THE KAIJU SCORE / $4.99 / 32 pages / Color / On Sale 11.25.2020
Writer: James Patrick
Artist and Colorist: Rem Broo
Letterer: Dave Sharpe
Cover: Rem Broo
It’s the most dangerous heist ever attempted. Four desperate criminals are going all in on a once-in-a-lifetime chance to steal millions in art and turn their miserable lives around. The catch? They have to pull it off under the nose of a one thousand-ton kaiju. And a giant monster might just be the least of their problems.
Brought to you by the James Patrick (Grimm Fairy Tales, Death Comes to Dillinger, The Monsters of Jimmy Crumb) and Rem Broo (The End Times of Bram and Ben, Terminal Protocol) THE KAIJU SCORE is what happens when a Quentin Tarantino film takes place smack in the middle of a Godzilla movie.
JAMES PATRICK ON WHAT THE BOOK’S ABOUT AND WHY HE IS EXCITED FOR IT TO BE RELEASED:
“I think the fastest way for to describe it in general is what I put in the pitch. The Kaiju Score is a Quentin Tarantino film taking place in some corner of a Godzilla movie. You have this giant canvas of a kaiju attack occurring, and as it happens there’s this more personal story going on. And after that setup, it explores how these four characters, who are in just the worst situation in their lives, believe the only way out is to do this impossible thing. This crazy crime. It’s about that desperation.
I’m excited it to have it out there because I love how rich it turned out once you get beyond the things like elevator pitches and genre mashing. The story, characters, and dialogue shouldn’t disappoint – I hope – and there’s a style, swagger, and attitude to it that bleeds off the pages – especially because of Rem Broo’s killer art.”
JAMES PATRICK ON (3) REASONS WHY COMIC BOOK READERS SHOULD ADD THIS TITLE TO THEIR PULL LIST:
“Firstly is Rem’s stunning and stylish art. This book oozes cool. It’s Ocean’s 11 in your hands, but with a Toho tilt.
Secondly is I’m not sure there’s been anything like it before. People like Brubaker and Remender have done some great crime and heist books, but this falls in a different place and feels like a different thing. I’m not comparing myself to them, but using their work to say we’re all trying to explore this genre, but their style is over here and this book ended up being over there, even if it’s the same room.
Thirdly, I feel it’s a hell of a read. I’m biased of course.”
JAMES PATRICK ON SOME OF HIS INSPIRATION BEHIND THE PROJECT, BESIDES BIG MONSTERS:
“It started with Donald Westlake books like the Parker series. I wanted to do something contemporary like those. But when Rem came aboard, I knew it felt more Oceans 11 and I adjusted. And Elmore Leonard stories when it came to the characters and Tarantino when it came to the dialogue. I didn’t say I’m going to write this dialogue like Tarantino and ape him! I just mean that in a more organic sense I love all of those people and their work and my own work probably echoes them. And there was an element of the movie Battle Royale that sparked some of it, but its influence had this more intangible effect that I’d just struggle to put into words and which I’m saving for another project someday.”
JAMES PATRICK ON WHO HE WOULD WANT TO STAR, IF THIS BOOK WERE MADE INTO A FILM OR TV SHOW:
“Me. In the background pushing a broom. I don’t turn money down. Then I’d say I see the four criminals as maybe Michael Zegen or Michael B. Jordan as Marcus. They have Marcus’s chaotic, if sometimes misplaced, energy. Maybe Ana de Armas as Michelle, to pull off the duality of Michelle’s scheme inside the scheme. Perhaps Dan Fogler as Palmeiro, since Fogler is always endearing despite any shortcomings his characters have. And Jessie Plemons as Pierson. Plemons can do anything he wants. Wait. Do I get to meet Emma Stone if she plays Michelle?”
REM BROO ON THE HIS APPROACH TO THE ART:
“Versatility is one of the artistic skills I’m known for, and in general I try to come up with something visually new and distinctive for every new comic project. However, James told me from the beginning that what made him take me into consideration as the artist for this project was a specific splash page from a former comic of mine, ‘Terminal Protocol’. The image was of a character with a cool attitude drawn with extreme perspective angles. Connecting that image with the heist theme, I knew exactly in what direction I should go with the art style. But I wanted to highlight the heist theme in the story, so I decided to go with a clean, limited color palette, and a vintage illustrated poster-like style for the retrospective or descriptive pages of the comic, a style that can be seen in the cover art as well.”
REM BROO ON HOW HE FIRST HEARD ABOUT AFTERSHOCK COMICS:
“As an artist, I must admit that the visual experience is the one that attracts me the most towards a comic book than anything else. Of course in time I become attached to the style of some artists and I start following their development. One of these artists is Juan Doe, who I discovered first by reading ‘Legion of Monsters’ and then through the amazing art he did for ‘Fantastic Four’. I think we share a few common elements regarding some of the struggles we had while starting our careers as well as the poster like art that I use in Kaiju Score as well. Following what other projects he was involved in, I ended up finding titles like ‘Dark Ark’ and many others that he did for AfterShock Comics, which introduced me to the publishing house. I found that I appreciated not only their great titles, but also the way they puts an emphasis on the creative teams, as well as the specific, unified look of their book designs.”
REM BROO ON HIS EXPERIENCE SO FAR WORKING WITH THE CREATIVE TEAM:
“Working with James is a true pleasure, because he’s the type of writer that not only knows how he wants the end product to look like visually, but he also communicates it in a delicate manner that gives me full freedom of expression as well. In my previous experiences with other publishing teams, they joined in the process when the comic projects were already finalized or close to that point, so I did not have a proper experience in working and interacting actively in larger teams. So, when I saw that the AfterShock editors in charge of the Kaiju Score project were starting to get active in a constant manner and were interested in all the steps of the art development, I was afraid that I might lose that freedom that I was cherishing so much. But to my delight that is not the case. I still have full control over the art process for which I receive fast, constructive feedback from the rest of the team.”
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