Kali is one of the newest and one of the coolest looking new webcomics we have coming out here at 5D. With a page once a month, this awesome story is gonna unfold throughout the year, and based on what creator Erica Crockett told me in a recent interview, it looks like we’re gonna be on one hell of a ride!
(Interview by Ari Carr)
AC: Tell me about Kali. What sort of story can the readers expect from you?
EC: Kali is one of my older graphic story ideas. It’s several years in the making, having had setbacks and bumps along the way to seeing it made. I would say that Kali is very typical of my sort of storytelling. It deals with violence, issues surrounding babies and children, sexuality, and it’s heavily influenced by spirituality and cultural norms outside of the Western worldview. Readers can expect a lot of blood and a lot of twists in the plot.
AC: You have one hell of an opening gambit with Kali! Will it always be so action packed and mysterious?
EC: I like my beginnings to really strike the reader. The preteen narrator that we know only as Kali needs to share some of her world to lay the foundations for the rest of her tale. As the pages get inked, more plot will unfold. But action-packed mystery will certainly be a major factor in the series.
AC: What influenced you to write Kali?
EC: Kali came about when I was looking into travel to India. I was also enamored with mandalas. Couple all that with an interest in gangs of children and it sort of fell into place. I liked the idea of the youngest members of society having the most power and what that would do to a community of desperate people.
AC: How does it differ from your other work?
EC: The narration of Kali is more delicate than a lot of my other pieces. Part of that is due to the voice I hear from the second youngest, our narrator. She wields a sickle, takes the heads of babies, but at her core, she’s more than a brute strong-arm of her boss. I’ve also never written from the perspective of someone as young as Kali. However, with the world she lives in, that innocence of youth is long gone.
AC: What sets Kali aside from other webcomics?
EC: I think the primary difference that readers will see as the comic progresses is the sheer depth to the story. I’m not saying this to come off as snotty or more literary than other creators of webcomics, but when I began Kali I planned layers deep. This story involves Hindu mythology, struggles with puberty, use of mandalas as sigils, infanticide. And these are just some of the tropes showing up in the comic. This is no weekly laugh strip.
AC: How does Kali fit in at Fifth Dimension?
EC: David Brown and all the other great talents involved at Fifth Dimension always have me impressed with their professionalism and their consistent, quality work. I’m happy to have Kali join ranks with all the goodies already in play on the site.
AC: What has your experience of creating Kali been like?
EC: It’s been rough getting Kali off the ground. I had some rocky starts and stops with other artists but I’m happy with the work of [artist] Jason Themm and [letterer] P.A. Nolte. I couldn’t bring these homicidal street kids to life without those guys. It’s been nothing but a pleasure since we started this venture earlier this year.
AC: Why did you decide on a monthly release for Kali? I know I’ll be waiting with baited breath!
-EC: Part of the reasoning behind a monthly release is due to limitations on Jason’s time he can throw at the story. This is fine by me. I juggle writing other comic scripts, short stories and novel rough drafts myself. A weekly release would be lovely, but the monthly roll-out lets us release pages of consistent quality and let the interest in Kali build into a roiling boil!
AC: Do you have any plans for a physical copy?
EC: I’d love to see Kali in physical form. If all goes well and we get good feedback from readers, there is always the possibility of collecting arcs into anthologies. If I had it my way, Kali would be several anthologies long. But I’m only one part of the puzzle. Hopefully there will be hard copies of Kali on many bookshelves sometime in the not-so-distant future.
AC: Lastly, do you have any teasers for us readers? What can readers expect from Kali?
EC: Ah, what can you expect from Kali? Well, lots of people die. The end. No, really, as the story unfolds you will get more of Kali’s past, see The Youngest in action, and learn what Kali is willing to do for her boss and what pushes her over the edge. All of this will be set against a background of a seething populace anxious for a new social order. And there will be a VERY awkward one-sided preteen romance. You’ve all been warned.
Thanks for checking out another 5d creator interview! I’d like to personally thank Ari Carr for all her hard work and dedication.
If you want to dive into the world of ‘Kali’, you don’t have to go far because you’re already on it’s home site…here is a link anyway: https://fifthdimensioncomics.wordpress.com/2014/02/09/kali-the-start-of-something-beautiful/
As always, please check out our creators other work and give them your support. Indie only survives if fans of the work are into it!
Twitters:
Erica Crockett – https://twitter.com/EricaCrockett
Jason Themm – https://twitter.com/jthemm
P.A. Nolte – https://twitter.com/PANolte
Ari Carr – https://twitter.com/Ariellalphabet
5d Comics – https://twitter.com/5dComics
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