Transcription of the online interview conducted by Alberto Abal with the authors of Betrayal.
Hello and welcome to everyone. Today we are conducting a small interview with the authors of the new graphic novel that we have just released - Infinity Betrayal. And now I’m going to introduce the authors who are here with us - The writer, Victor Santos, who worked with us before on our previous comic Infinity Outrage, and Agustín Graham Nakamura.
Victor Santos has worked as an illustrator on projects such as The Mice Templar or Violent Love - and he is the author of the Polar quadrilogy. This graphic novel was recently adapted by Netflix into a feature film.
Agustin Graham Nakamura was in charge of the art in this book. He is the author of the graphic novels 'Terra Australis' and 'Zero Point', and he directed the animated short 'Fear'. He also works as an illustrator and a storyboarder for video games and advertising agencies worldwide.
That being said, I want to start with a question that will get the both of you to chime in.
What has it meant for you to work on a project like Infinity Betrayal?
Víctor:
In my case, it meant to repeat a fantastic experience, as I had the chance to do it with Kenny Ruiz once before when we created the first graphic novel, the Infinity Outrage manga - but it left me with the desire to continue exploring the Infinity universe. So this was very satisfying in that regard, and with this book, I'm so happy with the results! Maybe even more now than the first time!
Agustín:
As for me, I think Victor and I have spoken about this once or twice, this is my first collaboration on such a big project with a scriptwriter who is more than a scriptwriter. Victor is an author, an illustrator, and therefore he understands the needs of an illustrator in order to work with a script. In regards to the infinity Universe, for me, it was a surprise. I honestly didn't know anything about Infinity, and I was surprised by the size of it. The logistics, the rules, all of the factions - and it required quite a bit of research to learn and discover. It was a very interesting and intense process.
During the last week, the people who follow our social media wrote a number of questions to you two, and some other general questions. I’m going to start asking those questions one by one; addressing Agustin or Victor (or both) - but of course, you can both answer. So let's step up to the plate! Let’s see what the future fans of Infinity Betrayal want to know about the novel. Here is the first question:
Carlodesiderioz: "Was it constraining to work with a franchise such as Infinity?"
Víctor:
I'll answer first.To begin, you have to understand that with this kind of project, the writer ends up being a bit of an illustrator, and the illustrator does a bit of a writer. It is always a challenge, because you are 'playing with the toys of another kid' that you borrow from time to time. So you have to be respectful with them, but at the same time you must be daring and edgy and bring something new to the original product that the fans need and haven’t received. So, of course, it is always a hard challenge to do it because you have to find the right balance. At the same time, it is a nice challenge - a fun and exciting one. When you have the support of the people who created it, everything else becomes easier and more stimulating. I always say that this is like working on Spiderman - but with Steve Ditko and Stan Lee helping you to make it through the story. That is an awesome feeling.
Agustín:
For me, I think that the challenge was more about the illustration, obviously and not the script because Victor did all that hard work both on this novel and the previous one. I think that the biggest challenge here is that this established franchise has a canon and a big part of the story was already part of that canon - pre-designed with an existing miniature or they have a design concept. Even when you create something, you have to follow the rules of a particular faction, or the pertinent species guidelines. For me, that is always an interesting challenge. I'm not going to lie, but following these guidelines makes everything more realistic to the reader. I would say that this was the most challenging issue.
"What was your source of inspiration for the story? Have you used any external references? Was there any in particular that you'd like to mention?" (By @Jmaralc @Dolzet and @Warlordclass2018)
Víctor:
First, when I start writing the story, I always have a reference. In this case, it is all the information that I have about Infinity found in the books and the background. I chose which factions I like the most, or what part of the universe could be interesting to me to do the groundwork before starting. On the other hand, Infinity is marked by some influences common to me and similar to my tastes - such as Masamune Shirow when it comes to anime. In my case, I used a lot of different sources when I write - movie directors such as Paul Verhoeven, and writers such as Philip K. Dick. These two individuals always inspired me, and they seem to not only show cool spaceships or robots or appealing concepts, but they also add a human component that is highly important within these stories. That is one of the things that I try to prioritize the most when writing anything - and I tried to prioritize this when it came to writing Infinity Betrayal.
