DeFilippis and Weir Have Destiny's Hand

This story originally appeared in PW Comics Week on August 1, 2006 Sign up now!

by Tom McLean, PW Comics Week -- Publishers Weekly, 8/1/2006

For Nunzio DeFilippis and Christina Weir, writing in a new medium is all in a day's work. Trained as screenwriters, they began writing together on the HBO series Arli$$. They jumped into comics, writing several original graphic novels for Oni Press such as Skinwalker, Three Strikes and The Tomb. They also have written for Marvel and DC, scripting superhero series such as New Mutants, New X-Men, Wonder Woman, Detective Comics and Adventures of Superman.

Now they're jumping into manga, with two original creations published by Seven Seas: Amazing Agent Luna, which debuted last year, and the girl pirate drama Destiny's Hand, about to hit store shelves. Destiny's Hand, drawn by Mel Calingo, tells the tale of young Olivia Soldana, who ditches the proper upper-class life her family has planned for her to join the pirate crew of the ship Destiny's Hand. Not only is she the only girl among a crew of pirates, but the captain thinks she's got command potential.

PWCW: What draws you to young characters and their stories?

Christina Weir: Teens have so much angst in their lives so there's only so much drama and conflict you can create for them. In our manga, both in Destiny's Hand and Amazing Agent Luna, I think when you put a teenager in an extraordinary situation, you just get a fun, "anything can happen" feel.

PWCW: Olivia's decision to leave her family for a pirate's life works out pretty well for her at first. What kind of challenges will she be facing as the story progresses and how difficult do you plan to make things for her?

Nunzio DeFilippis: It's one thing for the crew to accept the captain's pet project—the girl pirate. But when his health fails, Olivia's the one who has to give the orders. Then we'll find out how seriously these guys take a teenage girl for a pirate. And if and when the captain dies, he wants Olivia to inherit the ship. If the crew has problems with a girl pirate, how will they deal with a girl captain? Plus, when she's in charge, she becomes the main target of Lars Mulgrew, the captain of the Kraken. Believe me... in his sights is not where you want to be.

PWCW: How does working in a manga style and format differ from working on periodical superhero comics?

Weir: First and foremost is the difference between writing a 150-page graphic novel and a 22-page issue of a comic. The pacing is completely different. Plus, I think there's a freedom in manga that encourages you to take your time with a story and explore the little moments. Characters are very important in manga. Giving your character a page to do something that may be unrelated to the plot is okay, as long as you're showing more about who they are. A 22-page superhero issue is usually very concerned with getting all the plot in there and making sure there are plenty of pages devoted to the fights and explosions.

PWCW: The book is done in the Japanese right-to-left format; how did that come about, and did that alter the way you wrote the story?

DeFilippis: That was a decision by Jason DeAngelis and his then business partner Dallas Middaugh when they founded the company. I won't speak for their motives, but I can tell you why it makes a certain sense to me. To license these titles for foreign publication, you have to deal with the fact that in any other country, left-to-right manga just doesn't sell. And the American audience is comfortable with both formats. So why not have it done in the format that everyone in every country will accept right off the bat, rather than flip the art? As to the writing, it doesn't affect us at all. It only means that when we look over the art and place the dialogue, we have to be comfortable going right-to-left. Since we already read manga, that wasn't an issue.

PWCW: How do you collaborate on writing a comic?

Weir: Nunzio and I talk through plots together extensively before we ever start writing. We do chapter breakdowns (in the case of manga) or page breakdowns (in the case of our comic work). Then one of us will generally lay down the structure on the page and the other will go over it and flesh it out.

PWCW: Why do you think pirate tales are so popular these days?

DeFilippis: The freedom of being a pirate, the reckless abandon and desire to just sail off to adventure—these are intoxicating. American society is very fear-based and kind of repressed right now. Reckless outlaws have a certain appeal. Plus, pirates have a unique look and way of speaking. One minute into a pirate film, or one page into a pirate manga, you know the world. That's comforting, that sort of shorthand. It's a carryover from the last time pirates were so popular. I'd imagine American culture will swing again, and someday charming outlaws will seem wrong. But even then, the style and feel will linger, so that when the pendulum swings back, the shorthand will have all the evocative power again.

PWCW: How many volumes do you plan for this series and when will the next one appear?

Weir: That's kind of a work in progress. Originally, I think we saw this as a grand, epic tale taking nine to 12 volumes. But now it looks like we're going to try to wrap it up in three. It's an unfortunate reality, but sales being what they are, it can be hard to sustain an original manga that goes on for too long. So we're doing a bit of re-plotting and re-jiggering and just hoping to tell the best story possible. We just started work on Volume 2 and from what we understand Mel is very anxious to get back to drawing, so we're hoping to get him pages shortly. I'm not sure just yet what the release date for it will be. My guess would be the beginning of 2007.