A Sitdown with Joshua Fialkov about PACIFIC RIM: TALES FROM THE DRIFT

I recently had a chance to speak to Joshua Fialkov (Last of the Greats, The Bunker) about his newest project, Pacific Rim: Tales From The Drift. Join us as we talk about this book of giant robots and monsters with a very intimate tale of two people at its core.

Matt Mueller: To start off, what drew you to create something in this universe? Were you a big fan of the film?

Josh Fialkov: I am. It has been about 6 months since I’ve taken on any work for hire, so I haven’t been working for anyone else, I’ve got all my creator-owned books that I am doing all over the place, and they keep me super busy. I made an active decision that I’ve gotten to play with every toy I wanted to, I’m good, now I want to play with my toys, and then, the monsters at Legendary called and offered me the chance to work on Pacific Rim, and I was like oh come on, of course, how do you say no to that. It has been amazing to get to work, I mean, I’m a huge fan of the movie. The movie is by far my favorite original piece of science fiction of the past 15 or 20 years probably. It checks so many boxes of things I love. I love monster movies, I love robots, I love war movies. I love apocalypse movies! It is literally four quadrants of me. It is the perfect movie for me. On top of that, getting to work with a story that Travis and Guillermo, Travis who wrote the movie and Guillermo who directed it, getting to work with a story that the two of them approved and is canonical and really a part of the story, and getting to work with them and getting to see the inside of this universe, it has been a real treat for me. I am so thrilled to get the chance to do it. I think everybody says that right? Like everybody says in interviews “well it was the thing I always wanted to do,” but like literally I took it entirely because I wanted to play with the toys. And the best part, it’s written and being drawn, almost all drawn, and being on the other side of it is nice, and it has been an absolute pleasure the whole way through. Legendary is so cool to work with, and it is a bunch of great people who all are really passionate about this universe and really believe in this universe.

MM: So you came in because it is a property you love. Was the plot line already set when you came on? Did you get to help plan that out?

JF: That is pretty close. The broad strokes were definitely there. They knew where the story was going to start and generally where the story was going to end, but within that framework I had a ton of freedom to tell the story the way I want, and what is really nice, the thing I am sort of proudest of with the comic, and again part of what was so great about working with Legendary, as a writer if you look at my books, you look at The Bunker or The Life After or King, you look at those books and they are fairly avant-garde genre books. They’re genre, whether hard sci fi or hard fantasy, but they have a sort of avant-garde or abstract execution, right? Very stylized, and very odd, and Legendary... that is part of why they wanted me. They wanted someone who could come in and tell a story with that sort of brush stroke. So they have been so warm and accepting of the weird way the story is being told, haha. But I think what is cool is the part of how that manifests itself in the book is that I get to tell two stories simultaneously. So what I love and I’m really proud of is that you get to see these two hardened Jaeger pilots who have this clever relationship that is immovable. You also get to see the story of these two pilots when they couldn’t stand each other, and we get to see these two stories play out, with genuine real stakes. It isn’t like one is a flashback that doesn’t matter and one is the present that does. Both are given equal weight, because while we know both will clearly live through the flashback, we don’t know how they get there. The hope is that you want to see these two people, these two people who are again as opposite each other as can be, essentially become one, one unit, and not just compatible, but beyond compatible.

MM: And that is actually one of the things I really liked about the first issue. After seeing the film, which I caught right at the end before it exited theaters after pleading with my wife to come see it, which she did and really enjoyed, but I digress... It is really easy to get lost in just how bombastic in scale the fights and monsters are, that you lose sight of the people who are actually making these Jaegers move. In this book it is actually a very intimate tale of one couple, and even from the first issue there are so many little couple moments that happen while they are trying to not get destroyed by a massive Kaiju, and then during that they are almost getting into a fight. That kind of thing, those little moments, happen every day with your significant other or girlfriend or boyfriend, and that stuff is just great. It’s really fun to see that juxtaposed against all the other stuff that is going on around them while they are piloting a giant robot, haha.

