All-Ages Aquanauts in Tom Taylor’s The Deep

by Vince Brusio

Tom Taylor is a comics guy through-and-through, and has the pleasure of writing for both of the biggest publishing houses in the industry. If you read DC Comics fare, you know his name from Injustice. If you read books from Marvel Comics, you recognize his name from Wolverine. But one cannot survive on steak alone. The truly aspiring creative individual dabbles in this and that, tests the waters, and embarks on the occasional road trip to see where a new kind of car can take him. In Tom’s case, one of those joyrides led him to write about a bunch of “Aquanauts” which he now features in a new comic book that kicks off from BOOM! Studios in The Deep #1 (NOV161225). In this PREVIEWSworld Exclusive interview, Tom tells us the time to talk about this project is now, and he couldn’t be more excited.

The Deep #1 (NOV161225) is in comic shops January 11.

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Vince Brusio: The Deep is taking an unorthodox path to reach new readers. It was a series of graphic novels published in Australia, then a hit animated series on Netflix, and now a limited series published by BOOM! Studios. What can you tell new readers about The Deep? 

Tom Taylor: The Deep tells the adventures of the Nekton family, a daring group of Aquanauts who live on a submarine. The Deep is truly for all ages and has fans across the world in every age bracket. If you only know my work through Injustice or Wolverine... this isn’t that. This is pure adventure, joy, and fun. No one gets a super-powered fist through them at all. 

Vince Brusio: The story seems to be about monsters lurking in places where we don’t want to live, or visit, or even think about. True? So why does this family get stuck with the job of putting themselves in harm’s way?

Tom Taylor: The book is about mysteries. The Nektons are all about mysteries. The Nektons are explorers and have been for generations. They explore the uncharted depths of the ocean, the final frontier right here at home. And, yes, that definitely means they encounter a leviathan or two. But that’s just a standard hazard of the job. Still a good job.

Vince Brusio: Tell us about the characters in this story. What does each individual bring to the table for teamwork?

Tom Taylor: Ant Nekton is the youngest of the crew. He brings an infectious enthusiasm which often sees him leaping into situations with the rest of the family having to follow. His sister, Fontaine, is a bit more cynical, but she still saves the day on a regular basis. Will and Kaiko are both seasoned adventurers. Kaiko is the greatest Submarine pilot in the world, and knows Marine Biology forward and backward. Will is a deep-sea archeologist, always buried in old maps and theories. He’s every bit as enthusiastic as his son. Every family member has flaws but they are all highly competent. We didn’t want to slip into the clichés of sitcom families. We wanted to portray a family who can work together, where everyone is important to the story.

Jeffrey the fish... is a fish. It’s hard to get any more information out of him. He’s oddly silent when questioned. We suspect a deep, dark past.

Vince Brusio: James Brouwer is the artist for this book. Tell us about his work. If you had to give a few adjectives to describe his style, what would they be?

Tom Taylor: James Brouwer’s art is just freaking gorgeous. His expressions and movement bring the characters to life on every page. He’s the perfect artist for the Nektons, which is why he’s also the art director of the TV series. In The Deep comics, he opted for a lot of darkness and this immerses the reader in a submerged world where anything could be lurking nearby.

Vince Brusio: If you could “geek out” over some facet of this story, what would you single out as the ultimate sound bite for prime time television?

Tom Taylor: Well, we’re already on prime-time television in a lot of countries, but honestly, there’s just something so fascinating about exploration stories, and an ocean adventure series like this just hasn’t been done before. I think it’s one of the reasons the series is doing so well across the globe.

We can send people to the moon. We can see what’s happening on Mars. And we are always striving to travel further away from our planet. Yet we have all this mystery right here on Earth. In this age, with all our technology, there are still huge parts of our own world that remain untouchable and completely unknown. There are still things we can’t access with a press of a button. We STILL haven’t even seen a colossal squid, one of the world’s largest animals, alive in its natural habitat.

We’re living right next to myths. The Nektons are going to go find them.

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Vince Brusio writes about comics, and writes comics. He is the long-serving Editor of PREVIEWSworld.com, the creator of PUSSYCATS, and encourages everyone to keep the faith...and keep reading comics.