By Zack Quaintance — Barbalien - Red Planet #5 is out this coming Wednesday, March 24, marking the finale for one of the most poignant additions to the shared Black Hammer Universe to date. And today, we have na interview with the book’s creators — writer Tate Brombal and artist Gabriel Walta — who took time out to discuss the full series, the finale, and the reaction to the story so far.

Check out our conversation below, along with an exclusive preview of the new issue!

INTERVIEW: Tate Brombal and Gabriel Walta talk BARBALIEN - RED PLANET

ZACK QUAINTANCE: I’ll be forthright in telling you both that this series (the finale of which drops this coming Wednesday, March 25) is one of my favorites within the Black Hammer Universe, and the poignancy of the material related to LGBTQ rights is a big part of what elevates it for me. But it doesn’t just stop there. There is a lot of intersectionality in this book. How deliberate were each of you in representing the diversity of the LGBTQ experience?

TATE BROMBAL: Thanks, Zack! It’s always such a relief to hear that the queer-historical material is what’s resonating with readers most. That just means we need more stories like this, and I love to hear it!

In terms of the book’s diversity, it was something that was always at the front of my mind. And that’s because there’s a tendency for queer media — especially media surrounding the AIDS crisis — to centre white, gay cis-men. I knew right away that I didn’t want to feed that canon. Also, it would’ve just been outright historically inaccurate to not include a full, diverse cast. Queer people of color have always led our movement, particularly trans women. They also established the underground ball scene, which was a huge resource and safe haven for queer folks during the 1980s. And BIPOC were (and continue to be) disproportionately affected by HIV/AIDS. I couldn’t not draw attention to all of that, especially in a story also discussing the topic of over-policing.

And as much as I was filling the pages with aspirational characters from my research, I was also just drawing from people in my own life and experiences. Often, it wasn’t until I looked back that I saw this beautiful cast we’d created.

GABRIEL WALTA: That diversity representation was on the very first notes that Tate sent me when we started with this project, and I was more than happy to work in that direction. I mean, in this particular book that diversity is a statement but it's also more realistic (and fun!) for an artist like me to draw all kinds of characters and not only the more usual archetypes of superhero comics.

ZACK: One of the other qualities of this book that I found to be extremely well-done is the tension. It’s almost like a sense of building pressure runs throughout this story, in many different ways. What did you each do with your work to heighten those feelings?

TATE: Thank you! I’m really glad you think so because I wouldn’t be doing my best work if I wasn’t building and layering suspense towards our book’s climax. Of course, a lot of it is thanks to Gabriel’s stellar artwork, in particular that final scene in Issue 4. He really captured the anxiety and dread of Barbie’s life crumbling around him. And that’s what we needed! So I set up everything I could to pull that off before our final issue.

The idea of a “countdown” (and the tension that comes with it) was also very important to me. At the time, HIV was a death sentence. There was no treatment. If you were diagnosed, a ticking clock began, so to speak. And it was this very death sentence that motivated many people to congregate, to come out, to act out and act up. We have to understand that a lot of these people had nothing else to lose, and it’s in that tragedy that the movement was born. I hoped to replicate that tension and that feeling. Starting the series off with Barbie’s own death sentence was definitely one way to set that up. The pace of the series also quickens as it goes along, especially in our finale — which I’m very excited for people to experience. There is a definite release of all that tension.

GABRIEL: I really think that tension is a very powerful storytelling tool, and one of the many things that I loved from Tate's script was that he managed to use that tension to keep the plot moving while giving the reader a lot of information. Of course, you have to release some tension here and there, and I also enjoyed a lot staging the quiet scenes, especially the interactions between “Luke” and Miguel and Dr. Day's parts. Also, I was amazed how Tate even included jokes in some moments without breaking the overall atmosphere of the story. 

Anyway, as an artist, I always try to use different kind of layouts, compositions and even a slight variation in my style of drawing to highlight the contrasts between each part of the narration and Tate's versatility as a writer was a wonderful starting point to do this.

ZACK: Another of the (many) things that continues to make Black Hammer series interesting, I think, are the bedrock superhero homages that creators start with...and just how far they move away from there. How aware were you both of Martian Manhunter as an influence on Barbalien, and how did it influence the ways you wrote/illustrated this book?

