The Little Interview with Carlos Sánchez - Rune

Updated: Oct 7

ABOUT THE STORY

Deep in the forests of Little Valley lies a secret lost in time and darkness… Best friends Chiri and Dai stumble into a forgotten realm, tormented by the evil Shadow King who years to spread terror to Little Valley and beyond. Can they seal the way between their worlds before it is too late? And will the druids, warriors, archaeologists, and magical goats they encounter help them along their way?

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Not that far from us in our neighboring country Spain (Barcelona) lives author/illustrator Carlos Sánchez. In his own words: "I like comics, cereals and books". 'Rune' is his first graphic novel.

OUR LITTLE INTERVIEW WITH CARLOS SANCHEZ

1. How did you come up with the idea of sign language as a form of magic?

The truth is that the idea appeared by itself. Planning a comic is a fun and curious process. Many times you write things or imagine some scenario or a scene and, as soon as you start sketching it, it changes completely. Something like that happened with magic in Rune. Originally the magic system was not going to incorporate signs, it was going to be much more arbitrary.

We were just finishing designing the character of Chiri (who communicates through sign language) and I thought "wouldn't it be cool if the magic system worked the same way?" The editorial also liked the idea. Suddenly all fell into place - Puddin' was going to be a world where knowing sign language was something that gave you an advantage and was considered cool.

But what was most compelling about basing magic on signs was that I imagined future readers trying to learn signs and showing interest in sign language, and that made me motivated to work hard on the comic.

2. What is the inspiration behind the lovely places in Puddin'? And Boniato, the amazing pillow goat?

There is not one particular place, there are thousands of them! The Little Valley, for example, is inspired on a trip around the Alsace region that I made when I visited a friend who lives close to Strasbourg. The forests are inspired by my summers in Sierra Nevada (in the south of Spain) where, surrounded by hundred-year-old chestnut trees, I imagined that I was getting lost and having adventures. But It was also inspired by books, music or films.

About Boniato… well, this one is easier, Boniato is 100% based on Dante, my dog! I wish I could transport him in my hood as Chiri does.

3. The colors are so refreshing and this makes me wonder… How did you choose this color palette for 'Rune'?

I’m so happy you mentioned that! For me coloring is the hardest part of making comic and illustrations. Making sketches and the lineart feels easy and very natural to me, but when I have to color it, I panic.

However, after many attempts, and with the help of the Flying Eye Books team, we found a palette that was limited to a few colors, but worked perfectly and gave that magical touch to Puddin'. I also love the fact that pages that take place outside the world of Puddin' are much less saturated. And give extra oomph to the visual narrative of the book.

4. An important question for my fellow book dragons (and myself, obviously): did you already start writing/drawing the sequel?

Hahaha! Yes!!! I’m already working on a sequel. I can’t really tell much about it, but I promise it will be quite cool! People who enjoyed the first part will definitely love the second one, I mean, it has even more “pillow goat” than the first one!

5. If you had to choose one: which book would you like to adapt into a graphic novel?

'Piranesi' from Susanna Clarke! It is such a beautiful book, and a graphic novel of it would look impressive. I’d really enjoy developing scenography - all these scenes with the sculptures, and the water… I think it would look so beautiful.

Bonus question: what are you reading at the moment?

I love to read, but I’m such a chaotic reader… I always start to read lots of books at the same time (and sometimes I forgot about some of them for months).

But from the thousand books I had started, I’m currently reading:

A novel - 'Devils in Daylight', by Jun'ichirō Tanizaki
A graphic novel – 'Soma', by Carles Dalmau and Fernando Llor
An essay – 'Curso de escritura creativa' (Creative Writing Course), by Brandon Sanderson

ABOUT THE BOOK

'Rune: The Tale of a Thousand Faces' (8-12) is an incredibly cute adventure! I am impressed with how magic works in this world: sign language! This is a great deaf representation. The colors complement the story in such a way that you almost immerse yourself in "Breakfast Town" with its wonderful food (and characters, except the bad guy of course!). The story is well-done and you already see some character development in this first volume (I love stories where you can see the characters grow). And the ending! Now you really have to know what will happen next! And, of course, the graphic novel is available in our shop.

Muchas gracias Carlos for this fantastic interview!