It has often made a great recommendation for people interested in comics.
What was that like?
GABRIEL RODRIGUEZ:It was an incredibly interesting experience.
Credit: Gabriel Rodriguez for IDW Publishing
JOE HILL:I think Carlton and Meredith nailed it.
I love the show, and think it’s a tremendously exciting and addictive watch.
What really jumps out at me is the tremendous sense of fun it has.
Gabriel Rodriguez for IDW Publishing
It kind of fizzes.
RODRIGUEZ: There’s nothing of nostalgia in this show anywhere.
I think that’s a very complicated thing to achieve.
Christos Kalohoridis/Netflix
That’s incredibly exciting.
It’s an incredible cornucopia of cartoons.
In the show, the Head Key is depicted much differently.
Gabriel Rodriguez for IDW Publishing
HILL: [That Head Key spread] is probably the most iconic image in the comic.
I’ll say this: For years I have really wanted to see the shadow creatures come to life.
It’s even better than I hoped it would be.
Christos Kalohoridis/Netflix
It’s every child’s nightmare springing to life.
When we see those shadow creatures come crawling off the walls, that’s really satisfying dark fantasy stuff.
As a fan, I’ve been following the development of the show for years.
Gabriel Rodriguez for IDW Publishing
What was that process like for you guys?
HILL: I think it’s interesting that people think that’s so unusual.
I had been playing with those concepts for nearly a decade.
I think Carlton and Meredith found their way to the best possible version of the story.
It can take time to get something right.
RODRIGUEZ: Sometimes it’s just that the idea that needs the right moment to happen.
In a way, it was like when they first tried to makeLord of the Rings.
The first time was George Lucas trying to make it, and that evolved intoStar Wars.
Then John Boorman tried to do it and that evolved intoExcalibur.
They had to wait for Peter Jackson and Weta to takeLord of the Ringsto the screen.
It was great that when it finally happened, it was in the best possible conditions.
HILL: I think the takeaway is we’re basically likeLord of the Rings, only better.
HILL: I’ve always loved stories of portal magic.
We looked at different artists and some of them were good at drawing, like, intestines.
You could see what they were feeling in their body language and how they related to each other.
And I was like ‘oh my god, that’s going right in.’
We trade a lot of ideas back and forth.
I remember when they sent me the pitch.
The way Joe was handling magic combined with human drama immediately caught my attention.
I thought this would be incredibly fun to develop in both graphic and storytelling terms.
It became an incredible experience.
The passion and energy in the comics themselves is a reflection of that.
HILL: When I got married, Gabe designed my wedding ring.
We became a kind of family.
This family has expanded into people on the show, because Meredith and Carlton really get it.
Why would they do that?
I think guys, young men especially, want to be seen as unbreakable, unreachable, strong.
Meredith and Carlton completely clicked to that.
you should probably face them and sometimes acknowledge you could’t solve them.
HILL: Gabe’s putting a positive spin on it.
HILL: It’s a gateway drug!
You start withLocke & Keyand think you’re okay, you think you just have a casual habit.
There’s always some changes in adaptation.
What do you think about those changes?
HILL: It has to work as a TV show.
It has to succeed in the possibilities and limitations of its own particular form.
I always think about the issue we did that was aCalvin & Hobbestribute.
Or we did another issue where these two giants battle.
We made a comic that worked and thrived as a comic.
