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Ed Brisson Talks Superhero Legacy In “The Mantle”

Published

11 years ago

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Ed Brisson has been writing comics for years. His incredible talent allows him to tell gut-wrenching stories with five pages. Look no further than his amazing collection Murder Book, for evidence of that. But, next week Ed launches a brand new comic series at Image called “The Mantle.” Which follows a set of superhero powers that imbues itself onto a hapless drunk teenager, Robbie. He’s hit with lightning and wakes to find that he’s been chosen as the new host for The Mantle, a power set of unimaginable scope. Despite his lack of interest, he’s forced into action. The Plague, a being who has spent 50 years killing every previous host of The Mantle, is already coming for him.

Robbie’s not the second person to hold the mantle. He’s not the third. He’s the thirty-eighth. So you can imagine the weight of such a powerset. The responsibility is tremendous and the risk is beyond anything. We sat down with Ed to talk about the genesis of this concept, and what it was like to create an independent superhero comic. This isn’t like anything DC and Marvel publish, and once you finish the first issue you’ll understand why that’s a very good thing.

Bloody-Disgusting: Tell me more about the concept behind the Mantle, and where did you draw inspiration? Why is this the superhero story you wanted to tell?

Ed Brisson: The book was born out of an argument I’d had with a friend. I really like the idea of mantle or legacy style powers that are passed on from one host to another, but usually we don’t get to see much of that happening… if we see it in comics, it’s usually just a brief footnote in the character’s origin story. In this case, we wanted to make it the primary thrust of the story.
I let the idea gestate for a couple weeks, sort of building the world and playing around with ideas. Once I had a handle on it, I hit Brian Level up with the idea and talked it out with him. From the time that the seed of the idea was first planted (July 1, 2014 — I remember the date) until the pitch was together and approved was pretty short. I think that we had it all together and approved in about three months.
Is The Mantle selective or random in its choice? 
EB: The Mantle is less random than it may initially appear, but I don’t want to give away too much.
What keeps killing those who are selected and how long has this been going on?
EB: The thing killing all The Mantles is The Plague, an intergalactic baddie who seems to have a supreme hate-on for The Mantle. He’s hell bent on wiping them out as soon as they appear. The whys, you’re going to have to read to find out.
As to how long it’s been going on — the war against The Mantles has been raging since the 50s. The Mantle has been around for much longer than that, though. No one knows exactly how long it’s been around and where it initially originated from.
The Plague, seems to carry a divine conviction that he is fated to kill The Mantle always and forever, is this a commentary on the perpetual punch fests of superhero comics? And if so, do you see an endgame in mind for The Mantle?
plagueturnaround

Brian Level’s design for The Plague

EB: Yes. It’s a bit of that, but, when all is said and done, The Plague’s rationale will make sense. He has his reasons, which are not necessarily as they might seem from the outside. There is definitely an end game for all involved. The chaotic violence is all happening for a reason.
This first issue we only get a taste of The Mantle’s powers, what more can you tell me about the designation, and why is the mantle so much more important than the other heroes in the book?
The Mantle’s power is limited only by the imagination of the host. So, it could REALLY be anything. To my mind, that’s part of what makes in interesting. You get to see how each person takes it on and utilizes it. No two really seem to use it in the same way. The main defining characteristics is that the power itself tends to generate the costume and most tend to have a forcefield that forms around them while “activated”. Beyond that, the sky’s the limit.
Your work is always rooted in Canada in some way or the other. Do you see yourself as telling distinctly Canadain stories? And if so what parts of your country do you try to inject into your work?
EB: I don’t know if the stories are distinctly Canadian, to be honest. But, I do like to set stories in Canada when I have the option to.
Growing up, I mostly read Marvel, so was used to seeing stories that were almost exclusively set in New York or elsewhere in the United States. Whenever there was something set in Canada, say ALPHA FLIGHT, I would get pretty excited about it. But, for the most part, it always felt like those stories were often written by someone who’d researched Canada and never really spent any time here.
Often, there will be things that are very personal to me in the stories. The Mantle opens in Sudbury in a pub that I used to go see bands at all the time when I was in my 20s.  There’s a scene where Robbie and Jen take shelter under a bridge, across from a train yard, which is a place that me and my friends would sometimes go and drink.
I’ve been told that stories set in Canada (or any country other than the United States) don’t tend to sell as well, but… shrug.
What is it like to work with Brian? There are a few pages here where his work explodes off the page, what was the transition from page to panel like? Was there anything issue #1 where he completely outdid your expectations?
Brian and I have been talking for years. We’ve done three short stories together already — for MURDER BOOK, IN THE DARK and LIBERATOR — and have been talking about doing a series together, but without an idea of what that story would be. When THE MANTLE presented itself, Brian was only artist who I approached on it. If he wasn’t into it, I probably wouldn’t have continued working on it.
characters revised

The supporting characters of the Mantle.

Brian is an amazing collaborator and consummate professional. I’m enjoying my time with him now, because I know that it won’t be long before he’s scooped up by one of the bigger publishers.
There’s not a page in the book that didn’t exceed my expectations. Brian just outdid himself on this book. There’s one page in particular, a pivotal moment in issue #1… where… just… man. Just amazing. When the book comes out, everyone’s jaw’s going to drop when they see that page. I badly want to talk about it, but it would be a huge spoiler. Just…trust me. Buy the book!

Brian was the one who bought in Jordan Boyd to colour the book. Jordan and Brian had been doing some work together and I think that Jordan really understands Brian’s work and they’ve been doing beautiful work together. I was already familiar with his work because he’d been colouring some of Gabriel Hardman’s work and I’ll read anything that man draws.

I feel like we make a nice, tight, three person crew. And it’s been nothing but a pleasure.

 

The Mantle #1 hits this coming Wednesday May 13th, and you can find a preview below.

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Comics

IDW Dark and Paramount Announce New ‘Smile’ and ‘A Quiet Place’ Comic Book Tales

Published

1 week ago

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June 16, 2026

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IDW Dark and Paramount recently joined forces to launch limited comic book tales set in the worlds of Smile and A Quiet Place, and we’ve learned today that they’ll continue hanging around in those franchise universes with two brand new limited series tales.

Entertainment Weekly has exclusively revealed this afternoon that IDW Dark’s Any Given Smile debuts in September, while A Quiet Place: Rising Tides arrives in November.

First up, from writer Stephanie Williams and artist Pablo Collar, Any Given Smile puts a football-themed twist on Parker Finn’s successful Smile movie franchise.

The five-part limited series is “set in January 1995, during the American Arena League football championship game in St. Augustine, Florida. The rising superstar of the Sharks, backup quarterback Dupree, is feeling the pressure from his teammates, the fans, and also the city’s gambling underworld, to whom he owes a considerable debt. Meanwhile, a sports journalist investigates a string of suicides that may be connected to the big game. At the very least, they are connected to a sinister entity that preys on the minds of its victims.”

From writer Declan Shalvey and artist Luke Sparrow, A Quiet Place: Rising Tides will also be a five-issue limited story. The comic book tale “brings the creatures to the Florida Keys, where a father-daughter duo attempt to survive on water in a houseboat.”

EW further details, “This tense family reunion coincides with the arrival of the vicious creatures that hunt through sound. Grace and her dad find safety on the open ocean, but she’ll have to make landfall sooner or later; the father’s oxygen tank and their supplies are running low, while a hurricane swiftly approaches.”

Learn more about both comic books over on Entertainment Weekly.

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