Can two warring factions ever truly coexist after the fallout of conflict? Framed in a fantastical world of humans and giants, that is a question at the heart of the comic Huge Detective, debuting later this summer from Titan Comics. Written by Adam Rose, with art by Magenta King, and lettered by DC Hopkins, Huge Detective follows a world that’s healing after the Omega Event, a brutal war between humans and giants that lived beneath the Earth. The war is over and the two races attempt to live together in a state of peace in a new state that becomes home to both human and giant alike.
At the center of Huge Detective are two sleuths—one human, one giant—who attempt to get to the bottom of a series of murders and disappearances plaguing the United States. In the tradition of investigative fiction like True Detective, Huge Detective looks to use fantasy to examine deeper issues that hit at the crux of all of us, whether you’re human or giant.
I spoke with Adam Rose recently about the idea behind Huge Detective, collaborating with the creative team, the world-building process of the comic, and how a nightly story time with his children sparked the genesis of Huge Detective.
We’re really excited for this one, as the preview pages paint a world that’s grounded and surreal, looking to provide a unique reading experience that breaks away from the rote and predictable. There’s a majesty and somberness to those pages that leaves us wanting to explore this armistice between giants and humans further.
FreakSugar: For folks considering picking up the book, what is the conceit of Huge Detective?
Adam Rose: If you want to discover a world whose history is as fantastically rich as its present and just as filled with mystery, then Huge Detective is the book for you. Yes, it’s a detective noir and sci-fi fantasy mash-up, and with Magenta King’s incredible art, this comic is able to make the art form explode off the page. You will see characters confront horrors both external and internal, in the best possible ways that a comic can provide. Additionally, the history of this world since the Omega Event is embedded in every panel and page. From the graffiti on the walls of an abandoned building to the side of an oil tanker, you will find Easter eggs telling the story of this world and the fresh wounds of the clash between humans and the Huge.
FS: You have an interesting cast of characters—which you’d expect with a book called Huge Detective. What can you tell us about who we’ll meet?
AR: [Artist] Magenta [King] and I put a lot of thought into these characters. Tamaki is a brilliant detective, soured by the tragedies of the world and her own personal life. She is challenged by the responsibility of caring for an aging father while maintaining a relentless job that has now thrust a Huge into her figurative backyard. Detective Gyant has his own personal struggles at home and a former addiction that could become more than a problem in his new partnership and journey through the human world.
FS: The preview art is just gorgeous. What has been your collaboration been like with the creative team?
AR: Magenta King has been an artist I have admired since I first saw his work on Jenny Zero. From the get-go, we both knew we wanted to be co-creators on this project. Since he lives in Brazil and I live in Los Angeles, we have been meeting on Zoom and building out the world of Huge Detective down to the tiniest details. We’ve discussed so many elements of the pages, panels, and storytelling of this book. Magenta and I quickly learned that we both speak the same comic language. Any reference to Western comics or manga as forms of inspiration is immediately understood by one another. Working with Magenta has been a dream come true collaboration.
As far as the lettering, DC Hopkins is a brilliant letterer and a patient one! He worked with me on my Source Point Press series, Corollary and I could not ask for a more insightful letterer!
FS: I love the premise of the book, but how did it come into creation? Did it come to you whole cloth?
AR: At bedtime, I do a lot of storytelling with my son and daughter. On one particular tuck-in night, my daughter and I riffed on a story about a world of giants, and the fuse was lit from there. I pretty much didn’t stop writing until I had the entire first arc of the series written and have plenty more to tell in the future!
FS: The press release description for the book name drops influences such as The BFG and Chinatown. Are there other inspirations you can point to that might have impacted Huge Detective?
AR: True Detective, The Big Sleep, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime, and Alien Nation are the first to jump to mind.
FS: This seems like it’d be a fun ride of a book to work on. What’s been your favorite part of writing it so far?
AR: Oof, that’s tough… I can’t pin it down to one specific part. The psychological journeys of Tamaki and Gyant come to mind. They both struggle with what haunts them from their pasts, and those pasts dovetail in interesting ways.
FS: What are you reading right now?
AR: I am almost finished with Percival Everett’s James….it is incredible writing. I just finished Whalefall and as far as comics, I am excited to get reading volume two of Shiro Moriya’s Soloist in a Cage and Keeping Two by Jordan Cane. As a comic process junky, I am also loving Michel Fiffe’s Creating Copra.
FS: Are there any other projects coming down the pike that you would like to promote?
AR: I do have a couple of projects I am very excited about and should have more concrete news to share soon. In the intersecting world of comics and movies, I am having a blast working as a film consultant on a particular big comic character, but the NDA has me keeping mum for now. I will definitely let you know when I can talk about it. It has required a deep dive into some old and new comics that span multiple decades.
FS: If you had one final pitch for Huge Detective, what would it be?
AR: In the grand scheme of things, we all need to be reminded of how truly small we are and, at the same time, how big a difference one person can make. Read Huge Detective, and your eyes will pop out of your head with delight at the scope and scale of what’s possible in the world of comics.
Huge Detective #1 debuts Wednesday, August 1, 2024, from Titan Comics.
From the official issue description:
AN ALL-NEW DETECTIVE NOIR OF GIGANTIC PROPORTIONS! CHINATOWN MEETS THE BFG IN AN ORIGINAL SERIES!
Something HUGE is coming!
When a string of murders and disappearances sweep the United States, a human and a giant with sizable detective skills are on the case!
After a race of giants emerged from deep sleep beneath the earth, a bloody conflict ensued in what became known as THE OMEGA EVENT. Eventually, a treaty is resolved and the state of Brobdingnag is created, allowing humans and giants to co-exist harmoniously.
Yet tragedy threatens to shatter the peace, and an unlikely partnership is formed between Detectives Tamaki and GYANT.
As the pair attempt to stop the criminal AT LARGE, they find themselves involved in a mystery BIGGER than either could imagine.