Y’all—
It’s the first Tuesday of the month, so you’d better believe it’s Trading Card Tuesday here at the New Futurists! Today we’re bringing you the story of the eeriest team in the Omniverse— the Eldritch! I had SO much fun creating these character with Luis and I’m very excited to introduce you to them. This week’s “Drawing Board” is jam-packed with juicy behind-the-scenes notes!
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Now on to this week’s feature! Straight from the Ridgeview Academy for the Paranormally Afflicted: don’t call them uncanny! They’re the strangest students of them all— the Extraordinary Eldritch!
Ben Bolling: Working on the Eldritch has been— hands down— my favorite character development project in the Omniverse. Early on in our collaboration, I realized that Luis and I were both X-Men fans, so I anticipated having a lot of fun creating our superhero school. I had no idea just how MUCH fun it would be.
I didn’t give Luis too terribly much to work with on the front end. Sorry about that Luis! Haha! Originally, we had planned for Stellar and her rift with the Defender being the focal point for this card’s art. But after seeing the awesome team card that Luis created for the Champions of Justice, I really wanted to see what he would do with the Eldritch.
In lieu of the original team that was rescued from the Majestic 13 in 1962, I suggested we focus on an “all-new, all-different” lineup akin to the Giant Size X-men #1 crew that debuted in 1975. Like the ‘75 X-Men, I wanted this new generation of Eldritch to be international. Beyond that, all I gave Luis was five codenames. From those scant details, he produced magic!
Luis Valero-Suarez: I definitely came up with a few backstories and powers for these characters while also trying to go with the names you provided. This team I could see myself designing their graduation suits where they ditch the uniforms and get their own individual costumes.
BB: Oh wow. I would DEFINITELY love to see that. I was going on about the New Mutants’ graduation costumes just a few days ago! I’m going to pencil in a follow-up for this team of Eldritch in our future plans. Okay, so tell us about each character. Oh and by the way, I came up with government names for these people if you didn’t suggest one in your notes!
LVS: SALVO - (Rex Garrett) The Leader. Bruiser & Tactician. I wanted him to look very stoic. We talked about this team being primarily people of color so I made the leader Indigenous / Native American. He's very Scott Summers. Very responsible, tactical, observant and very committed to their mission. He's got a bit of a chip on his shoulder, feeling the need to make Defender proud and live up to his legacy. He really feels the pressure not only to make Defender proud but also not to lead his team to their demise (like the first team of Eldritch). In terms of powers, I believe I envisioned him having the ability to generate constructs, mostly using it to create weapons and armor. Similar to Armor from X-Men, Green Lantern, and even Kamala Khan in the MCU.
BB: I’m a sucker for Dani Moonstar (Mirage) of the New Mutants, so having an Indigenous leader feels so right! Salvo is dripping with the Scott Summers leadership angst and I can’t get enough of it!
LVS: SQUALL - (Rocco Aguilar) The Wildcard. Elemental. Going by the definition of squall being a gust of wind, I gave him long curly hair that I thought would look really cool in action flowing all crazy in the wind. I see him as being the rebel of the group. He's a rockstar. And he's very confident. Maybe a little too confident. And just a bit too eager to jump into the action. I also made him Latino. And his name is Rocco. I could see his hero name being Whirlwind, Tempest or Gale. Maybe he can go by the Spanish versions of those words? El Huracan (The Hurricane), Tempestad (Tempest), El Ventarron (Gale). Zephyr could be cool though that's more of a light breeze but it could be used ironically. Actually, literally just thought of this, it could be fun if he goes by Category 5. Maybe it started out as a cheeky nickname by the other students (not just because of his powers but his very kinetic personality) and it just stuck.
BB: Rocco’s attitude is on point! He commands my attention in the team shot. I really like the idea of him adopting a Spanish codename. If Kate Pryde can change her name every other issue, let Rocco be whoever he wants to be! Aerokinesis— controlling wind— is a cool power for the cocky guy. They tend to be tanks on most teams, so I really like Squall having to learn finesse when using his abilities.
LVS: CHYMERA - (Cynthia Amadou) The Support. I believe I had her as a shapechanger like Array but more like Beast Boy where it's primarily animals. Although, having thought about it, maybe she could have power mimicry like Rogue or Synch from X-Men. She's a chymera of other extra-humans. I suggest that because in terms of personality, she's very intelligent, reliable, resourceful, and studious. Cynthia is the one Salvo trusts the most to lead the team when he's out of commission. She's someone who maybe wasn't treated so well by her family when they realized she was different. So she's very loyal to her new family and tends to be the one who tries to keep the group together when they're struggling. She's the Hermoine of the group. If she wasn't on the team, they'd probably all be dead by now. And I thought it would be great to have a young Black girl fulfill that archetype, kind of taking that Storm role or being the obvious successor to lead the team.
BB: You know I’m a Storm stan, so Chymera is immediately my favorite team member. Luis presented a few other ideas about Cynthia’s abilities, but I really latched on to her being a power mimic. Gerry Duggan’s writing of Synch in X-Men has been inspired over the last few years, so I like the narrative possibilities that Cynthia’s power mimicry opens up. I want to see Chymera as the school headmistress in…maybe the 1990s?
LVS: ARRAY - (Gabriela Cano) The Heart. Shapechanger. She's a young Mexican girl from a very small town who finds her world turned upside down. I guess she would be the new girl of the team filling the role that characters like Kitty Pryde and Jubilee fill in X-Men. I tried to convey a story through her appearance. She is someone who is very shy and quiet who goes through a lot of confidence issues which of course means that someone like Squall makes her very nervous. But when she arrives at the school, she changes her physical appearance thinking it will give her a fresh start, giving herself blonde hair and blue eyes to fit society's beauty standards. And so her arc finds her finding acceptance and confidence so little by little you see her change shape back to who she really is.
BB: Wow. Brilliant. No notes. Haha! In my opinion, the point-of-view character is so critical to writing human stories about superhumans. With Array, you give us a POV but also some rich backstory to explore so many of the themes about “difference” at the heart of some of the best superhero stories.
LVS: TORRENT - (Robert O’Grady) The Tech. I interpreted his powers as technopathy similar to Forge from the X-Men. He's the tech guy. He says he can "communicate" with technology which makes him kind of weird in the eyes of other students. He's always creating little trinkets, gadgets and devices that he ends up befriending. I didn't draw it, but I see him creating a little drone/robot that becomes the team's sidekick, kind of like Herbie from Fantastic Four or BB-8 from Star Wars or that robot from Power Rangers.
BB: I didn’t imagine this direction for Torrent, but I love having a technopath on the team! Doug Ramsey and Forge are two of my favorite B-list mutants. I love moments when they’re brought in as “support staff” and they end up saving the day. The idea of Torrent’s technopathy making him a misfit among misfits is another rich narrative point.
Okay, finally, I came across one other design in my files:
This design for the 1975 Defender was one of the first illustrations Luis did back when I was commissioning potential collaborators for this project!
I love the color blocking of the main suit as well as the addition of the cape. The Defender’s earlier looks were very much inspired by his Appalachian upbringing and his background in the U.S. Army during World War II. Many of those design elements reverberate here, but Luis brings the Defender into the ‘70s with flair! Am I the only one aggressively fancasting Billy Dee Williams in this role?
congrats on 3 years
Where do I start? You know I love me some Xmen. The design notes had me wanting a solo book from all of these characters! Way to go you guys!!