Emmy Award-winning author Joshua Rubin is best known for his work with Assassin’s Creed II, Destiny and Telltail’s Walking Dead, and recently launched “a boutique IP house exclusively for high concept, mindbendy and brain candy sci-fi.” The new publisher will be offering “genre fiction for adults.”
Released this week on Kickstarter is Strange Land’s flagship title, Time Sensitive, and existential sci-fi thriller. See here:
When Detective Caleb Stone’s wife disappears at a gas station in Los Angeles, all traces of life come into play. Now, his only hope lies in a mysterious teenage girl who claims she knows why his wife was removed.
The creative team consists of Rubin alongside artists Jorge Coelho (Marvel, Images, Boom!), colorist Kay Woolheiser (A. Guardian, Dragon Grit, The Night and the Lion), and Letterer Mica Myers (DC, Images, Dark Horse, IDW, Mad Cave).
Beat chatted with Rubin about the new title.
Deanna Destito: How did you become more time sensitive?
Joshua Rubin: I’ve been obsessed with time travel stories since I was a child. It’s a bit of a brain breaking, but it still hit you with your gut. The spark of time sensitive time came from asking what time travel would turn out, not adventure, not suffering. Instead of bouncing off with the cool DeLorean, if your memories continued to rewrite themselves, and suddenly, if people, places, and all of your life were gone, did anyone you knew claim they didn’t exist?
Destito: How was writing this different to other works, especially video games?
Rubin: The game is collaborative with design – every scene you write must survive input from the designer, combat system, level layout. The comics are more lean and more personal. It’s just words and images. If you’re lucky, you’re an artist like Jorge who can take your wildest ideas and enhance them. For me, comics are pure stories. “Your AI squad continues to run against the wall,” so no one is going to cut the scene.
Destito: How did you collaborate with this creative team?
Rubin: Dream Team. Jorge Coelho’s line work is electric! His character’s emotions are so deep, wait until you see the World Building he’s doing in question #2. He actually won the Portuguese prestigious Amadra BD Award. Kay Woolheiser then brings this painting-like film depth in her colour, and Mika Myers is a perfect professional in the letters and finds the right rhythm on the page. It was amazing to see the whole team turn my words into something bigger than I could have imagined.
Destito: Time travel can be complicated and messy. How did you plot and plan the story and plan it to keep it consistent?
Rubin: The trick was to keep it human at all times. Yes, I’ve mapped the timeline and the causes and effects of undulating over decades, but at the end of the day it’s not about paradoxes. So I put all the twists into the emotional truth. How do you feel at this moment? What do you do to trust, love, and trust in sadness? If the characters’ emotions remain honestly, readers will continue even when the rules of time become a whim.
Destito: Are there any teasers you want to share?
Rubin: I just say this: The first problem is pulling the rug from under both Caleb and the reader. I think you understand what’s going on…and you don’t. Fortunately, the second issue of this Six-Issue Limited series is already in production! We’ve also compiled some wild rewards for Kickstarter supporters. Includes Giclée prints worthy of Jorge’s Art frames, original ink pages, and treasures from video game vaults.
Check out some preview pages below!
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