@’s by Top Cow’s Filip Sablik !!!
Hey folks, Matt Adler here. The Top Cow Universe came into existence in 1992 with the debut of CYBERFORCE, and has expanded over the years with the additions of WITCHBLADE, THE DARKNESS, and more. It was originally a fairly loose-knit universe, with characters and books only synching up on occasion, but the recently-concluded ARTIFACTS event, which now continues into an ongoing Artifacts series, aims to change all that. I spoke with Top Cow publisher Filip Sablik to get the scoop on what happens to the Top Cow Universe from here on out.MATT ADLER (MA): As we saw at the end of ARTIFACTS #13, the Top Cow Universe has been restarted; can you take us behind the scenes and fill us in on the origin of this plan? How long has it been discussed, who was in on it, and what were the reasons behind it?
FILIP SABLIK (FS): This was pretty much always the plan. Ron Marz proposed it in his first outline for Artifacts. I remember he even wrote something along the lines of, "If we're going to tell people this is the biggest event we've ever done and everything changes, this is how we should end it." Of course, he also included a "B" option that was much less drastic. Marc Silvestri, Matt Hawkins, Phil Smith and I discussed it for a while before finally giving Ron the green light to build towards Armageddon. The reasons behind it were pretty straightforward. The primary one was that it was a logical and organic conclusion to the stories we'd been developing for years in WITCHBLADE, THE DARKNESS, UNIVERSE, ANGELUS, BROKEN TRINITY, FIRST BORN and many more. The best endings to stories are the ones that make themselves apparent to you as you are telling them. The characters and the story tells you where it wants to go, not the other way around. A big change like this can be scary, but we're confident we're telling a good story that it is natural and organic.
MA: What has your role been in shepherding this storyline and the overall direction of the line?FS: If I can take credit for anything, it's pushing the idea that we have a shared universe that's accessible to everyone. It's that sense of connected stories that draws hardcore fans to Marvel and DC books and I think Top Cow is one of the few places in comics you can get that similar operatic story-telling, but without having to turn over half your paycheck to read the entire story. I've always maintained that fans who only read one of our titles should not be punished for that choice, but those who read all of our titles should be rewarded with an enriched experience.
Other than that, my role has really been making sure that pieces line up and all the parts of the creative process are moving smoothly. I offer up input and help talk through problems, but it's really amazing writers and artists like Ron Marz, Phil Hester, Stjepan Sejic, Michael Broussard, Whilce Portacio, Jeremy Haun, Romano Molenaar, and now David Hine, Tim Seeley and Diego Bernard that really guide the direction of the Top Cow Universe.
MA: What about this new universe do you think will appeal to new readers and longtime Top Cow fans, respectively?
FS: For new readers, it's a ground level introduction to a manageable universe that tells stories in the genres that they already love in video games, TV shows, and films like thrillers, procedural, horror, and fantastical supernatural. You really don't need to anything else before you walk through the door with the initial REBIRTH titles - WITCHBLADE #151, ARTIFACTS #14, and THE DARKNESS #101.
For long time readers, we aren't invalidating any of the stories they've read and loved. All those stories happened and are valid. In fact, the REBIRTH story is a natural, linear extension of those stories and builds on that foundation. Some folks have mistakenly called what we are doing a "reboot," which I don't think is accurate. Our story is moving forward and the actions of the past will directly impact and influence the current story. What will be fun for long time readers is that they will be able to read into the new stories on a level that new readers won't.MA: What has the reception to the ARTIFACTS series been like? Did you always intend to turn it into an ongoing?
FS: It's been really, really enthusiastic. Both critical reviews and fan reactions have been great and the series really did what it was intended to do, which is pay off long time readers with an epic event and also introduce new readers to the Top Cow Universe and show it off at its best. We've had some fans who were taken aback by the ending, but that's inevitable when you are making as drastic of change as we have. I think we'll be able to win them over if they give us a chance.
We hadn't really thought about making the series an ongoing until organically the story demanded it. We realized there was an ongoing story spinning out of ARTIFACTS that wouldn't fit in either WITCHBLADE or THE DARKNESS. The logical next step was to extend the event into an ongoing about the overall Top Cow Universe.
