Comics Bulletin logo
Search
  • Columns
    Random
    • Absolute Horror? And A Godfather!

      Alexander Lu
      February 7, 2006
      Comic Effect
    Recent
    • The Full Run: Usagi Yojimbo – The Wanderer’s Road Part 2

      Daniel Gehen
      December 4, 2020
    • The Full Run: Usagi Yojimbo – The Wanderer’s Road Part 1

      Daniel Gehen
      October 30, 2020
    • Comictober 2020: DRACULA MOTHERF**KER

      Daniel Gehen
      October 27, 2020
    • What Looks Good
    • Comics Bulletin Soapbox
    • The Full Run
    • Leading Question
    • Top 10
    • The Long-Form
    • Jumping On
    • Comics in Color
    • Slouches Towards Comics
  • Big Two
    Random
    • 3.0

      Sunday Slugfest - The Ultimates 2 #3

      Alexander Lu
      February 13, 2005
      Big Two Reviews, Marvel Comics, Reviews
    Recent
    • Retro Review: Detective Comics #826 Remains a Holiday Classic

      Daniel Gehen
      December 3, 2020
    • Stan Lee

      nguyen ly
      November 7, 2020
    • Collecting Profile: Jack O’ Lantern

      nguyen ly
      October 31, 2020
    • DC Comics
    • Big Two Reviews
    • Marvel Comics
  • Indie
    Random
    • Exploring Northampton: A Crucial Part of TMNT Lore

      Alexander Lu
      May 20, 2020
      Columns, IDW
    Recent
    • Review: The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Cartoonist

      Daniel Gehen
      December 14, 2020
    • The Full Run: Usagi Yojimbo – The Wanderer’s Road Part 2

      Daniel Gehen
      December 4, 2020
    • 4.5

      TMNT: The Last Ronin #1 Lives Up to the Hype (Review)

      Daniel Gehen
      October 29, 2020
    • Reviews
    • Archie Comics
    • Boom! Studios
    • Dark Horse
    • IDW
    • Image
    • Oni Press
    • Valiant
  • Reviews
    Random
    • 2.5

      Review: Faster than a Speeding Bullet: The Rise of the Graphic Novel

      Alexander Lu
      January 3, 2013
      Reviews
    Recent
    • Review: The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Cartoonist

      Daniel Gehen
      December 14, 2020
    • Retro Review: Detective Comics #826 Remains a Holiday Classic

      Daniel Gehen
      December 3, 2020
    • 4.5

      TMNT: The Last Ronin #1 Lives Up to the Hype (Review)

      Daniel Gehen
      October 29, 2020
    • Singles Going Steady
    • Slugfest
    • Manga
      • Reviews
    • Small Press
      • Reviews
      • ICYMI
      • Tiny Pages Made of Ashes
  • Interviews
    Random
    • Jason M. Burns: Eighteen and Up

      Alexander Lu
      October 28, 2011
      Interviews
    Recent
    • Interview: Jon Davis-Hunt Talks SHADOWMAN

      Daniel Gehen
      June 8, 2020
    • Interview: Becky Cloonan talks DARK AGNES and Her Personal Influences

      Mike Nickells
      March 4, 2020
    • Simon Roy

      Interview: Simon Roy on His Inspirations and Collaborations on PROTECTOR

      Mike Nickells
      January 29, 2020
    • Audio Interview
    • Video Interview
  • Classic Comics
    Random
    • The Phantom Stranger Vol. 1

      Alexander Lu
      July 16, 2012
      Classic Comics Cavalcade, Columns
    Recent
    • Countdown to the King: Marvel’s Godzilla

      Daniel Gehen
      May 29, 2019
    • Honoring A Legend: Fantagraphics To Resurrect Tomi Ungerer Classics

      Daniel Gehen
      February 15, 2019
    • Reliving the Craziest Decade in Comics History: An interview with Jason Sacks

      Mark Stack
      January 2, 2019
    • Classic Comics Cavalcade
    • Classic Interviews
  • News
    Random
    • Exclusive IDW Preview: "Insufferable" #4

      Alexander Lu
      August 3, 2015
      IDW, Previews
    Recent
    • 2020 Ringo Awards Winners Announced

      Daniel Gehen
      October 26, 2020
    • BAD IDEA Announces 2021 Publishing Slate

      Daniel Gehen
      September 29, 2020
    • A Full Replay of NCSFest 2020 is now Available

