INTERVIEW: Emmelene Heron is ready for Carlyle
Image courtesy of Dark Horse / Provided with permission.
The Carlyle School for Kings, the brainchild of writer Nelson Greaves, has been a successful project for Dark Horse, and now the four-issue miniseries has been compiled into one trade paperback edition. Comic lovers can get their hands on this unique story of Emmelene Heron, a daughter of traitors who throws her name into the mix when the Carlyle School for Kings opens up the once-in-three-decades King Cycle competition. In this fantasy world, kings don’t inherit their title; they must earn the top spot, and they do so with amazing feats of heart, strength and mind, according to press notes.
Helping Greaves with the series are artist Davide Castelluccio, colorist Francesca Vivaldi and letterer Frank Cvetkovic.
Recently Hollywood Soapbox exchanged emails with Greaves to learn more about the Carlyle world. As a writer, he has been involved with several TV and film projects over the years, including Unfriended, See, Sleepy Hollow and 24: Legacy, among others. Questions and answers have been slightly edited for style.
What was the genesis for this project? What did day one look like?
I initially conceived of Carlyle in a TV pilot writers group when I was in my mid-20s. The story was inspired by the traumatic college experience I’d had at Harvard, and the minute I put (figurative) pen to paper, the story started flowing out of me. I quickly realized that no one was going to take the enormous swing Carlyle required as a TV show — so I looked for other ways to tell the story and eventually, at the suggestion of my manager, talked to Dark Horse about doing it as a comic.
Once they were on board, day one was me digging through an enormous amount of graphic novels trying to figure out what the heck I was doing. Day two was me floundering to figure out this foreign form, and day three, with the help of my editors, was me finally getting my artistic head on straight and bringing Carlyle to life.
Were you always a fan of fantasy stories?
I’ve always loved fantasy. The reason I went into entertainment was The Lord of the Rings. I used to sit and study it. I just find it so exciting to be able to enter another world. For me, Carlyle aims to take the grandeur and magic of LOTR and translate it into a teenage experience. I wanted to make something that teenage me would flip for.
Right now, there’s a lot of talk of kings in the United States. Does the current political climate play into the series at all?
Carlyle definitely isn’t commenting directly on American politics, but I think it’s looking in an even grander sense into what makes a good leader, what kind of people get to be leaders and how they get those positions. I think that on both sides of the aisle, getting into elected office is more about showmanship, money and connections than sound policy or vision. The biggest fantasy of the comic is really what would our world look like if the people elected were actually the best.
How would you describe the character of Emmelene Heron?
Emmelene is a disenfranchised [teenager] who has never allowed herself to dream that she could be anything but a peasant. She’s a girl who has greatness inside her who can’t see that because of her station in life. When Emme gets to Carlyle, she finally realizes that maybe she could actually be a candidate for the crown. Watching her grow and mature I think is the most satisfying part of the story.
Do you hope the trade paperback does so well that another miniseries is greenlit?
I would love that! It’s been the time of my life working on Carlye, and I’ve already got the series worked out in my head. It would be a dream to dig back in and get to work with the whole team again.
What was it like working with your artistic team to bring this world to life?
Working with the creative team, especially Davide, was one of the most satisfying and productive artistic experiences I’ve had in my career. Creating the world of Carlyle and the nuances of the character was a true collaboration. I learned so much about visual storytelling, both within comics but movies and TV as well.
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
The Carlyle School for Kings, written by Nelson Greaves, is now available as a trade paperback from Dark Horse. Click here for more information.
