robots.
Well see less advanced robots as well.
Some who are much more typical… just machines, you know?
Each of them have very distinct species that live on it with different cultures.
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So it will be very big in scope.
A huge canvas, really.
But a very intimate story.
Its Tims story and sort of his point of view is what well have.
That hes fast enough to do that.
And then Dustin paints them using watercolor.
I think its really cool looking.And Dustin… what I love about Dustins stuff is his design sensibility.
How it all fits together, and physically could be built in the real world.
He brings that… not just building the world and the architecture spaceships and things but also the robots.
The robots could actually be built in a three dimensional space.
Thats pretty invaluable when youre telling a story about technology, robots, and everything else.
So I knew that we kind of both approached visual storytelling in a similar way.
So [with] the pacing and the storytelling, we were both going for the same thing.
(Laughs) So Ive never let myself play them.
So theres nothing there.
But certainly films, a lot of films.
A lot of cinematic influences onDescender.
Kubrick for sure,2001: A Space Odysseyis my favorite movie.
It has been since I was 12.
I just love that film.
I got to be honest, I didnt really like that movie all that much.
I love a lot of the ideas in the film, but I really wanted more from it.
Hes read a lot more manga than I have, which hes bringing to this.
He is bringing a lot of that into it as well.Sony picked up the rights to this.
Theyre going to turn it into a movie.
Are you involved in the creative side of the adaptation?
Was this a goal of yours when you guys started working on it?
Its never a goal of mine, to be honest.
Its great and everything.
Ive always just loved making comics, and thats really where my focus is.
Telling this comic with Dustin every month is all I care about.
If the movies gets made and its good and everything, thats awesome.
Its just going to happen.
Dustin and I are executive producers on the film.
Were just getting to know each other, Sony and us.
Then, hopefully, theyll have something strong to build off of.How far do you see this going?
Do you have an issue count that you have in mind?Yeah.
Theres a lot of mystery just inherit in the story ofDescender.
Theres sort of a central mystery that runs throughout it.
So I want to verify I really tracked it through.
I have the whole series plotted out in pretty tight detail, to be honest.
At this point, its got about 24 issues.
I know from past experience thatll probably double as we go.
I knowSweet Toothwas plotted at about 24.
Right now, its plotted at 24.
I wouldnt be surprised, if were successful enough, if it ends up being longer.
In terms of your head, because you have a lot of projects going on at any one time.
How do you prioritize which one comes first?
How do you get the most productivity out of each day?
You mentioned avoiding video games.
Are you ever worried youre going to overextend yourself?
I really know what my limit is.
I can handle a lot of work.
Ive always been able to.
Im a very focused individual.
I come to my studio at about 7:30 in the morning and exit almost 5:00 PM.
There arent really any distractions or anything.
Ive always been able to handle a lot.
I get all my ideas out forDescenderuntil I have kinda exhausted myself.
It keeps things fresh for me.
Working on the same thing every day, it tends to get stale.
Its good to have different projects to jump between like that.
Descender is kind of my number one priority right now.
Would you ever commit to another exclusive deal like you have with DC?
I dont see the reason to at this point in my career.
Im working with Image, Dark Horse, Marvel, and Valiant right now.
There just isnt much need to go all in with one of the big two companies right now.
Its not where my heads at.
Thats hard to give up.
Its hard to do that when you’re able to do something likeDescenderand build this world.
You know, Dustin and I own and control it forever.
They own the characters not us.
Thats kind of why they hired me to do those books.
Its to kind of put my own spin and personality into them.
So it hasnt been too bad, you know?
I just feel like I need a break from doing so much of that stuff.
Youre working onHawkeyewith Marvel, how long of a commitment do you think youre going to make to that?
Is this a long haul thing?
Im not sure yet to be honest.
Right now, Im working on the first years worth of stories.
Its not a 12 issue story.
Its three different storylines.
I built a bigger story for 12 issues.
Thats where my focus is.
As I get closer to finishing those scripts, well see where Im at.
Do I have more ideas for the character and stuff?
Do I feel like Ive told the story yet?
Sometimes, you dont know until were closer to the end.
Its hard to look much beyond a year at this point.
Thats not to say that I wont stay on that longer.
It was a great choice for Marvel.
Yeah, a little bit.
It kept me very alert and very much focused on bringing my A game every month.
But yeah, the challenge of it is part of the fun, I think.
What is it about him that makes him so adorable?
Its his eyebrows to be honest.
He can arch one of them, really high.
When he does that, its hard to say no to him.
Also, hes a really good friend of mine.
He and I, our careers have kinda run parallel.
Then, we worked at DC at the same time.
Through those shared experiences, we became really close.
Hes become one of my best friends over the last five or six years.
I know its far out, but you two are working together withLife After Deathwhich sounds really fascinating.
Can you tell me a little bit about the conception of that story?
The world had kind of been stratified by that.
Im just really excited.
Its the first time that Ill be drawing something of this length that I havent written myself.
To get to work with one of your best friends on something like that, its fun.
I know that were both really excited about it.
To wrap up, do you get the same satisfaction with something now that youre writing but not drawing?
It was very personal work.
Obviously, you feel very close to it after a while.
To answer your question, yeah.
What was it aboutDescenderandBlack Hammerthat made you say, Im going to team up with somebody here?
Is it just too many stories that you want to tell right now?
Or is it just that these artists were better for it than you were in your opinion?
Ive been working on a graphic novel for Simon and Shuster, for the last year and a half.
I wont finish it until probably about April of this year.
It really came out of that.
Its been great and I still get to draw my own stuff, too.
Ill draw a book with Scott next, and then something else after that.
Its great to get to do both.
