Quest For Hope In Farinas' MOTRO

by Andrea Purcell

A young boy who keeps to himself has a secret. He has superhuman strength. Further, he’s intent on following a prophecy passed on from his deceased father. He’s on a quest to save people, which is a noble goal by far. However, the area villagers aren’t happy about his noble intentions. Now he faces resistance both human and magical-mechanical in MOTRO#1 (SEP161830) from Oni Press, and in this PREVIEWSworld Exclusive interview writer/artist Ulises Farinas tells us it’s a long hard road ahead in this heroic story for all-ages readers.

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PREVIEWSworld: You seem to have a skill for telling stories set in desolate post-apocalyptic worlds like Judge Dredd, Amazing Forest, and Gamma. What sets this work apart from other series you’ve worked on?

Ulises Farinas: I think it must be the appeal of post-apocalyptic fiction on the whole, it's an opportunity to make fantastic the mundane, and is also a clean slate. You also have a great opportunity to do some genre-blending. Gamma was Pokémon meets Unforgiven, and MOTRO is like a fantasy fueled Mad Max fever dream.

PREVIEWSworld: MOTRO started out as an independent zine and has now turned into a full-color mini-series at Oni Press. How does working with the creative team of Ryan Hill and Erick Freitas change your creative process?

Ulises Farinas: It hasn't. Erick Freitas has always worked with me on stories I'm writing. Since the 7th grade! I write and draw MOTRO in a vacuum, even changing the story as I'm lettering. Ryan is a great colorist that always gets the dramatic beats I'm going for.

PREVIEWSworld: MOTRO has the perfect blend of bizarre and whimsy that’s most evident in the vehicle companion of the main character, Wheeliebeast. How did the idea for a tiny motorcycle that speaks only in images come to play in this story?

Ulises Farinas: There's a whole kingdom of Junk, where old machines go to die. It's ruled by a Dog King. There's lots of creatures and organisms that affect the meta-story of the comic, and I like to introduce them seamlessly as one would illustrate a bird flying in the sky.

 
PREVIEWSworld: You’ve been working on this project for a very long time and it obviously means a lot to you. What made Oni Press the right choice to publish MOTRO?

Ulises Farinas: Their patience and willingness to allow me to spend the time needed to actually do this comic right.

PREVIEWSworld: This comic goes above and beyond in unusual imagery and ultra-violence tendencies; do you have a favorite moment or character that you really enjoyed working on?

Ulises Farinas: There's a character, a young boy, who never says anything in the comic. That is the son of the leader of the Tanker's Ten. His throat was slit by his own father, and now he might've actually been killed by Motro's actions in the comic. So I wonder what his life was like. A sort of parallel existence to Motro?