Portal 2 is coming up quickly, and Valve has teamed with IGN Comics for the exclusive debut of the supplemental Portal 2 comic book, produced in-house by the company with the help of the co-creator of Powers and The Mice Templar, Michael Avon Oeming. With Oeming leading a team of talented creators like Andrea Wicklund, Ted Kosmatka, Erik Wolpaw, Jay Pinkerton, and Chet Faliszek, Valve has big plans for the world of Portal.
We had a chance to explore the comic book world of Portal 2 with Oeming, and we're excited to bring you your first look. Check back with IGN Comics on Friday for Part 1 of the Portal 2 comic!
IGN Comics: How did you get involved with the Portal 2 comic? I assume you're a big fan of the game?
Michael Avon Oeming:I came to work at Valve about two years ago. Until then I'd never played the game, but I fell in love with it right away. I came here wanting to learn more about the digital interface between comics and games and to work with and learn from the amazing talent here. We'd been working on comics for L4D and TF2 when Portal 2 began to develop. Andrea Wicklund is one of the artists here (She's also the hand of Left 4 Dead) who has always wanted to do comics, and she's worked on the design end of the actual game. She's done a fantastic job at painting her first full comic; it's like she's been doing it for years.
She handled the body of the story while I did the layouts and illustrated the flashback scenes in a contrasting, yet complimentary style. Ted Kosmatka did most of the writing. Early on, we all sat in a room with writers Marc Laidlaw, Chet Faliszek, Erik Wolpaw, Jay Pinkerton and team leader Josh Weir, and we pulled the story together in typical Valve collaborative style. Ted pushed forward from there and wrote his first comic script and really knocked it out of the ballpark. We've all been learning to letter together. It's a group effort, and I'm as proud of this as any comic I've ever done outside of Valve.
IGN Comics: Can you set up the comic's plot for us?
Michael Avon Oeming: All we want to say is that it fills the gap between the first and second game, while introducing a much-rumored yet never seen character. It's truly expanding the Portal world and narrative. I think we managed to touch on both the humor and subtle darkness of the game. Ted's never been known as a comedy writer, but there are some funny lines in there.
IGN Comics: Is Valve directly involved in the book?
Michael Avon Oeming: Yes. Absolutely. Valve did this. It's all being produced in-house. It's literally the same people who make the games making the comics. So we have access to all of the game attributes to use in the comics. Most game comics are done out-of-house, and most of those with little or no input from the game company, and that's why they often fall apart. There are few good ones out there though.
IGN Comics: Will the comic be detailing the background of Aperture Science at all?
Michael Avon Oeming: We won't find out GLaDOS's last name, but yes, we'll see a bit more behind the curtain. Not that we're saying there are curtains in Aperture, not officially anyway. But if there were, what would that mean?
IGN Comics: If the comic focuses on Chell, how do you plan on detailing and developing her character, considering she primarily acts as a vessel for the action in the games?
Michael Avon Oeming: She also makes a great vessel for comics! One of the best comics ever was Will Eisner's the Spirit, where he often didn't appear until the end of the story. The Spirit was a story telling device for other stories and characters, especially the city itself. Right now, Chell is more of a storytelling device, but maybe in the future, we can get to see more of her. I think Andrea's art is already doing that.
IGN Comics: Perhaps the most important question: is there cake involved?
Michael Avon Oeming: Actually yes, we hid the truth about cake pretty deep in the story. If anyone finds it, be sure to go out and have some fun, it means you have too much time on your hands!
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