TATE: To be honest (and “nerd cred” be damned), I mainly knew Martian Manhunter from the Justice League cartoon I watched growing up in the early 2000s. He was my favorite on the team! When I think of him, that’s the version I first imagine. I loved his introspective nature and calm demeanor, which reminded me of my introverted self as a lonely kid. [laughs] Growing up and feeling like an outsider in my own large family, I think I connected to his very overt Otherness on the team. Even when I couldn’t grasp that I was queer, I definitely understood that I was different and didn’t quite fit in. Of course, I later read him in the comics too (most recently in Steve Orlando and Riley Rossmo’s excellent series), but when I sat down to fashion this comic I really didn’t draw too much from the character — beyond what was already there. Instead, I took Barbalien and did what I wanted to do with him and the archetype. As a queer man, I grew up wearing many masks — in attempts to fit in, in attempts to hide. So I brought a lot of my own experiences to the shapeshifting Otherness found at the core of the character.

GABRIEL: I'm afraid that I haven't read that many DC Comics as to have a deep knowledge of Martian Manhunter, though I did know that he was the “model” for Barbalien, but it didn't really influence me as much as the Black Hammer books themselves.

In fact, when I read the first Black Hammer issues, Barbalien became one of my favorite characters almost from the start. I loved how his shapeshifting powers made him the perfect “living metaphor” of how we only can show our true self in some situations, and that's something that Tate explored brilliantly in his scripts.

ZACK: My friend Toren Chenault was tweeting about one of the most powerful moments in the series the other day — an origin story for the character Miguel that is colored with a rainbow palette. I also found this incredibly moving, and I wanted to ask what the collaborative process was like between yourselves and colorist Jordie Bellaire in creating these panels?

TATE: Ah man, isn’t it gorgeous? And it really only works so well because of Gabriel, Jordie, and Aditya. I definitely overwrite my scripts as I push to convey what I envision, but Gabriel somehow always managed to distill it into the purest and most potent imagery. Then, Jordie came along and blew our minds with those colors. It wasn’t scripted; she is just brilliance personified! Meanwhile, not an ounce of the sequence’s emotionality would have landed without the pacing of Adi’s letters. This was one of those magical moments where we all worked in such synergy, that I knew our team was crafting something special. I’m so, so proud of it. 

GABRIEL: I've been working with Jordie since 2013 and every time I see her art I realize how lucky I am to team with her. She has a wonderful understanding of storytelling and a huge artist talent so she's always surprising me with the chromatic solutions she finds to enhance all the aspects of the stories we tell, and that scene you talk about is a perfect example.

The same happened to me with Aditya. This is the first time I've worked with him and he's just SO good! One of the better things of working on this book was feeling that all the team, as Tate says, worked with a synergy that made the final result something really special. From Jeff (Lemire) and Tate's writing to Jordie's and Adi's art, with the wonderful guidance of Daniel Chabon and Chuck Howitt, I totally felt that we all were totally in sync.

ZACK: On the cusp of the finale, I imagine you’ve both had a chance to hear some reader reactions to the book, albeit mostly online because of the pandemic. What has the reaction to this story been like so far, and has anything in the way it’s been analyzed or received surprised you?

TATE: I’m not sure what I expected, but the reaction has been really special so far. I am constantly surprised by and delighted in the passion of comics readers, especially online where more and more of us are finding community. People were immediately interacting with the book and sharing their thoughts. It’s a joy to see, especially for books like this that really rely on word of mouth. I had been warned by a few creators to watch out for the darker side of Twitter and certain hate groups, but I luckily haven’t faced much of that yet. I know most indie comics are generally spared from that, and the Black Hammer fans have been super welcoming. A lot of fans are wary of anyone but Jeff touching these characters, so I hope I did him and the book proud.

The most vocal group has definitely been our queer readers. Anytime someone mentions that the book helped them feel seen, it’s an immediate pang to the heart. I get pretty emotional over that. I’ve had people come forward about their own experiences with HIV or loved ones passing away with AIDS, and the connections are just powerful. I cherish it all. I mean, this is why I write stories, and this is why I read stories. It’s reaching out with your heart and your imagination, hoping to discover a connection.

GABRIEL: As a comic book artist, my main goal is to get an emotional response from the readers. So, when I read the first reviews of issue #1, I was just over the moon to know that people were reacting so well to what we were trying to transmit. Also, it really amazed me that most of the readers where understanding the “themes” of the book with just some hints. I already had drawn the next issues by that time, and I knew that the main points of the series would have a major development later and didn't expect that so many reviewers of that first issue “caught” all the nuances in Tate's statements.