MA: What will be the focus of the ongoing ARTIFACTS series? Will it be all about the changes that have come to the Top Cow Universe, or is there a more specific concept to it? And will it continue to focus on the entire Top Cow Universe, or will it have a particular set of central characters?
FS: Primarily it will focus on what happened to the bearers of the Artifacts after the end of ARTIFACTS #13. There are a lot of unanswered questions from that issue and this will be the series that answers the majority of them. Specifically, Tom Judge and Tilly Grimes will serve as the focal characters that the readers will discover the new REBIRTH universe through. And while Tom and Tilly will be a big part of the series, we'll quickly see the other bearers make appearances in the series.MA: We've seen that much of the universe remains the same; what can you tell us about what's changed?
FS: I don't want to give away too much, but here's what we know. Sara Pezzini appears to be single and not a mother, and a private investigator in Chicago instead of a cop in New York. Jackie Estacado appears to once more be involved with the mafia and now has a wife, Jenny Romano who was previously dead, and a daughter named Hope. Dani Baptiste appears to be a police detective partnered with Sara's old partner Patrick Gleason. And not all of the Artifacts have landed with the same bearers as before. How deep the changes run, remains to be see.
MA: Is there a reason why this reborn universe turned out the way it did? Were the specific changes by somebody's design, or was it all just random?
FS: Yes and yes. None of this is random.
MA: Most people in the reborn universe seem to have no memory that anything major happened, but Jackie is apparently aware that things have changed, and it seems Tom Judge and Tilly Grimes may suspect it too. Is being able to remember the change related to how closely you were involved in it?
FS: Somewhat. There's a very specific reason that Jackie remembers the previous universe, which will be revealed through the course of REBIRTH. When we first meet Tom in ARTIFACTS #14, he doesn't remember but we'll quickly see his mind opened up to what really happened. Everyone involved in the end of the Universe will have some sense that something is amiss, like a nagging itch in the back of their skull. You can see a little bit of that in WITCHBLADE #151.MA: There have been suggestions that something may be "wrong" with this universe; does that imply that this universe can't last as it is, and will eventually be undone?
FS: Good observation. Just something is "wrong" doesn't mean it can't last, but it does mean that there may be consequences to it lasting. As always, REBIRTH will ultimately come down to our characters having to make some very crucial decisions. If they got it wrong the last time, can they get it right this time? Only time will tell...
MA: When doing a universe-changing story like this one, do you feel a greater sense of freedom, in terms of the direction you can take the characters and their books, compared with some of the older shared universes in comics?
FS: Definitely. I think it's incredibly empowering for our creators too. At Top Cow, when Ron Marz has a crazy idea, he only has to convince three people it's worth doing - myself, Matt Hawkins and Marc Silvestri. There's no licensing or sales department to negotiate with. That's part of the power of the Top Cow Universe, we can effect real change. Superhero comics are about the illusion of change.
MA: Early on in its existence, the Top Cow Universe, like much of Image Comics, had a looser, free-flowing continuity, where coordination between books only needed to happen when there was a specific crossover. Is there an advantage to having a tighter interconnection across the books?
FS: Everything has its upside and downside. The tighter continuity is more rewarding for many fans and enhances their reading experience. The thing we have to watch is to make sure we don't make that continuity too tangled and difficult to access. We certainly don't force it on other partners at Image if they want to have one of our characters appear in one of their books or anyone we partner with on a crossover like Marvel, Dynamite or others.MA: What's ahead for Top Cow that you are personally most excited about?
FS: REBIRTH has me incredibly excited for the first half of 2012, but I'm also chomping at the bit to share some of the projects we have in development for the second half of 2012. Several of them are really meant to celebrate the 20th Anniversary of Top Cow and Image Comics, which is exciting, because those were the books that really ignited my passion for comic books as a teenager. There are also some smaller projects like Sunset by Christos Gage and Jorge Lucas, Genius by Marc Bernardin, Adam Freeman and Afua Richardson, and Cutter by Seamus Kevin Fahey, Robert Napton and Chris DiBari that I really love and we've been working on for a long time.
Matt Adler is a writer/journalist, currently writing for AICN among other outlets. He’s been reading comics for 20 years, writing about them for 7, and spends way, way, too much time thinking about them, which means he really has no choice but to figure out how to make a living out of them. He welcomes all feedback.
Proofs, co-edits & common sense provided by Sleazy G