      Daniel Gehen
      September 15, 2020
    • Press Release
    • Kickstarter Spotlight
  • Books
    Random
    • Preview: 'An Unreliable History of Tattoos' from NoBrow Press

      Alexander Lu
      March 30, 2016
      Books, News, Previews
    Recent
    • Collecting Profile: Disney Frozen

      CB Staff
      November 22, 2019
    • Collecting Profile: NFL Superpro

      CB Staff
      August 31, 2019
    • “THE BEST OF WITZEND” is a Wonderful Celebration of Artistic Freedom

      Daniel Gehen
      September 15, 2018
    • Review: ‘Machete Squad’ is a Disappointing Afghan Memoir

      Jason Sacks
      July 31, 2018
    • Review: ‘Out of Nothing’ is the Antidote to Our Sick Times

      Jason Sacks
      July 23, 2018
    • Review: ‘Bizarre Romance’ Shows Rough Edges in the Early Days of a New Marriage

      Jason Sacks
      July 10, 2018
What's New
  • Collecting Profile: Batwoman
  • Collecting Profile: Daredevil
  • Collecting Profile: Floronic Man
  • Review of Cheetah in Wonder Woman 1984
  • Review: The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Cartoonist
  • Collecting Profile: Transformers
  • RSS Feed
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Google+
  • Contact Us
  • Write for us!
  • Visit Video Game Break!
Home
Interviews

Interview- Scott Kolins on Past Aways and our 24/7 world

Alexander Lu
March 13, 2015
Interviews

Two weeks ago, co-writer Steven Cain and I gave you a special advance review of Matt Kindt’s (Mind MGMT) and Scott Kolins’ (The Flash) new original Dark Horse series, Past Aways.  This zany comic features a group of time travelers from 1.2 million years in the future who are stranded in our contemporary world.  They’re jaded, they’re suicidal, and worst of all– they’re immortal.  However, they’re not alone.  New things are coming back from the future, giving our adventurers new problems and new hope.

In the first of this special two-part interview with the creators of Past Aways, I sat down with artist Scott Kolins to talk about how this book came to be and what he hopes it will become.


Alex Lu  for Comics Bulletin: How’d you and Matt end up working together?

Scott Kolins: Matt called! We had worked previously on a short story together and had a good connection right away. When we saw each other at conventions – we talked about working together again someday.

pastaways1CB: The art in Past Aways is gorgeous.  There’s a little bit of grit to the inking process that I think adds a lot of character.  It feels a more exaggerated than some of the work you’ve done for DC and Marvel, and I think it adds a lot of character to the piece.  How’d you nail down the look and feel of the world?

Kolins: Thanks! My art on this book is heavily a combination of what I want to draw and what Matt needs me to draw. It isn’t just whether there’s a ray gun in his hand – but the kind of ray gun in his hand. We’re very much going for – angle not expected. We have a tattoo communicator! Between the freedom of making this book everything we want it to be and being inspired by the each other’s level of commitment we really have the best of both worlds here on Past Aways.

CB: That’s great!  It sounds like Dark Horse has given you two a lot of room to play around!  How would you describe your working experience with them in creating an original series as opposed to working for DC and Marvel on established titles?

Kolins: On some levels its very similar – as we are all trying to be professional and put forth the best book possible within the reality of whatever constraints are there at the moment. This is fairly different, as Matt and I make all the decisions on Past Aways, though Dark Horse does chime in with encouragement and suggestions here and there. This new role is a good change of pace for me, so it feels right and very exciting.

CB: What’s been your favorite weird thing to draw for this series thus far?  Anything you’re hoping will make it into the world?

Kolins: Favorite? I really enjoy making up weird bits of technology. I love making up monsters and drawing the mass destruction inherent in good monsters. I guess my favorite thing … is probably drawing the covers. I’ve missed that portion of making a comic book in the last couple years and I’m really enjoying these Past Aways covers so far!

pastaways2

CB: I really love the way you play with scale on the first page of the book.  The dinosaur starts off looking incredibly menacing, but then doesn’t seem like much of a threat when you zoom out to reveal how small he is.  Then, boom: it murders a bystander. I thought that this series of events set the darkly humorous tone of the book wonderfully.  Is there a story behind that opening scene?

