Taki Soma has shown her mastery of comics several times over in her career, working as a writer, artist and colorist — and sometimes all three. Her previous works include titles like Rapture, The After Realm, Sinergy, The Old Guard: Tales Through Time, Iron Man, the autobiographical Sleeping While Standing and Bitch Planet, for which she was nominated for a Hugo Award back in 2018.
Her most recent work is Alienated, a digital miniseries she’s writing that Comixology Originals launched last month. For Alienated, Soma is working with artist John Broglia, whose most recent work includes Nice Jewish Boys.
Alienated is a different take on the alien invasion story, one that’s less about shady government officials and wide-scale panic, and more about how a specific set of characters — which include a retired teacher and his grandkids — react to finding a live alien.
I spoke with Soma about the title and what to expect from it. The first and second issues of the six-issue miniseries are available now.
I like to start by asking about secret origins — when did you first discover comics, and when did you decide you wanted to make them?
Hi JK, thanks for this interview! That’s a loaded question, but to put it simply, I discovered American comics in my late 20’s while I was attending an advertising school and working for an ad agency. I realized my heart actually belonged to the comics industry, not ads. And about a week after that revelation was when I dropped out of school and began my pursuit in comics!
For Alienated, you’re working with artist John Broglia. What brought the two of you together, and did you consider drawing the story yourself?
John, myself and the cover artist, Michael Oeming (also my spouse) have been friends for many, many years. I’ve watched John’s career blossom over the years but never had the opportunity to work together until now. But oh boy, did I choose the right artist for Alienated. I cannot picture the book looking differently from John’s pages, nor the characters to look different, either. He really brought his own style into the book that really made it what it is. I couldn’t have done it myself.
Does your approach to writing a script change at all when you’re writing for another artist?
Very much so. When I write for myself, it may be just nonsensical notes and not a script at all but I have written classic, full scripts too. It just depends on the story, I think. And when I write for artists, clarity is the most important factor for me and I also have fun with it. I write directly to the artist sometimes so that the script is *hopefully* more engaging and whimsical as they figure out the layout for the page, you know? It helps that I know the time it requires to illustrate a page versus writing the script, since I too draw comics on occasion. And having that insight gives me a leg-up on how to write for/to artists.
Getting into the story, you have a different take on the “alien invasion” here — I mean, there’s not a government lab or shady agent to be found anywhere in the first issue. Can you talk about the significance of the setting?
I purposefully avoided government and agencies in Alienated since that angle has been explored many times over; I didn’t feel as if I had anything more to add to it with this story at least. What the set up is, is the mystery of the deceased aliens. The big question of ‘do aliens exist’ was answered, but now, we are left with so many more questions without answers because they all died… well, except for one.
The first issue is very character driven. How does having a grandpa and his grandkids as the main characters affect the story and your approach to writing it?
The whole series is very much character driven. The elderly and teens tend to be put into a box, expectations of their duties in society are forced on them; exploring that aspect really intrigued me and you’ll see that it is fitting for what’s to happen in the coming issues!
What can we expect from the rest of the story?
More clues to the mystery, aliens, romance, the elderly and high school graduation!
What else have you been working on lately?
I am lucky that when ComiXology Originals picked up Alienated, one other title was approved too! We’ve been working on the other one simultaneously but it hasn’t been announced yet and that is as much as I am allowed to share.