JF: And that is something that, um, for whatever it is worth, that is the reality of my marriage, right? A lot of what is in that book comes from what my wife and I’s relationship is. It is this idea that we found each other and came from very different places, with very different life goals  and very different upbringings, and very different everything, but together we make a team that is unstoppable, and that team is cemented by something that as I say it as a writer you’re like “oh really, that’s what it is?”, but the truth is it's cemented by love. The idea at the core of Pacific Rim is that two people can find each other, and they can bond in a way that is so powerful that they can destroy monsters. That they can slay any dragon. I think that any relationship that has that level of closeness, and trust, and honesty, I think that is what it is. I know that no matter what happens to me or what situation I find myself in my wife is always there for me, and my wife knows the same thing about me, that I’m always going to be there for her. The bedrock of our relationship is that, and I think getting to express that through this big genre explosion is such a cool thing to do and such a cool trick.

MM: Now this is a four part miniseries. Throughout the whole thing does it focus on these two, or is there a revolving cast?

JF: This is their story. It is really the story about Duc and Kaori, and it's about, part of it, I’m going to talk about Legendary business affairs as much as everyone wants me to! Haha, but it’s something that, they want to see if the appetite that they all think is out there is out there. I know it is, and I would love, they have pitches from me for more stuff, like they know what I want to do, and even with my schedule being completely insane, like I will always make time for working on Pac Rim, because I love the universe and the toys so much.

MM: One of the other things that really stuck out is the artwork. It is very unique and distinct, and the actual Kaiju look menacing and deadly, something to be feared.

JF: Marcos Marz and Marcelo Maiolo, who were both good friends of mine, and are both extremely talented guys, have really like, the best part about comics is that what comes out the other end is so dependent on the people who make it. Sometimes you get put into situations where what comes out the other end, the band just doesn’t play well together, right? But I feel the stuff we are doing, and getting to work with Marcos and Marcello, is really like, it’s the Miles Davis Trio, if there was a trio, but you know what I mean, it is literally like the three of us jamming off each other and making something that is super cool and super fun. Like I said, there isn’t a part of this that hasn’t been a complete joy.

MM: What is your favorite part of writing these two in particular?

JF: I like the stuff you talked about actually, the relationship stuff. In the movie you get to see two very separate relationships and you see them at two opposite stages. You get to see them when they are essentially first courting, and when they are first courting they really want it to work. They so want to be able to drift together. And then when you see Raleigh and his brother at the top you are seeing these guys who have literally been together from birth. So the idea of two people who do not want to work together, going from not just not wanting to work together but actively disliking each other, hating each other, going through to being inseparable and being literally being each other's limbs, is such an interesting journey because you get to every step of it. You get to see the beginning, middle, and end of it. You get to see how they achieve that perfect harmony. 

MM: And it does make sense that two pilots that would be stellar would be two people who already know the ins and outs of each other. They know each other’s tendencies. A couple of different times you see this, like when Kaori is talking to Duc and says the passing comment, “Well of course you are going to give up so easily,” those type of comments only come from living with someone for years.

JF: And from knowing each other’s weaknesses right? The most important thing is not only knowing when someone needs picking up but also knowing when someone needs a kick in the ass.

MM: Exactly. I really enjoyed that aspect of the book. It wasn’t necessarily missing from the film, but you don’t really know what you are missing until you see this.

JF: That’s the power of transmedia right? The power of being able to take a franchise or a property that is so strong, and then explore it in other forms, is that you get to explore it using the strengths of those things. In comics, for having the reputation of being books about people punching each other, which I think is what most people generally think about comic books, the most compelling thing in Superman is Superman and Lois. Like that’s the thing that started it, is that he is in love with a woman whose entire purpose in life is to get into danger, like she has none of the powers and none of the fear, and he has all of the powers and all of the fear. That dynamic is what makes him exciting, not the fact that he punches Brainiac, right? That is at the heart of every great comic book. Look at the X-men. What makes the X-Men work when they became great was that it stopped being about “Oh, Society hates us!” and it becomes about “Not only does society hate us, but now I hate you, we hate each other, we can’t get along!” and is very much about that interpersonal stuff, because comics do that really well. So yeah getting to do that and getting to explore that side was really important to Travis, Guillermo, and Legendary as well.

MM: I couldn’t agree more. That interplay between the varying personalities was always what I loved most about the X-Men, and when that aspect is present in any book, I tend to add it to my pull list.

Thanks so much for setting some time aside to talk to me. Looking forward to issue #2.

JF: Thank you so much, really appreciate it!

Pacific Rim: Tales From The Drift #1 is in stores now.

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