Ok. The next question is addressed to Victor. There are 2 questions, but I am going to merge them because they fit together nicely. The question is:
"What led you to choose the theme? Why Ko Dali?" (By @Captiangpaintinig, Alberto M. and @Javilopezraja)
Víctor:
Wait… Let me think… I was very interested in revealing Yu Jing's part in the universe because in the first book we focused on PanOceania and the mercenaries, and all of the “western side” of the Infinity universe. That was whirling around in my mind. The United States of America and the colonies of Europe - translated into a sci-fi world. It was clear to me that if I was doing a second book, it would be about the “eastern side” of the Human Sphere. I found Ko Dali particularly interesting because her character fits in perfectly with Philip K. Dick’s style, and from a science fiction viewpoint, it felt that her story was focused on a deep theme that we could use: 'what makes us truly human?'. Ko Dali is the one stuck in the middle between being human, and being genetically or technologically manipulated with the alien species (or as we call it - the Combined Army). From there, that is where I began to shape the story
The upcoming question is for Victor too, but maybe Agustin has something to add to the answer. Our friend says: The characters of Infinity Outrage didn't exist before in the universe of Infinity However, in the case of Betrayal, the characters were existing ones - or at least some of them.
"How did you feel working with such iconic characters?" (By @Joanrotger )
Víctor:
For myself, it felt practical. When I wrote the first book I had just arrived in this universe, and I was starting with my research - so it was easier for me, back then, to create new characters and incorporate them rather than using existing ones. Since then, I have become much more confident. I decided to use this character precisely for being so iconic for the fans of Infinity. So I did my homework - I studied the character and found that she was going to be more powerful, visually and narratively, if we used all of her backgrounds instead of coming up with a new character.
Agustín:
For me, as I am like a new guest - a newcomer in this universe. In fact, a funny thing happened - but first, I feel a great responsibility to respect these existing characters and the funny anecdote is about that. I had barely drawn the first character sketches, and I was drawing totally random looks and designs, and I sent them - and they were like: 'No no no no wait' 'This uniform has to look exactly like this ' 'because it belongs to Yu Jing and they use it in this other place'. Then they sent me the dossiers with the characters - front views, profiles, and even 3D models! That's it!! We have to respect the previous designs.
This time, the question goes to Agustin. It says:
"How different is the style from Outrage?" (By Tavobaggins)
This is a tricky one!
Agustín:
It is a tricky one, indeed, but also fun for me because it is the first thing I asked you guys when you contacted me. I mean, Kenny and I have completely different drawing styles. While it is true that we both work within the so-called 'western Manga' industry, we still have an entirely different Manga aesthetic. His work is full of energy, very expressive, and he has a dynamic way of presenting the pages. I tend to plan ahead. I think that because of my studies as a digital animator, as a director, and because I worked a lot on movies, I tend to plan ahead, as if there was a camera. I use the rules of film directing and sometimes it is not so dynamic. There aren't so many things coming out of the vignette. I was like: 'Are you sure you want this because it is going to be so different and they said 'yes, we like it. Do what you do'. That was also a bit intimidating at the beginning, because if you say to me 'You have to illustrate exactly this style of illustration', and it is what I know how to do - it is cool! It was a completely different project aesthetically. That was a tremendous challenge.
A new question for Agustin…
"What was the page that you most enjoyed drawing?" (By Alberto Mosquera)
Agustín:
The page I enjoyed the most was precisely a double splash page - a two-page vignette that the graphic novel contains during the battle at Shuidong. We have a very interesting anecdote about this: I got stuck on those two pages. I did several scenes which I didn’t feel great about, and I couldn’t find a good solution - so I spoke to Victor and said: 'I'm having trouble with this one and also to Alberto: 'Look, these are my sketches but i don’t like them - if you want you can suggest something else. Victor took the pencil (he is obviously an exceptional illustrator) and he drew some sketches, and we chose one of them and that is the one you can see on the final version.
