Don't Let Capture Creatures #1 Escape from Your Collection

By Ashley Hurst

BOOM! Studios is continuing their track record of releasing fun, engaging stories for comic lovers of any age with Capture Creatures #1 (SEP141165), a new, original on-going series from co-creators Becky Dreistadt and Frank Gibson! This new comic tale follows two teens and their new creature companions as they try to uncover the origins of these mysterious monsters and keep them from harm's way.

Brimming with charm and imagination, Capture Creatures is sure to be a delightful read from start to finish (and plenty of re-reads), so make sure you're ready for the adventure by heading to your local comic shop to capture your own copy on November 26th!

Check out the PREVIEWSworld nterview with writer Frank Gibson featured below and see why you'll be clamoring to collect all of Capture Creatures!

PREVIEWSworld: Hello, Frank! Thanks for taking the time to talk to us about your new on-going series! For readers unfamiliar with Capture Creatures, the concept actually began as an online project by artist Becky Dreistadt and writer Frank Gibson to come up with 151 unique creatures—and accompanying descriptive text—over the course of a year. Since the project was self-initiated, what inspired you to take it on? Did you start with a clear idea about the kinds of monsters you wanted to make or did you come up with new concepts as you went along?

Frank Gibson: Thanks for having me! Becky was inspired by the watercolor art of designer Ken Sugimori [Ed. Note: Mr. Sugimori is the character/creature designer and series artist for Pokémon]. In the end, it ended up taking us about two years. Through B9 Kingdom, we self-published a hardcover compendium of creatures. We’ve worked with BOOM! on a bunch of little projects and after awhile, they asked us if we had any ideas for a Capture Creatures series. We had a few ideas in mind and here we are!



PREVIEWSworld: It seems like a lot of world-building went into the creature “data” entries as it’s easy to imagine the world they inhabit and how they would interact with their environments and each other just by reading through the descriptions. When did the idea to turn the project into a serialized story evolve—did you develop the story alongside the creation of the characters or did it come about much later in the initial project? Was it difficult to transition the project from creating a suite of interrelated illustrations to an on-going comic?

Frank Gibson: Originally Capture Creatures was the name for a comic project we’d considered years ago, which was going to be about Victorian settlers having battles with animals they kept in bell jars. We also had another post apocalyptic creature battle story in mind.

The greatest challenge for us right now is how many stories we want to tell about the world, the creatures, and the yet to be revealed human characters in Capture Creatures.



PREVIEWSworld: You’ve collaborated with Becky on quite a number of art and comic-related projects! How does your creative process or work flow typically function during your collaborations? Have you had to alter or adjust the way you work together for Capture Creatures?

Frank Gibson: For the original Capture Creatures project, Becky would start with a rare or strange animal, as well as mythical and historical elements, drawing on Tyrolean and Japanese folk lore. From there, I’d be tasked to come up with their story and how they fit into the ecosystem.

For the upcoming comic series, it’s the other way round, where I’m coming up with the story. But we of course go back and forth, Becky’s designs, panelling and emotional choice shape the entire comic. One of my favorite things to do is a second pass on the dialogue once Becky has drawn it, because she’ll make subtle some of the more blunt points I was making through speech.

PREVIEWSworld: With the popularity and proliferation of franchises like Pokémon and Digimon, and the number of similar titles that have sprung up in their wake, folks are well-accustomed to stories about kids trekking out into the world to collect cute monsters. But Capture Creatures is shaping up to set itself apart from the rest of the pack by focusing on what is often the best part of the genre—the monsters! What made you decide to center the story on the creatures and their origins rather than the adventures of the human characters? How will the human characters that do appear in the story interact with the creatures?

Frank Gibson: I think there’s a lot of unexplored dynamics in pieces like Digimon or Pokémon. The creatures themselves never have an arc. I went a little into it in the encyclopedia (bestiary? compendium?) but each creature has a place in the world and some of that is related to the food-chain. Creatures have tribes and families.

One thing we’re going deep into for the series is how creatures are made and why they’ve re-surfaced in the world.

For the human cast, there’s a core group who are trying to do right by these guys. A lot of people have different relationships with the creatures, some humans could lead a pack of creatures, some could even be a follower of a creature. It’s deifnitely a lot harder to tame or convince a monster that’s on fire to do your bidding.

PREVIEWSworld: While the monsters of Capture Creatures aren’t set to battle one another or become a part of anyone’s collection, there is still plenty of action in store, as some individuals aren’t too keen on their sudden appearance on the planet and would rather they disappear. What kinds of adventures will the creatures find themselves involved in? What role will the human characters play in them? Will the story take on a bit of a darker tone since the creatures in it are in more peril than what’s typically found in stories of this nature?

Frank Gibson: I wouldn’t say there won’t be battles,  I just don’t think it will be organised. There are no equivalents to dog-fighting tournaments in Capture Creatures.

The tone isn’t necessarily darker, I think it’s just more realistic as to how creatures would react to each other and to humans. There is definitely peril and a lot of it comes down to a survival story for both the creatures and humans alike.



PREVIEWSworld: Part of what makes titles like Pokémon so enduring is that they’ve attracted an audience with an incredibly wide range of ages and people—you’d be hard-pressed to find a person who hasn’t dreamed of going on a grand adventure with a gaggle of adorable monsters at least once in their life! What do you believe it is about these kinds of stories that make them so appealing, and what initially drew you into them? What do you think readers who are also fans of this particular genre will enjoy most about Capture Creatures? Will readers who are not as familiar with the genre’s tropes and conventions be able to dive right in and enjoy the world of Capture Creatures?

Frank Gibson: Becky is going to jump in and answer this one!

Becky Dreistadt: Hey! What drew me to Japanese battle monster stories is, first off, the monsters themselves. I just like the design sensibilities, and you don't see many things like that in America.

I also enjoy adventure/coming-of-age type stories that involve characters traveling to a lot of different places and encountering different creatures and people.

We want people who are unfamiliar with the genre to be able to just jump straight into our story. That’s our goal. We’re emphasising clarity in the series, though there are still a bunch of mysteries. The readers will still have to do some work!


PREVIEWSworld: If you had to pick just one, which Capture Creature is your absolute favorite?

Frank Gibson: There’s a lot! We’ve spent a lot of time with them! If I had to pick one it’d be Bon Bon Fire. He’s the one we first latched onto, which coincidentally is the one a lot of people wanted to see in the upcoming comic. It’s nice when the stars align that way!

But some of the goofier creatures like Leaferrier, a terrier made of leaves, or Cubcube, a polar bear that looks like an ice-cube are my favorites. Also we tried to ramp up the horror with the threatening creatures, like Alpezgau, which is based on Tyrolean folk monsters. You wouldn’t want to run into them in a forest, but you probably will!

The images featured within this interview are courtesy of the Capture Creatures website, where you can learn more about the creatures and their creators, Becky and Frank!

Preview Pages From Capture Creatures #1
Click on the images for a larger view.