Kolins: Yup, that was Matt’s idea. It really helps open the book with some brilliant insanity but also is a smart way to direct the reader into understanding what kind of book with is going to be. The only thing I added to the sequence was the choice of butt-squirting instead of mouth-spitting and the crowd laughing. The horrified crowd reaction panel was there , but the separate panel of the crowd laughing was implied but not requested.

CB: I thought the moment was great as a playful, if morbid, jab at people who overuse technology.  How do you feel about our relationship with technology and that societal expectation that we always be available and “on the clock,” so to speak?

Kolins: It’s good and bad, and depends on a lot on personal preference. I try to keep it to a minimum – which is not easy when starting up new books with new characters. Technology and word of mouth are becoming fast friends. Let’s just say, everyone else in the house gets to watch a whole lot more T.V., play games and play together, but I’ve trained myself early on as a professional self-employed artist to be my own boss and make sure the job gets done first before a whole lot of play happens.

CB: Some of our protagonists seem to have taken on a jaded rock star look in 2015.  Where are you drawing inspiration from when developing the character, tech, and world designs?

Kolins: Inspirations from rock stars? No. Hadn’t seen that “jaded” connection til you mentioned it. Funny how that happens. But that works too. I’ll probably have that in the back of my head next time. Thanks Alex!

Past Aways will drop in the near future– March 25th, to be precise.  Come back next week for the second part of this interview series, featuring writer Matt Kindt and editor Brendan Wright!

Dark HorseInterviewPast AwaysScott Kolins

Share On:
Tweet
Keeping It Ghastly: Mantis Woman
A Deck of Cards and A Sock Full of Nickles – Reviewing Casanova: Acedia #2: “O Killers I Have Known and Loved”

About The Author

<a href="http://comicsbulletin.com/byline/alexander-lu/" rel="tag">Alexander Lu</a>
Alexander Lu

Alexander Lu is a senior studying literature and computer science at New York University. In the past, he has worked with Papercutz, an all-ages graphic novel publisher, as an interning editor on projects such as Classics Illustrated: The Monkey God and Lego Chima. He is currently writing his senior thesis on metafiction in the works of Grant Morrison. In his spare time, he writes personal essays and more comics analysis. He also freelances as a graphic designer and illustrator.

Related Posts

  • Dark Horse Presents: THE ART OF ASSASSIN’S CREED VALHALLA

    Ashley Hurst
    May 30, 2020
  • Top 10 Comic Universes Outside the Big Two

    Daniel Gehen
    May 1, 2020

One Response

  1. Interview: Matt Kindt and Brendan Wright Part Two: "Time Abhors a Paradox" - Comics Bulletin March 18, 2015

    […] Interview- Scott Kolins on Past Aways and our 24/7 world […]

Latest Interviews

  • Interview: Jon Davis-Hunt Talks SHADOWMAN

    Daniel Gehen
    June 8, 2020
  • Interview: Becky Cloonan talks DARK AGNES and Her Personal Influences

    Mike Nickells
    March 4, 2020
  • Simon Roy

    Interview: Simon Roy on His Inspirations and Collaborations on PROTECTOR

    Mike Nickells
    January 29, 2020
  • Interview: V.E. Schwab on revisiting Red London in The Steel Prince

    Stephen Cook
    March 13, 2019
  • Interview: David Foster Wallace and Hellblazer, words on Wyrd with writer Curt Pires

    Stephen Cook
    February 27, 2019
  • “The Night Has Teeth” An Interview with Sarah deLaine, Artist of Image Comics’ “Little Girls”

    Jason Sacks
    February 26, 2019
  • Interview: Caitlin Kittredge talks the future of Witchblade

    Daniel Gehen
    February 12, 2019
  • Interview: Andy Nakatani and the Future of Weekly Shonen Jump

    Daniel Gehen
    December 19, 2018
  • INTERVIEW: Todd Matthy talks robots, princesses, and bridging the divide with storytelling

    Stephen Cook
    September 13, 2018
  • INTERVIEW: Gallaher & Ellis discuss THE ONLY LIVING GIRL

    Daniel Gehen, Thea Srinivasan
    September 7, 2018
RSSTwitterFacebookgoogleplusinstagramtumblr

Comics Bulletin is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for website owners to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com, audible.com, and any other website that may be affiliated with Amazon Service LLC Associates Program. As an Amazon Associate, Comics Bulletin earns from qualifying purchases.

All content on this site (c) 2018 The Respective Copyright Holders