Víctor:
But the thing is that I draw it quickly on paper, and it is like… I don't know if we have it to show it to the viewers, but It's like… I should go to prison because drawing is my main profession. Most of the money I earn every month is from illustration, and it looked like a 5-year-old kid had drawn this one… but anyway, it was functional on the storyboard.
Agustín:
Anyway, we left the sketch on the graphic novel storyboard for a long time and we constantly tortured Victor, telling him: 'It's going to be published with this sketch.'.
"Agustin, How was it to draw Morats? Do you want to keep drawing them?" (By Kuriboht)
Agustín:
The Morats… yes! All of them are very interesting!! We end up slightly simplifying some things for practical reasons because, for example, on a battle inside the book there is a big battle scene there are seven variant Morats against five or seven Yu Jing soldier variants who are all different from each other. I remember this was one thing I told Victor when we were reviewing the first version of the script, and it was the look that I wanted to give the aliens - that’s why they are so monstrous! They speak in an unknown language, and I wanted to make them more mysterious so they wouldn't look like normal people with helmets - like on Star Trek. In each episode, they change the mask and that was it! I wanted them to be mysterious on a certain level without being totally evil. That is one of the things I remembered that I asked for - to give them a little bit of appeal and to be something else than just a complete monster.
Another question: "Why do the Morats have a human-like land vehicle?" (By Drungdrakki)
For that matter, the people from 'this side of the ocean' - we are the guilty ones.
Víctor:
Well, we can give a valid answer, and it is that the characters are soldiers, so they are practical - so they end up using what they find on a planet far away from everything so if they are compelled to recycle found or stolen materials during skirmishes with the Yu Jings, of course, they will! I also like the idea of war that I think Agustin shows so well in the story that at the end. They are not soldiers in armor fighting head to head, one group against the other on an organized line. In the wargame, you can see this portrayed very well on the tactical end of the game’s design. It is a more realistic war - sometimes dirty and messy. I like that the comic conveys this idea, and Agustin represents it extremely well.
Agustín:
As I remember, those land vehicles were additions that we created for the graphic novel for the needs of the script, and the design process was worthwhile because at some point in the process, I realized that I couldn't just draw anything I wanted. This meant we had to collect references send a bunch of emails to each other, coordinating between Corvus, Victor, myself, and Al to look through the design and approve it, and give it some sense to fit inside the universe.
Now we are going to read more questions addressed to both of you - but before that, I wanted to say that not all of the messages that we received through social media were questions about the graphic novel. There were a lot of people who made comments, such as the one from 0berwaldvondrake: 'You know that you make us suffer from such open endings, don't you?'
"How much time did it take to complete the book?" (By @Dmitrid1 and @harmaagriffin )
Víctor:
Oops, I don't know. In this case, we worked with a different strategy than what we did with the previous novel where I had written the script first, and once we were sure about it, we transferred it to Kenny for the artwork. Maybe that time it took about five or six weeks with the script, but this time we worked in another way to be able to accommodate Agustin's schedule in order to start working as soon as possible. So I was writing separate chapters, five chapters if I'm not mistaken, and he was creating the artwork for the first one while I was writing the next chapter, and so on and so forth. So I'm not sure how long it took, but I can say that the whole process - and I think Agustin can confirm it better because he must have a schedule with the deadlines - but it was more than a year for sure, wasn't it?
Agustín:
Actually, yes I mean, the production process was practically a whole year from beginning to end It is like Victor said - but first, Victor, you wrote the plot of the novel.
Víctor:
Yes
Agustín:
And you were also launching one of your other works, with the movie, the red carpets and everything else - and for that reason, it looked more practical to split the script in chapters. I illustrate one, and after that we continue adding chapters. It took around a year to make it, but it is also true that apart from writing during a month or a month and a half and sending me part of the script, he doesn’t stop working - he was answering emails during the whole process of the entire graphic novel.
Another question comes next. "What do you like the most about the Infinity universe?" (By @Evopainting)
Víctor:
Let me think... I think I already told this when the first book came out but the science fiction and the Infinity universe - both can be useful and have enough data, scope, and depth to be able to express almost any subject or even to be able to translate any event at any level and talk about it through a science fiction lens. In short, it is an open sandbox to play with as you wish.
