Emma Kubert teams up with Frank Miller in Pandora
Frank Miller’s a household name when it comes to comics and the comic industry. The creator of Sin City, Ronin and his iconic The Dark Knight Returns and Year One Batman runs have definitely made their mark both on the comic industry and on the character of Batman himself. Miller is back in the spotlight to tout his new independent imprint Frank Miller Presents.
He plans on rolling out four new series in the next 12 months. Some of them are nods to past work, such as a sequel to Ronin and a story set in the world of Sin City. But a new story, titled Pandora is what I’m most excited about. Mainly because it’s got one of my favorite creators attached to it: Emma Kubert! That last name should ring a bell. Her father is the comic artist Andy Kubert and her grandfather the legendary Joe Kubert. Comics are very much in her blood.
I discovered Emma Kubert a few years ago. My wife has always been a fan and introduced her to me via Instagram. She was coming out with her creator owned comic then through Image named Inkblot about a mysterious magical cat. I think I’ve collected every issue thus far. She’s also worked on DC titles Superhero Girls and Teen Titans Go! and most recently serializing a semi-autobiographical comic on Tapas named Brushstrokes. When I saw the news of her new comic hit this morning I shot her a message on Insta congratulating her. She wrote back saying, “Yessss!!!! Thank you so much!!”
What she isn’t talking too much about are the details of Pandora. It’s being generally described as a “dark fairy tale.” On Comicsbeat.com, who first announced the news, they quoted Kubert saying, “Pandora is about Annabeth, ‘a young girl who is unfulfilled in her life, and she’s searching for more. She’s searching for a perfect world for her to live and thrive in. But as she’s searching for that world, everything around her starts falling down the rabbit hole of not being what it seems. It’s something that I think a lot of people find themselves getting into, constantly searching for perfection, and it causes chaos.'”
Drawing chaos isn’t new to Kubert either. Her creator owned comic Inkblot is all about a chaos. Just in the form of a cat. That story takes place in a fantasy world that contains several different lands and planes, with a cat at its center that seamlessly-yet aimlessly- traverses them (and time as well) on a whim. Portals are opened to other worlds and terrible creatures are released upon an innocent race of people who don’t understand why or what is going on, time and time again. Yet at the center of all that chaos is this little wide eyed cat who’s only response is always, “Mow?”
Inkblot isn’t a solo project though. I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention her partner in life and in work, Rusty Gladd, who’s the co-creator, an inker and artist in his own right. Inkblot is the creation of their combined talents.
For Pandora though, Kubert will be teaming up with a different creative team. Frank Miller is behind Pandora‘s concept, but the writing team attached are Anthony Maranville and Chris Silvestri. All this to say, I’m pretty stoked.
The series will debut in December with the first of three 48 page prestige format issues. You don’t want to miss this comic or this creator. Find Emma Kubert on Instagram @emmakubert and her partner Rusty Gladd @rustygladd.