Curt Pires on bringing LOST FANTASY to life

Lost Fantasy, the newest collaboration between writer Curt Pires and artist Luca Casalanguida, behind comics such as Money, comes out from Image Comics at the end of the month.

Set in an epic urban fantasy world, Lost Fantasy explores what happens when magic, myth, and mystery threaten the world as we know it, as the supernatural and fantastical begin to break loose. Only rookie monster hunter Henry Blackheart can stop the forces threatening life itself. Inspired by classic JRPGs such as Final Fantasy VII, the series also features back-up tales that continue Pires’ series Indigo Children, which will appeal to fans of both new and old genres.

The Beat sat down with Pires to discuss some of the influences behind the brand new series. Read on!

This interview has been edited for clarity.

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JARED BIRD: To those unfamiliar, how would you pitch Lost Fantasy?

CURT PIRES: I’d pitch it as a grounded take on fantasy for fans of East Of West and Something Is Killing The Children. It’s a story about the agents who patrol and protect our world from creatures both mythical and monstrous that attempt to cross over into our world—from a magical world that exists beneath the fabric of our own. There’s a little bit of Harry Potter in there too in the element of there being an entire hidden magic reality beneath the fabric of our own. 

BIRD: What was it like to work with Luca Casalanguida?

PIRES: It’s great—Luca is a consummate professional. This is the third book we’ve done together, and it’s shaping up to be our most longform collaboration yet. 

BIRD: Fantasy as a genre has had a bit of a rebirth in comics recently, particularly epic fantasy. What do you think is drawing people to it once more?

PIRES: It’s like you said—fantasy is EPIC. It has scope and scale that’s hard to compete with. I think that fantasy is a very traditional and trope-laden genre, so what we’re seeing now is creators and creatives throwing it in the postmodern blender and finding a way to bring everything that’s cool about fantasy into the present. 

BIRD: How did your love for JRPGs influence the storytelling of the comic? Was it difficult to adapt storytelling methods of that genre to another medium?

PIRES: One thing that I think JRPGs and some of the best comics have in common is that they know how to tap into that childlike sense of epic wonder. So, I’m always trying to do that. We need cool creatures, cool character designs, and most importantly, BIG SWORDS. But really everything should be as visually interesting and exciting as it is dramatically exciting—comics are a visual medium after all. 

BIRD: Did you consciously attempt to make the worldbuilding of the series unique, or did that happen organically?

PIRES: I wanted to tie the history of Terra—the magical world beneath—deeply to our own history, so the world would feel lived in and grounded, and not just some stereotypical fantasy world. One way I think we achieve this is by showing you how at different points in world history the world beneath and our world have interacted and crossed over—including with some famous presidents, etc. 

BIRD: What other works of yours would you recommend to readers who enjoyed Lost Fantasy?

PIRES: I’m really proud of my other works at Image Comics, Olympia and Indigo Children. Both series are collected in trade paperbacks, and I think they will appeal to fans of Lost Fantasy. Other than that, I’m launching another creator-owned comic with Amilcar Pinna in a couple of months through DSTLRY called Galactic, which I’m very excited about. 

BIRD: Thank you so much for your time.

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