Agustín:
It meant a great discovery for me. The first thing that Corvus Belli did was to send me the game manuals with all the information via mail. I started reading, and I remember that suddenly I was in a state of near-panic - because of all the information that was in there. So I called Victor and said: 'Hey, Victor, look - Tell me what is Infinity about' 'Go easy with your part because this may take a while for me because this is a big learning curve' In fact, today, I’m finding out more and more about the Infinity Universe.
"If you had to choose a faction, which one would it be?" (By @Gfepanda and @Olaslp )
Is there any faction that you connect with?
Víctor:
Hmm, I don’t know... I mean, I like PanOceania because it is very interesting, but I also like the internal politics of Yu Jing. I like the Japanese group, and that ancient Japan integrated inside Yu Jing… which name I can't remember right now… but yeah, the Japanese Empire inside Yu Jing - I'll tell you what - the first idea I had for the script, I was focusing more on a Japanese character that we changed afterward - but I was focused on the Japanese character inside Yu Jing and working the relationship. Let’s say, 'China' and 'Japan' from our story were translated into Yu Jing and this character. These are the ones I like.
Agustín:
I will choose, at least for what I had to work with, Yu Jing
We have another question for Victor:
"Apart from Outrage and Betrayal, what other part of the Infinity universe would you like to explore?" (By Alberto Mosquera)
Víctor:
I already mentioned it when I was doing Outrage but I'd like to explore the Nomads because both PanOceania and Yu Jing are huge and powerful established societies, where the Nomads would give me the chance to play with the limits of this universe with the outlaws. A fun idea would be to tell a story about organized crime with a Scorsese narrative style, or a Guy Ritchie style but focused on Nomads.
OK, I’m going to start giving 'AL approves' marks in case of future projects, so we know where to start. Now we have a shortlist of questions that are about our work as a company, so, what do you say? Can you ask me those questions - one each - and then the other and I answer for our followers? Lets see what they have to ask, shall we?
"Will the units that appear in Betrayal be available in Infinity CodeOne?" (By @Ciprinpi)
Most of the characters who appear in the plot like Ko Dali, for example, you can already find their profiles and have access to them on Infinity Army.
Will there be more comics? (By lots of people) Interesting question.
Right now we are not working on another one - Comics are not our main product and we have a big list of other products that we are launching soon, and we can’t pay the attention it deserves right now - but we never say never. We would love to keep expanding the universe through comic books.
An ambitious question: Even more people asking: "And a novel or a Netflix show?" They ask explicitly about Netflix!
Netflix is the generic name for any streaming platform! xD Just like the Donuts. We would love to, of course. We don't have any formal proposal yet, but if we had the chance we would say yes for sure. Well, I think we have answered almost every question you had for us we tried to make a summary of them and organize them to shape this interview in a coherent way.
And that's all! If you have more questions, we are waiting for you on our social media platforms because our marketing department from Corvus Belli is always there for you and will try to answer every question you have. I want to thank you for being with us this afternoon - and above all - read Betrayal! Now you can say something to the viewers before we go, to our mutual fans
Víctor:
I’m thankful to the people of Corvus Belli for giving me, once again, the chance to 'play with their toys' because the kids don't like to share toys - but sometimes we like to play all together. I'm very happy, and of course, thanks to Agustin - it was a pleasure to work with him. I think that a lot of readers who didn't know him are going to be surprised with his work because he doesn’t have so many published books, but this is going to be a great portfolio for him and people will fall in love with his work.
Agustín:
And I'd like to thank all the team from Corvus Belli - Gutier, Fernando, Carlos, Alberto… Alberto Abal is the man with a thousand talents as I like to say, because he did all the lettering in the book for the first time in his life, and it looks awesome. To Victor, for his endless patience and understanding of what the artist needs - an artist just like himself… and Kenny Ruiz. I have to thank him a lot because he is the reason I'm sitting here today. So thank you all - I hope you all like it!
It's time to say goodbye. Thank you all for listening to these minutes. Goodbye and see you all soon!
Did you enjoy the interview? Excited about this new graphic novel? Try it, then!
Read the first pages of Infinity Betrayal
