Humans often look to the stars when marveling at the expanse of the existence, but Eisner Award-winning comic creator Emma Rios knows that the depths of the oceans’ trenches hold just as many mysteries.

In her upcoming graphic novel Anzuelo, out next Wednesday from Image Comics, Rios pens and illustrates a story of The Sea, with secrets and complexities barely known to humanity. What happens when the depths call what’s above, pulling in everything in its path? What is to become of three children not folded into The Sea? How will they change and grow and transform those survivors? Azuelo is at times gorgeous and awe-inspiring and unnerving and hopeful and will be on many reviewers’ “Best of 2024” lists. It’ll certainly be on mine.

I spoke with Emma Rios about the idea behind Anzuelo, the themes of isolation and trauma the graphic novel explores, the draw of The Sea as focus of her story, and drawing on personal experience to shape the tale.

Anzuelo stayed with me for days after reading, which is telling, considering the volume of comics and graphic novels I consume in a given month. What Rios has produced here is part work of art and part inspirational tale that speaks to the perseverance of the human spirit in the face of the unknown.

 

ANZUELO cover

 

FreakSugar: For folks considering picking up the book, what is the conceit of Anzuelo?

Emma Rios: Anzuelo is a story about good people growing ties and love out of the trauma of having gone through a catastrophe together. It’s also a reflection about violence from the less common premise of trying to prevent it at all cost, since this behavior is their last link to their former lives.

FS: The conceit of the book is incredibly novel and pulls the reader in—just like The Sea. What was the genesis of the story?

ER: Originally, it was more akin to a classic sea-horror adventure set on a boat, emphasizing the intimacy yet isolation implied when sharing such small space in the immensity of the ocean.

Ultimately, these concepts gradually began to consume me and made me want to reflect differently about adversity. About how a desperate situation can still be addressed from the stance of humanism.

FS: What can you tell us about the characters we meet in the book?

ER: The story is pretty choral but focusing on the main three, Nubero, Lucio and Izma, I tried to build them as deeply sympathetic characters. They face problems in very different ways, but all of them try hard to keep afloat not for their own sake, but to help the others stay alive and hopeful. I think this helps them grow a deeper and more dynamic relationship that strays from more conventional notions of a family.

FS: The look of the book is just gorgeous. How did you land on how you wanted to present your story?

ER: The themes I wanted to talk about were getting pretty dark so I thought the best way to approach them was aiming for a somehow oneiric atmosphere, to create a contrast. This way, I think I was able to match the character’s own gentle perspective of the world, and make the few depictions of the violence growing in the background more significant.

I love watercolors and I’ve been flirting with them for quite a while, but the technique is so difficult to control. I admit the book, being this long, pushed me to the edge a little.

I’m so grateful to my homie and incredible artist Luis Yang, who was a huge help cleaning the pages by adding the digital whites to the gutters.

 

 

FS: Following up on that, what is your process? Is there a particular mindframe you have to be in when sitting down to work on Anzuelo?

ER: I finally focused on writing and drawing Anzuelo right after finishing the last arc of Pretty Deadly, which happened to be 2020, when time seemed to have stopped for everyone. If I’m totally honest, the surrounding circumstances made it feel like a Stanislavski method approach at times. A very specific mind frame 24/7. To deal with that it was helpful to go outside. I used to walk by the beach, and go to a cafe nearby when it was open. I thought up the story and did most of the layouts there, in notebooks.

FS: As gorgeous as the book is, it’s so often heartwrenching, so much so that I had to step away occasionally. I think that’s indicative of a great story, one that makes us confront an array of emotions. (Not really a question, just a compliment!)

ER: Ha ha, thanks for sharing! Being so immersed in the story, it is very difficult for me to guess how a scene or a dialogue can speak to the people reading it. So it truly is a gift knowing the book made you feel things.

I remember asking editor and dear friend David Brothers, “Do you think this works on an emotional level?” “Do you care for the kids?” on a regular basis. Working with him gave me much confidence and support. We truly don’t give the editor’s role enough value.

FS: You both write and draw the book. How does your art impact the story and vice versa?

