Hypable recently had the chance to sit down with V.E. Schwab and talk about building your own myth in her upcoming new comic book series, The Steel Prince.
Whether you’re a fan of V.E. Schwab’s fantastic Shades of Magic series and desperate for more content in that wonderful, magical world she’s created, or you’re just curious to read a story that has a place called the Blood Coast and bone magicians, V.E. Schwab’s upcoming comic book series The Steel Prince is for you!
The Steel Prince is set in V.E. Schwab’s Shades of Magic world, which features parallel versions of London — each with their own rules: Grey London, a drab realm devoid of magic ruled by mad King George; Red London, where life and magic is revered under the strong Maresh Dynasty; White London, a harsh world where people fight magic, and magic fights back, draining the city to its core; and finally, the menacing Black London, which was consumed by its magic.
The series follows young and unruly Prince Maxim of Red London, who is sent to the lawless city of Verose on the Blood Coast after disobeying the King. There he finds that there is such a thing as a fate worse than exile.
We had the chance to sit down and chat with author V.E. Schwab about writing Maxim’s journey, where she got her inspiration and what she hopes readers will take away from his story.
As you were writing the ‘Shades of Magic’ series, did you always have this backstory for Maxim?
No, I didn’t. This is one of those things where I always knew I’d have a scene between Maxim and the ambassador in Book 3 and they were going to talk about legends. And the ambassador was going to say that he knew Maxim’s story and Maxim is surprised by this — he says you never know what people are going to remember about you.
So, we knew that he was a distinguished military figure and then I just needed something because I needed this conversation, so I realized that I needed to think of three things that made up the Steel Prince’s reputation. And then I just made three things up on the spot.
From there, I started thinking about what he could’ve done on the Blood Coast, in this place where he defined his reputation. And really I just thought — well, what’s the coolest sounding things I could make up?
Then I started jotting down notes for a backstory. But until I wrote that scene, I had nothing for him. I just knew he was a military leader. But as I was writing it, I realized that I wanted to do something with this backstory so badly.
So, then you decided on making a comic book?
Not exactly. We knew we were gonna do the Threads of Power book arc next, and I thought that we couldn’t go backwards and forwards at the same time in book form, which means I had to pick. I thought a sequel series was a stronger direction that a prequel series.
But I still had this strong story and I was thinking about doing short stories or maybe a novella, and then Titan approached me and asked if I ever thought about doing comics. They asked if there were any other stories I wanted to do in Shades of Magic and I was like — wait a second! I could do a comic set in my own world? And they were like, yes, of course — the series is so popular that you could definitely have a comic series set in it.
And it just never occurred to me that I would ever be able to do a comic book series set in my world. So, when they asked if I had any stories to tell from that series, it just happened that I had been working on this random Steel Prince scene and I thought about how cool it would be to take on Steel Prince.
What drew you to telling the story about this character specifically?
I want to take this character who is, in many ways, an antagonist through the Shades of Magic series and see what he was like at Rhy’s age because him and Rhy butt heads so badly. And I just kept thinking about how Rhy in the Shades of Magic series is building his own myth and becoming mythical in his own ways and becoming a king.
So then, how did Maxim become a king? And can I do what I did with Holland and undermine our assumptions about a character by telling the backstory? So, my interest in this is basically the comic opens with Maxim being sent to the Blood Coast because he is concerned that the doors between the worlds are going to open again — which ends up being the whole plot of Shades of Magic.
And of course, his father doesn’t listen. Maxim wants to handle this because he feels like if they don’t, someone else will — and his father is just all about worrying about their own world. And so, the fact that his father makes that choice for him is half the reason why everything in Shades of Magic happens.
I also wanted to show Maxim — he’s proud, he’s bombastic but he’s never been truly challenged. And now I’m going to ship him off to the Blood Coast and how is he going to make his name and stay alive?
Do you see this as an entry point for people who have never read the ‘Shades of Magic’ series?
So, the reason for that spread in the beginning which shows how the worlds came apart is because this is a comic set entirely in Red London, so if you didn’t have that background, then first, the conversation between Maxim and his father doesn’t make much sense. And two, you might not know there are any other Londons, and that’s really a crucial part of this.
It also got me thinking — I’d love to do a comic set in White London, or maybe look at Black London before it fell, because we never get to see it alive. So, those initial panels were really to establish that backstory of the four different Londons.
Then, in each of the issues, the idea is to have a spread that tells you what you need to know about the Shades of Magic world. So when we meet the Pirate Queen, we learn that she is a bone magician and that bone magicians are forbidden. We learn why they’re forbidden. Over the course of the series, you’ll get to know all the kind of cardinal rules of magic for the world if you didn’t know the world already.
What’s one thing you want people to take away from Maxim’s character in the course of this series?
That he’s young and that none of us were always the age we are. We see him as a fruition in Shades of Magic and we get a little bit of his best in Conjuring of Light. But I think with this series, it really shows the dynamism of a person and shows that people change.
So I encourage people who feel like they hate Maxim to remember that they also hated Holland when they first met him because they only get one piece of him. You don’t really start to like him until Book 3 and they learn who he was and that’s the same way with Maxim.
I mean, he’s still kind of a dick — that’s the thing. Maxim isn’t Rhy. When you meet him, he’s a total dick — he’s an only child, he fancies himself a military trained leader but he’s only ever run through exercises. And all of a sudden, he’s sent to the edge of the empire, this violent place where he has a lot to learn.
So I hope people go in knowing that I know he’s a dick, but he’s not evil. He’s very proud, but he’s also very intensely moral and he’s guided by principal.