Green Valley is a comic set in medieval times by writer Max Landis and artist Giuseppe Camuncoli. Published by Skybound at Image Comics, the story follows four knights who are best friends that must defend their kingdom from invading attackers.
The first issue ends on a big cliffhanger, so with the second issue coming out tomorrow, we conducted an email interview with Landis to learn more about the Knights of Keldoia and the new world he's creating.
Warning: this article contains spoilers for Green Valley #1!
Green Valley #1 cover by Giuseppe Camuncoli & Cliff Rathburn. (Skybound, Image Comics)
IGN Comics: This comic feels like there’s more than meets the eye. It starts as a fairly traditional story with knights and castles and battles and romance, grounded in reality, but then things start to change. Could you talk about what kind of story you’ve concocted with Green Valley?
Max Landis: For me, ultimately, it’s an adventure story. I’ve always loved the genre of “adventure” because of how deliberately vague it is; an adventure can include any number of fantasy or science fiction elements, action, thrills, suspense, romance. We cover a number of genres, but within that umbrella, that this is an ADVENTURE. There’s all manner of stuff in there, but ultimately, Green Valley is the story of the friendship of the Knights of Kelodia. Their emotions, their mental states, ultimately decide a lot of the plot.
IGN: I read elsewhere that this idea came to you when you were a child. Do you remembered what sparked the idea? Were there any comics, movies, TV, or songs that influenced this story?
Landis: Of course. In many ways, Green Valley is a direct descendant of the 60s and 70s period adventure movies I watched as a kid; from The Court Jester to Clash of The Titans. It’s also got some Princess Bride in there, some Knight’s Tale, even some Redwall, minus all the rodents of course.
Green Valley art by Giuseppe Camuncoli & Cliff Rathburn. (Skybound, Image Comics)
IGN: The friendships between the four Knights of Kelodia anchor the book. How did you go about creating those characters and their bonds of brotherhood?
Landis: My thinking behind the knights was that they’re one character split into four separate but equal parts. The idea was, initially, I’d create the ultimate archetypal knight, and then dissect him into separate people, who rely on each other for what each one is missing, while simultaneously fitting together seamlessly as a team. Character traits were all born from that; flaws and strengths, hopes and dreams.
IGN: The greater comics community probably knows artist Giuseppe Camuncoli best for his work on Amazing Spider-Man at Marvel. How did you two sync up with him for Green Valley? What makes Camuncoli’s work a good fit for this story set in a medieval setting?
Landis: We searched endlessly for the perfect artist. Sean at Skybound led the charge, and the first time he show’d me Camuncoli’s art I sent him an email essentially begging for him to be the artist on the project. Giuseppe really threw himself into it, too; the beauty of the book starts with him, and he captures that wonderfully almost Walt Disney sense of storytelling, just realistic enough to attach to emotionally but just cartoony enough to be respected as art over verisimilitude. He’s brilliant.
Green Valley art by Giuseppe Camuncoli & Cliff Rathburn. (Skybound, Image Comics)
IGN: You’ve been doing some comics work with DC in the past few years. How did Green Valley wind up at Image with Skybound?
Landis: David Alpert, one of the anchoring pieces of Skybound, was my manager for years. Both of our careers grew exponentially in that time, with David going from manager to producer as he became one of the people behind The Walking Dead, and I became, well, whatever I am now. Green Valley was a script I wrote for a film that David felt really attached to, and he ultimately pitched me the idea of doing it as a comic. I had never thought of it that way, and was of course thrilled by the idea.
IGN: What would you say directly to readers to get them excited to pick up Green Valley?
Landis: It’s beautiful, it’s funny, it’s fun, and it easily has the most, and biggest twists of anything I’ve ever written. If you read Issue #1, you would have NO way to prepare for where we go by Issue #9.
Joshua is IGN’s Comics Editor. If Pokemon, Green Lantern, or Game of Thrones are frequently used words in your vocabulary, you’ll want to follow him on Twitter @JoshuaYehl and IGN.
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