Cecil Castellucci takes Loma Shade on the road in Shade the Changing Girl Vol. 2: Little Runaway!
Shade the Changing Girl Vol. 2: Little Runaway is available now! Here is what Cecil Castellucci had say about the second volume:
How did you approach writing this second volume, and how was that different than the first?
At the core, the approach to writing both books was the same. My process doesn’t change too much. Once we decided she’d go on the road, I knew that she would look for Honey, a woman who has been her spiritual confidante not only in the first arc, but also from her youth. So I wanted to delve a little into nostalgia and longing for something that you love that was never there. That was the scaffolding that I set arc two on, amongst other things (Meta, aliens, Mellu’s ever search for the madness.)
How has Loma Shade changed and evolved since the first volume? How does she continue to change and evolve in this one?
With the first arc, we are with a girl who is getting used to her new body, so you’re right, it’s very fish out of water. (Or bird in new sky!) It also kind of mirrored how when we are a teenager, we are kind of awkward in our own skin. But with the second volume, we wanted to get back to the core of what made Loma want to leave Meta in the first place. Visiting Earth because she is obsessed with Rac Shade and also with Honey from Life with Honey.
That innate sense of wandering. That swap you need to see the world through someone else’s eyes. In the end, Loma comes into her own body. There is a loss that comes from that kind of change. That life experience. But she’s gaining some things, too.
What personal experiences motivate you or provide inspiration for writing this series?
I think with Shade, you really have to look deep into your heart and push it to the limit and find the poetry there. Everyone carries a bit of madness within them. So I try to dig deep into the own moments in my own life where things were a bit off kilter and I went a bit mad and looked to that as a guide for how to imbue some solid care into the crazy.
What do you like best about writing this series? What do you like about writing Loma Shade, specifically?
Working with Marley Zarcone is one of the greatest pleasures. I love to write for her and to see and marvel at how she pushes the narrative that we’re creating off the page. She continually surprises and delights me. It is fun to write Loma and to try to find the poetry and to grapple with the question “What does it mean to be human?” Loma is such a complicated bird. She’s come to Earth to have big feelings because she doesn’t think she feels anything but of course she feels it all. Loma’s madness is something that almost makes her see things more clearly. Especially as it all rushes in at once. She’s so fun to write. I would say Loma is juicy.
Other than Loma, who is your other favorite character to write and why?
I am in love with River and with Lepuck. River is just the kind of friend that I love. Someone who is open and curious and game to see the world in a new way. I just think he is such a good guy. Doesn’t mean he doesn’t mess up, but he’s willing to evolve and to change. And Lepuck is just an open beautiful heart of a character. His stubborn, impossible love for Loma is infuriating and that makes him complicated to write and when you are a
writer those are the most delicious characters to write. The ones that drive you to the brink.
As a longtime fan of Batman comics, it was so exciting for me to visit Gotham and see it through Loma’s eyes. What was it like to visit such an iconic locale through her point of view?
It was fun to go to Gotham and to reference the cowl without actually doing a Batman story. It’s fun to think that Loma exists in this larger DCU but also holds her own space. She of course doesn’t so much care about it being Gotham. She’s just cares about it being Earth and that she’s wandering. And that’s what made it fun. To visit a place but to come to it in unexpected terms. To skirt the bat.
What do you hope readers learn or take away from Loma Shade in this volume? And what do you hope readers learn or take away from this story arc?
I would hope that a reader sees a character who is experiencing a growth spurt. An evolution of sorts. A change. And that we see that when we go get lost and seek to ask questions that there are answers but they are never what we think. I hope that they take away that we can come into our own when we want to, even if it is not who we expect to become.
About ‘Shade the Changing Girl Vol. 2: Little Runaway’
Shade hits the road in these stories from issues #7-12 of the acclaimed new series from DC’s Young Animal! After her high school friends made it clear they didn’t want her around, Shade realized she doesn’t want to be there anyway. Map in hand, she decides to explore America. First stop: Gotham City. The city’s population may have seen its fair share of madness, but never like this. The only thing Shade didn’t factor in is that embracing her powers ends up signaling her home planet as to her whereabouts, and Meta police are going to come looking for her stolen coat.
Shade the Changing Girl Vol. 2: Little Runaway is out now! Buy it now from DC Comics, Amazon, or your local independent bookstore!
Fan of our book coverage? Why not join our Hypable Books Facebook group!
We want to hear your thoughts on this topic!
Write a comment below or submit an article to Hypable.