Trve Kvlt is coming to a close this month, with the fourth and final issue releasing digitally next week. The hilarious heist adventure brings more than likable characters and a unique plot featuring burger joints and Satanists. In just four installments you’ll find relatable people and places alongside wild action, emotion, friendship, and more.
The successful Kickstarter project is co-created by writer Scott Bryan Wilson (Batman Annual, Batman: Gotham Nights, DC Holiday Special, Star Trek: Waypoint, Shadowman, Elvira) and artist Liana Kangas (She Said Destroy, Devil’s Dye, Gwar). Gab Contreras is on colors, DC Hopkins is on letters, and Jamez Savage takes on color assists. Jazzlyn Stone is head of marketing for the series.
We chatted with Wilson and Kangas about the book and how it feels to conclude their passion project. They also shared the issue’s cover and page 1 exclusively with The Beat. See below!
Deanna Destito: How does it feel bringing Trve Kvlt to a close?
Scott Bryan Wilson: So many comics projects just die on the vine or die at the pitch stage or never get past an excited conceptual conversation in a bar, so to have one finished—completely without compromise and exactly what Liana and I wanted to make—it’s really satisfying.
Liana Kangas: I’m a sentimental type, so I’m devastated—but also relieved, just to know everyone will finally get to read how great it is.
Destito: Did you guys find yourself changing or detouring along the way, which made the book different from your original plans?
Kangas: We ended up changing almost the entire meaning of the story from one issue, but it makes a lot of sense and you’ll absolutely see why in this last issue. It’s why I love Scott’s work—when I read the last issue, I claimed he’d outdone himself from when we originally spoke of the story arc. It gave me a lot more things to draw and coincidentally leaned to my strengths, which I was so happy about. It’s my favorite issue yet, even though it’s the last.
Wilson: Creatively, the heist was originally supposed to be the big showstopper centerpiece of the book, but we ended up getting it over within the first six pages of issue 1. We’d originally planned for four 20-page issues, but that went out the window pretty quickly—instead of the four-issue series running 80 pages, it’s now 101, which is the equivalent page count for five issues.
Destito: What are some things you’ve learned from this campaign that you’d keep in mind for your next?
Kangas: I’ll never not be an opening sounding board for everyone who’s starting to do comics to try and publish their first works solo on Kickstarter. I think it’s an incredible tool that allows creators to just GET IT DONE without worrying about throwing their wallet away. We had so many creators help us. I just really hope we can do the same for all of our peers.
Wilson: Now we have friends who are doing their first Kickstarters, so I flood them with tons of unsolicited advice, so they can have a better sense of what to expect and maybe avoid some of the mistakes we made.
Destito: The covers have all been eye-catching. What was your process in designing them?
Kangas: The covers were actually always planned last, unlike all of my other series I’ve worked on. The problem is, I’ve become TOO attached to the series, so every cover had to make sense, be funny, but still remain very serious, and maybe not make a little sense, but also still carry the weight of a shoulder load of meaning about each character behind it.
I could go on forever and maybe even do a podcast about all of these covers (I won’t, I promise. Maybe?) My favorite is the last, issue 4 (this one) because it finally earnestly brings to a close what has happened this entire series. Gab Contreras also absolutely knocked the colors out of the park.
Wilson: The covers have been phenomenal. My job on these was to be a sounding board while Liana talked through all the ideas she had.
Destito: Any plans for a sequel or another series in this universe?
Wilson: No sequels, no prequels, but . . . Liana and I are cooking up a bunch more comics.
Kangas: He says that but I love these characters so much I’ll be begging to revisit them in a few years . . . but Scott is right, we’re already in the process of making our next book(s).
Wilson: I will also say that there’s big news for Trve Kvlt coming, but we can’t talk about it quite yet. Stay tuned!
Trve Kvlt #4 will be available digitally on October 14. Click here to get your copy and to catch up on previous issues.
