DF Interview: Joe Keatinge frames up what’s coming in Shutter

By Byron Brewer

For Kate Kristopher, adventure is in her blood. The descendent from a long line of renowned explorers, she found fame at an early age under the tutelage of her beloved father.

Although Kate's discoveries made her the most famous explorer on Earth, she abandoned her family legacy and backed out of the spotlight to live a normal life. Unfortunately for Kate, she just isn't destined to be normal.

To find out why, Dynamic Forces sat down with writer Joe Keatinge to discuss the ongoing from Image Comics, Shutter.

Dynamic Forces: First, Joe, tell us how this book came to be. What inspired this thrilling adventure ride?

Joe Keatinge: I felt there was a massive lack of comics with lions in pinstriped suits and luckily Leila del Duca felt the same way.

DF: Tell us about your protagonist, the fantastic heroine Kate Kristopher.

Joe Keatinge: Kate Kristopher thought she was the last in line of a family dynasty of adventurers. Then she found out she wasn’t. And her siblings are a bunch of jerks, unraveling the even bigger mystery of what her family is actually all about and their effect on the world.

She owns a robot cat.

DF: Kate is beginning her next arc with Shutter #7, out now. After seeing her battle ninjas, demons and monsters, what have you in store for her this time ‘round?

Joe Keatinge: The first arc — especially its first half — was throwing idea after idea after idea at the reader to give them an overall view of how impossibly fantastic Kate’s Earth is. Now that that’s established (and there’s plenty more coming), we’re turning the focus on to Kate’s life, what it was, what it actually is and what she’ll fight for it to be.

DF: How cool is it the book is going into its second arc with variant covers by the likes of Frank Cho, Ray Fawkes and legendary THOR letterer John Workman?

Joe Keatinge: The exact level of cool is somewhere around Steve McQueen in Bullitt, which is real damn cool.

DF: What if anything can you tell us about the new challenge Kate will face? (Non-spoilers, of course!)

Joe Keatinge: Kate meets the sibling turning her world upside down in the first arc. And is forced to go somewhere hinted at within the very first pages of the series. But that no one has seemed to see coming. It’s cool. 

DF: What makes Kate a character a writer like yourself enjoys writing? What sets her apart from other such adventure heroines?

Joe Keatinge: I write what I want to read and Kate’s someone I want to read about. Do other adventurers (I see no reason to distinguish between genders here) have robot cats? Pretty sure she’s it.

DF: You obviously like working with artist Leila Del Duca. What brought you two together on this Image Comics book?

Joe Keatinge: We met at New York Comic Con 2012. She was looking for work. Every single other person at NYCC was apparently insane and didn’t hire her. We hit it off. Decided to make an insane comic together. I had a pitch called Shutter from a while back. She breathed it to life. And now we’re almost a year in. It’s a good place to be. 

DF: Devil’s advocate question: Female leads in comics are a trend well on the rise. Is Kate a part of that trend and what do you think about it?

Joe Keatinge: I hate referring to women being the lead in anything, much less comics, as a “trend.” It should be “inherent.” I don’t get why we’re at this stage of humanity’s history and still asking questions about why it’s interesting half of the world’s population has thoughts and feelings and can star in things by themselves. People of all genders and backgrounds and all everything starring in whatever they want is simply the way it should be and it’s a damn crime it’s not already. This is like people who are wary about referring to themselves as feminists — why’s it even a question? Feminism should be hard-lined into your damned DNA. 

Dynamic Forces would like to thank Joe Keatinge for taking time out of his busy schedule to answer our questions. Shutter #7 is in stores now!

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