AfterShock Comics’ hit sci-fi comic book series, We Live, returns with We Live: Age of the Palladions, set six years after the first series. Written by Inaki Miranda and Roy Miranda with art by Inaki, the first issue is due out Wednesday 9th March with each issue coming out with a different trading card as a bonus.
But, wait, there’s more. It will release as TWO separate number ones, We Live: Age of the Palladions BLACK#1 and We Live: Age of the Palladions WHITE #1. Check out the two different covers, and different previews too, as well as the slightly different synposes before we get into it a little bit more with the Miranda brothers themselves.
We Live: Age of the Palladions BLACK #1 Preview pages:
We Live Age of the Palladions WHITE #1 Preview pages:
“We are back into the hopeful, apocalyptic world of Tala and Hototo.
Year 2090. Six years have passed since Salvation Day, when Palladions, with their majestic powers, emerged as the protectors of humanity, saving the five remaining Megalopolis and securing the future of the human species.
But nothing stays and the horizon always brings a new storm.
These are dark times. Death, famine and desperation lurk around the streets of Megalopolis 9. The shield has lost thirty percent of its reach. The New Nature has learnt to create cuts in the energy channels that power the Beacon and the Palladions. A never-ending horde of beasts siege the remains of the city, increasing the desperation among the population.
The responsibility of keeping the city afloat lies on the shoulders of Generals Nesbo and Terrassa, who have to resort to risky survival measures. Journeying outside of the city in search of food is the only thing that is keeping the population alive, but nothing seems enough.
Fear opens its way through Megalopolis 9 like a great crack of faith that separate more and more the population from the Palladions.
Snow covers the city with a heavy white mantle, invoking oblivion and nothingness.”
So, about this new series? The Miranda brothers explain more and catch readers up to speed on the time jump of six years:
ROY: The story begins six years after the appearance of the Palladions in Megalopolis 9. After an ephemeral time of prosperity, the city faces a new critical situation. We are in the middle of a very delicate moment where a decision will have to be made for the survival of the population. It’s a story that deepens in the concept of heroism; a kind of heroism that few can assume when it needs to be built from a place of defeat. The readers that have followed us since the first arc will see how the universe of WE LIVE has grown along with the characters. Especially our main characters, who have grown physically, but mostly psychologically.
The truth is that we don’t want to reveal too much. We feel that we ourselves have been discovering the story as we were creating it. We have faced moments where we were unsure if we have been inventing it or simply uncovering something that had a life of its own. And we would love for the readers to feel the same.
We don’t know what the readers expect, but we like to think that they’re not expecting what they are about to live.
INAKI: Each season of WE LIVE requires the presentation of a new world, a changed one, with new rules and logic. Earth mutates at an unstoppable rhythm, and the characters are trying to not be left behind; to survive and endure. One of our main concerns when laying out this new arc was how to define a new fantastical reality that at the same time would feel sincere. A world where, even though we have super powered beings, we’d still be able to speak about the heart that defines WE LIVE; the human condition and the tragedies that surround us, and how we face them and what part love plays in the equation. We didn’t want superheroes fighting super villains or street crime. Because the real problem with humanity is a much more endemic and extensive problem. We are our own hell. We wanted the Palladions to feel real, we wanted them to face the same desperations that our species faces. And we wanted them to feel the same powerlessness. That’s why we felt the need to start this season with two simultaneous issues #1. This gives us the correct space to put the Palladions on the same level as the rest of humans.
Megalopolis 9 is under attack from the New Nature. A third part of its territory is in ruins. The population that is still alive is suffering the direct consequences of a siege. Famine starts to be an approaching problem, medicines are scarce, makeshift cemeteries are being built, entire areas have been reconditioned as refugee camps. I don’t think I need to point out the specific parallelisms with our close reality.
And the characters? Where are they at?
ROY: We have dedicated a lot of time to understand how the relationship between Tala and Hototo would develop after Hototo’s transformation. Their individual psychology and also the invisible string that bonds them to each other. We had to learn to look at the world through the lenses of two different realities. One being the perspective of the Palladions (especially in Megalopolis 9) and the other being the perspective of humans; and work them separately. This took us to discover new characters that have been essentials for tying this arc emotionally. Through these new characters we have gone as far as we needed when exploring the limits of human behavior.
And of course… we have a little cool surprise with one of my favorite characters: Humbo.
INAKI: In the epicenter of this epic story, we are back into the immense story of Tala and Hototo. Not only has the changed, but the journey has affected the siblings. Though it hasn’t been able to touch the love that they have for each other; their world is still “them”. This new arc is somehow like a three-ring circus. Everything is happening at once, and the characters are being pushed and pulled by the hurricanes of destiny.
As Roy says, Tala has grown not only externally, but also internally. The psychology of this “new” Tala is complex. We have had an infinity of discussions about who she is in this new arc. And in the end, we realized that the secret to knowing a character is to put her in a scene and let her live and react. The characters will decide who they are and one can only discover it as they unfold. The same happened for Hototo. He now has super powers, but it is the connection with Tala what really defines him.
And apart from the rest of the Palladions readers will meet General Terrassa and General Nesbo; they are partly in charge of the survival of the population of Megalopolis 9, and their decisions might be the only thing that separates their lives form their death. It will be interesting to follow their paths and to analyze who takes the right one.
As for working together? It seems it’a all good. More than good!
ROY: Seeing how he creates the visual universe. When we finally reach the sweet spot where we are both excited with what we wrote, I love waiting to see how he finishes it visually. My imagination is never prepared for what he fabricates drawing it. On the other hand, I enjoy the extreme trust we have achieved when throwing ideas at each other. We are like two gunslingers trying to outdraw the other, we play to see who is quicker and hits the target first.
The toughest moments are when bullets fly by and don’t hit anything … in those moments we just need to trust that one of us will hit the mark eventually. It’s ironic to think that when one fails, all he wants is for the other to win!
INAKI: It’s the pure joy of experiencing creativity in action, to reach the spot where we both smile and get excited with what just happened in the room. Sometimes I find myself with no ideas and no clues… we need something special but I have nothing… so we just start to talk randomly about things we have read or seen… but I know that I have nothing clever… I am simply talking and waiting for Roy to do some magic trick that will put us back on the road to joy.
And then there’s the incredible emotion that comes from being able to share with your own brother the happiness that comes with creating something important.
Look out for We Live: Age of the Palladions BLACK #1 and We Live Age of the Palladions WHITE #1 March 9th from AfterShock Comics.