5 Questions: Kyle Starks
An unspeakable evil is summoned to Earth and the only heroes who can stop it are Marvel’s most loyal animal Avengers. Marvel Unleashed sets to tell the story about a group of unlikely heroes taking on a challenge so formidable that it would have their bipedialed counterparts shaking in their boots.
We caught up with series writer, Kyle Starks, to ask him 5 Quick Questions about the book and your newest obsession ‘D-Dog.’
1. Was it difficult deciding which Marvel animals to select?
There are a ton of great animals in the Marvel Universe, obviously, so it definitely was - and Marvel had certain decrees for character they wanted represented and some of my original picks were transitioned into ones they preferred but in the end I have all the characters I need in place to tell this great story I wanted to tell. There are, obviously, a bunch of great Marve Universe animals out there that didn't make the cut that I'd love to figure out one day, I think.
2. What was the process like writing a story where most of the characters have to use their mouths to do tasks instead of hands?
Haha, that's less a problem than how few of these characters have defined personalities. The no hands thing is a lot easier than the "humans can't understand them" thing, i think though Bats and Throg had me covered there. The biggest challenge, for sure, was figuring out who these animals WERE. As you know I'm very character driven in my stories and you have to have characters to do that. But I think we nailed it, I think I fleshed out a lot of beloved MU animals for the greater good of that comic universe. I hope!
3. With the reveal at the end of issue one, are you excited to take the readers on a more frightful journey than the name suggests?
Oh absolutely. Marvel wanted the "Pet Avengers" to be more than a joke, a legitimate powerful group and to do that you need a huge challenge. And I thought of the biggest one I could to set these characters on that path. My original pitch was, literally, Pet Avengers Go To Hell. But we had to make some minor tweaks there - but, for sure, that's the gist of it.
4. Was the POV of how an animal sees the world Vs human a challenging task and how did it affect your usual approach to storytelling?
I don't' think it was that much of a challenge, honestly. I'm a huge animal lover. I have three big dogs (that may make an appearance in issue 2 MAYBE) - and I think that helps - but more than anything, like I said before - the challenge was to figure out how these characters are fully realized beings. Who they are, what they want, what their desires and motivations are - and when you get that you're just telling a story whether it's a teen bitten by a radioactive spider or a frog granted the powers of a thunder god.
5. Are you prepared for the career-ending backlash if something tragic befalls our sweet sweet D-Dog?
I'm so excited to hear back this type of response on D-Dog because it's 100% what I was shootin for. I think she's inspiring and tragic, optimistic and sad all in one and I adore her. I really adore her.
Only a true monster would ever do something bad to something so sweet.
Marvel Unleashed is available wherever comic books are sold!
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