ER: It works differently, in a more organic way. So instead of writing it, I mostly work with dialogue and layouts, by giving the images the most narrative weight possible. The acting, the pacing, the landscape. I sometimes play with text and images happening simultaneously, to tell different things as well. It’s very difficult to attempt this if you don’t have full control.

This time, I also wanted to indulge myself with all the precious freedom Image Comics lets us to work with, not only creatively but also regarding time and format. So even if I carefully planned the story, I deliberately left a lot of parts vague, to develop on the go, letting the characters take the lead in a more playful way.

FS: Were there any personal experiences or beliefs about nature or the sea that guided your desire to tell this particular tale?

ER: I love animals and live by the Sea in the northwest coast of Spain. In my hometown, the Sea is thought to be beautiful, mysterious and threatening. Fishing, being a traditional way of life here, as well as a basic and increasingly scarce resource, makes many people live under submission to the “will” of the Sea itself. Our folklore speaks of the drowned, and superstition and religion make the recovery of missing bodies a painful and urgent concern.

I wanted to reflect on this feeling by turning it into a fantasy of mesmerizing and dangerous dependance.

FS: What are you reading right now?

ER: After playing Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree this summer, the hangover made me go back to reading Michael Moorcock’s Tale of Eternal Champion. I’ve been revising the six novels with Corum as the main character, as well as the old Chronicles of Corum comics by Baron and Mignola, Shainblum, Jill Thompson etc… It’s been really wild to go back to this stuff. I’ve also been reading the new horror anthology by Mariana Enríquez which is called Un lugar soleado para gente sombría, I’m not sure if this one was released in English yet.

I’ve been obsessing over a few manga titles as well: the new Taiyou Matsumoto excellent Tokyo These Days, the dystopian wonder which is Fool Night by Kasumi Yasuda and the old Kamen Rider Black by the always fascinating Shotaro Ishinomori.

FS: Are there any other projects coming down the pike that you’d like to discuss?

ER: I already have a new project eating my brain but I need time to recover from Anzuelo first. Actually I’m still adapting it to Spanish myself, these days, and also back to working on the last two arcs of Pretty Deadly with Kelly Sue. The first one is an origin story with Alice taking the lead, set when the Vikings first reach the coast of America. The final one will take place during the Great Depression and we will finally tie everything together. It’s exciting stuff.

FS: Beyond being entertained, what do you hope readers pull from the book?

ER: I think violence is normally addressed very lightly in fiction. I do that too, in other books like Pretty Deadly, where it is really fun to work with to recreate visceral aesthetics. But when it comes to figuring out situations in which inflicting damage is approached more naturally, it shouldn’t feel that easy. It’s not that easy for an animal to die, and it doesn’t magically turn into food. It’s also hard to inflict physical pain on others if you are not threatened, trained or are used to living under conflict. It’s true that Nature’s unintended spite is merciless, but human empathy instead of making us weak can help us gather strength to keep living, by helping others, making bonds and finding moments of joy despite our own vulnerability and fear. In these moments in time in which we are all witnesses of unbearable brutality, we can’t think of violence as something that can make a change.

If Anzuelo could reach someone and get them to reflect a little on these themes, I could finally face this ridiculous amount of time and work with no regrets. It would make everything worth it.

FS: If you had one final pitch for the book, what would it be?

ER: After the Sea actively rises in an attempt of “rewilding” the entire planet, Anzuelo focuses on

the story of a few people that, while going through a series of unsettling experiences, find in kindness and love the anchor to counter the loss of the social structures that once guided their ordinary lives.

Anzuelo goes on sale Wednesday, November 6th, 2024, from Image Comics. And sure to our exclusive reveal of the Spotify playlist for Anzuelo!

From the official graphic novel description:

A gorgeous and brutal story that revolts against the notion of violence as the only response to a life without hope.

The Sea, secretly more complex than anyone imagined, rises one day. The horizon folds as the Sea absorbs the world and transforms everything that’s been pulled inside it. Three kids find themselves unmoored and lost, but brought together by the physical and mental changes wrought by the tides and a desire to avoid harming any living creature.

ANZUELO is the new graphic novel by the Eisner award-winning cartoonist EMMA RÍOS (PRETTY DEADLY, MIRROR, I.D.).