ZACK: Tate, with this being your first multi-issue comics series. How has the creative process been for you? I’m sure there are several, but are there any standout lessons about creating comics you’ve learned from working with Gabriel and Jeff Lemire?

TATE: I learned A LOT over the course of writing this series. It was the greatest crash course or masterclass or whatever that I could’ve asked for. 

In the writing of it, I became quite solitary and locked myself away, but, before I started, Jeff shared advice that will stick with me throughout the rest of my career. It was after I bombarded him with all of my ideas during our brainstorm session, when I shared my worry that nobody would be interested in the human drama, the romance, the historical aspects…That there needed to be more action! More aliens! More superheroics! After all, this was a superhero book!! But Jeff stopped me. He told me that it was the humanity and the heart that readers would connect most to and that was what I needed to focus on. I could sprinkle in the aliens and superpowers here and there later, but none of that would matter unless the readers cared. So I did that. I made sure humanity and heart were at the core of the story. I needed people to care about Barbie and Miguel if I wanted them to care about what happened to them. I’m now working on my next series and, whenever things ever feel off, I check for that pulse and let it guide me.

And then there’s Gabriel! I learned so much from seeing his artwork come in, tracking the shifts and additions (or reductions) he made from my script. We are both very emotional storytellers, and I think we really connected over that. I remember receiving the Issue 3 inks when Luke and Miguel first share a proper kiss, and Gabriel commented on how much he loved the romance and wished comics had more of it. So just witnessing this master artist who I’ve idolized for years render my scripts and validate that emotionality…it was all very moving and empowering. I know for a fact that I am a better writer having worked with Gabriel. That is undeniable, and it is honestly the greatest thing you could ask for from a partnership like this.

ZACK: Gabriel, I also wanted to ask you how you select the stories you work on. I can’t entirely put my finger on it, but I feel like there are a lot of commonalities between some of the books you’ve done of late, including The Vision, Sentient, and now Barbalien...other than the fantastic artwork, naturally.

GABRIEL: I have to say that I've been blessed to have taken part in telling so many wonderful stories, but I'm not that sure that I selected them myself. It had more to do with working with people that knew about my work and really understood my strong points. With The Vision, I was lucky enough to work with Daniel Ketchum and Will Moss as editors. They knew about my previous work and teamed me with Tom King, who totally wrote the best scripts I had read until that moment. As for Sentient and Barbalien, it all comes from me madly wanting to work with Jeff (Lemire). I contacted him because he's one of my favorite comic book writers, and I told him that I was looking forward to doing something together . So, he talked me about this “science-fiction book” that he thought could be a good chance to collaborate. The same happened with Red Planet, as Jeff asked me if I wanted to draw a mini-series about my favorite Black Hammer character that a wonderful writer was developing...how do you say “no” to that?

ZACK: Finally, this is 100 percent me asking as a fan — What other projects do you each have coming up, and what are the chances you might make a return trip to the Black Hammer Universe, either with Barbalien or to work with another character?

TATE: I have a couple of exciting, unannounced projects lined up that I can’t talk about… But just know that I’m not finished with the Black Hammer universe yet, so who knows what will happen? As long as Jeff will keep me around, I’ll happily keep writing stories in this world! I also have long-term dreams of working with Gabriel again at some point. We really just clicked, and he’s become a friend, so here’s hoping we can spin some more magic together someday!

GABRIEL: Well, I'm now drawing a couple of one-shots, one for the Neil Gaiman's Norse Mythology adaptation that P. Craig Russell is doing for Dark Horse Comics, and the other one for the Image Comics HAHA anthology written by W. Maxwell Prince. After those, I'm starting a creator-owned book along with Jeff Lemire that I'm just looking forward to starting as soon as possible.

And sure, I totally would LOVE to come back to the Black Hammer Universe and team with Tate again someday!!

Barbalien: Red Planet #5 is out March 24, 2021. You can pre-order Barbalien - Red Planet #5 digitally via comiXology or physically via Amazon.

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Zack Quaintance is a tech reporter by day and freelance writer by night/weekend. He Tweets compulsively about storytelling and comics as Comics Bookcase.